July 10: Changing Habits Bit by Bit Choices are happening all the time but "we" are not making them - our choices happen due to our conditioning and conditions. To change our habits we need to change our conditioning and conditions. July 17: Kamma Kamma is intentional action: thinking speaking or behaving. The law of kamma is that skillful intentions naturally lead to positive results and harmful or unskillful intentions naturally lead to suffering. This talk was based on Ven

May 5: The Chariotmaker AN 3:15 The Buddha uses an analogy to teach us patience in the development of our meditation practice. Several other suttas from AN 2 and 3 were used to reveal advice from the Buddha on developing our practice. May 12: The Four Noble Truths This is the basic teaching of the Buddha. All his other teachings fit into this teaching. May 19: Authority There are three levels of authority we can call on to help purify our minds: ourselves, others who are psyc

Dec 2: Pema Chodron Pema Chodron was the first American woman to receive full ordination as a Tibetan nun (via the Mahayana community of monastics in Hong Kong). Dec 12: Listening: A Language of Love Thich Nhat Hanh says deep listening is the foundation of Right Speech. Ayya Ahimsa maps out the necessity to listening internally in our meditation, externally in our relationships and the advance skill of being able to listen internally and externally simultaneously. Dec 19: Bud

Nov 11: Energy and Joy We've finished pedalling uphill with Mindfulness and Investigation of Dhamma. Now we're on the downhill run.....the rest of the Factors of Awakening are resultants of the causes we have been inputting. Nov 18: Tranquility and Stillness Sanghamitta talks about the 5th and 6th Factors of Awakening: tranquility and stillness (samadhi/jhana). Nov 28: Looking On - Equanimity The culmination of the Awakening Factors is upekkha, equanimity. Ayya describes what

Oct 3 - Part 6: Giving Up What's Not Yours In the final three verses of the Mangala Sutta the Buddha gives a compelling description of the liberated heart, a heart that no longer ignorantly, mistakenly experiences a sense of self. Oct 1 - Magnificent Metta-cine Metta practice is not just another tool in our meditation tool belt; it is a central foundation for our spiritual lives. Oct 17 - In Search of Kusala: The Seven Factors of Awakening The Seven Factors of Awakening are

Sept 5: Part 4 - More about living the good life In the Mangala sutta the Buddha continues to describe aspects of a good life:...

Aug 1: Part 1 - How to be Happy Ayya Ahimsa draws on the Buddha's teachings called the Mangala Sutta (The Highest Happiness) and Ajahn...

July 1: Hindrances, Part 1: Desire Sanghamitta is initiating a review of the five hindrances (mental qualities) that prevent us from...

April 7 - Working with the First Hindrance, Sense Desire Part 1 The Buddha names sense desire as the first hindrance because it is so...