Continuing with our explorations of The Middle Way and personal agency/responsibility, this week we considered and discussed a talk by Kamala Masters. She has been practicing in the Theravada tradition since the 70’s. Anagarika Munindra (Munindraji) and Sayadaw U Pandita (trained under Mahasi Sayadaw) have been her primary teachers.
Darryl led our Sangha this week. She writes:
I have been through several weeks of generalized discontent rising, staying for a while and slowly passing away. My response was to simultaneously turn towards suffering and also explore ways to counter suffering. And I remained mired in discontent and struggled with “countering” suffering by seeking joy. The Ayya Dhammadipa talk and our discussion last week jostled my thinking. I realized I was stuck in a curative approach, driven by aversion, striving and a sprinkling of unhealthy doubt, and needed to respond to myself in a different way. This wondering brought me to this talk by Kamala Masters, a talk about Sila – ethics, or being and acting in harmony with one’s innermost values. I think you will hear themes of The Middle Way, letting go of oppositional thinking, and examining agency in the excerpts I have chosen.
You can listen to Kamala’s talk here: https://vashoninsight.org/sila/
