Part of tag cluster Health in key topic Everyday Life Practice
Subtag: Pandemic
51 excerpts, 4:13:35 total duration
“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]
4. Stories: The Chipmunk Story and The Donkey Story. Told by Kittisaro. [Kittisaro] [Depression] [Humor ] [Similes] [Ajahn Chah] // [Recreation/leisure/sport] [Perfectionism] [Meditation] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Sickness] [Animal] [Learning] [Health care] [Self-identity view] [Joseph Kappel] [Compassion] [Energy] [Right Effort] [Equanimity] [Lawfulness]
3. Question related to age and ordination (audio unclear). Answered by Ajahn Sumedho. [Ordination] [Older monks] [Ajahn Chah] // [Culture/Thailand] [Meditation] [Mae Chee] [Relationships] [Liberation] [Culture/West]
Story: A doctor ordains later in life. Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Health care]
1. Quote: “Don’t you say that so lightly–old age, sickness, and death.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Jack Kornfield. [Ajahn Chah] [Sickness] [Ageing ] [Death] // [Health care]
4. Story: Ajahn Anando tries to heal Ajahn Chah. Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Anando] [Health care] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Sickness] [Fierce/direct teaching]
7. Story: Paul Breiter expounds the spiritual potential of hospice work. In response, Ajahn Chah presses his cane into Paul’s chest. Told by Joseph Kappel. [Paul Breiter] [Health care] [Death] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Ajahn Chah] // [Joseph Kappel]
3. Story: Ajahn Chah’s failing heath and Rains Retreat at Tam Saeng Pet. Told by Joseph Kappel. [Sickness] [Health care] [Rains retreat] [Wat Tam Saeng Pet] [Ajahn Chah] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Lodging] [Seclusion] [Generosity] [Joseph Kappel]
Story: “Pabakkaro, make me a Communist.” [Culture/Natural environment] [Medicinal requisites] [Contentment] [Sensual desire]
Story: Venerable Pabakkaro attends to Ajahn Chah. [Upatakh] [Humility]
Story: Ajahn Chah visits the branch monasteries for the last time. [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Vinaya] [Saṅgha]
4. Story: Ajahn Chah goes to Bangkok for treatment and an operation. Told by Joseph Kappel. [Sickness] [Health care] [Ajahn Chah] // [Joseph Kappel] [Medicinal requisites] [Generosity] [Saṅgha decision making] [Lodging]
Story: Ajahn Chah’s last word. [Language]
5. Caring for Ajahn Chah. Reflection by Joseph Kappel. [Sickness] [Health care] [Ajahn Chah] // [Joseph Kappel] [Compassion] [Gratitude]
Quote: “It helped the community prepare for his death and offer gratitude.” [Saṅgha] [Death] [Generosity]
6. Quote: “Ajahn Chah was a terrible patient.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Health care] [Sickness] [Ajahn Chah]
Quote: “Don’t doctors die also?” — Ajahn Chah. [Health care] [Death]
7. Story: Mute, wheelchair-bound Ajahn Chah meets a mother and her young son. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sickness] [Children] [Bowing] [Compassion] [Ajahn Chah] // [Health care] [Joseph Kappel] [Ajahn Pasanno]
4. “Would you say a bit about the benefits of practicing loving-kindness during the dying process, both for the one who is dying as well as for the caregiver?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Goodwill] [Death] [Health care] // [Gladdening the mind] [Fear] [Clear comprehension] [Energy] [Community]
Quote: “These bodies are really high maintenance when they don’t work.” [Sickness] [Health care]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah was unable to look after himself for the last nine years of his life. [Ajahn Chah] [Health care] [Respect for elders] [Wat Pah Pong] [Gratitude]
8. Story: Ajahn Pasanno gets a foot infection on tudong. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Sickness] [Culture/Thailand] [Health care] [Tudong] // [Killing] [Goodwill]
9. Story: Ajahn Pasanno loses his vision on tudong. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Sickness] [Health care] [Tudong] // [Patience] [Seclusion] [Dtao Dum]
13. “What is the view on medical or pharmaceutical professions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Health care] [Medicinal requisites] [Right Livelihood]
15. “Is there any instruction from the Buddha about how to deal with profit-motivated pharmaceutical research decisions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha] [Health care] [Commerce/economics] [Right Livelihood]
16. “Some people want to help but find themselves in situations in which profit dictates the priorities. How can they protect their integrity in such situations?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Compassion] [Health care] [Commerce/economics] [Right Intention] [Right Livelihood ] // [Learning] [Idealism] [Requisites] [Happiness]
Story: Ajahn Karuniko studies engineering, then quits a job in the arms industry to become a monk. [Military] [Monastic life/Motivation]
5. “Thank you for the wonderful dhamma talk on the 5 reflections! Could you please talk about compassion in caregiving for themselves and for others.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection] [Compassion] [Health care]
17. “Is there anything in the teachings/scriptures that would relate to the idea of organ donation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Health care] [Form] [Generosity]
[Session] Ajahn Pasanno begins the retreat by encouraging us to return to the basics of the Noble Eight-fold Path. He mentions Iris Landsberg, a long-standing lay supporter dying of lung cancer, both to set the tone for the monk’s final visit to her and to encourage us to practice while there is still time. Iris passed away February 1, 2014. [Eightfold Path] [Sickness] [Death] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Spiritual urgency] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Meditation retreats] [Family] [Health care]
Sutta: DN 16.34: The world will not be devoid of awakened beings as long as people are practicing the Eightfold Path. [Stages of awakening]
Story: Ajahn Pāvaro decides to practice in Bodh Gaya after receiving worrying medical news. [Ajahn Pavaro] [Health care] [Visiting holy sites] [Impermanence]
Sutta: MN 131: Bhaddekaratta Sutta (Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 75)
3. Story: The Queen invites the best neurosurgeons to help Ajahn Chah in a special suite in Chulalongkorn Hospital. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Sickness] [Royalty] [Health care] // [Saṅgha decision making]
Story: Ajahn Dune occupies the suite after Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Dune]
4. “How do monks treat intestinal worms?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Health care] [Sickness] [Killing]
2. Reading: Five qualities of good patients and nurses (Kd 8.26.5) Read by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sickness] [Health care]
15. “Living in the West, chances are most of us will die in a hospital, which could be quite chaotic. Any advice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/West] [Health care] [Death] // [Spiritual friendship] [Community] [Saṅgha]
Story: The Abhayagiri community attends to a dying lay supporter. [Abhayagiri]
Comments about hospitals contributed by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo.
16. Story about creating sacred space around her dying husband. Told by Beth Steff. [Health care] [Devotional practice] [Relationships] [Death]
17. Comment: One can sign oneself out of hospital against the physician’s wishes. [Health care] [Death]
18. Comments about hospital care and advance directives. [Health care] [Commerce/economics] [Death]
5. Reflection by Debbie Stamp: Caring for dying and grieving Abhayagiri supporters and family members. [Abhayagiri] [Sickness] [Family] [Parents] [Death] [Grief] [Health care] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Christianity] [Forgiveness] [Fear] [Impermanence] [Merit] [Doubt]
Reference: Debbie transcribed Ajahn Pasanno’s 2008 Metta Retreat, published it as Abundant, Exalted, Immeasurable, and dedicated the merit to her mother. [Meditation retreats] [Dhamma books]
Story: Ajahn Ñāṇiko hikes to the top of Mount Dana to dedicate merit to deceased relatives. [Ajahn Ñāṇiko]
12. Comment: In Western culture, we’re not given enough space to be with death. [Culture/West] [Spaciousness] [Grief] [Death]
Story: Hospice workers took the body of my father-in-law away too quickly. [Health care]
Story: When my husband died, we kept and washed the body. [Ceremony/ritual]
Response by Debbie Stamp.
3. “Is there a particular orientation for the intestines?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Unattractiveness]
Story: Ajahn Karuṇadhammo’s first surgery as a nursing student. [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Health care]
1. “Isn’t desire needed for lay life, starting a family, a business etc? And what about polio? Would there be things like a vaccine for polio without desire? Did the Buddha have something else in mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Desire ] [Health care] [Lay life] // [Cause of Suffering] [Craving] [Aids to Awakening] [Bases of Success] [Hindrances] [Sensual desire] [Language]
13. “I remember reading some stories of Ajahn Chah teaching lay people about herbal medicines. I know some Tibetan monks practice medicine. Is there such a tradition in Thailand? Are there any stores of Ajahn Chah healing people physically with traditional medicines?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Health care] [Medicinal requisites ] [Culture/Thailand] // [Thai Forest Tradition] [History/Thai Buddhism] [Vinaya] [Right Livelihood] [Almsfood]
Recollection: Walking around the forest with Ajahn Chah. [Culture/Natural environment]
Story: Bung Wai villagers walk to Wat Pah Pong to practice meditation all night on Wan Phra. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Wat Pah Pong] [Lunar observance days] [Monastic routine] [Meditation]
Story: Por Am argues with Ajahn Chah for three days. [Doubt] [Precepts]
Story: Ajahn Chah teaches Por Am to be a herbal doctor so he can keep the precepts. [Health care]
Recollection: The hunter-gatherer culture of Northeast Thailand. [Food] [Killing] [Geography/Thailand]
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.
5. Comment: It’s important for the Saṅgha to look after all members in terms of sickness and ageing. [Sickness] [Ageing] [Health care] [Death] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha ]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
Vinaya: Kd 8.26.1-8: The Monk with Dysentery [Buddha/Biography]
Recollections of Saṅgha members who have died. [Saṅgha ] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
7. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 647-648 “Por Am” Read by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] // [Right Livelihood] [Views] [Intoxicants]
Story: Ajahn Chah teaches Por Am herbal medicine so he can avoid killing animals. [Culture/Thailand] [Food] [Precepts] [Medicinal requisites] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Health care] [Lunar observance days]
Quote: “It’s not possible to defeat the Dhamma, you know, and that’s why you fainted.” — Ajahn Chah to Por Am. [Dhamma]
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]
2. “For some people, death comes with extreme pain. Part of being able to navigate through the dissolution of self requires clarity of mind. My understanding is that a lot of pain management involves morphine or other mind-numbing drugs. How does one navigate the pain?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Death] [Pain] [Relinquishment] [Self-identity view] [Clear comprehension] [Health care] [Intoxicants] // [Fear]
5. “Years ago I considered the Buddha someone wbo practiced harm reduction. But having worked in the field, I’ve started to have a lot of conflict around when people request paraphanelia to help them use [drugs]. The idea is to keep them alive, but now it’s become very complicated because people are still dying. Is this a violation of right livelihood? Could you speak about wisdom and compassion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Intoxicants] [Health care] [Death] [Right Livelihood] [Discernment] [Compassion] [Gratitude] // [Right Intention] [Crime] [Politics and society]
Quote: “As a person who is trying to help, you have to learn harm reduction to yourself.” [Health care] [Depression]
1. “When everything goes the way you want and you are about to retire, but you feel a subtle, barely detectable dissatisfaction, and you’re not sure why. What specific things should you do besides ordaining and becoming a monk?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Suffering ] [Lay life] [Retirement] // [Saṃsāra] [Clinging] [Cause of Suffering] [Relinquishment]
Advice from an aged elder: “I think you should follow the Eightfold Path.” — Bhante Dharmawara [Bhante Dharmawara] [Eightfold Path] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas] [Health care]
20. “I wake remembering dreams my dreams often and at times in the dream I know that I am dreaming. There are interesting aspects to this, but also at times I find it intense or tiring. Meditation before bed seems to intesify this. Suggestions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Dreams ] // [Clear comprehension] [Relinquishment] [Mindfulness]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s Tibetan doctor insists he needs more sleep. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Health care] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Ageing]
6. “What about a serious practitioner who refuses machines and procedures to extend life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Health care] [Suicide] [Aversion] // [Relinquishment]