Amaravati Media – Dhamma Books and Articles

Paccuppanna – The Present Moment

Ajahn Sundarā (2017)

Awareness has a mirror-like quality. We can tap into it right now, become aware of the mind and body as they are in this moment. Perhaps awareness is reflecting the feeling of sleepiness or of not knowing, the feeling of cold or heat, heaviness or lightness. Reflective consciousness can see things, even the things that are closest to us. It reflects feelings of aversion, anger, kindness, pleasant feelings, unpleasant feelings – all kinds of things. This quality of seeing, of knowing this reflective mind, is neutral. There is no sense of judging or criticising; awareness merely reflects the judging or the critical mind. That is what the Buddha is talking about when he says that the Dhamma is ‘apparent here and now’; not tomorrow or yesterday, but here and now in the present moment. And the Dhamma is timeless – it is not dependent on time.

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Ajahn Sundarā

Ajahn Sundara is French and was born in a liberal non-religious family. After studying dance, she worked and taught for a few years in that field. In her early thirties she encountered... Leia mais

Ajahn Sundara is French and was born in a liberal non-religious family. After studying dance, she worked and taught for a few years in that field. In her early thirties she encountered the Dhamma through Ajahn Sumedho’s teachings and a ten day retreat that he led in England. Her interest in Buddhist teachings grew, and in 1979 she joined monastic community of Chithurst Monastery where she was ordained as one of the first four women novices. In 1983 she was given the Going Forth as a sīladhāra (ten precept nun) by Ajahn Sumedho. Since then she has participated in the establishment of the nuns’ community, and for the last twenty years has taught and led meditation retreats in Europe and North America. As of 2011, she lives at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery.