This meditation begins with a body scan that guides us to awaken our senses. We relax open to include the changing flow of sounds and sensations, in a spacious, open awareness (a morning meditation from the 2015 IMCW New Year silent retreat).

00:18 Q1 When experiencing feelings and emotions is it part of the practice just to experience the suffering?07:59 Q2 When dealing with powerful emotions, is the foundation that you speak of built from continuous practice, being real? 17:15 Q3 If self enquiry is to bring us to a place of open heatedness, why do we carry these stories with us? How has that come about, that is has become so important to us? 33:43 Q4 Do you think that as you go on the path that you can experience suffering more? Because you are more aware of it? 46:34 Q5 How do you develop the level of understanding and insight that you have? 52:36 Q6 How can we find the balance between intentionally cultivating skillful qualities and accepting or allowing them to emerge?

The open state is unrushed, receptive to all the six senses. It receives them with a basic intelligence that stays intact and responds.

The practice of giving, ethics, and meditation can undo the confusing experience of being a separate individual person, as we attune more fully to the nature of the way things are.

A dhamma talk and Q&A to a Canadian dhamma group in Toronto 12 March 2023. Questions are précised: 30:12 Q1 - We all often slip in the practice. What is the best way to get back into it? 34:18 Q2 - How can we maintain mindfulness when we don't accomplish what you set out to do? How can we not let that frustration set us further back? 41:15 Q3 - I've noticed a real cultural difference between the East and the West in the sense of guilt and shame. Can you comment? 45:31 Q4 - During meditation what should I do to control my thoughts? More on this group here: https://www.theravadabuddhistcommunity.org/

The subtle body or energy body is a layer of experience we can explore. It's not esoteric, it's a normal part of life we can learn from. (Recorded during Ajahn's New Zealand trip)

Morning Chants at Songdhammakalyani Monastery in Pali

Evening Chants in Pali at Songdhammakalyani Monastery

Evening Chants in Pali on Days Preceding Buddha Days