Watching the Breath, Watching the Mind, with the Mind

The object of this two-day retreat is to first calm your mind and then to understand your various states of mind.

On Saturday, we will practice concentration using anapanasati, mindfulness of breath, in order to develop calmness and serenity of the mind so that the dharma can manifest itself. As Buddha said: “develop concentration, one with concentration sees things as they really are.”

On Sunday, we will use this more concentrated mind to practice contemplation of mind, cittanuppassana. All defilements arise from the mind, so learning how to watch one’s own mind is the “key to happiness.” You are encouraged to attend this retreat as Sayalay Susila will show us the profound way to train ourselves to be mindful of our own mind, gradually liberating it from
all defilements — in other words — freedom of the mind.