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.
Both Sayadaw U Jagara and Nikki Mirghafori share answers and reflections on pre-written questions: What’s the nutriment for equanimity and doubt? What is the difference between a cause and a condition? Explain anatta — If there is not a self, whose kamma gets reborn? Etc.
What are you committed to? Where is your path leading? This talk uses the Simile of the Heartwood to reflect upon various attainments and corruptions of insight that can occur through the practice. Minor attainments can support our path, but they may also become attachments if we become enchanted with them, allow them to stall our progress, or if we become negligent. We can nurture a deep aspiration without falling into traps of self-doubt, conceit, envy, or discouragement. We can aim for the ultimate goal, the liberating potential, of this path.
