You think, ‘This is a rip-off! I’ve been struggling away for five or six years with fear and lust and so on, and now I get to the free space – here we are out in the open – and it’s a desert. This is not right!’ But then, what you realize is that this is not what the Buddha was pointing to as the goal of the holy life, because even though one can’t see any outstanding objects causing obstruction o…

Theravada Buddhism, for instance, is often taken to represent the Hinayana position, the self-concern of ‘Quick, let me out of here, I’ve had enough of this mess; I want this to be over as quickly as possible.’ One can see that that represents a very definite stage in one’s own spiritual development. For example, we start out with just a worldly attitude; basically we’re not interested in spiritua…

The Buddha often spoke of three fires—three ailments—that we, as human beings, are afflicted by. These three things keep us continually moving, never able to rest or to be completely at ease. They are listed as greed, hatred and delusion (lobha, dosa, moha). He also, out of compassion, pointed out the antidote. Actually, these fires are based on natural instincts. For example, greed, or sensual de…

Do you ever wonder how far you’ve got in terms of Awakening? Maybe, when you review it, you see it like this: ‘Well I live with a sense of conscience and concern for the welfare of others. I do meditate, and from time to time my mind gets quite peaceful. The thinking stops; there’s a sense of wonder and ease. Then I come out of that, but in the flow of events of people and things and ups and downs…

The water in the ocean comes from little rivers. They flow into the ocean from different directions, but they all come together there. It’s the same when we meditate. We all bring the mind to stillness, and then we practice not clinging. Big rivers, small rivers, all gather in the same ocean. It doesn’t matter where they come from, they all gather in the ocean. We practice meditation to make the m…

But how do you abandon a feeling? When the Buddha talks about abandoning, or letting go, it’s not that your mind has a hand that’s grasping things. You’re engaged in habitual activities, habitual ways of reacting, habitual ways of thinking, habitual ways of breathing, habitual ways of perceiving things, habitual ways of fashioning feelings. And as long as you keep repeating those habitual patterns…

The Westerners came to Buddhist teachings and monastic life without the cultural conditioning of the Thais. In one sense they had ‘beginner’s mind’. Their open, questioning attitude Ajahn Chah found refreshing and stimulating. As students they were free of the complacency that he considered such a serious obstacle for his Thai disciples. But their openness was not without drawbacks: the Westerners…

As we settle into the retreat and keep bringing our attention and intention inwards, using the breath as an anchor, remember that our meditation is something we have to engage with. Just the physical act of sitting in one posture is not necessarily going to make the mind peaceful. Ajahn Chah used to say that he’s seen chickens sit on their nest for a long time and doesn’t see them get either wise…

The Pāli Canon has a reputation for being humorless. And it’s easy to see why. In some of its passages, the Buddha seems to regard humor in a bad light. For instance, in the Wailing Discourse (AN 3:107) he refers to “laughing excessively, showing one’s teeth,” as a form of childishness, and counsels that a monk, when feeling joy in the Dhamma, should simply smile. His instructions to Rāhula in M…

This is also a useful insight in terms of our inner practice: to recognize that there are times when we actually have a choice to not allow the mind to go in a certain direction. Once I was very angry and there was a strong sense of wanting to punish someone. Fortunately, I was also very clear about the harmfulness of acting on such a negative impulse, so I could just stop it, cut it. Not because…