Clear Mountain Monastery Project

In this session, Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho engage in a conversation with poet David Whyte (https://davidwhyte.com/).

00:00:00 Introduction & Spiritual Background

00:09:48 David Recites "The Bell and the Blackbird"

00:12:35 Marshaling Art for Spiritual Growth

00:19:16 Overcoming Acedia & Finding Joy

00:24:55 David Recites Blessing for the Morning Light

00:26:24 David Recites "The Well of Grief" & Metabolizing Suffering

00:31:43 Facing the Conversation You Don't Want to Have

David Whyte's biography:

David Whyte grew up with a strong, imaginative influence from his Irish mother among the hills and valleys of his father’s Yorkshire. He now makes his home in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The author of twelve books of poetry and five books of prose, David Whyte holds a degree in Marine Zoology and has traveled extensively, including living and working as a naturalist guide in the Galapagos Islands and leading anthropological and natural history expeditions in the Andes, Amazon and Himalaya. He brings this wealth of experience to his poetry, lectures and workshops.

David’s life as a poet has created a readership and listenership in three normally mutually exclusive areas: the literate world of readings that most poets inhabit, the psychological and theological worlds of philosophical enquiry and the world of vocation, work and organizational leadership.

The link to the 7:00-7:45 pm Zoom session following the livestream may be found on the event listing at https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/events/wednesday/.

Tune in with fellow practitioners for Clear Mountain’s weekly online and hybrid events!

- Wednesday Evening Teaching & Discussion (6:00 - 7:45 pm PT, YouTube then Zoom)

- Saturday Morning Meditation, Teaching, & Coffee Social (9:30 - 11:00 am PT, Online & In-Person)

- Sunday Evening “Mission Majjhima!” Sutta Teaching & Discussion (5:00 - 6:00 pm PT, Online)

See https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/ or visit https://linktr.ee/clear_mountain_monastery for details. Welcome!

This is PART ONE of Clear Mountain's interview with Andrew Holecek—scholar, practitioner, and "student of the night" (https://www.andrewholecek.com/). Watch PART TWO here: https://youtu.be/mGqZDbIVK0c

00:00:00 - Introduction & Andrew Holecek's Background

00:01:44 - Lunar Spirituality Bio & Background

00:07:01 - Overview & Significance of Dark Retreat

00:10:34 - Physical Setup and Environments

00:12:03 - Sutra vs. Tantra Approaches

00:18:26 - Comfort, Challenge, and Danger Zones

00:24:03 - Testing Personal Limits and Session Duration

00:25:34 - Preparing for Total Darkness

00:33:17 - The Perception of Light and Openness

00:34:24 - Home Simulations vs. Retreat Centers

00:39:42 - Psychotherapy and Contemplative Practice

00:40:43 - Indications and Contraindications

00:53:34 - Signs of Dissociation and Knowing When to Stop

01:03:55 - Time Perception and Circadian Rhythms

01:07:22 - Egolocation and Boundaries of the Self

Andrew Holecek's Biography:

Dr. Andrew Holecek is an author, concert pianist, and interdisciplinary scholar-practitioner of Vajrayāna Buddhism. A member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, he holds degrees in music, biology, and a doctorate in dental surgery, in addition to having completed a traditional Tibetan three-year meditation retreat under the guidance of Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. He serves as Resident Contemplative Scholar at the Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies, is a research consultant for the Cognitive Neuroscience Program at Northwestern University, and is actively involved in scientific research on dark retreat with the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Tiny Blue Dot Science Foundation. He is also the author of 10 books including: Preparing to Die; Dream Yoga; The Lucid Dreaming Workbook; and his latest book Total Eclipse of the Mind: Unleashing the Power of Darkness for Creativity, Healing, and Transformation.

Tune in with fellow practitioners for Clear Mountain’s weekly online and hybrid events!

Wednesday Evening Teaching & Discussion (6:00 – 7:30 pm PT, YouTube then Zoom)

Saturday Morning Meditation, Teaching, & Coffee Social (9:30 - 11 am PT, Online & In-Person)

Sunday Evening “Mission Majjhima!” Sutta Teaching & Discussion (5:00 - 6 pm PT, Online)

See https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/ or visit https://linktr.ee/clear_mountain_mona... for details. Welcome!

00:00 Chanting Together

00:52 Ayyā Ānandabodhi — Walking Right Here

08:04 Ajahn Kovilo — Walking With Stillness: The World Moving Through Us

16:58 Ajahn Nisabho — Path as Duty: Monastery as Container

26:59 Question: Navigating Career Transitions

31:53 Question: Managing Boredom in Relationships

37:25 Question: Balancing Duty and Presence

In this session, directly preceding their three-day pilgrimage from St. Mark's Cathedral in Capitol Hill, Seattle to the new Clear Mountain property in North Bend, Ayyā Ānandabodhi and Venerable Satima join Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho in reflecting on the why and how of Buddhist pilgrimage ("tudong") and walking meditation more broadly.

To learn more about Ayyā Ānandabodhi and Venerable Satima, visit www.parayanavihara.org

Tune in with fellow practitioners for Clear Mountain’s weekly online and hybrid events!

- Wednesday Evening Teaching & Discussion (6:00 – 7:30 pm PT, YouTube then Zoom)

- Saturday Morning Meditation, Teaching, & Coffee Social (9:30 - 11 am PT, Online & In-Person)

- Sunday Evening “Mission Majjhima!” Sutta Teaching & Discussion (5:00 - 6 pm PT, Online)

See https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/ or visit https://linktr.ee/clear_mountain_monastery for details. Welcome!

ESSAYS

Return to Simplicity Through Wuwei: https://luminousdharma.org/return-to-simplicity-through-wuwei/

Returning to Nature: https://luminousdharma.org/returning-to-nature-advanced-dharma-practice/

PAIRED VIDEO: https://youtu.be/qlU00qmHq1E

DESCRIPTION

Returning to Simplicity is an approach to Buddhist practice based on radical surrender. What we set down is the whole apparatus of impulse, obsession, discriminating, ruminating, and holding concepts about how the world should be. We are not setting down the arising of these things, but our investment in them. What we take up instead is feeling the world as it actually is.

The Buddha encouraged exploring body, mind, and environment as "not I, not me, not mine." In this discussion we look at how that seeing may be uncovered and directly experienced, and how life can open into freedom when things are entrusted back to natural function. To learn more, visit https://luminousdharma.org/.

BIO

Jason Bartlett teaches a practical, cross-traditional approach to Buddha Dharma centered on "returning to nature" — a method of releasing the sense of self by entrusting whatever arises spontaneously and uncontrolled to nature itself, drawing on prajñāpāramitā, tathāgatagarbha, and early Taoist teachings. He began meditating in 1993 at age 17, and his practice expanded over the years to include Chan, Korean Seon, and Theravāda traditions, along with study of the Pāli suttas and Mahāyāna sūtras. Following his brother's death in 2019, he founded Luminous Dharma to offer teachings freely. His mentors include Venerable Sucitta Mahātherī, Santikaro Upāsaka, Leigh Brasington, and Venerable Wu Kai Shīfù. To learn more, visit https://luminousdharma.org/.

CHAPTERS

0:00 – Opening & Bio Introduction

3:08 – "How would you describe returning to simplicity?"

9:34 – "How would you speak about people embodying this in daily life?"

13:33 – "Can you give listeners practical ways to embody the skill of release?"

18:05 – "How would you suggest cultivating this on the cushion?"

21:45 – "Do you want to quickly speak to the sailing analogy?"

27:20 – "How would you speak about moments where it's not easy to turn off the motor?"

32:24 – "Would you speak to big mind and small mind?"

35:20 – "What other methods do you have for people stepping into big mind?"

37:19 – "Do you have an example of returning to simplicity while doing the dishes?"

46:59 – "How do you teach this in meditation? How do you sit to develop these skills?"

51:30 – "Can you give a practical technique to sit with this — breath or mantra?"

54:54 – "What's different about returning to nature vs. returning to simplicity?"

1:01:19 – "How is returning to nature different from returning to simplicity?" (trust/wholehearted wish)

1:09:00 – "What's the practical way to sit and develop the returning to nature method?"

1:17:14 – "How do people make the leap to piti, rapture, and nourishment?"

1:21:43 – "How does one know if a breakthrough is authentic?"

1:25:08 – "How does the Awakening Alchemy method fit into this paradigm?"

1:28:42 – "Do you consider yourself Buddhist?"

We are especially grateful for the work of Chetan Raj in filming and editing. Sadhu!

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Tune in with fellow practitioners for Clear Mountain’s weekly online and hybrid events!

- Wednesday Evening Teaching & Discussion (6:00 – 7:30 pm PT, YouTube then Zoom)

- Saturday Morning Meditation, Teaching, & Coffee Social (9:30 - 11 am PT, Online & In-Person)

- Sunday Evening “Mission Majjhima!” Sutta Teaching & Discussion (5:00 - 6 pm PT, Online)

See https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/ or visit https://linktr.ee/clear_mountain_monastery for details. Welcome!

In this talk, Ajahn Nisabho the Buddha's directions towards developing jhāna through mindfulness of breathing, as articulated in the Ānāpānassati Sutta (MN 18 - https://suttacentral.net/mn118/en/bodhi?lang=en&reference=none&highlight=false). Taoist articulations of how to refine the body's energies provide practical tools for practitioners looking to refine the mind through these stages. Specifically, Jason Bartlett's "Awakening Alchemy" methodology, described in the talk and essay below, give in-depth guidance about the approach.

Video: Buddhist Lotus, Taoist Roots: An Ancient Blueprint for Modern Practice | Jason Bartlett Q&A: https://youtu.be/qlU00qmHq1E

Awakening Alchemy Essay: http://Luminousdharma.org/awakening-alchemy/

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Tune in with fellow practitioners for Clear Mountain’s weekly online and hybrid events!

- Wednesday Evening Teaching & Discussion (6:00 – 7:30 pm PT, YouTube then Zoom)

- Saturday Morning Meditation, Teaching, & Coffee Social (9:30 - 11 am PT, Online & In-Person)

- Sunday Evening “Mission Majjhima!” Sutta Teaching & Discussion (5:00 - 6 pm PT, Online)

See https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/ or visit https://linktr.ee/clear_mountain_monastery for details. Welcome!