Fear (bhaya)
Indeterminate qualities / Fear
Part of key topic The Human Dillema
Subsumes: Bias from fear (bhayāgati)
77 excerpts, 6:11:43 total duration

All excerpts (77) Most relevant (47) Questions about (30) Answers involving (34) Stories (12) Quotes (7) Texts (2)


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 3 – Apr. 28, 2001

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5. Story: “Sleep is delicious.” Told by Ajahn Jitindriyā. [Ajahn Amaro] [Sloth and torpor] [Ajahn Chah] // [Fear] [Discernment]


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 4 – Apr. 28, 2001

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7. How would Ajahn Chah fare in England? Teaching by Ajahn Sumedho. [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Culture/West] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Respect for elders] [Culture/Thailand] [Vinaya] [Discernment] [Pace of life]

Story: An emergency landing in Rome. [Fear] [Sensual desire]

Story: Ajahn Chah was threatened while walking almsround in London. [Almsround] [Dhamma]


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 10 – Apr. 28, 2001

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5. Ajahn Chah was always willing to challenge himself. Recollection by Paul Breiter. [Ascetic practices] [Ardency] [Ajahn Chah] // [Fear] [Ghost] [Sickness] [Culture/Natural environment] [Robes] [Lodging] [Suffering] [Meditation/Unusual experiences]


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 26 – Apr. 29, 2001

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6. Quote: “I hope you’re not afraid of suffering.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Jack Kornfield. [Ajahn Chah] [Jack Kornfield] [Suffering] [Fear] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Ghost] [Monastic life] [Liberation]


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20. He encouraged people to let go in so many different ways. Recollection by Jack Kornfield. [Relinquishment ] [Teachers] [Views] [Eightfold Path] [Ajahn Chah] // [Idle chatter] [Seclusion] [Aversion] [Ghost] [Fear] [Restlessness and worry] [Sense bases] [Direct experience] [Liberation]

Story: Sit in the middle of your anger. [Jack Kornfield] [Robes] [Lodging]

Story: Walk backwards in the forest in the middle of the night. [Sloth and torpor] [Posture/Walking] [Culture/Natural environment] [Fear]


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23. What does not suffering mean? Reflection by Jack Kornfield. [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Ajahn Chah] // [Judgementalism] [Politics and society] [Discrimination] [Environment] [Discernment] [Compassion] [Human] [Buddha] [Proliferation] [Relinquishment]

Quote: “We human beings are constantly in combat, at war to escape the fact of being limited by so many circumstances that we can’t control...”” — Ajahn Chah. [Conflict] [Characteristics of existence]

Quote: “Doubts are natural.” — Ajahn Chah. [Doubt] [Naturalness] [Impermanence] [Not-self] [Liberation]

Quote: “The desire mind is like children.” — Ajahn Chah. [Desire] [Similes]

Story: “Scary ride, wasn’t it?” [Jack Kornfield] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Fear] [Death]


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 28 – Apr. 29, 2001

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3. Story: Kittisaro’s parents visit Wat Pah Pong. Told by Kittisaro. [Kittisaro] [Parents] [Wat Pah Pong] [Ajahn Chah] // [Culture/West] [Learning] [Monastic life] [Renunciation] [Fear] [Cults] [Children] [Ordination] [Compassion]

Quote: “Wanting your parents to understand is suffering.” — Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Family] [Suffering]

Quote: “The Communists you really need to be concerned about, the ones who can really hurt you, are the ones who hide inside your own heart.” — Ajahn Chah. [Politics and society] [Unwholesome Roots]


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 32 – Apr. 29, 2001

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11. Story: Ṭhānissarā visits Ajahn Chah in Thailand, meets Mae Chee Kumfah, then stays at Chithurst. Told by Ṭhānissarā. [Ṭhānissarā] [Mae Chee Kumfah] [Chithurst] [Ajahn Chah] // [Travel] [Fear] [Meditation] [Mae Chee] [Wat Pah Pong]


Metta Retreat, Session 3 – Sep. 11, 2008

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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] [Fear] [Family] [Clinging]


Tudong Stories at Spirit Rock, Session 2 – Jun. 2, 2011

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6. “Could you tell of your personal experience with a tiger?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Animal] [Tudong]

Story: Ajahn Pasanno hears and smells a tiger while doing walking meditation. [Dtao Dum] [Culture/Natural environment] [Posture/Walking] [Fear] [Death] [Impermanence] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension]

Sutta: MN 4: Fear and Dread [Fear]


Abhayagiri Monastic Retreat 2013, Session 4 – Nov. 26, 2013

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7. “I have a hard time ending or letting go of relationships after they no longer serve me or prove to be unskillful people...Is this attachment to person or aversion/ fear etc of the unknown?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Relationships] [Relinquishment] [Clinging] [Fear]


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 42 – Mar. 4, 2014

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1. Ajahn Pasanno describes the atmosphere of Cold War fear. [Fear] [Politics and society] [Military] // [Culture/West] [Amaravati] [Ajahn Sumedho]


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 55 – Mar. 25, 2014

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3. “Would Luang Por Chah teach or test monks and students in different ways?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Mentoring] [Fierce/direct teaching]

Recollection: Joseph Kappel shakes with fear when on the receiving end of Ajahn Chah’s admonishments. [Joseph Kappel] [Admonishment/feedback] [Fear]


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 58 – Mar. 28, 2014

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3. Comment by Ajahn Kaccāna: When working with the mind in a comfortable environment, one can skip past the fear of death. [Mindfulness of mind] [Pain] [Fear] [Death]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno.


Death and Dying, Session 1 – May. 9, 2014

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11. “Is there a meditation practice to use with someone who is dying?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Death] // [Faith] [Simplicity] [Happiness] [Recollection/Death] [Ageing] [Sickness]

Story about Ram Dass’s dying mother: “Richard, shut up!” [Ram Dass] [Fear] [Restlessness and worry]


Death and Dying, Session 2 – May. 9, 2014

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6. “Have you found a difference between being afraid of death and being afraid of dying?” Answered by Debbie Stamp. [Fear] [Death]


Mindfulness of Breathing, Session 1 – Oct. 26, 2014

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2. “I’ve had the experience on retreat of getting to slow, shallow breathing and panicked because I couldn’t find the breath. Could you say more about just going to the knowing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Unusual experiences] [Tranquility] [Fear] [Knowing itself] [Mindfulness of breathing ] // [Mindfulness of body] [Investigation of states] [Nimitta] [Faith]


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3. “I have a hard time breathing normally due to congestion and athsma. How does one get past the initial fear, ‘I just can’t breath. How am I going to do this?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Health] [Fear] [Mindfulness of breathing ] // [Mindfulness of body] [Body scanning] [Tranquility]


2014 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 1 – Nov. 22, 2014

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10. “If unwholesome thoughts arise and it creates fear and a repeating pattern, what is the best method for breaking the patterns? For instance, mettā meditation replacing the fear or attention with something else? Thank for the inspiration.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fear] [Goodwill] [Unskillful qualities] [Habits]


2014 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 2 – Nov. 23, 2014

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10. “Thank you for so many wonderful teachings. I am contemplating cessation and would like to hear more about the cessation of the body-death. I have been with a few beings as they have died, 1 human and a few pets. Is the manner of death important to having a ‘good’ rebirth? Does being afraid or suffering a great deal affect the next life directly or is the experience of death just added to ones overall karma?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Death] [Rebirth] [Cessation] [Fear] [Suffering] [Kamma] // [Stream entry] [Health care] [Patience] [Humility]


2014 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 4 – Nov. 25, 2014

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15. “Although in reasonable condition, I am realizing that fear / anxiety of death / non-becoming is pervasive in the background of my daily life. Does the Buddha speak to that which continues after the body dies? Other than the five recollections and contemplating impermanence, does he offer guidance on how to best prepare to greet ones own death? Thank you so much.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fear] [Death ] [Rebirth] [Recollection] [Impermanence] // [Naturalness] [Spiritual urgency] [Clear comprehension] [Mindfulness of body] [Dispassion] [Divine Abidings] [Recollection/Devas] [Protective Meditations] [Factors of Awakening]

Quote: “The Dhamma is neither tall nor short, black nor white; it’s just right (por dee)” — Ajahn Kinaree. [Ajahn Kinaree] [Dhamma] [Middle Path]


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 21 – Feb. 1, 2015

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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]


The Middle Way of Not-Self, Session 1 – May. 27, 2015

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16. “The fear that arises upon the realization that there’s nothing there is so strong that it takes away from the awareness being able to stay with it. Any suggestions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fear] [Knowledge and vision] [Not-self] // [Recollection] [Goodwill] [Gladdening the mind] [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Learning] [Faith]


The Middle Way of Not-Self, Session 2 – May. 27, 2015

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4. Comment about working with not-self in direct experience in relation to discomfort and awareness of embodied release. [Direct experience] [Feeling] [Suffering] [Impermanence] [Not-self] [Mindfulness of body] [Relinquishment] [Fear]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Proliferation]


Suttas You've Never Heard Of, Session 1 – Jun. 25, 2016

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5. “In this sutta (AN 5.48), there’s the assumption that everyone has enemies. It’s making me a little paranoid.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fear] [Sutta] [Human] // [Judgementalism]


Thanksgiving Retreat 2016, Session 1 – Nov. 19, 2016

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2. “I have a cancer and finished my treatment and am afraid it will come back if I don’t take care of myself as doctor told. So it is my stress. How can I think about my stress to hold it in my mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sickness ] [Suffering] [Fear] // [Happiness] [Gratitude]


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7. “At the Friday evening talk, you mentioned the three poisons/kleshas of greed, hatred and delusion. But you also added fear. Fear seems to me more like a result. Please explain.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unwholesome Roots ] [Fear] [Conditionality] // [Biases] [Sensual desire] [Abhayagiri]


Thanksgiving Retreat 2016, Session 6 – Nov. 24, 2016

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17. “I grew up in an environment where any difference was met with hostility. I was bullied, I was robbed a few times, I didn’t feel safe. No wonder the idea of refuge always resonated with me....However, even after living in very tolerant California and generally feeling myself safe here, when I am outdoors practicing walking meditation, whenever I see or hear strangers approaching me, my mind begins rushing in anticipation that this encounter would turn hostile. Being on precepts makes me feel particularly vulnerable. Could you share some teaching about protecting qualities of the Dhamma and how I can feel less fear while keeping the precepts? Could some of the monastics share their stories of receiving unexpected kindness from seemingly hostile strangers or stories of resolving physical or verbal attacks while wearing the robes and keeping precepts?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Discrimination] [Abuse/violence] [Fear] [Three Refuges] [Meditation retreats] [Precepts] [Dhamma] [Monastic life] [Stories] [Generosity] // [Human] [Truth] [Compassion] [Abhayagiri] [Almsround]

Story: A football hooligan has a sharing session with a monk on a train.

Story: Ajahn Gunha wanders into a Communist base on tudong. [Ajahn Gunha] [Tudong] [Politics and society] [Rains retreat]

Story: Ajahn Sudanto goes almsround each day in White Salmon. [Ajahn Sudanto] [Pacific Hermitage]


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

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2. “How do I become a more generous person if there is a constant underlying worry about having enough (money for living, retirement, etc.)? How to create a sense of abundance within so I can freely give to others?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Generosity ] [Fear] [Commerce/economics] // [Culture/West] [Greed] [Community] [Culture/Thailand] [Poverty]

Quote: “I don’t have any money, but I’m not poor.” — Por Am, a Wat Pah Pong lay supporter. [Lay supporters] [Wat Pah Pong] [Health care]

Recollection: Thai children sharing cold Pepsi given to them by the monks at special events.


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15. “Would you please give some advice on how to deal with obsessive compulsive thoughts that cause fear in the mind and tension in the body? I have tried to remember that “mental formations” are not self, but this doesn’t seem to alleviate the problem or help much.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Habits] [Fear] [Volitional formations] [Not-self]


Thanksgiving Retreat 2016, Session 8 – Nov. 26, 2016

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8. “Do you have any inspiring stories to share of practicing with strong fear (animals,etc)? I’m inspired when I hear such stories from monks of this tradition.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fear] [Stories] [Animal]

Story: A tiger circles Ajahn Pasanno’s walking path. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Dtao Dum] [Fear] [Posture/Walking]

Sutta: MN 4: Fear and Dread.

Story: A tiger kills a 1,500 pound Brahma bull.


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

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3. “I got a little confused about the part [of MN 19] where it says, ‘these thoughts are not to be feared.’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fear] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Right Intention] [Calming meditation] [Happiness]

Quote: “In trying to stop thinking, there’s an incredible tension that is created in the mind.” [Suffering]

Follow-up: “[MN 19] mentioned that these thoughts might make you tired.” [Sloth and torpor]


Two Kinds of Thought and the Removal of Distracting Thoughts, Session 2 – Jun. 4, 2017

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4. “When you go into your body to feel the underlying emotion behnd a thought, what happens when the bodily feeling is so uncomfortable that you really don’t want to feel it?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Mindfulness of body] [Emotion] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Suffering ] [Aversion] [Fear] // [Recollection/Buddha] [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Recollection/Virtue] [Faith]

Follow-up: “It seems really difficult to think of Dhamma or the refuges while in such a wrapped-up state. I don’t know if I could do that.” [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Visualization] [Goodwill] [Compassion]


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15. “My friend is having anxiety about her pregnancy issues. These are understandable but not helpful for her well-being. Do you have any recommendations for dealing with legitimate fears?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Restlessness and worry] [Health] [Birth] [Fear] // [Visualization] [Goodwill] [Compassion]

Follow-up: “Would this go under the category of taking a smaller peg? (MN 20 method one)” [Directed thought and evaluation]


The New Ajahn Chah Biography, Session 2 – Apr. 21, 2018

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14. “When you find happiness, there’s the hope that you won’t lose it and the fear that you will. How do you peel away the hope and the fear and bathe in happiness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Happiness] [Desire] [Fear] [Impermanence] // [Suffering] [Learning] [Relinquishment]


The Path of Practice, Session 2 – Jun. 16, 2019

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1. “In Canada, medical assistance in death is legal. As an old person who will be sick and dying not too far off, it raises the question: If I got to the point where I felt even with good palliative and hospice care, I couldn’t withstand the pain any longer, it’s an option. But what about the first precept of not taking life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sickness] [Pain] [Death] [Health care ] [Euthanasia] [Killing] // [Relinquishment] [Self-identity view] [Idealism]

Quote: “Being present for the falling apart of the body opens doorways to release that don’t really happen with, ‘I just want to be done with this. This totally sucks.’” [Present moment awareness] [Mindfulness of body] [Release] [Aversion] [Fear] [Clinging] [Saṃsāra]


Love, Attachment, and Friendship, Session 3 – Oct. 12, 2019

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2. Quote: “Learning how to be comfortable with dukkha...is a willingness to open the heart to the whole realm of experience. That’s an act of love.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Direct experience] [Goodwill] // [Generosity] [Fear] [Listening] [Clear comprehension]


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3. “My natural tendency is to push the world away and to have the attitude that enjoyment is wrong. I’m working on trying to enjoy life. Do you have any ideas about this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Craving not to become] [Christianity] [Hinduism] [Ascetic practices] [Happiness] [Skillful qualities] // [Monastic life] [Ajahn Sucitto] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Culture/West]

The Rule of St. Benedict and Ajahn Sucitto’s talk “Fellow Worms.” [Humility]

Story: A BBC interviewer asks King Rama IX about original sin. [Media] [King Rama IX] [Culture/Thailand] [Nature of mind]

Causal processes leading to sāmadhi and dispassion have different starting points, but they all go through delight and happiness. [Conditionality] [Concentration] [Dispassion]

Quote: “Monks, do not be afraid of puñña.” — Iti 22. [Merit] [Fear] [Liberation]

Quote: “The happy mind is easily concentrated.”


Tea Time Q&A with Ajahn Pasanno – May. 16, 2021

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8. “Any advice to guide me after retirement? How to get rid of the fear of death?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ageing] [Fear] [Death] // [Happiness] [Merit] [Generosity] [Virtue] [Meditation] [Mindfulness]


Abhayagiri 25th Anniversary Retreat, Session 1 – Jun. 9, 2021

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7. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Abhayagiri: a place of safety. [Fear] [Abhayagiri] // [Pāli] [Realms of existence] [Culture/West] [Competitiveness] [Abuse/violence]


Abhayagiri 25th Anniversary Retreat, Session 5 – Jun. 10, 2021

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2. “Can you talk more about the shift from feeling unsafe to feeling safe?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Fear] // [Knowing itself] [Suffering] [Pandemic]

Quote: “Being alive has many inherent risks.” [Characteristics of existence] [Impermanence]


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11. “What could I to to help myself fear death less?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko and Ajahn Pasanno. [Fear ] [Death] // [Virtue] [Restlessness and worry] [Truth] [Stream entry] [Impermanence] [Recollection/Death] [Present moment awareness] [Recollection/Virtue] [Self-identity view]


Abhayagiri 25th Anniversary Retreat, Session 16 – Jun. 13, 2021

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2. “Are monks in the forest tradition required to meditate near dead bodies in cremation grounds? Is that to uproot defilements of fear of death? Is it considered psychologically safe?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Thai Forest Tradition] [Recollection/Death] [Fear] [Death] // [Ascetic practices] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Naturalness]

Quote: “Death is the most ordinary thing in the world.” — Ajahn Liem. [Ajahn Liem]


Madison Insight Retreat 2023, Session 2 – Oct. 14, 2023

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18. “Can you talk about fear as a cause of dukkha and how to work with it?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fear ] [Suffering] // [Unwholesome Roots] [Abhidhamma] [Delusion] [Mindfulness of body] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Biases]

Quote: “In terms of personality, [fear] was my go-to option.” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Personality] [Fear ]


Interreligious Retreat-Seminar on Dhamma and Non-duality, Session 4 – Nov. 26, 2023

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2. “Is the desire to become fearless a cause of suffering? Is wearing a different kind of clothes also I-making?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Desire] [Fear] [Cause of Suffering] [Attachment to precepts and practices] [Self-identity view] // [Craving] [Unwholesome Roots] [Naturalness] [Discernment] [Suffering] [Liberation]