Neutral Feeling and Creativity | Ajahn Jotipālo
Channel: Clear Mountain Monastery
Date: 2023-05-27

In this talk, Ajahn Jotipālo, a monk of over twenty years ordained at Abhayagiri Monastery, speaks about the benefits of attending to neutral feeling, which comprises so much of our experience, and of pursuing the creativity as a means to brighten the heart.

You can learn more about on his YouTube channel, "Sauntering into Silence": https://www.youtube.com/@Jotipalo/featured
His bio reads "I’ve been a Buddhist monk since 1999, for 15 years have been exploring how to use creative arts as a meditation subject. I’m also exploring ways to use time in nature as meditation practice. In 2021, I hope to hike +1,000 miles on the PCT with a Christian monk and possibly film a documentary. I think the world needs to see examples of people from different religious backgrounds, living, working, playing and praying together (and doing it in harmony!).  

Most of my monastic life has been in California, I’ve lived as a monk in New Zealand and Canada (which is where I currently reside). In 2018, I spent a year living in a Benedictine monastery in Minnesota, studying about Christian icons, and learning ways to use these techniques to write Buddhist icons. I have a web site: https://sites.google.com/abhayagiri.org/icon-ucon/bio that has a gallery page, showing some of my work.

My love for icons is slowly shifting to a love for the art of videography. I hope to start producing one new video every week. Hope you enjoy them.  Peace."

To join via Zoom on Saturdays, visit Clear Mountain Monastery's website and click on the link for the Saturday Morning Meditation, Teaching, & Coffee Social (https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/events/saturday/ )

To participate in the Saturday chanting, use the pdf found here: 
https://cdn.amaravati.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/30/Chanting-Book-Vol-1-Web.pdf

Tune in with fellow practitioners every Wednesday evening from 6 - 6:45 pm or Saturday morning from 9:30 am - 11 am for a Dhamma Talk and Q&A with Ajahn Kovilo or Ajahn Nisabho. Saturday mornings begin with a thirty-minute meditation. Wednesday evening Q&A's are followed by a discussion on Zoom from 6:45 pm - 7:30 pm. See https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/ or visit https://linktr.ee/clear_mountain_monastery for details. Welcome!