Donate  |   Contact


The greatest gift is the
gift of the teachings
 
Ajahn Sucitto's Dharma Talks
Ajahn Sucitto
As a monk, I bring a strong commitment, along with the renunciate flavor, to the classic Buddhist teachings. I play with ideas, with humor and a current way of expressing the teachings, but I don't dilute them.
     1 2 ... 25 26 27 ... 59 60
2020-01-08 Finding Reference in Ground, Space and Rhythm 47:55
Download Listen
Citta only experiences perception and feeling. We can cultivate skillful perceptions of ground, space and rhythm that result in comfort and ease.
Cittaviveka :  Cittaviveka Buddhist Monastery Winter Retreat 2020
2020-01-07 Citta and the Khandhā 37:17
Download Listen
The paradigm of practice is discerning skillful from unskillful heart states. We begin to turn away from the states that entangle the heart, and learn to linger in wholesome qualities. Skillful states always carry the mark of freedom.
Cittaviveka :  Cittaviveka Buddhist Monastery Winter Retreat 2020
2019-12-24 Closing Comments and Encouragement 16:12
Download Listen
Do resonances of gratitude reach other people? We can’t be sure, but our hearts feel richer and free, so we do it. The more you share, the richer you get. As Dhamma practitioners we lead the way in such sharing.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-24 The Four Noble Truths 63:26
Download Listen
When we cultivate awakening, the first thing we awaken to is dukkha. Burdens that have been clung to remain in the heart. Incline towards what arises with acceptance and goodwill. When we experience contact without clinging, fighting or fascination, the tide washes over and what’s left is inner peace.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-23 The Four Brahmavihāras 67:38
Download Listen
The 4 measureless states serve as powerful gates out of the personalized realm. They guide our actions and responses, making it possible to shift our kamma by generating new patterns. Their cultivation results in physical health, vitality, happiness, good friendship and serene heart.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-23 Duties towards Dhamma in Lay Life 66:36
Download Listen
As we return to the duties of lay life, we are encouraged to incorporate duties towards the Dhamma. Structure in reference points that remind you to be mindful and skillful – daily meditation, association with kalyāṇamitta, and cultivation of pāramī are recommended. Be vigilant, stay awake, don’t go into automatic. If you don’t shape your own life, the world will shape it for you.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-22 It’s the Tone that Counts 62:25
Download Listen
The habituated ways of the personality – craving to become good enough, burdened with self-criticism and fear – won’t bring about liberation. Citta, that which can be liberated, becomes available when the tone of our lives is warm, encouraging, compassionate. Relax the doing and tune into the receptive. The theme of practice is to feel comfortable.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-22 The Only Resolution Is Letting Go 51:07
Download Listen
We live in an options culture, we’re used to getting our own way. We repeatedly give in to rāga, passions. Not the passions of liking things, but of feeling deeply stirred and agitated. In Dhamma practice, rather than adjusting the world to suit us, we adjust citta to form a harmonious, non-attached relationship to phenomena. This is how we develop pāramī.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-21 Q&A 3 69:00
Download Listen
Body scanning; stuck areas; mental proliferation; ‘commander’ and ‘do-er’ aspects of mind; appropriate objects of meditation; thoughts that arise during ānāpānasati; dealing with hinderances; restlessness
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-21 Skillful Means for Handling Dukkha 56:38
Download Listen
Citta is alternately translated as mind, heart and awareness. We use skillful means to apply these three aspects appropriately, for handling dukkha and understanding how it’s generated.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-20 What Touches the Heart Affects the Body 63:33
Download Listen
Citta is susceptible to uncontrollable emotional reactions. It gets thrown around by feeling. The fundamental principle is to be able to feel unpleasant feeling. The body provides support.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-20 The Magnificent Navigation Aids Given Us to Cross the Ocean of Dukkha 52:53
Download Listen
The contents of body and mind can become the prominent features of our attention. The content forms the ocean we need to cross over. We want to cross the ocean, not build a house there, not become too fascinated by it. The Dhamma offers tools to help us steer and manage our boats so we can cross the ocean.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-20 Comments on Walking 11:17
Download Listen
We’re so conditioned to keep moving on to the next, the mind has already moved on before the foot has completed its step. Practice as if there’s no next. Tune into the fluid, easy movement of the whole body. Let the mind settle into samādhi.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-19 Guided Meditation – Body Sweeping 49:55
Download Listen
Guided meditations can help in terms of timing, to demonstrate just how slow a process meditation is. Generally, the object of meditation is simple, it’s the handling of it that’s the skill. Body sweeping develops receptivity of the body. One cultivates tonal qualities of receptivity and care.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-19 The Five Aggregates 54:36
Download Listen
The aggregates work together to create the phenomenological world. But citta isn’t affected by this world of sense data, it’s affected by kamma – various unresolved memories, feelings and conditioned phenomena. Tend to the point of saṇkhāra to replace reactive habits, soothing the heart and releasing the grip of kamma.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-19 Progressive Dispassion 24:15
Download Listen
In meditation we repeatedly return to qualities that calm the citta. When we relate to phenomena in a reassuring, steadying way, citta experiences dispassion. There’s a progressive withdrawal from phenomena because citta begins to sense itself as stable, satisfying and valuable. It has no more purpose in going out. This is the maturation process.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-18 Q&A 2 1:18:41
Download Listen
Restlessness/preoccupation with things to do; mental proliferation/lost in mind; bad memories; ānāpānasati; 5 khandā
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-18 The Frame of Mindfulness – Sympathetic Awareness 61:20
Download Listen
The contents of the mind become the preoccupation, but there’s another reference point – the framework. Mindfulness is this frame. Don’t go into the content. Bear with the turbulences of mind within the frame of sympathetic awareness and just know, this the heart affected by feeling.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-18 Pick Up the Thread 30:41
Download Listen
In meditation we practice to find the balance of both focused and open awareness. We place the mind on a concept, and linger there letting the meaning run through the heart. Mind finds it difficult, but body does it naturally. The body can teach us the right kind of attention that lifts the mind and makes it happy.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-17 Returning to the Fullness of Human Nature 59:24
Download Listen
Human nature is empathic and seeks harmony. The personality structure masks our true nature. It tries to stop and dominate urges and emotions. But the practice is to go directly to feeling. We can use this natural body to help untangled the mind.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-17 How to Come to the Place of Harmony 67:10
Download Listen
We’re driven by craving and it causes suffering. The relinquishment of craving leads to ease and harmony. Dispassionate acceptance of these drives makes liberation possible.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-17 Using Chanting to Steady the Mind 29:28
Download Listen
The untrained mind energy is ragged, sluggish and incoherent. With its simple tones and slow, repetitive rhythm, chanting can steady the mind.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-16 Q&A 1 60:50
Download Listen
Samatha and vipassanā; dullness and hindrances; samādhi for lay people; witnessing cruelty; awareness and mindfulness
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-16 Refreshing the Art of Sitting 39:39
Download Listen
Finding the right posture when sitting can open up the belly and the chest. Safety is sensed in the belly, receptivity in the chest. When the body is relaxed the mind is happy in its own presence – this is samādhi.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-15 Sañña and Saṇkhāra Lead to Saṃsāra 67:35
Download Listen
A description of the cycle of saṃsāra, from contact, to feeling, to perception (sañña), to habit reaction (saṇkhāra). We remain stuck in this cycle of rebirth. The way out is direct experience at the point of feeling. Unpleasant feeling is discharged through the body.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-15 Orientation and Instructions 63:06
Download Listen
Opening instructions to start the retreat: set aside destructive influences, put forth an attitude of kindness and sensitivity, give attention to direct experience.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-15 Suggestions on Positions and Comfort 5:29
Download Listen
We have to support the limitations of this body. Don’t add the unnecessary stress of expecting to keep completely still during meditation. Move the body, sense the whole body, take deep breaths, relax.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-15 Using the Food Offering Skillfully 12:53
Download Listen
The meal offering provides an opportunity for practice. We practice to generate skillful qualities, to restrain the sense faculties, and to find balance in our actions.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-15 How to Cultivate Samādhi in Walking Meditation 17:27
Download Listen
Walking meditation supports the mind to come to a very balanced state. Let unskillful states and attitudes steam off as you walk. What’s left is something bright, warm and comfortable. Let the mind rest in that.
Uttama Bodhi Vihara :  Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-13 Sīla – A Vehicle for Happiness 33:39
Download Listen
When we make the intention to keep the precepts, we give ourselves the possibility to steer our own lives rather than being swept up in it. The basic principle is not fear and law but sensitivity and concern. We have the intention to live in an atmosphere of goodwill and respect for all sentient beings.
Wongsanit Ashram, Thailand :  6-Day Residential Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-12 Patient and Loving Acceptance 68:31
Download Listen
The body is much more than an idea, it’s something that’s here for us. With patient and loving acceptance we can clear disturbances from the body and experience a pleasant and steady abiding here and now.
Wongsanit Ashram, Thailand :  6-Day Residential Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-12 Skillful Means in the Cultivation of Wisdom 61:02
Download Listen
Wisdom is a natural feature of the mind. With its cultivation comes the ability to discern skillful from unskillful. But just knowing things are unskillful doesn’t stop the mind from doing it, we have to develop skillful means. We use mindfulness to be able to see through ignorance and stand back from the unskillful pulls of mind.
Wongsanit Ashram, Thailand :  6-Day Residential Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-11 Meditation as Re-education 66:35
Download Listen
Modern modes of attention, information and meaning-making cut us off from our natural intelligence. Mindfulness of body and breathing puts us back in touch with the tonality, naturalness and rhythm of embodied intelligence. We use this way of meditation to re-educate us.
Wongsanit Ashram, Thailand :  6-Day Residential Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-11 Q&A 58:59
Download Listen
1) What is citta? 2) Regrets, how to forgive oneself 3) How to practice appamano states in everyday life (mudita, equanimity) 4) How to work with obstructive mind-states (judgmental, not good enough, lonely, regretful, hopelessness) 5) How to practice reclining meditation 6) Headaches in certain mind-states
Wongsanit Ashram, Thailand :  6-Day Residential Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-11 The Gentle and Harmonious Tonality of Puja 16:00
Download Listen
Beginning the day with puja, a certain tonality is established. Not the abrasive, pushy, congested one of modern day, but something beautiful, timeless, gentle and steady. As we enact puja, we establish the Triple Gem as a heart quality that we can sit within. This is our refuge place.
Wongsanit Ashram, Thailand :  6-Day Residential Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-10 Guided Meditation: Heartful Sympathy for All Beings 42:01
Download Listen
This guided meditation touches into a fundamental quality that arose with the Buddha’s final realization – anukamapa, heartfelt sensitivity and sympathy for the welfare of sentient beings. We practice by generating perceptions and relating directly to the resulting experience.
Wongsanit Ashram, Thailand :  6-Day Residential Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-10 Mind’s Nature Is to Be Happy 62:55
Download Listen
We live in the sense world, but we don’t have to run out into it. We can see, hear and touch, but keep the heart collected inwardly. This gives a sense of balance and peace, an inner happiness.
Wongsanit Ashram, Thailand :  6-Day Residential Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-10 Make the First Effort of the Day with Wisdom and Persistence 16:12
Download Listen
Take the opportunity when you begin your day to turn away from unskillful states and start putting down the seeds for skillful states. Committing to precepts and recollecting Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha bring mental firmness. Breathing and chanting bring physical vitality and brightness. This builds up the reserves of wisdom and vitality to sustain you through the day.
Wongsanit Ashram, Thailand :  6-Day Residential Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-09 Care for the Mind – It’s Your Home 56:52
Download Listen
Whatever we incline our minds toward will affect us. Where do I want to give my attention? Where do I want to commit my time? These are helpful reflections. The mind is our home. Practicing with themes of restraint, mindfulness and careful attention, we have a chance to brighten and purify it.
Wongsanit Ashram, Thailand :  6-Day Residential Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-09 How to Stand Back from the Stream of Mind 63:35
Download Listen
It can be humbling to recognize that we’re not getting the results we’re going for in practice. We cultivate 4 Dhamma factors – motivation, energy, relinquishment & investigation – to understand the stream of mind we keep getting caught in, and to develop the capacity to stand back from it.
Wongsanit Ashram, Thailand :  6-Day Residential Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-09 The Key to Standing Meditation: Balance 23:37
Download Listen
If the back is not yet strong enough to sustain the sitting posture, standing offers relief. The feet, legs and ground sustain the upright posture so shoulders and upper body can relax. The key reference is balance.
Wongsanit Ashram, Thailand :  6-Day Residential Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-09 Skillful Placement of the Mind 38:47
Download Listen
Beginning our day, we realize the potential of the mind for confusion or clarity. We need to be quick to steer the mind towards the skillful. In puja we raise up skillful qualities of Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha as images and perceptions. This establishes a tone of brightness, persistence and open-heartedness.
Wongsanit Ashram, Thailand :  6-Day Residential Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-08 How to Settle and Calm 43:52
Download Listen
When the heart can’t access its own centeredness and stability, the experience of insecurity and discomfort results. We can intentionally introduce skillful thoughts and perceptions to settle and calm the heart.
Wongsanit Ashram, Thailand :  6-Day Residential Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-08 The Path to Liberation Is through Direct Experience 53:17
Download Listen
There are two modes of experience, conceived and direct. Conceived experience keeps us stuck in the endless cycle of saṃsara. The way out is through direct experience. Practice with sensing the direct experience of body.
Wongsanit Ashram, Thailand :  6-Day Residential Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-08 Puja: A Purification Process 1:16:15
Download Listen
Puja is more than just thinking and recollecting. It’s very much an embodied, vocalized, participatory practice. You don’t really think about puja, you do it. In the doing of it there’s a particular energy, a collective harmony and a collective action that has purification effects.
Wongsanit Ashram, Thailand :  6-Day Residential Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-12-07 Preparing the Heart and Mind for Practice 63:48
Download Listen
An explanation of the opening rituals: what offering respect to the Triple Gem means; what the shrine offerings represent; how the precepts support our intention to train. Closes with the exhortation to make an effort with friendliness.
Wongsanit Ashram, Thailand :  6-Day Residential Retreat with Ajahn Sucitto
2019-10-12 Integrity Leads to Awakening 54:22
Download Listen
With reference to AN10:61, this teaching reviews the nutriments that result in ignorance, and the nutriments that result in true knowledge and liberation. For the latter, it starts with a person of integrity, with kalyanamitta. We all model something to each other. Cultivating purity of mind, thought, intention, speech, action is then not only for our welfare, but for the welfare of others.
Cittaviveka :  Vassa 2019 Closing Group Practice Retreat, Cittaviveka Monastery
2019-10-12 Approach to Samadhi and Its Benefits 38:53
Download Listen
Intention is conditioned to move forward, to move to the next thing. But the encouragement here is to moderate one’s citta – volitional tendencies. Recollect the skillful, linger and deepen into the feeling of it until the mind is gladdened, settled, brought to singularity. There is always more to do on the conditioned level – taking time to store up the good in this way should not be neglected.
Cittaviveka :  Vassa 2019 Closing Group Practice Retreat, Cittaviveka Monastery
2019-10-11 Sweeping the Path 29:54
Download Listen
Like dust, defilements creep into the mind and build up. We live in a dusty world, it’s not a personal failing. The normal response is to be vigilant about sweeping – sustain mindfulness. Persistence, energy, and right attitude are required.
Cittaviveka :  Vassa 2019 Closing Group Practice Retreat, Cittaviveka Monastery
2019-10-10 The Way Out of the Jungle 32:50
Download Listen
We can do better than just getting by. We can feel fulfilled in a deep way, released from our confusion and blind spots. We use meditation to cultivate qualities of non-suffering, comfort and steadiness and extend them. The resulting inner harmony becomes our vehicle for walking through the jungle of the heart.
Cittaviveka :  Vassa 2019 Closing Group Practice Retreat, Cittaviveka Monastery

     1 2 ... 25 26 27 ... 59 60
Creative Commons License Content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Dharma Seed is a 501(c)(3) Non-profit organization. email: contact@dharmaseed.org