Ajahn Amaro recollects his past year on Sabbatical in India, the value of not having to be anybody, and the skillful use of thought in reflective meditation. (Estimated date of talk. Exact date unknown)
This talk starts with an introduction on the futility of amassing knowledge. It then examines the genesis of our implicit belief in the permanence of things, and explores ways to unlearn it.
As the Buddha showed, clinging gives birth to the I. The I, in turn, keeps puffing itself up by further clinging. When we understand that this generates nothing but suffering, we are ready to unlearn the I, that is the "Me."
Contact brings impressions into the heart, which gets retrained at an involuntary level and affect our immediate response to life in terms of fear, mistrust, desire. There are ways of clearing this—the result is joy.
