All excerpts

49 events, 298 sessions, 2485 excerpts, 138:56:56 total duration

Most common tags:
Ajahn Chah (608)  Ajahn Pasanno (270)  Suffering (208)  Abhayagiri (202)  Monastic life (186)  Relinquishment (176)  Culture/Thailand (152)  Discernment (149)  Self-identity view (144)  Teaching Dhamma (141) 

Page:   123456789101112131415161718192021222324

Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 14: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 1 – Jan. 23, 2015

Download audio (41:26)
[Session] [Right Mindfulness]

Reading: Right Mindfulness pp. 8-12.

Reading: Iti 34: Ardour. [Ardency]


Download audio (1:11)
1. Comment: Venerable Analayo points out that present moment awareness and remembering the past are not mutually exclusive. [Present moment awareness] [Ven. Analayo] [Right Mindfulness]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno.

References: Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization by Venerable Analayo, Chapter 3; “On some definitions of Mindfulness,” Rupert Gethim, Contemporary Buddhism Vol. 12, No. 1, May 2011.


Download audio (7:32)
2. “How can one be mindful of the beginning of thought?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Kaccāna and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Mindfulness] [Right Mindfulness] // [Appropriate attention] [Perception] [Proliferation]

Comments about observing proliferating thoughts. [Conditionality] [Right Effort] [Restlessness and worry] [Mindfulness of mind]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Feeling]

Sutta: MN 118 Ānāpānasati Sutta.


Download audio (1:31)
3. “Could you clarify the last two foundations of mindfulness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of mind] [Mindfulness of dhammas] [Right Mindfulness] // [Heart/mind] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Emotion]


Download audio (3:38)
4. “Could you clarify “the body in the body?”” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Mindfulness of body ] [Right Mindfulness ] // [Translation] [Pāli] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Direct experience] [Self-identity view] [Elements] [Proliferation] [Perception]

References: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 91; Right Mindfulness by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 15: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 2 – Jan. 24, 2015

Download audio (37:51)
[Session]

Reading: Right Mindfulness pp. 12-14. [Right Mindfulness]

Reading: AN 10.58: Roots.

Reading: SN 51.15: The Brahmin Uṇṇabha.


Download audio (2:32)
1. “What does “headed by” refer to?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Concentration] [Translation] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Pāli]


Download audio (3:10)
2. “Is the Buddha quoted as saying “I teach a path of the application of effort?”” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha] [Energy] [Right Effort] [Eightfold Path] // [Aids to Awakening]

Sutta: AN 3.137: Doctrine of energy (vīriyavādā)

Sutta: DN 16: Mahāparinibbāna Sutta


Download audio (0:26)
3. “Is there a distinction between viriya and vayama?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Energy] [Right Effort]


Download audio (3:57)
4. “Can you speak about the roots of wholesome and unwholesome desire?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Energy] [Desire] [Becoming] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] // [Discernment] [Right Effort] [Learning] [Ajahn Chah]

Sutta: AN 10.58.

Reference: Listening to the Heart by Kittisaro and Ṭhānissarā (commercial).


Download audio (2:22)
5. “How can you strive without becoming tense and grim?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Effort ] [Humor] // [Mindfulness of body] [Ajahn Chah]


Download audio (1:08)
6. Story: Ajahn Sumedho brings a “farang Buddha” to Ajahn Chah. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Buddha images] [Ajahn Chah] [Culture/West]


Download audio (3:11)
7. Ajahn Sucitto speaks of feeling water washing through you [as a way of releasing tension related to effort]. Comment by Debbie Stamp. [Ajahn Sucitto] [Elements] [Right Effort]

Story: Khun Kesari’s brother enters concentration by visualizing drinking a glass of water. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Concentration] [Visualization]

Story: Kesari’s mother walked into Wat Ban Tad before there was a road. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Ban Tat] [Relics]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 16: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 3 – Jan. 25, 2015

Download audio (36:51)
[Session] Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 14-21. Read by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Mindfulness]


Download audio (3:04)
1. Comment: The phrase “ancestral territory” [mentioned in SN 47.6] doesn’t carry oomph for (non-Native) Americans. Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Culture/West] [Culture/Native American] [Right Mindfulness]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Technology] [History/America]


Download audio (6:16)
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]


Download audio (2:03)
3. “Why doesn’t the passage (SN 47.7) mention obsession with painful objects?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Desire] [Aversion] [Right Mindfulness]


Download audio (2:06)
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 17: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 4 – Jan. 26, 2015

Download audio (46:34)
[Session] [Right Mindfulness]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 21-22.

Reading: AN 4.245: Training.

Reading: Sn 1.4: The Farmer Bhāradvāja.


Download audio (1:18)
1. “If you observe that you are angry, do you use effort to abandon anger or just watch it?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Aversion] [Right Effort] [Right Mindfulness]


Download audio (4:20)
2. “Does the term mindfulness always imply right mindfulness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness] [Right Mindfulness] // [Abhidhamma] [Aggregates]

Reference: Right Mindfulness p. 21-22


Download audio (0:28)
3. “What word does the translator (Saddhatissa) render as “immortality?”” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Translation] [Deathless]

Reference: Sn 1.4: The Farmer Bhāradvāja


Download audio (0:27)
4. “What is a plowshare? ...So mindfulness is both the goad and the plowshare?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness] [Similes] [Right Mindfulness]

Reference: Sn 1.4: The Farmer Bhāradvāja


Download audio (2:49)
5. “How does mindfulness relate to choice?” (continuing the anger question) Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volition] [Aversion] [Mindfulness] [Right Effort] [Right Mindfulness] // [Discernment] [Language]


Download audio (6:15)
6. Comments by Abhayagiri Saṅgha about the nature of practice. [Forgiveness] [Similes] [Aversion] [Right Mindfulness]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Habits] [Idealism] [Patience] [Ajahn Chah] [Goodwill] [Long-term practice]

Comment: Patience remind me of going through deep grief. Contributed by Beth Steff. [Grief]


Download audio (3:02)
7. Quote: “Do you still have anger?” “Yes, but I don’t take it.” — Ajahn Dune. Quoted by Debbie Stamp. [Ajahn Dune] [Aversion] [Right Mindfulness]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Arahant]

Follow-up: “Do we know if the Buddha had anger?” [Buddha] [Tipiṭaka]

Comment: Māra came to the Buddha many times after the Buddha’s enlightenment. Contributed by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Māra] [Buddha/Biography]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Idealism] [Culture/West]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 18: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 5 – Jan. 29, 2015

Download audio (20:20)
[Session] [Right Mindfulness]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 23-24.

Reading: AN 4.41: Concentration. [Concentration]


Download audio (2:09)
1. “What are the rewards for the skillful monk?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Skillful qualities] [Right Mindfulness] // [Happiness] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Concentration]

Sutta: SN 47.8: Simile of the skillful cook. [Similes] [Similes]

Story: Ajahn Mun criticizes Ajahn Mahā Boowa for developing meditation like a tree stump. [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Admonishment/feedback]


Download audio (4:54)
2. Outline of AN 4.41 Samādhibhāvanā: Four types of concentration. Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno. [Concentration] [Right Mindfulness] // [Psychic powers] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Liberation] [Outflows] [Perception of light] [Impermanence] [Aggregates]

Comment about the difference between the third and fourth developments of concentration. [Conditionality]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 19: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 6 – Jan. 30, 2015

Download audio (36:23)
[Session]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 24-28. [Right Mindfulness] [Right Concentration]

Reading: MN 19: Dvedhavitakka Sutta, Two Kinds of Thought.


Download audio (1:52)
1. “How does cruelty differ from ill will?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ill-will] // [Goodwill] [Compassion] [Right Mindfulness] [Concentration] [Right Effort]

Sutta: MN 19: Dvedhavitakka Sutta, Two Kinds of Thought.


Download audio (1:24)
2. “When Ajahn Ṭhānissaro talks about Right Concentration, are Right Concentration and jhāna one and the same?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Right Concentration] [Jhāna]


Download audio (2:05)
3. “What are antidotes to the strained, tired mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Sloth and torpor ] // [Directed thought and evaluation] [Skillful qualities] [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of breathing]

Sutta: MN 19: Dvedhavitakka Sutta, Two Kinds of Thought.


Download audio (4:03)
4. “Is pain an obstacle to reaching right concentration?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pain] [Right Concentration] // [Happiness] [Postures] [Direct experience]

Quote: “What’s really painful about pain is the way we hate it.” [Aversion]


Download audio (1:39)
5. “Can jhana occur in walking meditation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Jhāna] [Posture/Walking ] // [Concentration] [Ajahn Viradhammo]

Sutta: AN 5.29: Walking Meditatation.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 20: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 7 – Jan. 31, 2015

Download audio (27:05)
[Session] [Right Mindfulness] [Right Concentration]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 28-31.

Reading: SN 47.40: Analysis.


Download audio (2:45)
1. “What is your experience of directed thought and evaluation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Directed thought and evaluation]

Quote: “Directed thought [vitakka] is like lifting up the object in the mind. Evaluation is then looking at it from different angles.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Similes]


Download audio (1:58)
2. “Does the consistency of vicara correlate with samadhi?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Directed thought and evaluation ] [Concentration] // [Rapture] [Happiness] [Unification]

Sutta: MN 119: Simile of the bathman. [Similes]


Download audio (0:12)
3. “What does Ajahn Geoff mean by “frames of reference?”” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Right Mindfulness]


Download audio (1:11)
4. “Is “arising and vanishing” the same as “arising and ceasing?”” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Impermanence] // [Pāli] [Conditionality]


Download audio (1:28)
5. “How does the general sense of awareness fit into the jhana factors?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Jhāna] [Present moment awareness] // [Clear comprehension] [Right Mindfulness]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 21: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 8 – Feb. 1, 2015

Download audio (31:44)
[Session] [Right Mindfulness] [Right Concentration]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 31-34.

Reading: SN 47.4: At Sālā.

Reading: Iti 90: Foremost Faith.


Download audio (4:43)
1. “Is it easy for a person with attainments to deal with the world?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stages of awakening] [Everyday life] // [Discernment] [Conceit] [Culture/West] [Wrong concentration]

Quote: “To push away the world is also to reifying it. One gives it power when one is afraid of it.” [Craving not to become] [Proliferation] [Fear]

Laypeople with highly developed meditation practice function well in the world. Comment by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Lay life] [Meditation/Results] [Energy]


Download audio (1:24)
2. “What is the Pāli word translated as disjoined or detached [in SN 47.4]?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Translation]

Comment: SuttaCentral would have the translation.

Note: The Pāli word is visaṁyuttā (SuttaCentral).


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 22: The Ānānpānasati Sutta – Feb. 2, 2015

Download audio (41:39)
[Session] Reading: The Ānāpānasati Sutta (MN 118) describes how the sixteen steps of mindfulness of breathing fufill the four foundations of mindfulness, which in turn fufill the seven factors of enlightenment. Read by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing]


Download audio (1:03)
1. “Which Pāli word is translated as “fading away?”” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pāli] [Translation] [Dispassion] // [Cessation]


Download audio (3:14)
2. “How does nirodha differ from arising and ceasing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Cessation] [Impermanence] [Pāli] [Translation] // [P. A. Payutto] [Dependent origination]


Download audio (3:00)
3. “How do you practice with painful feeling?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pain] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Suffering] // [Emotion] [Blame and praise] [Happiness] [Proliferation]

Sutta: SN 36.6: Sallatha Sutta, The Arrow.


Download audio (4:17)
4. “What does “know the mind as mind; know feeling as feeling” mean?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Mindfulness] [Relinquishment] // [Proliferation]

Comment: Self-view forms around the feeling from sense contact. [Sense bases] [Contact] [Feeling] [Self-identity view]

Sutta: MN 18: Madhupiṇḍika Sutta, The Honeyball.

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volitional formations] [Perception]

Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta. [Mindfulness of breathing]


Download audio (1:38)
5. “Should the sixteen steps be practiced simultaneously?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Meditation/General advice] [Right Effort]

Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta.


Download audio (2:51)
6. Comment by Ajahn Ñāṇiko: There is the concern that we practice meditation to make something happen. [Meditation/General advice]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Neutral feeling] [Delusion]

Sutta: MN 44: Cūḷavedalla Sutta, The Small Discourse Giving an Elaboration. [Feeling] [Unwholesome Roots]


Download audio (1:25)
7. Quote: “How do I get me some of that non-grasping stuff?” — Ajahn Sucitto. Quoted by Beth Steff. [Ajahn Sucitto] [Clinging] [Self-identity view] [Humor]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno.

Story: “Do I look macho?” Told by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Chithurst] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 23: The Structure of Breath Meditation 1 – Feb. 5, 2015

Download audio (25:35)
[Session] [Mindfulness of breathing]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 93-96.

Reading: Book of the Discipline Part 1 p. 116-121, Pārājika 3 origin story.

Reading: AN 9.36: Jhāna.

Reading: SN 54.8: Simile of the lamp.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 24: The Structure of Breath Meditation 2 – Feb. 6, 2015

Download audio (42:11)
[Session]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 96-99 [Mindfulness of breathing]

Reading: SN 22.79: Being Devoured.

Reading: SN 36.11: Alone.


Download audio (10:00)
1. “Why does the Buddha describe perception in terms of colors but consciousness in terms of tastes?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Perception] [Consciousness] [Sense bases] // [Bhikkhu Bodhi] [Commentaries] [Ven. Analayo] [Memory] [Feeling]

Sutta: SN 22.79: Being Devoured; footnote 114 in Bhikkhu Bodhi translation.

Follow-up: “Could you say that perception is identification whereas consciousness is more refined?” [Aggregates] [Not-self] [Self-identity view] [Rebirth] [Translation] [Similes]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 25: The Structure of Breath Meditation 3 – Feb. 8, 2015

Download audio (22:20)
[Session]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 99-100. [Mindfulness of breathing]

Reading: Forest Desanas by Ajahn Mahā Boowa p. 52.

Reading: Unpublished Luang Por Baen talks.


Download audio (4:23)
1. “In Right Mindfulness, Ajahn Ṭhānissaro focuses on how the first three tetrads apply to high states of concentation. How can these be useful in more mundane levels of meditation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Mindfulness] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Jhāna] // [Investigation of states] [Rapture] [Volitional formations] [Heart/mind]

Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 137: Five levels of pīti.


Download audio (3:26)
2. Comment: Ajahn Ṭhānissaro encourages mindfulness of the body. [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Mindfulness of body] // [Delusion]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Jhāna]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 26: The Structure of Breath Meditation 4 – Feb. 9, 2015

Download audio (21:57)
[Session]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 100-105. [Mindfulness of breathing]

Reading: SN 46.53: Fire.


Download audio (1:36)
1. “Can you speak about when to use which aspects of satipatthāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Mindfulness] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Right Effort]


Download audio (1:06)
2. “Could anyone give examples of how to apply the enlightenment factor of pīti when the mind is sluggish?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko and Ajahn Pasanno. [Rapture] [Sloth and torpor] // [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Gladdening the mind] [Investigation of states]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 27: A Gift of Dhamma – Feb. 10, 2015

Download audio (18:16)
[Session] Reading: Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, pp. 225-231: “A Gift of Dhamma.” Read by Ajahn Ñāṇiko.


Download audio (2:15)
1. “What is the Thai that is translated as “mind” and “mind objects?”” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Thai] [Translation] [Heart/mind] [Moods of the mind] // [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Chah]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 28: The Method of Developing Calm – Feb. 13, 2015

Download audio (25:28)
[Session] Reading: Chapter 2, “The Method of Developing Calm” in The Natural Character of Awakening by Chao Khun Upāli, p. 30-39. Read by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Right Mindfulness]


Download audio (3:04)
1. Discussion of the reading and Tan Chao Khun Upāli as a scholar, administrator, and practitioner. Led by Ajahn Ñāṇiko, Ajahn Kaccāna and Ajahn Pasanno. [Chao Khun Upāli] [Study monks] [Types of monks] // [Ajahn Mun] [Tudong] [Geography/Thailand]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 29: Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand – Feb. 15, 2015

Download audio (25:01)
[Session]

Reading: MN 9: Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta, Right View (excerpt).

Reading: Readings on the suffering of birth and aging from Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand by Pabongka Rinpoche (commercial). [Birth] [Ageing]


Download audio (5:07)
1. “Do the mental faculties of meditators diminish as they age?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ageing] [Memory] [Long-term practice] // [Ajahn Chah] [Sickness] [Preah Mahāghosānanda] [Personal presence]

Story: H. H. The Dalai Lama meets Preah Mahāghosānanda. [Dalai Lama]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 30: Chanting for Ruth Denison – Feb. 19, 2015

Download audio (41:21)
[Session] Ajahn Pasanno reads email from Ruth Denison’s caretakers describing her declining health condition and leads the Abhayagiri community in chanting blessings for this elder teacher followed by a ten-minute meditation and dedication of merit. Ruth passed away on February 26. [Ruth Denison] [Sickness] [Death] [Goodwill]


Download audio (23:54)
1. Chanting: Paritta chanting for Ruth Denison. Offered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Protective chants] [Ruth Denison]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 31: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 1 – Feb. 20, 2015

Download audio (37:28)
[Session] [Right Mindfulness]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 109-112.

Reading: SN 51.20: “Analysis.”


Download audio (2:20)
1. Discussion of Ajahn Ṭhānissaro’s translation “practice jhāna.” [Jhāna] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Translation] [Pāli]

Sutta: SN 47.10 Bhikkhunūpassaya Sutta, At the Nun’s Residence.


Download audio (0:47)
2. “What is a synonym for lassitude?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Language] // [Sloth and torpor]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 32: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 2 – Feb. 21, 2015

Download audio (34:46)
[Session] [Right Mindfulness]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 112-113.

Reading: MN 44, Cūḷavedalla Sutta, The Shorter Series of Questions and Answers.

Reading: AN 8.63: “In Brief.”

Reading: MN 101: Devadaha Sutta, At Devadaha.

Reading: AN 8.81: “Training.”


Download audio (0:46)
1. Comment by Ajahn Pasanno: Explanation of ambiguous Aṅguttara Nikāya numbering. [Sutta] // [Bhikkhu Bodhi] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro]


Download audio (4:38)
2. “Why did the Buddha ask the monk to develop meditation in many ways [in AN 8.63]?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Meditation/General advice] [Buddha/Biography] // [Directed thought and evaluation] [Rapture] [Happiness] [Equanimity] [Jhāna] [Calming meditation] [Cessation of Suffering]

Recollection: Ajahn Chah would rarely label meditation states. [Ajahn Chah]


Download audio (0:29)
3. “Are the Four Frames of Reference the same as the Four Foundations of Mindfulness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Mindfulness] [Translation] // [Bhikkhu Bodhi] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 33: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 3 – Feb. 22, 2015

Download audio (37:56)
[Session] [Right Mindfulness] [Concentration] [Formless attainments]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 113.

Reading: AN 4.94: “Concentration.”

Reading: AN 9.36: “Jhāna.”


Download audio (1:44)
1. “Does AN 4.94 undercut the whole debate about whether to practice insight meditation or samādhi first?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation ] [Calming meditation ] // [Views] [Buddha] [Suffering] [Human]

Quote: “Just work with what you’ve got and try to free the mind. It’s pretty straightforward.” [Liberation]


Download audio (4:29)
2. Commentary on AN 9.36, “Jhāna.” Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno. [Jhāna] [Formless attainments] [Characteristics of existence] [Aggregates] [Liberation] [Deathless] [Progress of insight] [Relinquishment] [Nibbāna]


Download audio (1:10)
3. “Does the Buddha mean [in AN 9.36] that one can enter and emerge from these attainments at will?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Jhāna] [Formless attainments] [Volition] // [Similes]


Download audio (3:10)
4. “After emerging from these attainments, can one function in the world?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Jhāna] [Formless attainments] [Everyday life] // [Discernment] [Relinquishment] [Spiritual bypass]

Comment: If you happen to exist in a body, it seems you need to learn how to live in a body. [Form]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of body] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Liberation]


Download audio (2:04)
5. “Related to the need to emerge from neither-perception-nor-non-perception and cessation of perception to contemplate the five khandhas [in AN 9.36], don’t some of the commentaries imply that that’s what you do with first jhāna; that insight is not possible even in first jhāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Formless attainments] [Aggregates] [Insight meditation] [Commentaries] [Jhāna] // [Views]

Recollection: Ajahn Chah emphasized that every step of the way there has to be awareness. Awareness has to form the basis of the whole practice. [Ajahn Chah] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Right Concentration] [Right View]


Download audio (2:06)
6. Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo comparing putting the mind towards the Deathless with Dzogchen practice. [Deathless] [Vajrayāna] [Emptiness] [Progress of insight]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spiritual bypass]


Download audio (1:30)
7. “Why is the Deathless described as an element?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Deathless] [Elements]


Download audio (3:06)
8. “Do you have to emerge from jhāna to contemplate the characteristics of the aggregates?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Jhāna] [Insight meditation] [Aggregates] // [Mindfulness] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Knowing itself]

Sutta: AN 9.36: “Jhāna.”

Quote: “Contemplation gets really good when you stop thinking.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Directed thought and evaluation]


Download audio (2:21)
9. Comment: Sometimes I find applying awareness exhausting. [Mindfulness] [Sloth and torpor]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Tranquility] [Faith]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 34: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 4 – Feb. 23, 2015

Download audio (40:03)
[Session] [Right Mindfulness]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 113-115.

Reading: MN 101: Devadaha Sutta, At Devadaha (Right Mindfulness p. 43).

Reading: MN 95: Cankī Sutta, With Cankī.


Download audio (6:03)
1. Comments by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo contrasting the cannonical and commentarial approaches to breath meditation. [Sutta] [Commentaries] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Pa Auk Sayadaw] [Culture/Sri Lanka] [Culture/Thailand] [Pāli] [Ajahn Pasanno]

Sutta: MN 44 identifies in-and-out breathing as the bodily fabrication/conditioner (saṅkhāra).


Download audio (4:29)
2. Reflections by Ajahn Pasanno on the value of samaṇas in Indian culture. [Culture/India] [Perception of a samaṇa] // [Commentaries] [Buddha] [Virtue] [Truth] [Hospitality]

Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno was really cared for during his tudong in Northern India. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Tudong] [Not handling money]


Download audio (3:24)
3. “What is the significance of sitting to one side of the Buddha?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Debbie Stamp. [Sutta] [Buddha] [Posture/Sitting] // [Respect] [Cultural context] [Robes]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 35: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 5 – Feb. 24, 2015

Download audio (38:34)
[Session] Reading: MN 95: Cankī Sutta, With Cankī. Read by Ajahn Pasanno.


Download audio (2:35)
1. Commentary on the Cankī Sutta (MN 95). Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno. [Views] [Right Effort] [Truth]


Download audio (3:58)
2. “Was it commonly accepted that the composers of the Vedas could not assert “I know, I see?”” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/India] [History/Indian Buddhism] [Ceremony/ritual] [Spiritual traditions]

Sutta: MN 95: Cankī Sutta.


Download audio (6:58)
3. “Are any of the lists in this sutta (MN 95) explained in other suttas?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Sutta] // [Bhikkhu Bodhi]

Reference: P.A. Payutto’s Dictionary of Numerical Dhammas (in Thai). [P. A. Payutto] [Tipiṭaka] [Pāli]

Explanation of volume and page numbers in the Pāli Tipitika.

Comment by Debbie Stamp: Similar listings often refer to the gradual training. [Gradual Teaching]

Sutta: MN 107: Gaṇakamoggallāna Sutta.

Sutta: MN 47: Vīmaṃsaka Sutta.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 36: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 6: Body – Feb. 27, 2015

Download audio (37:10)
[Session] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Mindfulness of body]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 115-119.

Reading: MN 80: Vekhanassa Sutta, To Vekhanassa.

Reading: Ud 7.8: “Kaccāna.”

Reading: MN 62: Mahārāhulaovāda Sutta, The Greater Discourse of Advice to Rāhula.


Download audio (1:26)
1. “Does MN 140 define the external elements?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Elements]


Download audio (5:45)
2. “Are people experiencing jhāna in different ways?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Jhāna ] // [Views] [Ajahn Chah] [Tranquility] [Self-identity view] [Suffering] [Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 37: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 7: Body/Feeling – Feb. 28, 2015

Download audio (26:44)
[Session] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Mindfulness of body] [Elements] [Mindfulness of feeling]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 119-121.

Reading: MN 28: Mahāhatthipadopama Sutta, The Greater Discourse on the Simile of the Elephant’s Footprint.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 38: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 8: Feeling – Mar. 1, 2015

Download audio (31:41)
[Session] [Mindfulness of feeling]

Reading: MN 14: Cūḷadukkhakkhandha Sutta, The Shorter Discourse on the Mass of Suffering.

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 121-122.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 39: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 9: Feeling – Mar. 2, 2015

Download audio (32:56)
[Session] Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 122-129. Read by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of feeling] [Jhāna] [Sensual desire]


Download audio (3:12)
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]


Download audio (2:47)
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]


Download audio (1:19)
3. Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo: You can use objects like renunciation and lovingkindness to work towards deep meditation. [Concentration] [Renunciation] [Goodwill]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gladdening the mind]


Download audio (0:55)
4. Comment: It’s remarkable how much pleasure can come from seeing other people be kind and generous. [Happiness] [Empathetic joy] [Generosity] [Monasteries]

Responses by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko.


Page:   123456789101112131415161718192021222324