40 events, 117 sessions, 225 excerpts, 17:41:15 total duration
Most common topics:
Similes
(12)
Buddha/Biography
(11)
Great disciples
(10)
Happiness
(9)
Virtue
(9)
Mindfulness of breathing
(7)
Conditionality
(6)
Generosity
(5)
Rapture
(5)
Right View
(5)
5. “How does one practice wise restraint in lay life when one has to deal with family, friends, coworkers, and so on? Especially on the level of speech and emotions that one encounters.” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Sense restraint] [Lay life] [Right Speech] [Emotion] // [Discernment] [Unwholesome Roots] [Appropriate attention] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Mindfulness of body] [Clear comprehension]
Vinaya: Conditions for skillful admonishment in the Buddhist Monastic Code’s discussion of Bhikkhu Saṇghādisesa 8. [Admonishment/feedback]
7. “The concepts of non-self and rebirth seem contradictory to me. Can you expand on these topics? What is it that passes from one life to the next if there is no self?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Not-self ] [Rebirth] // [Views] [Tranquility] [Insight meditation] [Aggregates] [Self-identity view] [Disenchantment] [Dispassion] [Unwholesome Roots] [Consciousness] [Proliferation] [Conditionality]
Sutta: DN 15.21 refers to rebirth and consciousness.
1. Comment: I listen to the talks and read the books, and everything is so logical and rational, but I’m still stuck in habitual patterns of living. [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Dhamma books] [Everyday life] [Habits]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Association with people of integrity] [Community] [Monasteries] [Lunar observance days] [Online community] [Chanting] [Spiritual friendship] [Impermanence] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Generosity]
Quote: “When you’re living with a group of people, not everybody is depressed and lazy and fed up at the same time.” [Unwholesome Roots]
Sutta: SN 55.5 Sāriputta [Factors for stream entry]
1. “In reference to the fragrance of the flower....There are many roses in the courtyard across the street....Why do we cultivate beauty? Where does beauty arise from?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Beauty] // [Clinging] [Happiness] [Master Hsuan Hua] [Empathetic joy] [Unconditioned]
Sutta: MN 37: Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya. (Nothing whatsoever should be clung to.)
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s mother sends his old letters to Abhayagiri. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abhayagiri]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah was unshakeable in the midst of all the things that were happening around him and responded warmly and compassionately to the people around him. [Ajahn Chah] [Equanimity] [Compassion] [Family] [Monastic life/Motivation]
5. “I feel that a lot of people are disconnected with the reality world. They don’t have a place of social, and they withdraw themselves and go on the internet. So I think the fundamental problem is people [audio unclear] in this real world. Do you have any comments on how to connect people in the real world so there can be a replacement of social media?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Community] [Social media] [Internet] // [Dhamma online] [Pandemic] [Online community] [Abhayagiri] [Lunar observance days]
Sutta: SN 55.5: Spiritual friendship as a condition for Right View. [Spiritual friendship] [Right View] [Conditionality] [Appropriate attention]
8. “My understanding is that it is not good to indulge the five senses. But is there a way to make that help with your cultivation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sense bases] [Sense restraint] // [Appropriate attention] [Discernment] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 6: Recollection of the Dhamma [Recollection/Dhamma]
Sutta: SN 35.23: The six senses are the all.
Sutta: SN 35.116: A perceiver of the world, a conceiver of the world.
2. “Can you speak more about the progression of mindfulness of breathing, how the Four Foundations of Mindfulness develop the Seven Factors of Awakening?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Mindfulness] [Factors of Awakening] [Mindfulness of breathing ] // [Emotion] [Conditionality] [Tranquility] [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of feeling]
Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta. [Mindfulness] [Mindfulness of mind] [Bases of Success]
Quote: “We’re breathing in and out anyway, but taking an interest in it is a game-changer.” [Desire]
3. “Is there a time and place for intentionally breathing or using the breath as a means of calming the mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volition] [Calming meditation] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Tranquility] [Energy]
Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta.
Recollection: To deal with the restless mind, Ajahn Chah taught to breath in deeply and not breathe out. [Restlessness and worry] [Ajahn Chah]
7. “I’m a mother to four kids, one of whom has special needs. I’m lucky if I can meditate 10-15 minutes a day. Are there practices one can do when one is frequently around little ones?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Children ] [Meditation/General advice] // [Posture/Sitting] [Three Refuges] [Precepts] [Recollection/Virtue] [Recollection/Generosity] [Gladdening the mind] [Mindfulness of body] [Clear comprehension]
Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 104: Forty subjects of meditation.
Sri Lankan Buddhists keep a book of good deeds which is read near the time of death. [Culture/Sri Lanka] [Merit] [Death]
Story: Debbie Stamp served as primary caregiver to her father during the pandemic. [Parents] [Pandemic]
5. “I have had many losses over the year, and both my parents passed away six years ago. I found that taking refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha, keeping the precepts, and having daily meditation practice helps. There is peacefulness and gratitude. I have heard that if one wants to share merits with the deceased, one could. What is the proper way? Could you give some guidance?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Death] [Grief] [Parents] [Merit ] // [Recollection/Virtue] [Goodwill] [Translation] [Three Refuges] [Precepts] [Generosity] [Happiness]
Sutta: Iti 22: “Do not be afraid of puñña.”
Quote: “Puñña is accomplished through the heart itself.” [Heart/mind] [Cultural context]
Quote: “A spark of merit is worth more than a mountain of effort.” — Tibetan saying. [Vajrayāna] [Self-identity view]
11. “Can you be a Buddhist and yet an I-don’t-know agnostic about reincarnation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddhist identity] [Rebirth ] [Atheism/agnosticism] // [Faith] [Merit] [Kamma]
Sutta: MN 60: The Safe Bet
16. “How does one reconcile perceived imperfections and unskillful behaivor in Buddhist institutions and interactions with teachers?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unskillful qualities] [Teachers] // [Monasteries] [Monastic life] [Admonishment/feedback] [Blame and praise]
Quote: “The Buddha set up an institution that was not assuming infallability.” [Buddha] [Lay life] [Human]
Sutta: Dhp 227: Nobody lives without criticism.
6. “Please, a short talk on Nibbāna.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna ] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Cessation] [Unwholesome Roots] [Relinquishment] [Jhāna]
Quote: “Nibbāna is not a thing.”
Sutta: Ud 3.10: Yena yena hi maññati, tato taṁ hoti aññathā. – “For however one conceives it, it is always other than that.”
Reference: The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro
5. “What would be your advice when young monks are wavering in their decsion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life/Motivation ] [Doubt] // [Fear] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Delusion] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Mindfulness of body]
Recurrent refrain in the Suttas: “I know you, Māra,” e. g. SN 4.1, SN 4.5. [Māra] [Sutta] [Knowing itself]
1. “From the Christian perspective, I understand we get knowledge or wisdom from God, but it is through our human effort that we get a taste of the wisdom. You mentioned [neither] moving backward, forward, or being still. In Zen meditation, they taught being present. Is this grace or effort?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Christianity] [Discernment] [God] [Human] [Right Effort] [Zen] // [Relinquishment] [Faith ] [Three Refuges]
Sutta: SN 1.1
Quote: “To me it’s much more faith that surrenders, that relinquishes, that’s willing to let go.” [Faith ]
Quote: “Suffering and being stuck in saṃsāra and in the world is just a bad habit.” [Suffering] [Saṃsāra] [Habits]
1. “What is the translation of sabbaṃ dukkhaṃ? The way you translate it seems psychological. In Sanskrit, dukkhaṃ means out of the cosmic flow of Dhamma. But perhaps dukkhaṃ is best left untranslated. If untranslated, does dukkhaṃ mean the same thing in Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] [Pāli] [Equanimity] [Dhamma] [Translation] [Advaita Vedanta] // [Thai] [Human] [Aggregates] [Clinging ] [Knowing itself] [Relinquishment]
Ancient etymology of dukkha: du = bad, unwanted, unpleasant, uncomfotable, not easy; kha = where the axle fits into the wheel. [Language] [History/Indian Buddhism]
Sutta: SN 22.22: Dhammacakkappavattanasutta (Chanting Book translation)
Teaching: The four forms of clinging. [Clinging ] [Sensual desire] [Impermanence] [Naturalness] [Happiness] [Neutral feeling] [Attachment to precepts and practices] [Views] [Doctrine-of-self clinging] [Not-self]
Quote: “Nibbāna is the reality of non-grasping.” — Ajahn Chah. [Nibbāna] [Cessation of Suffering]
2. “I am concerned about the clarity of mind if I have prolonged pain. How does one face death skillfully if one is in constant serious pain?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Pain] [Ageing] [Tranquility] [Death] // [Long-term practice]
Sutta: SN 55.22: Mahānāma worries about death. [Similes]
3. “Could you say more about recollection of death and the healthy desire to have something fall away?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Craving not to become] [Recollection/Death] [Relinquishment] // [Cessation] [Middle Path] [Right View]
Sutta: MN 26.19: The Buddha doubts whether anyone will understand. [Buddha/Biography]
5. “How is suicide reconciled with the First Precept, the precept against taking life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Suicide] [Killing] // [Vinaya]
Sutta: MN 144: Channovāda Sutta.