Abhayagiri Anniversary event, Jun. 1, 2024
Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in Redwood Valley, California and online
2 sessions, 26 excerpts, 1:21:59 total duration
Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery commemorated its 28th anniversary with a Practice and Study Day on the theme of mindfulness of breathing and the contemplation of death. That evening, senior monks offered reflections on the history of Abhayagiri.
External websiteSession 4: Questions and Answers
Session 6: Stories from Our Past
1. [0:54] “How do you deal with a friend who has commited suicide and the despair and grief that comes with that? How do you support a friend who has feelings of seeking annihilation and wanting to kill themselves?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suicide] [Depression] [Grief] [Craving not to become] // [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Compassion] [Suffering] [Language] [Cessation of Suffering] [Fear]
Quote: “Compassion is a skillful or beautiful response to the suffering of the world.” [Skillful qualities]
2. [6:48] “I am concerned about the clarity of mind if I have prolonged pain. How does one face death skillfully if one is in constant serious pain?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Pain] [Ageing] [Tranquility] [Death] // [Long-term practice]
Sutta: SN 55.22: Mahānāma worries about death. [Similes]
3. [13:12] “Could you say more about recollection of death and the healthy desire to have something fall away?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Craving not to become] [Recollection/Death] [Relinquishment] // [Cessation] [Middle Path] [Right View]
Sutta: MN 26.19: The Buddha doubts whether anyone will understand. [Buddha/Biography]
4. [18:21] Comment: Sometimes when I contemplate maraṇassati, a strong sense of saṃvega will come over me and work seems pointless. But I’m currently in lay life, so if I get so much saṃvega that I don’t want to work, this is a problem. [Recollection/Death] [Spiritual urgency] [Work] [Lay life]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Right Effort] [Discernment] [Skillful qualities]
5. [22:22] “How is suicide reconciled with the First Precept, the precept against taking life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Suicide] [Killing] // [Vinaya]
Sutta: MN 144: Channovāda Sutta.
6. [25:24] “What about a serious practitioner who refuses machines and procedures to extend life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Health care] [Suicide] [Aversion] // [Relinquishment]
[Abhayagiri]
1. [1:05] Reflections by Ajahn Pasanno on 28 years. [Community] [Monasteries] // [Saṅghapāla] [Lay supporters] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
Reflection: It’s the community and the people that really creates the monastery.
2. [4:35] Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: The early days of Abhayagiri were simple and basic. [Requisites] // [Lay supporters] [Building projects] [Generosity] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
Quote: “It was like a Buddhist trailer park.” [Lodging]
3. [8:29] Recollection of the deaths of key Abhayagiri contributors. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Death] [Lay supporters] // [Recollection/Death] [Generosity]
4. [10:31] Description of Eric Erikson’s eighth stage of psychological development: Integrity versus Despair by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Western psychology] [Recollection] // [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Ageing]
5. [11:56] How I decided to ordain at Abhayagiri. Recollection by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
6. [15:49] Story: The first few years of Abhayagiri. Told by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. // [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Ajahn Visuddhi] [Lodging] [Ajahn Pasanno]
7. [18:03] Reflection by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo: First and foremost, this is a training monastery. [Monastic life] // [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Truth] [Vinaya]
8. [21:03] I arrived when Abhayagiri turned five. Recollection by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] // [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Ajahn Sudanto] [Ordination] [Sīladharā]
Recollection: The little house was the beating heart of Abhayagiri. [Lodging] [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Questions] [Gratitude] [Goodwill]
Quote: “I want to ordain. What do I do?” — Ajahn Ñāṇiko’s first email to the Abhayagiri guestmonk. [Ajahn Achalo] [Idealism]
Story: “Look, I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to practice.” [Spiritual friendship]
Quote: “Don’t think about it too much.” — Ajahn Pasanno to Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Monastic life/Motivation] [Proliferation]
9. [30:53] Recollection: When I first arrived at Abhayagiri. Recounted by Ajahn Cunda. // [Lodging] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Wat Metta]
10. [34:22] Story: Chatting loudly with the windows open. Told by Ajahn Cunda. [Idle chatter] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Admonishment/feedback]
11. [36:12] Story: Living down the street from Abhayagiri for Winter Retreat 2006. Told by Ajahn Cunda. // [Lodging] [Weather] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo]
12. [39:13] Story: What “duly noted” means in English. Told by Ajahn Cunda. [Language] // [Ajahn Amaro]
13. [40:55] Reflection by Ajahn Cunda: Training under the co-abbots. [Abbot] [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Mentoring] // [Craving] [Teaching Dhamma] [Communal harmony] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo]
Quote: “Two tigers in one cave.” — Thai saying. [Leadership] [Culture/Thailand]
14. [43:55] Reflections by Ajahn Cunda on my early training. // [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] [Monastic life]
Quote: “Don’t worry. The first 20 years are the hardest.” — Ajahn Amaro. [Sequence of training] [Suffering]
15. [45:36] Story: From rough beginnings, J contributes to the Abhayagiri community for six years. Told by Ajahn Cunda. [Lay supporters] // [Food] [Personality] [Death]
16. [47:35] Abhayagiri history: The people and the places. Recollections by Ajahn Ṭhitapañño. // [Community] [Sharing circles] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Lunar observance days]
17. [49:48] Why do some people stay and some people go? Reflection by Ajahn Ṭhitapañño. [Ajahn Amaro] [Monastic life] // [Worldly Conditions]
18. [50:25] A long-term sense of extended family. Reflection by Ajahn Ṭhitapañño. [Community]
19. [51:24] Reflections by Ajahn Sudhīro on his first year at Abhayagiri. // [Emotion] [Suffering] [Monastic life] [Community] [Communal harmony] [Food] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Happiness]
20. [56:37] What has and hasn’t changed at Abhayagiri. Reflection by Ajahn Sudhīro. [Unwholesome Roots] [Three Refuges]
Simile: An oasis in a desert. [Similes]