Part of key topic Skillful Qualities
Subsumes: Pleasant feeling (sukhā vedanā), Pleasure (sukha)
132 excerpts, 8:34:11 total duration
6. “Please explain how to cultivate muditā. I’ve heard it described as ‘poor man’s happiness.’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Empathetic joy] [Happiness] // [Divine Abidings] [Jealousy] [Selfishness]
11. “What is the most fun part about being a monk?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Happiness] // [Association with people of integrity]
19. “What is the difference between pīti and sukha?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Rapture] [Happiness] // [Continuity of mindfulness] [Concentration] [Jhāna] [Tranquility] [Unification] [Mindfulness]
Simile: A traveller through a desert learns of an oasis (pīti) then drinks and bathes at the oasis (sukha) (Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 139). [Happiness] [Similes]
3. Comment: You spoke about suffusing the body with extreme well-being. But I’ve been in states like that and my body seems to disappear. [Jhāna] [Happiness] [Rapture ] [Mindfulness of body] [Gradual Teaching] [Meditation/Unusual experiences]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
Quote: “It isn’t so much the experience of extreme well-being that is the goal. It’s the ability to gain clarity and stability so that one can see through the experience as something that is uncertain or impermanent, has a changing nature. The mind often wants to disregard that. The tendency to identify self with experience on a refined mental level is tempered by the body experience.” [Happiness] [Clear comprehension] [Concentration] [Knowledge and vision] [Impermanence] [Delusion] [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment]
Follow-up: “Are you saying you can become attached to these states?” [Clinging]
17. Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo: It’s not easy giving up the things we’re used to in order to follow the path. [Renunciation] [Eightfold Path] [Clinging] [Happiness] [Right Livelihood]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] [Commerce/economics]
9. “For me, the practice starts with concentration to get to a place of well-being. Is there a missing piece here?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Concentration] [Happiness] // [Cultural context] [Generosity] [Precepts] [Culture/West] [Western psychology] [Meditation]
Quote: “It is helpful to get a picture of the whole path and realize how integrated and mutually nourishing those path factors are.” [Eightfold Path] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
8. “It seems that every year I expect less from myself at a retreat. It seems also, by and large, that every year retreat becomes easier, happier, and more peaceful. Would you say this is because: 1) I am getting wiser? 2) I am abandoning all intentions? or 3) I am running out of hormones?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Long-term practice ] [Meditation retreats] [Happiness] // [Spaciousness]
19. “One practice is to cultivate joy, happiness...But if these are ‘defilements of insight,’ I feel empty. Any comment.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gladdening the mind] [Happiness] [Insight meditation]
1. “What degree of pīti and sukha is necessary to establish the first jhāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Rapture] [Happiness] [Jhāna] // [Hindrances] [Unification] [Directed thought and evaluation]
2. “There are photos of Luang Ta Mahā Boowa looking very fierce and also photos of him looking very joyful, laughing, and the same with Ajahn Chah, a bit more stern I’d say. Do you think the same could be said of Ajahn Mun, not that there are photos but there could have been?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Chah] [Happiness] [Ajahn Mun] [Technology] // [Culture/Thailand]
Quote: “Those farangs, they really like teeth.” — Ajahn Chah [Culture/West]
1. “Could you describe ways to work with delighting and wanting around the pleasure of food?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Food ] [Craving] [Happiness] [Unattractiveness] [Disenchantment] // [Elements] [Mindfulness of body] [Clinging] [Impermanence] [Dependent origination]
Sutta: AN 5.208: The benefits of chewing toothwoods. [Cleanliness] [Happiness]
8. “How can we balance happiness and ease with the desire to accomplish something using meditation techniques?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/General advice] [Happiness] [Desire] [Middle Path] // [Recollection/Dhamma] [Hearing the true Dhamma]
28. “What are the natural inclinations that can lead to well-being and peace?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nature of mind] [Happiness] [Tranquility] // [Aversion] [Right Effort] [Compassion]
16. “Was the fire sermon a ‘teaching moment’ of hyperbole? I love to take photographs, for example, and it helps me engage much more deeply with the world outside my skull. And it fills me with rapture, compassion, and joy! Does the Buddha’s recipe for liberation truly entail cutting off this experience of beauty? Where’s the Theravada equivalent to the Zen ‘suchness’ —the awe of life and its ephemerality? Thank you!” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Dispassion] [Impermanence] [Suchness] [Recreation/leisure/sport] [Liberation] [Compassion] [Happiness] [Beauty]
Sutta: SN 35.28: Ādittapariyāya Sutta
14. “Please tell us what the chant is referring to when it mentions the ‘3-fold bliss.’ Thank you!” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Chanting] [Happiness]
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.
2. Examples of pleasures of renunciation? Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Happiness] [Renunciation] [Rapture] // [Skillful qualities]
Sutta: Ud 2.10: “Oh, what bliss!” [Happiness]
4. Clarification of underlying tendencies to unworldly, pleasant feelings? Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Unwholesome Roots] [Happiness] [Feeling] // [Desire] [Craving]
4. “Are all manifestations of desire and motivation ultimately a desire for happiness or are there motivations for truly negative things?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Desire] [Craving] [Volition] [Happiness] [Unskillful qualities] [Nature of mind] // [Ill-will] [Fear] [Discernment]
7. “The story that we hear frequently about the Buddha as a child in the cattle pasture with his father. He talks about going into a pleasant, rapturous state. Would you consider that jhāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography ] [Happiness] [Rapture] [Jhāna] // [Skillful qualities]
Sutta: MN 36.31 Mahāsaccaka Sutta
9. “Isn’t rapture and joy a sensual pleasure?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Rapture] [Happiness] [Sense bases] [Jhāna] // [Dhamma] [Virtue] [Generosity] [Compassion] [Recollection/Virtue]
Quote: “You can actually give yourself permission to enjoy the meditation.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Meditation] [Happiness]
10. “I meditate. Pleasure arises, and I enjoy that. Does that mean it’s Dhamma practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Happiness] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Jhāna] // [Investigation of states] [Feeling] [Mindfulness of mind]
13. “Ajahn Chah said happiness and unhappiness are two ends of suffereing and we should aim for peace. Is this kind of jhānic happiness different from what he was talking about?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Happiness] [Suffering] [Jhāna]
14. “That sukha (happiness) is still experienced through the sense object of the mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Happiness] [Rapture] [Sense bases] [Jhāna] // [Mindfulness of body]
Quote: “The way the Buddha describes the jhāna factors, all the images are grounded in the body.” (MN 39.15) [Similes]
16. “The rapture and joy that are being described are not pleasure, right?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Rapture] [Happiness] [Jhāna] // [Pāli]
Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 139 [Happiness] [Similes]
17. “Does jhāna exclusively contain the five mental states?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Rapture] [Happiness] [Unification] [Jhāna] // [Right Concentration]
Sutta: MN 111 Anupada Sutta
25. “In concentration, you’re aware of one object. If in that state you become aware of pleasure, does that mean you’ve already left jhāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Concentration] [Unification] [Happiness] [Right Mindfulness] [Jhāna] // [Self-identity view] [Discernment] [Clinging]
6. “What is the difference between piti and sukha? Also equanimity and emptiness as a felt sense?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Rapture ] [Happiness ] [Equanimity] [Emptiness ] // [Self-identity view] [Theravāda] [Relinquishment]
The difference between pīti and sukha. [Happiness ] [Emotion]
Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 139: Similes for pīti and sukha. [Similes] [Happiness ]
2. “Inclining mind toward happiness, joy, lightness, exhilaration, the good, sometimes feels a bit Polyanna-ish. What about all the wars, refugees, my job, illness, pain, etc. Aren’t these also the way things are – unpleasant, dark, and negative?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Happiness ] [Gladdening the mind] [Suffering] // [Buddha/Biography] [Aspects of Understanding]
16. “Sitting with the Sangha, I am learning how to feel joy.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gratitude] [Happiness]
11. Comment: I listen to the Abhayagiri Dhamma talks, focusing more on the timbre of the voice rather than trying to get an intellectual grasp of what was said. That projects me into a dimension of well-being. [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Abhayagiri] [Happiness] [Learning]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Tranquility]
16. “Part of the sense of loss and sorrow is the joys that have created attachment. How to approach this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Grief] [Happiness] [Clinging] // [Naturalness] [Human] [Spaciousness]
Sutta: Thag 1062: Mahākassapa delights in nature. [Great disciples] [Culture/Natural environment]
1. “From my limited understanding, when the construction of self drops away in meditation, the is joy and peace. This makes me think that deep insight into anatta might be profoundly blissful. I’m having trouble seeing how the same would be true for dukkha and anicca. Can you help?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Not-self] [Insight meditation] [Happiness] [Characteristics of existence]
8. “What does the threefold bliss mean in the Verses of Sharing and Aspiration?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Happiness] [Chanting]
10. “Does having no craving mean doing things in the world knowing they won’t bring lasting satisfaction? For example, planning a vacation realizing that it will eventually end or taking measures to cure a headache without expecting to feel completely better. I am trying to understand how this would look like in real life without one becoming apathetic and depressed about the meaninglessness of basically all activities except meditation. How to balance the ability to still enjoy life with abandoning all craving?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Craving] [Characteristics of existence] [Depression] [Happiness] // [Cause of Suffering] [Desire] [Generosity]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno is planning to take his mother to Hawaii. “And I think I’ll enjoy it too!” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Parents] [Travel] [Happiness]
11. “Can you speak more about vedana and whether it is something to be changed, as in from dukkha to sukha?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Feeling] [Pain] [Happiness] // [Cause of Suffering] [Conditionality] [Eightfold Path]
Sutta: MN 53.5: The Buddha asks Sāriputta to teach because his back hurts. [Buddha/Biography]
16. “Could you explain if the steps of the anapanasati sutta need to be experienced sequentially? Does sukha always need piti before? Or can one experience sukha after calming the mind without piti every single time?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Rapture] [Happiness]
4. “Can sukha and equanimity exist at the same time? I am wondering if I am missing an opportunity to work with equanimity and other factors of enlightenment by always hanging out in sukha-land. Could you please mention how to recognise equanimity?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Goodwill] [Happiness] [Equanimity ]
13. “I sometimes experience states in which the body is very relaxed and it is easy to become very absorbed in the breath. They are pleasurable and quite calming but is there something I should do with them?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Calming meditation] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Concentration ] [Happiness] // [Discernment] [Self-identity view]
20. “Is the point of the precepts to create as much well-being and as little pain in your environment as possible?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Precepts ] [Happiness] // [Non-contention] [Communal harmony] [Trust]
21. “Is the philosophy of this community totally against fun?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Entertainment and adornment] [Happiness] [Recreation/leisure/sport] // [Association with people of integrity] [Culture/Natural environment]
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]
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] [Happiness]
Quote: “Monks, do not be afraid of puñña.” — Iti 22 [Merit] [Fear] [Happiness] [Liberation]
Quote: “The happy mind is easily concentrated.” [Happiness]
3. “The pandemic has given rise to feelings of profound grief and loss in many of us. How can we best work with these emotions to cultivate well-being for ourselves and others?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pandemic] [Grief] [Emotion] [Happiness] [Community] // [Self-identity view] [Clinging] [Commerce/economics] [Perception]
3. “I remember reading in one of Ajahn Chah’s books about comparing our feelings to a snake with sadness and unhappiness at its head and happiness as its tail and how we should not touch any part of its body....How can we just watch [feelings] come in and out of our mind without interacting with it or getting influenced by it?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Feeling] [Similes] [Happiness] [Suffering] [Equanimity] // [Appropriate attention]
Reference: “The Middle Way Within,” Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 2.
5. “A sense of causeless joy permeates awareness, yet there remains a sense of me that experiences. How to dissolve that?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Happiness] [Knowing itself] [Conceit] // [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Suffering] [Relinquishment]
9. “If everything in life is great, and I am enjoying my life, why practice? What could get better?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Everyday life] [Happiness] [Heedfulness] // [Discernment] [Right Effort] [Rebirth] [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Right View]
12. “Can you please talk more about the three happinesses and what we should be careful about?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Happiness] [Heedfulness] // [Everyday life] [Deva] [Nibbāna] [Hindrances] [Virtue] [Community]
Reference: Verses of Sharing and Aspiration, Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 33.
2. “Early on in practice, I learned that practicing sīla (virtue) leads to the bliss of the blamelessness life and creates the conditions for samādhi. What is the Pāli word that translates to ‘the bliss of the blameless life?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Virtue ] [Merit] [Happiness ] [Concentration] [Pāli] // [Right Livelihood] [Generosity] [Right Intention]
Quote: “Sīla is the opportunity to rise up to a life of integrity.”
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] [Happiness]
Follow-up: “What about the joy that comes from enjoying sensual things like music, painting, scents, and water?” [Artistic expression] [Beauty] [Happiness] [Clinging] [Spaciousness]