There’s a common understanding that the purpose of meditation is to fully arrive in the present moment. However, the Buddha taught people to focus on the present moment not as a goal, but as a place where work is to be done to go beyond the present. This talk, based on the essay, “The Karma of Now” will explore the Buddha’s understanding of the present moment, and the implications of that understanding, not only for the practice of meditation, but also for Buddhist practice as a whole.

Thanissaro Bhikkhu reviews the Four Noble Truths as the categorical teaching of the Buddha - true and always beneficial. He describes the duties that enable us to fully understand and comprehend them and how the three characteristics - Dukkha, Annica, Anatta - are used in support of these duties and this understanding.

Thanissaro Bhikkhu speaks about the meaning of refuge in practice. As we strive for wisdom, purity and compassion; develop mindfulness in order to have a solid state of concentration; and strive to fit into the dharma rather than the other way around, we create a foundation that is conducive to attaining nibbana.

This recording provides an introduction to the maps.

Thanissaro gives some introductory points for the weekend.

Thanissaro used the suttas in this Maps to Awakening PDF document as the basis for the retreat.

In this second talk in a lecture series on the Great Disciples, the speaker, Thanissaro Bhikkhu, talks about the contributions by Ananda to the Dharma. Because of his incredible memory, what we know in the Pali Canon today came mostly from Ananda's recollection of the Buddha's teachings. He described in detail who came to the Buddha, what were their question/problem, and how the Buddha addressed that particular question/problem. This is an important contribution to our understanding of how the Dharma was taught, because so much of it depended on who was asking what, and what kind of teaching was the best for them. Another debt that we owe Ananda is that he asked the Buddha questions that no one had asked. And Ananda's questions in turn sparked the Buddha to explain things or do things that he otherwise might not have explained or done.

The early Buddhist sangha included some accomplished and intriguing disciples--lay and monastic, male and female. By searching the literature of the Pali Canon, contemporary scholars have been able to compile biographical information, infer personality traits, and gain a vivid sense of the human relationships and life-stories that formed the earliest Buddhist community. This speaker series will explore the lives, practice, and teachings of several of the great disciples of the Buddha. The series will illuminate both the ordinary and extraordinary contributions of some of the most interesting personalities whose questions, challenges, and life situations shaped the teachings that we cherish today.

The Kalama Sutta is most famous for its encouragement not to place total trust in traditions and texts, but it also encourages you not to place total trust in your sense of reason and preferences. So where can you place your trust? This talk focuses on the dilemma posed by the sutta's recommendations, and the way in proposes out of the dilemma.

One in a series of 3 talks: The Buddha viewed perceptions of self and not-self as a form of karma, or action. Thus the question is not, “Do I have a self?” or “What is my true self?” Instead, it is “When is it skillful to perceive a self, and when is it more skillful to perceive not-self?” This series of three talks will explore this last question. Part III explores the function of the perception of not-self as a means to true happiness.

One in a series of 3 Talks: The Buddha viewed perceptions of self and not-self as a form of karma, or action. Thus the question is not, “Do I have a self?” or “What is my true self?” Instead, it is “When is it skillful to perceive a self, and when is it more skillful to perceive not-self?” This series of three talks will explore this last question. Part II explores ways in which a healthy, mature sense of self is essential to the practice.

One in a series of 3 talks: The Buddha viewed perceptions of self and not-self as a form of karma, or action. Thus the question is not, “Do I have a self?” or “What is my true self?” Instead, it is “When is it skillful to perceive a self, and when is it more skillful to series of three talks will explore this last question. Part I explores the issue of why the Buddha refused to take a position on the question of whether or not there is a self.

The inner quialities that provide wealth for the mind - a sense of freedom and security - regardless of outside conditions.

According to the Buddha, appropriate attention is the most important mental factor for attaining Awakening. So what does he mean by attention, and what kind of attention is appropriate? How do the factors of appropriate attention apply to our meditation practice, how do they apply to our lives?

The Buddha's teachings on Karma provide a necessary foundation for understanding how meditation works to develop tranquility and insight.

The Buddha's teachings on Karma provide a necessary foundation for understanding how meditation works to develop tranquility and insight.

The Buddha's teachings on Karma provide a necessary foundation for understanding how meditation works to develop tranquility and insight.

The Buddha's teachings on Karma provide a necessary foundation for understanding how meditation works to develop tranquility and insight.

The Buddha's teachings on Karma provide a necessary foundation for understanding how meditation works to develop tranquility and insight.

The Buddha's teachings on Karma provide a necessary foundation for understanding how meditation works to develop tranquility and insight.

The Buddha's teachings on Karma provide a necessary foundation for understanding how meditation works to develop tranquility and insight.

The Buddha's teachings on Karma provide a necessary foundation for understanding how meditation works to develop tranquility and insight.

The problems and distractions in the present are not something you simply want to push your way through or get out of the way. You have to understand how they happen, for that understanding forms the essence of insight.

The act of 'doing' Right Concentration is what allows you to understand what it means to 'do' so well that you actually learn how to stop doing. That's the karma that puts an end to karma, the intention that allows you to understand intention until you finally get to the point where you can stop.

Mindfulness is where things start, but it can't do all the work. It's only one of the spices on your meditation shelf. This is why it's important to understand precisely what 'mindfulness' means, and how to supplement it with other skillful qualities in the mind.

Truths of the observer require you simply to observe things and try to figure them out. Truths of the will, which cover relationships are skills, are things you have to bring into being or they never become a reality. In this area faith, confidence, and conviction make all the difference.

Coming to terms with the inevitability of your own death and the death of those you love. If you wait until the time of death in order to think about these things, it's a huge shock. This is one of the reasons the Buddha has you contemplate if before death.

Using the analogy of the 'committee mind' to free yourself from the tendency to identify with every thought that comes into the mind; using the breath as a secure place to extract yourself from the committee discussions and gain a new perspective on them.

The path involves learning how to marshal various emotions--grief, joy, desire, disgust, gladness, dispassion--some of which are normally regarded as negative. But they have their uses, so learn how to cultivate them all along the way. Without these emotions, the practice doesn't go anywhere. With them it can take you to release.

Awareness filling the body is the foundation of your meditation. It provides a sense of solidity throughout the interactions of life, and ultimately is the means for encountering the Deathless.

The mind is always creating thought worlds that make us suffer. To get beyond this suffering, you have to confront the fears that force the mind to keep creating these worlds.

Learning a patient approach to breath meditation.

Guided breath meditation, step-by-step through the body.

The Four Noble Truths as a guide for dealing with experience so as to put an end to suffering.

The problem with delusion is that it's always threatened by reality. If you learn to admit reality, act in-line with the way things actually are, then there's nothing threatening.

A long line of people going back over 2,500 years have been up for the challenge of the practice. Are you going to join them?

One of the reasons we focus on the present moment is so we can see our intentions as we act and learn to take control of our choices.

When a sense of self is a useful strategy for finding happiness, and when it's not.

The Core curriculum for life: How to Live, How to Die, How to deal with pain, aging, illness, death & seperation.

Looking at the teaching of not-self in the context of the teaching of Karma, and not the other way around.

Cultivating mindfulness of the body by thinking of it as composed of breath sensations.

How to find peace in the midst of the barrage of sensory input.

Bringing thought formations into the light of conciousness through the simple exercise of staying with the breath.

Being comfortable and constant with your meditation object.

Heedfulness- the Buddha's final teaching - provides the context within which his other teachings on the path should be understood.

Learning to see renunciation as freedom.

Learning to see renunciation as freedom.

Using the Breath to cultivate sublime attitudes.

Using the Breath to cultivate sublime attitudes.

Generosity.

As long as you have a sense of self-identity, make it one that's willing and able to learn, one that finds joy in doing things skillfully.

As long as you have a sense of self-identity, make it one that's willing and able to learn, one that finds joy in doing things skillfully.

The breath is like a mirror for the mind. When there’s greed, anger, delusion, they’ll show up in the breath. And you find that not only does the breath reflect the mind, but you can use the breath to have a positive effect on the mind as well.

When the breath in the body is full, you find that it’s really resilient and eases your burdens in lots of ways. So experiment to see what a “full breath” is.

The mind is like an animal: that if it hasn’t been trained it’s difficult to live with. Once we train it, though, it stops creating so much suffering for itself. So we begin by staying in one place with something really simple: the breath.

Approaching anger skillfully, both by developing a proper understanding of it and by using the many tools that can be used to keep the mind from being overcome by it.

GET REAL Reality is threatening when we try to live in our stories and preconceived notions. But when the mind is free of the falsity of delusion, things that are real pose no danger to the mind. RIGHT NOW What you're doing right now is very important -- a principle that applies to any 'right now,' because what you're doing right now is always shaping 'right now' as well as the future. JUST THIS BREATH In one breath you've got everything you need for the practice, so be fully aware right here, and the fullness of your awareness will develop over time without your having to pace yourself or to plan ahead. SHAPING YOUR LIFE As meditators, we can easily slip into the attitude that we're like people watching T.V. -- passive consumers, watching a reality that's ready-made -- but that's not what's really going on. We've always active, always shaping things, even when we seem to be perfectly still. The purpose of the meditation is to be more careful about our intentions, more alert about how we're shaping things. DEVELOPING YOUR POTENTIAL The simple things we already have in the present can be put together in such a way that they can lead to true happiness. We don't have to go searching outside. All we need is to develop what's right here. FIVE TALKS ON ONE CASSETTE OR CD

INTRODUCTION TO BREATH MEDITATION Learn how to enjoy keeping the mind with the breath. If you spend time with the breath, you get sensitive not only to the breath, but also to what the mind is doing in the present moment and to the way it causes unnecessary suffering for itself. GETTING TO KNOW THE BREATH We live with the breath, and yet we don’t know it, and as a result don’t get as much out of it as we could. The breath can provide food, clothing, shelter, and medicine for the mind if you take the time to get to know it well. INSIGHT FROM THE BREATH The type of insight that’s going to make a difference in the mind has to come from the mind’s being solidly based. So, until your mindfulness of the breath is really solid, this is where you want to focus all your efforts. WHY THE BREATH The breath is like a mirror for the mind. When there’s greed, anger, delusion, they’ll show up in the breath. And you find that not only does the breath reflect the mind, but you can use the breath to have a positive effect on the mind as well. THE FULLNESS OF THE BREATH When the breath in the body is full, you find that it’s really resilient and eases your burdens in lots of ways. So experiment to see what a “full breath” is. THE BREATH'S POTENTIAL The mind is like an animal: that if it hasn’t been trained it’s difficult to live with. Once we train it, though, it stops creating so much suffering for itself. So we begin by staying in one place with something really simple: the breath.

Reality is threatening when we try to live in our stories and preconceived notions. But when the mind is free of the falsity of delusion, things that are real pose no danger to the mind.

What you’re doing right now is very important—a principle that applies to any “right now,” because what you’re doing right now is always shaping “right now” as well as the future.

In one breath you’ve got everything you need for the practice, so be fully aware right here, and the fullness of your awareness will develop over time without your having to pace yourself or to plan ahead.

As meditators, we can easily slip into the attitude that we’re like people watching T.V.—passive consumers, watching a reality that’s ready-made—but that’s not what’s really going on. We’ve always active, always shaping things, even when we seem to be perfectly still. The purpose of the meditation is to be more careful about our intentions, more alert about how we’re shaping things.

The simple things we already have in the present can be put together in such a way that they can lead to true happiness. We don’t have to go searching outside. All we need is to develop what’s right here.

Reality is threatening when we try to live in our stories and preconceived notions. But when the mind is free of the falsity of delusion, things that are real pose no danger to the mind.

Learn how to enjoy keeping the mind with the breath. If you spend time with the breath, you get sensitive not only to the breath, but also to what the mind is doing in the present moment and to the way it causes unnecessary suffering for itself.

We live with the breath, and yet we don’t know it, and as a result don’t get as much out of it as we could. The breath can provide food, clothing, shelter, and medicine for the mind if you take the time to get to know it well.

The type of insight that’s going to make a difference in the mind has to come from the mind’s being solidly based. So, until your mindfulness of the breath is really solid, this is where you want to focus all your efforts.

Learn how to enjoy keeping the mind with the breath. If you spend time with the breath, you get sensitive not only to the breath, but also to what the mind is doing in the present moment and to the way it causes unnecessary suffering for itself.

The suffering that arises in the practice is a noble truth, something worthy of respect. You can’t just push it away. If you’re going to end suffering you have to give it space, understand it, and approach it systematically.

Instead of trying to find our happiness in a world of change, we take that changing world and turn it toward the changeless, look for that which is unchanging right here, right now.

The suffering that arises in the practice is a noble truth, something worthy of respect. You can’t just push it away. If you’re going to end suffering you have to give it space, understand it, and approach it systematically.