Pavāraṇā Talks 2026

namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma-sambuddhassa namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma-sambuddhassa namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma-sambuddhassa bhutang damang sangham namassami Well,

I didn't think I was going to have to give a talk tonight, so I didn't think about it, which maybe might make this better.

One of the things I appreciate about the Lumpur Cha tradition is that his encouragement just to freestyle the Dhamma talk, if you will.

And that's actually something I remember being very upset with a roommate of mine telling me he didn't believe that it existed because it's a big fan of freestyle hip hop.

And it's actually it's actually part of your brain that you can develop like it's a neurological i mean they can map that onto your cognitive ability so it's a good good skill to develop and what it really encourages us to do as practitioners is to always be continuously reflecting on dhamma themes so part of that is picking up a theme and then sticking with it and making like a coherent Dhamma discourse, which is a bit harder to do.

And certainly I've thought a lot about this Tenth Vasa and getting this new title of Ajahn, which just means teacher.

And in many ways, it's just Another thing to let go of 10 years is nothing to be sneezed at, as Lumpower says.

It's certainly a commitment, but in another sense is it's really kind of just a drop in a bucket.

And in many ways, I feel like, you know, the practice is really just beginning to blossom for me and that it continues to be dynamic unfolding and a continuing process of investigation and insight.

So hopefully I will have something more to say.

I've certainly thought about and think a lot about different Dhamma talks or different themes to talk about.

If I would ever be asked to give a talk, mainly to repay the debt of gratitude for the Sangha's support in this lifestyle.

It's a very, it's a great blessing to be able to ordain and live as a monastic in this world, being completely dependent on the lay community for support and our monastic brothers, the community, brothers and sisters, monks and nuns, ordained and unordained, So with that, you know, as a teacher or trying to teach or trying to become a teacher or share some of the knowledge that you may have developed in your own practice, I feel like, you know, it's actually the precepts and people's own dedication to keeping the precepts and developing their own practice is what's going to teach them the most so not sure how much more insight i can offer at this point other than just express a deep appreciation for all the support over the years and takes a just as it takes a village to raise a child it takes a sangha to raise Ajahn and I really hope to be able to live up to the title and also you know to support everybody in their practice and continue or maybe in another good way of teaching is to be a good example you know I think that you don't necessarily need to get up and tell people about the Buddhist teachings but rather through living them by keeping sila and practicing is that you become what you want to be in the world and that's an example of the Buddhist teachings of a deep serenity and peace and I think we can all do that you don't have to be ordained anybody that's practicing can through living the Buddhist teachings can become a teacher in their own right just by their interactions in the world and the way they move through the world, their calmness and being.

I think that was one of the many things that really started this journey for me was meeting Lumpur Pasano many many years ago and he didn't have to say or really give me any teachings like direct teachings about it but rather just seeing him and interacting with him and being around him and seeing this you know just kind of wise happy kind man that's just totally at ease in the world was inspiring enough to start the inquiry of you know uh what is he doing you know what is because i've never met somebody like him i've never met anybody like the monks senior monks and to uh you know see people that are living much more harmoniously than the people i knew in the world And that was really the spark to start the practice for me.

So just encourage everybody to keep the precepts, be good Buddhists, lives up to the teachings.

And in that way, we can help influence and shape the world by interacting or influencing the people around us.

And yeah.

I think I'll leave it there for this evening and just say thank you to everyone.