* Title Page
[1]
* Intuitive Awareness
INTUITIVE AWARENESS
Intuitive Awareness
Ajahn Sumedho
Dedications
Dedicated to Ajahn Sumedho on his seventieth birthday with love and respect.
In loving memory of my parents, David and Sheila Miles. And my son Riccardo Cattabiani, with gratitude for everything they have taught me.
With gratitude for the life of Sritorn Hagyard. May she know the peace of Nirvana.
INTUITIVE AWARENESS AJAHN SUMEDHO
AMARAVATI BUDDHIST MONASTERY
.
For Free Distrubution
Publications from Amaravati are for free distribution. In most cases, this is made possible by individuals or groups making donations specifically for the publication of Buddhist teachings, to be made freely available to
the public.
Amaravati Publications Amaravati Buddhist Monastery Great Gaddesden Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire HP1 3BZ England
ISBN 1 870205 17 0
© Amaravati Publications 2004
www.amaravati.org www.forestsangha.org www.dhammatalks.org
Contents
Editor’s Preface
1 Introduction
3 Intuitive Awareness
19 Identity 37 When You’re an Emotional Wreck 51 Suffering Should be Welcomed 65 Sound of Silence 85 The End of Suffering is Now 97 Don’t Take it Personally 111 Consciousness 133 Trusting in Simplicity 147 Observing Attachment 161 Not Looking for Answers, Not asking Favours 169 Glossary 175 Biography 181
Editor’s Preface
This book is compiled from talks given mostly in 2001 by Ajahn Sumedho; they convey an intuitive understanding of the Buddha’s teaching which has arisen from over 35 years of practice as a Buddhist monk.
This approach starts with accepting ourselves as we are, not as some ideal of whom we think we should be. By doing this a relaxation can take place that creates space for insight to arise. For some people this space arises as the sound of silence, or simply a quiet or empty mind. However it manifests, this points to the unconditioned; beyond body and mind objects.
From this place of spaciousness, social and personal conditioning can be investigated or reflected upon, thus freeing the heart from the delusion of identifying with the personality. This is not a process of rejecting ourselves or of considering certain thoughts and feelings as wrong, but of learning to be a silent witness to all that arises without attaching to that experience or rejecting it.
In essence it’s about trust, accepting what arises in experience as “the way it is” or, as Ajahn Sumedho likes to say a lot, “welcoming the suffering”. It is about listening, being receptive to and fully including everything.
It may seem confusing that the reflections in this volume sometimes contradict each other, one talk suggesting that “suffering should be understood” and then the next cautioning against using the word “should”. But what can be noticed is the all-encompassing point behind the confusion and contradictions. This is the point to trust: mindfulness.
