Āyasmā Aggacitta arriving at Nalanda Centre to a warm and respectful welcome by Nalandians.

On Saturday 26 November, Nalanda Centre was honoured to host Āyasmā Aggacitta, who gave a Dhamma teaching on mindfulness in everyday life.  The evening began with meditation guided by Ven. Aggacitta, who is the Abbot of Sasanārakkha Buddhist Sanctuary in Taiping, Perak.  He taught that awareness and mindfulness should not only be practised during ‘formal’ meditation sittings, but at every moment throughout the day.

Āyasmā Aggacitta said that often times, we perform “many unwholesome actions unnecessarily”, resulting in needless and avoidable ‘bad’ kamma.  This is because our minds are in an idle state, making assumptions, indulging in imaginations, or creating false beliefs.  He thus advised that we should be constantly watchful of the mind, observing how it reacts to the six sense objects.

Peaceful guided meditation session by Venerable Aggacitta.

Before we perform any sort of action, we should reflect on whether it is beneficial to ourselves and others, appropriate to what we are presently doing, realistic, and relevant to us.  If any of the questions were answered in the negative, we should stop pursuing that intention.  This allows us to stop unwholesome thoughts, followed by speech and action, in their tracks.

Devotees also had the opportunity to have their questions answered by Āyasmā Aggacitta in the lively Question-time.  We thank Ven. Aggacitta for his visit to Nalanda Centre, as well as for the interesting and pragmatic talk on watching the mind.  Sadhu anumodana.