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## Posts

- [category/all-posts](https://vivekahermitage.com/category-all-posts/)
- [Nature's Elixir & New Year Blessings](https://vivekahermitage.com/2025/12/natures-elixir/)
- [A New Dhamma Discussion - "Great Perfection in Broken Times"](https://vivekahermitage.com/2025/06/a-dhamma-discussion-with-clear-mountain/)
- [Bhikkhu Bodhi's Vesak Message for the World](https://vivekahermitage.com/2025/05/bhikkhu-bodhis-vesak-message-for-the-world/) - In Vietnam earlier this month, Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi​ gave a powerful ​keynote address​ for the UN International Day of Vesak, a day that recollects and celebrates the birth, enlightenment and passing away of the Buddha, and the central message of his life and realisation. Since Bhikkhu Bodhi's address is a profound and concise message worth
- [A Conversation about Depression (+ Death, Karma and Love)](https://vivekahermitage.com/2025/02/a-conversation-on-working-with-depression-death-karma-and-love/)
- [2024 Online Day Retreat](https://vivekahermitage.com/2023/12/an-online-day-retreat-11th-feb-2024/) - Happy New Year to you all! On the 11th of February this year, we offered a one-day online retreat live on YouTube. It has been archived so those of you who couldn't join live can participate whenever it's convenient for you. Everything you need to know is below. Enjoy! Cultivating Mindfulness & Wisdom A One-Day
- [Nibbana - Coming Home](https://vivekahermitage.com/2024/12/nibbana-coming-home/)
- [10-Minute Meditations](https://vivekahermitage.com/2024/11/10-minute-meditations/) - We’ve just uploaded a new set of guided meditations for you: ‘10-Minute Meditations'. These work well for those situations when you don’t have a lot of time available, but want help to ground and reconnect in a brief window of time. Of course, they’d also be helpful for getting kick-started in a longer period of
- [Sharing of Gratitude](https://vivekahermitage.com/2024/08/sharing-of-gratitude/)
- [Women Awakening Conversation](https://vivekahermitage.com/2024/08/women-awakening-conversation/) - For more information about the "Women Awakening" project or to support Erica, please see the following sites: https://www.womenawakeningproject.com https://www.gofundme.com/f/women-awakening-project
- [Buddha-Dhamma Series](https://vivekahermitage.com/2023/04/new-buddha-dhamma-series/) - Dear Friends, We're introducing a new six-part series live on YouTube, beginning in May, in which Ayya Jitindriyā will discuss some of the key contemplative paradigms and practices in Early Buddhism. These sessions will take place every six weeks and replace one of the usual fortnightly guided meditations we offer -- so that means every
- [Our Dear 'Catty'](https://vivekahermitage.com/2024/01/our-dear-catty/) - Dear Friends, It is with great sadness that we let you know our dear little Catty, ‘Sumudu’, passed away yesterday (18th Jan.) after a brief illness. The likely cause, it seems, was infection by a paralysis tick. Even though we never found one on her or in the house, the vet said that all the
- [Buddhism & Psychotherapy](https://vivekahermitage.com/2024/01/buddhism-psychotherapy/) - Below is a recent podcast interview with Ayya Jitindriyā on the subject of Buddhism and Psychotherapy. The interviewer is Sol Hanna, from Western Australia, who hosts the Treasure Mountain Podcast. Just click on the image below to link to the podcast platform and listen...
- [Working with Challenging Emotions](https://vivekahermitage.com/2023/11/working-with-challenging-emotions/) - Over the years, many people have enquired of us about how to work with challenging emotional states, such as anger or depression, anxiety or grief. These are very human experiences that we all encounter at least at some stage in our lives, if not on a more regular basis. Meditators are not immune to these
- [New Interviews](https://vivekahermitage.com/2023/07/new-interviews/)
- [New Dhamma Questions](https://vivekahermitage.com/2023/01/new-q-a/) - Here is a new set of Q & A's which you might find helpful. These questions from listeners and friends of Viveka Hermitage have been selected to share here as their topics would be of general interest to our audience, and some go very deep. They have arisen either in response to teachings uploaded on
- [Time Flies... a reflection for the new year](https://vivekahermitage.com/2022/12/time-flies-a-reflection-for-the-new-year/) - As the new year of 2023 approaches, (and as ‘time’ seems to be rolling by with increased speed and vigour), it brings forth some reflections and inquiry into the experience of ‘time’, the perception of ‘years passing’, what moves the 'mind', and the mystery of what it is to ‘be’ at all. In this current
- ['The Art of Meditation' - Podcast](https://vivekahermitage.com/2022/10/the-art-of-meditation-podcast/) - Also available on the platforms linked to below: Spotify Apple podcast
- [Podcast on Meditation & Psychoanalysis - with Jayasara](https://vivekahermitage.com/2022/06/podcast-on-meditation-psychoanalysis/) - Listen to the full podcast on the various links below the video Spotify: 🟢 https://open.spotify.com/show/5SUoY4Y... Apple Podcasts: 🟪 https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast... Google Podcasts: 🌈 https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0... RSS Feeds: 🟧 https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/...
- [A Guided Meditation Series from Jitindriyā](https://vivekahermitage.com/2022/08/a-new-guided-meditation-series/) - Dear Friends, We've just uploaded a series of seven guided meditations from Ayya Jitindriyā, which focus on establishing embodied awareness and cultivating mettā (loving-kindness). They also help guide the listener to an acceptance of difficult emotional and mental states, to reveal an innate capacity of kindness and compassion, and to discover the natural wisdom and
- [For the Love of Solitude](https://vivekahermitage.com/2022/07/the-love-of-solitude/) - Greetings dear Dhamma friends. Today we are entering the traditional vassa period (rains-retreat season). This is an ancient tradition observed by Buddhist monastic communities everywhere (originating in Asia, during the three-month monsoon period each year). The vassa season commences on the first day of the waning moon of the eighth lunar month – this year being the
- [Video of 'Deep Transformation' Interview with Jayasara](https://vivekahermitage.com/2022/08/full-video-of-deep-transformation-interview-with-jayasara/)
- [What's Love got to do with War ?](https://vivekahermitage.com/2022/03/whats-love-got-to-do-with-war/) - A couple of weeks ago Jayasara asked if I would write a reflection for the website… I agreed to of course, but in truth, I’ve been so taken up with keeping track of news about the war in Ukraine (and closer to home, the unprecedented deadly floods that engulfed parts of Eastern Australia this month),
- [Reflections on the Power of Love - by Emmet Fox](https://vivekahermitage.com/2022/06/reflections-on-love-by-emmet-fox/)
- [Relinquishing 'Me' & 'Mine'](https://vivekahermitage.com/2022/06/relinquishing-me-mine/) - From a Dhamma talk given at Cittaviveka Monastery, UK, Feb 2002 by Ayya Jitindriya We're now coming to the end of our winter retreat. Over these past months we have experienced all kinds of conditions passing through the mind – perhaps the whole spectrum, from anger and rage to peace and serenity, from grief and
- [New Podcast with Jayasara](https://vivekahermitage.com/2022/05/new-podcast-with-jayasara/) - https://deeptransformation.io/samaneri-jayasara-creating-gifts-of-wisdom/
- [New Dhamma Questions](https://vivekahermitage.com/2022/05/new-dhamma-q-a/) - These questions and responses have been selected for their topics of general interest from Samaneri Jayasara's 'Wisdom of the Masters' YouTube channel. They'll also be added to our Q & A page here. ~ Q: I can not distinguish between the false 'I’ and the ‘I’ source, even though I listen and practice meditation also… Please do you
- [Infinity - a short film meditation](https://vivekahermitage.com/2022/04/infinity-a-short-film-meditation/) - This beautiful meditation on "Infinity" (below) is an audiovisual art piece created by Milan Zulic - an award winning, multi-disciplinary artist based in Switzerland. This creative spiritual piece lovingly captures and encapsulates the intersection between form and formlessness, time and timelessness, the finite and the infinite. He incorporates a verse Jayasāra read from St. Tukaram,
- [A guided meditation led by Ayya Jitindriya](https://vivekahermitage.com/2022/02/a-guided-meditation-from-ayya-jitindriya/) - Click on the image above, (or follow the link below) to view a video on the FB site of Drogmi Institute, Kamalashila Buddhist Centre, NSW, where Ayya Jitindriya gave a guided meditation yesterday (6th Feb '22). Please note, the recording starts at 5:20 mins in - so scroll ahead to begin the meditation. https://www.facebook.com/DrogmiBuddhistInstitute/videos/385906096678683/
- [Welcome!](https://vivekahermitage.com/2021/12/welcome/)
- [Happy 2022!](https://vivekahermitage.com/2022/01/happy-2022/) - Happy 2022 dear Dhamma friends! We hope this message finds you well, and prepared to face yet another year of the inevitable uncertainty, impermanence and potential upheaval on both the personal and global stage... But fear not! The Dhamma is our true refuge and these events of turmoil and instability can help remind us of
- [Mindfulness Daylong at Tilba](https://vivekahermitage.com/2022/01/mindfulness-daylong-at-tilba/) - Ayya Jitindriyā and Samaneri Jayasāra will teach a daylong of mindfulness in Tilba on Sunday 6th March, 2022. The venue is Kamalashila (aka Drogmi Buddhist Institute), a beautiful Tibetan Buddhist Centre at the foot of Mount Gulaga -- a perfect place for practice in the natural forest surrounds of the well-established Dhamma centre and under
- [The website launch video](https://vivekahermitage.com/2022/01/website-launch-video/)
- [Rumi ~ a Meditation at Sunrise](https://vivekahermitage.com/2022/02/rumi-a-meditation-at-sunrise/)

## Pages

- [](https://vivekahermitage.com/) - Viveka Hermitage - Buddhist monastic residence, home of Samaneri Jayasara and Ayya Jitindriya - Viveka (Pali/Skt): seclusion, solitude, singleness (of heart)...
- [Making an Offering](https://vivekahermitage.com/making-a-donation/) - The Dhamma is offered freely, with joy, so all can partake. This is a timeless tradition. Many people have asked about how to make a donation to the hermitage however, so we've provided some information below. All offerings/gifts will support the nuns' daily requisites and the running costs of the hermitage, and are very gratefully
- [Guided Meditations](https://vivekahermitage.com/guided-meditations/) - Below are various guided meditations offered by Ayya Jitindriyā and Samaneri Jayasāra. We'll add new meditations from time to time. You can stream directly or download them. (Some browsers don't show a download option, but we know that Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge do!) (NB: these are best listened to through headphones) In addition to
- [Wisdom of the Masters](https://vivekahermitage.com/wisdom-of-the-masters/) - 'Wisdom of the Masters' is the name of the YouTube Channel that Samaneri Jayasāra started a while ago. It holds a treasure trove of pith teachings she has recorded from both ancient and modern masters of various spiritual traditions. Just click on the links below (in orange) to access the resources listed. YouTube: Samaneri Jayasāra’s
- [Links](https://vivekahermitage.com/links/) - Here you'll find a range of useful links to various websites for both Dhamma resources and sangha connections. Buddhanet offers a range of resources as well as extensive links to Buddhist websites around the globe: https://www.buddhanet.net/ They've also made a list of some Buddhist Hospice services around the world: (NB: this is not necessarily an
- [Q: How can we know if consciousness is a singularity?](https://vivekahermitage.com/q-how-can-we-know-if-consciousness-is-a-singularity/) - Q: Why is it that some people are so certain that our consciousness is single, shared between us all? I can see how logically our physical forms and our minds must all be connected together as one, but how do we know that we don't each have our own unique awareness?... A: [Jitindriya] Ultimately, 'surety' on
- [Samaneri Jayasāra](https://vivekahermitage.com/samaneri-jayasara/) - Samaneri Jayasāra has studied and practised Buddhism and meditation in various capacities for over 35 years. She has a PhD and Master’s Degree in education, focusing on comparative spiritual traditions, Buddhism and psychotherapy. She has taught at secondary, undergraduate and post-graduate levels in psychology and counselling, and also worked as a trainer in mental health
- [Ayya Jitindriyā](https://vivekahermitage.com/ayya-jitindriya/) - Ayya Jitindriyā first trained as a monastic in the Theravada Forest Tradition lineage of Ajahn Chah & Ajahn Sumedho for over 16 years, from 1988-2004. After leaving the monastic order she gained a Master’s degree in Buddhist Psychotherapy Practice with the Karuna Institute in the UK, and continued to teach meditation and retreats on invitation. Returning
- [About](https://vivekahermitage.com/about/) - Viveka Hermitage is the monastic residence of Ayya Jitindriyā and Samaneri Jayasāra ... They are Buddhist nuns ordained in the Theravāda forest tradition…
- ['Cat'](https://vivekahermitage.com/cat/) - Sumudu Mahatheri – aka ‘Cat’ (or 'Catty') is/was a 22-year-old black feline, who passed away on 18th Jan 2024. She was a loving and loved member of our little community at Viveka Hermitage. She first entered Ayya Jayasara’s orbit at Dhammasara nuns' monastery, Western Australia, in early 2003 when she was unceremoniously 'dumped' in the
- [Can you please explain the difference between 'consciousness' and 'awareness'?](https://vivekahermitage.com/can-you-please-explain-the-difference-between-consciousness-and-awareness/) - Q: Can you please explain the difference between 'consciousness' and 'awareness'? Thank you. A: These two terms are often difficult for people to get their heads around and create confusion as teachers use them differently and have different ideas in mind when explaining them. (This applies to teachers across different traditions as well as those
- [Q & A](https://vivekahermitage.com/q-and-a/) - Many people have asked us good questions about Dhamma practice -- many of them arising from the teachings presented on the 'Wisdom of the Masters' YouTube channel. So we thought it worthwhile to share some of the Q & As here with everyone (suitably anonymised), as such questions are often relevant and relatable for us
- [Is it normal to be scared when I feel the sense of 'I' fading?](https://vivekahermitage.com/is-it-normal-to-be-scared-when-i-feel-the-sense-of-i-fading/) - Q: I have been listening to the teachings for maybe 2 years now and I am only just beginning to realise this consciousness. For me when I negate myself from thoughts, perceptions, feelings, identity, I feel a sudden wave of fear as I sense my ‘ I-ness’ disappearing. Only once have I managed to achieve
- [Contact](https://vivekahermitage.com/contact/) - If you'd like to contact us, please email: vivekahermitage[at]gmail[dot]com We removed the contact form from this page recently as it wasn't always reliable - some messages hadn't been getting through. If you are enquiring about offering a donation/gift, please click here. Quotation reference: The quote in the above photo is from a Vajra song by
- [10-Minute Meditations](https://vivekahermitage.com/10-minute-meditations/) - Intrinsic Awareness - a series from Ayya Jitindriyā Resting in Naturalness - a series from Samaneri Jayasāra
- [Intrinsic Awareness](https://vivekahermitage.com/10-minute-meditations-by-jitindriya/) - These 10-minute guided meditations from Ayya Jitindriyā help the listener to settle the mind and recognise ever-present, intrinsic awareness. 1. Reconnecting with Body and Breath 2. Awareness of Thought 3. Simply Being 4. Noticing Spaciousness 5. Basic Space of Awareness 6. Simply Remembering 7. Shooting Stars 8. Resting the Mind 9. Let It Be 10.
- [Resting in Naturalness](https://vivekahermitage.com/10-minute-meditations-by-jayasara/) - These 10-minute guided meditations from Samaneri Jayasāra encourage the listener to turn towards the inner silence of mind and rest in the natural state. 1. All Pervading Silence 2. The Quiet Witness 3. The Natural State 4. In the Seen... 5. Recognising Awareness 6. The Elements 7. Knowing Impermanence 8. Awareness Itself 9. Thinking of
- [Embodying Awareness & Metta](https://vivekahermitage.com/embodying-awareness-metta/) - Below is a series of guided meditations from Ayya Jitindriyā, focusing on establishing embodied awareness and cultivating metta (loving-kindness). They also help guide the listener to an acceptance of difficult physical, emotional and mental states, revealing an innate capacity of kindness and compassion, and the natural wisdom and peace of mind that emerges from 'being
- [Buddha-Dhamma Series](https://vivekahermitage.com/buddha-dhamma-series/) - In this six-part teaching series on YouTube Ayya Jitindriya discusses some of the key contemplative paradigms and practices found in Early Buddhism. The sessions are 2-2.5hrs long and include a guided meditation, a talk from Ayya Jitindriya, and Q&A. The series is not intended to be an exhaustive academic education on the subject of early
- [Working with Challenging Emotions](https://vivekahermitage.com/working-with-challenging-emotions/) - Below is a series of guided contemplations and meditations from Ayya Jitindriyā which address some of the more challenging emotional experiences that we encounter at times. Having received many questions from practitioners about how to work with these emotional states from a Dharmic perspective, we hope these offerings will prove helpful for people as they
- [We can't stop our thinking, can we?](https://vivekahermitage.com/we-cant-stop-our-thinking-can-we/) - Q: We can't stop our thinking, can we? Or is it our wrong thoughts that 'obscure the mind' for us? A: [Jayasara] In general, it is habitual discursive thinking that can obscure the state of the ‘natural mind’ – which, in its purity, is considered free of conceptual elaborations. However, we can't just stop our
- [What is the reason for abstaining from all mind-altering substances?](https://vivekahermitage.com/what-is-the-reason-for-abstaining-from-all-mind-altering-substances/) - Q: I'm curious! What is the reason for abstaining from all mind altering substances? Doesn't everything alter the mind? For instance, food and drink. Most neurotransmitters, like the ones psychedelics cause the brain to release, are byproducts of bacteria in our gut whose populations vary with the type of food we eat. And hydration affects
- [Is Jhana the emptiness of Anatta?](https://vivekahermitage.com/is-jhana-the-emptiness-of-anatta/) - Q: Is jhana the emptiness of anatta? A: [Jitindriya] Not necessarily... though one can speak about such things in different ways. The different levels of jhana are considered 'empty of what's not there, but not empty of what is there'... So in this case, recognising the absence of certain things is seeing the emptiness of
- [I am terrified of dying... How to deal with it?](https://vivekahermitage.com/i-am-terrified-of-dying-how-to-deal-with-it/) - Q: Hi, thank you for your content. It is very helpful! It recently came to me that I may die soon. And I am terrified... I am terrified that I will lose everything -- memory, vision, and people who I love.. I'm terrified of dying because I will stop existing... How to deal with it?
- [Is there such a thing as a 'basic space of awareness' or is awareness momentary?...](https://vivekahermitage.com/is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-basic-space-of-awareness-or-is-awareness-momentary/) - Warning! This is a long and technical Q & A... Perhaps only enter into it if you are really interested in this topic! Q: In today's Youtube guided meditation, you spoke about the "basic space of awareness". This term leaves me somewhat confused. In your understanding, is there such a thing as a "basic space
- [Dhamma Talks](https://vivekahermitage.com/dhamma-talks/) - The following links will take you to an archive of some of Ayya Jitindriyā's Dhamma talks saved on these sites over the years @ Dharma Seed @ Amāravati Buddhist Monastery PDF Books Here are two previously published books of Dhamma Talks by some of the nuns from Amaravati and Cittaviveka monasteries (several of Ayya Jitindriyā's
- [How does one lose this ego?!?!?! I don’t like myself.](https://vivekahermitage.com/how-does-one-loose-this-ego-i-dont-like-myself/) - Q: Thank you so much for this meditation; [this] most profound focusing on the breath and the body was a light bulb moment for me… I have read it, and listened to so many teachers saying the same thing but up until now did not understand it. So, so grateful! How does one lose this
- [How do I think from the heart and stay there?](https://vivekahermitage.com/how-do-i-think-from-the-heart-and-stay-there/) - Q: How do I 'think' from the heart and stay there? I do not want to be in the mind for the mind causes depression… A: Indeed, the mind can be either our greatest enemy or friend. To ‘stay in the heart’ and abide there, as Ramana encourages us, means to allow the thought waves
- [Can you help me distinguish between the false ‘I’ and the ‘I’ source?](https://vivekahermitage.com/can-you-help-me-distinguish-between-the-false-i-and-the-i-source/) - Q: I can not distinguish between the false ‘I’ and the ‘I’ source, even though I listen and practice meditation also… Please do you have any recommendations or advice for me?! A: Regarding your concern about how to distinguish between the false ‘I’ and the real ‘I’ or source – or you could say the FALSE as opposed
- [Is this magnificent experience normal?](https://vivekahermitage.com/is-this-magnificent-experience-normal/) - Q: During my morning meditation listening to Tilopa’s teaching on Mahamudra I had a magnificent experience that I want to share and would like to hear if this kind of thing is normal and what it might be. At the end of the meditation, energy exploded in my body and I can’t really describe how
- [Why is confusion caused, only for it to be resolved time and again?](https://vivekahermitage.com/why-is-confusion-caused-only-for-it-to-be-resolved-time-and-again/) - Q: Even calmly abiding in the Dharmakaya for a few moments is a blessing. An awareness of the proliferation or its resolution seems natural and harmonious. I was blown by Padmasambhava’s assertion that the true nature doesn’t even have a tendency to proliferate. It just happens. It is its nature. But since the source has
- [https://vivekahermitage.com/category/all-posts/](https://vivekahermitage.com/https-vivekahermitage-com-category-all-posts/)
- [All Posts](https://vivekahermitage.com/all-posts/)
- [How to practice Loving Kindness and Forgiveness for myself](https://vivekahermitage.com/how-to-practice-loving-kindness-and-forgiveness-for-myself/) - The following exchange came from a question to 'Ask a Buddhist' Program at the Metta Centre - to which Ayya Jitindriya responded. Q: I struggle to give loving kindness and forgiveness to myself. I find it hard to forgive myself for mistakes I have made. How can I do this? A: I can really relate
- [How do you reconcile views of 'God' with your view as a Buddhist Nun?](https://vivekahermitage.com/how-do-you-reconcile-views-of-god-with-your-view-as-a-buddhist-nun/) - Q: I am so grateful to you raining down these blessings [i.e. various teachings from different traditions on YouTube]. I want to humbly ask you how you reconcile views of God with your view as a Buddhist Nun. Is it possible to have a deep faith and practice in the Dharma as well as faith
- [Am I too much of a thinker to ever taste real freedom?](https://vivekahermitage.com/am-i-too-much-of-a-thinker-to-ever-taste-real-freedom/) - Q: I am fearful that I am too much of a thinker to ever taste real freedom in this lifetime. I hate my thinking, it is all negative; in fact I don’t like myself. In your reading I get a taste of freedom every time. When will it last? Sometimes I know the One mind
- [Which practice is the best preparation for death and enlightenment?](https://vivekahermitage.com/which-practice-is-the-best-preparation-for-death-and-enlightenment/) - Q: Which practice/meditation is the best preparation for this experience of death and enlightenment please. A: Any meditation practice which helps you let go of the identity and belief of yourself as the body/mind will be helpful at the moment of death. However, there are specific 'death contemplation' practices that the Buddha taught, such as
- [How to abide in emptiness and liberate oneself from individuality?](https://vivekahermitage.com/how-to-abide-in-emptiness-and-liberate-oneself-from-individuality/) - Q: Can you share with us your experience of how to abide in emptiness and liberate oneself from individuality? A: As the Buddha himself declared as the core of the practice: "Don't cling". Simply dis-identify yourself from all phenomena, especially your thoughts and mental processes - look on with watchful observation and mindfulness, and keep
- [How can I remain in the state of awareness in the present?](https://vivekahermitage.com/how-can-i-remain-in-the-state-of-awareness-in-the-present/) - Q: Can you guide me further as to how to remain in the state of awareness in the present. Because I am trying to live [it] but I forget in tiny things. I know now that this samsara is a dream like the nightdreams but then I forget and live like it is real and
- [Please advise whether I should view my mind as an enemy or a friend?](https://vivekahermitage.com/please-advise-whether-i-should-view-my-mind-as-an-enemy-or-a-friend/) - Q: These Treasures are my link to sanity, rest, reprieve. Remembering the Truths and abiding in Understanding are so difficult for me. Your reply to A helped me. Please advise whether I should view my mind as an enemy or a friend. Thank you so much. A: Good reflection, but it all depends on how
- [What does it mean to not chase after thoughts?](https://vivekahermitage.com/what-does-it-mean-to-not-chase-after-thoughts/) - Q: What does it mean to 'run after thoughts' and, conversely, to let thoughts naturally arise and settle? If I let my thoughts naturally arise, I will be somewhere else entirely with them in seconds. That is, if I don't stop them. I'm not chasing after them; they just go. Does letting them end up where
- [Why doesn’t my daily meditation reach the same level as in retreat?](https://vivekahermitage.com/why-doesnt-my-daily-meditation-reach-the-same-level-as-in-retreat/) - Q: I did a 10 day silent retreat at Goenka's school of Vipassana recently. Though challenging, it was a very powerful experience I must say. But I could never reach the same level of insights and healing from my meditation practice at home, when I meditated for 1 hour every morning. Seems like meditation could
- [How do I not 'want'?](https://vivekahermitage.com/how-do-i-not-want/) - Q: How do I not 'want'? A: Observe the wanting with full awareness and without judging and it will dissolve by itself. Challenge and inquire into this idea of an "I", or a 'me who wants' and it too will eventually dissolve of its own accord.
- [How to Remove Ignorance and the false sense of 'I'?](https://vivekahermitage.com/how-to-remove-ignorance-and-the-false-sense-of-i/) - Q: How to remove ignorance? How to remove the false sense of I? I ask because I am in deep suffering and seek ... A: I would just encourage you to continue listening to these teachings - especially if those of Ramana Maharshi are speaking to you. His words are very healing and clarifying for
- [How does merely thinking wise thoughts awaken prajna/wisdom?](https://vivekahermitage.com/how-does-merely-thinking-wise-thoughts-awaken-prajna-wisdom/) - Q: How does merely thinking wise thoughts awaken prajna/wisdom? A thought is a thought, whether enlightened or not... So, clinging to any thought is bondage, isn’t it? A: Wise thoughts are a reflection of our inner prajna or wisdom, and are skillful means in our practice to awakening. Yes, clinging to any thoughts, or any
- [Resources](https://vivekahermitage.com/resources/)

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