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As long as delusion prevails, we are in danger and our happiness is very limited. Beyond its veil, immeasurable riches await us. Four ways to focus our samadhi power help us to clear away the interior cobwebs and tame our mental turbulence into a beautiful mind. With an intention of absolute kindness, we see and know the causes of our suffering and the pathway out of it, steering our attention to pure presence and the crowning moment of the heart’s freedom. A morning talk given for Satipaññā Insight Meditation Toronto, Aug. 2021

Remember compassion like the Buddha’s. Remember courage like the Buddha’s – a mind strong, centered, wise and welcoming; spacious, supple and open. We look within and wake up to that seed of awakening.  Standing for truth instead of delusion and weakness, even if what we have is not enough – we make it enough. Even from a tiny seed of awakening, plant it in the soil of contentment. Watch it grow into a tall, magnificent refuge in Truth that is not conceptual but is realized intuitively. You are here in the moment like never before. A talk at Sati Saraniya Hermitage, May 2023

When a river flows into the sea it acquires one taste, the taste of salt. As our meditation deepens, regardless of age, health, race, gender, culture or social status, delving into the mind, we discover one taste, that is the taste of truth. The world is full of suffering, not what we want it to be. And on the street where you live is your monastery, your garden, the thorns and the flowers, the compost and the field of cultivation – from feeling hopeless despair to the dawning moment when you understand the origin of suffering and the way to the Deathless. Letting go in the very marrow of the moment, spread peace and compassion in all directions – on the street where you live. Given at a 10 day retreat, Bodhinyanarama Monastery, Stokes Valley, New Zealand, 2005.

We sit at the edge of the heart peering in, tangled by clinging, inflated and inflamed by worldly ways. Yet we long to know the truth of what we are. For that we must explore the inner core. This is a letting go both magnificent and excruciating. So how can we bear it? Burn up all that you think you know to discover that which cannot be burned. It's a corelessness – the pure, unfathomable truth. Trust and see through to the emptiness of 'I' – there is no me and nothing to cling to. That knowledge and vision will set us free.  A morning reflection at Sati Saraniya Hermitage, October, 2018 https://files.satisaraniya.ca/audio/talks/2018/Ayya_Medhanandi_At_the_Core_of_the_Coreless_Sati_Saraniya_Reflections_Sept_2018.MP3

We are here to learn to see, to dispel all ignorance with intuitive wisdom. When I walk on alms round, even if nothing is given, I see that my life is like an alms bowl. It is both full and empty – full of emptiness, like all conditioned things. They have no choice but to arise and pass away. Seeing this, I can stand for truth in the present moment and not be diminished by the sufferings of this life. The flame of truth in the mind will not go out – and that will be our rescue.  A talk given at the Ottawa Buddhist Society Friday evening, Dec. 16, 2022.

Learning to play an instrument, at first nothing good comes of it. The body is like an instrument. At first, it howls, it screams or cries. Then one day, that cry becomes a chant. So it is freeing the mind. We teach ourselves to walk the path. We fall and we get up again. In the darkest moment, we grow that tiny speck in the heart of not being afraid, not panicking, not being angry, not giving up. Practise freeing yourself so you can free everyone. Patiently keep digging. Trust. One day we will find gold. A talk for the Ottawa Buddhist Society, Dec. 16 , 2022.

There is no final cure for the body, but the mind can be freed. No matter how much craving, anger, sorrow, fear or obsessive negative thoughts keep storming the mind, don’t let discouragement become another hindrance. Every new moment is a chance to see these hindrances for what they are with pure awareness itself. Patient, courageous and wise, we are ready to receive the gift of ‘bread’ and to win back the boundaries of our hearts. A talk given during a Satipaññā Insight Meditation Toronto (SIMT) week's retreat at Chapin Mill, Batavia, NY, USA, in 2014.

On the path to freedom, every moment in every life situation is an opportunity for training the mind.  We plant seeds of virtue, watering them with renunciation, respect, contentment, generosity and valiant effort. We clear the cobwebs of lifetimes from the mind with wisdom and mindfulness guarding us from the eight worldly winds, while forgiveness, love and compassion hasten the heart's awakening to Nibbana.  A talk given during a one week Satipaññā Insight Meditation Toronto retreat at Chapin Mill Zen retreat Centre, Batavia, NY, USA, Aug. 2014.

In the grip of painful feelings such as fear, anger, grief, or despair, we are in danger of allowing these to subdue the mind. Discernment and clear awareness help us to see through our pain to the ending of pain – not only for ourselves, but for all beings. We ascend the highest Everest of the spiritual realm. That might seem impossible from where we sit now. But if we trust this process, just like the sudden vanishing of winter snow, we realize a transcendent interior melting of all sorrow. A talk given at an SIMT retreat, Toronto 2014

On a wilderness trail, at times the path is clear, at times not. We get lost, confused, and disheartened. Tested again and again, we gain strength, skill, and clarity, and we learn to see what we could not see at first. The spiritual way is not a trail under our feet but a daunting passage of the heart. Once our view is purified, we know there is no going back. Persevering with humility and trust, we navigate across the depths of our pain and brokenness. We break free.  A Friday evening talk given at the Ottawa Buddhist Society, Dec. 2020.

Where is safety in this world? As the Buddha taught: “Not apart from awakening and austerity, not apart from sense restraint, not apart from relinquishing everything do I see any safety for any living being”. So with unshakeable faith, not faltering in the face of difficulty or pain, we nurture heroic patience and compassion. Wisely probing and seeing the Noble Truths of suffering, its cause, its ending, and the way beyond suffering, we hasten to follow the Noble Eightfold Path into the stream and across – to our freedom. An online talk given to the Toronto Theravada Buddhist Community (TBC), December 2022.

Our most valued renewable resource is the heart, the seat of awareness and our true refuge in what is worthy of refuge – the ancient virtue of the noble ones. Breath by breath, we embody pure presence, wisely seeing how suffering arises and understanding the Noble Truth of how it ends. With courage enough to face our fear, we cut the currents of negativity and we stop feeding them. This is our path to the ending of pain – the heart’s total release. A talk given for the Ottawa Buddhist Society 10 day retreat, Sisters of St. Joseph Convent, Pembroke, 2008.

To directly know Truth, we enter the depths of the vast ocean of the mind. We refine our attention and focus it like a laser beam. In the knowing of knowing itself, impermanence is revealed together with the inherent suffering of the conditioned world and the intrinsic emptiness of everything everywhere. In the starkness of this Reality, unwavering awareness sees all that we cling to as nothing, while ego capitulates to liberating insight. A guided meditation online with Satipaññā Insight Meditation Toronto (SIMT) 2022

The Eightfold Noble Path is the Buddha's map to freedom. His directions how to proceed are precise, rigorous and breathtaking - the better for our faith and diligence. Though we may falter or feel unworthy, we discard delusion of a self - the better for purifying our hearts. Wise, surefooted and joyous, we open the gates to the Deathless. A talk given at Satipaññā Insight Meditation Toronto 2011

Can we resolutely walk the moral high road and discover Dhamma treasures in the fertile ground of the heart? Heroic good-will, metta, will serve as our anti-inflammatory, quelling the fires of greed, anger, fear, and blame along with every other uncharitable mind state. ‘Shaving’ the heart with kindness and compassion, we ascend the mountain until there is no more mountain and no ‘one’ to climb it. Talk #6 of 6, Portland Friends of the Dhamma, Dec. 31, 2022

Generosity and virtue are at the heart of waking up. We give nothing less than our full devotion to the practice, day by day, training in present moment awareness and purifying ourselves. Secluded from dangerous mental states, we endure patiently, courageously. As the wisdom of the ancients dawns within us, we are blessed by that sacred gift of the Path – a noble mind. Talk #5 of 6, Portland Friends of the Dhamma daylong retreat, Dec. 31, 2022.

To escape clinging to the world and the creations of thought, we purify and tame the restless mind until we directly know the impermanence, unsatisfactory and selfless nature of all conditioned things. No matter what comes, we endure. A diet of discernment, gratitude, and the heart's unconditional compassion rescue us from the swamp of fear and unwholesomeness. Seeing the whole truth and nothing but the truth, we walk with the Buddha, a true spiritual friend to ourselves and to all the world. Talk #4 of 6 - in response to five questions, Portland Friends of the Dhamma daylong retreat, Dec 31, 2022

We live in a world of toxic fear and earnestly wish for a way beyond it. Devoted to the Buddha’s supreme advice, we undertake this holistic training how to live harmlessly, joyful and at peace in ourselves. With courage and patient humility, we don’t back down when it gets tough or pick and choose only the parts we like. Once the inner world of the mind is purified, liberation dawns. We shall reap untold blessings to the end of selfishness. Wisdom is born and the heart is free. A talk given at the Portland Friends of the Dhamma daylong retreat on New Year's eve, Dec. 2022.

With the Buddha as our guide, we walk in his footsteps. If we fall away from the path, we return to it as soon as we can. Just as you steer your car back on the road should it veer off. The mind may be on fire with wanting, fear, grief or anger. Then feel the heat. Know its origin and see its ending – not owning nor feeding it, let it subside. Here and now, awareness and wisdom deepen. We are waking up. And we discover – that true friend resides within our own heart.

What are we, and what are we doing on this planet? We easily get lost in the dream of the world. It is a very good time to wake up. Right here in your own heart is the greatest adventure possible. See the danger and look inwards into the centre of the storm for sanctuary. That is how we shall bring forth a wave of awakening in this world. A talk given at a joint Theravada Buddhist Community & Satipaññā Insight Meditation Toronto retreat in 2016.