Santikaro lived with Ajahn Buddhadasa during the last nine years of his life and became his primary translator. Ordained as a Theravada Bhikkhu in 1985, Santikaro spent most of his monastic life at Suan Mokkh. During this time he led Dawn Kiam, a small monastic community for foreigners. He is the founder of Liberation Park, a modern expression of Buddhist practice, study, and social responsibility, located in rural southwestern Wisconsin. There he continues to teach, explore nature, and translate the work of his teacher. He teaches Buddhism and meditation with an emphasis on the early Pali sources and is a lucid interpreter of the original teachings and discourses.
A deeply rooted habit in our ways of thinking is to create an Us-identity around perceived sameness and subsequently exclude others based on perceived difference or otherness. While these habits do not stand up well to Dhammic inquiry, we recycle them habitually, especially when stressed, frightened, and wounded. We invite you to a conversation that explores this pattern-habit in the specific identities and exclusions of which we ourselves are prone according to the circumstances of our lives. Please come prepared to prioritize lived examples over broad generalizations.
We will review and test drive practices that, when sufficiently cultivated, give us the strength, balance, compassion, and wisdom to weather the storms that life inevitably contains, including death. The format will be a series of guided practices with background explanations, debriefing, and questions. For preparation listen to "Weathering Life's Storms" talk recorded on 2017-01-13, Link: http://cgmc.dharmaseed.org/teacher/764/talk/38729/
