Aruna Ratanagiri Dhamma Talks

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Virtues, transformation, helpful, spiritual muscle, energy management, habits, boundaries, vulnerable, nekkhamma parami, wilfulness, chocolate, forms, spirit, looking at your phone, addicted, focussing on the form, renunciation, sense of self, my way, squabbles, communities of selves, the Buddha, selflessness, sugar, pleasure, diabetes, obese, food manufacturers, fat and salt, indriya samvara, intentional inhibition, open-hearted awareness, ‘I want’, fully own, dopamine hit, backlog, dana, sila, nekkhamma, the burden of deluded personality, integrity, wholesome intention, Ven. Ananda, freedom from remorse, bowing, arrogant, materialists, making offerings to the sangha, reading Dhamma, pointing, more lightly.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Anxiety, counsellor, practitioner, emotions, fear, heart contraction, desire, greed, disciplined attention, intentional composure, schools, stub your toe, open hearted awareness, aligning meditation, counterforce of compassion, outshining, tears, empathy.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Father’s Day, appreciation, gratitude, spiritual fathers, Ajahn Sumedho, celebration of gratitude, celebration of generosity, faith, true principles, chaos, implicit order, materialism, Ajahn Chah, faith, disciplined attention, power tools, musical instrument, selfless wisdom, selfless compassion, shifts in perspective, increased sensitivity, apparently intolerable, intense badness, personal baggage, kamma, epigenetics, 5 spiritual faculties, blind belief, potential competences, patient endurance, driven by bhava tanha, backlog, burning, tapa, embodying, conscious connected breathing, conceptual intelligence, emotional intelligence, intuitive intelligence, acupuncture, headaches, intervention, heart contraction, fear, disappointment, relationship, dislike, wanting to look at your phone, apparently insurmountable obstructions, beginner, contentment.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Enthusiasm, aspiration, progress, chronically obstructed, Ajahn Chah, obstructed, moods, bad kamma, accumulated denied dukkha, crying, itchy wound, scratch, right understanding, screeching birds, nirodha-sacca, ekayana, disliking, open the chest, welcome heart energy, smelly socks, six senses, six sense objects, liking and disliking, acupuncturist, affluence, sadness, frustration, rightly aligned, great renunciation, synthetic security, approximations, the dukkha of disappointment, resistance, tolerable, lemons, lack of self-worth, overwhelming, grief, addicted to your smart phone, denied desire, fear, breathing, manageable, death, receive the hurt, don’t be afraid of the hurt, trust, heart-contraction, skilful non-resistance, heedless acquiescence.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) 90th birthday, gratitude, 50 years ago, visa, Wat Bovorn, Samanera Dhammiko, Wat Saket, commitment and ease, balance, daring spirit, against the current, ‘my way’, floating alms-bowl, gratification, overly heroically, goal, transformation, transmuting, openness and honesty, pontifications, ex cathedra, challenges, scriptures, nanny’s room, rose quartz Buddha image, granary, idealism, respect for tradition, tried and tested, new and improved, changing robes, trust, changing dates of rainy season retreat, form and spirit, renovating Chithurst House, losing the spirit, translating, Sound of Silence, listening, social media, main-lining bhava tanha, identity in thinking, AI, according with changes, skill, gratitude.

(keywords) Q: "How can we know for ourselves that we are firmly on the right path of practice?" Not sure, letting go, security, relationship with desire, longing, stress, subtlety, greed renunciation, afraid, look directly, ‘who wants’, complacent, Mara, Ajahn Chah, nothing to be afraid of, conscious relationship with wanting, discontented, hunger, a feeling enquiring, conceptual intelligence, emotional intelligence, intuitive intelligence, balanced awareness, ‘aligning meditation’, aligning head, heart and belly.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Requesting bhikkhu precepts, robes, chanting, anagarika, Dhammapada 348, letting go of past future present, free from clinging, form, spirit, ochre robe, training, spiritual community, money, shelter, security, reputation, finding identity, supermarket trolley, bowing, magic ritual, selfless wisdom and compassion, self-centredness, Vakkali, perfect lotus, books, 8-Fold Path, extremes, Middle Way, pain, lost, scholars, shaking hands, harmlessness, selfless open-hearted awareness, emotions, having and not-having, knowing is the freedom, emotional sensitivity, emotional literacy, the work.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Quiet contemplation, wisdom teachings, Ajahn Chah, wrong thinking, attitude, stories, nun, practical wisdom, study, suttamayapannya, wisdom from hearing, cintamayapannya, wisdom from mental analysis, bhavanamayapannya, wisdom from cultivation, frustration, funerals, chanting, intuition, humility, unexpected breakthrough, kalama sutta, greed, hatred, delusion, abandoning unwholesomeness, good friends, creative in practice, fun, aliveness.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Restless, unsettled, asking yourself a question, gratify, aim, listening from the heart, ears in your chest, Ajahn Chah, tape recorder, conscious relationship, dreaming, afraid to feel, contracted denial, breathing exercise, chanting, no judgement, cookies and ice-cream, kama tanha, bhava tanha, vibhava tanha, wholesome desire, deluded desire, sense treat, the vortex of wanting, augmented reality, virtual reality, adding something extra, accumulated denied dukkha, Four Noble Truths, controlling, debts, craving for becoming, wanting to be certain, wisdom, wanting virtuous, fear of uncertainty, backlog, craving for getting rid or, not wanting to exist, wanting to get enlightened, welcome, into the light of day, Liberation, assumptions, feeling whole, smoking, addiction, the story of gratification is a complete con, reintegrating, reject heart energy, alienated from our own hearts, seeing through the con.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Christian monk, prayer, induction and instruction, catch a cold, Ajahn Chah in US, pariyatti, Nimbin, do's and don’ts, discipline attention, walking meditation, there’s just-knowing, calm, changed the course of my life, possibilities, 1970’s, questioning, initial inspiration, identity, forms, intoxicated by outer appearance, Vakkali, overly enamoured, sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches and mental impressions, false identity, wound on your forehead, approximation, restless, virtuous struggle, synthetic security, daring, taking risks, precepts, spiritual companions, letting go of the initial good feeling, downloading an app.

(keywords) (edited version) Q: "Are we still identifying as the activity taking place in our hearts and minds, or are we remembering our refuge in the Buddha, in just-knowing awareness?" Dhammapada Reflections, framing experience, victims of suffering, Ajahn Thate, refuge, content, context, Awakened beings, sites, sounds, liking and disliking, formal meditation, becoming the worldling, identified as the thinking mind, desire and craving, semantics, doubt, looking at the finger, heart of awareness, not-knowing, addicted to certitude, rung of the ladder, faith, fear of unsure, synthetic security, moral precepts, intentional composure, indriyasamvara, gradually, beginning again..

(keywords) (slightly edited version) Dhammapada verse 163, Devadatta, winter retreat, excruciatingly difficult, intensely threatening, junk food, affluence, obesity, ease of access to information, contentment, ecological stressor, wars, technology, identified with the deluded sense of self, ‘my way’, hatred, morphing, pride, self-adoration, selfies, vulgar, intoxicant, religion, self-obsessed, virtues, humility, truthfulness, Greek myth, scientific scrutiny, beliefs systems, faith in True Principles, path of practice, 8-fold path, Right View, 4 Noble Truths, Right Aspiration, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Collectedness, schools, Conscious Studies, disciplined attention, understanding pain, balance.

(keywords) (edited version) Q: "For those of us with a Western scientific back ground, some of the more metaphysical teachings of the Buddha's teachings such as rebirth are hard to make sense of. And even from the perspective of the teaching on Anatta, rebirth is hard to make sense of! Please could you give advice on how to relate to those parts of the teachings that seem to require belief in things we cannot know for ourselves and also the parts of the teachings that we plain just don’t understand.” Engage the paradox, dilemma, clinging, fear, selfless just-knowing awareness, anatta, compulsively taking sides, intelligence, not-knowing, laws of materiality, laws of consciousness, gravity, conceptual formulation, trust, study, uncertainty, greed, poison, humility, modesty, abdication, True Principles, not avoiding responsibility, dilemmas are a gift.

(keywords) (edited version) Q: “Can you speak about jealousy and how I can practice to combat the envy others have in my practice? Sometimes, friends can be critical and speak in a way that is judgemental and disparaging towards me. I feel misunderstood. How can I deal with this?” Self-centred, generosity, truthfulness, integrity, sila, lotus flower, compromising, Venerable Ananda, freedom from remorse, safety, psychologist, GP, sugar metabolism, highest virtue, wisdom, nekkhamma parami, ability to say no, smartphone, adhitthana parami, determination, resolution, lokapala, protectors of the world, hiri and ottappa, wholesome sense of shame, balance, sila, anger, attention, light, energy, dissolve, denial, restraint, 5 precepts, heedlessness, will, Ajahn Dukkha, conflation, peaceful, child, agile, guided meditation, gentle, sensitive, mental exercise, Satipatthana Sutta, counting the breath, strength, weakness.

(keywords) (edited version) Q: "I have heard according to Theravada Buddhist teachings we are born and die at every moment, and we do this continuously, not only after our final breath. Could you please explain what this means?” Dependent Origination, kamma, rebirth, willing, daring, enquiring, 5 spiritual faculties, rainbow, burdensome, quandary, careful manner, self-adoration, vulgar, self-promotion, cooperation, harmony, self-obsessed, religion, Almighty, abominably, perpetual anxiety, community of selves, atta, anatta, society, morphing.

(keywords) (edited version) Q: I have intensified my practice over the last year and a half. During this time my sila has gone backwards: Why is this the case? Sila, anger, attention, light, energy, dissolve, denial, restraint, 5 precepts, heedlessness, will, Ajahn Dukkha, conflation, peaceful, child, agile, guided meditation, gentle, sensitive, mental exercise, Satipatthana Sutta, counting the breath, strength, weakness.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) "I have been ghosted by two close friends. They disappeared, without explanation. I emailed each 3 times requesting an open discussion and neither replied. In meditation, I offer and ask for forgiveness. Can you recommend additional ways to help let go of these painful rejections?" Commitment, framing, learn, lost, samsara, uninspected relationship with pain, Ajahn Chah, comfort, convenience, denied dukkha, meeting dukkha with interest, endurance, vector for transformation, 10 parami, framing, noble ordeal, 5 spiritual faculties, overwhelmed, stories, strategies, awakening, Ajahn Dukkha.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) "Are there any precautions of safeguards I should be taking as I sense the tenderness of my heart opening?" Becoming overly sensitive, parenting, karaniya metta sutta, normality, native sensitivity, naively vulnerable, hurt, the Buddha had pain, Vulture’s Peak, unawareness, 4 Noble Truths, falling in love, the capacity for being loving, discipline, righteous indignation, 2 extremes, Dhammacakkha sutta, middle way, embodied mindfulness, intentional composure, indriya samvara, projection, retreat, Bhajans, hymns, Jesus, Krishna, Kwan Yin, surfing, hang-gliding, wilderness, worshipping, idolizing, fundamentalism, sad, rational faculties, tension, rightly aligned, head, heart, belly, 25 questions.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) “I know from past experiences that increased food intake never genuinely makes me feel better. Might you have any advice? Evolutionary biologists, psychologists, demonize desire, wanting, craving, wholesome desires, enemy, smoking, breaking the habit, basic skills, 5 spiritual faculties, faith, kamma, energy, intensity, embodied mindfulness, discipline attention, discernment, indriya samvara, skilful composure, containing, respecting intensity, hiri and ottappa, conscience, lokapala, protectors of the world, skilful shame and fear of the consequences of shamelessness, guilt, progress, unruly heart energy, competent, ill-will, truly responsible.

(keywords) (slightly edited version) "Are we lacking in empathy if we feel contentment amongst all this suffering. Or are we indeed being selfish?" Dhammapada verse 197, 198, egotistical perspective, inflated, meditation, stillness and peace, deeper dimensions, ocean, bilingual, driving a car, agility of attention, evolution, essential tool, end of the world, cultivating awareness, multidimensional reality, cleaning teeth, strap-line.