From: https://youtube.com/watch?v=J7qxTR4sXu4
Context: Throughout this transcript, Bhante Vimalaramsi is the speaker unless otherwise indicated.
that's why I went around Asia of course
I went to Mahayana and Vajrayana and
Theravada and and I asked these big
monks very very famous monks about what
is gravy
how are you supposed to recognize it
almost always it was it means desire you
can't want anything well that's not so
good
that's not how how this works it's it
stems from the definition of mindfulness
and I think ask a few of the the big
teachers what's the definition of
mindfulness while mindfulness means to
be mindful when you can't use the word
if you're trying to get the definition
you can't use that word in a definition
doesn't work so when I when I got out of
Burma after a two-year retreat I
was rather disappointed with what I was
told and that was about well it was a
couple years later this book came out
the new translation by bhikkhu bodhi and
Jana moly and it was it was done in such
a way that it really made sense to me so
I started practicing the way that the
suitors said instead of the way that the
Vipassana community was practicing and I
ran across one of the statements of the
tranquilizing the bodily formation on
the in-breath and tranquilizing the
bodily formation on the out-breath which
is not being taught and I started
thinking about tranquilizing and
tranquilizing another word for that is
relaxed
but when I came back from Burma after
the two-year retreat and being
successful according to them
I couldn't with good conscience teach
straight grip asana the way it was being
taught so I they were and in Malaysia
they were very excited because I've been
gone for two years and again they knew
that I was really into practicing and
they were pushing me to teach meditation
anyway I couldn't teach the breathing
meditation because I didn't have a lot
of confidence the way it was being
taught so I started teaching
loving-kindness meditation and they were
used to hearing
Vipassana Dhamma talks and when I came
out started talking more practically
about how to do the loving-kindness
meditation and instead of relax I told
everybody they had to soften their mind
and actually the first time I gave a
retreat it was 260 people which was I
was giving three Dhamma talks a day and
they all felt it and because of that I
became very popular in Malaysia sort of
famous and of course I didn't know how I
was famous
after a year and a half or two years of
teaching at another temple the head monk
of Brickfields case read Amon on that I
asked me to come and spend at least a
rains retreat that his simple and
there's that little ceremony that
happens before before the range retreat
starts nurse like three thousand people
there and the way the way things work
with monks is the senior monk goes in
first
the next senior goes in and we're
talking about number of years that
you're in the Sangha and this time case
read Ananda walked in and he said I want
you to sit right beside me and this is
highly unusual so he's giving his little
talk to all these 3
that's why I went around Asia of course
I went to Mahayana and Vajrayana and
Theravada and and I asked these big
monks very very famous monks about what
is gravy
how are you supposed to recognize it
almost always it was it means desire you
can't want anything well that's not so
good
that's not how how this works it's it
stems from the definition of mindfulness
and I think ask a few of the the big
teachers what's the definition of
mindfulness while mindfulness means to
be mindful when you can't use the word
if you're trying to get the definition
you can't use that word in a definition
doesn't work so when I when I got out of
Burma after a two-year retreat I
was rather disappointed with what I was
told and that was about well it was a
couple years later this book came out
the new translation by bhikkhu bodhi and
Jana moly and it was it was done in such
a way that it really made sense to me so
I started practicing the way that the
suitors said instead of the way that the
Vipassana community was practicing and I
ran across one of the statements of the
tranquilizing the bodily formation on
the in-breath and tranquilizing the
bodily formation on the out-breath which
is not being taught and I started
thinking about tranquilizing and
tranquilizing another word for that is
relaxed
but when I came back from Burma after
the two-year retreat and being
successful according to them
I couldn't with good conscience teach
straight grip asana the way it was being
taught so I they were and in Malaysia
they were very excited because I've been
gone for two years and again they knew
that I was really into practicing and
they were pushing me to teach meditation
anyway I couldn't teach the breathing
meditation because I didn't have a lot
of confidence the way it was being
taught so I started teaching
loving-kindness meditation and they were
used to hearing
Vipassana Dhamma talks and when I came
out started talking more practically
about how to do the loving-kindness
meditation and instead of relax I told
everybody they had to soften their mind
and actually the first time I gave a
retreat it was 260 people which was I
was giving three Dhamma talks a day and
they all felt it and because of that I
became very popular in Malaysia sort of
famous and of course I didn't know how I
was famous
after a year and a half or two years of
teaching at another temple the head monk
of Brickfields case read Amon on that I
asked me to come and spend at least a
rains retreat that his simple and
there's that little ceremony that
happens before before the range retreat
starts nurse like three thousand people
there and the way the way things work
with monks is the senior monk goes in
first
the next senior goes in and we're
talking about number of years that
you're in the Sangha and this time case
read Ananda walked in and he said I want
you to sit right beside me and this is
highly unusual so he's giving his little
talk to all these 3