Ajahn Sumedho on Meditation

[rowyourboat]

Thank you for the replies to me questions- especially the quotes by Bikkhu Gavesako helped a lot- this is valuable to me- I did wonder if what is openly taught is what is deemed appropriate for his general audience - my question was not meant to cause any offence
with metta

[Guy]

Dhamma teachings of Ajahn Sumedho
The five khandhas are all about death.



Mindfulness is the way out of insanity.
(Amaravati winter retreat 1999)

If consciousness is one of the five khandhas and is therefore all about death, what is the difference between consciousness and mindfulness? Isn't mindfulness only possible because of consciousness? I know that consciousness doesn't require mindfulness, but mindfulness always requires consciousness, right? or not?

When I hear things like "trust in awareness" I am not sure I understand what that is pointing to exactly.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings Guy,

If consciousness is one of the five khandhas and is therefore all about death, what is the difference between consciousness and mindfulness?

The khandas are death, because they are conditioned, thus are impermanent, not-self and dukkha. Mindfulness is conditioned too. However, mindfulness is a tool that can help lead to the unconditioned, which is not all about death. Hence perhaps the analogy of the Dhamma as a raft.

Metta,
Retro.

[Guy]

Ah, thanks Retro, that clears things up a bit for me.

[jcsuperstar]

while the scholar monk vs meditation monk quote is cool and all, when dealing with matters of meditation i would trust the meditation monk over the scholar monk just as i would trust a surgeon over medical text book editor to perform my surgery

[cooran]

Hello jcsuperstar,

And how do you think the surgeon graduated, became qualified and was employed in a hospital to practice and instruct others, without rigorous study on which to base his practical skills?

Similarly with Bhikkhus.

metta
Chris

[adosa]

Greetings Guy,

If consciousness is one of the five khandhas and is therefore all about death, what is the difference between consciousness and mindfulness?

The khandas are death, because they are conditioned, thus are impermanent, not-self and dukkha. Mindfulness is conditioned too. However, mindfulness is a tool that can help lead to the unconditioned, which is not all about death. Hence perhaps the analogy of the Dhamma as a raft.

Metta,
Retro.

Hi Retro

Plus, clinging to the khandas is death as doing so leads to re-birth, aging, sickness, and death.

Ron

[jcsuperstar]

Hello jcsuperstar,

And how do you think the surgeon graduated, became qualified and was employed in a hospital to practice and instruct others, without rigorous study on which to base his practical skills?

Similarly with Bhikkhus.

metta
Chris

we dont need no book learnin!!

in my case i learned under a monk, i didnt really start reading about it till way after. and i suspect this is the case with most of those rag robed monks, you sit and you practice and your teacher either says youre on the right track or youre an idiot. and when the suttas were purely oral this was probably more so then now