Part of key topic Dependent Origination
Subsumes: Five aggregates affected by clinging (pañcupādānakkhandhā, Five clinging-aggregates), Name and form (nāma-rūpa)
Also a subtag of Mindfulness of dhammas
Subtags: Form, Feeling, Perception, Volitional formations, Consciousness
46 excerpts, 3:35:14 total duration
2. “This is a common scenario: I’m caught in a story of praise and blame. I notice. A voice says, ‘That was very quick. You’re getting good at this.’ I wake up again. ‘Ah, I know you Mara….’ Mara seems to co-opt every moment of awakening to feed the ego. Is there something you can suggest?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Blame and praise] [Māra] [Liberation] [Self-identity view] [Patience] // [Impermanence] [Mindfulness of dhammas] [Not-self] [Aggregates] [Dependent origination] [Knowing itself]
Quote: “It’s really hard to underestimate how important patient endurance is to the practice.”
6. “Can you speak about working with fear and loss of ego identity, fear, and death?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fear] [Self-identity view] [Death] // [Goodwill] [Aggregates] [Impermanence] [Delusion] [Faith] [Eightfold Path] [Perfections] [Recollection]
Reference: Description of dukkha. [Suffering]
Quote: “We respond to teachings on liberation and Nibbāna with a curious sense of fear and trepidation.” — Ajahn Mahā Boowa speaking about Ajahn Mun. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Mun] [Liberation] [Nibbāna] [Family] [Clinging]
9. “What is the difference between awareness and consciousness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Knowing itself] [Consciousness] // [Aggregates] [Sense bases] [Volitional formations] [Volition] [Conditionality] [Discernment]
15. (A) “Please say a few more words on posture. For example, I noticed that my body was leaning towards the left. If I weighted my right hand with intention, this seems to stop. Is this a correct tactic?” (B) “In my martial arts training, a goal is to relax and make the breathing easier. Is that true of vipassanā as well?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Posture/Sitting] [Mindfulness of body] [Volition] [Tranquility] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Insight meditation] // [Aggregates] [Energy] [Buddha images]
Quote: “That looks like a farang [Western] Buddha. It looks very tense.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Artistic expression] [Culture/West]
17. “What is the difference between ‘meditating on’ versus ‘contemplating’ or just thinking about something. Can you give some examples how one may skillfully meditate on something versus unskillfully? What does saṅkhāra mean?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Recollection] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Skillful qualities] [Volitional formations] [Pāli] // [Concentration] [Progress of insight] [Self-identity view] [Aggregates]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 11: A passage to arouse urgency.
20. “Can you talk about path and fruit in regards to the stages of awakening? What are they? How are they different?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stages of awakening ] // [Insight meditation] [Relinquishment] [Fetters] [Stream entry] [Self-identity view] [Aggregates] [Attachment to precepts and practices] [Doubt] [Once return] [Sensual desire] [Ill-will] [Non-return] [Arahant]
4. “What are the three kinds of seclusion? What is upadhiviveka?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Seclusion] // [Clinging] [Self-identity view] [Aggregates] [Becoming]
1. “Why is sañña often translated as perception?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Perception] [Translation] // [Thai] [Recollection] [Aggregates]
Sutta: MN 43.5 Mahāvedalla Sutta: Conjoined not disjoined.
4. “What does “the longing for the good is the cause of the trouble” mean?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mun] [Craving] [Skillful qualities] [Right Effort] // [Eightfold Path] [Aggregates] [Liberation] [Self-identity view] [Virtue] [Relinquishment] [Jhāna] [Ignorance] [Cause of Suffering]
Story: Sixth Patriarch Sutra: “No mirror, no dust.”
Recollection: Ajahn Chah taught you could grasp at either samut (the conventional) or vimut (the transcendant). [Ajahn Chah] [Conventions] [Unconditioned] [Clinging] [Discernment]
8. “How do you keep the self from coming up if this is an interesting thought to follow?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Conditionality] [Aggregates] [Knowing itself]
4. “Thank you for your talk on mindfulness today—very helpful. I’ve been practicing for a long time (and have even had a few insights that made big impressions on me) and while my sila has definitely improved, my mindfulness is a priority and I might have a tad more wisdom, my mind looks for ways to suffer. Sometimes I feel like a total failure as a Buddhist. I understand that letting go of identity view is the answer, but how? What am I missing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Long-term practice] [Suffering] [Perfectionism] [Self-identity view] // [Aggregates] [Relinquishment] [Drawbacks] [Gladdening the mind]
Sutta: SN 22.22: The Burden (Chanting Book translation)
17. “I am wondering if Buddha spoke about what part of us reincarnates. Is it possible to remember our past lives? Thank you.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Rebirth] [Psychic powers] // [Aggregates] [Self-identity view] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Supernatural] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ghost]
Story: A being at Wat Pah Nanachat employs a go-between to request that Ajahn Pasanno dedicate merit. [Merit]
8. “Perception can be very slippery. I experience it as a veil, view, filter, or lens that colors a situation. The traditional Buddhist teaching of, ‘tinted glasses’ and ‘bowls of water,’ is very helpful. However, if identification is strong, I won’t see it. Do you have suggestions for how to see through perception? How to know when it is coloring my world view?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Perception ] [Self-identity view] [Delusion] // [Nature of mind] [Four Noble Truths] [Aggregates]
Sutta: MN 44: “Conjoined not disjoined.”
5. “Can you define / explain saṅkhāras—mental formations? For example, what phenomena does it include? How can one evaluate what is or is not a saṅkhāra? How does it differ from the hindi / yogic samskara? Thank you.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volitional formations ] [Hinduism] // [Pāli] [Nature of the cosmos] [Nibbāna] [Aggregates] [Abhidhamma] [Emotion] [Directed thought and evaluation]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 23
2. “Does the term mindfulness always imply right mindfulness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness] [Right Mindfulness] // [Abhidhamma] [Aggregates]
Reference: Right Mindfulness p. 21-22
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] [Aggregates]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view] [Aggregates]
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]
7. “Why go through all the trouble to teach us how to not have a self and then refuse to tell us there is no self?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Teaching Dhamma] [Middle Path] [Not-self] // [Relinquishment] [Suffering] [Questions] [Aggregates] [Sense bases]
2. “Does everything point back to the third satpaṭṭhāna (mindfulness of mind)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of mind] [Not-self] // [Aggregates]
Sutta: Dhp 1
9. “What is the best approach to deal with guilt?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Guilt/shame/inadequacy ] // [Culture/West] [Conscience and prudence] [Learning] [Faith] [Discernment] [Self-identity view] [Not-self] [Aggregates]
Sutta: MN 22.58: “Whatever is not yours, abandon it.”
10. “Can you repeat the aspect of sankharas other than mental volitional energy?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volitional formations ] // [Nibbāna] [Aggregates] [Volition]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 13
6. “If I remember correctly, you said with practice what can be realized is not so much the abandonment of the self but the misperception of a self given there has never been a self to be abandoned, correct?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Not-self] // [Clinging] [Doctrine-of-self clinging] [Self-identity view] [Aggregates]
Sutta: MN 72.15: I-making and my-making (aṅkārama-maṅkāra). [Conceit]
9. “Was sati, vedana, jhana part of the religious climate current at the Buddha’s time? How revolutionary was he seen to be then? Do we know?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [History/Early Buddhism] [Buddha/Biography] [Mindfulness] [Feeling] [Jhāna] // [Four Noble Truths] [Aggregates] [Culture/India ] [Kamma] [Volition]
4. “There are teachings about different levels of generosity (e.g. AN 7.49). Are there similar teachings about love or attachment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Generosity] [Goodwill] [Clinging] // [Dhamma] [Desire] [Teaching Dhamma] [Aggregates] [Mindfulness] [Relationships] [Spaciousness]
6. “A question about Dogenji’s teaching: ‘To study the Buddha Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualized by myriad things. When actualized by myriad things your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away. No trace of enlightenment remains, and this no trace continues endlessly.’ Can you reflect on this teaching from the Theravāda Thai Forest Teachings?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Dōgen] [Zen ] [Eightfold Path] [Not-self] [Liberation] [Theravāda] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Knowledge and vision] [Four Noble Truths] [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment] [Aggregates] [Proliferation] [Discernment] [Compassion]
Quote: “Everything is teaching us. Everything is a manifestation of Dhamma and truth.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma] [Truth] [Suchness]
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. “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]