Now, how do we put all these Seven Factors of Awakening together? In a practical sense you’ve probably already noticed that some of them are quite active, energetic qualities, and others are more calming. There are three active ones: investigation of dhamma, energy and joy. Three others are calming: tranquillity, concentration and equanimity. And mindfulness watches over them all. First we become…

It’s the same with the stuff we find within, the stuff that we fear – the big ‘monsters’ and the ghastly things we can’t bear to face or think of. Those kind of things actually feed off our resistance and denial. Yet, if we can give them space, we can see…’Oh, just feelings; perceptions…just that much’ – not in denial or rejection but in a full acceptance and opening to just what is. The intensity…

You really have to be devoted to what you’re doing here. Or as Ajaan Fuang would say, “You really have to be crazy about the meditation if you want to meditate well.” You have to get the meditation so that it really engages your imagination. What can be done with the mind as you focus it on the breath? What can be done with the breath? How can you learn to relate to the breath in a way that allows…

I think it’s really important to recollect one’s teachers, both ordinary teachers and Dhamma teachers, as well as one’s parents, because they are all carried into and become part of our citta. This mind is like a stream that absorbs influences from other people. But it’s important to hold this process in the right way. As Luang Por himself would say, ‘Luang Por Sumedho is a perception in the mind’…

The work period and the regular chores we have in the monastery are an extension of our practice. It’s important to consciously bring that point to mind. Otherwise, it’s easy to fall into the habit of being wrapped up in the excitement and enthusiasm we feel about the work project we are doing or being indifferent and waiting for the work period to be over. Whatever perceptions and attitudes we ma…

There are questions to which we still don’t know the answers, like how confident and comfortable we are at the thought of our own death. That question is about as primal as it gets in terms of things that are most conducive to insecurity and fear. We can work up a great deal of concern about not getting our coffee at the right temperature, but it pales to the thought, “I am going to die.” We put o…

There is a contrast between the mind caught in the habits of becoming, and the quality of right practice, in which we learn how to work towards realization without creating more confusion. The English word ‘becoming’ is a translation of the Pali word ‘bhava’, which is sometimes translated as ‘being’ or ‘existence’…but I prefer the translation ‘becoming’ because it conveys the quality of momentum.…

I think it’s easy to hold out hope that if I just get these teachings, the intellectual structure, or the techniques down pat, then I’ll be able to free myself from suffering. Maybe it’s not articulated as baldly as that, but it’s easy to internalize this and forget that there’s another really crucial element. Sometimes the teachings can be a bit formulaic, so it’s important to investigate their n…

The five faculties are listed in the order in which they ordinarily develop. You begin with conviction because conviction deals with your views about what’s possible in terms of your self and of your world. In terms of the world, you’re convinced about what is possible and desirable to strive for. In terms of your self, conviction deals with what you believe you are capable of doing. In the Buddha…

Chanting the Buddhist texts is not a technical or mental exercise or something that is practised merely as a tradition or cultural ritual. Rather it is devotion and recollection with mindfulness and awareness that we are developing. It offers a tangible sense of uplift for those who are chanting and also for those listening. I am sure many of us have had such an experience when we first heard thes…