Santikaro studied with Ajahn Buddhadasa during the last nine years of his life, became his primary translator, and continues to share his “naturalist” approach to Buddha-Dhamma. Ordained as a Theravada Bhikkhu in 1985, Santikaro spent most of his monastic life at Suan Mokkh (southern Thailand). During this time he led Dawn Kiam, a small monastic community for foreigners and was active among socially engaged Buddhists in Asia. He returned to the USA in 2000 and left monastic life in 2004 to found Kevala Retreat (then Liberation Park). His understanding of life has been enhanced by the Enneagram, feminism, cancer recovery, and trauma healing. He continues to teach nationally and internationally, and to translate the work of his teacher. He teaches Buddhism and meditation with an emphasis on the early Pali sources. He has led meditation retreats for more than thirty-five years, with a special fondness for mindfulness with breathing.
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/
