Ayyā Medhānandī

How can we blaze a trail through the wilderness of ill-will, greed, and delusion in this world? How can we be fearless and at peace even when facing grievous loss, harm, illness, or death? Spiritual friendship and these treasured teachings guide us to trust, persevere, and live wisely. We walk the razor’s edge –  feeling at times as if the heart is bleeding. But we observe and realize in our hearts the true causes and conditions of our suffering. Our joy and fulfillment is exceeded only by the joy of reflecting kindness and compassion towards all beings in the ten direc...

By nature, we are inclined to care for ourselves. Do we also wish to see others well and happy? Reflecting that we are all subject to the universal law of impermanence, so too, let us consider how caring for ourselves is a way of caring for and blessing one another. Harmlessness and non aggression balance the heart and nourish a deep island of inner refuge,  peace, and gentle stability. This is a blessing to the world. Just so, caring for ourselves, we care for each other – sheltering in love, kindness, compassion and wisdom. A talk at the Toronto Theravada Buddhist Com...

How powerful, disarming, and distracting is the sense world where the mind is easily caught in desire, hate and delusion. Clinging we suffer. But sufferings spur us on to discover a quality of peace that is unshakeable. When we learn to abide with the flow of experience, seeing that peace in stillness and pure awareness, we feel the true contentment and happiness of the Dhamma. This is blissful. The mind emptied of impurity – empty of ego – sees wisely and is filled with love and compassion. We know our true nature, and we see that we are all one. Ottawa Buddhist Soci...

We are eager to know how to quiet the restless and anxious mind. But how will peace ever come in the face of life's struggles? Listen to that inner cry with present moment awareness. Softly, simply, be present, balance, and rest on the pinnacle of every breath. Practising like this, again and again, let the world fall away into a beautiful vast spacious awareness. We enter the timeless, tenderly knowing the joy and unsurpassable refuge of this universal silence – not out there, but right here within us. Meditation reflections at the Ottawa Buddhist Society, Oct. 17, 2025

As pure witness, we sail the inner sea in our own heart's silent awareness. Not plundering the mystery of this silence with concepts, we listen. Even in the midst of the noise of life, or the chaos of the world, we can stop there to wake up for one moment, and then another. Silently knowing, we are present. Being aware for one moment is peaceful. This knowing is boundless. For in all of life’s events, struggles, and unfoldings, here and now – fear has no grip, neither worry nor want for anything. We are whole in the peace of this awar...

When fear, anger, sorrow, or shame arise, the Buddha advises us: "Be your own doctor." See. Feel. Know the suffering within. To cherish the silence of the mind is to go beyond fear and all cousins of darkness. When we rest in the present moment, intuitive awareness blossoms and shines its extraordinary light to illumine the truth of all that arises, lingers, and fades away. Impermanent. Moment by moment, timeless. Right here and now, we can know things just as they are. Fear breaks up into empty fragments of sensation. Nothing more. It has to because that is its true...

We are ever concerned about what we eat and the condition of the body. Yet care for the mind brings spiritual health. It's a question of balance. Mind is the forerunner of all things. And happiness and joy will surely follow when we rejoice in goodness. If we lose hold of the Dhamma, then how can our ship leave the harbour? Though the currents of life – of the world – are huge, we persevere. Trust in purity of heart, kindness, compassion and wise awareness everyday, in all that we do. A loving heart opens to clarity of vision, peace and blessings for...

Compassion is the benevolent sister of harmlessness. Caring for ourselves, we care for each other – just as caring for each other, we care for ourselves. But how shall we live harmlessly in a world filled with anger, greed, and ignorance? May virtue prevail to protect us from their toxic currents. Fully aware and guided by wisdom, we shield the pure space of the mind with greater compassion, loving-kindness and peace. This practice of inner disarmament is the Buddha’s recipe for awakening. Sati Saraniya Hermitage, Nov 24, 2024

To understand suffering is to know the way out of suffering in our life. So, we trust the perfectly enlightened Buddha – most noble friend and guide to the heart's awakening. Turning away from greed, hatred, selfishness and conceit, cleanse the cobwebs of delusion and sow seeds of virtue, wisdom, love and compassion. With pure conscious awareness, just listen to the silence – present and awake in the joy and peace of liberating insight. This is the path. Sunday reflections at Sati Saraniya Hermitage. Nov 2025

"Do not hate those who wrong you. How else can you manifest the unborn power of compassion.”  Hatred even of our critics is not the resort of the wise. Day by day, know the blessings of peace, of forgiveness, kindness and pure awareness. Wisdom dispels our fears and sorrows in the clear light of awakening. Just like plants everywhere keep turning themselves towards the sun whenever it shines – the trees, flowers, vines, even weeds – they teach us. We always return to the unrelenting light. Sati Saranya Hermitage, Nov. 5, 2023

The world is forever fraught with the fires of greed, hatred and delusion causing much harm and suffering within and around us. Seeking refuge from the mind's vulnerabilities and restlessness, we secure our spiritual moorings. For here and now, as disciples of the present moment, we have full protection. We stand tall in virtue and wisdom. For we graze in the field of mindfulness and pure awareness. Whenever the ego drags us away, we return to pure presence, undaunted and aware – guarding the jewels of our heart. Reflections at Sati Saraniya Hermitage, Aug. 17, 2025

The Buddha left us a blessing key to wisdom and freedom. Can we use it for awakening? In the face of all the inevitable challenges of this human life: painful feelings, worries, fear, illness, betrayal, loss of the loved, aging – so many ways we suffer and are locked in by that suffering. The blessings are awareness and vital care of our actions, speech and thoughts regarding ourselves and each other. Living ethically, with kindness and humility, we wake up to universal truths, to what we really are. We see with new eyes: the shrine is within us and this life on...

Though distinct, our body and mind share the ultimate characteristics of all conditioned phenomena, being impermanent, imperfect and impersonal. Nor do they have any solid core or trace of any 'self'. This is key to freeing ourselves from identifying with body or mind as what we truly are. So we investigate further to understand, clear and protect the mind. Virtue is our moral shield from harmful, unskillful states. Aware inner listening nurtures stillness. We are on track to enter the gates to the Deathless. Insight Meditation Society Retreat, May 6, 2013  

Day by day, we bear witness to the flow of experience through which the world seems to tumble and thrash, as it did even a thousand years ago. In every age, doesn't life unfold through change, success, pain and struggle? How do we harm ourselves and each other and how can we repair and heal suffering with the timeless tonics of loving kindness, compassion and forgiveness? Such is the power of living harmlessly – the most ancient remedy of all. Sati Saraniya Hermitage Sunday talk, Oct 5, 2025

Can we stay true to our spiritual aspirations and fulfill  them without compromise? Keep remembering and applying the Buddha's instructions to protect virtue, trust the practice and commit to this noble search and rescue. We hold the reins to free ourselves from life's inevitable trials, so let us see the way to emerge from unfathomable darkness with our compass of wisdom. Here and now, awareness ripens the heart in joy, compassion, and blessing. Satipaññā Insight Meditation Toronto retreat, 2015

The Buddha guides our way to inner purity and awakening through cultivating the special qualities of universal love. First, we devote ourselves to a noble life of virtue, loving kindness, and care for others. We observe our own conduct – instead of blaming or judging anyone. We aim to abide with unconditional loving kindness, compassion and gratitude. Wisely reflecting, living in peace and understanding towards all beings, we shall surely know deliverance of the heart. Breakfast reflections at Sati Saraniya Hermitage, Sep 24, 2025

When the mind opens to the present moment in a humble, homage, witness way, sustaining that, know every wave in the ocean of the heart. In the silence of here and now, awareness melts all thought. We can see with clarity and listen with great compassion. Awareness deepens as we dive into the timeless, vast dimension of pure consciousness. We are awake. And we know – I am not fear, I am not anger. So let fear die. Let anger die. We are free, not separate – awareness aware of itself. Love prevails. And we never time out. Theravada Buddhist Community retreat, Toro...

Spiritual abuse is a hidden danger even among the most well-intentioned. If we allow the ego to undermine our nobler instincts, we fall prey to power and authority. Vigilant awareness will alert us and open our eyes to truly see and wisely protect the heart. When we are with the Dhamma, we are with the Buddha. We may not be perfect but we are on a noble path. So guard the mind and bear no hatred. Enshrine this pure presence and connection to the heart, to life and to each other with humility, respect, and loving-compassion – and share these blessings wi...

As an alms mendicant nun, dependent on the kindness of others for nearly four decades, I reflect on the generosity as well as the violence in this world. And yet, this path yields immense blessings. For the Buddha’s teaching is founded on the Noble Truth of suffering. If we care only about our own happiness, we suffer. But if we care about the happiness of others, peace of heart ripens. With humility, we free ourselves from darkness. The ego blinds us until we see with the eyes of kindness and compassion. Madison, WI. Retreat, Oct. 18, 2024

There is much fear in this world and yet there is a wondrous way beyond fear. Just as humans create weapons of mass destruction, we are capable of the exact opposite – nurturing the enlightened mind. We need only wake up from the toxic delusion and deceit of this world. Just as we turn from darkness to discernment, from fighting to forgiveness, grow in wisdom and see things as they truly are. Unconditional love and compassion shield us to peacefully work with what is not peaceful. At last, empty yourself of fear and be the true love you seek. Sati Saraniya He...

Do we really want to wake up? We may have to face painful truths about ourselves. So we examine the depth of our dedication to this spiritual work and we watch out for the ego. The Buddha had zero tolerance for young monastics who resisted his advice. Yet pivotal to this training of the mind is just that – being open to reflections or feedback from a wise spiritual friend – if they are willing to guide us. Even if we think we are doing well on the path, their perspective may mirror a critical blind spot that will clear our path to a...

How do we extinguish the fires of greed, hatred and delusion that burn within the mind? The Buddha has thrown us a lifeline. We grab hold of it right here and now – one moment at a time. Free yourself from relentless conceptualizing and the suffering that comes of it. Stop and be aware –  again and again. What is happening within you? The Buddha's first aid is just this – see each moment of turmoil or fear that is assaulting us as impermanent. Witness these feelings of despair or darkness arise and pass away – not what you are. Breathe free. Breath by breath, w...

How true can we be so we don’t have to lie? Not just in what we say or think but also in how we live this precious life both in our doings on the outside, and also what goes on inside the mind – where no one can see! But we see. We know the state of the heart. When we turn away from self- deception to the inner shining, we are set free from our deepest pain – with pure love. So live caring for yourself as for others – spiritually in tact and whole, with measureless kindness and compassion. Sitting in the s...

Living in the forest, we are always aware of the trees. Patient, deep-rooted, even in fierce storms, they stand. So stand like the trees, committed and enduring. See the world with pure awareness, just the way it is. Living in a state of gratitude, we make peace with the divisiveness of this realm. We offer the blessing of our own inner harmony – the heart's compassionate, pure presence – to live and die in a state of grace, gratitude and love. Some will be blessed by that. But can we spread peace in the world without being peaceful ourselves? Ottawa Buddhist Society, June...

The Buddha encourages us to abandon the unwholesome and develop wholesomeness in our daily acts, words and thoughts. As we learn to trust in pure awareness and present moment mindfulness, the weight of the world is lifted from the heart. Here and now, we abide in the formless, changeless, and eternal. Not only do we bear testimony to others that this is within our reach but we are also directly blessed by it ourselves. We see the nature of emptiness and know the peace of true freedom.

What is true joy? All too soon, joy declines because of its nature to change, like all conditions of life. True joy is not an idea or belief in a perfect moment but it is knowing the truth of change and how to free ourselves from clinging to ephemeral happiness. Just as we avoid poison ivy when walking in the forest, refrain from touching anger or hatred. To see beyond the duality of likes and dislikes, the beauty of flowers or the fear of danger, wisely investigate and know the nature of all experience. Day by day, living the middle...

Do we know the truth of what we are? If not, how can we love unconditionally? When the heart abides in loving-kindness, the misery of fear, anger and despair is vanquished. If we look for unconditional love outside of us, we will never find it. Nor can we know it by thinking. The mind must grow in silence and stillness, in unsullied conscious awareness. Then we can see what we truly are – intuitively, beyond thought, in the quality of this very breath, this moment. We pierce through the dust of lifetimes to know the core of our being, to wake up...

The heart’s splendor is known in pure awareness – not tainted by any harmful thought or feeling. It is integrity itself – present now. Traverse from the self, the narrow sense of me and mine, to surrender – knowing that we are nothing of this realm. But this emptiness is a fullness, measureless and complete – so vast that it dwarfs everything. It is universal love, compassion, supremely gentle, kind.  Once known, it can never not be known. We are not separate from awareness. Like the sky. It is always there – a silent homage, our true home. Ottawa Buddhist Society meditation, June 2025

Anger and fear are perilous, flammable states of mind – like barnacles attached to a ship's hull that undermine its power to sail. So we call on wise discernment and forgiveness to rescue us. We take stock: is there any anger within me? Or fear? The Dhamma purifies and frees us from these stains of the heart. So seek refuge. Guard the mind from the fires of anger or unwholesome states by directing full attention to present moment awareness. This is the blessing of our work, and the promise of awakening. Ottawa Buddhist Society, Quaker House, June 21, 2025

Just as one refines gold, we temper the restless thoughts and moods of the mind. We listen and deepen awareness in joyous silence, peaceful and benign. It's a noble healing of every harm we may have suffered in life. Instead of running from pain, we are freed from it – seeing its cause and its falling away into the luminosity of pure consciousness. Awareness of fear is not fearful – is not burdened by any darkness in the mind. So we walk intrepid, daring to forge our path to awakening. Quaker House, Ottawa Buddhist Society, May 2017

Between beauty and terror lies the Middle Way, at times crushing, at last – transcendent. Can we receive all of life with the pure love of awakened awareness? Just listen and watch in silence. Open and understand the heart in pure presence – the way a valley receives a flood. To witness the truth of impermanence is to know there is nothing at all we can cling to in this vast universe. Rumi wrote, “If you want the moon, do not hide from the night. If you want a rose, do not run from its thorns. If you want love, do not hide f...

We are caught up in the world – as if we're in jail. But we are also on the threshold of silence wherein lies the key to pure, infinite, wordless presence. Isn't that love – timeless, universal, here and now? Sustain that purity of heart and abide in pure presence, aware of awareness itself. There is no 'one' there, no solid being, and no experience is refused. Why is that? Because we cease to live in fear. The Buddha guides us to witness this process – not as a person identified with self or ego but just letting the world go. For we are no...

Our practice is a unique opportunity to develop our deepest potential for happiness as human beings. We use the skills of interior investigation with patience and courage to study the intimate workings of the mind. Well-guided by the Buddha’s teachings, we gradually learn intuitively how to direct ourselves on this path of wholesomeness and devotion. By trusting our spiritual practice, we are strengthened, growing inwardly as we directly experience freedom from fear and the heart's true compassion.  

Hatred is a mental prison. We are blessed with freedom from it as long as we can abide in universal love well-nurtured in our own heart. For nature is its own reward and our true nature is nothing short of that pure metta. So, we guard this precious jewel vigilantly. Our primary obstacle is not knowing – first, that such a gem is within reach, and second, how to turn to it for true protection and safety in dark times. When universal love takes its rightful place on the throne of the heart, it shall preside unobstructed. Ottawa Buddhist Society, Friday, Ma...

The world goes on the way it does. We have no control over these conditions – just as we cannot escape diseases of the body. But waking up is not beyond us. Bowing to the present moment is  our homage to awareness, to pure presence that transcends all conditions. We see what is true – all else is a sham, arising and falling away. If we hold onto any of it, we have not yet shed the myriad faces of the ego. Mara will dance on our bones, pull out our hair, cut us to pieces or throw us off a cliff. But s...

Do joy, peace of mind, and trusted friendship rely on the state of the world outside, or on the qualities we foster within us? In the vast presence of pure awareness, trust and courage lift our feet forward, one at a time. We are humbly walking this noble path through treacherous terrain and unexpected obstacles. At times, feeling lonely, vulnerable – beyond our limits – still, we persevere, devoted to what we treasure most. Gratitude for the way and wise, loving compassion spur us on. Then one day, the heart opens a little wider, and we clearly know for ourselves – we are not se...

Mindfulness of pure present moment awareness guides us to the blessed joy of awakening. But can we still the interior tides of emotion and thought enough to taste that freedom? Everyday, devote time to witness habitual thought patterns and worldly attachments. Stopping in the silence of the heart, the causes of our suffering are seen for what they are. Anger, sorrow, grief and resentment gradually wither and we directly experience the flowering of timeless consciousness and universal compassion. This is the miracle of pure mindful awareness. A talk given at Sati Saraniya Hermitage, April 13, 2025

How can a bitter tasting medicine heal physical illness? Just so, understanding suffering can liberate us from it. Listen to the dance of impermanence arising and falling endlessly. Bear witness to thoughts of fear, anger or sorrow flowing into the sea of awareness and know: awareness of fear is not afraid. So too, awareness of anger is not angry, nor does awareness of sorrow grieve. Pure presence frees us from fascination with the mind's mental creations – no future, no past, no me, no mine, no ownership, no struggle, just boundless inner peace. We are that pure consciousness – unconditional love.  Madison Insig...

After long years of monastic renunciation, living in seclusion and devoted to spiritual practice, I began to question if this was enough. Was I deluded about the quality of my efforts? Had I really let go the world living with so much peace and natural beauty around me? Had I understood the deeper levels of freeing my heart? What more could I give to open to the truth of this timeless teaching? What must I do? So I asked for a sign. And the answer came. I had to venture again into the unknown and serve. Just like gold is...

We have the gift of a priceless inheritance, a BPS – Buddha's Positioning System. It's a map to freedom from hatred by way of undaunted love and compassion. It sets our feet on the hero’s path to the oasis of Truth. With the power of forgiveness, we pass unscathed through what seem like the fiercest storms and sufferings of life: ill-winds, dangers, traumas, and exhaustion. But we are vigilant, guided in awareness and wisdom. Refuge in the Dhamma is our compass, and spiritual friends shine as jewels within our hearts. We are pilgrims of peace and awakening – to the last breath...

How are we to nurture truth and peace in the midst of a world besieged by moral disintegration and violence? The Buddha gave an angel this advice: “Not apart from awakening and austerity, not apart from sense restraint, not apart from relinquishing all, do I see any safety for human beings.” Just so, we see that our ethical footprint surpasses despairing over the state of the conditioned world. We wander undaunted through the labyrinth of the mind, growing in pure awareness, integrity, insight and compassion – the path to awakening itself. OBS retreat, Arnprior, Ontario, 2007.

How can we remain calm and inwardly strong when we feel anger or fear, greed or grief? Meditate with new eyes – keen, open, attentive, and dare to forgive even difficult feelings or troubling conditions. Stay present, stop and witness fear's end, because stopping to see is just like turning on a light. There is more clarity to know fear as impermanent, and to observe the nuance of the fear of fear itself. It's not my fear or my anger but unpleasant sensation. So we depersonalize and pour gratitude into the new moment with the quintessential balm of peace – forgiveness. Madison Insi...

Could we really love if we lived forever? There is no true love without suffering. This is revealed through our mortality and the impermanence of all conditioned things. We are not the body but its fragility reflects our true essence. Just as when a candle melts, the flame burns. Just as the sun arises out of the darkest night, so too, our awakening to truth is grounded in understanding the Buddha's Noble Truth of suffering. We witness how suffering begins, how it ends, and how to free ourselves from it. As the heart breaks open, we are waking up to...

What frees us from fear, anger, sorrow, chaos and all the many other sufferings of the mind? Beneath the rubble and ruin we may feel, in the silent depths of our own heart, there is a treasure. It may be hidden but it is there. And we can know it. Sitting in the still, pure presence of conscious awareness, turn away from thinking, worry, all those mental habits and the heartaches of life. Moment by moment, dive deeply into each breath – not to change anything but to know, to understand what is there. Bow to the silence and let go fl...

True refuge is a call to stop, even for a moment, to see and know the breath that brings the world into and out of consciousness. We witness the liberating silence of that present moment awareness. In the still space between thoughts from which all that appears in the mind arises and disappears without end, we let go. Trust this. See the instability and insecurity of all else. Be an island, be a refuge unto yourself in the pure awareness of truth beyond concepts – the truth in this moment of freedom. Disentangled from the world, we can let go. Our re...

One night, while Malani was dying, we gathered a group of her close friends to meditate with her. Each breath was a struggle yet she stayed aware, serene, composed, and at peace. We listened in silence, breathing freely – but our minds were not free. We knew all is impermanent, that we can die at any time. Yet we carry on as if we have forever. So we try again, everyday, to practise living in awareness. One moment at a time, empty yourself of fear and let go the world. Listen to the silence and wake up – like dear Malani.  Ottawa Buddh...

There is a transcendent Reality – inaccessible to the thought world – but to be known with right mindfulness and its accompanying powers of mind, patiently developed and polished day by day. These skills we learn provide tremendous traction to cultivate the mind, like gardeners watering the seeds of awakening. At the root of this uplifting spiritual training is the fundamental premise of our mortality. But are you ready to sit at the altar of the sublime and to have your illusions shattered? Like the hollow reed that becomes a flute, empty yourself of fear and be the pure love you seek. Otta...

Who are we? More than two and a half millennium ago, the Buddha hesitated to teach us, but he relented for the benefit of those with little dust in their eyes. Can we actually clear the dust away, earnestly, patiently – studying, examining and probing within to know the truth of what we are? It is a great blessing to be able to undertake this work. We have only to open our hearts to the journey, persevere and pierce the veil of ignorance. Just as the morning sun bathes the world with light, guided by the Buddha's map of consciousness, we sh...

Treasure the silence within and listen attentively. Where else can we find the spiritual heights but within our own heart? In one moment of pure presence, we discover the joy, patience, mindfulness and 'kindfulness' that open our eyes to the truth of what we are. And in the goodness of time, there’s an emptying out. It's almost by unlearning what we’ve learned that we can see the blank screen of nothingness in the mind and know pure consciousness itself. This transcendent awareness becomes our refuge. We no longer look for refuge in other people, nor in ideas, concepts, occu...

“Being human is a guest house” wrote Rumi. Every day we greet new arrivals – joys, sorrows, hostilities and more; and moments of awareness too. We bow to the present moment and greet them all, be they thorns or unruly monsters like malice, shame, fear, anger or greed. Can we see them all just as they are, painful or pleasant – impermanent, not ours, not who we are? Can we let them come and go, and be grateful? Treat whatever passes through the heart as empty. After all, these are karmic messengers from beyond bearing unique spiritual gifts. For in their presence, we stren...

We are travelling a spiritual highway. Our precepts are like safety belts – upholding the core of our humanity with moral restraints that serve as both compass and anchor. They also act like brakes on our Dhamma vehicle, safeguarding us through the wilderness of the world while grounding the mind in an integrity of presence. With pure awareness, we have a stethoscope of the mind, steering and balancing us joyfully on the path so that we can wake up out of the darkness. We carry the Buddha in our hearts like an imperishable lamp, a supremely compassionate parent, our wise and fo...

Guided by the Dhamma, our life path is courageous. See how the world burns from cruel and chaotic forces. So we cultivate a heart of compassionate awareness and peace, knowing that freedom from suffering is within reach. Our spiritual footprints emulate those of the Buddha himself.  We persevere and endure, powered by the noble fire of the Dhamma to illuminate our way and to bless us and all generations to come. Negligible as a single flame may appear, its light is as vast as this great universe. At Portland Friends of the Dhamma, January, 2025

It’s good to clear everything before we die, to leave no spiritual debts that may heavily impact our karma. Seeing the powerful healing of joy and kindness, I take up the practice of inner cleansing day by day, applying metta – loving-kindness practice – through the luminosity of forgiveness. This potent flame of reconciliation melts away any harmful residue or holding in the heart so that not a flutter or tremor of ill-will remains. Let us avail ourselves of its power. At the shrine of forgiveness, we light the light of joy and freedom within while fostering happiness for other beings. This i...

We keep searching for happiness through travel, surfing the internet, shopping, and other worldly ways – but does it ever last? Supreme happiness arises right here in the heart. When we are present and patient beyond measure, we are stronger than we know. This groundbreaking inner seeing is free of devices – and free of vices. Pure, wise clarity and conscious awareness disentangle and unburden the mind of fear, obsession, all distractions, and at last, all suffering! This is the key to our self-made prison of beliefs, thoughts and opinions. We wake up to our true inheritance – the liberating Truth of what we are...

Our spiritual home is within the heart. Are we able to activate that awareness and treasure kindness and goodness in our daily actions and speech? Can wholesome states of mind prevail even when we face difficult or painful conditions? Moral purity is the harbinger for our waking up to the Truth within us. As we hasten to empty and weed out self-centredness, the poison arrow of craving is extracted. This is freedom – this is life-saving sanctuary. A talk at the Heart of Wisdom Retreat, Insight Meditation Society, Massachusetts, USA in 2019.

Giving our full attention inwardly is waking up to the truth of pure presence. In one breath, one moment of pure awareness, we can know a spiritual joy that deeply calms the mind. The shutters of the heart open to a piercing clarity that cuts through the blinding deceptions of the world. Here in the silence at the very core of our being, we listen. The heart fills with joy and light, resplendent – just as the morning sun emerging from the horizon lights up the world. What we have been seeking far and wide is right here within us – seeing and...

We can be kind to anyone with practice. So start where you are and trust this practice of kindness. Even in the face of painful times, reflect wisely – not to be poisoned by fear, despair, or sorrow. Rather see the truth within and open a well-spring of infinite love in your own heart. For you are the hero of your life. First, we slay the dragons of fear and aggression. Gently and resolute, break them apart and extend kindness to all as to yourself. To accept the miracle of pure awareness – patient, diligent, with unwavering compassion, draw out the dart of s...

We wake up to Truth in the silence of the mind. Where else could we possibly discover it? To see and understand what we truly are, abandon the distractions of the world and purify consciousness. But are we willing to let go? Can we trust enough to enter the unknown? Humbly and tirelessly, bless each present moment with moral integrity, faith, courage and focused attention. Listen! The Buddha’s voice reveals all, not known by will-power but by wisdom power. Sustain pure awareness – and true happiness, peace, and freedom await us. It is the weapon of nobility – nothing less than uncond...

We wake up to Truth in the silence of the mind. Where else could we possibly discover it? To see and understand what we truly are, abandon the distractions of the world and purify consciousness. But are we willing to let go? Can we trust enough to enter the unknown? Humbly and tirelessly, bless each present moment with moral integrity, faith, courage and focused attention. Listen! The Buddha’s voice reveals all. Sustaining pure awareness, a happiness, a peace, a freedom – not known by will-power but by wisdom power – awaits us. It is our weapon and nobility – nothing less than uncondit...

Pure present moment awareness reveals what we are not; and thereby, what we truly are. Investigate and question all thoughts you see circling in the mind – fearful or fanciful, liked or not. Know their clever disguises: impermanence everywhere! Not what we are, but empty, ephemeral in nature, they orbit like space debris – crowding the heart mandala of consciousness. Let go and rejoice when states of wanting, judgement, restlessness, fear, unhappiness and all the many faces of 'self' dissolve in the silence of pure awareness. This is true refuge – here and now. All else withers in the furnace of eternity.  Sunday reflect...

We can't think our way to awakening. How then can we ennoble the heart? Practising right resort will purify the mind with present moment awareness. We give truth a voice, a prevailing knowing reinforced by mindfulness and wisdom. Instead of allowing delusion to rob us of our chance to awaken, we burn it away in its many guises of selfishness, hatred, despair and a host of dark states of mind. Patiently, faithfully, and gently, navigate the way to true peace, unconditional love, and compassion. Morning reflections at Sati Saraniya Hermitage, Aug 7, 2024

On this path of awakening into the vast frontier of the mind, we discover the treasure of our inheritance from the Buddha, directing ourselves with the compass of compassionate wisdom. This journey is internal, silent, hidden. We are learning to actually see with new eyes – clear and far-sighted – but well-attuned to our penetrating task of exploration and discernment. What has felt painful and fearsome really holds powerful antidotes to pain and fear. What we most valued pales when compared to the joys of pure awareness, and of knowing and sharing the true gifts of our humanity.  Ottawa Buddhist Society, Arnprior Retre...

Harmlessness is a gift to ourselves and to others. The child of courage and the mother of true peace, it relies on core practices of virtue and  nonviolence. To abandon anger and its retinue of hatred, ill-will, fear and blame is to protect ourselves and all beings in this world. We walk the moral high ground of forgiveness, tolerance, loving-kindness and compassion. These shall serve as the bedrock of our inner disarmament. A talk at the 10th Global Conference on Buddhism, Neuroscience, and Mental Health, Toronto 2017.

The Dhamma, the Buddha's teaching, guides us to a moral awakening, a realization of ultimate truth. We have forever searched for eternal peace in the world of fleeting promises where happiness never lasts. And now we turn to pure conscious awareness, stopping as witness in the silence of the heart. Seeing all as empty, fleeting, free from wanting, free from suffering, we rest in knowing the timeless, boundless, transcendent presence that runs through all things. This is the reality of what we are – unconditional love. Sati Saraniya Sunday talk, Sept 1, 2024

Let faith be our foundation for a mindfulness that never tires of examining how we are within us. We may eat well, dress well, and look good but what is the real state of the mind? Day by day, finding safety in virtue, aware of the right qualities that direct, protect, and teach us to root out unworthy habits, let us harvest the profound joy and goodness of this life. It’s not how much we work or gain but how well we honour the noble Dhamma as servants of selflessness and human kindness. Morning reflections at Sati Saraniya Hermitage, Se...

Whether we live as laity or in a monastery, there is a sacred path open for all to explore. Yet few would brave its fierce tests. How we train and incline the mind will naturally determine our spiritual growth. So the Buddha encouraged us to go to the forest, to seek seclusion from devices, worldly concerns and attachments. These cannot rescue us from mental sufferings; nor from ageing, disease or dying. . . because it’s about pure love – an unearthly love that never dies – and the gift of true safety, peace, and transcendent awareness of our true nature. As this knowing dawns...

We humans share this journey of birth, old age, sickness and death. Sometimes we succumb to fear or sorrow; sometimes we are exhausted or disoriented as if lost on a perilous path. Seeing the universality of suffering and knowing its causes, we ask, "What will set us free?" With the lens of refined moral aptitude, in silent witness, we stop to listen and directly know for ourselves the inner joy and peace of harmlessness. We find safety in authentic refuge. Guided by benevolent compassion and wise reflection, we steer the heart to liberation in Unconditional Love.  A talk given at S...

We are on a miraculous voyage in the fragile vessel of a body that ultimately dies. This is the Noble Truth of our suffering. To unravel its mystery and rescue ourselves, we must navigate the inner sea of the heart. We explore how in the world of objects, devices, ideas and experiences – whether exotic or excruciating, we are bound up with joy, fear or any point between. But there is a freedom from this cycle and it comes when we brave the great quiet of that vast interior universe. Blessed is the silence that opens our eyes to the Deathless, th...

How can we rescue ourselves from the obstacles to our happiness? We must not disregard the power of awareness in the present moment to vanquish suffering. For in this very moment is everything we need to know. All moments, whether tainted or blessed, are conditioned by their predecessor. Without care and discernment, vigilance and integrity, we could easily fall into states of decline. Ill-will begets enmity, while joy begets ease and serenity, and each moment is the mother of the next. So too, stepping into the joys of life as it unfolds, we live by the best qualities we can...

We are on a mountain with a tremendous view. Let the breath speak to us. Stay present and watch both the joy and the suffering.  We investigate wisely and patiently like a parent whose child may object or run away. Trying to see the breath clearly, our mindfulness is like the sunlight on a flower. Attentive, receptive, timeless, and still, we gently soften and mellow – just knowing, observing, and selflessly aware of pure presence. To trust the breath is to let go moment by moment, discovering its hidden truths – and our true home here and now. Guided meditation and reflections, Heart...

We are on a mountain with a tremendous view. Let the breath speak to us. Stay and watch, both the joy and the suffering. We investigate patiently like a parent whose child may object or run away. But we stay connected, wisely and patiently present. We persevere, trying to see the breath clearly, with mindfulness that is like the sun upon a flower. Attentive and receptive, timeless, and still, we gently soften and mellow – just knowing, observing, and selflessly giving the mind back to pure presence. To trust the breath is to let go moment by moment, discovering its hidden tr...

What else is there to do in this life but know the truth of what we are and deepen in wisdom and compassion. Our spiritual map leads us out of the darkness to a purity and clarity of understanding. Here we are, secure in the raft of the heart, braving the tempestuous currents of the world. Yet we are forever tuned to awareness of our true nature. We carefully examine our attachments and let go, guided to freedom from the poisons and dangers of the world. At last, we shall know the irreversible and liberating joys of the Way. A...

How can we tread the path of nonviolence that rises above anger, blame, and mistrust? Try choosing compassion, kindness and forgiveness. For inner peace is nowhere to be found if not within your own heart. Even in the throes of tempestuous life situations, draw out courage from that as water from a deep well within. By the power of refuge in what upholds Truth, you navigate through the most fearsome obstacle even if it seems impossible. And then your heart will truly shine. An Ottawa Buddhist Society Day of Mindfulness, Oct. 22, 2022

Listen to the interior silence with audacious selfless attention and see how pure awareness catapults us into a dynamic intuitive presence. We connect to the Dhamma without obstructions. Silence is formless, soundless, complete. We are witness to an emptiness beyond attachment where the burdens of identification have no footing. There is no 'one' to be in that – for when the intellect bows in faith to the heart, we abide in the loving presence of what is here and now. Ahh! But can we sustain it? Breakfast Reflections at Sati Saraniya Hermitage, Aug. 28, 2024

The Buddha realized a state of pure awakened consciousness. We try to emulate his moral excellence by turning inward to bring the mind to silence. We relinquish habitual unwholesome and harmful thoughts, and reveal the same universal moral essence within us – just as in all beings. We know the Noble Truths of how and why we suffer and forge a pathway to the heart’s freedom. For when loving-kindness and compassion preside, the gates to the Deathless are opened. Sunday talk, Sati Saraniya Hermitage, Nov. 2023

Joy can come with wise reflection and a pepper of difference. I learned this standing in town with my alms bowl as a mendicant nun one morning.  Living for the sake of what is highest within us, we can each know the beauty, brilliance, and brightness of that joy and see how to nurture loving kindness and presence of mind. We learn to understand our predicament and forgive the brokenness and estrangements we have endured. We stand compassionate inwardly and to all, trusting our noble Dhamma inheritance to awaken in this very life. A talk at the Canmore Theravada Buddhist C...

Was the Buddha a Buddhist? The Buddha was fully awakened, having realized the truth beyond convention, beyond worldly identities. We want that – to fully awaken; and to understand our experience at its core through the purification of the heart. When the mind is completely content within itself, in pure awareness, gone beyond attachment to worldly perception, sensation or gratification, we can know a loving authentic opening to true consciousness, to godness itself. We are that. Reflections at Sati Saraniya Hermitage, June 2024

Meditation is a renewable resource. “Why do we have to be human? O not because happiness exists – but because being in this Dharma realm means so much.” Our spiritual work reveals how we must hold the mind – as refuge, safety, and protection from harm. This is the basis for true happiness. We pay attention to what is impermanent and thereby discover deeper treasure – knowing Reality, the truest renewable resource. With the ego disabled from ruling consciousness, we transcend beyond the bonds and blindness of our human existence. A retreat talk, The Dharma Centre, Kinmount, 2009.

To bring the mind to peace, we must learn about all that makes it unpeaceful, unquiet. We learn how to guide ourselves to abide in wholesome states of mind, how to prevent dark and unskilfull states from arising and how to deal with them if they do. Follow virtue. Stay close to spiritual friends, and take refuge in the wisdom of the Buddha and our own potential to cultivate and develop this Noble Eightfold path. Practise gratitude, generosity, and kindness. Wake up. Love wisdom more than life. A talk given during a 7 day SIMT retreat, Chapin Mill, Batavia, NY 2016.

All conditions of this world have the nature to change: the earth, weather, governments, work, health, leisure, family, friendships and so forth. We observe these variations and consider the most critical change of all. It promises the greatest blessing – but first we must plow the interior field of goodness that yields our heart's deliverance. Faithfully, patiently, as we clear away the dust in the mind, the hindrances of greed, ill-will, fear and delusion fall away, and we abide in the clarity, serenity, and joy of the Dhamma. A retreat talk given at Spirit Rock, June 2013. 

Strong in restraint, courageous in wisdom, we use our Dhamma compass of right view to steer us on the Noble Eightfold Path, while right intention sustains the healing actions of mind that let go unwholesome thoughts and endless fabrications. We learn to live and respond to life compassionately, responsibly, mindfully, with integrity and noble presence of mind. Healing from above and below, from the outside and internally, we listen to the unspoken silence of the heart that resounds in the galaxies. Keenly aware, supremely blessed, we rejoice in the totality of unbounded compassion. Ottawa Buddhist Society, Oct 2022

Are we present here and now? How much do we obsess in thought? Is the mind filled with worry – wavering from anxiety to fear?  Here and now, we examine and ascend to peaceful states. When we’re dreaming, wake up. Know that we’re asleep. Know that we’re not present. Know the mind that is upset, angry or boiling and cool it. Use the Buddha’s tools to repair and return our attention to present moment awareness. Mindfully knowing, seeing clearly with blameless joy and wise insight, we lighten our burden. We are cultivating the garden of the mind. A talk give...

When we meditate, we are alone and yet with all the world. Thoughts intrude from all sides. But we remain secluded within, protected, serene. Gently we open the door to the heart with unassailable trust. We bend and bow silently, observing the breath with an empty mind. Then what’s the result of that? Giving our full attention to this moment, we are absolutely present, feeling every nuance of the ground beneath us or the pressure of each breath. Mindfulness deepens our awareness. Now we truly know the boundless peace of the mind's radiance. Reflections and guided meditation, SIMT Nov 2021

Compassion is a sublime, healing quality that restores us to goodwill, integrity, wisdom and equanimity. Not only do we repair the harm that we have caused, but we turn the wheel of Dhamma in this world. This can also serve as a catalyst for others to wake up from their misguided ways of living. We bear compassion for harm caused and we sow seeds of reconciliation even in the blindest or most cruel of beings, for "hatred is never resolved through hatred, but through love alone." An OBS talk, Oct. 1, 2021

The human realm is ever fraught with greed and delusion, conflicted and loud in its extremes. These violations are just that – destroyers of our spiritual verve. As pilgrims of peace, we disarm them in the interior silence of the heart. Courageous, we stand our moral ground, resolved to hold the bar. Our faith, generosity and discernment rescue us from the flames of sensory fears and infatuations. There is giving up and letting go but the Buddha’s promise is true. Where kindness and compassion prevail, the heart knows unshakeable peace. A Sunday afternoon talk at Sati Saraniya Hermitage, May 12, 2024

Throughout history, hatred, human violence and horrific sufferings have plagued the world. Truth is never diminished by these worldly conditions. So we feed the mind with what supports inner peace and awakening and not with thoughts of depression, disappointment, despair, or fear. What we most fear is unconditional love. That's not consent for nor approval of hateful conduct but rather a call to bear compassion – the most difficult love of all. Like the sun that gives warmth to all beings, the awakened mind does not differentiate. It does not choose one over another. It just gives light. A talk for th...

Just as the sun is eclipsed by the moon passing over it, so the mind is submerged in 'totality' due to the veil of our human conditioning. But we can shatter that darkness by diving deeply with moral vigilance and wise attention into the silence of the mind. There we know suffering, how it begins and the exhilarating joy of witnessing its end in the vastness of the heart's inner dimensions. With unshakeable faith, insight, and understanding, we abide in that sacred space of pure awareness and unconditional love – like the sun freed from the shadow of the moon. A Su...

Impermanence stares us in the face. How then can we free ourselves to understand the raw truth of what we are? There is a sorrowless state, a way out of the pains of life where we can abide in blameless happiness and inviolable peace. It may appear elusive and out of reach. Yet we need only incline our minds faithfully to giving up all that is false, divisive, fearful or fragile. We begin to know the joy that subdues all sorrow. One taste of that and we are on the Path, sheltered in the unsurpassed protection of the Dhamma. A...

Emptying the mind of fearful thoughts, we stop clinging to anything of the world – one moment at a time. And we come to know a liberating joy. It's a way to enter the dimension of transcendence that uplifts us beyond the prison of grasping a self with all its adornments and entanglements. As we let go identification with the self, there arises the peace of selfless awareness and waking up to the ultimate truth that is the end of suffering. Reflections and Guided Meditation, Ottawa Buddhist Society, Oct. 21, 2022

Peace, patience, and practice ripen with the quality of faith. We trust the teacher on a path distinguished by compassion and a diet for awakening the heart. “All suffering arises when we think about our own happiness. And all happiness arises when we think about the well-being of others.” So we forsake harm to free ourselves from selfishness. Learning to understand and know our true nature, we sow the seeds of unconditional compassion and peace. This is the highest blessing.  A talk for the Ottawa Buddhist Society, April 2021

As seekers of truth, we turn the wheel of Dhamma inwardly. There alone can we understand the mind’s purity and directly know the true rhythm of the heart, undiluted by worldly refrains. The sounds of the world can turn coarse and invasive until we listen to the silence in our interior depths. Secluded from life's relentless currents, we traverse the ‘cloud of unknowing’ with the riches of our virtue. Then we shall discover and gain strength enough to fulfill the way of the Buddha – our transcendent going forth through the gates of the Deathless.  A Dhamma talk and guided meditatio...

As the witness of suffering, we gain new eyes to see. A doorway to knowing non-duality opens – there is no 'you', no 'me'. We are in the realm of no separation in one moment – gone beyond opinions, beyond wanting, beyond our pains and brokenness, and our enslavement to all that drives us. Can we see them as empty and powerless apart from the power we give them? Emptying the mind's rubbish each day, every moment that we can – enough to see, to intuitively know unconditional love – we ascend the Everest within to behold the jewel of the heart’s Himalaya.

Too long we have been caught in the grip of anxiety, anger, and clinging that lead nowhere. But there is an oasis in the depths of our native humanity. To understand what is true, we must empty all that is untrue. This is ultimate care of the mind: disentangling the knots in the heart that obstruct the moral-ethical fabric of our true nature. So we set our inner compass beyond all these blinding mental habits to witness that inner radiance. In the mirror of pure emptiness we reflect that silent knowing the truth of what we are. A talk at...

Fire is our teacher – the fire of pain, the fire of persevering through difficulty and the fire of going beyond what we think we are capable of. For we are greater that we know and our journey is one of learning to trust what is right and true. When the heart’s compassion, wisdom, and generosity mature, there is no space for fear. All the dross of the world melts away in the silence of pure presence. Here is the absolute sanctity of awareness, unencumbered and joyous in the knowledge of pure love itself.

The winds of change blow constantly. We seek shelter, gazing attentive and unobstructed into the mind – aware, in pure presence each moment. We sit, warming the heart and our precepts with gratitude. Stopping in this way, letting be, we truly see. In loving care of the mind, not harming ourselves or any living being, uplifted, we realize our true nature. This is supreme refuge. The Dhamma is there to be fully known. Clear, empty, joyful, open – we prepare to receive it.  Guided Reflections, Portland Friends of the Dhamma, Jan. 2024

When universal love leading to liberation of the heart is ardently developed, unrelentingly resorted to, it brings great joy to our life. We inherit a super vehicle from the Buddha, the sublime abiding of mettā, loving kindness. This is our shelter from unwholesome states – the antidote and true salve for harmful habits of mind. More and more, the practice of forgiveness and compassion vanquish hateful feelings and uproot the poisons of the mind. We awaken to the wondrous blessings of loving kindness, and we plant seeds of our spiritual healing, peace and incomparable happiness. Insight Meditation Society Retreat, MA., USA, 2016

Our suffering may feel too great or the mountain may look too high. But we are resilient and we have it in us to do this work, to walk this path – if we can give up thoughts of self-cherishing and feel compassion for ourselves and for all beings. The fruit of this work is a treasure to be gained even in the smallest instant of awareness. With radical patience, just make peace with one moment of painful feeling. Then offer up the pain or misery. From the ashes of suffering, we turn inward to the clarity of the mind. Stay fu...

By deeply examining the mind as the Buddha taught, we see our stark human predicament, why we suffer, and the real source of happiness. For he awakened to suffering’s end and the noble path to freedom. With immense gratitude for his teaching, we learn how we are caught grasping the world, compelled by its impingement and tormented ever after. We realize the ineffable vanquishing of that disease – when we stop giving vent to the wanting mind and live each moment from a pure compassionate and wise awareness. And so, quite apart from the world, we directly know here and now...

When the mind is completely silent, we experience the peace and happiness of pure awareness. This far surpasses any worldly promise of impermanent gains or pleasures. Instead, through wise intuitive insight, we enter into a blessed interior seclusion. Metaphorically speaking, not a shred of love exists in the cloud where we trust storing all our important digital data. Yet with our pure awareness, we see what can never be seen in the cloud. Where else but within does the Buddha guide us to know our true nature? Giving up all self-preoccupation for unconditional love, we know the heart’s true fr...

Contentment and generosity nurture a quality of metta that is kind through and through. We learn to respond to life like the good earth that is ever patient with and tolerant of our heedlessness. Whatever you throw on it – even if it’s harmful – the earth receives that. Generating such a depth of goodwill, we endure through hardships with contentment even if we’re struggling. And, with a generosity of harmlessness, we weave great compassion and benevolence to ourselves as well as to others. Such measureless kindness never dies. It is our true wealth and the bedrock of our path to liber...