Meditation, liberation, “me” = suffering (audio)

Ajahn Abhinando (Dhammapala); Ven. Sujato, Ellie Askew, Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

(Buddhism Theravada Romania) Dharma talk "Meditation and Liberation" by Ajahn Abhinando, September 21, 2017, Dhammapala Monastery, Bucharest, Romania with translation (and adaptation) by George Petre.

Suffering arises with the idea “me”

Forest Tradition Dhamma (thaiforestwisdom.org)

Practicing mindfulness means being more present either to the particular aspects of our experience that we have chosen as themes [subjects] for mindfulness practice, or to whatever is happening right now, if we choose to be unspecific with our focus.

In the example of having the mind quiet down so that we experience emotional neutrality, to be mindful is to really notice this, to stay with it, so we can realize that we are experiencing ourselves in a very different way from usual.

If we remain aware when thinking resumes, what happens next? If awareness is really clear, we can see what is actually happening.

When we can observe how the movement of the mind we call "thinking" works, how its energy feels, we can recognize how the energy behind the thinking creates suffering, although a moment before everything was all right, was just how it was.

It doesn’t really matter then if we see what we see as a glass of tea or an accumulation of pixels.

Whether suffering arises has to do more with our grasping [grabbing in response to craving] at an experience, fearing it or craving it, or wondering what will come next.

• Guided Meditations by Ajahn Abhinando (Forest Sangha)

We can have an altered state of consciousness, see something in a different but still constructed [fabricated] way, and then delight arises and we wonder whether this is enlightenment – whether ‘this is the way it really is."

Now if our mindfulness is strong, if awareness is not fixated on the object, we notice what’s happening. Our reaction becomes part of the content of our awareness, and we think: "Isn’t that interesting? Who is it that is getting excited, potentially making a problem out of this?"

Thus we can see how suffering arises when there is this sense of "me" and the question "What’s in it for me?"

• This written reflection by Ajahn Abhinando is from the interview, "Awarenesses & Desire," and has been edited by Wisdom Quarterly