21-10-15 Right effort = responsibility with energy (38:59)
Energy is a constant fact of life. If you don’t apply it, it gets applied – there’s no neutral place. Be responsible. That’s what right effort means, constantly taking responsibility for where your energy goes. It’s an act of heedfulness and careful attention – choose what you want to abide in.
21-10-14 Web of goodness (36:46)
We live in a human context with its mixture of bright and discordant energies. Our individual internal contexts are no different. We cultivate to potentize Dhamma factors for our own benefit and the benefit of the world. Grounding in wholesome qualities and steadiness of body, we find a raft in this very flooded swampy saṁsāra from which we can meet and review the flood of emotions and impulses.
As if with a slow inhalation, the monastery is inching out of lockdown and into increased openness. For the past weeks, the closure had been more intense on account of having four members of the community sick with Covid: although getting sick is a part of life, we felt a responsibility to not pass on our bugs to members of the public. Thankfully the infected people have all recovered, and we can now allow visitors in to share our space, albeit in a limited way.
Read MoreUnless you find your stable ground, you’re not equipped to deal with your problems. The fundamental reaction to problems will be ill will – resentment, fear, blaming, guilt. Withdraw energy from the world of mind and come back into presence. There’s a sense of inner spaciousness, an energy of releasing, softening, letting go. It’s like a return. This is how we purify our own hearts.
This is the half-moon Observance Day, and we have the opportunity to reflect on Dhamma, the way it is.
For each one of us, the way it is right now is going to be different: with our own moods, memories, thoughts, expectations or whatever. When we try to compare one person with another, we get confused because we’re all different. On the level of saṅkhāras, or conditioned phenomena, everything is different. Nothing can stabilize into a permanent quality or condition; it’s beyond the ability of saṅkhāras, which by their very nature are changing. The Buddha taught, ‘Sabbe saṅkhārā aniccā – all conditions are impermanent. This is the way it is. They change. Saṅkhāras are like this. They can be of any quality: low or high, good or bad, right or wrong, material or mental or emotional, and their nature is anicca (impermanent), dukkha (unsatisfactory) and anattā (non-self).
Read MoreBased on who we associate with and surround ourselves with, a field is generated where we pick up the behaviours and tonalities. One trains to generate a supportive field for training and learning. Whatever the field, open to what you’re in, get a feel for that, and aim for what is honourable, steady and balanced.