writing this in the middle of the college meeting. perhaps i’ll write more about the other topics that we discussed, but one of the highlights of the meeting was an afternoon with bhante, with him answering questions.

i’ll summarise a couple of the points:

(the disclaimer: remember that these are my brief notes, not his language: they don’t reflect bhante’s usual precision)

on visiting other teachers:

can learn from teachers outside the order.

but some people think there are not sufficiently experienced order members to give ‘further teachings’. don’t agree with this.

first of all don’t agree need other practices to go deeper. have said in the past that one verse of the dhammapada, if practiced seriously, will take you all the way.

idea that we need something more advanced is mistaken: need deeper practice of what we already have, which is a lot.

practices like mindfulness, metta, the six element practice... it’s hard to go beyond these.

if want to go deeper, ask ourselves how rigorously we have been practicing what we have.

if after practising some years, should be able to ‘look within’: an ‘inner guru’ telling us what steps to take.

don’t underestimate what we have: the teaching we’ve received, the body of experience we have in our midst.

‘transmission’

a sort of ‘threefold lineage’ at the time of ordination

a lineage of teaching

the expression of the dharma,coming from the buddha. our own emphases and approaches to the dharma determined mainly by bhante’s writing

(which he thought, a little wistfully, were not read as much in the movement these days as he would like)

the lineage of practice

he spoke mainly about the meditation practices we share:

mindfulness, metta bhavana, sadhana, 6 element practice, reflection on the nidanas.

into that lineage have entered certain emphases which have come from experienced order members

the lineage of inspiration

something communicated from bhante, to others, to yet others.

something which isn’t just the teaching or the practices, which is communicated, can only be communicated, personally, which many people experience at time of ordination.

why at time of private ordination personal element is so important.

important to keep these three lineages alive, a threefold transmission, passed on to succeeding generations.

an organisational lineage that has it’s own importance, the structures that modify when they no longer fulfill their original purpose.