Unexpected Freedom

IntroductionPower of Paradox’. In this talk he succinctly formulates theessence of a source-oriented approach to practice: “Patientlyallowing utterly frustrating dilemmas to be present in ourhere-and-now, judgment-free awareness – this is the path ofpurification.” With those talks fleshing out the themeopened up by ‘We are all Translators’, the idea of a book tookon more definite shape, and after some initial hesitation(“Do you really think these things are worth printing?”)Ajahn Munindo warmed up to the idea. Finally, through thebequest of his good friend Sue Warren, who passed away in2003, there arose the opportunity to print this book anddedicate it to her dear memory.In the first talk of the collection Ajahn Munindo shareshis experience of his early years as a monk in Thailand andhis relationship to and the teachings received from his firstteacher, the late Ajahn Tate. The book then moves on to thetheme of respectfully translating the teachings and the formof the inherited tradition into what is meaningful and workablefor us. This is a task that, as is explained in ‘We are allTranslators’, we have to face individually if we want to receivegenuine benefits from our practice. In his own efforts tomeet this challenge, Ajahn Munindo remains faithful to theinstructions on awareness he received from his first teacher:to “realise the difference between the contents of the heartand the heart itself.”The main body of the book develops the theme of thisawareness, the heart itself, its inherent freedom and itsrelevance for receiving and transforming the variouspassions and problems arising in our life. The aim is to showhow it is that in this cauldron of awareness, if our connectionto it is strong, stable and clear enough, all obstructions canbe melted down into their raw energies which then becomeavailable again to manifest in ways that are wholesome and