A quote by Ajahn Brahm brings us straight to today’s topic of really letting go. It’s what meditation practice is all about. We’re learning it more deeply from the Upakkilesa Sutta.

What is the state of your emotional and mental health? What burdens are you carrying? What hurts and pains have you yet to transmute into love? What have you learnt about your self and your life journey this year? Let's get a status report, let's take inventory to understand what is going on.

Last year, in this meditation group, we have studied and learned about the five hindrances in meditation. While they’re all interrelated, we can often pinpoint one major source of disturbance upon reflection. Different ones come up at different times. However, we all tend to have a “pet” hindrance, one that is present most often. For me, it is restlessness.

In today’s presentation, I will be sharing what I learnt in a two day online retreat over the past weekend. Venerable Robina Courtin was teaching a class in partnership with Shantideva Center in New York and they broadcast it live.

So in this presentation we will talk about Karma: the four ways that karma ripens, how present actions leave seeds in the mind that will ripen in the future as one’s experiences, and more.

What does mindfulness and meditation have to do with social change? There is no doubt that we need to come together to find ways to transform, change and heal our society and our institutions. But how can we change anything if we are not aware of what’s going on? How can we change the world if we do not also change ourselves?

It is no news that there is deep pain and suffering in our society and in our communities. Being part of the minority community and as a first generation immigrant who grew up in New Jersey, recent events have been personally intensely disturbing. But all of us are deeply affected because we are all human beings, first and foremost, and we are designed to live in peace and love with our fellow human beings.

Last week, we started learning a story from the Upakkilesa Sutta. The Buddha walked away from a monastic dwelling when a peaceful togetherness wasn’t possible any longer. He had tried to appease the quarreling parties, but was faced with the response to basically mind his own business.

It’s a very real story, taken seemingly out of our modern life.

Over the last weeks and months, I’ve been hearing a particular Sutta being referred to on a few occasions. Sutta (in Pali) or Sutra (in Sanskrit) is a discourse of the Buddha, an original sermon if you will. While reading the suttas directly is mind blowingly inspiring to me, I feel lots of resistance to read them most of the times. I think that this is mostly because of the older language and rare words used.

Alright, I know that the title is a bit over the top. But I want to present to you a method that I have begun practicing lately that has given me instant relief. No, it didn’t entirely make the problem go away but it gave me a new energy and a sense of resilience and even confidence that I can handle it.

You have heard this many times - you are your biggest enemy. And you are the only one who can make you happy. It’s in your hands. No one else is responsible for your happiness. “You’re the boss”, as Venerable Robina says.What exactly do I mean when I say “we are our own biggest enemy”…