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46 events, 279 sessions, 2309 excerpts, 129:51:55 total duration

Most common tags:
Ajahn Chah (581)     Ajahn Pasanno (237)     Suffering (190)     Monastic life (173)     Relinquishment (160)     Culture/Thailand (146)     Self-identity view (139)     Discernment (135)     Happiness (135)     Teaching Dhamma (135)    

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Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 40: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 10: Feeling/Mind – Mar. 3, 2015

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[Session] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Concentration] [Mindfulness of mind]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 129-132.

Reading: MN 111: Anupada Sutta, One by One As They Occured.


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1. Commentary on MN 121: The Lesser Discourse on Emptiness. Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno. [Emptiness] [Relinquishment] [Theravāda] [Not-self]


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2. “Can sharing merit with many types of beings tie one to society?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Merit] // [Right Effort] [Right Intention]

Story: Lama Zopa delights in sharing merit. [Lama Zopa]


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3. “Is seeing metaphysical principles the same as making something into a concept?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Nature of the cosmos] [Proliferation] // [Views]

Sutta: DN 1: Brahmajāla Sutta.


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4. Comments by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo: Sariputta didn’t get distracted in fourth jhāna to develop the psychic powers. [Great disciples] [Jhāna] [Psychic powers] [Concentration]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno.


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5. “Are psychic powers and wisdom always clearly separated?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Psychic powers ] [Discernment] // [Buddha/Biography] [Great disciples] [Vinaya] [Admonishment/feedback]

Vinaya: Kd 15.8: Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja uses psychic powers.

Reference: Dipa Ma: The Life and Legacy of a Buddhist Master by Amy Schmidt (commercial). [Dipa Ma]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 41: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 11: Mind – Mar. 6, 2015

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[Session] [Mindfulness of mind] [Divine Abidings]

Reading: MN 10: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, The Foundations of Mindfulness.

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 132-133, 174-175, 137.

Reading: SN 42.8: “The Conch Blower.”


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 42: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 12: Mind – Mar. 8, 2015

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[Session] [Goodwill] [Recollection]

Reading: AN 11.15: “Loving Kindness.”

Reading: AN 11.11: “Mahānāma.”


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1. Commentary on AN 11.11: “Mahānāma:” Using recollection to gladden and settle the mind. Teaching by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Recollection] [Recollection/Buddha] [Recollection/Dhamma] [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Recollection/Virtue] [Recollection/Devas] [Gladdening the mind] [Calming meditation]


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2. Comment by Ajahn Kaccāna: The eight qualities of sīlānussati [in AN 11.11] define what it means for virtue to be noble. [Recollection/Virtue] [Virtue] [Liberation]


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3. “How do you respond to the cynical inner voice when you recollect your own virtue?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Ṭhitapañño. [Recollection/Virtue ] [Judgementalism] // [Ajahn Sucitto] [Habits] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Culture/West] [Humor]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 43: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 13: Mind – Mar. 9, 2015

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[Session] [Nibbāna]

Reading: Introduction to Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha p. 31-32 (quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 36-37).

Reading: The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 222-224, 30-31.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 44: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 14: Mental Qualities – Mar. 10, 2015

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[Session] [Mindfulness of dhammas]

Reading: “Contemplation of Dhammas,” p. 182-183, 185, and “The Perceptual Process,” p. 222-223, 225-226 in Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization by Venerable Analayo.

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 142-148.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 45: Vedanā 1 – Mar. 15, 2015

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[Session] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Feeling]

Reading: “The Perceptual Process,” p. 156-159 in Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization by Venerable Analayo.

Reading: MN 44: Cūḷavedalla Sutta, The Small Discourse Giving an Elaboration.


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1. Explanation of sāmisa and nirāmisa. Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno. [Feeling] [Pāli] // [Translation]


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2. Examples of pleasures of renunciation? Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Happiness] [Renunciation] [Rapture] // [Skillful qualities]

Sutta: Ud 2.10: “Oh, what bliss!”


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3. Examples of unworldly, unpleasant feelings? Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Feeling] [Suffering] [Skillful qualities] // [Sense restraint]

Sutta: MN 44: Cūḷavedalla Sutta.


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4. Clarification of underlying tendencies to unworldly, pleasant feelings? Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Unwholesome Roots] [Happiness] [Feeling] // [Desire] [Craving]


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5. “How is nirāmisa expressed in Thai?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Question in Thai] [Thai] [Feeling]


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6. Dhammadinnā foremost in...? Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Great disciples] [Bhikkhunī] // [Teaching Dhamma]


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7. Discussion about neutral feeling and delusion. Led by Beth Steff, Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Neutral feeling] [Delusion] [Suffering] // [Happiness]


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8. Discussion about feeling, craving, self and kamma. Led by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Feeling] [Craving] [Self-identity view] [Kamma] // [Dependent origination]

Sutta: MN 18: Madhupiṇḍika Sutta, The Honeyball.


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9. “Is the goal (Nibbāna) a thought-less state of mind?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna] [Heart/mind] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Formless attainments] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Impermanence]

“Who is the only person who doesn’t think? An arahant? A Buddha?” “No. The only person who doesn’t think is a dead person.” – Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Arahant] [Buddha] [Death]


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10. Comment: Sīla requires quite a bit of thinking. [Virtue] [Directed thought and evaluation]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Vinaya] [Arahant]

Sutta: AN 3.86: An arahant can commit offenses.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 46: Vedanā 2 – Mar. 16, 2015

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[Session] [Feeling]

Reading: SN 36.4: “The Bottomless Abyss.”

Reading: SN 36.6: “The Dart.”

Reading: MN 74: Dīghanakha Sutta, To Dıghanakha.


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1. “Is the second dart the self we create around feelings?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Self-identity view] [Feeling] // [Aversion]


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2. “How is it that when one feels a pleasant feeling, one cannot feel an unpleasant or neutral feeling?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Feeling] // [Consciousness] [Similes]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 47: Vedanā 3 – Mar. 17, 2015

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[Session] [Feeling]

Reading: SN 36.7: Gelañña Sutta, “The Sick Ward.”

Reading: SN 36.21: “Sivaka.”

Reading: “The End of Rebirth,” The Stillness of Being by Ajahn Viradhammo, p. 67-77.


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1. Meaning of “will become cool right here?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Feeling] // [Characteristics of existence] [Knowledge and vision] [Nibbāna] [Pāli]


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2. 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]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 48: The Honeyball 1 – Mar. 18, 2015

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[Session] [Proliferation] [Perception]

Reading: MN 18: Madhupiṇḍika Sutta, The Honeyball.

Reading: “Categorical Answers,” Skill in Questions by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro, p. 85.

Reading: AN 8.30: “Anuruddha.”


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1. Discussion of the meaning of papañca in AN 8.30 and various other suttas. [Pāli] [Translation] [Proliferation] [Perception] // [Great disciples] [Liberation] [Conditionality] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Language]

Suttas: Sn 4.11: Pāsāṇa and DN 21: Sakkapañha Sutta in which papañca precedes thinking.

Reference: Skill in Questions by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro, p. 85.

Suttas: MN 19: Dvedhāvitakka Sutta; MN 20: Vitakkasaṇṭhāna Sutta.

Reference: Concept and Reality in Early Buddhist Thought by Bhante Ñāṇananda


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 49: The Honeyball 2 – Mar. 22, 2015

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[Session] [Proliferation] [Perception]

Reading: MN 18: Madhupiṇḍika Sutta, The Honeyball.

Reading: “The Perceptual Process,” p. 222-223, 225-226 in Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization by Venerable Analayo.


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1. Comparison of causality in MN 18 and dependent origination. Teaching by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Conditionality] [Dependent origination] [Proliferation] [Perception] // [Similes] [Suffering]


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2. Translation of phassapaññattiṃ paññāpessatīti (manifestation, delineation). Teaching by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo, Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Pāli] [Translation] [Proliferation] [Perception] // [Bhikkhu Bodhi] [Commentaries] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro]


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3. Comment: Dependent origination is not necessarily time-based. [Dependent origination] [Conditionality] [Proliferation] [Perception]

Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo.


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4. “Can one sense-bases that starts the proliferation process lead to different sense-bases?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Sense bases] [Conditionality] [Proliferation] [Perception] // [Feeling] [Heart/mind]


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5. Examples of signs and secondary characteristics of sense objects? Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Sense bases] [Proliferation] [Perception] // [Ven. Analayo] [Sensual desire] [Conditionality] [Food] [Appropriate attention]

Sutta: Thig 14.1: Subhā.

Comment about the feedback loop of perceptions looking for reinforcing perceptions. [Views] [Clinging]

Quote: “The underlying tendency to aversion is like a search engine.” — Ajahn Sucitto. Quoted by Beth Steff. [Ajahn Sucitto] [Aversion] [Similes]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 50: The Peace Beyond – Mar. 23, 2015

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[Session] Reading: “The Peace Beyond,” Collectd Teachings p. 9-19. Read by Ajahn Ñāṇiko.


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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]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 51: Santi 1 – Mar. 24, 2015

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[Session] Reading: “Santi,” Santi – Peace Beyond Delusion by Ajahn Liem, p. 39-53. Read by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Ajahn Liem]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 52: Santi 2 – Mar. 25, 2015

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[Session] Reading: “Santi,” Santi – Peace Beyond Delusion by Ajahn Liem, p. 53-63. Read by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Ajahn Liem]


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1. “When did Luang Por Liem come to Wat Pah Pong?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Ajahn Liem] [Wat Pah Pong] // [Ajahn Chah]

Reference: No Worries by Ajahn Liem. [Tudong]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 53: Not by Looking for Protection – Mar. 29, 2015

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[Session]

Reading: “A Matter of Life and Death,” p. 205-212 in The Mind and the Way by Ajahn Sumedho (commercial).

Reading: “Towards the Future,” p. 215-220 in The Mind and the Way by Ajahn Sumedho (commercial).


On Pilgrimage and Tudong, Session 3: Questions and Answers about Pilgrimage – Apr. 25, 2015

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1. “You showed pictures of the statue at Bodh Gaya. It seems like the Bodhi Tree is more important. Does the statue have no historical importance?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo, Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Bodhi Tree] [Buddha images] [Visiting holy sites] // [Devotional practice] [History/Early Buddhism] [History/Indian Buddhism] [Symbolism] [Tipiṭaka]


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2. “Was there a time when monks could wander the entire year in Thailand unhindered?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [History/Thai Buddhism] [Tudong] [Culture/Natural environment]

Story: Ajahn Kinaree wanders from Thailand to India. [Ajahn Kinaree]


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3. “Did pilgrimage continue during the time Buddhism was dormant or nonexistent in India?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [History/Indian Buddhism] [Visiting holy sites] // [History/Mahāyāna Buddhism]

Comment: It seems like the memory would have continued in Sri Lanka. [History/Sri Lankan Buddhism]

Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo.


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4. “What is considered pilgrimage in the modern world? Going by train or bus?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Technology] [Travel] [Visiting holy sites] // [History/Thai Buddhism] [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Generosity] [Pace of life]


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5. “I would love to go to Thailand with my dad some time, but I don’t know how to do it.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/Thailand] [Visiting holy sites]


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6. “Do you plan to lead any trips on pilgrimage?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Visiting holy sites] // [Sickness]


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7. “What is the mileage from Lumbini to Bodh Gaya?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Visiting holy sites]

Quote: “One mile in India does not equal a mile in America.” — Ajahn Karuṇadhammo [Culture/India]

Reference: Rude Awakenings and Great Patient One by Ajahn Sucitto and Nick Scott.


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8. “Is it possible to travel in India by bicycle?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/India] [Travel] [Visiting holy sites]

Story: Ajahn Tiradhammo bicycled around India as a layperson. [Ajahn Tiradhammo]


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9. Comment: I was inspired by a picture of the Buddha’s walking path. [Buddha] [Posture/Walking] [Faith] [Visiting holy sites]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno.


On Pilgrimage and Tudong, Session 4: Tudong Pilgrimage in Thailand – Apr. 25, 2015

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1. Story: Ajahn Chah tells a restless junior monk to go tudong around the monastery. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Restlessness and worry] [Sequence of training] [Tudong]


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2. Story: Ajahn Chah lets a restless junior Western monk go tudong in the hot season with strict conditions. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Restlessness and worry] [Sequence of training] [Tudong]


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3. Quote: “Tudong should be something you’re learning from.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Learning] [Tudong]


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4. Story: Ajahn Mun didn’t stay consecutive Rains Retreats in the same place until he was close to 70. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mun] [Rains retreat] [Tudong]


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5. Story: Lay disciples ask Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo to take them on tudong but bring too much baggage. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo] [Lay life] [Simplicity] [Tudong] // [Ajahn Mun] [History/Thai Buddhism]


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6. Story: Ajahn Chah packs too much gear on his first tudong. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Simplicity] [Contentment] [Tudong]


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7. 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. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]


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8. “In one of Ajahn Amaro’s first tudongs in England, the laypeople often knew where he was going to be. Is that accepted in Thailand?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Amaro] [History/Western Buddhism] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Culture/Thailand] [Tudong] // [Culture/Natural environment]


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9. Comment by Ajahn Jotipālo: When Jay and I did our tudong in preparation for the Mississippi tudong, we planned every single night. We learned from that: Don’t plan. [Ajahn Jotipālo] [Learning] [Impermanence] [Tudong]


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10. “What happens if you lose your spoon?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Almsfood] [Tudong] // [Requisites]


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11. “Can tudong be understood as a metaphor for practice? When we carry a lot of heavyweight stuff for a long time, we get tired and need to drop something.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Symbolism] [Clinging] [Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Tudong]


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12. “As laypeople, how do we know if it is a good or bad time to go on tudong?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Lay life] [Tudong] // [Fear] [Doubt] [Learning]


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13. “After the initial impulse and intention to go tudong, once it’s going to happen, is there an upwelling of uncertainty?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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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14. Comment: This speaks to a Boddhisattva/Zen approach to karma. It’s more your attitude towards your karma. [Bodhisattva] [Zen] [Kamma] [Merit] [Tudong] [Harsh speech]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Impermanence]


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15. Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s tudong in India with Ajahn Jayasaro. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Culture/India] [Tudong] // [Impermanence] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Not handling money] [Hinduism] [Islam] [Lodging] [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]


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16. “Is it difficult for two monks to get along the whole time?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Communal harmony] [Conflict] [Tudong] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Jayasaro]


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17. “Do you split up your almsfood?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Almsbowl] [Almsfood] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Tudong] [Generosity] // [Culture/India]


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18. “You slept outdoors?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Lodging] [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]


The Middle Way of Not-Self, Session 1: The Middle Way of Not-Self – May. 27, 2015

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1. “What are the commentaries? How do they know stuff that isn’t in the suttas?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Commentaries] [Sutta] [History/Early Buddhism] // [History/Sri Lankan Buddhism] [Culture/Thailand] [Direct experience]


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2. “What are mental formations and consciousness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Aggregates] [Volitional formations] [Consciousness] [Not-self] // [Sense bases] [Contact]

Sutta: MN 44: Cūḷavedalla Sutta


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3. “The Buddha didn’t answer the question, ‘Is there a self?’ But this question seems more important than other questions he didn’t answer. How should we relate to not-self?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography] [Questions] [Not-self ] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Feeling] [Relinquishment] [Self-identity view] [Four Noble Truths] [Views]


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4. “Are the skillful means for dealing with not-self aas easy as know and let go?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness] [Relinquishment] [Not-self] // [Discernment] [Truth]


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5. Comment: The question that occured to me was “If I take this as myself, where does it lead me?” [Discernment] [Not-self]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] [Self-identity view]


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6. “I’ve heard the teaching that if you watch your kilesas in samādhi, they tend to subside. Sometimes you watch your sakkāya-diṭṭhi and it’s not going away. What to do?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unskillful qualities] [Mindfulness] [Concentration] [Cessation] [Not-self] [Self-identity view] // [Impermanence] [Suffering]


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7. “Why go through all the trouble to teach us how to not have a self and then refuse to tell us there is no self?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Teaching Dhamma] [Middle Path] [Not-self] // [Relinquishment] [Suffering] [Questions] [Aggregates] [Sense bases]


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8. Comments regarding the intellectual framework of the aggregates versus bringing it back to experience. [Aggregates] [Learning] [Direct experience] [Not-self]


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9. “Is renting a good metaphor for not-self?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Similes] [Not-self] // [Ajahn Chah]

Quote: “We only rent this house. We don’t own it.”

Reference: “Our Real Home” in Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 145


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10. “In regard to self and emotions, you acknowledge and embrace it but don’t hold tightly?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Emotion] [Clinging] [Relinquishment] [Middle Path] [Not-self] // [Discernment]


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11. Comment: In the classes I teach, we use the acronym R.A.I.N. – Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Not-identify. I explain not-identify by asking my students, “If you say, ‘I am angry,’ when anger goes away, what happens to you?” [Teaching Dhamma] [Self-identity view] [Not-self]


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12. “The Buddha asks us to look at the things we identify with as self and notice they are not who we are. But if there’s nothing else but those things, there is no self, right?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha] [Middle Path] [Not-self ] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Learning] [Liberation] [Suffering]

Follow-up: “Isn’t there then an implication that there is something else that could be self?” [Views]


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13. Comments regarding not-self. [Nature of the cosmos] [Kamma] [Self-identity view] [Not-self]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha] [Teaching Dhamma]


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14. Comment: I’ve found it helpful to recognize that for me there aren’t any right answers, only right questions. [Culture/West] [Questions] [Not-self]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view]


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15. “Is the heir to my thoughts, words, and deeds me or some other guy?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Kamma] [Rebirth] [Not-self] // [Becoming] [Cessation] [Self-identity view] [Direct experience]


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16. “The fear that arises upon the realization that there’s nothing there is so strong that it takes away from the awareness being able to stay with it. Any suggestions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fear] [Knowledge and vision] [Not-self] // [Recollection] [Goodwill] [Gladdening the mind] [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Learning] [Faith]


The Middle Way of Not-Self, Session 2: The Purpose of Not-Self – May. 27, 2015

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1. Comment: With the analogy of the scent and the flower (SN 22.89), it sounds like it [the sense of self] is relational and there is an effect. But it gets tricky... [Conditionality] [Not-self]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view]


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2. “Does everything point back to the third satpaṭṭhāna (mindfulness of mind)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of mind] [Not-self] // [Aggregates]

Sutta: Dhp 1


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3. “Ajahn Mun taught Ajahn Chah to distinguish between the mind and mind objects. Is the mind that distinguishes between these a development of ordinary mind or a larger mind that we tap into as we develop wisdom?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Chah] [Heart/mind] [Moods of the mind] [Not-self] [Nature of mind] [Discernment] // [Conditionality] [Liberation] [Direct experience]

Response: Both of these are wrong. [Proliferation]

Sutta: MN 11 Cūḷasīhanāda Sutta


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4. Comment about working with not-self in direct experience in relation to discomfort and awareness of embodied release. [Direct experience] [Feeling] [Suffering] [Impermanence] [Not-self] [Mindfulness of body] [Relinquishment] [Fear]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Proliferation]


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5. “I wanted to confirm that we’re also not putting this self on other objects like the redness belonging to the rose.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Proliferation] [Not-self]

Quote: “It makes me suffer when those roses turn black and they’re still on the shrine...which happens all the time!” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abhayagiri] [Devotional practice] [Impermanence]


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6. “Things change. But can’t that be part of its nature that things change?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Impermanence] [Not-self]


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7. “Could you say that attavādupādāna is that very trying to say ‘Is it self or is to no self?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Doctrine-of-self clinging] [Not-self]


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8. “Do you think it’s enough to just be aware of the suffering that’s caused by the clinging to self?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] [Clinging] [Self-identity view] [Dispassion] [Not-self] // [Characteristics of existence] [Cessation] [Ignorance] [Knowledge and vision] [Release] [Proliferation]

Quote: “The most efficacious investigation comes from a still mind.” [Concentration] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation]


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9. Comment: What you said reminds me of ‘da resin.’ [audio unclear] [Not-self]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno: “It’s that sticky bit that creates the problems.” [Clinging] [Self-identity view] [Views] [Becoming] [Present moment awareness]


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10. Quote: “One of the things I often attend to is the juxtaposition of stillness and movement. It’s not that one is right and the other wrong. We can be still and really dull or the mind can move with clarity and acuity. But stillness and movement, what’s generating it, what’s pushing it? That bhavadiṭṭhi/vibhavadiṭṭhi is the engine behind it and the force behing the arising of a sense of self, a sense of me.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Ajahn Pasanno] [Insight meditation] [Calming meditation] [Right Concentration] [Not-self] [Clear comprehension] [Nature of mind] [Conditionality] [Becoming ] [Craving not to become] [Views] [Self-identity view ]


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11. Comment: Before I get to all that [deep reflection on not-self], in the meantime I thing of Luang Por Sumedho’s saying, ‘Every time I think of myself, I get depressed.’ [Ajahn Sumedho] [Self-identity view] [Depression] [Not-self]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Five Precepts]

Quote: “It’s difficult but it’s not that complicated. The Buddha’s teachings go against the grain of our conditioning and habits, but the essence of it is quite simple.” [Proliferation] [Right Effort] [Craving] [Simplicity] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]


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12. Comment: I notice how the mind defends suffering because it’s so closely related to that idea of self. But if I let go of defending, what am I? [Clinging] [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment] [Not-self]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Learning] [Cessation of Suffering]


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13. “Is bhavadiṭṭhi the same word as cultivation (bhāvanā)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Becoming] [Views] [Meditation] [Pāli] [Not-self] // [Etymology]