Ch. 10 - The Great Elder from Journey of Insight Meditation by Eric Lerner

AFTER TWO WEEKS OF isolation in the forest, I left the monastery for a short time, mostly to find out about the possibility of returning to Burma. It had been rumored that tourist visas to that country were going to be extended longer than seven days. If so, I could return there soon, and possibly stay for as long as a month. The rumors proved false, however, and I was left with a very open end to my trip. There was no particular rush to get back to Burma now, since that would probably be the last stop on my way home. And I certainly wasn’t ready to return home. ...

by Eric Lerner
2025
24 minutes 24 seconds

Listen to Streaming Audio

Download Audio (11.8MB)

Audio copyright, 2025 Pariyatti

View the book, eBook and free PDF download.

You can also find it at Amazon worldwide using this link: http://a-fwd.com/com=pariyatti-20&asin=B0CJL9SG5D.

About Eric Lerner.

View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Ch. 9 - A Taste of Stillness from Journey of Insight Meditation by Eric Lerner

ON THE MORNING OF the tenth day I interrupted my return to the hut following my breakfast to catch my breath on a high flat rock that afforded a view of the entire valley beneath the monastery. The dawn haze had burned off, revealing the neighboring valley, whose sharply edged checkerboard fields stood out in contrast to the surrounding jungle. Perhaps I romanticized by calling this place “jungle” when, in fact, farmland was everywhere. But there is so much unclaimed land in Ceylon that nowhere in the countryside are you so far from the uncultivated forests that you’d not have second thoughts about wandering off in broad daylight, much less in the dark. No cobras here, though, the monks told me. The mongooses made sure of that. One of them was staring at me from a rock higher up the path. His elongated, rodentlike body was covered with prickly fur that made him look as though he’d been dunked in motor oil. His snoutish face was kind of cute, though, and I’d often seen the monks feeding these animals in the courtyard, as a good turn, no doubt, for the animal’s appetite for poisonous snakes. ...

by Eric Lerner
2025
20 minutes 53 seconds

Listen to Streaming Audio

Download Audio (10.1MB)

Audio copyright, 2025 Pariyatti

View the book, eBook and free PDF download.

You can also find it at Amazon worldwide using this link: http://a-fwd.com/com=pariyatti-20&asin=B0CJL9SG5D.

About Eric Lerner.

View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.

Ch. 8 - Unmeasured Time from Journey of Insight Meditation by Eric Lerner

THE ENTIRE ISLAND OF Ceylon has only eight million inhabitants, and as I stood idly waiting for a bus or walked through the streets of Colombo, the capital city, I no longer felt the constant psychic assault that I had been aware of in India. The most obvious difference, however, was that Ceylon was a Buddhist country. Even the most casual conversation easily turned to a common appreciation of the Dharma. There are probably no more Ceylonese who actually practice the heart of Buddha’s teachings than there are real practitioners of any religion anywhere, but everyone I met at least understood the value of his teachings and was willing to support those who really did wish to pursue them. ...

by Eric Lerner
2025
46 minutes 54 seconds

Listen to Streaming Audio

Download Audio (22.6MB)

Audio copyright, 2025 Pariyatti

View the book, eBook and free PDF download.

You can also find it at Amazon worldwide using this link: http://a-fwd.com/com=pariyatti-20&asin=B0CJL9SG5D.

About Eric Lerner.

View more books and audio resources available in the Pariyatti bookstore.