Ep. 245 – Fireside Chat with Guy Armstrong

Metta Hour with Sharon Salzberg

For episode 245, we are continuing the Fireside Chat Series on the Metta Hour with guest Guy Armstrong.

This series features intimate conversations with longtime dharma teachers about the early days of their practice and the most impactful moments with their own teachers. Hosted by IMS Online, the fourth episode in this series. Guy Armstrong has been leading insight meditation retreats since 1984 in the U.S., Europe, and Australia. His training included living as a monk for a year in the Thai forest lineage. Guy is a member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council and a guiding teacher of the Insight Meditation Society and is the author of Emptiness: A Practical Guide for Meditators from Wisdom Books.

In this conversation, Sharon and Guy discuss:

• Guy’s first encounter with meditation
• How Sharon reached her first retreat
• The mystery of being drawn to practice
• The three characteristics of existence
• Guy’s introduction to Emptiness
• Mahasi Sayadaw noting technique
• Mental Noting Technique
• Insights of anattā (Emptiness)
• The path Guy has taken since 1976
• The importance of relaxation
• What advice Guy would give his younger self
• Goenka’s directive to sit two-hours a day
• Thai Buddhist monk Ajahn Buddhadasa
• The year that Guy was a monk in Thailand
• Burmese Theravāda monk, Pa Auk Sayadaw

The episode closes with some questions from the audience on Emptiness, Dzogchen practice, Tsoknyi Rinpoche Handshake practice, the spectrum of Emptiness, “where is mind,” and the Jhanas.

You can learn more about Guy’s work right here and get a copy of his book, Emptiness: A Practical Guide for Meditators, right here. Learn more about IMS Online right here. Listen to Guy’s first episode on the Metta Hour, Episode 90, right here from 2019.

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