Practice and Study Day, Sep. 9, 2023
Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in Redwood Valley, California and online
3 sessions, 11 excerpts, 46:54 total duration
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External website
Session 2: Questions and Answers 1
Session 4: Questions and Answers 2
Session 8: Afternoon Discussion
[Mindfulness of breathing]
1. [0:58] “When my mind settles, my hands go away from my awareness. Hands feel like they are twisted or in the air. Why is this?” [Concentration] [Meditation/Unusual experiences] // [Body scanning] [Goodwill] [Mindfulness of feeling]
2. [7:53] “Can you speak more about the progression of mindfulness of breathing, how the Four Foundations of Mindfulness develop the Seven Factors of Awakening?” [Right Mindfulness] [Factors of Awakening] [Mindfulness of breathing ] // [Emotion] [Conditionality] [Tranquility] [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of feeling]
Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta. [Mindfulness] [Mindfulness of mind] [Bases of Success]
Quote: “We’re breathing in and out anyway, but taking an interest in it is a game-changer.” [Desire]
3. [17:24] “Is there a time and place for intentionally breathing or using the breath as a means of calming the mind?” [Volition] [Calming meditation] // [Tranquility] [Energy]
Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta.
Recollection: To deal with the restless mind, Ajahn Chah taught to breath in deeply and not breathe out. [Restlessness and worry] [Ajahn Chah]
1. [0:44] “How do Hsu Yun’s reflection ‘Who’s the guest and who’s the host?’ and Ajahn Chah’s metaphor of the one seat of awareness fit with [meditation practice]?” [Master Hsu Yun] [Ajahn Chah] [Similes] // [Knowing itself] [Discernment] [Equanimity]
2. [3:41] Comment: If I’m able to settle into ease and spaciousness this time, the next time I sit, it doesn’t settle as easily, and I get frustrated and tense wanting to get to that ease again. [Tranquility] [Meditation/General advice] [Restlessness and worry] [Desire] [Judgementalism]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Mindfulness of body] [Present moment awareness]
[Mindfulness of breathing]
1. [16:02] “After the mind has settled and I’m with the breath, the boundaries of the body disappear and the breath starts to be barely perceptible. When anxiety arises in this situation, is it a feeling or a sensation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Tranquility] [Restlessness and worry] [Feeling] // [Pāli] [Emotion] [Volitional formations]
Quote: “You’re falling out of a tree. You don’t have to count all the branches as you go down. You just have to know it’s going to hurt when you hit the bottom.” Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Dependent origination] [Similes] [Suffering]
Follow-up: “So I can just feel the feeling tone as unpleasant, pleasant, or neutral...?” [Noting]
2. [20:30] “In the Ānāpānasati Sutta there are many steps. Is there space in these to investigate the causes and conditions for greed, anger, and delusion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Investigation of states] [Conditionality] [Unwholesome Roots] // [Mindfulness of mind] [Heart/mind] [Calming meditation] [Hindrances] [Mindfulness of dhammas] [Impermanence]
Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Mindfulness of breathing is not a linear process. You have to work with what’s actually helpful.
3. [25:57] “I’m not clear about the third and fourth tetrads of ānāpānasati. Do you have to be able to calm the cittasaṅkhāra in order to experience the citta?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Heart/mind] [Volitional formations]
4. [28:37] “If I want to see what I’m doing to keep generating certain thought patterns, does my mind need to be really calm?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Discernment] [Volitional formations] [Tranquility]
Quote: “If you start investigatig and you get really interested, you’ll start to get calm.” [Investigation of states] [Desire]
5. [31:30] “Breathing is connected to body, mind, and emotion. Is the sound of silence part of the body?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sound of silence] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Mindfulness of mind] [Tranquility]
6. [34:00] “When will I get wisdom? How can we not get exhausted when observing the monkey mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Discernment] [Mindfulness of mind] [Energy] // [Knowing itself] [Mindfulness of body] [Tranquility]