An evening in Carlisle

Luangpoh and I spent the evening with the Carlisle Meditation Group in the city where Luangpoh met some old friends and we made some new ones as well.  We had a nice puja and Q&A.  Discussion included such things as how generosity leads to morality which then leads to concentration and wisdom.  If your meditation practice is grounded in morality then it will support the other aspects of it such as formal sitting sessions.  But if your experience only involves the sitting sessions without mindfulness practice during the day then you may not know the benefits of living in the Dhamma.  Some members had attended Ken's (previously ordained disciple of Luangpoh) day retreat in Kendal on the weekend and discussed their experience such as methods of meditation on the body.  One method Luangpoh expanded on is to see all the elements of earth, wind, fire, water, space, and consciousness within the body.  We can then visualize them returning back to just space until there is nothing left except consciousness unless we become enlightened when that element does not arise again.  We thus see impermanence, emptiness, and dependence on all the other factors for existence in the first place.

-KDB