Perception (saññā)
Parent topic: Aggregates
28 excerpts, 2:16:10 total duration

All excerpts (30) Questions about (15) Answers involving (9) Stories (1) Quotes (2) References (1)

Metta Retreat, Session 1 – Sep. 9, 2008

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4. “As a guilt-ridden American, how do you respond to personal mistakes without guilt?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Culture/West] [Great disciples] // [Saṅgha] [Conscience and prudence] [Pāli] [Skillful qualities] [Self-identity view] [Respect] [Perception] [Virtue] [Buddha]

Story: A monk falsely accuses Sāriputta (AN 9.11). [Forgiveness]


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

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4. “Can the practice be used in a punitative or punishing way?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] // [Culture/West] [Habits] [Clear comprehension] [Craving not to become]

Quote: “Having a human mind...it’s amazing how perverse it can be sometimes.” [Human] [Unwholesome Roots]

Story: Ajahn Pasanno can’t translate guilt into Thai. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Translation] [Culture/Thailand] [Suffering]

Quote: “All you need to do is create a cage of mindfulness around [unskillful habits].” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Sense restraint] [Mindfulness] [Unskillful qualities] [Similes]

Follow-up: “What about letting the tiger go instead of keeping it in a cage?”

Follow-up: “What about the case when one feels one is the tiger trapped in a metaphorical cage. How to escape?” [Liberation] [Perception] [Self-identity view] [Spiritual friendship]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 14 – Jan. 23, 2015

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2. “How can one be mindful of the beginning of thought?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Kaccāna and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Mindfulness] [Right Mindfulness] // [Appropriate attention] [Perception] [Proliferation]

Comments about observing proliferating thoughts. [Conditionality] [Right Effort] [Restlessness and worry] [Mindfulness of mind]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Feeling] [Perception]

Sutta: MN 118 Ānāpānasati Sutta.


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4. “Could you clarify “the body in the body?”” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of body] [Right Mindfulness] // [Translation] [Pāli] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Direct experience] [Self-identity view]

References: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 91; Right Mindfulness by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro. [Elements] [Proliferation] [Perception]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 22 – Feb. 2, 2015

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4. “What does “know the mind as mind; know feeling as feeling” mean?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Mindfulness] [Relinquishment] // [Proliferation]

Comment: Self-view forms around the feeling from sense contact. [Sense bases] [Contact] [Feeling] [Self-identity view]

Sutta: MN 18: Madhupiṇḍika Sutta, The Honeyball.

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volitional formations] [Perception]

Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta. [Mindfulness of breathing]


Two Kinds of Thought and the Removal of Distracting Thoughts, Session 3 – Jun. 4, 2017

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7. “Do thoughts by themselves have karmic consequences?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Kamma] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Perception] [Feeling] [Volition] [Self-identity view]

Sutta: MN 56: Upāli

Follow-up: “Is it good kamma to decide not to act on an unskillful thought?” [Skillful qualities]

Story: A person talks with Ajahn Liem, analyzing their consistently bad thoughts and obsessions. He replies, “If you see a pile of excrement, why would you want to stick your nose in it?” Told by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ajahn Liem] [Unskillful qualities] [Similes] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Culture/Thailand] [Thai Forest Tradition]

Comment: I think my problem is that my nose is already in there, and I don’t want to realize that I’m so stupid that it’s hard to get it out. [Delusion]


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

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11. Comment: I’m improving my skill at seeing the greed or aversion when there are pleasant or unpleasant feelings, but I often don’t see the neutral feeling state so clearly. [Mindfulness of feeling] [Feeling] [Unwholesome Roots] [Neutral feeling] [Delusion] // [Mindfulness of body] [Restlessness and worry] [Fear] [Present moment awareness]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno.

Quote: “That whereby one is a conceiver of the world, a perceiver of the world, that is the world.” — SN 35.116 [Nature of the cosmos] [Proliferation] [Perception]


Stanford Community Dhamma Discussion – Apr. 25, 2020

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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]


Abhayagiri Kaṭhina 2021, Session 1 – Nov. 3, 2021

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1. “The reflection on kamma (Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 55) uses language related to family: ‘born,’ ‘heir,’ ‘related’, ‘supported.’ What are the implications of this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Kamma] [Family] [Language] // [Community] [Perception]