(jhanasadvice.com)Pa Auk Sayadaw is a Theravada Buddhist scholar-practitioner. Two of his accomplished Western students are Stephen Snyder and Tina Rasmussen. They are offering retreats, day long meditations, and interviews (advice on practicing to gain profound serenity).
2011 Retreats3-day meditation retreat at
Cloud Mountain, Dec. 9-12, 2011
Dharma Talks, Daylongs, Interviews - Tina Rasmussen was recently interviewed by Nonduality Magazine, an online magazine featuring interviews with teachers from a wide variety of traditions. Stephen Snyder will be interviewed for the next issue.
- Sacramento, CA on April 21 & 22, 2012
- We have posted a Dharma talk recorded in November, 2009 when Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw invited us to teach at the Theravada Dhamma Society near San Francisco, California.
- We were interviewed in 2010 by Vince Horn at BuddhistGeeks.com. It was a lot of fun talking about the "Jedi Warrior Training" yogis described experiencing at our Dec. 2009- Jan 2010 retreat. Click here for the link, and scroll down to the interviews (in two parts).
Upcoming 2012 and 2013 Retreats- 25-day Retreat in Washington, 2013: We will also offer our first 25-day retreat, October 13-November 8, 2013, at a private retreat center on Samish Island, near Bellingham, Washington. The estimated cost is $1,350 and all rooms are single cabins. Pre-registration is now open.
- These retreats are in addition to our usual 13-day annual retreat at Cloud Mountain, which next year will be held Sept 8-21, 2012. See Events page for details.
Spirit Rock Daylong: In Jan. 2011, we held our first daylong at Spirit Rock Meditation Center (near San Francisco). We were delighted that 120 people attended with very positive feedback.
Practicing the Jhanas Book
Now available for e-readers! The e-reader version of Jhanas Advice is sold at a reduced cost, on Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble, and Google. - Practicing the Jhanas (Shambhala Publications) is available in major bookstores and most Internet booksellers. Or order from JhanasAdvice.com (Books page).
- The original Jhanas Advice from Two Spiritual Friends was purchased by more than 550 people in 31 countries on six continents in a two year period. The Shambhala version contains one additional chapter on "First Sit to First Jhana" as well as an expanded section on the Purification of Mind. Several wonderful reviews of our book have been released, including Yoga Journal UK, Wisdom Quarterly: American Buddhist Journal, and Buddhadharma. The latest can be found here.
Knowing and Seeing by Pa Auk Sayadaw
This seminal text is now available at cost for purchase on Amazon.com thanks to two yogis in our
sangha -- Ted Weinstein and Michael Nagy. The book is beautiful and much easier to read and use than the downloadable version. It sells for $15.99 (nonprofit) with any small proceeds being donated to Pa Auk Forest Monastery in Burma.
Click here to order. For a description visit
Books/Dana page.
(Philiproeland/Flickr)
It was only when Siddhartha stopped being afraid of pleasure dissociated from sensuality that he entered upon the path to enlightenment. For it is not by austerity but by happiness that one finds nirvana: "There is no way to happiness; happiness ["pleasure" (sukha) as a factor of absorption] is the way!"
(More happy panda pictures at Kjdrill/Flickr)
Meditative bliss (piti in jhana or zen, dhyana, ch'an) is given shortshrift in this age of insight (vipassana). But profound concentration serves as the best foundation for the work of penetrative wisdom.
For example, when coming out of a meditative absorption it is very useful to review the factors of absorption associated with it. In this way one ensures where in the practice one is. This is done by turning attention toward the "mind door" which is located in the area of the physical heart. Without absorption (or at least access concentration), one sees nothing.
