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2. (3:42) Story: How I met Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] // [Types of monks] [Wat Pah Pong] [Seclusion]
Quote: “If you want to stay here, you have to be here for five years.” — Ajahn Chah [Sequence of training]
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3. (3:13) Quote: “Ajahn Chah was a wonderful teacher, but more important, he was a trainer. He trained people how to live.” [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]
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4. (1:52) Story: Thousands of people receive Ajahn Chah upon his return from England. [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]
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6. (2:24) Ajahn Chah used the forest environment to train us. [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]
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7. (2:00) Story: “Close the doors. Today I’m eating noodles!” [Food] [Sensual desire] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ardency] [Unwholesome Roots]
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7. (2:45) Story: Mute, wheelchair-bound Ajahn Chah meets a mother and her young son. [Sickness] [Children] [Bowing] [Compassion] [Ajahn Chah] // [Health care] [Joseph Kappel] [Ajahn Pasanno]
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3. (17:10) “Could you please explain about the death process…how quickly does rebirth occur?” [Death] [Rebirth] // [Recollection/Death] [Delusion] [Self-identity view] [Recollection] [Impermanence] [Not-self] [Theravāda] [History/Early Buddhism] [Sutta] [Vajrayāna] [Clinging] [Culture/Thailand] [Chanting] [Goodwill] [Relinquishment] [Ceremony/ritual] [Kamma]
References: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 55: Five Recollections; Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 12: The body is impermanent... [Similes] [Craving]
Simile: Fire blown by the wind (MN 72: Aggivacchagotta Sutta)
Story: A former monk asks Ajahn Chah about working with dying people to give them the opportunity for wholesome rebirth. [Ajahn Chah] [Teachers] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Quote: “I practice dying.” — The Dalai Lama [Dalai Lama]
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4. (12:30) “As a guilt-ridden American, how do you respond to personal mistakes without guilt?” [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]
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6. (9:55) “When there is a lot of pain in the body, it is difficult to maintain “right effort,” yet sometimes through patient endurance the pain lessens or dissipates. Could you speak about right effort and the connection between right effort and samadhi?” [Pain] [Right Effort] [Patience] [Concentration] // [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] [Fear] [Aversion] [Discernment] [Naturalness]
Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno learned from pain and illness in his early monastic life. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Sickness] [Monastic life]
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2. (6:28) “What happens when someone carefully builds the fire, but it turns into a forest fire–uncontrollable–and the person experiences mania, delusions, and paranoia? What is the spiritual treatment?” [Mental illness] [Delusion] // [Precepts] [Association with people of integrity] [Generosity] [Becoming] [Medicinal requisites] [Thai] [Work]
Quote: “One of the first spiritual treatments is to get them to stop meditating.” [Meditation]
Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno learned by experience that meditation is not a panacea. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
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10. (9:12) “I have an ongoing problem with certain vibrations. Here the most problematic is the recording device. The trunk of my body feels like it is vibrating.... Any suggestions would be most gratefully received.” [Meditation/Unusual experiences] [Technology] // [Mindfulness of body] [Aversion] [Feeling] [Goodwill] [Worldly Conditions] [Relinquishment]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah was this peaceful, happy presence in the center of the universe. Things happened around him all the time...and Ajahn Chah was always happy. You realize that that’s really possible in the human condition. [Ajahn Chah] [Happiness] [Faith] [Disrobing] [Human]
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1. (5:28) “One of my lay insight mediation teachers said, ‘The Western lay practitioner is an experiment in Buddhism.’ What do you think? To me it seems our lay teachers are also an experiment.” [Culture/West] [Lay life] [Lay teachers] // [Monastic life] [Abhayagiri] [Sīladharā] [Culture/Thailand]
Quote: “Because the monastic presence is so strong in Asia, oftentimes people overlook the strength of the tradition of lay practice and lay teachers.” [Cultural context]
Story: The Buddha tells Māra he will found the fourfold assembly (UD 6.1). [Buddha/Biography] [Māra] [Fourfold Assembly] [Stages of awakening] [Learning]
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4. (3:53) “When we have a retreat work period that requires us to leave a sitting after 15 or 30 minutes, should we come to the meditation hall and leave early or just practice elsewhere for that period?” [Meditation retreats] [Work] // [Abhayagiri] [Posture/Walking] [Posture/Sitting]
Story: A good doorknob. [Building projects]
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4. (7:49) “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?” [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]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah was unable to look after himself for the last nine years of his life. [Ajahn Chah] [Respect for elders] [Wat Pah Pong] [Gratitude]
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10. (10:15) “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?” [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]
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14. (3:38) “Do you think being introduced to Buddhism guided you to the contemplative life or would you have become a monk in any tradition?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Spiritual traditions] // [Meditation]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s aunt remembers that he said he wanted to be a priest when he was young.
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16. (7:58) “I had an experience yeserday in which I may have seen a group of beings above us, particularly above you....I don’t think I’m crazy, but I’m very interested in what the Dhamma says about otherworldly/non-material beings.” [Deva] [Goodwill] [Compassion] [Mental illness] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Culture/Thailand] [Realms of existence] [Culture/Natural environment]
Recollection: Spirits at Wat Pah Nanachat would request Ajahn Pasanno to dedicate merit. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Funerals] [Ghost] [Merit]
Quote: “They always had to use an intermediary because I was thick, thick, thick.” [Psychic powers]
Story: Ajahn Plien declares Casa Serena free of ghosts. [Ajahn Plien] [Abhayagiri] [Rebirth]
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1. (7:17) “In the palm reader story, you mentioned that Ajahn Chah still had a lot of anger, but he chose not to act from it. So does this mean that if there was a troublesome monk, Ajahn Chah would still experience a flare of anger but have the wisdom to set it aside and consider what to do with a cool head? This sounds similar to something Ram Das said about his practice....” [Ajahn Chah] [Aversion] [Discernment] [Ram Dass] [Unwholesome Roots] // [Personality] [Kamma]
Story: Ajahn Jayasaro is massaging Ajahn Chah’s feet when a monk undergoing a disciplinary procedure walks by. [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Vinaya] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Emotion]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno observes Ajahn Mahā Boowa’s fierce behaivor. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Arahant] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Rapture] [Goodwill]
Quote: “You never quite knew...you were always very careful around [Ajahn Chah] because you never knew which side was going to come out. It wasn’t as if he was just playing with you, but he always responded to the situation or the person.” [Heedlessness] [Personal presence] [Teaching Dhamma]
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6. (5:14) “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?” [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]
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10. (1:27) “What does Pasanno mean?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Translation] // [Faith]
Story: Why Ajahn Pasanno’s name is mispronounced. [Wat Pah Nanachat]
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13. (7:27) “In your opinion, why do you think Mogallana is portrayed in the scriptures as mostly an idiot/unwise and Sariputta is portrayed as wise?” [Sutta] [Great disciples] // [Psychic powers] [Saṅgha] [Conflict] [Mahāyāna] [Personality]
Quote: “But Ānanda, since when has Anuruddha been involved in disciplinary issues in the midst of the Saṅgha?” AN 4.243 [Vinaya]
Story: Moggallāna sees a yakkha clobber Sāriputta. Ud 4.4 [Non-human beings]
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1. (5:00) Recollection: My connection with Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Pasanno] [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]
Jack Kornfield arrives with a large picture of Ajahn Chah.
Story: The needlepoint Ajahn Chah portrait at Abhayagiri. [Abhayagiri] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Devotional practice]
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6. (1:36) Story: Novice Chah disrobes at age 16. [Disrobing] [Culture/Thailand] [Ajahn Chah]
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11. (2:22) Story: Ajahn Chah begins wandering in search of teachers [Tudong] [Ajahn Chah] // [Culture/Thailand] [Ajahn Mun] [Wat Khao Wongkot]
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3. (7:20) Story: A group of military generals ask Ajahn Chah to bless amulets to create a kitchen fund. [Amulets] [Ajahn Chah] [Military] [Almsfood] [Wat Pah Pong] // [Culture/Thailand] [Saṅgha decision making] [Festival days] [Almsbowl] [Stupas/monuments]
Quote: “The Buddha set up the foundation 2,500 years ago with just one baht.” — Ajahn Chah [Buddha] [Saṅgha]
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2. (7:40) “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?” [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]
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1. (7:06) Question about how Ajahn Chah taught to deal with people externally. [Community] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Mun] [Virtue] [Doubt] [Monastic life] [Views]
Story: A ghost tries to align the visitors sleeping in his hall. [Culture/Thailand] [Shelter] [Ghost] [Communal harmony]
Quote: “You have to have an anchor in your own practice.” [Similes]
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2. (7:30) “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?” [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]
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5. (2:03) Story: Ajahn Chah’s practice matures and he receives permission to teach. [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Rapture] [Almsround] [Ajahn Kinaree]
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1. (1:07) Story: Ajahn Pasanno attempts tudong in California. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abhayagiri] [Tudong] // [Ageing] [Health]
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2. (3:41) Story: Ajahn Chah lets a restless junior monk go tudong in the hot season. [Ajahn Chah] [Restlessness and worry] [Sequence of training] [Culture/Natural environment] [Tudong]
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3. (3:43) Story: Ajahn Jotipālo’s tudong north along the Mississippi. [Ajahn Jotipālo] [Tudong] // [Robes] [Sickness] [Culture/West] [Almsfood]
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4. (2:16) Story: Ajahn Chah asks Ajahn Sumedho if he might go back to America as a monk. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Culture/West] [Monastic life] [Tudong] // [Almsfood] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
Quote: “You mean to say there are no kind people in America?” — Ajahn Chah to Ajahn Sumedho [Compassion]
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5. (5:58) Story: Ajahn Mun doesn’t spend consecutive rains retreats in the same place until his mid-70s. [Ajahn Mun] [Rains retreat] [Ageing] [Tudong] // [Stages of awakening] [Seclusion] [Teaching Dhamma]
Story: Saṅgha authorities appoint Ajahn Mun abbot of a monastery in Chiang Mai. He leaves before dawn the next day. [Abbot] [History/Thai Buddhism] [Saṅgha decision making]
Story: One million people attend the funeral of Ajahn Mahā Boowa. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Funerals]
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6. (1:16) Story: Ajahn Kinaree walks to India over the course of 15 years in the 1920s and 30s. [Ajahn Kinaree] [Visiting holy sites] [Tudong]
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7. (10:26) Story: Ajahn Supah chooses tudong over further studies. [Ajahn Supah] [Culture/Thailand] [Study monks] [Learning] [Tudong] // [Liberation] [Goodwill] [Simplicity] [Virtue] [Recollection/Virtue]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s mother cries when she meets Ajahn Supah. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Faith] [Rapture]
Story: A python begins to eat Ajahn Supah. [Animal] [Determination]
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2. (7:07) “What is the function of a layperson who accompanies a monk on tudong?” [Lay life] [Tudong] // [Sequence of training] [Abhayagiri] [Eight Precepts] [Culture/Thailand] [Ajahn Chah]
Quote: “People who ordain quickly disrobe quickly.” — Ajahn Chah [Ordination] [Disrobing]
Story: Founding of Pacific Hermitage. [Pacific Hermitage] [Almsround] [Almsfood]
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4. (9:19) “Can the practice be used in a punitative or punishing way?” [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]
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6. (8:42) “Could you tell of your personal experience with a tiger?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Animal] [Tudong]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno hears and smells a tiger while doing walking meditation. [Dtao Dum] [Culture/Natural environment] [Posture/Walking] [Fear] [Death] [Impermanence] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension]
Sutta: MN 4: Fear and Dread
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13. (4:14) “To what extend is spreading the teachings part of the tudong tradition?” [Teaching Dhamma] [Tudong] // [Culture/Thailand]
Vinaya: Kd 1.23: Venerable Assaji’s demeanor inspires Sariputta. [Great disciples] [Perception of a samaṇa]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno goes tudong and is asked for lottery numbers. [Ajahn Pasanno]
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1. (2:38) Story: Ajahn Chah’s first tudong. [Ajahn Chah] [Renunciation] [Spiritual search] [Simplicity] [Tudong]
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2. (4:42) Story: Ajahn Chah obsesses about getting robes. [Ajahn Chah] [Poverty] [Robes] [Greed] [Tudong] // [History/Thai Buddhism] [Determination] [Simplicity] [Craving] [Ajahn Kinaree]
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4. (4:47) Story: Ajahn Chah struggles through lust with patience. [Ajahn Chah] [Sensual desire] [Patience] [Tudong] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Human] [Meditation/Techniques] [Impermanence]
Quote: Ajahn Chah to biographer: “If you don’t put that in the book, don’t bother printing it.” [Dhamma books]
Quote: “If you ordain as a monk, your defilements ordain with you.” [Monastic life] [Unwholesome Roots]
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6. (1:34) Story: How Ajahn Pasanno became abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Abbot] [Tudong] // [Ajahn Chah] [Saṅgha decision making]
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7. (2:27) Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s tudong practice. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Seclusion] [Tudong] // [Meditation] [Sickness] [Ajahn Amaro] [Abhayagiri] [Patience]
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8. (3:52) Story: Ajahn Pasanno gets a foot infection on tudong. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Sickness] [Culture/Thailand] [Health care] [Tudong] // [Killing] [Goodwill]
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9. (2:44) Story: Ajahn Pasanno loses his vision on tudong. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Sickness] [Health care] [Tudong] // [Patience] [Seclusion] [Dtao Dum]
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10. (5:27) Quote: “It all comes back to that simple quality of mindfulness. From the mindfulness, then the different qualities of practice that we need to rely on are cultivated.” [Mindfulness] [Faculties] [Tudong] // [Concentration] [Thai] [Translation] [Discernment] [Perfections]
Quote: “The base and foundation is the mindfulness. Being the knowing is always the foundation, and then the mind is able to become still, become settled, become steady.” [Knowing itself]
Recollection: “It’s rare that Ajahn Chah would use [the Pāli term] pañña on its own. More often than not, he would use satipañña, which is mindfulness and wisdom together.” [Ajahn Chah] [Pāli]
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3. (4:45) “I’ve heard that devas and brahmas aren’t able to become enlightened. Is that right?” Answered by Ajahn Yatiko and Ajahn Pasanno. [Liberation] [Deva] [Recollection/Devas] // [Delusion] [Heedlessness] [Sutta] [Great disciples] [Four Noble Truths]
Sutta: SN 56.11: Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
Story: Ajahn Sudanto’s pūjā on Mount Hood. [Pacific Hermitage] [Pūjā] [Culture/Natural environment] [Merit] [Goodwill]
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2. (6:51) “In the example you gave of the snake (MN 22), can you give an example of how the Dhamma can bite you?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Yatiko. [Similes] [Gradual Teaching] // [Abhidhamma] [Conflict] [Meditation/Techniques] [Clinging] [Unwholesome Roots] [Right Intention] [Learning]
Story: The teachings of Dhammakaya. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view] [Commerce/economics] [Nibbāna] [Generosity]
Story: An Abhidhamma teacher visits Ajahn Chah. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah]
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2. (5:53) “In the analogy of the accountant (MN 107), it seems that the training works linearly. Are there basic practices that are important to focus on in the beginning? Are ther other practices which should not be attempted in the beginning?” [Similes] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Gradual Teaching] // [Faith] [Kamma] [Unconditioned] [Learning] [Relinquishment] [Concentration]
Story: A monk carrying money asks to stay at Wat Pah Pong. [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Pah Pong] [Not handling money]
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3. (6:08) “Could you talk more about the particular professions that the Buddha laid out as wrong livelihood (AN 5.177)? Why is being in the military not on the list?” [Work] [Military] [Right Livelihood] // [Unskillful qualities] [Kamma] [Killing] [Intoxicants] [Rebirth]
Sutta: AN 5.177: Trades
Story: The widow of a wealthy man divests from Singha Beer. [Commerce/economics]
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4. (2:18) “Is growing grapes right livelihood?” [Intoxicants] [Commerce/economics] [Right Livelihood]
Story: The son of a winemaking family lives on the land but doesn’t participate in wine production. [Family]
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16. (3:41) “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?” [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]
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3. (10:30) “Everyone in our group is struggling with issues about livelihood. Does anyone here feel their livelihood is in tune?” Answered by Ajahn Yatiko and Ajahn Pasanno. [Work] [Idealism] // [Contentment] [Eightfold Path] [Kamma]
Quote: “Maybe it would be better phrased ‘Right-enough livelihood.’” — Ajahn Karuṇadhammo [Right Livelihood]
Story: An upright career police officer in Thailand transfers in and out of a corrupt assignment. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Community] [Crime] [Corruption] [Family] [Precepts]
Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo: Even monks face moral dillemas. [Monastic life] [Vinaya]
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5. (4:40) “What is your take on satisfaction, being in tune, and stagnation?” [Contentment] [Energy] [Ardency] // [Skillful qualities] [Discernment] [Buddha/Biography] [Spiritual search] [Right Effort]
Sutta: AN 2.5: Effort and noncontentment with wholesome states.
Story: The Thai government made it illegal for monks to teach contentment. [History/Thai Buddhism] [Monastic life] [Teaching Dhamma]
Comment about the simile of the lute. [Middle Path] [Similes]
Sutta: AN 6.55: Soṇa Sutta
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4. (3:07) “If my sister has unwholesome friendships, how can I help her redirect these?” [Family] [Spiritual friendship] // [Compassion] [Judgementalism] [Right Intention] [Right Speech] [Admonishment/feedback]
Story: An Abhayagiri monk skillfully conveys concerns to his father. [Abhayagiri]
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2. (2:53) “You said that starting with chanting can help focus the mind. But I find myself daydreaming while chanting.” [Chanting] [Tranquility] [Proliferation] // [Pāṭimokkha] [Energy]
Story: An elderly woman chants the Dhammacakka Sutta every day. [Ageing]
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[Session] (11:43) 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] [Sense of 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] [Visiting holy sites] [Impermanence]
Sutta: MN 131: Bhaddekaratta Sutta (Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 75)
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2. (2:35) Recollection: This talk was given to a group of Western monks led by Ajahn Khantipālo paying respects to Ajahn Chah in Bangkok. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ajahn Khantipālo] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Translation] [Hearing the true Dhamma]
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1. (4:02) “Ajahn Chah took Ajahn Mahā Amon and Ajahn Sumedho to visit Luang Ta Mahā Boowa and Ajahn Kaew. What happened?” [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Mahā Amorn] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Khao] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Simplicity]
Story: Ajahn Chah turned on a tape recorder, but the only part of the conversation that was recorded was when Ajahn Kaew farted. [Technology] [Psychic powers]
Note: A partially similar story appears in Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 189.
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2. (2:42) “Luang Ta Mahā Boowa often says, “You kill the kilesas” whereas Ajahn Chah in this talk speaks of the path doing battle with the kilesas. Is this just the translation?” [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Chah] [Unwholesome Roots] [Eightfold Path] [Teaching Dhamma]
Recollection: When Ajahn Chah would use personal pronouns, he often used we as opposed to you. [Language] [Naturalness]
Playable
4. (6:01) “What does “the longing for the good is the cause of the trouble” mean?” [Ajahn Mun] [Craving] [Skillful qualities] [Right Effort] // [Eightfold Path] [Aggregates] [Liberation] [Self-identity view] [Virtue] [Relinquishment] [Jhāna] [Ignorance] [Cause of Suffering]
Story: Sixth Patriarch Sutra: “No mirror, no dust.”
Recollection: Ajahn Chah taught you could grasp at either samut (the conventional) or vimut (the transcendant). [Ajahn Chah] [Conventions] [Unconditioned] [Clinging] [Discernment]
Playable
7. (1:42) Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno describes Ajahn Mun’s skillful use of language. [Ajahn Mun] [Thai] [Language] [Artistic expression] [Teaching Dhamma]
Reference: Venerable Ācariya Mun Bhūridatta Thera: A Spiritual Biography by Ajahn Mahā Boowa [Fierce/direct teaching]
Reference: Regarding the photo in Abhayagiri’s Dhamma Hall: “This is the most warm and fuzzy picture of Ajahn Mun.”
Playable
2. (1:46) Ajahn Pasanno describes the title “Luang Ta.” [Monastic titles] [Older monks] // [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Thai]
Playable
3. (6:06) “When Luang Ta Mahā Boowa says he’s looking for a sign or vision, what does he mean by that?” [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Nimitta] [Deva] // [Culture/Thailand] [Culture/West] [Dreams] [Determination]
Story: Ajahn Tiradhammo asks Ajahn Chah what event convinced him that he was on the path to liberation. [Ajahn Tiradhammo] [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma books] [History/Thai Buddhism] [Liberation]
Playable
5. (2:45) “Was the biography compiled from what Luang Ta wrote or stories from his students?” [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [History/Thai Buddhism] [Dhamma books]
Story: Ajahn Mahā Boowa types Dhamma books and writes letters to practitioners. [Technology] [Teaching Dhamma]
Playable
6. (3:26) “Do you have any information about what the Level 3 Pāli includes?” [Learning] [Pāli] [History/Thai Buddhism] // [Ajahn Chah] [Commentaries]
Story: P.A. Payutto passes the ninth level Pāli studies as a novice. [P. A. Payutto] [Novices] [Ordination] [Royalty]
Playable
7. (6:35) “What do monks do with Pāli study levels?” [Learning] [Pāli] [Culture/Thailand] [Types of monks] // [P. A. Payutto]
Story: Tan Chao Khun Prayoon Dhammacitto, the head of the Buddhist University in Bangkok, visits Wat Pah Nanachat. [Chao Khun Prayoon] [Thai sects] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
Story: Ajahn Mahā Adisak, a ninth-degree Pāli scholar, spends a year at Amaravati. [Ajahn Mahā Adisak] [Amaravati] [Ajahn Sumedho]
Story: He found it difficult to translate Ajahn Amaro’s teachings to Westerners into Thai. [Ajahn Amaro] [Culture/West] [Translation] [Dhamma books]
Playable
7. (2:48) “Did Ajahn Chah ever have to use any especially powerful methods of pushing people away when the time came for them to go somewhere else?” [Fierce/direct teaching] [Ajahn Chah] // [Respect]
Story: The unpopular branch monastery. [Wat Pah Supattaram] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Building projects] [Abbot] [Fasting]
Playable
1. (3:59) “I am curious about ways to know if one is lying to oneself and what to do?” [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]
Playable
6. (1:26) Story: Ajahn Dtun unexpectedly manifests goodwill towards Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Ajahn Dtun] [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] [Goodwill] // [Abbot] [Malas]
Playable
3. (4:55) “I’m interested in the theme mentioned of the body and mind being separate from each other. The questioner asks ‘Don’t they have influence on one another?’ I’m curious about how to reflect on that.” [Form] [Nature of mind] // [Ajahn Chah] [Sickness] [Knowing itself]
Story: Ajahn Chah retreats into the peace and stability of the mind to cope with a lung infection.
Playable
3. (1:46) Story: The Queen invites the best neurosurgeons to help Ajahn Chah in a special suite in Chulalongkorn Hospital. [Ajahn Chah] [Sickness] [Royalty] [Health care] // [Saṅgha decision making]
Story: Ajahn Dune occupies the suite after Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Dune]
Playable
2. (8:10) “In the Pure Land tradition, there are practices that prepare one for death. Are there are specific recommendations that yourself or Ajahn Chah would give for preparation for that last moment before death?” [Pure Land] [Ajahn Chah] [Death] [Recollection/Death] // [Buddho mantra]
Story: Family members try to encourage a drunkard to recollect “Arahaṃ“ in his last moments. [Mantra] [Humor]
Story: Ajahn Chah’s response to Paul Breiter’s desire to teach meditation to dying people. Told by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Meditation] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Story: Ajahn Karuṇadhammo advises Iris Landsberg to recollect “sorrowless, spotless, secure.” Told by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Recollection]
Sutta: Sn 2.4: Maṅgala Sutta (English chanting translation).
Story: A couple asks Master Hua what kind of dog they should get. [Master Hsuan Hua] [Animal] [Rebirth]
Playable
4. (2:06) “Was Ajahn Jun around when you were training?” [Ajahn Jun] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Liem] [Ajahn Boon Choo]
Story: Ajahn Sumedho gets upset at Ajahn Chah for not admonishing lax monks. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Admonishment/feedback]
Playable
3. (2:47) “How long did Venerable Varapañño spend in robes?” [Disrobing] // [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Pah Pong]
Story: “I need a lawyer!”
Comment by Ajahn Pesalo: Even living for years in close proximity to Ajahn Chah isn’t enough to guarantee people will remain in robes.
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
Playable
6. (7:28) Ajahn Pasanno tells how he went to Wat Pah Nanachat to make a bowl stand but got sick with scrub typhus. An extended discussion ensues. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Monastic crafts] [Sickness] // [Rains retreat] [Joseph Kappel]
Playable
7. (1:52) The character of Ajahn Chah and his relatives. [Ajahn Chah] [Personality] [Aversion] [Humor] // [Leadership]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah’s older brother had the same personality. [Family]
Playable
5. (1:37) Recollection: Ajahn Liem leads by example. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno.
Playable
3. (0:42) Story: Ajahn Tongrat walks past a pregnant woman and says, “Oh, there’s a really good monk in your stomach there.” [Ajahn Tongrat] [Ajahn Koon] [Almsround]
Playable
4. (2:24) Recollection: Ajahn Chah didn’t let Western monks stay with Ajahn Koon since it was close to the Laos border. [Ajahn Chah] [Military] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] // [Ajahn Koon] [Ajahn Anando]
Playable
5. (1:08) Story: Ajahn Chah prevents supporters from bringing Ajahn Sumedho special food. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Food] [Ajahn Chah]
Playable
1. (3:22) Introduction to The Natural Character of Awakening and Chao Khun Upāli. Teaching by Ajahn Jotipālo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Chao Khun Upāli] [Ajahn Mun] [Forest versus city monks]
Story: Ajahn Mun takes on the role of abbot at a city temple out of respect for Chao Khun Upāli’s request. [Abbot]
Playable
2. (3:44) Recollection: Background of Wat Keun. [Wat Keun] // [Ajahn Chah] [Monastic titles] [Environment] [Ajahn Puriso] [Military] [Animal]
Story: Ajahn Chah ordains a group of university students and takes them to Wat Keun. [Temporary ordination]
Playable
5. (5:43) “Did Ajahn Chah ever tell a student to study?” [Ajahn Chah] [Learning] // [Eightfold Path] [Study monks] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
Quote: “These are not absolute statements. When Ajahn Chah says something, he’s pointing. He just doesn’t work that way. And we take it as an absolute.” [Teaching Dhamma] [Proliferation]
Story: Ajahn Chah monks who became study monks. [Ajahn Bunjong] [Ajahn Mahā In]
Playable
1. (1:39) Ajahn Pasanno describes the atmosphere of Cold War fear. [Fear] [Politics and society] [Military] // [Culture/West] [Amaravati] [Ajahn Sumedho]
Playable
5. (8:09) “How does one work with dullness and drowsiness in sitting meditation?” [Sloth and torpor] [Posture/Sitting] // [Hindrances] [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Ajahn Chah] [Posture/Walking] [Culture/Natural environment] [Posture/Standing] [Continuity of mindfulness]
Sutta: AN 7.58 Capala Sutta: “Are you nodding, Moggallana?” [Great disciples]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno walks in the forest without a flashlight to dispel drowsiness. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Dtao Dum] [Devotion to wakefulness]
Playable
5. (8:03) “Did Ajahn Mahā Boowa always praise the dtuaṅga practices?” [Ascetic practices] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Mun] // [Qualities for non-decline]
Story: Ajahn Mun tells Ajahn Mahā Boowa to stop sweeping when he is sick with malaria. [Sickness] [Ardency] [Attachment to rites and rituals]
Story: Ajahn Mahā Boowa takes on the dtok bhat practice, but Ajahn Mun puts food in his bowl. Told by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Almsfood] [Conceit]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno meets a monk who didn’t need to sleep. [Devotion to wakefulness] [Sense restraint] [Concentration]
Story: Pa Auk Sayadaw didn’t sleep during a Rains Retreat. [Pa Auk Sayadaw]
Playable
1. (1:12) Story: Ajahn Chah asks Ajahn Mun whether he should reordain as a Dhammayut monk. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Mun] [Thai sects]
Playable
2. (1:27) Ajahn Pasanno gives more information about the cremation ground story. [Ajahn Chah] [Personality] [Postulants]
Playable
2. (4:34) “How common is burial as opposed to cremation in Thailand?” [Culture/Thailand] [Funerals] // [Death] [Suicide] [Ghost] [Rebirth]
Story: A person killed by a gunshot wound doesn’t realize that he is dead.
Playable
5. (2:08) “Did Ajahn Chah say, “I’m such a good teacher because I had so many defilements?”” [Ajahn Chah] [Teaching Dhamma] [Unwholesome Roots]
Story: Ajahn Chah explains that he had a lot of defilements to work with. [Ajahn Viradhammo]
Playable
4. (3:02) The trio of Ajahn Anan, Ajahn Dtun, and Ajahn Piak. [Ajahn Anan] [Ajahn Dtun] [Ajahn Piak] [Wat Pah Pong] [Spiritual friendship] [Ajahn Chah]
Quote: “Ajahn Dtun’s path is the path of wisdom...Ajahn Piak is gifted in samādhi. And I have very strong faith.” — Ajahn Anan [Discernment] [Concentration] [Faith]
Playable
2. (1:17) Story: Ajahn Somboon spends a vassa at Wat Pah Pong. Told by Ajahn Ñāṇiko and Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Somboon] [Wat Pah Pong] // [Abbot] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Ardency]
Playable
5. (4:31) “Did you think of relocating Wat Pah Nanachat to Wat Keun?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Wat Keun] // [Seclusion] [Ajahn Puriso] [Deva]
Story: Ajahn Chah asks Ajahn Pasanno to take over as abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat. [Ajahn Chah] [Abbot]
Story: Supporters offer Ajahn Pasanno several properties to start monasteries, but he passes them to others. [Generosity] [Culture/Natural environment] [Ajahn Gavesako] [Ajahn Liem] [Environment]
Playable
9. (2:23) Story: After staying up two nights in a row, Ajahn Boon Choo nods in meditation then establishes samādhi and sits without moving. [Ajahn Boon Choo] [Sloth and torpor] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Concentration] // [Ajahn Kinaree] [Kaṭhina] [Wat Pah Pong]
Playable
10. (1:49) “Did Luang Por Liem ask Luang Por Boon Choo to stay back when Luang Por Chah became ill?” [Ajahn Liem] [Ajahn Boon Choo] [Wat Pah Pong] [Ajahn Chah] [Sickness] // [Wat Pahk Kut Wai] [Upasikā Kee Nanayon] [Geography/Thailand]
Story: Karaoke bars spring up around Wat Pahk Kut Wai. [Seclusion]
Playable
11. (3:01) Story: A Saṅgha meeting decides that Ajahn Boon Choo should look after Wat Keun. [Ajahn Boon Choo] [Wat Keun] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Saṅgha decision making] [Respect for elders] // [Ajahn Puriso] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Wat Pah Pong]
Playable
4. (1:16) Ajahn Pasanno describes the meditation method he used during his first year as a monk. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Meditation/Techniques] // [Contact] [Feeling] [Movement meditation] [Concentration]
Playable
7. (3:33) “Was there a time in Thailand when no one had any noble attainments?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Jotipālo and Ajahn Cunda. [History/Thai Buddhism] [Stages of awakening] // [Chao Khun Upāli] [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Media]
Story: Prince Mongkut ordains seven times. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Vajirayan] [Ordination] [Doubt]
Playable
3. (3:29) “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?” [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]
Playable
1. (2:58) Recollection: Saṅgha gatherings at Wat Pah Pong on Ajahn Chah’s birthday. [Wat Pah Pong] [Saṅgha] [Ajahn Chah] // [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Protocols] [Meditation]
Recollection: Inspecting almsbowls after the meal to see if there was any food left. [Almsbowl] [Food]
Playable
2. (5:24) “Did I understand correctly, that this talk was originally given in Lao?” [Language] // [Ajahn Chah] [Thai] [Admonishment/feedback]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno translates the talk “Two Faces of Reality“ for the book Bodhinyana. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Translation]
Story: Chao Khun Nor eats the same meal every day. [Chao Khun Nor] [Food] [Seclusion] [Pūjā]
Playable
4. (1:43) “Was your eight years living with novices like how it was described in this reading [‘Toilets on the Path‘]?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Novices] // [Thai]
Story: Ajahn Preecha comes to Wat Pah Pong at the age of 11 or 12. [Ajahn Preecha] [Postulants] [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Pah Pong]
Playable
7. (1:52) “How did Ajahn Chah communicate with his branch monasteries and how often?” [Ajahn Chah] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Monastery organizational structure] // [Abbot] [Technology]
Story: Growth of Wat Pah Pong branch monasteries from 1975 to 1980. [Wat Pah Nanachat]
Playable
10. (4:19) “So they do temporary ordinations in Thailand?” [Culture/Thailand] [Temporary ordination] [Novices]
Follow-up: “What would be the duration, was there a range?” [Wat Pah Pong] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Ajahn Chah ordains 80 temporary monks for his mother’s funeral. [Parents] [Death] [Funerals]
Follow-up: “Did they come in as anāgārikas or sāmaṇeras?” [Sequence of training] [Postulants]
Story: Ajahn Chah takes on temporary ordinations for three years.
Playable
11. (2:26) “Did they do temporary ordinations at Wat Pah Nanachat?” [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Temporary ordination] // [Novices] [Ajahn Kevali] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
Story: Ajahn Siripañño’s first ordination was as a temporary novice. [Ajahn Siripañño]
Playable
2. (10:05) “There were a number of different alms routes out of Wat Pah Pong. How was it decided who went on each one and how was the food distributed for the meal?” [Wat Pah Pong] [Almsround] [Almsfood] [Saṅgha decision making] // [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ajahn Liem]
Discussion of almsfood distribution at different monasteries. Led by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Pesalo. [Ajahn Tongrat] [Wat Pah Ban Tat]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno helped pass out food at Wat Pah Pong. [Ajahn Pasanno]
Story: Ajahn Tongrat exposes a monk concealing fish in his ball of sticky rice. [Food] [Admonishment/feedback]
Comments by Ajahn Pesalo and Ajahn Pasanno about food distribution at Wat Baan Tat. [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
Quote: “It’s incredibly tiresome how organized we [Westerners] have to be....Organic spontaneity–that’s how things work in Thailand.” [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand]
Playable
5. (1:19) Recollections: Deciding who went on the different alms routes at Wat Pah Pong. Recounted by Ajahn Ñāṇiko and Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Pong] [Almsround] // [Rains retreat]
Playable
1. (6:27) “Are there any stories you can share from the times when you were attendant to Luang Por Chah?” [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Upatakh] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Mentoring]
Quote: “I never asked him for anything. It never occured to me to ask Ajahn Chah for anything.” [Contentment]
Story: Ajahn Chah makes fun of Ajahn Pasanno’s first Pāṭimokkha chanting. [Pāṭimokkha]
Quote: “He would be unrelenting if you were stuck in some aversion....He wouldn’t indulge it. It was inevitably painful if one did.” [Aversion] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Playable
2. (6:08) “Were there any other ways in which he tormented you specifically?” [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Story: Ajahn Chah won’t let Ajahn Pasanno go to a branch monastery to escape the misery of the hot season. [Culture/Natural environment] [Work] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Restlessness and worry] [Aversion]
Story: Ajahn Chah calls Ajahn Pasanno lazy. [Pūjā]
Quote: “Do you give up?” — Ajahn Chah to Ajahn Pasanno. [Vinaya] [Relinquishment]
Playable
3. (2:31) “Would Luang Por Chah teach or test monks and students in different ways?” [Ajahn Chah] [Mentoring] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Recollection: Joseph Kappel shakes with fear when on the receiving end of Ajahn Chah’s admonishments. [Joseph Kappel] [Admonishment/feedback] [Fear]
Playable
4. (5:45) Recollections of Ajahn Chah charming people. [Ajahn Chah] [Personal presence]
Story: “I’ll have her bowing before the end.” — Ajahn Chah speaking of George Sharp’s daughter who travelled with George to Thailand. [George Sharp] [Bowing]
Note: Compare to George Sharp’s version in The Chithurst Story by George Sharp, p. 67.
Quote: “Thank you. That was the most delicious meal I’ve had here.” — Ajahn Chah to an anxious English donor. [Food] [Gratitude] [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand]
Playable
7. (1:05) Comment: I heard he [Ajahn Waen] was flying on an airplane engine, investigating it, and they had to ask him to leave it alone. [Psychic powers]
Story: When Ajahn Fun tries to investigate a bus engine with his mind, the engine stops repeatedly. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Fun] [Technology]
Playable
6. (3:28) Recollection: Traditions around dying in Thailand. [Culture/Thailand] [Death] // [Tranquility] [Chanting] [Teaching Dhamma] [Clear comprehension] [Rebirth]
Playable
11. (3:25) “Is there a meditation practice to use with someone who is dying?” [Meditation] [Death] // [Faith] [Simplicity] [Happiness] [Recollection/Death] [Ageing] [Sickness]
Story about Ram Dass’s dying mother: “Richard, shut up!” [Ram Dass] [Fear] [Restlessness and worry]
Playable
13. (2:36) Comment: We can’t know the kamma or state of mind of someone who is dying. Because the dying person’s consciousness can be very open, it’s useful to remind them of their wholesome actions. Contributed by Jeanne Daskais. [Kamma] [Consciousness] [Spaciousness] [Recollection/Virtue] [Death]
Story: Sri Lankans keep a lifelong record of the good things they have done. Friends and relatives read this to them at the time of death. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Skillful qualities] [History/Sri Lankan Buddhism]
Playable
15. (5:02) “Living in the West, chances are most of us will die in a hospital, which could be quite chaotic. Any advice?” [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.
Playable
21. (3:50) “Can you dedicate merit to someone who is approaching death?” [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]
Playable
25. (5:06) Comment: Merit is faith driven, so there aren’t any limitations to where that can take you, and it has real value. [Merit] [Faith] [Realms of existence] [Death]
Story: Two Thai doctors take temporary ordination to make merit to rejoin their deceased brother in a future life. [Culture/Thailand] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Temporary ordination] [Family] [Rebirth]
Story: The mother of a woman killed in a bus crash dedicates merit so that the dead woman will be reborn in the family. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ghost] [Relinquishment] [Ceremony/ritual] [Kamma] [Volition]
Quote: “We live in a fairly limited concept of the world; it’s very material in the West. There’s a lot more happening than what we can see.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Nature of the cosmos] [Culture/West]
Playable
7. (2:29) “Could you say a few words about the structure of the Thai Saṅgha and where the Thai Forest Tradition fits in?” [History/Thai Buddhism] [Types of monks] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Kinaree] [Ajahn Tongrat] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Ajahn Chah asks Ajahn Mun, “Shall I reordain in the Dhammayut Order to live with you?” He responds, “Mahānikāya needs good monks also.” [Ordination] [Thai sects]
Playable
9. (1:45) Story: Ajahn Mun becomes enlightened and goes back to teach his teacher. [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Sao] [Liberation] [Thai Forest Tradition]
Story: Ajahn Mun’s relics [Relics] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Abhayagiri]
Playable
12. (3:08) “Was Ajahn Mun well respected by the Buddhist establishment or was he more of a renegade?” [Ajahn Mun] [History/Thai Buddhism] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Thai sects] [Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo]
Story: Ajahn Mun leaves the day after he is appointed abbot. [Abbot] [Seclusion]
Playable
18. (1:05) Story: Ajahn Mahā Boowa bows to a newly-discovered photograph of Ajahn Mun. [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Devotional practice] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Bowing]
Playable
8. (5:47) Story: Ajahn Toon tries to disrobe repeatedly, but Ajahn Chah won’t let him. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Toon] [Disrobing] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Patience] [Three Refuges] [Ajahn Tongrat] [Posture/Walking] [Gratitude] [Respect]
Playable
4. (2:54) Story: Ajahn Ñāṇiko’s tudong up the California coast. [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] [Tudong] [Abhayagiri]
Reference: “Circles of Blessing: Our Redwood Tudong“
Playable
6. (1:30) Story: The two-month tudong to Pacific Hermitage [Tudong] [Abhayagiri] [Pacific Hermitage] // [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] [Almsround]
Playable
10. (4:17) “Is there a requirement for monks in the Forest Tradition to walk tudong?” [Thai Forest Tradition] [Tudong] // [Ascetic practices] [Ajahn Chah] [Restlessness and worry]
Story: Ajahn Chah tells a monk to pack his gear and walk tudong within Wat Pah Pong.
Story: Ajahn Chah lets a restless three-Vassa Western monk go tudong. [Teaching Dhamma]
Playable
10. (5:15) “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!” [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]
Playable
1. (1:56) Description of the Ajahn Chah Remembrance Day at Wat Pah Pong. [Ajahn Chah Remembrance Day] [Wat Pah Pong] [Ajahn Chah] // [Devotional practice] [Gratitude]
Playable
6. (1:08) Story: Ajahn Sumedho brings a “farang Buddha” to Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Buddha images] [Ajahn Chah] [Culture/West]
Playable
7. (3:11) Ajahn Sucitto speaks of feeling water washing through you [as a way of releasing tension related to effort]. Comment by Debbie Stamp. [Ajahn Sucitto] [Elements] [Right Effort]
Story: Khun Kesari’s brother enters concentration by visualizing drinking a glass of water. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Concentration] [Visualization]
Story: Kesari’s mother walked into Wat Ban Tad before there was a road. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Ban Tat] [Relics]
Playable
1. (2:09) “What are the rewards for the skillful monk?” [Monastic life] [Skillful qualities] [Right Mindfulness] // [Happiness] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Concentration]
Sutta: SN 47.8: Simile of the skillful cook. [Similes] [Similes]
Story: Ajahn Mun criticizes Ajahn Mahā Boowa for developing meditation like a tree stump. [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Admonishment/feedback]
Playable
1. (5:07) “Do the mental faculties of meditators diminish as they age?” [Ageing] [Memory] [Long-term practice] // [Ajahn Chah] [Sickness] [Preah Mahāghosānanda] [Personal presence]
Story: H. H. The Dalai Lama meets Preah Mahāghosānanda. [Dalai Lama]
Playable
2. (4:38) “Why did the Buddha ask the monk to develop meditation in many ways [in AN 8.63]?” [Meditation] [Meditation/General advice] [Buddha/Biography] // [Directed thought and evaluation] [Rapture] [Happiness] [Equanimity] [Jhāna] [Calming meditation] [Cessation of Suffering]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah would rarely label meditation states. [Ajahn Chah]
Playable
5. (2:04) “Related to the need to emerge from neither-perception-nor-non-perception and cessation of perception to contemplate the five khandhas [in AN 9.36], don’t some of the commentaries imply that that’s what you do with first jhāna; that insight is not possible even in first jhāna?” [Formless attainments] [Aggregates] [Insight meditation] [Commentaries] [Jhāna] // [Views]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah emphasized that every step of the way there has to be awareness. Awareness has to form the basis of the whole practice. [Ajahn Chah] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Right Concentration] [Right View]
Playable
2. (4:29) Reflections on the value of samaṇas in Indian culture. [Culture/India] [Perception of a samaṇa] // [Commentaries] [Buddha] [Virtue] [Truth] [Hospitality]
Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno was really cared for during his tudong in Northern India. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Tudong] [Not handling money]
Playable
2. (2:18) “Can sharing merit with many types of beings tie one to society?” [Merit] // [Right Effort] [Right Intention]
Story: Lama Zopa delights in sharing merit. [Lama Zopa]
Playable
2. (9:09) Discussion about kamma and the results of kamma. Led by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo, Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Kamma] [Conditionality] [Feeling] // [Abuse/violence] [Abhidhamma] [Ajahn Chah] [Vajrayāna] [Sickness] [Compassion] [Culture/India] [Equanimity] [Disasters] [Christianity]
Quote: “Too much Dhamma.” — Ajahn Buddhadāsa. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Buddhadāsa]
Sutta: AN 4.77 Acinteyya: “Vexation or madness.”
Story: Ajahn Chah to Ajahn Munindo: “If it wasn’t supposed to be this way, it wouldn’t have been this way.” Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Munindo] [Self-pity]
Thai saying: “That’s as far as their merit takes them.” [Culture/Thailand] [Death] [Merit] [Thai]
Playable
1. (4:55) “What was the context in which this reflection was given by Ajahn Chah?” [Ajahn Chah] // [Leadership] [Culture/Thailand] [History/Thai Buddhism]
Recollection: When Ajahn Pasanno first became abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat, he gave monthly teachings at the World Fellowsip of Buddhists. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Abbot] [Teaching Dhamma]
Playable
2. (1:21) “Was there a time when monks could wander the entire year in Thailand unhindered?” [History/Thai Buddhism] [Tudong] [Culture/Natural environment]
Story: Ajahn Kinaree wanders from Thailand to India. [Ajahn Kinaree]
Playable
8. (0:49) “Is it possible to travel in India by bicycle?” [Culture/India] [Travel] [Visiting holy sites]
Story: Ajahn Tiradhammo bicycled around India as a layperson. [Ajahn Tiradhammo]
Playable
1. (0:43) Story: Ajahn Chah tells a restless junior monk to go tudong around the monastery. [Ajahn Chah] [Restlessness and worry] [Sequence of training] [Tudong]
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2. (2:27) Story: Ajahn Chah lets a restless junior Western monk go tudong in the hot season with strict conditions. [Ajahn Chah] [Restlessness and worry] [Sequence of training] [Tudong]
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4. (1:36) Story: Ajahn Mun didn’t stay consecutive Rains Retreats in the same place until he was close to 70. [Ajahn Mun] [Rains retreat] [Tudong]
Playable
5. (3:17) Story: Lay disciples ask Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo to take them on tudong but bring too much baggage. [Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo] [Lay life] [Simplicity] [Tudong] // [Ajahn Mun] [History/Thai Buddhism]
Playable
6. (1:19) Story: Ajahn Chah packs too much gear on his first tudong. [Ajahn Chah] [Simplicity] [Contentment] [Tudong]
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7. (2:56) Recollection: Ajahn Chah laments that the forests in Thailand are being destroyed so quickly that there’s not much place for monks to wander any more. [Ajahn Chah] [History/Thai Buddhism] [Environment] [Culture/Natural environment] [Tudong] // [Culture/Thailand] [Ajahn Dtun]
Quote: “Nowadays it’s hard to tudong because you taludong (go through the forest).” — Ajahn Chah [Thai]
Playable
13. (4:14) “After the initial impulse and intention to go tudong, once it’s going to happen, is there an upwelling of uncertainty?” [Doubt] [Tudong] // [Renunciation] [Impermanence] [Clinging] [Learning] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Chao Khun Nor stayed in his kuti and ate the same thing every day. [Chao Khun Nor] [History/Thai Buddhism]
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15. (21:33) Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s tudong in India with Ajahn Jayasaro. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Culture/India] [Tudong] // [Impermanence] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Not handling money] [Hinduism] [Islam] [Shelter] [Trust] [Almsround] [Visiting holy sites] [Compassion] [Devotional practice]
Story: An Indian Kshetriya notices that Ajahn Pasanno’s etiquitte matches his training. [Vinaya] [Buddha/Biography]
Story: Ajahn Jayasaro tries to explain cricket to Ajahn Pasanno. [Recreation/leisure/sport]
Playable
18. (1:36) “You slept outdoors?” [Shelter] [Culture/India] [Tudong]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jayasaro stay the night at the Buddha’s kuti. [Visiting holy sites] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Buddha/Biography] [Great disciples]
Playable
6. (2:21) “How did you get through the 106° heat? Did you have a different schedule?” [Abhayagiri] [Culture/Natural environment] // [Mindfulness of breathing] [Work]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno attends a very hot ordination at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. [Ajahn Pasanno] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas] [Ordination]
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1. (10:31) “I’ve been struggling with sleepiness while trying to meditate, having the intention to be present and aware, but finding myself dozing off.” [Sloth and torpor] [Clear comprehension] [Meditation retreats] // [Conditionality] [Lay life] [Craving not to become] [Directed thought and evaluation]
Story: Ajahn Boon Choo meditates through tiredness after staying up for days. [Ajahn Boon Choo] [Kaṭhina] [Wat Pah Pong] [Energy] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Ardency]
Quote: “The boundaries we set for ourselves are oftentime much smaller than what we can actually deal with, work with, or be with.” [Self-identity view] [Clinging] [Patience]
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2. (9:39) “A film came out recently called Monk with a Camera. How does one balance between pursuing one’s artistic interests and sincerely following a path of relinquishment.” [Monastic life] [Renunciation] [Artistic expression] // [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment] [Entertainment and adornment] [Generosity] [Energy] [Devotional practice]
Story: Rev. Heng Sure uses music to teach Dhamma. [Rev. Heng Sure] [Teaching Dhamma]
Story: Two Abhayagiri monks learn icon painting from the abbot of the Ukrainian Uniate monastery next door. [Abhayagiri] [Ajahn Jotipālo] [Christianity]
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3. (6:40) “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?” [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]
Playable
6. (2:48) Comment about the expectations people may have of Buddhists. [Precepts] [Virtue] [Idealism] [Buddhist identity]
Story: An American asks Ajahn Chah why there are so many thieves in Thailand. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand] [Stealing]
Playable
4. (5:14) “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]
Reference: Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast (commercial). [Ageing] [Sickness] [Parents] [Health care]
Playable
1. (2:28) Story: A man in an airport asks Ajahn Chah, “If everyone is Buddhist, why are there so many thieves in Thailand?” [Ajahn Chah] [Culture/Thailand] [Stealing] [Virtue] [Precepts]
Playable
6. (7:41) Story: Ajahn Pasanno visits the elderly Cambodian monk Mahāgossānanda who has Alzheimer’s disease. [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]
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10. (2:27) Story: Someone asks Ajahn Pasanno, “You’ve been putting a lot of effort into protecting forests in Thailand. Do you think the forests will be protected?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Culture/Thailand] [Environment] [Activism] [Politics and society] // [Learning] [Right Livelihood]
Playable
11. (1:17) Story: Ajahn Pasanno returns to Dtao Dum and sees the forest regenerated. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Dtao Dum] [Environment] [Politics and society] // [Industry] [Happiness] [Conditionality]
Playable
13. (3:55) “Did Ajahn Chah ever speak about politics?” [Ajahn Chah] [Politics and society] // [Fear] [Proliferation] [History/Thai Buddhism] [Military]
Story: Driving through military checkpoints on the way to Ajahn Fun’s funeral. [Ajahn Fun] [Funerals] [Ajahn Pasanno]
Playable
15. (4:21) “One of the reflections that was sent online described Ajahn Chah’s response to monks who wanted to go out and help refugees. Can you speak to this?” [Ajahn Chah] [Monastic life] [Service] [Politics and society] // [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Military] [Conflict]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno spends time at a Cambodian refugee camp. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Preah Mahāghosānanda]
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1. (11:45) “What meaningful impact do Buddhist monks have on the community?” [Monastic life] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Community] [Saṅgha] // [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Abhayagiri]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s first visit to Wat Pah Pong. [Wat Pah Pong]
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3. (4:35) “When you first ordained, you were just starting to learn about Buddhism. What changed that made you want to dive in?” [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Meditation/Results] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: “If you want to stay with me, you have to stay at least five years.” — Ajahn Chah
Playable
4. (5:54) “Will we get to see your kuti today?” [Abhayagiri] [Shelter]
Story: Early history of Abhayagiri Monastery. [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Master Hsuan Hua] [Seclusion] [Culture/Natural environment]
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5. (1:54) “What was the hardest thing to give up?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Renunciation] // [Family]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s first visit back to Canada.
Playable
7. (6:23) “I have doubts about the concept of personal property. How does activism following the Five Precepts work in a country whose water supply has been bought out by private interests?” [Politics and society] [Environment] [Five Precepts] // [Community] [Virtue] [Discernment]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno investigates a logging operation at Dtao Dtum. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Culture/Thailand] [Dtao Dum]
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11. (12:15) “Can you talk about your environmental work in Thailand? What qualities of heart and inner strength help us live without being completely overwhelmed?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Environment] [History/Thai Buddhism] // [Politics and society] [Greed] [Teaching Dhamma] [Panyaprateep School] [Food] [Dtao Dum]
Story: Sri Lankan monastic kidney donors. [Health] [History/Sri Lankan Buddhism]
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13. (1:21) Story: Ajahn Pasanno teaches communication skills to Thai villagers. [Ajahn Pasanno] [History/Thai Buddhism] [Media] [Community] // [Environment] [Politics and society]
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14. (4:07) “What are the biggest misconceptions about being ordained?” [Monastic life] // [Selfishness]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno visits Ajahn Buddhadāsa: “Don’t be selfish!” [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Ajahn Pasanno]
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17. (2:24) “Have you broken any precepts where only you know if you broke them?” [Vinaya] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Right Speech]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s uncle offers him alchohol. [Intoxicants] [Truth]
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5. (5:07) “What about Sarakāni (SN 55.24-25), the stream enterer who took to drink?” [Stream entry] [Intoxicants] // [Ajahn Chah] [Precepts]
Story: Ajahn Chah takes in a gangster. [Crime]
Playable
9. (4:29) “When the suttas describe a practitioner as “having gone beyond doubt,” (e.g. DN 3) what do they mean?” [Doubt] [Sutta] // [Four Noble Truths] [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: An Ajahn Chah monk accused of a heavy offense. [Vinaya]
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2. (6:34) “Who were imporant mentors for you?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Teachers] [Mentoring] [Monastic life] // [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Jun] [Ajahn Mahā Amorn] [Ajahn Liem] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Baen] [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [P. A. Payutto] [Wat Pah Pong]
Story: Ajahn Mahā Amorn goes to study with Ajahn Chah. [Learning]
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3. (27:35) “Two questions: 1) What strengths do you see in other Buddhist traditions and Western culture that our tradition could benefit from? 2) How have you decided which aspects of korwat (protocols) from Thailand to adjust and which to maintain?” [Mahāyāna] [Vajrayāna] [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand] [Monastic life] [Vinaya] [Protocols] // [Abhayagiri] [Women in Buddhism] [Robes] [Cultural context] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas] [Dōgen] [Zen] [Ajahn Sumedho] [History/Western Buddhism] [Simplicity] [Christianity] [Renunciation] [Eight Precepts] [Not handling money] [Chithurst] [Ajahn Amaro] [Communal harmony]
Quote: “There are so many good things to do that you could be running around the country doing good things. I’d rather focus my attention here.” [Pace of life]
Quote: “There’s no reason to fit into American culture.”
Story: The monastic jacket is vindicated in England. [Culture/Natural environment] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
Quote: “As Buddhist monastics and Buddhist practitioners, we’re trying to set conditions that give us the opportunity for learning.” [Lay life] [Learning]
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1. (11:57) “What can we learn when we pay respects to mentors?” [Respect for elders] [Monastic life] // [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Almsround] [Ajahn Pasanno]
Story: Ajahn Mahā Boowa visits after Ajahn Chah’s death. [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Ajahn Baen admonishes Ajahn Pasanno at Ajahn Chah’s cremation. [Ajahn Baen] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Quote: “You don’t have to visit me! You know what to do already! It’s all right here (pointing at his heart).” — Ajahn Baen to Ajahn Pasanno
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1. (11:26) “How does upatakhing fit into our training and what can we learn from it?” [Upatakh] [Vinaya] [Respect for elders] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] // [Culture/Thailand] [Conceit] [Generosity] [Protocols] [Discernment] [Mindfulness]
Vinaya: Cv 8: Vattakkhandhaka - Protocols
Story: Ajahn Lee upataks Ajahn Mun. [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo]
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3. (6:46) “Can you talk about Ajahn Chah’s use of bowing, communal pūjās, and chores?” [Ajahn Chah] [Chanting] [Saṅgha] [Work] [Monastic life] [Bowing] // [Becoming] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Respect for elders]
Story: A Westerner asks Ajahn Chah, “Why do we bow?”
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6. (10:38) “What about relics?” [Relics] [Monastic life] // [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Khao] [Mae Chee Kaew] [Master Hsuan Hua] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s mother observes multiplying relics.
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7. (6:02) “What is the role of admonishement? How do we admonish skillfully?” [Admonishment/feedback] [Right Intention] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] // [Respect for elders]
Story: Ajahn Amaro waits a year before giving feedback. [Ajahn Amaro]
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2. (7:35) “How do we discern the benefit of dhutaṅga practices and how much is too much?” [Discernment] [Middle Path] [Monastic life] [Ascetic practices] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Almsround] [History/Early Buddhism] [Gladdening the mind] [Ajahn Chah] [Master Hsuan Hua]
Story: Ajahn Jayasaro determines sitter’s practice until Ajahn Chah dies. [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Respect for elders] [Determination]
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3. (4:57) 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]
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8. (7:24) “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]
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16. (5:59) “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]
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14. (2:20) Story: Ajahn Chah has all his teeth pulled out. [Ajahn Chah] [Health] // [Suffering]
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1. (1:13) Recollection: Ajahn Mun chants for an hour before meditating. [Ajahn Mun] [Meditation] [Devotional practice] [Chanting]
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2. (1:31) Story: The Buddha asks a monk to recite the Aṭṭhakavagga (Snp Chapter 4) (Ud 5.6). [Buddha/Biography] [Monastic life] [Sutta] [Chanting]
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3. (1:37) Story of an Indian Brahman novice at Tisarana Monastery who is adept at chanting. [Culture/India] [Tisarana] [Chanting]
Playable
4. (2:06) Story: Learning the Paṭimokkha. [Pāṭimokkha] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Chanting] // [Ajahn Chah] [Culture/India]
Responses by Ajahn Ñāṇiko, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Kaccāna.
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5. (2:30) Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s mother notices that he chants in tune. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Family] [Chanting] // [Almsfood] [Mindfulness]
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6. (4:32) 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]
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7. (1:51) Story: Chanting sustains a long-time disciple of Ajahn Chah living as a businessman in Bangkok. [Ajahn Chah] [Lay life] [Culture/Thailand] [Chanting] // [Suffering]
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6. (1:09) 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]
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8. (5:24) 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]
Playable
9. (2:20) Story: Founding Dtao Dum Monastery [Dtao Dum] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Culture/Natural environment] [Environment] [Commerce/economics]
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13. (8:39) “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]
Playable
14. (4:27) “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]
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7. (8:15) “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]
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3. (11:51) “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.”
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5. (4:48) “I recently went to a Zen gathering. My understanding is that they don’t focus on the Four Noble Truths. They try to be present in the moment and get to some sort of no-mind state. How did this arise and why is it considered Buddhism?” [Zen] [Four Noble Truths] [Present moment awareness] [History/Mahāyāna Buddhism] // [Emptiness] [Buddha]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno visits a Dzogchen master who says, “Whatever teachings you hear, if they don’t fit into or fulfill the Four Noble Truths, then it’s just not Buddhism.” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Vajrayāna] [Hearing the true Dhamma]
Playable
6. (4:29) “How do we deal with a world full of view and opinions?” [Views] // [Idealism] [Conditionality] [Impermanence] [Truth]
Story: Sariputta doesn’t approve of a teaching of the Buddha until he puts it into practice himself. Told by Ajahn Chah. [Great disciples] [Teaching Dhamma] [Direct experience] [Faith] [Ajahn Chah]
Playable
6. (7:50) “Is there something called fierce compassion in the Theravāda tradition? If so, how is that different from resentment or anger?” [Fierce/direct teaching] [Compassion] [Theravāda] [Ill-will] [Aversion] // [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Suffering] [Teaching Dhamma] [Admonishment/feedback] [Spiritual bypass] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Ajahn Chah calls newly-arrived Tan Pasanno lazy. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Chanting]
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3. (9:41) “Did vibhavatanha arise in any of the monks at the loss of the Buddha? How do we notice vibhavatanha in practice, and what is a wise and compassionate response?” [Craving not to become] [Death] [Grief] [Sutta] [Buddha/Biography] // [Stream entry] [Stages of awakening] [Recollection/Dhamma] [Three Refuges] [Precepts] [Spiritual friendship] [Devotional practice] [Suffering]
Sutta: DN 16: Mahāparinibbāna Sutta [Nibbāna]
Story: The funeral of a close Wat Pah Nanachat supporter. [Funerals] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
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1. (21:54) “You have so much community-building experience. Can you talk about what you have found challenging or effective in this? How did Ajahn Chah build community?” [Community] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] // [Saṅgha] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Virtue] [Trust] [Communal harmony] [Compassion] [Culture/Thailand] [Ajahn Chah lineage] [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Sequence of training] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Abhayagiri] [Eightfold Path] [Learning]
Sutta: MN 48: Kosambiya Sutta [Goodwill] [Generosity] [Right View]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno pays respects to Ajahn Chah: “If you want to stay here, you have to stay at least five years.”
Quote: “The whole path of the Buddha is a path of learning, of education.”
Playable
1. (8:01) “In reference to the fragrance of the flower....There are many roses in the courtyard across the street....Why do we cultivate beauty? Where does beauty arise from?” [Beauty] // [Clinging] [Happiness] [Master Hsuan Hua] [Empathetic joy] [Unconditioned]
Sutta: MN 37: Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya. (Nothing whatsoever should be clung to.)
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s mother sends his old letters to Abhayagiri. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abhayagiri]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah was unshakeable in the midst of all the things that were happening around him and responded warmly and compassionately to the people around him. [Ajahn Chah] [Equanimity] [Compassion] [Family] [Monastic life/Motivation]