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MZC: Achaan Chah talks about liberation depending on the recognition of the radical separateness of awareness, the "one who knows and the five skandas" (form, feeling, perception, volition, consciousness). I question this. How can we separate the one who knows and what is known? The meditator, according to Achan Cha, separates awareness from the object and can focus on the awareness.<br><br>The Clear Water Zen group is developing a strategy for greatly increasing the number of Zen groups in the area. A pamphlet entitled "How to start a Catholic Zen group" is being distributed to Catholic churches in the area. It includes quotes from such Catholic leaders as Father Robert Kennedy, among others, and provides practical advice on how to get a group started. Future pamphlets will be modified to address other faiths but the practical advice on how to start a Zen group will be common to all faiths.<br><br>MZC: That's wonderful. You are focusing on the individual human being; you are listening and learning as well. You are opening your heart to the retreatants and enquiring with them. You're asking what makes one happy and peaceful in the midst of particular life circumstances. Do you experience that some of the retreatants, even in the midst of problems, which will continue, find some insight into what happiness might be? Perhaps they discover the joy of serving others as well as getting to know their own mind-hearts?<br><br><br><br>BN: Yes, the Buddha did criticize the idea of the atma as a permanent self. There is no underlying or essential soul, which is reborn. What does non-self or no-self mean? In theravada, in the teaching of no-self and karma, there is no storage of your past actions in some entity, but there is conditionality. There is a continuity that is caused, including the effects of your own intentionality. What you will has a consequence, a fruit (vipaka is the Pali term). So your actions can lead to a rebirth in this sense.<br><br>Do your best to let your body breath, after all it does it all by itself 24/7 since you were born. All you are doing is paying attention to the process. Maybe the process changes because you are paying attention but let go of trying to control the breathing.<br><br>As his business trousers looked loose enough, I asked Harvey to remove his shoes and jacket only. As he looked a little puzzled, I told him that he will not even have a crease in his pants. And not only will he feel relaxed, but also energized and ready for the rest of the day.<br><br>They believed that the Buddha wasn't present anymore, but he left a sustaining power in these objects. This sustaining power could affect their karma. That is, by worshiping these objects that have the power of the Buddha, they will have a better rebirth in a future life. Remember that Buddhist believe that, to achieve Nirvana, you need to go through a great number of lives. So, it is better for you to have a good rebirth, having a better chance to advance in your path to enlightenment in a future life.<br><br>Before I left for the Southern Hemisphere, however, I needed a place to practice for awhile, to get back on track, and I knew the perfect place; at Bhante Gunaratana's monastery outside of Washington, DC. The Bhavana Society (bhavana in Pali translates as mental development) is tucked away in the picturesque hills of West Virginia just down the road from Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Bhante Gunaratana is the founder of Bhavana, a Sri Lankan monk who has been in robes for almost seventy years, and a world recognized meditation teacher.