Talk by Ajahn Jiviko

Led by Ajahn Jiviko

We’re part of a culture that is sacrificing a stable climate and the well-being of future generations for short term gain, short term convenience and pleasures. There's ongoing questions as to what values we hold and what we do to honour those values. The talks outlines the the beginnings of run-away climate breakdown, the range of felt responses, failure of the collective imagination, behavioural denial, ecological debt and how facing that can be a type of awakening, the sense of sacredness, other dharma perspectives, and questions about responses.

Dhamma Talk given in Bodhgaya Dec 8, 2022

Questions précised - 00:10 Q1 When we take refuge, what are we taking refuge from? 00:48 Q2 The path is to end suffering. Why don’t we look at suffering and enquire what it is. Perhaps we will see it is our own creation and this may be easier than the longer way. 05:30 Q3 Is all sadness, all anger suffering or is suffering the feeling of being pulled down … into an ocean for example? 07:37 Q4 I am a retired solider and I don’t this this kind of self-actualization, “who am I”, I don’t think we can ask in our profession. What advice can you give? 17:25 Q5 In Mahayana very often liberation is spoken of as a state of painlessness, fearlessness and “one taste”. What does the Pali tradition say about this apparent 24-7 blissful state? 24:32 Q6 What does it say in the Pali canon about Ananda giving Buddha this food? How is it interpreted in the Southern tradition? 27:30 Q7 You mentioned Ajahn Sumedho dealing with anger. When we deal with intense emotions is it a good way to exercise patience endurance and use whatever practice works so you can skilfully navigate the situation? 29:56 Q8 I need a little clarity about consciousness beyond the simple meaning of awareness. Particularly in jhana practice, how does one understand infinite consciousness? 31:59 Q9 Regarding meditating on compassion, we are advised to expand it to all living beings. Do you have any advice? I find it difficult to engage with people I have never met. 36:32 Q10 Could you elaborate about the liberative relationships you spoke of? Put simply, my kids and grandchildren are overseas and I miss them. How can I deal with this better?

Questions are précised - 00:09 Q1 - Can you clarify more about compassion. It seems quite dark in English. And does karuna also have some suffering in it? 04:28 Q2 - What are the training steps in the Thai Forest tradition? Also what is spoken about full buddhahood in the southern tradition? 21:41 Q3 – You said not to be carried away with rupa, form and perception and you also mentioned discriminating consciousness. I have trouble with this last one. Can you elaborate? 27:43 Q4 – What does the word ajahn mean? 28:21 Q5 – Did you say that you could not lie down to sleep? 26:30 Q6 – We are an outcome of our relationships and programmes formed over a long period. Is it possible to re-programme ourselves, even while staying in the same environment? 43:34 Q7 – Why is meditation the primary means of insight or analysis. What about writing? Or talking to others?

Our habit is to try to manage our experience from a mental control tower. This meditation awakens us through the body, and then invites us to rest in that vast presence that includes the changing flow of life. When we inhabit that openness, there’s a natural arising of peace, wakefulness and tenderness.

The most profound question in spiritual life is “who (or what) am I?” This talk explores ways of inquiring into the nature of awareness, and the blessings of embodying the realization of our radiant, empty essence. This audio talk was first offered at the 2011 IMCW Fall Weeklong Retreat, and it includes several guided reflections.

Questions are précised - 00:24 Q1 In the enquiry we’ve are doing there are moments of recognition - let’s say, out of our usual conditioned responses, but then always a tendency to identify what that moment is. That attempt doesn’t go anywhere. Is it because that moment of recognition is not recognizable through the five sense? 9:32 Q2 If I summarize my enquiry for myself: “What am I at this present time?”, is this a good instruction to carry with me? 14:08 Q3 Working through the understanding of not me, not my body, etc there is still this feeling that “I know”. In terms of stream entry, is that “I know” still possible? 23:03 Q4 I would like to know more about what the Buddha said about the liberation of the heart as well as the process of liberation from passion. Can you say more about this process? What about the process between death and the next birth? 34:57 Q5 How does our investigation of non-self relate to such issues in conventional reality, such as the problem of climate change? 41:57 Q6 I meet a lot of Buddhists who seem to focus exclusively inwards. Is there a reason for that and is there something we should do to guard against it? 44:55 Q7 You wrote: “That which is threatening to the ego is liberating to the heart.” Can you elaborate on that? 54:23 Q8 Can fear be a catalyst for liberation?

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?

Sometimes the heart feels trapped distracted, or passionately involved with experience. This too changes. Training the citta to know itself releases this.

Meeting what is disappointing and frustrating in an unfamiliar way and through contemplating the immediate experience of body and mind, release ownership. This reveals warm heartedness and compassion.

What does it mean to live a beautiful life? And are we called to the possibility of a beautiful life? , or crafting, of making an art of our life? Of making our life something beautiful?

Graduated Discourse 6

Questions are précised - 00:15 Q1 How do we dislodge the idea of a self. Also you say there is an experience without an experiencer. Can you elaborate? 14:34 Q2 You spoke of Ajahn Mun’s teaching on the deathless dhamma. Could you speak to the idea of the subjectivity of the Buddha or even a “de-centered” subjectivity? 27:04 Q3 Could you say more about what stream entry is and its importance. 33:55 Q4 When sitting, how do we know we are anchored in our breath and when we can then shift and broaden our attention to other things? 35:15 Q5 I find walking meditation easier than sitting. Is this OK? 36:36 Q6 Has Buddha offered any view on the purpose of my life especially given its suffering? 42:00 Q7 How can we tell if our meditation tool is working and that we are progressing on the path? 52:22 Q8 Regarding concentration in meditation, is this the same thing that creative people use in their work?

Questions are précised - 00:22 Regarding loving kindness, it is possible to love without liking. Does it involve dana? Is it possible to love without emulating? 14:31 Q2 You were saying that to reduce ego should be a process. But ego is also a driver. If we try and be something different is it driven by the ego? [the answer to this question and the file end abruptly].

Citta is central to our experience of life and can be experienced separately from the energies and moods it is so involved with. It's a kind of '"awareing" that can be contemplated as sense data lands.

This embodiment practice is for simplification, a pruning that reveals harmony and harmlessness. It’s not a technique to achieve something.

edited

Difference between attention and mindfulness. Visuddhi Magga 8 ways of reflecting on death. Five hindrances, briefly touched.