Empty of Fear

A dedication to a member of the community who is in the last stages of life. She struggles with breathing but is composed and at peace with the process. We are reminded how important it is to train the mind while we are able…

Medicine Heart Metta: Guided Forgiveness

May you be well, happy, and peaceful. Learn how to connect with the radiant, loving energy in your heart. Dissolve your opinions and unwholesome attitudes and deepen a quintessential quality for the Path – forgiveness. It is the key to greater loving-kindness for all…

Bhikkhuni Pioneers

Ayya Medhanandi offers a historical perspective on the bhikkhuni tradition as well as insights on how to live with compassion in the world. She describes how the monastic communal experience provides abundant opportunities for the exploration of personal and collective aspirations to fulfill the…

Life-Saving Treasure

A reflection on the Upaddha Sutta (Half of the Holy Life) about the importance of good friends, companions, and comrades on the Eightfold Noble Path. Good friends encourage and share in developing seclusion of mind, dispassion towards the sense pleasures of the world, and,…

Guardian Parents: Mindfulness, Wisdom, Compassion

Parenting ourselves with mindfulness, wisdom and compassion. A talk given during Waking Up to the Peace in Our Hearts Monastic Retreat at Insight Meditation Society Retreat Centre in 2013. 

First Insights: Ways of Working with Hindrances

Brief summary of right effort. A talk given during Waking Up to the Peace in Our Hearts Monastic Retreat at Insight Meditation Society Retreat Centre in 2013. 

Brightening Agents: 7 Enlightenment Factors

Brightening agents to cleanse the mind of hindrances. A talk given during Waking Up to the Peace in Our Hearts Monastic Retreat at Insight Meditation Society Retreat Centre in 2013. 

One Inalienable Right

We can free our hearts from suffering. A talk given during Waking Up to the Peace in Our Hearts Monastic Retreat at Insight Meditation Society Retreat Centre in 2013. 

Boundless Metta in Difficult Times: A Guided Meditation

We can develop boundless quality of Metta in difficult conditions. A guided meditation during Waking Up to the Peace in Our Hearts Monastic Retreat at Insight Meditation Society Retreat Centre in 2013.

Satipaññā and Refuge to the Rescue

How can we avoid the pitfalls that Mara sets for us on the path? Develop sati – mindfulness – to act as a gatekeeper that can recognize the earliest signs of delusion, ill will, and greed. At the same time, cultivate paññā, wisdom and…