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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.
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2020-02-15 5 Indriya 39:11
The mind gets taken over by defective programs causing imbalance. This imbalance is called dukkha. The Buddha introduced a graduated way to shift this imbalance. This process brings up indriya, spiritual faculties. These help to mediate the tendencies of craving and clinging and result in a greater sense of harmony and balance.
Buddhist Retreat Centre, Ixopo, South Africa :  Ajahn Sucitto, Firm Centre Open Heart Retreat
2020-02-14 Q&A 1 64:12
Physical pain; draining tension through the body; meeting the agitation of being on retreat; dealing with demons and emotional chaos; are liberation practices and goodwill compatible; is goodwill readily available through study and reflection; what thoughts to let pass, what to examine; definition and experience of full knowing; is noting necessary for Vipassana?
Buddhist Retreat Centre, Ixopo, South Africa :  Ajahn Sucitto, Firm Centre Open Heart Retreat
2020-02-14 Liberation and Structures 58:35
Our personality patterning can be very intense and driven. We’ve got to build in something that holds it back, slows it down, tames it. We use a combination of structures and tonality to create new patterns, ones that keep us from holding on.
Buddhist Retreat Centre, Ixopo, South Africa :  Ajahn Sucitto, Firm Centre Open Heart Retreat
2020-02-14 Rising Energies and Tonalities 36:15
Citta gets shaped into particular forms based on causes and conditions. Over time it can get locked into distorted forms constricting the natural nature of citta which is flexible, bright and expansive. With a mind of unconditional acceptance, energetic patterns can be cleaned and released through body.
Buddhist Retreat Centre, Ixopo, South Africa :  Ajahn Sucitto, Firm Centre Open Heart Retreat
2020-02-13 Develop a Forcefield of Goodwill 7:36
In recollection we use thought more slowly than usual. Capture the meaning and touch the heart. This is a way to reset the heart, making it strong so it doesn’t go into resentment, grudges and other unpleasant states.
Buddhist Retreat Centre, Ixopo, South Africa :  Ajahn Sucitto, Firm Centre Open Heart Retreat
2020-02-13 Hold the Heart Steady against the Push of Ill-Will 43:56
The general mode is to change the outside world to please the heart, but this can never satisfy. We practice instead to change the heart, to make it strong enough to withstand the push of ill-will. Refuges include the Triple Gem, brahmavihāras, mindfulness of body and precepts.
Buddhist Retreat Centre, Ixopo, South Africa :  Ajahn Sucitto, Firm Centre Open Heart Retreat
2020-02-13 Deep Attention – Referencing Uplifting Tones 54:09
In any cultivation there is a referencing that occurs. In Dhamma practice we refer back to uplifting tones – integrity, respect, appropriateness. These invite skillful qualities to arise making it possible to unseat demons of violence, greed and efficiency.
Buddhist Retreat Centre, Ixopo, South Africa :  Ajahn Sucitto, Firm Centre Open Heart Retreat
2020-02-13 Making the Mind Fit 21:13
The nature of mind is what you give attention to will grow. We use recollection to generate uplifting tones in the heart, to increase bright energy. This makes the mind fit to meet afflictive patterns and energies.
Buddhist Retreat Centre, Ixopo, South Africa :  Ajahn Sucitto, Firm Centre Open Heart Retreat
2020-02-13 Direct Practice: Sound Opens the Silence 31:31
This is an exercise in direct practice, using sound to train the mind. Making a sound from one’s own voice, we use it to lengthen attention over one particular phenomenon rather than jumping onto the next thing. It opens the silence where the mind is poised, listening.
Buddhist Retreat Centre, Ixopo, South Africa :  Ajahn Sucitto, Firm Centre Open Heart Retreat
2020-02-12 Guided Meditation: Body Sweeping – Staying Open but Focused 23:07
In meditation we use the thinking mind minimally, placing greater emphasis on the listening mind. This guided meditation gives practice in lengthening the listening, lingering mind.
Buddhist Retreat Centre, Ixopo, South Africa :  Ajahn Sucitto, Firm Centre Open Heart Retreat
2020-02-12 4 Basic Postures 34:43
An overview of the 4 basic postures for meditation: sitting, standing [14:00], walking [17:05] and reclining [25:45].
Buddhist Retreat Centre, Ixopo, South Africa :  Ajahn Sucitto, Firm Centre Open Heart Retreat
2020-02-12 Firm Center Open Heart 42:52
On this retreat, practices for establishing a firm center and open heart will be presented. Openness can be too vulnerable, we need to know what to filter and what to linger in. Precepts offer a firm center of integrity. The body can be a source of steady and calm. We bring to heart and mind that which is beautiful and aspirational to shift agitated energies. These are our refuges.
Buddhist Retreat Centre, Ixopo, South Africa :  Ajahn Sucitto, Firm Centre Open Heart Retreat
2020-02-09 Refuges, Precepts and Reflections 61:57
We can establish Firm Centre Open Heart as a core way of being. Refuges and precepts offer support as we train to remain awake and attentive outside of retreat. Vows of virtue and morality, when held with firm flexibility, allow wholesome qualities to be transmitted through the open heart.
Dharmagiri Firm Center, Open Heart
2020-02-09 Opening and Soothing the Causal Field 57:04
The theme of the retreat, Firm Centre Open Heart, is a reminder of what the work is. Remaining steady in the “here-ness” of body, and opening the energetic field supports the releasing of kamma. In return you receive the natural beauty of your heart.
Dharmagiri Firm Center, Open Heart
2020-02-09 Turning Attention Back to the Source 36:54
Rather than asking why things arise, ask where. Turn attention towards the field of body, behind where phenomena arise. This is a quiet and stable place.
Dharmagiri Firm Center, Open Heart
2020-02-08 How to Sustain an Open Heart 66:54
We can notice where we add stress to an already painful, difficult situation. The cause is tanhā and upādāna, craving and clinging. Use meditation to review the craving mind and feel the feeling without closing around it. The duty of the heart is to allow phenomena to arise and pass away.
Dharmagiri Firm Center, Open Heart
2020-02-08 The Calming Effects of Puja 24:54
The devotional practices of pūjā can be used to steady the energetic field. Resonate simple sounds, images and meanings in the body to steady thought energy and open the heart.
Dharmagiri Firm Center, Open Heart
2020-02-08 The Healing of an Opened Heart 58:02
An open heart is a transmitter of good qualities. Unsettled energies cause intentions and actions to lack clarity and steadiness. Relate to the energies of body, speech and mind with receptivity, compassion and goodwill. It’s the tonality that matters.
Dharmagiri Firm Center, Open Heart
2020-02-07 Q&A 52:06
Can non-monastics in the west reach enlightenment? Attachment in relationships; How to encourage care for the environment; Qualities that free us from world of senses; Freedom from rage resulting from abusive relationships; Compassionate response to racist remarks
Dharmagiri Firm Center, Open Heart
2020-02-07 The Liberating View 13:53
A good part of our practice is adjustment in view. The divided view always leads to stirring and agitation. Deal with the rippling of energy directly in the wide overall field of body.
Dharmagiri Firm Center, Open Heart
2020-02-07 Transformation of Consciousness 64:06
There can be a fundamental shifting of intention, of the source of kamma. Rather than following habitual reactions, hold them with a heart of goodwill and restraint. Through the expanding of relational intent is the cessation of suffering and stress.
Dharmagiri Firm Center, Open Heart
2020-02-06 Mindfulness of Breathing 65:12
Rather than being about the inhalation and exhalation of breath, mindfulness of breathing is about soothing the life force energy. As energy settles in the body, many disruptive emotive tendencies are cleared, leaving the heart available to meet experience in a balanced and sensitive way.
Dharmagiri Firm Center, Open Heart
2020-02-06 Kamma and Saṇkhāra 46:33
We might experience running down familiar emotional tracks (saṇkhāra). Tracks get laid down by the repeated and habitual reactions to contact (kamma). To clear disturbing and negative tracks, widen attention and check the habitual impulse. The mind naturally seeks harmony and balance. Listen deeply for its response.
Dharmagiri Firm Center, Open Heart
2020-02-06 Natural Walking 11:13
Natural walking has a smooth and self-synchronizing quality. It gives the mind a place to sit where it feels satisfied and doesn’t run out. This is the direction of samādhi.
Dharmagiri Firm Center, Open Heart
2020-02-06 3 Channels for Energy 29:57
There is a 3-fold system through which energy operates: bodily, conceptual and emotive. As we practice to resolve and release negative energies, we need resources. Bringing together the 3 aspects of body, mind and heart provide a way to open channels to drain and release unresolved energies.
Dharmagiri Firm Center, Open Heart

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