Includes tags: Communal harmony, Saṅgha, Fourfold Assembly, Principles of Cordiality, Saṅgha decision making, Abbot, Monastery organizational structure
2. “Did Ajahn Chah pass his teaching style to you or do you use your own separate style?” Answered by Ajahn Sumedho and Paul Breiter. [Personality] [Ajahn Chah] [Teaching Dhamma]
Story: Ajahn Sumedho, first abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat. Told by Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Abbot] [Wat Pah Nanachat ] [Sequence of training] [Culture/West] [Joseph Kappel] [Aversion] [Suffering] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Humor]
Quote: “The special thing about Luang Por Chah was that he was at ease and completely himself.” — Ajahn Sumedho. [Contentment]
Response by Paul Breiter: “The elements are there, but different teachers are expressing them in a living way.”
1. “Why was Ajahn Chah not allowed to ordain monks and ostracized?” Answered by Ajahn Sumedho. [Ordination] [Ajahn Chah] // [History/Thai Buddhism] [Monastic titles] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Saṅgha]
4. “As a guilt-ridden American, how do you respond to personal mistakes without guilt?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Culture/West] [Great disciples] // [Saṅgha] [Conscience and prudence] [Pāli] [Skillful qualities] [Self-identity view] [Respect] [Perception] [Virtue] [Buddha]
Story: A monk falsely accuses Sāriputta (AN 9.11). [Forgiveness]
4. “If one were to become a monastic at Abhayagiri, how would one go about it? What are the day-to-day activities of a monk? What do I need to know and consider before making such a commitment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Abhayagiri] [Monastic routine] // [Sequence of training] [Saṅgha decision making] [Mentoring] [Robes]
1. “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.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
13. “In your opinion, why do you think Mogallana is portrayed in the scriptures as mostly an idiot/unwise and Sariputta is portrayed as wise?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Tipiṭaka] [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 [Saṅgha] [Vinaya]
Story: Moggallāna sees a yakkha clobber Sāriputta. Ud 4.4 [Non-human beings]
1. Question about how Ajahn Chah taught to deal with people externally. Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Community] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Mun] [Virtue] [Doubt] [Monastic life] [Views]
Story: A ghost tries to align the visitors sleeping in his hall. [Culture/Thailand] [Lodging] [Ghost] [Communal harmony]
Quote: “You have to have an anchor in your own practice.” [Similes]
3. Comment: Living on faith increases your potential anxiety level. I came to Buddhism thinking this would settle my life, but I realize that being open, aware, and sensitive to the world keeps bringing me new challenges. [Faith] [Restlessness and worry] [Everyday life] [Conscience and prudence] [Tudong]
Sutta: Dhp 244-245: Life is easy for for one without shame. [Conceit] [Virtue]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno: “You get more than what you bargained for.” [Happiness] [Culture/West] [Communal harmony] [Trust] [Concentration] [Ardency] [Energy] [Discernment] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Right Effort]
Sutta: AN 11.1: Virtue leads to non-remorse and samādhi.
7. “Did the Dhammayut/Mahanikai differences matter to serious practice monks?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Thai sects] [Monastic life] // [Pāṭimokkha] [Saṅgha] [Ajahn Baen] [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa]
7. “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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fierce/direct teaching] [Ajahn Chah] // [Respect]
Story: The unpopular branch monastery. [Wat Pah Supattaram] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Building projects] [Abbot] [Fasting]
5. “Did you think of relocating Wat Pah Nanachat to Wat Keuan?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Wat Keuan] // [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]
15. “Living in the West, chances are most of us will die in a hospital, which could be quite chaotic. Any advice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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.
12. “Was Ajahn Mun well respected by the Buddhist establishment or was he more of a renegade?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
11. “How is there clinging to personality?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Clinging] [Personality] [Self-identity view] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Suffering] [Great disciples]
Sutta: The Buddha to Ānanda: “When did Anuruddha ever take an interest in Saṅgha issues?” – AN 4.243: Schism [Saṅgha decision making]
2. “Ajahn Lee’s biography contrasts the lives of city and forest monks. Is the lifesytle here (Abhayagiri) similar to the dhutaṅga monks?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo] [Forest versus city monks] [Abhayagiri] [Ascetic practices] // [Vinaya] [Saṅgha] [Culture/Thailand] [Learning] [Merit] [Nibbāna]
12. “What is the ordination process of someone who wants to become a monk?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sequence of training] [Ordination] // [Abhayagiri] [Saṅgha] [Saṅgha decision making]
13. “I am still very attached to my husband and children. I don’t want to relinquish the intimacy I share with my husband. I will suffer when they are gone. How do I reconcile this practice of relinquishment with the reality that I am a wife, mother and householder? With love.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gratitude] [Family ] [Lay life] [Relinquishment ] // [Spaciousness] [Suffering] [Clinging] [Cause of Suffering] [Communal harmony]
Quote: “Relinquishment is a skillful acknowledgement of the areas where we do create suffering.”
Story: Visākhā, the stream enterer who raised 20 children. [Great disciples] [Stream entry] [Culture/India]
Quote: “Families that grow up with strong spiritual models are an incredible blessing.” [Mentoring]
2. “What is left once there is no self? Is it the same as enlightenment? Can a person still function in a daily life (drive a car for example)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view ] [Stages of awakening]
Quote: “What’s it like being the abbot of a big monastery?” — “I come out of my kuti and I do the things that I need to do, and then I go back to my kuti. And if some people want to call that being an abbot, well that’s their business.” — Ajahn Liem. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ajahn Liem ] [Abbot ] [Wat Pah Pong] [Work] [Conventions] [Simplicity]
1. “What was the context in which this reflection was given by Ajahn Chah?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
6. “Could you describe the progression of anagarika and samanera training?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sequence of training ] [Postulants] [Novices] [Abhayagiri] // [Eight Precepts] [Not handling money] [Ordination] [Saṅgha decision making] [Dependence] [Ajahn Chah monasteries]
5. “Could you tell us your stories related to the King Rama 9 of Thailand?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [King Rama IX] [Culture/Thailand] // [Leadership] [Meditation] [Recreation/leisure/sport] [Commerce/economics]
Story: Thai lay supporters remember King Rama IX at Abhayagiri’s 2016 Kaṭhina. [Abhayagiri] [Kaṭhina]
Story: King Rama IX attends Ajahn Chah’s funeral. [Ajahn Chah] [Funerals] [Wat Pah Pong] [Tranquility]
Story: King Rama IX asks President Nixon for understanding. [Politics and society] [Communal harmony] [Listening]
14. ““There is a crack in everything. That’s where the light gets in.” — Leonard Cohen. Lots of cracks out there. Lots of potential for awakenings and wise compassionate action. Do you agree? If so, where do you see the light emerging? In what arenas? Where would you focus your energy if you were not a monk?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Compassion] [Activism ] [Right Action] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Communal harmony] [Children] [Virtue]
19. “Does gossip include talking about someone who is not present for entertainment value?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Malicious speech ] [Idle chatter] // [Communal harmony] [Abhayagiri]
20. “Is the point of the precepts to create as much well-being and as little pain in your environment as possible?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Precepts ] [Happiness] // [Non-contention] [Communal harmony] [Trust]
28. “What precepts don’t most people know about that have a big effect on your life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Vinaya ] // [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Requisites] [Mindfulness] [Communal harmony]
4. “Is there a way to skillfully form and investigate opinions about the world in terms of Right View?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Views] [Right View] // [Four Noble Truths] [Suffering] [Conditionality] [Proliferation]
Follow-up: “What happens when we see that another person’s view causes suffering and pain?” [Communal harmony]
1. “What is the role of mentors and teachers in learning to use the monastic form skillfully?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Teachers] [Mentoring ] [Vinaya ] [Monastic life] // [Saṅgha] [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Pah Pong] [Teaching Dhamma] [Long-term practice] [Ajahn Pasanno]
3. “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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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] [Communal harmony]
10. “What role does spending time at other monasteries play in our training?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Abhayagiri] // [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Saṅgha]
1. “How can those just entering monastic life lay a good foundation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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
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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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] [Monastery organizational structure]
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] [Spiritual 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. “Ajahn Chah was ill for the last ten years of his life. How could he endure that and why did this take place?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Sickness] // [Perfections] [Teaching Dhamma] [Saṅgha] [Death] [Monastic teachers] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Upatakh] [Generosity]
1. “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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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 [Principles of Cordiality] [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.”
4. “You spoke about the teachings and the training. What is the training for a lay practitioner other than the Five Precepts?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Dhamma] [Vinaya] [Lay life] [Five Precepts] // [Meditation] [Communal harmony] [Right Livelihood] [Family] [Work] [Politics and society] [Spiritual friendship]
17. “Fifty vassas! Highs, lows? What are you contemplating these days?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] // [Dhamma] [Abbot] [Mentoring] [Ajahn Chah]
3. “Have you ever regretted choosing the monastic life? Has your mother ever thought you made a wrong choice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Doubt] [Parents] // [Gratitude] [Retirement] [Energy] [Mentoring] [Christianity] [Abhayagiri]
Reflections on leadership. [Leadership ] [Ajahn Chah] [Abbot] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Discernment]
Quote: “You can’t lead just by telling people what to do and they are going to obey. Forget it!” [Leadership ] [Abbot]
Quote: “Everybody else is a mirror for oneself if one is willing to learn in teaching or leading others.” [Leadership ] [Learning]