In understanding and relaxing the boundaries of self we step back and listen internally with goodwill, discovering what has to be set aside or investigated. Thus we begin to release the self from the habitual trap of cause and effect.

Guided sitting and standing

Investigation reveals this to be a mix of causes and conditions (inherited karma) along with actions and attitudes established through compulsive reactions. Using the Buddha's core teaching of the dukkha/ suffering that comes with clinging, we learn to use the feelings in the body as a guide to allow us to move out of this programmed self.

Identity is actually a process of making a self through clinging to what mind creates through contact with our environment and other people. This process comes down to the interplay of form, consciousness, perceptions, feelings and mental formations – the aggregates (khandha) But am I really any part of this? Investigation allows us to unclog the heart and release the inherent suffering. Ajahn recommends walking as a way of experiencing flow and fluidity. No identity is needed!

A guided chanting / sound exercise to generate internal harmony and harmony with others.

Who or what you think you are is not your fundamental home. Learning to contemplate the citta/ mind/ heart and the five aggregates (form, consciousness, perceptions, feelings and mental formations) reveals a way to dismantle the driven ego and liberate the citta from aging, sickness and death.

Contemplating the internal experience of “me” and the way “me” reacts with external phenomena reveals how our identity is constantly manufactured by our reactions. Widening and relaxing supports a heart that is modest, clear and open, without stress and without identity; a heart that can comfortably meet and deal with what arises.