Lunar observance days (uposatha)
Lunar observance days (uposatha)
3. Quote: “Ajahn Chah was a wonderful teacher, but more important, he was a trainer. He trained people how to live.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Teaching Dhamma] [Monastic life] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Māghā Pūjā at Wat Pah Pong. [Festival days] [Lunar observance days] [Wat Pah Pong] [Meditation] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Lay life] [Saṅgha]
4. Story: Thousands of people receive Ajahn Chah upon his return from England. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gratitude] [Ajahn Chah] // [Almsround] [Lay life]
The sea of faith in Northeast Thailand. [Faith] [Culture/Thailand] [Poverty] [Culture/Natural environment] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Self-reliance] [Patience] [Teaching Dhamma] [Suffering]
In Central Thailand, lay people don’t come to the monastery on observance days. [Lunar observance days] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Tudong]
Story: A direct teaching to a man whose wife had died. [Fierce/direct teaching] [Death] [Grief]
5. Story: “Sumedho, Wat Pah Pong, is it suffering?” Told by Ajahn Sumedho. [Wat Pah Pong] [Suffering] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Lunar observance days] [Work] [Monastic crafts] [Aversion] [Cleanliness]
Quote: “To want something that’s not present, something you don’t have, is suffering.” [Craving] [Cause of Suffering] [Culture/Natural environment] [Saṅgha] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Culture/West]
2. “When you and other Western seekers went to Thailand [and returned to teach], are the teachings of lay and monastic disciples of Ajahn Chah the same or different? How can we as laypeople relate to the teachings and tradition of the monastic establishment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah lineage] [Lay teachers] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Ajahn Chah] // [History/Thai Buddhism] [Military] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Virtue] [Right View]
Story: Abhayagiri’s bell is an American bomb casing. [Abhayagiri]
Diligent lay meditators attend Wat Pah Pong’s all-night vigil on the lunar observance days. Recollection by Ajahn Pasanno. [Lay life] [Ardency] [Wat Pah Pong] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Lunar observance days]
29. Story: The head of Lalanka Water invites monks to stay above his office and teach the employees. Told by Ajahn Yatiko. [Work] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Teaching Dhamma] [Right Livelihood] // [Lunar observance days] [Eight Precepts] [Meditation] [Dhamma discussion] [Respect]
Story: The ultra-competent assistant who wants to ordain. [Monastic life/Motivation]
Story: The king’s assistant who dives into the water to get 20 pounds of gold (DN 17).
2. Reading: “About the Author” from Simply So by Ajahn Sim. [Ajahn Sim] // [Ajahn Mun] [Geography/Thailand] [Posture/Sitting]
Story: Ajahn Pabhakaro asks the Bung Wai villagers to sit full lotus. [Joseph Kappel] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Lunar observance days]
4. “Does the current interest in meditation in Thailand extend to the villages around forest monasteries as well as urban areas?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/Thailand] [Meditation] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Pong] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Lunar observance days] [Festival days]
4. “Why did Jīvaka ask whether a virtuous lay follower is practicing for themselves or others (AN 8.26)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Great disciples] [Lay life] [Virtue] [Compassion] [Buddhist identity] // [Culture/India] [Lunar observance days] [Teaching Dhamma]
Vinaya: Kd 2.1.1: Origin of Lunar Observance Days. [Lunar observance days]
6. Story: Ajahn Pasanno visits the elderly Cambodian monk Mahāgossānanda who has Alzheimer’s disease. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Preah Mahāghosānanda] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Sickness] // [Dalai Lama] [Divine Abidings] [Ajahn Chah] [Heart/mind]
Quote: “That thing you learn in meditation—that you don’t lose.” — Ajahn Fuang [Ajahn Fuang] [Meditation] [Liberation]
Story: A monk known for psychic powers visits Ajahn Chah’s sick room and reports: “You don’t have to worry about Ajahn Chah. His heart is so bright.” [Psychic powers] [Dependent origination] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Lunar observance days]
7. A diligent early support of Wat Pah Nanachat reflects, “I don’t have money, but I’m not poor.” [Treasures] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Wat Pah Pong] [Lay life] [Poverty] // [Lunar observance days] [Thai]
6. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 588-591: “Observance Day” [Lunar observance days] [Ajahn Chah] // [Abhayagiri] [Eight Precepts]
7. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 647-648 “Por Am” [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]
5. “Can you say more about recollection of renunciation? How can this be used skillfully or not?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Recollection/Generosity] [Renunciation] [Recollection] // [Contentment] [Self-pity] [Sickness] [Equanimity] [Buddha/Biography] [Fasting] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Lunar observance days] [Abhayagiri]
Recollection: Going without in the early days of Abhayagiri Monastery. [Almsfood]
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]
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]