Unexpected Freedom

Profoundly Simplemeditation retreat, during which I learned to focus attentionon the breath and to inhibit the tendency to follow distractionsthat I discovered, or uncovered, the natural state of well-beingthat comes when the mind is concentrated. Up until that pointI thought I had to do something or imbibe something to feelgood. When we remember or reconnect with the naturalgoodness of the heart – which is still, calm, peaceful and clear– then, through seeing clearly the nature of the world, ourrelationship with the world is changed. The world remainswhat it is and what it has always been. There is still pleasureand pain, both intense and mediocre. There’s still injustice andstruggle, disappointment, joy, delight and happiness. Butwhen we see with clarity that all of this comes and goes, whenwe see with awareness all of experience arising and ceasing, weno longer, from conditioned preference, invest ourselves inany experience in particular. We invest instead inunderstanding the nature of experience.So the fourth teaching from Ajahn Tate that I recall is thatwhat is really worth developing is not a sophisticatedunderstanding of Buddhist theory or lots of retreatexperiences and insights but an appreciation of how to abidemore freely and more frequently with one-pointedness ofheart and mind. When we know this state and it is rightlyfocused on the Way we will be best placed to progress inpractice.For these four simple yet wonderfully relevant teachingsI will remain eternally indebted to Ajahn Tate and I am happyto share them with you.Thank you for your attention.13