This talk explores the true meaning of chanda — not as craving, but as the neutral, wholesome intention to act. Learn how understanding and observing this “wanting consciousness” in daily life can lead from desire to wisdom. YouTube Video Link YouTube Channel Link Website: www.satipatthana.ca Donations and Memberships
In this episode, we continue exploring rootless consciousness—states of awareness that arise without mental roots of greed, hatred, or delusion. Building on Part One, we dive deeper into the 18 types of rootless consciousness, grouped as unwholesome, wholesome, and functional. Each is shaped by three factors: its nature, feeling (pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral), and kind of consciousness. This talk shows how our sensory experiences—seeing, hearing, tasting, touching, and thinking—reflect pa...
This episode explores the Buddhist concept of bhavaṅga, or the “life continuum” — the stream of consciousness that connects one moment to the next, and even one life to another. It explains how our unique personalities at birth may arise from past lives, carried through this subtle flow of awareness. We also look at how consciousness operates between wakefulness and deep sleep, and how every perception — seeing, hearing, thinking — unfolds through a rapid series of thought moments. Using the ...
This talk describes to how past karma patterns present experience—and how mindful attention stops old patterns from creating new ones. We explore the meaning of rootless consciousness (ahituka) in Buddhist teaching — the states of mind that arise without the “roots” of greed, hatred, or delusion, but also without the wholesome roots of generosity or wisdom. These moments of awareness don’t create new karma; instead, they’re the results of our past actions unfolding in the present...
Over 2,600 years ago, on a full moon night at Jīvaka’s mango grove near Rājagaha, King Ajātasattu—haunted by guilt for killing his father—approached the Buddha with a simple but profound question: What are the benefits, in this life, of being a monk? The Buddha’s response, later known as the Sāmaññaphala Sutta, unfolded into one of the most comprehensive teachings on the spiritual path. In this episode, we explore how the Buddha skillfully led the king from worldly examples of freedom and sim...
In this episode, we explore the twelve types of unwholesome consciousness in Buddhist psychology—states of mind rooted in greed (lobha), hatred (dosa), and delusion (moha). The Buddha taught that these mental roots shape how we think, speak, and act, leading to painful results in this life and future ones. Through vivid examples, we look at how greed arises with attachment and craving, how hatred emerges when desires go unfulfilled, and how delusion clouds awareness through confusion and rest...
In this episode, we explore how the Buddha classified consciousness by its nature, or jāti, into four main types: wholesome (kusala), unwholesome (akusala), resultant (vipāka), and functional (kiriya). Each reveals how the mind operates and shapes karma. Wholesome consciousness arises from non-greed, non-hatred, and non-delusion—qualities that lead to clarity, compassion, and wisdom. Unwholesome consciousness is rooted in greed, anger, and ignorance, producing pain and confusion. Resultant co...
In this episode, we explore how consciousness operates across the 31 planes of existence in Buddhist cosmology—from the sensual realms of human and celestial beings to the refined planes of form and formlessness. These planes correspond to different types of consciousness shaped by our karma and mental development. We discuss the distinction between mundane consciousness (lokiya)—which functions within the cycle of birth and death—and supramundane consciousness (lokuttara), which transcends a...
This talk explores how the Buddha linked moral corruption to the imbalance of the natural world. As human greed, anger, and ignorance grow, they don’t just harm society—they ripple outward, affecting the very elements of the planet. The Buddha taught that when morality declines, even the orbits of the earth, moon, and sun shift, leading to climate extremes, disasters, and instability across the world. Through modern examples of political corruption, environmental destruction, and global confl...
In this episode, we continue exploring the four causes of materiality (rupa) in the human body, focusing on the last two: climate (utu) and food (ahara). Drawing from both Buddhist teachings and modern science, we look at how the environment and nutrition continuously shape our physical form and health. Climate influences the body across time—from the gradual evolution of skin color and physiology over thousands of years to immediate effects like frostbite, heatstroke, or illness. Food, meanw...
In this episode, we explore the four causes of materiality (rupa)—the foundations of how the body is formed and transformed. Drawing from the Buddha’s teachings and modern understanding, the talk explains how karma, consciousness, climate, and nutrition continually shape our physical being. We look at how past actions (karma) influence the body’s basic structure and DNA, while the mind (consciousness) produces physical changes through emotion, stress, or discipline. Climate and food, meanwhil...
In this episode, we explore the 25th and final beautiful mental factor — the Faculty of Wisdom (Paññindriya). Drawing from Buddhist teachings, we uncover the true meaning of paññā — “knowing rightly” — and how it differs from mere knowledge. Learn how wisdom arises through direct experience in meditation, dispels ignorance like light removing darkness, and serves as one of the five controlling faculties. This talk concludes our series on the 52 mental factors, explaining their nature, f...
In this episode, we explore the third subgroup of beautiful mental factors, known as the Limitless (Appamaññā). These mental states take all living beings as their object of focus and include loving-kindness (Mettā), compassion (Karunā), appreciative joy (Muditā), and equanimity (Upekkhā). From this group, we focus on compassion and appreciative joy — understanding their true nature, how they arise, and how easily they can be misunderstood or mixed with unwholesome states such as anger, sorro...
In this episode, we explore the second subgroup of the beautiful mental factors — Abstinence (Vīrati). This group consists of three mental factors: Right Speech (Sammā Vācā), Right Action (Sammā Kammanta), and Right Livelihood (Sammā Ājīva). While these three also appear in the morality group of the Noble Eightfold Path, here we understand them as specific mental factors — wholesome states that arise when one volitionally refrains from unwholesome actions. We learn how: Right Speech means ref...
In this episode, we explore the third group of beautiful mental factors — twelve qualities that arise in six pairs, bringing harmony and balance to the mind. These include tranquility, lightness, softness, adaptability, healthiness, and straightness of both the mental body and consciousness. Each pair serves a specific purpose: Tranquility calms worry and passion.Lightness removes sluggishness and dullness.Softness dispels rigidity, wrong views, and conceit.Adaptability allows the mind to adj...
In this episode, we continue exploring the beautiful mental factors with a focus on the next five: moral shame (hiri), moral dread (ottappa), non-greed (alobha), non-anger (adosa), and equanimity (tatra-majjhattatā). These qualities serve as the guardians of the world, protecting us and society from moral decay and imbalance. We learn how moral shame and dread guide ethical behavior, how non-greed and non-anger nurture generosity and loving-kindness, and how equanimity brings balance and peac...
In this first episode on the Beautiful Mental Factors (Sobhana Cetasikas), we begin exploring the wholesome qualities that purify and uplift the mind. We discuss the first two universal beautiful factors — Faith (Saddhā) and Mindfulness (Sati) — which form the foundation for all wholesome mental states. Learn how faith in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha opens the heart with clarity and confidence, and how mindfulness serves as the guardian of the six sense doors, keeping the mind clear and fre...
In this episode, we continue exploring the mental factors (cetasikas) with a focus on the final group of unwholesome mental factors — sloth (thīna), torpor (middha), and doubt (vicikicchā). These states weaken the mind, hinder meditation, and obstruct the development of wisdom. Sayadaw explains how sloth dulls the mind, torpor slows down the mental factors, and spiritual doubt wavers between belief and disbelief in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha. Through clear examples and reflections, we lea...
In this episode we examine the second and third subgroups of the unwholesome mental factors — those rooted in greed and anger. Hear clear explanations and examples of: lobha (greed/attachment), diṭṭhi (wrong view), māna (conceit), and the anger-rooted states dosa (hatred/anger), issā (envy/jealousy), macchariya (not-wanting-to-share / miserliness), and kokacchāda (remorse/guilt). The talk shows how these states arise (often from unwise attention to sense-objects), how they manifest in d...
In this episode, we begin exploring the second group of mental factors — the unwholesome (akusala) mental factors, which consist of fourteen states that give rise to unwholesome consciousness. This talk focuses on the first subgroup of four, which always arise together with every unwholesome mind: delusion (moha), moral shamelessness (ahirika), moral fearlessness (anottappa), and restlessness (uddhacca). We learn how delusion blinds us from seeing the truth, how shamelessness and fearlessness...