The good person is considered to be the bedrock, the first condition that should be established, for someone seeking after liberation. We are both formed by associating with good people, and we can become good people. In meditation we purify the bodily base so it can act as the reference point for our intentions and behaviors. A sense of meaningful purpose and alignment to true duty then inform the ‘true person’.

This blessing was offered on April 24, 2021 for Earthcare with Insight Meditation Center.

This dhamma talk was offered on April 24, 2021 for Earthcare, Insight Meditation Center.

Guided Meditation

In meditation we’re making a shift from being engaged to being attentive but disengaged. Disengagement has a cool, easeful quality to it, giving us leverage against the strong emotional pressures of the mind. From this place we can make peace with the mind that is never at ease.

At Harris Park – inquiry meditation guided by Bhante Sujato, Dhamma talk by Bhante Sujato on the life of the Buddha: suttas that show the Bodhisatta's struggles on his way to awakening. MN 4 - Fear and Dread - Bhayabherava sutta. MN 19 - Two Kinds of Thought - Dvedhāvitakka sutta. MN 128 - Corruptions - Upakkilesa sutta.

Our tension is a way of defending against the aliveness that is here and now. This meditation guides us in relaxing tension, awakening our senses and discovering the vitality and presence that express our natural being.

We briefly review the main themes of our practice in the last sessions: The importance of "doing" and skillful effort in our formal practice and in our daily lives; the parallel importance of "not-doing" (particularly receptivity) in these areas; some ways to inquire into the nature of our identities as "doers"; some ways of bringing these practices into daily life; the experience of "flow" and being an "expert" in a given area as pointing to a kind of "doing" coming out of a deep not-doing; and the theme of not-doing in Taoist tradition (emphasizing the work of Chuang Tzu) and Buddhist tradition. We suggest that all of practice points toward this deep non-doing as an expression of awakening. We then explore this territory in a 20-minute guided meditation, followed by discussion.