Suffering (dukkha)
Suffering (dukkha)
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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] [Suffering] [Grief]
5. Quote: “He really didn’t give us a lot of room to feed or problems and our neuroses and our desires and our attachments....That was an extraordinary gift.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Teaching Dhamma] [Nutriment] [Suffering] [Delusion] [Ajahn Chah] [Craving] [Clinging] [Gratitude]
6. Ajahn Chah used the forest environment to train us. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/Natural environment] [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah] // [Pace of life]
Story: Two mating lizards fall out of a tree. [Almsround] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Animal] [Sensual desire] [Suffering]
8. Reading from the draft biography: Ajahn Chah’s dying father asks him to remain in robes for life. [Sickness] [Recollection/Death] [Parents] [Monastic life] [Ajahn Chah] [Determination] // [Learning] [Culture/Thailand] [Unattractiveness] [Forest versus city monks] [Sutta] [Sense of urgency]
Quote: “I dedicate my body and mind, my whole life, to the practice of the Lord Buddha’s teachings in their entirety. I will realize the truth in this lifetime … I will let go of everything and follow the teachings. No matter how much suffering and difficulty I have to endure I will persevere, otherwise there will be no end to my doubts. I will make this life as even and continuous as a single day and night. I will abandon attachments to mind and body and follow the Buddha’s teachings until I know their truth for myself.” — Ajahn Chah [Buddha] [Dhamma] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Knowledge and vision] [Truth] [Relinquishment] [Suffering]
Reflection: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 40 [Energy] [Doubt] [Continuity of mindfulness]
1. Teachings to Marjorie by Ajahn Chah, Part 2. Thai audio with English translation read by Kittisaro. [Thai audio] [Ajahn Chah] // [Dispassion] [Nibbāna] [Unconditioned] [Cessation of Suffering]
Continued from Part 1.
Reference: “Living with the Cobra,” Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 233.
Quote: “If the tears don’t come, we don’t really accept truth.” [Suffering] [Truth] [Wat Pah Pong]
Note: “Living with the Cobra” omits this quote and other more personal aspects of Ajahn Chah’s teaching to Marjorie.
1. Reflection by Ajahn Sumedho: From idealism to the way it is. [Idealism] [Equanimity] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Culture/Thailand] [Culture/West] [Suffering] [Delusion] [Aversion]
Story: A Thai monk’s perspective on worldly stupidity. [Military]
Quote: “Someone with that kind of pure presence is really a mirror.” [Personal presence] [Teaching Dhamma]
4. “His way of teaching was direct....He would use the essential teaching of the Buddha, the Four Noble Truths.” Recollection by Ajahn Sumedho. [Teaching Dhamma] [Four Noble Truths] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Human] [Culture/Thailand] [Ageing] [Sickness] [Death] [Spiritual traditions] [Self-identity view]
Quote: “It’s the suffering that awakens you.” — Ajahn Chah [Suffering] [Liberation]
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] [Suffering] [Cause of Suffering] [Culture/Natural environment] [Saṅgha] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Culture/West]
6. “It wasn’t just suffering that Luang Por [Chah] was pointing to, but also non-suffering.” Reflection by Ajahn Sumedho. [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Relinquishment] [Clinging] [Knowing itself]
1. Story: My experiences with Ajahn Chah. Told by Nan Meister. [Gratitude] [Faith] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Liem] [Suffering] [Commerce/economics] [Sense of urgency] [Joseph Kappel] [Bowing] [Wat Pah Pong] [Mae Chee Kumfah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Mae Chee] [Ghost] [Conceit] [Fierce/direct teaching]
5. Story: Ajahn Chah asks for forgiveness. Told by Gail Kappel. [Forgiveness] [Ceremony/ritual] [Ajahn Chah] // [Joseph Kappel] [Humility]
Quote: “If you cry a little bit, it’s good. If you cry a lot, you’re a fool.” — Ajahn Chah [Suffering]
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] [Family] [Clinging]
14. “When doubt is mentioned under the hindrances, is it mainly referring to doubt about the Buddha’s teachings? Are there other implications?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Doubt] [Hindrances] [Dhamma] // [Everyday life] [Mindfulness of mind] [Investigation of states] [Mindfulness of body] [Suffering] [Perfectionism]
10. “Would you share some of your personal journey, including the time before you became a monk, and why you became a monk, and how the holy life can help people grow and change?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Monastic life] // [Culture/West] [Travel] [Culture/Thailand]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno begins meditation with a month-long Mahasi Sayadaw retreat. [Meditation retreats] [Mahasi Sayadaw] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s first visit to Wat Pah Pong. [Ordination] [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Pah Pong]
Quote: “If you want to stay here, you have to stay at least five years.” — Ajahn Chah [Sequence of training]
Reflection: “Five years is five years. I’ll go back and give myself to Ajahn Chah.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Relinquishment] [Mentoring]
Quote: “There’s no such thing as the ideal monastic or the ideal practitioner.” [Idealism] [Lay life] [Faith] [Disrobing] [Suffering] [Energy] [Patience] [Long-term practice]
4. “Is it hopeless to send loving-kindness to Mara?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Goodwill] [Māra] // [Craving] [Suffering] [Kamma]
6. “What are the characteristics of personality? Are they conditioned by kamma and our family, culture, and nationality? How do I learn not to take mine as truth and real?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Personality] [Conditionality] [Kamma] [Family] [Cultural context] [Self-identity view] // [Suffering] [Characteristics of existence] [Humor]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah tended to translate anicca as uncertain or not sure. [Ajahn Chah] [Impermanence] [Translation] [Proliferation] [Direct experience]
16. “What could American culture learn from Thai culture?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand] // [P. A. Payutto] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Cultural context]
Quote: “Mai bpen rai.”
Quote: “‘If there was a culture that was steeped in Buddhism, that would really solve all the problems of the world.’ No it wouldn’t. There are still human beings there. They’ll create suffering wherever they go.” [Politics and society] [Human] [Suffering]
2. “Did you as a Westerner have any difficulties meeting Ajahn Chah either with Buddhism or with Thailand? How did it get resolved or did it get resolved?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/West] [Theravāda] [Culture/Thailand] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Ajahn Chah replies evasively when asked three straightforward questions to teach his translator (Ajahn Pasanno) a lesson. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Aversion] [Questions] [Simplicity] [Teaching Dhamma] [Food] [Suffering]
4. “When I’m mindful, then I become more aware of suffering. I could just go into story and not know that I’m suffering, so why would we choose to become aware of the suffering?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness] [Suffering] [Proliferation] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Clinging]
Quote: “The flavor of the end of suffering—I like that.”
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]
9. “I have an internal voice that’s concerned whether I’m doing it right; if I’m not doing it right, then I won’t get where I want to go. Is this delusion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eightfold Path] [Perfectionism] [Delusion] // [Suffering] [Fear] [Mindfulness of body] [Volitional formations]
1. “Could you expand about the layers of understanding of thought, perception, and dukkha?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Yatiko. [Discernment] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Perception] [Suffering] // [Proliferation] [Relinquishment]
Quote: “First you study the Dhamma, then you know the Dhamma, then you see the Dhamma, they you be the Dhamma.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma] [Progress of insight]
Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 631: The highest level of understanding is giving up.
2. Comment: Ajahn Chah said that Nibbāna is letting go, but this is difficult to do at deep levels. [Ajahn Chah] [Nibbāna] [Relinquishment] [Suffering]
Responses by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Yatiko. [Self-identity view] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
2. Comment: I’m looking at contemplating peace as opposed to grasping for peace as a result of aversion to dukkha. There’s not the same result. [Recollection/Peace] [Clinging] [Aversion] [Suffering]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Craving not to become] [Relinquishment] [Kamma]
6. Comment: The simile of the snake (MN 22) describes my practice. I’ve been bitten quite a lot. [Similes] [Gradual Teaching]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Yatiko. [Suffering] [Humility]
5. “In regards to the simile of the path to Rājagaha (MN 107), could you describe classic mistakes made by sincere beginning, intermediate and advanced practitioners?” Answered by Ajahn Yatiko and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Similes] [Gradual Teaching] // [Faith] [Doubt] [Truth] [Virtue] [Liberation] [Conditionality] [Christianity] [Suffering]
8. “How do we know when to ask for directions on the path as opposed to just continuing farther? What would we ask?” Answered by Ajahn Yatiko. [Questions] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Gradual Teaching] // [Suffering] [Discernment] [Conditionality] [Faith]
Sutta: SN 12.23: Suffering is the cause of faith. [Suffering]
Follow-up: “What about when things are pleasant, but we’re not headed in the right direction?” [Happiness] [Suffering] [Mindfulness] [Deva] [Relinquishment]
Sutta: MN 75: Simile of the leper. [Similes]
Sutta: SN 56.35: Stream entry after 100 years. [Stream entry] [Four Noble Truths]
9. “Can you speak more about the impermance of goodness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Impermanence] [Virtue] [Gradual Teaching] // [Conditionality] [Happiness] [Compassion] [Fear] [Suffering] [Clinging]
Sutta: AN 8.39: Five great gifts which give freedom from fear. [Generosity] [Five Precepts]
Quote: “The basis of Right View is knowing that this cup is a broken glass.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Right View]
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]
4. Comment about the motivations of trying to fix the world versus compassion. Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Idealism] [Compassion] [Suffering]
1. “You spoke about recognizing that when the mind goes off into busyness that there’s not just that particular quality. Could you talk more about this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Tranquility] [Proliferation] // [Appropriate attention] [Impermanence] [Knowing itself] [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Chah] [Clinging] [Suffering]
9. “What attitude should we take when observing things so we don’t objectify them or make it stressful?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Perception] [Knowing itself] [Appropriate attention] [Suffering] [Tranquility] [Proliferation] // [Direct experience]
8. “Dear Ajahn Pasanno, Thank you for all the guidance and encouragement. The past months have been very busy...I am now noticing lots of patterns of tension in my body which make the breath an unpleasant object to stay with. Any advice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Suffering]
2. “What do you think about the idea of secular Buddhism? Earlier you spoke about bhāvanā versus meditation, that meditation is not a useful translation [of bhāvanā]. Do you think secular Buddhism is useful or not?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Secular Buddhism] [Meditation] // [Human] [Suffering] [Cultural context] [Buddhist identity] [Culture/West] [Learning]
Quote: “Anything is useful if it’s picking up the actual teachings of the Buddha and applying [them] in a skillful way.” [Eightfold Path] [Skillful qualities]
6. “I find I do need some pleasures even thought they don’t last, things like fine arts and being in nature. I’m curious, how did you manage as a monk in your early years at Ajahn Chah’s monastery where there’s almost no pleasure....How did you manage to keep going over the years until the present?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sensual desire] [Artistic expression] [Culture/Natural environment] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Ajahn Chah] [Food] [Entertainment and adornment] [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Happiness] [Simplicity] [Association with people of integrity] [Empathetic joy] [Human] [Hindrances] [Jhāna] [Virtue] [Discernment]
Quote: “One of the extraordinary perks of being a monk is that everyone tries to be good around you.”
Sutta: MN 36.32: “Why am I afraid of that happiness?” [Buddha/Biography] [Ascetic practices] [Suffering] [Skillful qualities] [Eightfold Path]
Quote: “As a monk, I can look back on forty years of living in a way where I don’t have to feel remorseful or regret anything.”
1. “I was struck by the simile of the stone being heavy, but you won’t know it’s heavy unless you pick it up, and it’s just like suffering. You don’t have to pick it up. I’m battling a loss in my life, and I’m suffering. I didn’t pick up the stone. It was flung at me. I’m not sure how to deal....” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Similes] [Ajahn Chah] [Suffering] [Grief] [Christianity] // [Human] [Naturalness] [Equanimity] [Self-identity view] [Goodwill] [Discernment]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 55: Five Recollections [Characteristics of existence] [Recollection/Death] [Kamma]
Quote: “Whenever you get into a fight with nature, you always lose.”
Quote: “What makes it heavy is the ‘me’ bit.” [Suffering]
2. “You said in the chanting, ‘I am the heir to my kamma.’ Gam in Thai is what we cultivate in body, speech and mind. In the Thai concept, we also have jao gam nai ren. Can Ajahn help me sort this out?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Kamma] [Culture/Thailand] [Nature of the cosmos] // [Suffering] [Health care] [Birth]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 55: Five Recollections
Follow-up: “My mother is dying at age 88. She had a plane accident 20 years ago and has been completely immobile....In Thai we say, jao gam nai ren must have been chasing after her.” [Family] [Sickness] [Death]
5. “When is it useful to determine to stick with a single practice, even when it doesn’t seem to work, instead of exploring other options?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/General advice] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Pain] // [Suffering] [Right Effort] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Mindfulness of mind] [Discernment] [Direct experience] [Self-identity view]
3. “Was Ajahn Ñāṇadhammo’s experience of being pushed unusual for Western monks?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Ñāṇadhammo] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Culture/West] [Ardency] [Ajahn Chah] [Suffering]
Jack Kornfield’s recollections of Ajahn Chah at Insight Meditation Society. Recounted by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Insight Meditation Society] [Meditation retreats]
1. “I am curious about ways to know if one is lying to oneself and what to do?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Truth] [Delusion] // [Suffering] [Discernment] [Bases of Success]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah said the fastest way to enlightenment is to look directly at the mind, point your finger, and say “Liar!” [Ajahn Chah] [Liberation] [Proliferation]
10. Comment: So the ability to hold the meditation object, go through your daily routines, keep an eye on the mind tone, and watch the stress flavor of all arising phenomenon seems like a fairly advanced practice state to arrive at and maintain twenty-four hours a day. [Continuity of mindfulness] [Everyday life] [Mindfulness of mind] [Suffering]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno: It’s a great option if you don’t want to suffer. [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Happiness]
15. “When the habit pattern of defilement is so strong, and even with the mind seeing the suffering, still the mind says, “I’m not going to give that up,” do you have any suggestions for softening that, for working with that?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Habits] [Unwholesome Roots] [Clinging]
Response: “No, just keep suffering.” [Suffering]
17. “You were talking about the positive aspect of relinquishment, and that’s what will motivate giving up, that positive aspect of giving up and letting go. When it’s painful giving up and you give up, you can say, ‘Wait, I’m just focusing on the negative aspect of giving up, I need to switch my mind to the benefits of relinquishment?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Relinquishment] [Suffering] [Appropriate attention] // [Self-identity view] [Clinging] [Humor] [Humility]
11. “Ajahn Chah distinguished between the peaceful mind and the mind that has appeased the kilesas. But when the kilesas are present, is it useful to be peaceful about them?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Concentration] [Unwholesome Roots] [Tranquility] // [Suffering] [Delusion]
4. “Could you say more about the positive causal process that is the opposite of paticcasamuppada?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Dependent origination] [Conditionality] [Mindfulness] // [Skillful qualities] [Right Mindfulness] [Factors of Awakening]
Sutta: SN 12.23 Upanisa: Dukkha is a cause for faith. [Suffering] [Faith]
Sutta: AN 10.61 Avijjā: The Five Hindrances are a cause for ignorance. [Hindrances] [Ignorance]
5. “When I look at neutral objects, dullness often arises. Is this suffering?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Feeling] [Contact] [Sloth and torpor] [Unskillful qualities] [Suffering] // [Craving not to become] [Delusion] [Ignorance] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension]
Comment by Ajahn Jotipālo: Lack of desire is not enlightenment. [Desire] [Liberation]
4. “What is the distinction Chao Khun Upāli makes between lokuttara discernment and higher discernment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Chao Khun Upāli] [Discernment] [Impermanence] [Aggregates] [Suffering] [Cause of Suffering] // [Commentaries] [Ajahn Chah] [Study monks]
3. Reflection by Ajahn Ñāṇiko on Ajahn Buddhadāsa’s use of analogies. [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Similes] [Suffering]
2. “The citta is sometimes defined as pure awareness, and it being in the fourth khanda, but it sounds like here he’s talking about the activity of awareness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Heart/mind] [Knowing itself] [Volitional formations] // [Rebirth]
Quote: “There is that which is beyond birth and death. And then you start asking, ‘Well, what is it and how is it? How should it be?’ It’s just the same as in the Sabbāsava Sutta (MN 2.7)...As soon as you get into conceiving, you’ve already started the process of dukkha.” [Unconditioned] [Proliferation] [Conceit] [Suffering]
Follow-up: “So is it better to hear what he said and let it go when I notice awareness that’s good, but I don’t have to make anything out of it?”
Quote: “The investigation is not a conceiving. The best investigation is when the mind is exceedingly still and not conceiving, not creating concepts.” [Discernment] [Concentration]
Follow-up: “So is it a realizing, not a conceiving?” [Knowledge and vision] [Suffering]
3. “If you keep chipping away at a theme of contemplation, you keep doing it, doing it, and nothing is changing in your experience, at some stage you feel this isn’t working, do you just have to move on and try something else? Is it the case that you just have to try them all? No-one can tell you which is going to work for you?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Depression] [Recollection] // [Patience] [Spiritual friendship]
Story: Ajahn Wanchai has a spinal injury and is in chronic pain but doesn’t refer to himself. Told by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Ajahn Wanchai] [Suffering] [Sickness] [Pain] [Conceit]
2. “All Dhammas are not to be clung to.” Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno. [Clinging] [Relinquishment] // [Cessation] [Meditation/Techniques] [Right View] [Upasikā Kee Nanayon] [Suffering]
Sutta: MN 37 Cūḷataṇhāsaṅkhaya Sutta
5. “In my desire to get to the “heart of it” I find part of my mind really wants this, but another part of my mind is not going along with the program. How do I keep myself on the Path?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Desire] [Simplicity] [Volition] // [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Impermanence] [Cessation] [Upasikā Kee Nanayon]
Follow-up: “The experience of arising and disbanding isn’t yet practical for me. I need something more operational.” [Tranquility]
Simile: Making a fire flare up or die down (SN 46.53). — Ajahn Pasanno. [Factors of Awakening] [Energy] [Mindfulness]
21. “Can you dedicate merit to someone who is approaching death?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Merit] [Death]
Story: Ajahn Paññānanda speaks out against superstition but tells the story of a shipwrecked sailor who benefited from dedication of merit. [Ajahn Paññānanda] [Superstition] [Suffering]
9. “Regarding thought fabrications, in daily life we have to focus on our work. How can we intergrate the principles of anatta and dukkha into daily life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volitional formations] [Everyday life] [Work] [Not-self] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Suffering] // [Right Livelihood] [Restlessness and worry] [Energy] [Impermanence] [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment]
11. “How is there clinging to personality?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Clinging] [Personality] [Self-identity view] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Suffering] [Great disciples]
Sutta: The Buddha to Ānanda: “When did Anuruddha ever take an interest in Saṅgha issues?” – AN 4.243: Schism [Saṅgha decision making]
21. “How do you not objectify this awareness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Knowing itself] [Mindfulness] [Proliferation] // [Four Noble Truths] [Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Investigation of states]
Quote: “If you objectify awareness, you’re going to suffer.” [Nature of mind] [Suffering]
Quote: “These Four Noble Truths are not an endpoint, they are something that you’re internalizing and using in your meditation practice and in your daily life.” [Meditation] [Everyday life]
23. “Is the peaceful mind your home?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nature of mind] [Tranquility] // [Proliferation] [Suffering]
29. “The Buddha teaches to end suffering, but from the ordinary person’s view, cultivating the practices of forest monks is also suffering. Who is right?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha] [Suffering] [Ascetic practices] // [Four Noble Truths] [Faith] [Investigation of states] [Happiness] [Feeling]
Quote: “The teaching of the Buddha isn’t about language....The teaching of the Buddha is the language of experience.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Language] [Dhamma] [Direct experience]
4. “Thank you for your talk on mindfulness today—very helpful. I’ve been practicing for a long time (and have even had a few insights that made big impressions on me) and while my sila has definitely improved, my mindfulness is a priority and I might have a tad more wisdom, my mind looks for ways to suffer. Sometimes I feel like a total failure as a Buddhist. I understand that letting go of identity view is the answer, but how? What am I missing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Long-term practice] [Suffering] [Self-identity view]
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]
5. “As I understand it, it is rare and fortunate to have a human birth because of the amount of suffering in the human realm that may lead one to practice to end suffering. On the other hand, devas have less suffering. Therefore they would be less motivated to practice to end suffering, correct? If so, would it not be better for one to wish oneself and others to be reborn in the human realm if one aspires full liberation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Human] [Deva] [Rebirth] [Liberation] [Suffering]
10. “Thank you so very much for your very compassionate, clear, and useful teachings. Can you please talk a little bit about dependent origination so that we may put an end to the causes of suffering? Thank you again for your compassionate teachings and humor. We appreciate you and the rest of the Sangha!” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gratitude] [Dependent origination] [Cessation of Suffering] // [Conditionality]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno writes a term paper on dependent origination at university. [Ajahn Pasanno]
Quote: “When you’re falling down from a tree, you don’t have to count the branches. You just have to know that when you hit the bottom, it’s going to hurt.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Suffering]
9. “Is my understanding of the first noble truth correct in that it doesn’t deny enjoying things in life, but point to their temporary nature and underlying unsatisfaction once enjoyment ceases? Can I be a Buddhist and still enjoy my chocolate? Sincerely, chocolate lover.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Sensual desire] [Impermanence] [Suffering] [Food]
7. “Ajahn Ñāniko and Tan Kassapo: “Why be a monk?” Sadhu, sadhu, sadhu.” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko and Ajahn Kassapo. [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Suffering]
8. “A question for all the bhikkhus: Can you please recall a time when you were intensely attacked by the armies of Mara and had a lot of suffering and what did you do to overcome it? What strategy did you use or whether nothing worked at all and you just had to be patient with it and accept it? Thank you for your teaching.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Māra] [Suffering] [Patience]
3. “How do you practice with painful feeling?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pain] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Suffering] // [Emotion] [Blame and praise] [Happiness] [Proliferation]
Sutta: SN 36.6: Sallatha Sutta, The Arrow.
1. “Does AN 4.94 undercut the whole debate about whether to practice insight meditation or samādhi first?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation] [Calming meditation] // [Views] [Buddha] [Suffering] [Human]
Quote: “Just work with what you’ve got and try to free the mind. It’s pretty straightforward.” [Liberation]
2. “Are people experiencing jhāna in different ways?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Jhāna] // [Views] [Ajahn Chah] [Tranquility] [Self-identity view] [Suffering] [Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo]
1. “Could you explain the simile of the embers in regards to sensuality?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Similes] [Pain] [Sensual desire] // [Concentration] [Liberation]
Sutta: SN 36.6: The Dart. An undeveloped person knows no escape from dukkha other than sensual pleasure. [Suffering]
3. Examples of unworldly, unpleasant feelings? Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Feeling] [Suffering] [Skillful qualities] // [Sense restraint]
Sutta: MN 44: Cūḷavedalla Sutta.
7. Discussion about neutral feeling and delusion. Led by Beth Steff, Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Neutral feeling] [Delusion] [Suffering] // [Happiness]
1. Comparison of causality in MN 18 and dependent origination. Teaching by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Conditionality] [Dependent origination] [Proliferation] [Perception] // [Similes] [Suffering]
11. “Can tudong be understood as a metaphor for practice? When we carry a lot of heavyweight stuff for a long time, we get tired and need to drop something.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Symbolism] [Clinging] [Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Tudong]
5. Comment: The question that occured to me was “If I take this as myself, where does it lead me?” [Discernment] [Not-self]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] [Self-identity view]
6. “I’ve heard the teaching that if you watch your kilesas in samādhi, they tend to subside. Sometimes you watch your sakkāya-diṭṭhi and it’s not going away. What to do?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unskillful qualities] [Mindfulness] [Concentration] [Cessation] [Not-self] [Self-identity view] // [Impermanence] [Suffering]
7. “Why go through all the trouble to teach us how to not have a self and then refuse to tell us there is no self?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Teaching Dhamma] [Middle Path] [Not-self] // [Relinquishment] [Suffering] [Questions] [Aggregates] [Sense bases]
12. “The Buddha asks us to look at the things we identify with as self and notice they are not who we are. But if there’s nothing else but those things, there is no self, right?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha] [Middle Path] [Not-self] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Learning] [Liberation] [Suffering]
Follow-up: “Isn’t there then an implication that there is something else that could be self?” [Views]
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]
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]
8. “Do you think it’s enough to just be aware of the suffering that’s caused by the clinging to self?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] [Clinging] [Self-identity view] [Dispassion] [Not-self] // [Characteristics of existence] [Cessation] [Ignorance] [Knowledge and vision] [Release] [Proliferation]
Quote: “The most efficacious investigation comes from a still mind.” [Concentration] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation]
1. “Was the Buddha’s life so miserable that he kept thinking about all these ideas? Where did his motivation come from?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography] [Suffering] [Desire] [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Western psychology] [Rebirth] [Spiritual search]
10. “Any advice for cures for burnout? I’m in a helping profession and feel depleted and exhausted. I need help getting the balance between giving and receiving.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Depression] [Work] [Health] [Generosity] [Compassion] // [Culture/West] [Idealism] [Commentaries] [Selfishness]
Quote: “Compassion in the English language means ‘to suffer with.’ If you end up suffering with too much, you end up burnt out.” [Language] [Suffering]
Quote: “Don’t think you’re a ten-wheeled dump truck when all you are is a wheelbarrow.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah]
Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 291: Classical cultivation of goodwill and compassion, first to yourself. [Goodwill]
Quote: “Our ability to be with others and to help and to give is dependent on our being kind and compassionate to ourselves.” [Spiritual friendship] [Self-reliance]
3. “A lot of my life has been based on guilt, punishment, achievement, feeling driven, and perfectionism. Recently I experienced the reverse of this. Perfectionism is mixed up with wholesome desire. Could you respond?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Judgementalism] [Idealism] [Desire] [Contentment] // [Discernment] [Self-identity view] [Human]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno can’t translate the question ‘How do I work with guilt?’ into Thai. [Ajahn Paññānanda] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Language] [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand] [Suffering]
17. “What is the right point to drop or ignore the desire to identify with the Buddhist identity?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Relinquishment] [Desire] [Self-identity view] [Buddhist identity] // [Suffering] [Perfectionism] [Clear comprehension] [Conventions] [Ajahn Chah] [Right Effort]
19. Comment by Ajahn Ñāṇiko: I keep coming back to true principle–what are we doing it all for? [Dhamma] [Killing] [Right Intention] [Buddhist identity]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Attachment to rites and rituals] [Suffering] [Happiness] [Skillful qualities]
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]
4. “Before the Buddha practiced the ascetic way, he already learned the seventh and eighth levels of jhāna. Why didn’t that lead to his awakening?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography] [Formless attainments] [Liberation] [Jhāna] // [Right Concentration] [Right View] [Suffering] [Middle Path] [Characteristics of existence]
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. [Gladdening the mind] [Suffering]
13. “I was a little confused this morning about the nutriments. I’m assuming the nutriments nourish our suffering. What are the nutriments? How would consciousness and mental volition differ in feeding dukkha?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nutriment] [Consciousness] [Volition] [Suffering]
13. “For decades, I believed the suffering was the food itself–that cake, that pastry, more food, another bowlful. But now I understand dukkha is not “the thing.” It is the overwhelming craving, the feeling itself. And now that the dukkha is understood, how do I tolerate that feeling?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Food] [Suffering] [Craving] [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Patience]
4. “In the West, we personalize every bit of suffering. Is it different in Thailand?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Culture/West] [Suffering] [Self-identity view] [Culture/Thailand] // [Language] [Liberation]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno can’t translate guilt into Thai. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Thai] [Translation]
Quote: “That’s really suffering. Tell them not to do that.” — Ajahn Paññānanda [Ajahn Paññānanda] [Suffering]
Reference: Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast (commercial). [Ageing] [Sickness] [Parents] [Health care]
9. “I like the translations ‘conscience’ aand ‘concern’ for hiri and otappa. Having done unskillful actions in the past that create suffering, and being aware of the tendency to personalize, how can it be over and done?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Treasures] [Conscience and prudence] [Unskillful qualities] [Suffering] [Kamma] [Self-identity view] // [Four Noble Truths] [Divine Abidings]
Quote: “As a human being, I have the opportunity to learn from the past and move on to skillful action in the future. I don’t have to be like a dog that barfs stuff up and goes back and eats it again.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Human] [Learning] [Skillful qualities] [Similes]
Quote: “The not-self refrain, ‘This is not me, this is not mine, this is not what or who I am,’ is not an abdication of responsibility but an understanding, ‘This is the way I can put things down and move on, move past the things that are still creating suffering.’” — Ajahn Pasanno [Not-self] [Relinquishment] [Suffering]
Suttas: SN 42.8 The Conch Blower; AN 3.100: A Lump of Salt.
12. Comments about ongoing Dhamma practice and coming back to the heart. [Long-term practice] [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Ill-will] [Forgiveness] [Mindfulness of mind]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Merit]
Quote: “We’re making choices all the time anyway; we may as well choose to be happy.” [Volitional formations] [Happiness]
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. [Health] [Suffering]
4. “I am so grateful for your generous teachings. I am training my mind and am so glad for the dhamma in my life. However, I am experiencing migraine attacks almost daily, and therefore therefore a lot of uncertainty and dukkha. “Will I be able to function today?” “How bad will it be?” “Will I throw up?” “Which medicine will be the most beneficial today?” “Which side effects can I deal with today?” Working with my mind under these conditions is challenging, but I am up for the challenge, at least some of the time. I could use some encouragement, please.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Generosity] [Health] [Suffering]
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]
6. “Sometimes I get very worried and keep thinking about something and get tired and stressed out. Is this what the Buddha meant by ‘a day and a night’ [in MN 19.8]?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Restlessness and worry] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Unskillful qualities] [Suffering] [Similes] [Heedfulness]
4. “When you go into your body to feel the underlying emotion behnd a thought, what happens when the bodily feeling is so uncomfortable taht 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.” [Suffering] [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Visualization] [Goodwill] [Compassion]
7. Comment: One time I really to the edge of all kinds of sadness and my mind came up with [audio unclear] and Three Refuges in a way that seemed very useful for me. [Depression] [Three Refuges] // [Mantra] [Determination] [Suffering]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Skillful qualities]
4. Comment: Our group talked about our suffering, the kind of thoughts that we’re laboring under, the nature of obsessive and addictive thoughts, and how these teachings might help us choose freedom. [Suffering] [Addiction] [Liberation] [Directed thought and evaluation]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of body] [Four Noble Truths]
6. Comment: I’ve been reflecting on freedom from as opposed to freedom within. Sometimes there’s a secret hope that those thoughts will go away, vibhava-taṇha, as opposed to freedom within, meaning releasing the identification with painful thoughts. [Craving not to become] [Self-identity view] [Release] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Hindrances]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering]
Quote: “Just that much.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Disenchantment]
9. Comment: It’s so hard not to identify with the contents of the mind, to not make it me and mine. Realizing how useless so many of my thoughts are helps. [Self-identity view] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Suffering] [Disenchantment] [Directed thought and evaluation]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness] [Pāli]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Not-self] [Humility]