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1. “How can those just entering monastic life lay a good foundation?” [Monastic life] // [Vinaya] [Right View] [Ajahn Chah] [Virtue] [Stream entry] [Four Noble Truths] [Kamma] [Generosity] [Greed] [Communal harmony] [Happiness] [Gratitude]
Sutta: SN 55.1: Sīla of a stream enterer
Sutta: MN 117: The Great Forty
2. “Would you be willing to speak on the importance of having faith in rebirth?” [Faith] [Rebirth] // [Culture/West] [Right View] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno]
Sutta: MN 117: Definition of right view
3. Comment: It sounds like teachings about rebirth and teachers speaking about their experience of rebirth are out there. Whether people pick it up or not, you leave it up to them. [Rebirth] [Teaching Dhamma] [Monastic life]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] [Faith]
4. “At the beginning of this retreat, Tan Ajahn Anan advised us, “Don’t forget Nibbāna.” How do we orient ourselves towards Nibbāna?” [Nibbāna] [Ajahn Anan] [Monastic life] // [Dispassion] [Cessation of Suffering] [Etymology] [Stream entry]
Sutta: AN 10.60: Girimānanda Sutta [Cessation]
Sutta: SN 56.11: “Whatever is of the nature to arise, that is of the nature to cease.” [Conditionality]
Quote: “[The goal] is incredibly worthy, and it is not beyound our capability and means to experience.” [Direct experience]
5. “I was reading the book Hooked about desire, consumerism, and society. The author writes about the desire to know things. How does the desire to know relate to practice?” [Desire] [Monastic life] // [Cause of Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Bases of Success] [Sensual desire] [Craving]
Sutta: SN 51.15: The path has an end. [Great disciples]
6. “Do the Four Iddhipādas apply to the way we develop sammā sati and sammā samādhi?” [Bases of Success] [Right Mindfulness] [Right Concentration] [Monastic life] // [Progress of insight]
7. “So you’ve asked all your questions?” [Questions] [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life]
1. Quote: “One of the main characteristics of Luang Por Chah was his loving kindness and compassion.” — Ajahn Liem [Ajahn Liem] [Ajahn Chah] [Goodwill] [Compassion] // [Personal presence] [Equanimity]
1. Reflections on the origins of Ajahn Chah and his teachings. [Culture/Thailand] [Geography/Thailand] [Ajahn Chah] // [Thai Forest Tradition] [Poverty] [Human]
2. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 40-41: Ajahn Chah’s father’s dying request [Parents] [Death] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Ajahn Chah] // [Culture/Thailand] [Meditation]
3. Reflection: Establishing relations with family and friends in Dhamma. [Family] [Spiritual friendship] [Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah would sometimes allow Westerners to ordain without their parent’s permission. [Ordination] [Parents] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
4. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 582: “Out of Compassion” [Compassion] [Ajahn Chah] // [Gratitude] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Teaching Dhamma] [Family]
5. “Are there criteria you need to fulfill before the Saṅga will let you form your own monastery?” [Saṅgha decision making] [Sequence of training] [Monasteries] [Ajahn Chah] // [History/Thai Buddhism] [Teaching Dhamma]
Quote: “You don’t have to worry about that, Dad. Thai Buddhism isn’t organized.” — Ajahn Siripañño [Culture/Thailand]
6. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 588-591: “Observance Day” [Lunar observance days] [Ajahn Chah] // [Abhayagiri] [Eight Precepts]
8. “Kataññu-katavedi refers to receiving kindness and the recognition of the gift of kindness. How are w to understand cultivating the intention to offer kindness to others?” [Gratitude] [Compassion] [Generosity] [Ajahn Chah] // [Happiness] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Aversion] [Contact] [Spaciousness] [Direct experience]
Story: Villagers ask Ajahn Chah how he can teach Westerners when they don’t speak Thai. [Culture/West] [Language]
Quote: “Dhamma is the language of experience.” — Ajahn Chah [Dhamma]
9. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 612-614 “Faith in the Triple Gem” [Faith] [Three Refuges] [Ajahn Chah] // [Buddha] [Dhamma] [Truth] [Teaching Dhamma] [Lay life] [Recollection/Dhamma]
Simile: Digging a well — Ajahn Chah. [Right Effort] [Liberation]
10. “Did you mention what the trancendent truth of the Saṅgha was?” [Saṅgha] [Truth] [Three Refuges] // [Eightfold Path] [Stages of awakening] [Conventions] [Chanting] [Recollection/Saṅgha]
11. “Is refining the Five Precepts sufficient for lay practice to be transformative?” [Five Precepts] [Lay life] [Ajahn Chah] // [Vinaya] [Mindfulness] [Right Intention] [Relinquishment] [Compassion] [Truth]
12. “What can you offer dying people who didn’t have the opportunity to engage in Buddhist practice?” [Death] [Compassion] // [Listening] [Patience] [Tranquility] [Equanimity] [Fear] [Right Speech] [Chanting]
13. “Can you talk about evolution and growth in regards to the precepts as opposed to just following rules?” [Five Precepts] [Precepts] [Attachment to rites and rituals] // [Pāli] [Etymology] [Learning] [Suffering] [Doubt] [Self-identity view]
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?” [Happiness] [Desire] [Fear] [Impermanence] // [Suffering] [Learning] [Relinquishment]
15. “What qualifies as helping a parent make progress on the path?” [Parents] [Gratitude] [Eightfold Path] // [Learning] [Happiness] [Contentment] [Teaching Dhamma]
16. “Can you speak about regret?” [Conscience and prudence] [Restlessness and worry] // [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Determination] [Skillful qualities] [Culture/West] [Kamma] [Goodwill]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno can’t translate guilt into Thai. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Thai] [Suffering]
17. “Is there a special way to develop lovingkindness?” [Goodwill] // [Heart/mind] [Forgiveness] [Mindfulness of feeling]
1. Quote: “Ajahn Chah tried to make practice into everything we were doing, whether we were monastics or laypeople.” [Ajahn Chah] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Monastic life] [Lay life] // [Work]
2. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 427 “Work is Dhamma Practice” [Ajahn Chah] [Work] [Eightfold Path] // [Everyday life] [Aversion]
3. Comment: I’m trying to move away from the concept of formal and informal practice. It’s just how I’m practicing in practice this moment. [Continuity of mindfulness] [Meditation] [Present moment awareness] [Everyday life]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ardency] [Tranquility] [Middle Path] [Eightfold Path]
4. “How can we skillfully take apart our preconceived notions and assumptions without undermining our ability to think?” [Delusion] [Knowledge and vision] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Cause of Suffering] [Proliferation]
5. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 533-535 “A Snake in the House” [Ajahn Chah] [Similes] // [Relinquishment] [Cessation] [Saṃsāra] [Nibbāna]
6. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 646-647 “Por Buapah” [Ajahn Chah] // [Death] [Grief] [Personal presence]
Story: Por Buapah did the cement work for the original shine at Wat Pah Nanachat and the bell tower at Wat Pah Pong. [Stupas/monuments] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Wat Pah Pong]
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]
8. Comment by Ajahn Ñāṇiko: But in a sense Por Am had wisdom, questioning Ajahn Chah from every possible angle. [Ajahn Chah] [Questions] [Discernment]
Reflection: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 647
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Thai] [Wat Pah Pong]
9. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 654-655 “Scientists and Academics” [Ajahn Chah] [Science] [Learning]
10. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 662-664 “Por Puang” [Ajahn Chah] // [Temporary ordination] [Wat Pah Pong] [Generosity] [Recollection/Death] [Sickness] [Death] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Three Refuges]
11. “What is the best way to navigate the people that we love that have unskillful behaivors but we don’t want to cut out of our lives?” [Family] [Spiritual friendship] [Unskillful qualities] // [Compassion] [Patience] [Truth] [Aversion] [Admonishment/feedback]
12. “The duty in regard to the First Noble Truth is to understand suffering. How do you do this?” [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Suffering] // [Fear] [Pāli] [Characteristics of existence] [Aversion] [Postures] [Direct experience] [Conditionality] [Relinquishment]
13. “Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 682 “Dhamma Practice”” [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] // [Characteristics of existence]
14. Story: Ajahn Chah has all his teeth pulled out. [Ajahn Chah] [Health] // [Suffering]
15. “When you have completed the practice, does everything become ‘down time?’” [Stages of awakening] [Recreation/leisure/sport] // [Clinging] [Almsfood] [Culture/Natural environment]
Quote: “It’s because we reflect on these ‘serious things’ that we can hold things lightly.” [Recollection]
Suttas: MN 2.13: Reflection on the requisites; AN 5.208: Benefits of chewing toothwood
16. “These readings give the sense that the Northeastern Thai Isan culture is the soil that supports the living tradition. Are there cultural attitudes or ingredients that would be helpful for laypeople in addition to the key things of sīla and Right View?” [Culture/Thailand] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Culture/West] [Virtue] [Right View] // [Generosity] [Meditation] [Precepts] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Happiness]
1. Recollection: Ajahn Mun chants for an hour before meditating. [Ajahn Mun] [Meditation] [Devotional practice] [Chanting]
2. Story: The Buddha asks a monk to recite the Aṭṭhakavagga (Snp Chapter 4) (Ud 5.6). [Buddha/Biography] [Monastic life] [Sutta] [Chanting]
3. Story of an Indian Brahman novice at Tisarana Monastery who is adept at chanting. [Culture/India] [Tisarana] [Chanting]
4. Story: Learning the Paṭimokkha. [Pāṭimokkha] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Chanting] // [Ajahn Chah] [Culture/India]
Responses by Ajahn Ñāṇiko, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Kaccāna.
5. Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s mother notices that he chants in tune. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Family] [Chanting] // [Almsfood] [Mindfulness]
6. Story: An elderly Sri Lankan monk chants to calm a wild elephant. [History/Sri Lankan Buddhism] [Animal] [Three Refuges] [Chanting]
Story: Chanting ‘Itipi so’ 108 times. [Abhayagiri] [Anandagiri]
7. Story: Chanting sustains a long-time disciple of Ajahn Chah living as a businessman in Bangkok. [Ajahn Chah] [Lay life] [Culture/Thailand] [Chanting] // [Suffering]
8. “Can we approach chanting as praying for someone in a difficult situation?” [Christianity] [Devotional practice] [Family] [Health] [Chanting] // [Skillful qualities] [Compassion] [Right Intention] [Merit] [Abhayagiri] [Nature of the cosmos]
9. “How can you use chanting to work with long-term physical pain and other people’s healing?” [Pain] [Health] [Chanting] // [Tranquility] [Concentration] [Fear] [Release]
10. “Are there any chants that are inappropriate for laypeople to chant?” [Lay life] [Chanting]
11. “How can you chant to generate energy?” [Energy] [Chanting] // [Postures] [Mindfulness of breathing]
12. “Is there any danger to chanting?” [Chanting]
13. “The fourth precept used to be translated as false and harmful speech. In the new chanting book, it’s just lying. Is there a reason for this?” [False speech] [Pāli] [Chanting] // [Right Speech]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 130
Sutta: MN 41: Saleyyaka Sutta
1. “Sometimes there’s no pause between the words we’re chanting. Why?” [History/Early Buddhism] [Chanting] [Pāli]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 129: Five Precepts.
2. “Are the dots under m and n [ṃ, ṇ] that inscrutable non-English sound that was mentioned earlier?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Chanting] [Pāli]
Follow-up: “And that has nothing to do with the pitch going down? That’s the carat mark?” [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
3. Comment: It seems like we stretch out ‘saha’ in the request for the Five Precepts (Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 126). [Chanting] [Pāli]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
4. “Can you explain the rythym and scanning of the seventh of the Eight Precepts (Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 135)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Eight Precepts] [Entertainment and adornment] [Chanting] [Pāli]
5. Comment: I also get tripped up chanting the fifth precept (Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 130). [Five Precepts] [Intoxicants] [Chanting] [Pāli]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Thai]
6. Story: Ajahn Pasanno spends Vassa on the Burmese border, but can’t chant smoothly with two monks of different nationalities. Told by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Rains retreat] [Chanting] [Pāli]
7. Comment: We usually chant like that [a simple style] in primary school. It changes when we get to high school. [Culture/Thailand] [Chanting] [Pāli]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
8. “Do you have any suggestions for audio support for chanting?” [Dhamma online] [Chanting] [Pāli]
Reference: Abhayagiri Chanting Karaoke
Note: The recordings on this website come from the older 2010 Abhayagiri Chanting Book.
9. “Are there any standards for the high and low tone marks?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Ñāṇiko and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Chanting] [Pāli] // [Thai]
8. “The Verses of Sharing and Aspiration translates paccekabuddha as ‘The Solitary Buddha is my noble guide.’ What’s going on here?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko and Ajahn Pasanno. [Chanting] [Translation] [Buddha] // [Merit] [Teaching Dhamma]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 33
1. “Do you find labelling helpful?” [Noting] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Proliferation]
Simile: The hammer looking for nails everywhere.
2. “When I’m following my breathing, sometimes I have a compulsion to breathe deeply into my chest and hold it....Is that something you should recognize as trying to control the breath?” [Mindfulness of breathing] [Meditation/Unusual experiences] // [Investigation of states] [Tranquility] [Learning]
3. “You spoke of experiencing the breath and experiencing feelings and mind. Are you suggesting that we experience the mind knowing the breath or when it’s doing other things?” [Mindfulness of breathing] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Mindfulness of mind] // [Right Mindfulness] [Volitional formations] [Conditionality]
Suttas: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta; MN 10: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta
4. “Is the fourth foundation of mindfulness as simple as, for example, with the third foundation I identify aversion, and then in the fourth foundation I identify aversion as a hindrance?” [Mindfulness of dhammas] [Mindfulness of mind] // [Āgama] [Sutta] [Hindrances] [Four Noble Truths] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Progress of insight]
Suttas: MN 10: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta; MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta [Right Mindfulness]
Reference: Satipaṭṭhāna Perspectives by Bhante Analayo (commercial)
5. “Could you please address judgement and discernment?” [Judgementalism] [Discernment] // [Self-identity view] [Skillful qualities] [Four Noble Truths] [Culture/West] [Impermanence] [Conditionality]
6. “How do you handle physical sensations like an itch during meditation?” [Meditation/General advice] [Contact] // [Mindfulness] [Patience] [Pain]
7. “How do discoveries about the gut microbiome fit in with the Buddha’s teachings?” [Science] [Dhamma] // [Not-self] [Self-identity view] [Mindfulness of body] [Clear comprehension] [Naturalness]
Follow-up: “How does the relate to monks who subsist on almsfood and sometimes don’t get enough, considering that the gut is controlling the brain?” [Monastic life] [Almsfood] [Health] [Ajahn Soṇa] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
Sutta: AN ??.?? - Stay where the practice advances, not where the requisites are.
8. Story: The cook assigned to look after Ajahn Pasanno doesn’t understand what he can and needs to eat. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Dtao Dum] [Almsfood] [Food] // [Industry] [Meditation] [Energy] [Health] [Patience] [Culture/Natural environment]
9. Story: Founding Dtao Dum Monastery [Dtao Dum] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Culture/Natural environment] [Environment] [Commerce/economics]
10. “Is Dtao Dum just for monks?” [Dtao Dum] [Monastic life] [Lay life] // [Environment]
11. “Did Ajahn Soṇa go on one of the trips to Dtao Dum with you?” [Ajahn Soṇa] [Dtao Dum] [Ajahn Pasanno]
12. “When you weren’t getting enough food, had you been older and smarter, would you have been able, as a monk, to ask for vegetables?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Health] [Vinaya] [Almsfood] // [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Generosity]
13. “Could you say something about the fact that extreme hardship exists in the world?” [Poverty] [Compassion] // [Culture/Thailand]
Sutta: AN 4.162: Modes of Practice
Sutta: AN 8.2: Worldly Winds [Worldly Conditions]
Vinaya: The famine in Verañjā (BuPj 1.2.1, Brahmali translation) [Buddha/Biography]
Recollection: The vast majority of 20th century Thai meditation masters are from the Northeast. They come from a region and area of great difficulty. [History/Thai Buddhism] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Patience] [Energy] [Faith]
Recollection: More Westerners came to study with Ajahn Chah than Central or Southern Thais. [Ajahn Chah] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
14. “What are your thoughts about maintaining a practice you’re at the bedside of someone actively passing away?” [Sickness] [Death] // [Listening] [Fear] [Personal presence] [Intuition]
Story: Ram Dass anxiously tries to guide his stepmother through the dying process. [Ram Dass] [Teaching Dhamma] [Restlessness and worry] [Mindfulness of mind] [Recollection/Death]
15. “Was there specific advice from the Buddha to the monks about [advising a dying person]?” [Monastic life] [Death] // [Sickness] [Compassion] [Goodwill]
Vinaya: Kd 26.7: Attributes of a carer.
16. “When you talk about conditioning, how does this relate to Pavlovian conditioning?” [Conditionality] [Science] // [Habits]
17. “The Buddha had the talent of knowing preceisely what to saay to a person at a given moment. The teaching ajahns have developed this as well, but I’ve never heard of it as part of the training. Can you reflect on that?” [Teaching Dhamma] [Buddha/Biography] [Monastic teachers] // [Personality] [Discernment] [Idealism] [Ajahn Chah] [Suffering] [Humility] [Relinquishment] [Fear] [Self-identity view]
18. “Before we relinquish the self, there needs to be a recognition of what’s going on. I often realize this minutes or hours later. Any suggestions for this initial step of noticing?” [Relinquishment] [Self-identity view] [Mindfulness] // [Investigation of states] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Cessation] [Spaciousness]
19. Comment: I have one of these thinking minds, and over the years I’m learning more and more to just watch where my thoughts go. I’m getting more comfortable with that. At the same time, I’ve heard teachings that as you improve your concentration on the primary object, your mindfulness increases as well. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Mindfulness] [Concentration]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Language] [Generosity] [Conditionality] [Desire] [Craving]
Quote: “The same word that is translated as concentration in English, when it’s translated in Thai, is ‘the firm establishing of the mind.’ That has a different feel to it.” [Translation] [Thai]
20. “Did Buddhism find you in Northern Manitoba, or did you leave? What led you to Buddhism?” [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Learning] [Culture/West] [Zen] [Culture/Thailand]
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?” [Sickness] [Pain] [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] [Death] [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?” [Death] [Pain] [Relinquishment] [Self-identity view] [Clear comprehension] [Health care] [Intoxicants] // [Fear]
3. “According to the first precept, how would you look at the case of abortion?” [Killing] [Abortion] // [Vinaya] [Politics and society] [Judgementalism] [Health care]
4. “What about animal euthanasia?” [Animal] [Euthanasia] [Killing] // [Compassion] [Sickness] [Ageing]
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?” [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.” [Depression]
6. Comment: I’m concerned about how much time people spend on computers, and I think it’s sad that people use electronic devices rather than talk with each other. [Technology] [Community]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
Follow-up: “Should I say anything to my son who is on his device half the time during his brief, infrequent visits?” [Children] [Right Speech]
Story: Abhayagiri’s computer policy for monks. [Abhayagiri] [Social media] [Sense restraint] [Vinaya]
7. “You spoke this morning about how monks don’t have money and don’t handle money. How does a monastery deal with purchasing materials?” [Not handling money] [Commerce/economics] // [Monastery organizational structure] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Abhayagiri] [Building projects] [Almsfood]
Story: A wheel falls off the old Abhayagiri van. [Simplicity]
8. Comment: Yesterday you differentiated between chanda and taṇhā. Nature has always had a strong attraction for me, and I was uneasy because I thought this was a kind of craving. Three or four years ago, Ajahn Tiradhammo gave a talk and I asked him about this. He said, ‘Don’t worry about it. There’s good craving and bad craving.’ Your teaching has clarified this for me. [Desire] [Craving] [Culture/Natural environment] [Ajahn Tiradhammo] [Gratitude]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Happiness] [Ajahn Viradhammo] [Animal]
9. “When strong feelings associated with conceit come, what to do?” [Conceit] [Feeling] // [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Clear comprehension] [Nutriment] [Relinquishment] [Patience]
10. “I find a lot of meditation time is taken up with psychoanalyzing aand thinking, ‘Oh, this is a discovery!’ What is the line between realizing that you’re caught again?” [Meditation] [Western psychology] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Mindfulness of feeling] [Proliferation] [Clear comprehension]
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]
12. “Could you talk about the difference between experiencing an unpleasant feeling and perpetuating an unpleasant feeling?” [Feeling] [Discernment] [Cessation of Suffering] // [Compassion] [Mindfulness] [Patience] [Suffering]
Simile: Two arrows (SN 36.6).
13. “I live with my 96-year old mother. Her mind is quite good, but her body is ageing and there is pain in both legs. She has a stubborn will to carry on. We have our fights, but get through them quickly. I’m wanting to go to another level to develop patience. Can you comment?” [Ageing] [Parents] [Pain] [Patience] // [Empathetic joy] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Relinquishment] [Gratitude] [Idealism]
Quote: “Even monks have mothers.”
14. “Even reading scripturally-oriented material can be used as an escape; it’s easier than meditating. I was wondering about the precept on entertainment, beautification and adornment. Can you give some advice on how to interpret this in practical terms?” [Learning] [Craving not to become] [Entertainment and adornment] // [Idealism] [Discernment] [Idle chatter] [Spiritual friendship] [Faith] [Media] [Ajahn Soṇa] [Abhayagiri] [Dhamma online] [Ajahn Pasanno]
3. Comment: Coming out af a long-term relationship where someone was killed in an accident after 42 years, the way you presented the disadvantages and advantages of a conventional loving relationship was perhaps a little light on the advantages. [Relationships] [Death] // [Monastic life/Motivation] [Gratitude] [Long-term practice] [Suffering] [Courage]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Saṅgha] [Saṃsāra] [Sense of urgency]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography] [Ageing] [Rebirth] [Treasures]
Reference: AN 4.55: Nakula’s mother and father aspire to see each other in this life and the next.
1. Quote: “The kindest thing you can do for your parents is to not create them.” — Ajahn Sumedho [Ajahn Sumedho] [Parents] [Goodwill] [Cessation] [Not-self] // [Amaravati] [Sīladharā] [Proliferation]
2. Quote: “Learning how to be comfortable with dukkha...is a willingness to open the heart to the whole realm of experience. That’s an act of love.” [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Direct experience] [Goodwill] // [Generosity] [Fear] [Listening] [Clear comprehension]
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?” [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] [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]
Quote: “Monks, do not be afraid of puñña.” — Iti 22 [Merit] [Fear] [Liberation]
Quote: “The happy mind is easily concentrated.”
4. “There are teachings about different levels of generosity (e.g. AN 7.49). Are there similar teachings about love or attachment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Generosity] [Goodwill] [Clinging] // [Dhamma] [Desire] [Teaching Dhamma] [Aggregates] [Mindfulness] [Relationships] [Spaciousness]
5. “Is there a sutta about preferring the [forest] to the village, and then the bare earth, becoming more and more simple?” [Sutta] [Seclusion] [Simplicity] // [Emptiness] [Elements] [Relinquishment] [Generosity] [Goodwill]
Sutta: MN 121: The Lesser Discourse on Emptiness
6. Comment: There are two knds of desire, chanda (good) and taṇha (bad). [Desire] [Craving] [Pāli]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Goodwill] [Clinging] [Generosity] [Teaching Dhamma]
7. Comment: Words that I haven’t grown up with like skillfulness and wholesomeness have the spectrum to reflect on the different levels of these qualities. [Language] [Culture/West] [Skillful qualities]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
8. “Could you say some more about the process of change?... You can have a big tool kit and apply it with the best of intentions. Sometimes magical things happen, and sometimes nothing happens.” [Right Effort] [Conditionality] [Right Intention] [Progress of insight] // [Goodwill] [Relinquishment] [Ajahn Chah] [Impermanence] [Long-term practice] [Learning] [Dependent origination] [Not-self] [Mindfulness]
9. Question about cultivating goodwill towards a difficult coworker. [Work] [Goodwill] [Forgiveness] // [Suffering] [Right Effort] [Craving] [Relinquishment] [Kamma]
Comment: Sometimes having metta means leaving the situation. [Association with people of integrity] [Clear comprehension]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 46