Born in Canada, Sayadaw U Jagara, originally named Martin Boisvert, embarked on his spiritual journey in the mid-1970s under the guidance of Robert H. Hover. In 1979 he received ordination as a monk from the Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw in Burma. For the next 15 years, he resided in Sri Lanka, where he blended the practice of meditation with the study of Buddhist scriptures. He also made intermittent trips to India and Thailand for meditation retreats. During the 1980s, he assumed the role of a meditation guide, conducting retreats in the tradition of S.N. Goenka across India, North America, Europe, and Asia. In 1995, he began training under the esteemed Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw, a revered Burmese meditation master known for his commitment to the Visuddhimagga. This text serves as both a practical roadmap to deep states of meditation (jhāna) and a meticulous guide to the direct analytical approaches of vipassanā. Sayadaw U Jagara began assisting Venerable Pa Auk Sayadaw in teaching the dhamma in the early 2000s and sustained his support up to the early 2010s. In the past decade, he has independently shared his wisdom and experiences across North America, collaborating with various meditation teachers. His teachings focus on life as continuous meditation, guiding students toward liberation through observation, wisdom, and compassion.
The Buddhist practice of Metta needs to be combined with the seven bojjhangas. These seven can relate to different levels of practice, depending on "object" relation. e.g. insight or serenity
Turtles and magnetic fields. Planes of existence and rebirth. Rahula's and Buddha's instructions on four elements and Brahma Vihara, before practicing breath meditation (ānāpāna)
What are your objectives in life? What are the situations, internal and external, that you find yourself involved in, from moment to moment, and how you can do something about it, to some extent. Small objectives finally come to be seen as not separate from the big picture, our Objective.
