Tag cluster: Sensual desire
Part of key topic Unskillful Qualities
Includes tags: Sensual desire, Greed

All excerpts (68) Most relevant (41) Questions about (23) Answers involving (28) Stories (13) Quotes (8) Readings (3) Texts (1)

Metta Retreat, Session 2 – Sep. 10, 2008

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7. “What is the difference between tanha and lobha?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Craving] [Greed] // [Pāli] [Desire] [Cause of Suffering]


Right Livelihood, Session 1 – Apr. 21, 2013

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6. “If the person selling the product enjoys selling it and the person buying it enjoys the product, what is the unpleasant consequence?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Commerce/economics] [Sensual desire] [Kamma] [Right Livelihood] // [Unskillful qualities] [Intoxicants] [Crime] [Heedlessness]


Abhayagiri Monastic Retreat 2013, Session 7 – Nov. 29, 2013

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18. “When meditating, I’ve begun to ask myself: ‘What is the cause of suffering?’ A couple of sense desires arise, namely, the lack of intimacy and lack of a healthy relationship with a partner. Do I need to let these (seemingly normal) desires go to get down the path?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Cause of Suffering] [Relationships] [Sensual desire] [Eightfold Path]


New Year, New Life, Session 1 – Dec. 16, 2013

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6. “I find I do need some pleasures even thought they don’t last, things like fine arts and being in nature. I’m curious, how did you manage as a monk in your early years at Ajahn Chah’s monastery where there’s almost no pleasure....How did you manage to keep going over the years until the present?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sensual desire] [Artistic expression] [Culture/Natural environment] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Ajahn Chah] [Food] [Entertainment and adornment] [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Happiness ] [Simplicity ] [Association with people of integrity] [Empathetic joy] [Human] [Hindrances] [Jhāna] [Virtue] [Discernment]

Quote: “One of the extraordinary perks of being a monk is that everyone tries to be good around you.”

Sutta: MN 36.32: “Why am I afraid of that happiness?” [Buddha/Biography] [Ascetic practices] [Suffering] [Skillful qualities] [Eightfold Path]

Quote: “As a monk, I can look back on forty years of living in a way where I don’t have to feel remorseful or regret anything.”


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 37 – Feb. 25, 2014

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2. “How should we relate to the Buddha’s statement that sensual pleasure is to be feared?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sensual desire] [Sense bases] [Fear] // [Culture/West] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy]

Sutta: MN 66.19: Sensual pleasure is to be feared.


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 45 – Mar. 7, 2014

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6. “Did Ajahn Chah use asubha practice during his battle with lust?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Sensual desire] [Unattractiveness] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Impermanence] [Patience] [Conditionality]

Reference: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 81.


Questions and Answers with Dharma Realm Buddhist University – Nov. 18, 2014

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19. “So being the one who knows, you don’t have to react to dislike and like?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Buddha] [Knowing itself] [Aversion] [Greed]

Quote: “The difference between an awakened mind and an unawakened mind is that the unawakened mind keeps following likes and dislikes. An awakened mind can see that arise, establish itself, and pass away. The mind is the same.” [Nature of mind] [Stages of awakening] [Greed] [Impermanence] [Cessation]


2014 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 6 – Nov. 27, 2014

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9. “Is my understanding of the first noble truth correct in that it doesn’t deny enjoying things in life, but point to their temporary nature and underlying unsatisfaction once enjoyment ceases? Can I be a Buddhist and still enjoy my chocolate?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Noble Truth of Suffering ] [Sensual desire] [Impermanence] [Suffering] [Food]

Quote: “There’s enjoying things and there is having to enjoy things. These are two different things.” [Happiness] [Sensual desire] [Craving]

Sutta: AN 5.208: Benefits of using toothwoods [Health]


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10. “I have heard that based on the pleasure of jhāna, it is possible to overcome sexual desires more skillfully. But to have sammā samādhi one needs pāmojja. My heart has to battle sexual desire almost everyday and it is no less than painful to keep fighting the same battles. So in a way I have been doing all my recent walking meditations with a little sadness over not having yet overcome sexual desire, and not being to enter jhāna as easily and happily as Ajahn Karuṇadhammo describes. What do I do?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Jhāna] [Sensual desire] [Gladdening the mind]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 5 – Jan. 10, 2015

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1. “Do you need to be a non-returner to be free from the fear of death?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Non-return] [Fear] [Death] [Sensual desire] // [Arahant] [Conceit] [Stream entry] [Faith]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 16 – Jan. 25, 2015

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2. “Why is the intellect not included in the five cords of sensual pleasure?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sense bases] [Sensual desire] [Right Mindfulness] // [Culture/West] [History] [Culture/Thailand] [Craving]

Sutta: SN 47.6-7.

Follow-up: “Are the pīti and sukha of samādhi considered mano (intellect) states?” [Rapture] [Happiness] [Concentration] [Aversion]


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4. “Could it be that the five cords of sensual pleasure need an outside stimulus to be activated while the mind is an internal frame of reference?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sensual desire] [Sense bases] [Heart/mind] [Right Mindfulness] // [Craving] [Concentration]

Sutta: MN 137: Replacing sensual pleasure with the pleasure of samādhi.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 39 – Mar. 2, 2015

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1. “Could you explain the simile of the embers in regards to sensuality?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Similes] [Pain] [Sensual desire] // [Concentration] [Liberation]

Sutta: SN 36.6: The Dart. An undeveloped person knows no escape from dukkha other than sensual pleasure. [Suffering] [Sensual desire]


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2. “How should householders deal with sensual pleasure?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Lay life] [Sensual desire ] // [Virtue] [Happiness] [Generosity] [Skillful qualities]

Comments by Ajahn Kaccāna, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno about similies for sensual pleasures found in MN 54 and MN 75. [Similes]


Desire or Aspiration, Session 1 – Jun. 14, 2015

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11. “Is sexuality and wanting an intimate connection with another considered a negative desire?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sensual desire] [Relationships] [Desire] [Unskillful qualities] // [Food] [Clear comprehension] [Compassion] [Selfishness] [Discernment] [Precepts] [Trust]

Quote: “It’s not so much a matter of thwarting desire, but understanding how desire works so we can build those bonds of trust and care.” [Sensual desire]


Thanksgiving Retreat 2016, Session 7 – Nov. 25, 2016

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11. “It is the eighth evening of the retreat; feels timely to ask what was Ajahn Chah’s teaching for local lay people regarding sexual desire and sexual misconduct. Did he make a different emphasis when he taught westerners?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Lay life] [Sensual desire] [Sexual misconduct] [Culture/West] // [Culture/Thailand]

Story: In response to questions about sexuality, Ajahn Chah picks his nose. [Insight Meditation Society] [Sensual desire] [Humor]


Two Kinds of Thought and the Removal of Distracting Thoughts, Session 1 – Jun. 4, 2017

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12. “When [the Buddha] talks about sensual desire, that’s craving, right?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sensual desire] [Craving] [Directed thought and evaluation]

Follow-up: “Do you know what the Pāli word used for sensual desire [in MN 19] is? I think that craving and sensual desire are different.” [Sensual desire] [Pāli]


Can We Function without Attachement?, Session 3 – Oct. 1, 2017

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1. “Does physical pain fit under sensuality as the opposite, pushing away?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pain] [Sensual desire] [Aversion] // [Fear] [Health care]


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2.Snp 4.6 says something about not clinging to passion and dispassion. Usually I hear that cultivating dispassion is a good thing.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Clinging] [Sensual desire] [Dispassion]


Can We Function without Attachement?, Session 4 – Oct. 1, 2017

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2. “In AN 9.41, does the Buddha enumerate the drawbacks of sensuality?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sensual desire] [Drawbacks]

Reference: “Drawbacks,” part of A Path to Freedom: A Self-guided Tour of the Buddha’s Teachings on accesstoinsight.org. [Dhamma online] [Desire]

Sutta: MN 13: Mahādukkhakkhandha Sutta


The Teaching and the Training, Session 2 – Mar. 13, 2018

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2. “Are their multiple levels of brahmacariyā (celibacy)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Celibacy] [Christianity] [Sensual desire] [Monastic life] // [Becoming]

Sutta: AN 7.50 Sexual Intercourse


Honoring the Buddha: The Mahāparinibbāna Sutta – Apr. 25, 2021

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5. “What was the sutta you mentioned in regard to Ananda’s question ‘What do we do about women?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Women in Buddhism] [Great disciples] [Sensual desire] [Sutta] [Buddha/Biography]

Suttas: DN 16: Mahāparinibbāna Sutta; SN 35.127: Bhāradvāja


Q&A at Sudhana Center – Jul. 12, 2023

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9. “It’s understandable that we crave happiness through the senses. Attaching to a certain type of happiness through the senses is not helpful for cultivation. But there’s also the emphasis on joy in the Buddha’s teachings. So there should be a balance, and where to find that?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sense bases] [Sensual desire] [Happiness] [Gladdening the mind] // [Four Noble Truths]

Quote: “All the elements of the path are a source of happiness and well-being.” [Eightfold Path]

Follow-up: “What about the joy that comes from enjoying sensual things like music, painting, scents, and water?” [Sensual desire] [Artistic expression] [Beauty] [Clinging] [Spaciousness]