I think it’s easy to hold out hope that if I just get these teachings, the intellectual structure, or the techniques down pat, then I’ll be able to free myself from suffering. Maybe it’s not articulated as baldly as that, but it’s easy to internalize this and forget that there’s another really crucial element. Sometimes the teachings can be a bit formulaic, so it’s important to investigate their n…

The five faculties are listed in the order in which they ordinarily develop. You begin with conviction because conviction deals with your views about what’s possible in terms of your self and of your world. In terms of the world, you’re convinced about what is possible and desirable to strive for. In terms of your self, conviction deals with what you believe you are capable of doing. In the Buddha…

Chanting the Buddhist texts is not a technical or mental exercise or something that is practised merely as a tradition or cultural ritual. Rather it is devotion and recollection with mindfulness and awareness that we are developing. It offers a tangible sense of uplift for those who are chanting and also for those listening. I am sure many of us have had such an experience when we first heard thes…

Sometimes, of course, one doesn’t want to give up yet. One still wants rebirth and happiness and worldly things. Fair enough! But I don’t want you to go round lying to yourselves. If you want to have your own way and have rebirths and worldly happiness, then that’s your decision – but don’t delude yourselves by thinking that you are doing something else. If you really understand the teaching of th…

When we take the body — composed of elements, aggregates, sense media, and its 32 parts — and the mind — or awareness itself — and simplify them to their most basic terms, we’re left with name and form (nama, rupa). Form is another term for the body made up of the four elements. Name is a term for the mind residing in the body, the element that creates the body. If we want to cut back on states of…

There are three ways we act on the inclinations, impulses, and intentions that come through the mind, and these are through body, speech, or mind. In a monastery, where there are many restraints on our activities, we can particularly notice the action of speech. Because actions and ideas are often expressed through speech, it’s good to focus attention on this habit so we can learn about ourselves…

The last major learning for me was working with aspects of self-consciousness. I don’t actually like being on show; I’d much sooner go my own way quietly and be invisible. Yet, walking with shaven head and wearing robes is bound to attract some attention. And of course for that vital almsround, it has to. So I developed a standard of resting in kindness and letting the image of a monk quietly stan…

When you’ve thought of how large the universe is, think about all the beings in the universe – and wish them goodwill. This helps in several ways. When you think about all the beings in the universe, then when you’re sitting here meditating and the meditation is not going well, you can remind yourself, “At least I’m meditating. There are a lot of people out there, a lot of beings out there, who ha…

How much are we willing to learn from our mistakes? This is a crucial aspect of the training—the willingness to recognize when we’ve missed the mark as well as being open to making mistakes. It’s not always easy to practice in this way. I think many of us here come with conditioning around how important it is to be right all the time. We can grow up with a sense of shame—“Unless I’m doing everythi…

It may be that we find there are times in our lives when we feel a call to serve, a selfless desire to give or help in some way. Often we respond to another person just because we think they will respond to us; we’ll give and then maybe they’ll give – or it’s socially expected to do so. But there’s a dryness in that and one can go through life without ever really feeling where one’s heart is. But…