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We honour a dear friend, Malini Weerasooriya, a true daughter of the Buddha. She had found the way out of the wilderness of ill-will, greed and delusion to a fearlessness and peace, a radiance, patience, and joy as she neared death. Spiritual community can help us blaze a trail through that wilderness, to learn to trust and persevere, to live wisely, and to be ready to make sacrifices or even suffer for the treasures of the Path. A talk given at Sati Saraniya Hermitage, Dec. 2012.

The heart is a moral tapestry of clear coordinates for liberation. Caught between duality and proliferation, we vanquish the ‘self’ using the Buddha’s pithy instruction to Bahiya of the Bark Cloth. “In the seen, there is only the seen. In the heard... only the heard. In the sensed... only the sensed. In the known... only the known. When for you there will be only the seen... there is no you there.” We too shall come out of the jungle of our attachments. A talk given at a week long SIMT retreat, Chapin Mill, USA, August, 2017.

The Buddha gives us lessons in freeing ourselves but there are critical choices to be made – an emptying out, a readiness, a rising up, a deep yearning for truth. We are compelled to trust so completely to wake up to the peace in our hearts, offering the best we can. It's a harvest of wisdom. And in this remarkable learning, we receive the great gift of a love, a compassion, a kindness that pervades us and, in turn, allows us to extend it to all beings. A talk given at the Toronto Theravada Buddhist Community (TBC), April, 2007.

One who practices true compassion inwardly as well as to others is praised as a superior person, a spiritual warrior on the path of harmlessness. How do we emulate that? Guided by right intention, we abandon the hindrances of the mind and patiently whittle away our ingrained habit of ego construction. We learn to see wisely and to forgive conditions as we journey to transcendence. A talk given to the Portland Friends of the Dhamma, Dec. 12, 2021.

Human beings have that special ability to deeply see and fathom things as they truly are. But we are so impatient. We resist letting go. Clinging, we harm unknowingly and stray from truth, gaining no peace. How can we recover and free ourselves from fear, anger, and mental distress? Purify the mind and directly know the higher truth of impermanence. See blessings where there was darkness. And within the heart’s core, touch the Unconditioned.

Are we able to dedicate our goodness and our practice for the welfare of others? COVID teaches us that if we are not healthy, others are affected, and if the world is not well, then we will also suffer – because we are all connected. We are wise to seek the inexhaustible well-spring of peace in our hearts – to be uplifted and to freely share that. Far beyond physical health, we can find that peace within our reach if we care for the mind. That will be our spiritual recovery. An online talk given to Toronto Theravada Buddhist Community (TBC), Sept. 26, 2021. May All Beings Live in Peace

Just as a gardener cultivates seedlings by watering them well, metta is praised as a foundational quality for watering the full liberation of the heart. As a spiritual gardener, work to deeply understand and integrate metta in all aspects of life and practice. It is present in every skilful mind-state and ripens in the awakened mind as unconditional and universal spiritual love.

When you move towards what is fearful step by step with courage, it is possible to overcome the darkest moments breath by breath.  Draw together all the threads of your life, and let each one go strand by strand. A guided meditation on death at an Ottawa Buddhist Society 10 day retreat, Galilee Centre, Arnprior, Ontario Canada in 2007.

Develop health of the mind. Many who face dire illness and many at the cusp of death overcome their fear or face death fearlessly. How is that possible? Caring for the mind can bring it to peace whereas the health of the body will never free the heart from the pain of losing what is most precious to us. An OBS talk at a Day of Mindfulness, July 18, 2020.

Take refuge and commit to ethical precepts to deepen the purification of virtue within us. This is the basis for true happiness. We take refuge in enlightened wisdom, and in our ability to awaken. We have faith that we can realize that Truth by ourselves – in this life; and we trust in this timeless teaching, worthy of our effort, worthy of our attention, worthy of our faith, and worthy of our refuge. A talk given for Portland Friends of the Dhamma, Jan.3, 2021.

How can we beat a path to awakening? Meditate and develop deep, wise insight, training like a spiritual athlete in this new millenium. Like clearing a trail in dense forest, walk it again and again, with strong determination, truly knowing, and enduring difficulties to navigate beyond mental afflictions. Study the mind incisively and trust - we will arrive. A talk given at a 10 day OBS retreat at the Sisters of St. Joseph Convent, Pembroke, Canada in 2008.