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Dharma Talks
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2025-01-10
Wisdom – which mountain and how to climb
48:45
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Practice is about fostering growth based on wisdom, effort and view. Wisdom is conditioned by a faith that leads on to motivation/desire, energy, heart and discriminative attention (iddhipada). Effort should be wisely moderated - to sustain, restrain, persevere, uplift, calm. Application of citta is fundamental to the Path; but make it relevant to uplifting the heart. Details on application to mindfulness of breathing.
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Cittaviveka
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2024-11-27
Heart Meditation: Taking in the Goodness
24:12
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Tara Brach
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Taking in the Goodness: Rumi said, “Whenever some kindness comes to you, turn that way – toward the source of kindness.” This meditation guides us to look for the source of loving and to turn in that direction. It begins with a lovingkindness practice that spreads the image of a smile into the body, then continues with a practice of seeing the goodness of ourselves and others.
Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God’s eyes. If only they could all see themselves as they really are. - Thomas Merton
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
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2024-08-31
Q&A
43:18
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Questions are précised: 01:17 Q1 You mentioned during meditation to start with breathing out. I noticed in my own practice that I don't fully breathe out. In fact breathing out intentionally is more exhausting. How can I be more balanced? 12:27 Q2 I have a mental pattern with deep roots, obsessing over details like the entomology of words that arises when I get panicked or upset. This seems to give me some respite from the panic. Can you offer any advice? 19:02 Q3 I feel both sense of fatigue and desire for connection. I'm confused about how to be with this desire because my mind tells me I should go out and connect with other people. But this isn't the point of meditation is it? How can I understand this tension between internal and external needs in this case? 25:03 Q4 In the last retreat I would wake up not knowing who I am and dream about somebody stabbing my heart. These feelings returned when I went back to domestic duties. In my dreams I am lost. How can I move past this black hole? 30:02 Q5 For me it's very difficult to be mindful every minute every second of my daily life. I do my best. It's easier on retreat or in a monastery. Can you comment? 36:17 Q6 The state of becoming entails grasping and craving then suffering. How can one abide in non becoming?
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Dhamma Stream Online Sessions
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2024-07-26
Working with Disappointment
53:53
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Kate Munding
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Understanding what disappointment is and how it arises is to understand the mind-state of desire. This mental hindrance is recognized by the presence of wanting something that isn't actually happening. This longing can be attached to a person, wanting someone to be a certain way they are not. It can be attached to an expectation of getting something or achieving something. It can also be connected to our self, wanting our self to be a certain way that we are not. All of this becomes fertile ground for disappointment and unhappiness. Let's find ways to identify these mind states, learn how to heal them, and move towards more contentment and peace in our lives.
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Assaya Sangha
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2024-01-06
Q&A
50:10
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Q1 In samadhi, kāyasankhāra unifies with cittasankhāra. In this state what does the citta feel like? 16:25 Q2 Having associated wanting with a negative connotation I have been habitually suppressing my wants/ desires so sometimes it is hard to know what I want when it comes to important decisions. 31:41 Q3 During meditation is it OK to let my body move back and forth as I feel being pulled by a subtle energy flow. 33:00 Q4 Regarding death practice, do you have any advice? 39:52 Q5 When one becomes too comfortable in walking it becomes monotonous and the mind becomes dull but that’s not what we want, right? Any suggestions? 43:07 Q6 How do we practice dhamma in our daily life, especially in a hectic environment?
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Palilai Buddhist Temple
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Sharing Merit with the Broken Heart
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2023-12-01
Q&A
50:36
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Questions are précised: 00:10 Q1 Can you clarify the analogy of dhammas you gave using the orange. 07:16 Q2 Can you speak more about the desires tanha and chanda? 21:46 Q3 Regarding breath meditation, should one focus on breathing sensations rather than the subtle body? 27:51 Q4 When the mind becomes unified, do I stay and let go of the breathing as the mind unifies, or should I watch the breathing in the background? 32:46 Q5 Sometimes I reach an awareness that feels so alien that I pull back. 34:09 Q6 How does one forgive oneself and handle regrets? 42:14 Q6 When helping others how do we decide when to stop helping? 44:24 Q7 How can we handle feeling inferior? What leads to the sense of unworthiness? 49:34 Q8 My body has pain in every position and it’s hard to meditate. What can you suggest?
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Bandar Utama Buddhist Society
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Training for Life
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2023-09-23
Q&A
1:15:23
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Questions are précised and read into the file.This text is shortened further. 00.51 Q1 You said we create an imaginary world for our imaginary selves. Some people believe in the power of visualization where we can imagine a better world or a better self. 03.05 Q2 Please distinguish consciousness, the mind and the brain. 05.57 Q3 You use the word heart, but you don't use the word brain. 12.36 Q4 If there's no distinction between you and I, is there just a oneness? 13.00 Q5 Is the citta permanent? 14.13 Q6 A friend said her response to a car alarm was the same as her response to bird song. Where is the place for beauty in this? 15.29 Q7 In walking meditation, do we feel the movement and sense what your mind is doing with that experience? 21.28 Q8 Some thought patterns seem like some kind of karmic knot. They're not comfortable and yet I keep going into them. 25.08 Q9 What can I offer my dying friend to support balance for them? 32.20 Q10 Can thoughts just arise randomly? 37.02 Q11 If someone cheats us, do we just forgive them and move on? 41.18 Q12 I find that many of my interactions, conversations and what I do to work seem to be just abstractions and distractions. My desire to live more in dhamma makes me avoid people without this interest. 46.58 Q13 Do thoughts always arise from feelings? 50.03 Q14 What is time as an experience? 01.00.57 Q15 Where does collective consciousness fit into this? 01.03.09 Q16 How can we plan for the future and avoid the pitfalls of 'becoming'? 01.04.52 Q17 How to use Buddhist practice to deal with trauma and serious anxiety? 01.10.10 Q18 Is the teaching of no satisfaction /suffering more than 'there's no permanent satisfaction'? 01.13.34 Q19 It seems like the more I examine my own suffering, the more compassion I have for other people.
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London Insight Meditation
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In person: a Matter of Balance
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2023-09-20
On Dissolution
51:52
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Martin Aylward
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Martin explores the essence refrain of the heart sutra, looking at emptiness in terms of gone-ness, spaciousness, and dissolution. He looks at what dissolves and what remains as our core structures dissolve, particularly in the areas of desire, belief, conformity and identity, or What I want, What I believe, How I behave and Who I take my myself to be.
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Gaia House
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A Joyful Liberation
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2023-06-22
Q&A
41:36
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Questions précised - 00:16 Q1 Is it possible to start waking up and still have a mind that is clinging or fixating at times? What are the characteristics of awakening? 14:27 Q2 Sometimes there are moments where everything is gone or stops, with no thoughts or awareness f an outside world. Time seems to be gone as well. Can you say something about this?16:21 Q3 It seems the heart needs to be allowed to know itself. When with family and partner there seems to be no possibility for this. This is desperately uncomfortable which doesn’t resolve and is filled with fear. Can you offer some guidance. 22:54 Q4(a) I feel parts of the body frozen in anxiety. Spacious awareness and reclining help. What else would help? Patience? (b) I get feelings of joy, gratitude then contentment. When contentment arises I feel the desire to move on rather than stay with it. What can I do about this? (c) What can I do if the energy flow gets overwhelming say with sickness? 34:46 Q5 What would you say to a teenager who seems to have ill will in the family? 36:44 Q6 No matter how good meditation is in the previous evening, there will come sleep and with it the end of awareness. Next morning we have to start again.
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Moulin de Chaves
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Regaining the Centre
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2023-04-21
Q&A
39:45
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Questions are précised 00:15 Q1 Can you clarify why the Buddha recommended sense restraint in cultivating citta? What harm does sense desire to the citta? 04:20 Q2 I have a picture that the sense organs are shooting stuff into the citta. Is that correct? 12:42 Q3 How can I overcome sound distractions to focus more on my breathing ? 18:59 Q4 The Buddha said, light arose and vision arose. What does this mean? 20:27 Q5 If we trust in awareness, would this lead to attachment to citta and become another soul? 24:09 Q6 I feel emotions deeply and am sometimes affected by other being seen and unseen, like ghosts. Also getting angry gives me power and sometimes I feel that metta softens and weakens myself to others. How can I protect citta, one’s sensitivity? 30:45 Q7 How to distinguish between self-care and attachment?
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Palilai Buddhist Temple
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Deepen Your Practice
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2023-03-29
The Importance of Cultivating Right Intention
50:04
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Tuere Sala
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Intention is present in every experience, response or action. Cultivating Right Intention in the context of contemporary society can often seem self-indulgent. The constant demands of being a householder can also over shadow intention and make it harder to recognize the expectations, assumptions, desires, beliefs, and/or energy (in other words- the intentions) behind our actions. Intention is part of the unconditional and thus, a necessary aspect of awakening.
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Cambridge Insight Meditation Center
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2023-01-26
Why Intensive Practice
54:25
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James Baraz
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Going through the process of sitting in silence over a long period of time is a unique and profound experience. What happens on a month-long retreat and why do people do it? Though it is not possible for everyone to get away for that length of time or have the desire to do it, the principles shared can be applied to shorter retreats as well
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Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
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2022-12-10
Q&A
36:37
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Ajahn Amaro
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Questions are précised - 00:08 Q1 You said arahants can feel happiness without attachment, also that happiness is a suffering in disguise, and that it also comes from giving. Are these all different forms of happiness? 05:47 Q2 I’ve read a lot of Persian poetry especially Attar of Nishapur and Rumi. There, I read that “desire” for union pushes you forward and is actually the path to liberation. But the Second Noble Truth says that we have to get rid of desire / craving. Can you speak to this please? 15:01 Q3 Frequently I find that some annoying behavior by friends that I think I have processed and let go of returns if, for example, they renew their teasing at a future meeting. 19:18 Q4 Whatever we see or experience has happened sometime back. It seems we don’t partake of anything that happens around us. This is discomforting. Can you comment please? 27:13 Q5 Can you speak about how Mahayana and Theravada look at the idea of the second turning of the wheel. 34:00 Q6 What is the difference between the two types of concentration the Buddha had, one when he was studying with his two teachers and his experience under the tree watching his father?
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Deer Park Institute
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Sakkāydițțhi — ‘Self-View’, the First Obstacle to Enlightenment
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2022-12-07
Q&A
49:24
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Ajahn Amaro
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Questions are précised - 00:10 Q1 Can the question you referred to (Who am I?), could be asked during infinite space or nothingness, the 5th jhana? 01:22 Q2 How does this practice help in the extreme scenarios we face in life – like in war - or day to day activities? 12:09 Q3 I really found the receptive aspect of loving kindness helpful and I’m wondering if the other three immeasurables also have this receptive quality? 20:29 Q4 You spoke about the 3 kinds of desire. In my study, I’ve heard that self-grasping / ignorance is the root of all these. Does that idea line up with the three types of desire you speak of? 25:23 Q5 Mingyur Rinchope speaks of a vertical and horizontal “gap” from the stream of thoughts. Does the Thai Forest tradition speak about this gap? 24:16 Q6 Is there much spoken about the “subjective clear, light mind” and “rigpa” in the Southern tradition? 28:48 Q6 What is the state of dreaming and where is consciousness at that time? 34:53 Q7 When ”I” consciousness dissolves, what is that expresses this experience? We have to make a temporary or onlooker self even if there is no self. 42:04 Q8 Don’t you think that organized religions/ traditions fossilize the “I” rather than dissolve it?
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Deer Park Institute
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Sakkāydițțhi — ‘Self-View’, the First Obstacle to Enlightenment
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2022-10-14
Meditation on the arising of desire, Dhamma talk Part 4 on Satipaṭṭhāna: Principles (dhammā)
1:27:36
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Bhante Sujato
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Meditation on the arising of desire, the drivers of thought rather than getting caught in thought. Dhamma talk Part 4 on Satipaṭṭhāna: Principles (dhammā). The 5 hindrances and 7 awakening factors common to all versions of Satipaṭṭhāna. The novelty of this section builds on the previous sections and introduces causality; where the arising of things like desire come from, as well as how they come to end, and how they don't arise again using both observation and inference. Dhamma as natural principles that describe how the world works.
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Lokanta Vihara
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2022-08-06
Meditation and dhamma talk on the four iddhipādas
1:16:08
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Bhante Sujato
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Meditation and dhamma talk on the four iddhipādas (feet/powers): enthusiasm (chanda), energy (viriya), awareness (citta), inquiry (vīmaṁsā). Discussion on the four iddhipādas and vibhava-tanhā (the desire to not exist) and its antidote, the wish to know. The basis of psychic powers as expansions of things we know already. Ideas on how to develop the iddhipādas.
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Lokanta Vihara
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2022-04-08
On the four iddhipādās
1:20:47
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Bhante Sujato
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From Harris Park. Bhante Sujato on the four iddhipādās: chanda (desire, zeal, enthusiasm), viriya (energy), citta (awareness, clarity, knowing), vimamsa (inquiry). Included in the 37 factors that sum up the teaching and are the backbone of structure of the Samyutta Nikaya. Dhamma chanda: desire to get rid of desire. viriya: keeping going, not giving up. citta: mind; synonymous with samadhi and jhana = citta bhavana. vimamsa: reflecting, looking back, curiosity leading to wisdom.
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Lokanta Vihara
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2022-02-01
The Tiger’s Challenge: Impeccability and Aspiration
48:52
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Ajahn Sucitto
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The one thing we can train in and recollect is that we can aspire. No other creature aspires. We are born with desire, and if we don’t use it for aspiration it leaks out into sensuality and thinking. Then the mind loses its alertness. One of the most fundamental things we aspire to is a different alignment. Finding a place to stand which is true, empowering, dignified, blameless – a refuge. This is how you stand apart from the worldly currents, and live in the quality of good intent.
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Cittaviveka
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2022-01-12
Wise Hope
13:32
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Betsy Rose
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Wise Hope, as articulated by Roshi Joan Halifax, can be a wise practice for our times. Unlike "Ordinary Hope" it does not focus on a desired outcome, but is rooted in the sense of infinite possibility in the face of, and in fact BECAUSE of, the groundless and impermanent nature of reality.
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Assaya Sangha
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2021-10-06
Realizing Your Deepest Desires
51:26
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Tara Brach
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This talk differentiates between egoic intentions (driven by wants and fears), and our true aspiration (deepest desires) to manifest our full potential for awake awareness and love. We explore ways to realize and open to our deepest desires when we are stuck in self-promotion, grasping and conflict, so that our aspiration becomes a compass of the heart that can guide us in living with wisdom and compassion.
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
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2021-05-29
Q&A
36:05
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Please explain why you got the COVID vaccine as I am hesitant; can meditation help with IBS; can’t exhale completely because in breath rushes in; does it matter if formal practice/meditation is less; is manas an impediment to citta or can it be used beneficially; how to get over the pain of divorce; how to ask someone to leave a community due to ethical reasons; when desire is abandoned how is avijja eliminated; elaborate on terms samādhi, atammayatā, nibānna.
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Cittaviveka
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At Home with the Homeless: Ajahn Sucitto Locked Down
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2021-05-12
Remembering: The Practice of Sati
47:02
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Kate Munding
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Mindfulness (Sati): Part 7 of a series on the Eightfold Path, this talk discusses Sati, or mindfulness, as a state of mind and a way of being. The complexity of mindfulness is explored (vedanas, wholesome desire) as well as the ultimate simplicity of remembering our truest self through practice of paying attention, alertness and contact with experience. Q & A at the end is included.
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Assaya Sangha
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Assaya Sangha Dharma Talks
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2021-05-11
Converting Difficulty into Skilful States
61:12
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Ajahn Sucitto
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Cultivation, bhavana, can be described as the desire to bring forth skilful qualities. It’s an eager, inspired willingness to receive every situation that arises, and know what is needed to turn it into a skilful state. The old historical person begins to fade out, transformed by the deepened and strengthened resolve of the heart.
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Cittaviveka
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2021-04-06
Refraining from Intoxication
22:44
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Shaila Catherine
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This talk explores the fifth precept: the commitment to refrain from intoxicating the mind through the use of alcohol, drugs, or addictive desires. Originally this precept highlighted the dangers of home-brewed alcohol, but can be expanded to address the many ways we may seek to excite, dull, distort, or intoxicate our minds. By working with this precept, we not only strengthen our capacity for restraint, but importantly, we investigate how the force of craving may be affecting our decisions and actions.
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Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
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2021-03-09
Refraining from Sexual Misconduct
35:21
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Shaila Catherine
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This talk addresses the third ethical precept — refraining from sexual misconduct. Practicing with the precepts involves becoming mindful of our actions, recognizing the effects that our actions have on ourselves and others, learning to respond to our thoughts and feelings with wisdom, kindness, and restraint, and honoring our commitments. This precept provides opportunities to work with the movement of sexual desire and sensual lust. The views of sexuality that were prevalent in ancient India differ from contemporary norms, however, we can apply the underlying intention toward non-harming to contemplate and purify our own conduct. Shaila Catherine offers suggestions forgiving past unskillful actions, and strengthening our capacity for restraint.
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Insight Meditation South Bay - Silicon Valley
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In
collection:
Ethics, Action and the Five Precepts
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2021-01-25
Reconciliation | Monday Night talk
53:22
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Jack Kornfield
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Conflict is natural—we can be attached to our needs, desires, ideas and visions. Our brains are wired with a negativity bias to look for things that are threatening. But some other part of us knows there is another way. We need to pause and reflect for a moment. What is it that matters most? This vision is needed more than ever in the midst of our difficulties.
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Spirit Rock Meditation Center
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2020-12-03
Like a Walk to the Park
1:24:40
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Dhammadīpā
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A guided meditation and Dhamma talk hosted by the West Seattle Sangha, Eastside Insight Sangha, and Seattle Friends of the Dhamma. The talk is on the role of desire on the Path and supports for maintaining the practice over time
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Aloka Vihara Forest Monastery
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2020-03-11
Desire and Addiction (Part 2 of 3): Voices of Longing Calling You Home
41:30
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Tara Brach
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As part of the collective response to the Coronavirus—taking care of each other—Tara has cancelled her live class and recorded this from her home.
Desire is intrinsic to all living forms – the urge to exist and flourish. It turns to suffering when, due to unmet needs, it contracts, intensifies and separates us from our full aliveness and awareness. These two talks guide us in awakening from this trance, and discovering how within desire is the longing that can carry us to true belonging.
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Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC
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2019-08-14
Right Intention
59:36
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Yuka Nakamura
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The Buddha emphasized intention as the key to happiness and peace. However, often we are not aware of the intentions behind our choices and actions. Based on the Dvedhāvitakka Sutta the talks discusses the unwholesome intentions of sensual desire, ill will and cruelty and the wholesome intentions of renunciation, lovingkindness and compassion. It also discusses central aspects of mental cultivation.
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Meditationszentrum Beatenberg
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14 day Karuna and Vipassana Meditation Retreat
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2019-03-27
Eros and Desire (Q & A)
68:53
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Rob Burbea
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PLEASE NOTE: The talks, instructions, and guided meditations in this set are from a retreat, led by Catherine McGee and Rob Burbea, for practitioners already familiar with Soulmaking Dharma. The teachers strongly recommend that you also have an understanding of and working familiarity with practices of emptiness, samatha, metta, the emotional/energy body, and the imaginal, as well as basic mindfulness practice, before listening. Without this background in practice it is possible that the material and teachings from this retreat will be difficult to understand and confusing for some.
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Gaia House
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Roots into the Ground of Soul
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2019-03-27
Eros and Desire (Instructions, Day 4)
54:33
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Catherine McGee
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The talks, instructions, and guided meditations in this set are from a retreat, led by Catherine McGee and Rob Burbea, for practitioners already familiar with Soulmaking Dharma. The teachers strongly recommend that you also have an understanding of and working familiarity with practices of emptiness, samatha, metta, the emotional/energy body, and the imaginal, as well as basic mindfulness practice, before listening. Without this background in practice it is possible that the material and teachings from this retreat will be difficult to understand and confusing for some.
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Gaia House
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Roots into the Ground of Soul
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