Search found 45 matches

by farmer
Sun Jul 26, 2015 5:37 am
Forum: Introductions
Topic: Greetings from Seattle!
Replies: 12
Views: 3291

Re: Greetings from Seattle!

Welcome Rusty. If you are interested, there are some good resources in the Seattle area. The Seattle Insight Meditation Society is very active and offers a wide range of classes, talks, sittings and retreats. There is also a Thai temple in Woodinville, Wat Atammayatarama, which runs a monthly retrea...
by farmer
Wed Feb 18, 2015 10:09 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Thai Ajahns
Replies: 10
Views: 2684

Re: Thai Ajahns

I can't say anything about the status of the Forest Tradition within Thailand, but the lineage has some excellent teachers in the West. Ajahn Thanissaro and Ajahn Sucitto are two prominent teachers from whom I have learned a lot. There are also countless other less famous, younger monks who practice...
by farmer
Wed May 28, 2014 5:27 pm
Forum: Ordination and Monastic Life
Topic: Almsfood in Western countries
Replies: 11
Views: 3709

Re: Almsfood in Western countries

The monks at the Pacific Hermitage outside Portland Oregon live off food collected during alms round five days a week.
by farmer
Wed May 28, 2014 4:22 pm
Forum: Lounge
Topic: To Make a Killing on Wall Street, Start Meditating
Replies: 10
Views: 2310

Re: To Make a Killing on Wall Street, Start Meditating

From the article: “Meditation used to have this reputation as a hippie thing for people who speak in a particularly soft tone of voice,” Michaelson says. Not so. “Samurai practiced meditation to become more effective killers,” he says. So too did kamikaze pilots. “It’s value neutral,” Michaelson say...
by farmer
Wed Jan 08, 2014 4:39 am
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: Visiting Wat Padhammachart in La Puente, CA
Replies: 5
Views: 3000

Re: Visiting Wat Padhammachart in La Puente, CA

Hi Hiker,

I can't help with Wat Padhammachart, but I thought I'd mention that Metta Forest Monastery is a great resource and is about 1:40 by car from La Puente.
by farmer
Tue Jun 05, 2012 10:32 pm
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: Foggy mind
Replies: 9
Views: 2841

Re: Foggy mind

What happens if you try not to focus on the pleasure, but on the more neutral physical sensations of breathing? The pleasure is still there in the background, but you direct your attention away from it -- kind of like being in a crowded room with many conversations going on, and forcing yourself to ...
by farmer
Tue Apr 24, 2012 5:12 pm
Forum: General Theravāda discussion
Topic: London area Viharas
Replies: 1
Views: 1207

London area Viharas

I am going to be visiting London this week, and if time and jetlag permit, I'd like to make a trip out to one of the Thai Forest monasteries. My plan would be to offer dana, share in the meal, and meditate for a few hours before returning to London on the train. Does anyone have any thoughts on whet...
by farmer
Sun Apr 22, 2012 3:09 am
Forum: Theravāda for Beginners
Topic: Any advice on a Monastery?
Replies: 12
Views: 3900

Re: Any advice on a Monastery?

You might consider:

http://www.bhavanasociety.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They are in W. Virginia, so it is probably driving distance for you.


Good luck!
by farmer
Fri Mar 23, 2012 11:27 pm
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: Meditation: Can't live with it! Can't live without it!
Replies: 28
Views: 6238

Re: Meditation: Can't live with it! Can't live without it!

Ron, I suggest you explore the breath meditation method taught by Ajahn Geoff (Thanissaro Bikkhu). You can find his writings at AccessToInsight and recordings of his talks at DhammaTalks.org. He teaches that it is easier to stick with meditation practice if we find a way to make it interesting, for ...
by farmer
Thu Mar 08, 2012 7:02 pm
Forum: Samatha Bhāvana
Topic: Rarely mentioned criteria of the 1st jhana
Replies: 20
Views: 7635

Re: Rarely mentioned criteria of the 1st jhana

RobertK wrote: Impossible to experience bodily feeling in jhana. How do you interpret the bathman simile? "There is the case where a monk — quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful qualities — enters and remains in the first jhana: rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal, ac...
by farmer
Tue Mar 06, 2012 6:25 pm
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: disturbing experience at a Goenka ten day retreat
Replies: 38
Views: 9028

Re: disturbing experience at a Goenka ten day retreat

Guess who wrote this: Sometimes, a "light" can appear in the mind at a very early stage of the meditation. However, for all except accomplished meditators, one will find that such "brazen intruders" are highly unstable. If one focuses one's attention on them, one will not get any...
by farmer
Sat Mar 03, 2012 7:12 pm
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: disturbing experience at a Goenka ten day retreat
Replies: 38
Views: 9028

Re: disturbing experience at a Goenka ten day retreat

During the "introductory" ten-day course, the emphasis is to develop a modicum of samadhi (khanika or moment-to-moment samadhi) to assist in the practice of vipassana (vedananupassana) with the primary objective of getting established in vipassana. This is not to discount that many people...
by farmer
Thu Mar 01, 2012 10:14 pm
Forum: General Theravāda Meditation
Topic: disturbing experience at a Goenka ten day retreat
Replies: 38
Views: 9028

Re: disturbing experience at a Goenka ten day retreat

Some advice from Ajahn Lee on dealing with the odd things that arise in meditation: Once you've learned to put your breath in order, it's as if you have everyone in your home in order. The incidentals of breath meditation are like people outside your home -- in other words, guests. Once the people i...
by farmer
Sun Feb 26, 2012 9:43 pm
Forum: Vipassanā / Satipaṭṭhāna Bhāvana
Topic: Question about sensations
Replies: 20
Views: 7886

Re: Question about sensations

Here is a nice piece by Ven. Bodhi on the ways the word "sankhara" functions in the canon. http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bodhi/bps-essay_43.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Is it my imagination, or does Goenka use the word in a somewhat idiosyncrat...
by farmer
Thu Feb 16, 2012 8:41 pm
Forum: Shrine Room
Topic: Your favourite contemporary teachers
Replies: 89
Views: 44077

Re: Your favourite contemporary teachers

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Ajahn Succito. I've never met him, but I've found a lot of useful perspective in his writing and dhamma talks. He strikes me as having deep, empathetic insight into individual and interpersonal psychology and a talent for connecting those insights with the concepts...