As a monk, I bring a strong commitment, along with the renunciate flavor, to the classic Buddhist teachings. I play with ideas, with humor and a current way of expressing the teachings, but I don't dilute them.
Sitting in a field of fifty to eighty people really starts my mind sparking. Since I don't prepare my talks ahead of time, I find myself listening to what I'm saying along with everyone else. This leaves a lot of room for the Dhamma to come up. Just having eighty people listening to me is enough to engage me, stimulate me, and create a nice flow of energy. The actual process of teaching evokes ideas that even I did not realize were being held somewhere in my mind.
Different teaching situations offer their own unique value. In retreat, you are able to build a cohesive and comprehensive body of the teachings. When people are not on retreat and come for one session, it opens a different window. They are more spontaneous and I'm given the chance to contact them in ways that are closer to their "daily-life mind." This brings up surprises and interesting opportunities for me to learn even more.
I'm continually struck by how important it is to establish a foundation of morality, commitment, and a sense of personal values for the Vipassana teachings to rest upon. Personal values have to be more than ideas. They have to actually work for us, to be genuinely felt in our lives. We can't bluff our way into insight. The investigative path is an intimate experience that empowers our individuality in a way that is not egocentric. Vipassana encourages transpersonal individuality rather than ego enhancement. It allow for a spacious authenticity to replace a defended personality.
Q1 You mentioned vedana as the knowing of a feeling tone. I always thought that vedana occurs very fast and almost unconsciously How could one practice or investigate vedana a more deeply?
23:51 Q2 What is conscience from the Buddhist point of view?
28:21 Q3 How come the mind prefers to get involved with negative instead of positive stuff?
30:31 Q4 What actually do we need a mind for? In another words is there a quick and easy way to distinguish useful and harmful thinking?
40:24 Q5 Where do you see similarities and differences between dhamma practice and positive neuroplasticity? How can we cultivate more joy?
37:01 Q6 If I don't proceed according to the map, then how do I know if I'm doing something wrong or whether it just takes time?
54:16 Q7 Is it easier to stay grounded when speaking to others? It seems easier to say grounded when not speaking to others.
