Includes tags: Energy, Devotion to wakefulness
See also: Right Effort
3. Quote: “Ajahn Chah was a wonderful teacher, but more important, he was a trainer. He trained people how to live.” — Ajahn Pasanno [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]
8. Reading from the draft biography: Ajahn Chah’s dying father asks him to remain in robes for life. Read by Ajahn Amaro. [Sickness] [Recollection/Death] [Parents] [Monastic life] [Ajahn Chah] [Determination] // [Learning] [Culture/Thailand] [Unattractiveness] [Forest versus city monks] [Sutta] [Spiritual urgency]
Quote: “I dedicate my body and mind, my whole life, to the practice of the Lord Buddha’s teachings in their entirety. I will realize the truth in this lifetime … I will let go of everything and follow the teachings. No matter how much suffering and difficulty I have to endure I will persevere, otherwise there will be no end to my doubts. I will make this life as even and continuous as a single day and night. I will abandon attachments to mind and body and follow the Buddha’s teachings until I know their truth for myself.” — Ajahn Chah [Buddha] [Dhamma] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Knowledge and vision] [Truth] [Relinquishment] [Suffering]
Reflection: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 40 [Energy] [Doubt] [Continuity of mindfulness]
4. Stories: The Chipmunk Story and The Donkey Story. Told by Kittisaro. [Kittisaro] [Depression] [Humor ] [Similes] [Ajahn Chah] // [Recreation/leisure/sport] [Perfectionism] [Meditation] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Sickness] [Animal] [Learning] [Health care] [Self-identity view] [Joseph Kappel] [Compassion] [Energy] [Right Effort] [Equanimity] [Lawfulness]
2. “Why did Ajahn Chah found Wat Pah Pong?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Wat Pah Pong] [History/Thai Buddhism] [Ajahn Chah] // [Tudong] [Teaching Dhamma] [Personal presence] [Seclusion] [Compassion] [Family] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
Story: The first Rains Retreat with Ajahn Chah. [Rains retreat] [Devotion to wakefulness]
5. “How would you describe the jhana states and do you teach this kind of meditation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Jhāna] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Concentration] [Energy] [Clear comprehension] [Knowledge and vision] [Ajahn Chah] [Relinquishment] [Craving] [Conceit]
4. “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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
10. “Would you share some of your personal journey, including the time before you became a monk, and why you became a monk, and how the holy life can help people grow and change?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Monastic life] // [Culture/West] [Travel] [Culture/Thailand]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno begins meditation with a month-long Mahasi Sayadaw retreat. [Meditation retreats] [Mahasi Sayadaw] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s first visit to Wat Pah Pong. [Ordination] [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Pah Pong]
Quote: “If you want to stay here, you have to stay at least five years.” — Ajahn Chah [Sequence of training]
Reflection: “Five years is five years. I’ll go back and give myself to Ajahn Chah.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Relinquishment] [Mentoring]
Quote: “There’s no such thing as the ideal monastic or the ideal practitioner.” [Idealism] [Lay life] [Faith] [Disrobing] [Suffering] [Energy] [Patience] [Long-term practice]
15. (A) “Please say a few more words on posture. For example, I noticed that my body was leaning towards the left. If I weighted my right hand with intention, this seems to stop. Is this a correct tactic?” (B) “In my martial arts training, a goal is to relax and make the breathing easier. Is that true of vipassanā as well?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Posture/Sitting] [Mindfulness of body] [Volition] [Tranquility] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Insight meditation] // [Aggregates] [Energy] [Buddha images]
Quote: “That looks like a farang [Western] Buddha. It looks very tense.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Artistic expression] [Culture/West]
5. “When you guided meditation in the past two afternoons, I’ve enjoyed slipping past the high energy of rapture/joy. I found these meditations grounding and at the same time streaming with energy. I’m finding it difficult to get past joy without your vocal guidance. Can you offer suggestions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Rapture] [Energy] [Right Concentration] // [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of breathing]
2. “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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
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.
4. Comment: Contemplating the devas opens my mind to waking up. [Liberation] [Deva] [Recollection/Devas]
Response by Ajahn Yatiko. [Mindfulness] [Energy] [Proliferation] [Depression] [Sutta] [Culture/Natural environment]
5. “What is your take on satisfaction, being in tune, and stagnation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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
2. “You said that starting with chanting can help focus the mind. But I find myself daydreaming while chanting.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Chanting] [Tranquility] [Proliferation] // [Pāṭimokkha] [Energy]
Story: An elderly woman chants the Dhammacakka Sutta every day. [Ageing]
1. “Thank you for your talk. Can you flesh out: ‘dispassionate about what?’ Also, trying to encourage dispassion along with arousing energy.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Dispassion] [Energy]
11. “I had a hard time getting up this morning...Any advice on getting up?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Devotion to wakefulness]
2. “What were the interesting practices you used so that you would get up as soon as you woke up?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Devotion to wakefulness] // [Mindfulness of body] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Sitter's practice]
5. “With investigating sleep, it seems sleeping less is an effect from good meditation practice rather than a cause; is it because there is less proliferation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Devotion to wakefulness] [Conditionality] [Proliferation] // [Craving not to become] [Sloth and torpor] [Habits] [Ardency] [Energy]
2. “Which of the three unwholesome roots is most prominent when the mind is lazy?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Energy] [Unwholesome Roots] [Sloth and torpor] // [Delusion]
5. “How does one work with dullness and drowsiness in sitting meditation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
5. “Did Ajahn Mahā Boowa always praise the dtuaṅga practices?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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 precepts and practices]
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] [Devotion to wakefulness]
9. Story: After staying up two nights in a row, Ajahn Boon Choo nods in meditation then establishes samādhi and sits without moving. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Boon Choo] [Sloth and torpor] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Concentration] // [Ajahn Kinaree] [Kaṭhina] [Wat Pah Pong]
10. “What if your problem is restlessness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Restlessness and worry] // [Tranquility] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Energy]
5. “In my desire to get to the “heart of it” I find part of my mind really wants this, but another part of my mind is not going along with the program. How do I keep myself on the Path?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Desire] [Simplicity] [Volition] // [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Impermanence] [Cessation] [Upasikā Kee Nanayon]
Follow-up: “The experience of arising and disbanding isn’t yet practical for me. I need something more operational.” [Tranquility]
Simile: Making a fire flare up or die down (SN 46.53). — Ajahn Pasanno. [Factors of Awakening] [Energy] [Mindfulness]
17. “One of the great gifts I’ve received over the last few years spending more time with the Bhikkhu Saṅgha is a sense of devotion, how it opens the heart. Is there a Pāli word or teaching around that principle?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Devotional practice] [Saṅgha] [Gratitude] [Pāli] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Faculties] [Faith] [Energy]
9. “Regarding thought fabrications, in daily life we have to focus on our work. How can we intergrate the principles of anatta and dukkha into daily life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volitional formations] [Everyday life] [Work] [Not-self] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Suffering] // [Right Livelihood] [Restlessness and worry] [Energy] [Impermanence] [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment]
9. “Sometimes I’ve been sitting a long time and am too tired to keep sitting, walk, or stand. Any suggestions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Postures] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Sloth and torpor] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Pain] [Posture/Standing]
8. “How do you know if sloth and torpor are present or if you’re just plain tired? When is it better to rest the mind or the body than to meditate?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sloth and torpor ] // [Gladdening the mind] [Energy] [Posture/Walking]
6. “When you described pīti yesterday, it was different than how I think of it. Sometimes, I get a feeling of a great, expansive happiness like the realization that this practice actually works. It’s exciting and empowering but I’m not jumping up and down. It’s a combination of the mind settling and opening. Is that a cousin of pīti? Does pīti only happen in meditation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Rapture ] // [Recollection/Dhamma] [Energy]
Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 137: Five levels of pīti.
11. “Is it a good remedy to sit with eyes open when afflicted with sloth and torpor? Standing? Any other ideas?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sloth and torpor ] [Posture/Sitting] [Posture/Standing] // [Buddho mantra] [Three Refuges] [Perception of light] [Mudra]
Quote: “With sloth and torpor, we want to give the mind enough work so that it can engage itself in the activitity of meditation.” [Energy]
2. “Is the Buddha quoted as saying “I teach a path of the application of effort?”” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha] [Energy] [Right Effort] [Eightfold Path] // [Aids to Awakening]
Sutta: AN 3.137: Doctrine of energy (vīriyavādā) [Energy]
Sutta: DN 16: Mahāparinibbāna Sutta
3. “Is there a distinction between viriya and vayama?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Energy] [Right Effort]
4. “Can you speak about the roots of wholesome and unwholesome desire?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Energy] [Desire] [Becoming] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] // [Discernment] [Right Effort] [Learning] [Ajahn Chah]
Sutta: AN 10.58.
Reference: Listening to the Heart by Kittisaro and Ṭhānissarā (commercial).
1. “Is it easy for a person with attainments to deal with the world?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stages of awakening] [Everyday life] // [Discernment] [Conceit] [Culture/West] [Wrong concentration]
Quote: “To push away the world is also to reifying it. One gives it power when one is afraid of it.” [Craving not to become] [Proliferation] [Fear]
Laypeople with highly developed meditation practice function well in the world. Comment by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Lay life] [Meditation/Results] [Energy]
1. “I’ve been struggling with sleepiness while trying to meditate, having the intention to be present and aware, but finding myself dozing off.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
2. “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.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
12. Comment: Excercise in the morning can be used to overcome sloth. [Excercise] [Sloth and torpor] [Energy]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno]
15. “Can you clarify the difference between desire and intention? It seems that either could lead to suffering due to attachments to the results. Yet we are encouraged to have intentions for well-being, health, happiness, etc. Isn’t our intention also a desire?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Desire ] [Volition ] [Clinging] [Cause of Suffering] // [Pāli] [Kamma] [Craving ] [Bases of Success] [Sensual desire] [Energy]
Sutta: SN 22.22: Dhammacakkappavattanasutta (Chanting Book translation)
13. “How important is chanting for one’s practice? Do you have any tips for how to recite/remember the Pali chants?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Chanting ] [Memory] [Pāli] // [Monastic life] [Recollection] [Devotional practice] [Energy] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Long-term practice] [Dhamma recordings] [Posture/Walking] [Almsround] [Mindfulness]
Story: Ajahn Mun would chant for over an hour each evening before he started meditating. [Ajahn Mun] [Monastic routine]
Suttas: AN 10.60 Girimānanda Sutta; SNSN 22.22: Dhammacakkappavattanasutta (Chanting Book translation).
Story: The evening program at Wat Fah Krahm is three hours of chanting followed by a three-hour sit. [Wat Fah Krahm] [Meditation]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 138: Rhythm of the Pāli language.
Sutta: SN 48.9: Mindfulness related to memory.
12. “Is this along the concept of Right Effort in a global sense? Not getting attached to the outcome, but yet finding something that’s important enough to put some energy into?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Effort] [Activism] [Politics and society] // [Kamma] [Energy]
Quote: “There’s no such thing as doing nothing.”
2. “What does morning pūjā contribute?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Chanting] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] // [Devotion to wakefulness]
1. “What is the purpose of dhutaṅga practices?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Ascetic practices] // [Simplicity] [Renunciation] [Almsround] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Almsfood] [Abhayagiri] [Impermanence] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Wat Pah Pong] [Wat Pah Ban Tat] [Long-term practice]
2. “How do we discern the benefit of dhutaṅga practices and how much is too much?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
7. “Have you done much memorization practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Learning] // [Eightfold Path] [Pāli] [Right Mindfulness] [Chanting] [Energy]
11. “How can you chant to generate energy?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Energy] [Chanting] // [Postures] [Mindfulness of breathing]
8. Story: The cook assigned to look after Ajahn Pasanno doesn’t understand what he can and needs to eat. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Dtao Dum] [Almsfood] [Food] // [Industry] [Meditation] [Energy] [Health] [Patience] [Culture/Natural environment]
13. “Could you say something about the fact that extreme hardship exists in the world?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
4. “I thought to be self-critical was to improve yourself, to know how and where you need to improve yourself. How is being self-critical not good for yourself?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Judgementalism] [Right Effort] // [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Energy] [Goodwill] [Idealism] [Unwholesome Roots]
Story: Eight months to Enlightenment. [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] [Abhayagiri] [Liberation]
1. “What did you mean by ‘lifting up?’ Is it an object of attention?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Recollection] // [Restlessness and worry] [Sloth and torpor] [Postures] [Energy]
Quote: “Namo viññaṇa dhatu (Homage to the element of consciousness).” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Consciousness] [Elements] [Knowing itself]
5. “Can you say more about recollection of renunciation? How can this be used skillfully or not?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Recollection/Generosity] [Renunciation] [Recollection] // [Contentment] [Self-pity] [Sickness] [Equanimity] [Buddha/Biography] [Fasting] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Lunar observance days] [Abhayagiri]
Recollection: Going without in the early days of Abhayagiri Monastery. [Almsfood]
4. “I have trouble maintaining wakefulness and alertness in the afternoon. What guidance would you give to cultivate more skillfulness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sloth and torpor] [Devotion to wakefulness] // [Buddho mantra] [Recollection] [Unattractiveness] [Posture/Walking] [Posture/Standing]
20. “I wake remembering dreams my dreams often and at times in the dream I know that I am dreaming. There are interesting aspects to this, but also at times I find it intense or tiring. Meditation before bed seems to intesify this. Suggestions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Dreams ] // [Clear comprehension] [Relinquishment] [Mindfulness]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s Tibetan doctor insists he needs more sleep. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Health care] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Ageing]
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!”
Quote: “Everybody else is a mirror for oneself if one is willing to learn in teaching or leading others.” [Learning]
4. “What makes you keep on moving?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno ] [Energy] // [Liberation] [Human]