As a monk, I bring a strong commitment, along with the renunciate flavor, to the classic Buddhist teachings. I play with ideas, with humor and a current way of expressing the teachings, but I don't dilute them.
Sitting in a field of fifty to eighty people really starts my mind sparking. Since I don't prepare my talks ahead of time, I find myself listening to what I'm saying along with everyone else. This leaves a lot of room for the Dhamma to come up. Just having eighty people listening to me is enough to engage me, stimulate me, and create a nice flow of energy. The actual process of teaching evokes ideas that even I did not realize were being held somewhere in my mind.
Different teaching situations offer their own unique value. In retreat, you are able to build a cohesive and comprehensive body of the teachings. When people are not on retreat and come for one session, it opens a different window. They are more spontaneous and I'm given the chance to contact them in ways that are closer to their "daily-life mind." This brings up surprises and interesting opportunities for me to learn even more.
I'm continually struck by how important it is to establish a foundation of morality, commitment, and a sense of personal values for the Vipassana teachings to rest upon. Personal values have to be more than ideas. They have to actually work for us, to be genuinely felt in our lives. We can't bluff our way into insight. The investigative path is an intimate experience that empowers our individuality in a way that is not egocentric. Vipassana encourages transpersonal individuality rather than ego enhancement. It allow for a spacious authenticity to replace a defended personality.
Discernment (panna) distinguishes skillful from unskillful. For example - use it like a sensitive hand and it can detect and peel off layers of blockage - and restore enjoyment. This rest is samadhi.
Mindfulness can be sustained through a neutral act of observing visual, listening auditory or feeling in ones body. The latter is useful for emotions and psychological afflictions that cannot be opened.
Chanting helps to open the body and energize emotional sensitivity. As our voices merge in the group there is harmony. The art of praising a venerable figure uplifts the heart.
The path to nibbana begins by bringing values and virtues into being. As these strengthen, they provide an alternative to the pull of the senses. This leads to liberation
