HeartDhamma, 3414 Renwick Road, Nelson, BC (2025)

11/07/2025

The Two Arrows | From Contact to Distraction | Mindfulness Meditation

https://youtu.be/s1lK5xfJo9U

In this teaching we explore the Buddha’s analogy of "the two arrows”—recognizing the raw fact of a situation (first arrow) and the mental label we add to it (second arrow)—and how these become mental proliferations which, in turn, fuel distractions such as anxiety, anger, and other unwholesome states. Practicing vipassana meditation at the level of the six senses and understanding dependent origination, we can trace the chain from sensory contact → feeling → perception → thinking → proliferation (papañca) which can be seen by practicing mindfulness meditation. By learning to “cut distractions at the root,” we cultivate a light, compassionate mind that remains unshaken by external noise and internal stories.

Day 3 - April 2024 Australia Retreat - Dhamma talk by Bhante Ānanda.
Karuna Centre, Katoomba, Blue Mountains, NSW.

10/31/2025

Buddha's Awakening: The Nature of Mental States | Mindfulness Born of Wisdom | Natural Samādhi

https://youtu.be/gNdLSy7tE9c

A profound exploration of the Buddha's awakening on the two kinds of thoughts—wholesome and unwholesome mental states—and how understanding this distinction transforms meditation practice. Through an engaging interactive exercise and the Buddha's own words, this Dhamma talk reveals how the Buddha himself practiced recognizing unwholesome states (anger, sensory distraction, harm) that create tension and lead away from peace, while cultivating wholesome states (loving kindness, compassion, joy) that naturally bring clarity, collectedness, and liberation.

This teaching illuminates how every distraction carries somatic tension, why the mind becomes naturally concentrated when dwelling in wholesome states, and how we continuously condition our minds through what we choose to focus on—introducing the Buddhist understanding of neuroplasticity and dependent origination. This teaching culminates in the Buddha's beautiful analogy of the deer herd and the safe path to be traveled with joy, offering both deep wisdom and practical guidance for developing natural samadhi through understanding rather than force.

Day 1 - April 2024 Australia Retreat - Dhamma talk by Bhante Ānanda.
Karuna Centre, Katoomba, Blue Mountains, NSW.

10/24/2025

Meditation Like Surfing | Letting Go and Mental Uplift | Seven Factors of Awakening

https://youtu.be/s3vYtvdgKLg

Compareing meditation practice to learning how to surf, breaking down Right Effort and the 7 factors of awakening (6Rs) in vivid detail. Just as skilled surfers understand ocean currents and wave patterns rather than staring at their surfboard on the beach, effective meditators learn to work with the mind's natural movements through the seven factors of awakening. We explore how distractions manifest as somatic tension, why smiling is scientifically proven to shift our mental states, and how the two right intentions of letting go and mental uplift work together like the up-and-down motion of a bird's wings. Bhante weaves together neuroscience research, the polyvagal theory, the Buddha's original instructions, and practical guidance on developing an effortless meditation practice that cleanses the mind through wholesome states and natural joy.

Day 1 - April 2024 Australia Retreat - Dhamma talk by Bhante Ānanda.
Karuna Centre, Katoomba, Blue Mountains, NSW.

10/17/2025

Heart-Centered Meditation | Resting the Mind in the Heart | Loving Kindness & Right Effort

https://youtu.be/DpuIpXlT79E

Meditation instructions introducing a heart-centered approach to Buddhist meditation that develops wholesome mental states rather than relying solely on objects of concentration. We explore mettā (loving-kindness) meditation as bhāvanā - the Buddha's practice of wholesome mental development - beginning with cultivating the warm, radiant feeling of loving-kindness in your own heart before extending it through a spiritual friend (kalyāṇamitta). The teaching introduces the Six Rs framework of right effort for working skillfully with distractions.

This practice emphasizes feeling over thinking, teaching how to rest the mind in the heart rather than forcing attention onto objects, and reveals why smiling during meditation dramatically enhances progress by keeping the mind uplifted and clear.

Day 0 - Australia Retreat talk by Bhante Ānanda, in April 2024.
Karuna Centre, Katoomba, Blue Mountains, NSW.

Open Heart
https://heartdhamma.love/books/open-heart/

10/17/2025

Natural Samādhi Retreat Guide: Schedule, Structure & Sacred Space | Retreat Orientation

https://youtu.be/xVan4B4ypZ4

Orientation for our 9-day Natural Samādhi retreat which recovers everything participants need to know about retreat structure, daily schedule, and the essential mindset for successful meditation practice. We begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land, the Darug and Gundungurra peoples, and emphasize the most important first step of any retreat: landing and arriving rather than immediately trying to "take off" in meditation.

This orientation sets the foundation for a transformative retreat experience grounded in kindness toward yourself, flexibility in practice, and understanding that meditation deepens through natural causes and conditions rather than force.

Day 0 - Australia Retreat talk by Bhante Ānanda, in April 2024.
Karuna Centre, Katoomba, Blue Mountains, NSW.

09/26/2025

Stream Entry to Arahant: The Buddha's Stages of Awakening | Beyond Claims and Certificates

https://youtu.be/Ix91Ia7AL3I

A teaching on the four stages of awakening (Ariya Puggala) in Early Buddhism, where we demystify enlightenment through the Buddha's original framework of stream entry, once-returner, non-returner, and arahant. In this Dhamma talk, we explore how liberation unfolds gradually through the abandonment of the specific ten fetters in buddhism—from the belief in personal identity to the complete uprooting of greed, hatred, and delusion. Bhante explains the "mirror of the Dhamma" for recognizing stream entry, the practical integration of meditation with daily life, and why true awakening manifests not through dramatic experiences but through becoming genuinely kinder, more compassionate, and more peaceful.

Day 8 of our meditation retreat at Tierramor, in Costa Rica, June 2024.

AN 10.13 Fetters
https://heartdhamma.love/sutta/an-10-13/

09/19/2025

The Arising of Consciousness | Dependent Origination | Anatta

https://youtu.be/1yCzvGjsV0M

Going beyond meditation techniques and diving into the deeper teachings on wisdom (Paññā) or discernment of the Buddha. We discuss the causes for liberations and the causes for dukkha to arise. Going to the deepest teachings and understanding the fabricated nature of our consiouness, how it arises dependent on causes and conditions (Saṅkhāra) and how to let it go. This is called dependent origination or the law of causality which demystifies the nature of identity, how it arises, and how to become free from it. Learning the impersonal process (anatta) of our conditioned human experience.

Dhamma talk given by Bhante Ānanda
Day 6 of our meditation retreat at Tierramor, in Costa Rica, June 2024.

SN 12.23 Causes for Liberation
https://heartdhamma.love/sutta/sn-12-23/

09/12/2025

Why Practice Loving Kindness Meditation | A to Z Guide to Mettā

https://youtu.be/XHTMS6OX3Zo

A comprehensive dhamma talk exploring why we practice loving kindness meditation and its profound role in the Buddha's path to awakening. This teaching addresses common questions from vipassanā practitioners about mettā bhāvanā, revealing how loving kindness is far more than a preliminary practice—it's a complete vehicle for developing the seven factors of enlightenment, accessing jhāna, and cultivating the boundless heart that leads to liberation.

Drawing from extensive sutta analysis across all four Nikāyas and modern neuroscience research on compassion and the vagus nerve, this talk demonstrates how loving kindness meditation develops both samādhi and wisdom, ultimately surpassing all other meritorious practices in its wholesome power.

Sutta Sundays are the monthly gathering of the HeartDhamma community where we study original teachings on meditation directly from the Buddha. Join us on Zoom, every first Sunday of the month:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87824875440

Talk by Bhante Ānanda in August during the Sutta Sunday teaching.

Download the PDF Guide to Why Practice Loving Kindness:
https://heartdhamma.love/why-metta-meditation/

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