Ajahn Big remarks on the fortunate situation we find ourselves in, being in contact with Dhamma teachings and having the ability to practise them. He recounts how the Buddha likened the chance of being born as a human to a blind turtle emerging into a hoop on the surface of the ocean, and declares that the present moment is a gift to be utilized and cherished.
Ajahn Maha Fookit refers to one of the important reflection chants in monastic training, subjects on which daily contemplation can have very beneficial results. He points out that while the Buddhist path may be long and sometimes difficult, by reflecting in this way, it is possible to find happiness and fulfillment along the way.
Ajahn Kaccana shows the surprising benefits that can result from an honest assessment of the frailties and limitations of the body. He shows that by not looking for fulfillment or solidity in a body that is bound to change and eventually perish, we can instead find more secure refuges in elements of Dhamma such as morality and awareness.
Ajahn Cittapala examines right effort, suggesting that it is an attunement to harmony. She explains that going against the way things are creates tension, and that it is helpful to arise a sense of zeal to develop wholesome states and be able to abandon unwholesome ones.
As Cittaviveka’s Group Practice begins, Ajahn Karuniko investigates the asavas, the outflows of the mind, and shows how these always lead us to suffering. He suggests that an antidote to this activity is to find an object of meditation that keeps the mind away from this unskilful habit, and recalls his own personal experience many years ago in New Zealand, in which he calmed his anxiety by remaining with the breath.
In so far as mindfulness is to be established and sustained, there is a doing, but samādhi is not a concentration that you do, it is a unified state that you enter. It’s a place from where you can review and reset your attitudes and deepen your understanding. And its determining factor is that the heart is happy in itself.
Ajahn Kevali, abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat in Thailand, advises us to develop our Dhamma practice by looking at the life of the Buddha. Through becoming familiar with the life story of the Buddha and keeping in mind that he was a human being, we can emulate the same practices. We can regard the teachings of the Buddha as a template, the elephant’s footprint that all of our own experiences fit within.
On an auspicious visit to Cittaviveka, Luang Por Liem, abbot of Wat Non Pah Pong in Thailand, points to the freedom that can be found from deeply knowing the restraints that are present in the mind. He explains how an unwise relation to mental formations and a sense of self creates obstruction in the heart, but by utilizing the tools of samatha and vipassana meditation, we can begin to see all of our experiences as part of nature, which can lead to detachment and a real, lasting freedom.
Luang Por Damrong reflects on the life of the Buddha, and relates how the Buddha remembered his previous births, which arose according to his past kamma. Keeping in mind our own mortality and the Buddha’s teaching out of compassion, he exhorts us to pracice with diligence, developing virtue and making an effort to be free from the cycle of birth and death.