EFFECTS OF RIGHT RESTRAINT: full moon - Sunday 7th September 2025
It is good to restrain the eye. It is good to restrain the ear. It is good to restrain the nose. It is good to restrain the tongue.
DHAMMAPADA v. 360
There is so much happening in our world about which we can easly feel angry. If we try hard to not feel angry because the Buddha taught restraint is good, it is likely that anger won’t disappear; it will hide away in unawareness and resurface at another time. The Buddha did indeed teach that restraint is good. He also taught that mindfulness is good. If our efforts to be mindful are merely a mental exercise and are not including the fire we feel in our hearts when we are enraged, we may well fail. Mindfulness practice means we aim to feel the anger without becoming lost in it. Similarly with fear. Can we feel fear without becoming lost in fear. The cultivation of restraint is not the same as repression.
BALANCED OPINIONS: full moon – Thursday 10th July 2025
Dwell not on the faults and shortcomings of others, instead, seek clarity about your own.
DHAMMAPADA v. 50
It is understandable that we have opinions about the way others behave. To do so is part of the natural functioning of our discriminative intelligence. In this verse the Buddha is not saying we ought to dismiss our capacity for assessing that which is wholesome and that which is not. Rather, he is highlighting the risk of losing balance. To be consistently caught in a habit of criticising others for their faults, is to have lost perspective. The primary focus of attention needs to be on recognizing one’s own limitations. If you can be genuinely honest about your own motivations there is a better chance your actions of body and speech will contribute to inner and outer harmony.
FIVE spiritual faculties: full moon – Tuesday 10th June 2025
In one whose mind is unsteady, whose heart is not prepared with true teachings, whose faith is not matured, the fullness of wisdom will not manifest
DHAMMAPADA v. 38
We are all familiar with teachings on mindfulness. It is important to remember that the Buddha encouraged the cultivation of five spiritual faculities, not just one: trust/confidence (saddha), motivation (viriya), embodied mindfulness (sati), collectedness of attention (samadhi), and discernment (pannya). When faced with rapid change and disruption, it matters that we prepare ourselves in ways that protect and strengthen us. With a well-developed capacity for trusting in true principles there is less risk of falling into doubt and despair. If you have energy and motivation you are more likely to perceive difficulties as challenges that you can learn from, not just as problems that obstruct. When mindfulness is cultivated and embodied, you are better prepared to accurately engage with whatever your inner and outer worlds present you. Disciplined attention can help equip you with a sense of steadiness and the ability to remain focussed, not chronically distracted. When the faculty of discernment is functional, you will be more inclined to ask the right sort of questions, at the right time, in the right way, leading to clarity and balanced sensitivity.
Q: Could You Guide Us In A Contemplation On The 5 Spiritual Faculties?
(approx. 12 minutes) KEYWORDS: "In one of your talks you ask us to contemplate on 5 spiritual faculties. You had given some ideas on faith. Could you please guide us on this too." Ajahn Chah, Ajahn Thate, indriyasamvara, hiri ottappa, basic tools, sadha, faith, fragrance, honeysuckle, floating, 3 levels of faith, viriya, energy, intensity, transformation, tedious mediocrity, interest, challenge, sati, embodied mindfulness, satipatthana sutta, gatekeeper, praise and blame, samadhi, collectedness, ceto-vimutti, discernment, mirror, self-reflective capacity, accuracy of perception, compassion, goal.
Q: What Role Do You Address To Meditation Techniques?
(approx. 12 minutes)Keywords: Form and spirit, playing a violin, right holding, regularly, commitment, determination, internalised, structures encoded in the forms, Five Spiritual Faculties, trust, energy, embodied mindfulness, collectedness, discernment, creativity and agility, fundamentalism, meditation on listening to The Sound of Silence, accumulated denied fear, disillusionment, navaka monks training.