Hi friends,

If  any of you have not watched Ajahn Brahm sermons on YouTube, you are missing out on some amazing humor and teachings.

One of his stories about the whole overemphasis on merely Mindfulness really hits the nail:

Once upon a time there was a wealthy lady living in a huge mansion. She had read in the newspaper about incresing numbers of burglaries in her community. Every time, she left the house, she warned her security guard "Be very mindful. There might be a burglar around.". The guard assented her orders. 

One day, when she came back she saw that her safe with all her valuables had been stolen. Angry, she scolded the guard "Look what happened. Everything is stolen. Didn't I warn you several times to be mindful." The guard replied: But, I was completely mindful. I was mindful of seeing when the Burglar entered the house. I was mindful of the noises he made when he struggled to carry the safe outside. I was even mindful when he managed to load the safe in his pick up truck and sped away. It is not merely enough to be mindful, we should aspire to be kindful.

Metta(fore)

howdy,
i have to agree.  i love his talks.  he never uses notes and his spontaneity and humor are hard to beat.

another one of his talks breaks down loving-kindness and suggests that we westerners should focus more on the kindness part du to the burdened nature of the concept of love in our culture. 

he's a guy i'd love to hang out with..at least until dinner time.

peace

Lol... As a somewhat westernised easterner, I'd definitely check that out. I hope he comes to the ME someday.