Questions are précised and read into the file: 00:10 Q1 Is there a Buddhist perspective on the soul and how that might relate to citta. 09:08 Q2 I am wondering about the teachings of the trikayas in terms of the territory of the soul or the devas. 11:38 Q3 You were saying there is no me and no not me; there is no soul. But then, what gets passed on? 20:42 Q4 When I think about what gets passed on I tend to think more of the role of genetics. To me, Buddhism doesn’t seem to give enough weight to the social or family element in our development. 22:39 Q5 Regarding the concept of qi (chi), does that life force come with intelligence imbued in it? 23:02 Q6 I so appreciated your comments about the beauty of freedom the Buddha had was to choose to teach out of compassion. So his enlightenment was not the end point but it was the responsive space that resulted that was so beautiful. 33:01 Q7 Can you elaborate please? Is the most basic link in the dependent origination is the I am singularity? Is there an asava independent of the I am?34:26 Q8 Earlier you talked about the four areas of crystallization of clinging: sense pleasures, becoming and principles / ethics. What was the fourth?

Guided meditation

The Brahmaviharas are all full-hearted intentions towards good will; heart energies that carry the same code / language. They are not about liking.

Questions are précised and read into the file: 00:25 Q1 I’m wondering if you have thought about animal sankara formations and what they might be like? 04:27 Q2 Can the environment change your citta? 07:23 Q3 Can you talk more about calming the formations? It seems such a huge subject. 08:44 Q4 You say we have to turn towards our regrets and not suppress them. But these have to do with the past and we have to turn to them. I think I am confused. 25:07 Q5 Can you say more about existence and non-existence?

Questions are précised and read into the file: 00:38 Q1 Buddhist cosmology I find terribly overwhelming. If I just focus on what is helping me, will I be missing out on much? 02:07 Q2 I really value your teaching that it all comes back to clinging. 02:55 Q3 Yesterday you mentioned a shift that can be sensed before the tone of pleasant or unpleasant actually arises. Can you say anything more about this shift before the vedana quality actually appears? 04:23 Q4 This seems so interwoven. I guess it's a tangled skein. 12:17 Q5 You mentioned that it was helpful to point the citta towards kaya sankara rather than the vaci sankara. Is that what allows the development of equanimity? 16:52 Q6 I am confused. Are the heart and the citta two different things? 19:44 Q7 About the taints/ asava, is this a linear sequence? 28:15 Q8 Isn't part of the beauty of what you've done with samadhi as well is that to enter samadhi you've experienced non-fabrication of the 5 hindrances. 30:13 Q9 When I practice the jhanas I find I get to a certain point where I can't get further into calmness. Is that where I should start to investigate? 35:13 Q10 I have a resistance to being grounded. It seems I prefer the fizzy state. 42:37 Q11 In relating to signs and to being able to set signs aside, what role does beauty play in the dhamma? 44:58 Q12 Could it mean that it reduces the energy in unhelpful sankaras? Q13 There might be a time when I'm experiencing an upset and I would just put myself in front of a tree and the experience of viewing, considering the tree gives time for the capacity to identify with something wholesome and helpful.

Ajahn points out that the dependent origination teaching is not a linear sequence. It's more like a chaotic attractor with feedback loops, some returning more quickly than others.

Several participants relay their personal experiences with and understanding of delusion with responses and commentary by Ajahn. (The participants' voices are read into the file.)

Questions are précised and read into the file:14:10 Q1 Is there any significance to this figure of speech “there is a cause, it does not lack a cause” or is it just giving emphasis? 15:38 Q2 How do you withdraw emotional energy? 40:56 Q3 Regarding the role of being inspired, I was thinking about the Buddha’s own journey. His movement towards the path was the fourth messenger, the samana who moved him. If he hadn’t been open to that … 43:45 Q4 At some point we want to be skilful and pay attention to those problematic tendencies. So maybe being caught up in that negative script is like getting caught up in judgement. 44:33 Q5 When you can stand back and look at it without being sucked into the vortex. Is that it?

Questions are précised and read into the file: 00:48 Q1 You mentioned subtle body energy, heart and mind energy. Are these the same or different? What is the heart energy? 08:21 How do you heal the citta? 19:52 In dependent arising, is there a link where you can catch it more easily? 24:03 By bringing some acceptance to that craving or that aversion feeling, in my experience it doesn’t normally stop but reveals it more and allows it to be and I can respond to it.

The realization that waves of energy pass, allows us to see the thoughts and emotions that they support subside. It's not an annihilation, it's just a withdrawal of energy. Realizing this shows us just how fake our normal interpretation of experience is.

Questions are précised and read into the file: Q1 About this drip, drip, drip experience … can we moderate it? Can it be influenced by others? 01:46 Q2 When you were talking about vedena, you said things don’t come into existence without formulation. In that context it seemed like formulation was desirable. And yet when taking about consciousness it seemed like formulation was not desirable. 03:55 Q3 And probably, at least I sense that compassion has less clinging than indifference where there is less solidification which is a movement towards the skilful. 09:50 Q4 Earlier you were talking about the search or the wish for certainty. Today I got the impression that there is no life to have permanence and solidity is like a stone statue. The better alternative perhaps is managing and growing over the predictability of I don’t know what … of stone. 13:45 Q5 I’m remembering what you said about existence … out of mind out of sight. But are there times when holding someone in mind can feel comforting for them and for you. 21:20 Q6 I’m not clear about vidia,veda, vedana and how these relate to avicca. 30:04 Q7 I’m struggling with the distinction between sankaras and dhammas. 31:15 Q8 And would nimitas be related to that? 33:45 Q9 That makes sense but my mind wants to connect that process to sankara. 40:09 Q 10 My question is about movement or awareness or flow in emotion. You mentioned that QiGong has supported your practice. But is it not also a meditation itself - cultivating awareness, supporting presence.

Things do not exist independent of cause, but co-arise from a combination of factors. This understanding provides for a radical analysis of momentary experience – that it is conditioned by the things which have the strongest impact on our citta.

Guided meditation

The practice of avoiding extremes also means experiencing a sense of balance. It's not about becoming and not about denying, but contemplating phenomena.

Mindfulness of these four areas: body, sensitivity, heart and emotional and psychological phenomena prevent us from being deluded.

Ajahn investigates the steps of dependent co-arising. Second part of the two-part talk.

Understanding the nature of our field of attention, our intentions and our awareness provides for an adjustment of this three-part operating system.

00.36 Q1 I'm very new to meditation. Could you say more about sitting, about posture. 8.12 Q2 If I compare my practice to an elevator I seem to spend a lot of time at the top and would like to go deeper but I'm always going back up to the top again, up and down. 14.36 Q3 Having projects and things that I want to do that require determination, is that incompatible with a meditation practice? 18.35 Q4 My family have been football fans and have supported the Tottenham Hotspurs club for ages. What can you say about this? 21.32 Q5 What guidance can you give on engaging with conflict? 28.47 Q5 What can I do if the values of my friends and acquaintances don't fit with mine? 30.42 Q6 Regarding stream entry, do path and fruit happen simultaneously or does one come after the other?

This is the epitome of the Buddha's practice. As we practise abandoning our holding on to anything, we can learn how this 'need to hold' is a normal but subversive aspect of our experience.

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.