On retreat we can develop a frame of reference which becomes a reliable way of filtering – not controlling – experience. Retreat structure, silence and participation are key ingredients.
Steady the citta by replenishing it with good food. These include the fruits of friendliness, goodwill, ethical sensitivity, stability, and a steady resolve. These become a drip feed.
With integrity as a basis for mindfulness, we can go beyond calming down in sports, the office or even the army. Through meditation we see there is something deeper in the heart that needs to be unpacked.
Effort: taking an overview, we can recognize the first effort is to generate right view, to note the conditionalities in which we find ourselves. We see which ones lead to stress, and which allow it to cease.
Finding a place to begin can’t come from history. Intuitive faith / saddha is useful to distinguish the mundane from the place where truth, the unconditioned, can be revealed.
A Dhamma session is special, a form that is unlike the form in which most people live. But as we return to the helter-skelter of city life, it offers certain things to bear in mind.
