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31 events, 78 sessions, 136 excerpts, 10:28:25 total duration

Most common topics:
Great disciples (8)     Virtue (8)     Conditionality (6)     Happiness (6)     Similes (6)     Buddha/Biography (5)     Mindfulness of breathing (5)     Generosity (4)     Right View (4)     Suffering (4)    

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Metta Retreat, Session 3Ajahn Pasanno – Sep. 11, 2008

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8. (5:50) “I’m not sure in the context of this retreat when to be resting simply with the four foundations of mindfulness and when to be reciting metta phrases. Can you please advise as to how/when to skillfully move from one practice to the other?” [Right Mindfulness] [Goodwill] [Mantra] // [Emotion] [Sloth and torpor] [Mindfulness of body] [Calming meditation] [Discernment]

Sutta: MN 19: Dvedhāvitakka Sutta [Directed thought and evaluation] [Skillful qualities]


Metta Retreat, Session 4Ajahn Pasanno – Sep. 12, 2008

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2. (1:41) “Which suttas describe path and fruit?” [Stages of awakening] [Sutta]

Sutta: MN 70: Kīṭāgiri Sutta


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12. (4:32) “What is the Pali word for letting go or relinquishment? Is this the opposite of upādāna?” [Pāli] [Relinquishment] [Clinging] // [Release] [Progress of insight] [Ajahn Pasanno]

Sutta: MN 37: Sabbe dhammā nālaṁ abhinivesāya–All dhammas are not to be clung to. [Conditionality]

Sutta: SN 46.1: ...based upon seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, maturing in release.

Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta [Mindfulness of breathing]


Metta Retreat, Session 5Ajahn Pasanno – Sep. 13, 2008

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2. (3:03) “Would you explain the duties adult children have towards ageing parents and the duties of parents towards their children as taught by the Buddha?” [Family] [Ageing] [Children] // [Health care] [Culture/Asia]

Sutta: AN 2.33: The greatest gifts to one's parents. [Virtue] [Generosity] [Right View]


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9. (3:43) “Is gladness the same as thankfulness?” [Empathetic joy] [Gratitude] // [Translation] [Divine Abidings]

Sutta: AN 6.10 Mahānāma [Recollection/Dhamma] [Gladdening the mind]


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12. (3:31) “The near enemy to equanimity is aloofness. Can you offer clues on how to differentiate between these in oneself?” [Equanimity] [Discernment] // [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] [Aversion] [Present moment awareness]

Quote: “Tuning into kusala/akusala sorts things out really quickly.”

Sutta: AN 3.65: Kālāma Sutta


Recollections of Ajahn Chah, Session 1: His Life and Teachings Part 1Ajahn Pasanno – Sep. 19, 2010 [Ajahn Chah]

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12. (5:04) Reading from the draft biography: Ajahn Mun's character and legacy [Ajahn Mun] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Culture/Thailand] [Perception of a samaṇa] [Great disciples] [Ascetic practices] [Rains retreat] [Almsround] [Psychic powers] [Discernment] [Liberation] [History/Thai Buddhism]

Reference: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 52

Suttas: Dhp 65, Dhp 92

Story: Ajahn Mun disappears after being appointed abbot. [Abbot] [Seclusion]


Tudong Stories at Spirit Rock, Session 2: Questions and AnswersAjahn Pasanno – Jun. 2, 2011 [Tudong]

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3. (7:09) 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]

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.


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6. (8:42) “Could you tell of your personal experience with a tiger?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Animal]

Story: Ajahn Pasanno hears and smells a tiger while doing walking meditation. [Dtao Dum] [Culture/Natural environment] [Posture/Walking] [Fear] [Death] [Impermanence] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension]

Sutta: MN 4: Fear and Dread


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13. (4:14) “To what extend is spreading the teachings part of the tudong tradition?” [Teaching Dhamma] // [Culture/Thailand]

Vinaya: Kd 1.23: Venerable Assaji's demeanor inspires Sariputta. [Great disciples] [Perception of a samaṇa]

Story: Ajahn Pasanno goes tudong and is asked for lottery numbers. [Ajahn Pasanno]


Brightening the Mind, Session 1: Brightening the MindAjahn Pasanno – Aug. 19, 2012

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1. (3:03) “Could you expand about the layers of understanding of thought, perception, and dukkha?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Yatiko. [Discernment] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Perception] [Suffering] // [Proliferation] [Relinquishment]

Quote: “First you study the Dhamma, then you know the Dhamma, then you see the Dhamma, they you be the Dhamma.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma] [Progress of insight]

Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 631: The highest level of understanding is giving up.


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4. (5:34) “What is the difference between mindfulness, bare attention, and clear comprehension? Can you flesh out the word understanding?” [Mindfulness] [Direct experience] [Clear comprehension] // [Right Effort] [Discernment] [Right Mindfulness] [Ardency] [Investigation of states] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Greed] [Aversion]

Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta


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5. (3:26) “Sometimes you hear something...[audio unclear]....What is your opinion?” [Gladdening the mind] [Discernment] [Release] [Cessation of Suffering]

Sutta: AN 8.19: "Just as the ocean has only one taste..." [Liberation]


Brightening the Mind, Session 2: Recollection of the DevasAjahn Yatiko – Aug. 19, 2012 [Deva] [Recollection/Devas]

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3. (4:45) “I've heard that devas and brahmas aren't able to become enlightened. Is that right?” Answered by Ajahn Yatiko and Ajahn Pasanno. [Liberation] // [Delusion] [Heedlessness] [Sutta] [Great disciples] [Four Noble Truths]

Sutta: SN 56.11: Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta

Story: Ajahn Sudanto's pūjā on Mount Hood. [Pacific Hermitage] [Pūjā] [Culture/Natural environment] [Merit] [Goodwill]


The Gradual Training, Session 1Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Yatiko – Oct. 20, 2012 [Gradual Teaching]

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7. (3:46) “In the West, there are so many religious practices from the East. How do we relate to them all.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spiritual traditions] [Hinduism] // [Buddha/Biography] [Teaching Dhamma]

Sutta: MN 95: Caṅkī Sutta [Conditionality] [Faith]

Quote: “I've been an abbot for thirty years, and I'm quite happy. One of the reasons I'm happy is I don't feel I have to go and convince anybody of anything.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Happiness] [Contentment]


The Gradual Training, Session 2Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Yatiko – Oct. 20, 2012 [Gradual Teaching]

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8. (5:23) “How do we know when to ask for directions on the path as opposed to just continuing farther? What would we ask?” Answered by Ajahn Yatiko. [Questions] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] // [Suffering] [Discernment] [Conditionality] [Faith]

Sutta: SN 12.23: Suffering is the cause of faith.

Follow-up: “What about when things are pleasant, but we're not headed in the right direction?” [Happiness] [Mindfulness] [Deva] [Relinquishment]

Sutta: MN 75: Simile of the leper. [Similes]

Sutta: SN 56.35: Stream entry after 100 years. [Stream entry] [Four Noble Truths]


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9. (3:20) “Can you speak more about the impermance of goodness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Impermanence] [Virtue] // [Conditionality] [Happiness] [Compassion] [Fear] [Suffering] [Clinging]

Sutta: AN 8.39: Five great gifts which give freedom from fear. [Generosity] [Five Precepts]

Quote: “The basis of Right View is knowing that this cup is a broken glass.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Right View]


Right Livelihood, Session 1Ajahn Pasanno – Apr. 21, 2013 [Right Livelihood]

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3. (6:08) “Could you talk more about the particular professions that the Buddha laid out as wrong livelihood (AN 5.177)? Why is being in the military not on the list?” [Work] [Military] // [Unskillful qualities] [Kamma] [Killing] [Intoxicants] [Rebirth]

Sutta: AN 5.177: Trades

Story: The widow of a wealthy man divests from Singha Beer. [Commerce/economics]


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25. (2:46) “There are many people without access to resources for education or training without many choices. How does this all fit together?” [Poverty] [Learning] [Politics and society] // [Buddha] [Idealism]

Sutta: DN 27: Agañña Sutta


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26. (3:09) “In DN 31.26, what is investment versus savings?” [Commerce/economics]

Comments by various participants about the nature of investment. [Unskillful qualities] [Greed] [Work]

Sutta: DN 31.32: Siṅgālasutta Sutta–Five duties of an employer to employees


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28. (1:11) “Do you know the qualities the employee is supposed to give the employer?” [Work]

Sutta: DN 31.32: Siṅgālasutta Sutta


Right Livelihood, Session 2Ajahn Pasanno – Apr. 21, 2013

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5. (4:40) “What is your take on satisfaction, being in tune, and stagnation?” [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


The Whole of the Path: The Fruits of Spiritual Friendship, Session 3Ajahn Pasanno – Jun. 22, 2013

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3. (4:36) “Can you give some suggestions on dealing with betrayal in relationships?” [Relationships] [Sexual misconduct] [Trust] // [Spiritual friendship] [Faith] [Virtue] [Generosity] [Discernment] [Judgementalism] [Monastic life]

Sutta: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 46: The Highest Blessings (Mangala Sutta, SN 2.4)


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8. (8:28) “I appreciate your emphasis on clarity, stability, and spaciousness. How does concentration relate to these?” [Clear comprehension] [One pointedness] [Spaciousness] [Concentration] // [Pāli] [Thai] [Etymology] [Tranquility] [Happiness] [Rapture] [Conditionality]

Suttas: AN 10.3: Virtuous Behaivor; AN 6.10 Mahānāma [Virtue]

Quote: “The way my mind worked before was, 'Boy, when I get my concentration together, I'm going to be happy...'” [Ajahn Pasanno]

Quote: “The happy mind is easily concentrated.” [Hindrances] [Relinquishment] [Knowledge and vision]


New Year, New Life, Session 1Ajahn Pasanno – Dec. 16, 2013

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6. (8:50) “I find I do need some pleasures even thought they don't last, things like fine arts and being in nature. I'm curious, how did you manage as a monk in your early years at Ajahn Chah's monastery where there's almost no pleasure....How did you manage to keep going over the years until the present?” [Sensual desire] [Artistic expression] [Culture/Natural environment] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Ajahn Chah] [Food] [Entertainment and adornment] [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Happiness] [Simplicity] [Association with people of integrity] [Empathetic joy] [Human] [Hindrances] [Jhāna] [Virtue] [Discernment]

Quote: “One of the extraordinary perks of being a monk is that everyone tries to be good around you.”

Sutta: MN 36.32: "Why am I afraid of that happiness?" [Buddha/Biography] [Ascetic practices] [Suffering] [Skillful qualities] [Eightfold Path]

Quote: “As a monk, I can look back on forty years of living in a way where I don't have to feel remorseful or regret anything.”


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 1: No Bargaining with the King of DeathAjahn Pasanno – Jan. 6, 2014

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[Session] (11:43) Ajahn Pasanno begins the retreat by encouraging us to return to the basics of the Noble Eight-fold Path. He mentions Iris Landsberg, a long-standing lay supporter dying of lung cancer, both to set the tone for the monk's final visit to her and to encourage us to practice while there is still time. Iris passed away February 1, 2014. [Eightfold Path] [Sickness] [Death] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Sense of urgency] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Meditation retreats] [Family] [Health care]

Sutta: DN 16.34: The world will not be devoid of awakened beings as long as people are practicing the Eightfold Path. [Stages of awakening]

Story: Ajahn Pāvaro decides to practice in Bodh Gaya after receiving worrying medical news. [Ajahn Pavaro] [Visiting holy sites] [Impermanence]

Sutta: MN 131: Bhaddekaratta Sutta (Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 75)


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 12: Unshakeable PeaceAjahn Pasanno – Jan. 21, 2014

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4. (1:50) “Is the samatha versus vipassanā debate still active in Thailand?” [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Culture/Thailand] [Views] // [Ajahn Chah]

Sutta: AN 6.46 Cunda Sutta: Study monks versus meditation monks. [Study monks]


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 13: Khandavimutti and SamangidhammaAjahn Pasanno – Jan. 22, 2014

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1. (4:47) “Why is sañña often translated as perception?” [Perception] [Translation] // [Thai] [Recollection] [Aggregates]

Sutta: MN 43.5 Mahāvedalla Sutta: Conjoined not disjoined.


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6. (1:39) “Is this similar to the Buddha's teaching to let go of the path?” [Eightfold Path] [Relinquishment] // [Ajahn Chah] [Not-made-of-that] [Right Effort] [Ajahn Mun] [Thai]

Sutta: SN 1.1 Oghataraṇa: Crossing the Flood.


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 18: The Spirit of a Warrior and Kor PatipadaAjahn Pasanno – Jan. 29, 2014

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4. (5:22) “Do you have any advice about how to hold a particularly strong “fighting spirit” teaching, like Ajahn Dtun?” [Fierce/direct teaching] [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Dtun] // [Culture/Thailand] [Ardency] [Right Effort] [Restlessness and worry] [Heedfulness] [Discernment] [Goodwill]

Sutta: AN 1.49: The mind is radiant.

Quote: “If you invite visitors into your home [the mind] and they just make a mess, then you want to close the door on them before they come in. You can't be too polite.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Similes] [Unwholesome Roots]


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 21: Kondañña KnowsAjahn Pasanno – Feb. 3, 2014

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7. (3:37) Reflection about the Buddha saying, "Māra, I see you!" Contributed by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Buddha/Biography] [Māra]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno about the definition of an arahant being “one who is far from defilements” and insight into not self. [Ajahn Chah] [Not-self] [Stream entry] [Self-identity view]

Sutta: MN 123 Acchariya-abbhūta Sutta: Wonderful and Marvelous.


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 28: Mindfulness of DeathAjahn Pasanno – Feb. 12, 2014

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2. (8:10) “In the Pure Land tradition, there are practices that prepare one for death. Are there are specific recommendations that yourself or Ajahn Chah would give for preparation for that last moment before death?” [Pure Land] [Ajahn Chah] [Death] [Recollection/Death] // [Buddho mantra]

Story: Family members try to encourage a drunkard to recollect "Arahaṃ" in his last moments. [Mantra] [Humor]

Story: Ajahn Chah's response to Paul Breiter's desire to teach meditation to dying people. Told by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Meditation] [Fierce/direct teaching]

Story: Ajahn Karuṇadhammo advises Iris Landsberg to recollect "sorrowless, spotless, secure." Told by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Recollection]

Sutta: Sn 2.4: Maṅgala Sutta (English chanting translation).

Story: A couple asks Master Hua what kind of dog they should get. [Master Hsuan Hua] [Animal] [Rebirth]


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 31: Breath Meditation CondensedAjahn Pasanno – Feb. 17, 2014

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14. (3:12) “She talks about virtue being the other hand of discernment in the meditation experience, and whenever discernment discerns stress, virtue is what lets go of the cause of stress, that virtue does the disbanding of it. Is virtue an unusual word to use there?” [Upasikā Kee Nanayon] [Virtue] [Discernment] [Cessation of Suffering] [Dispassion] // [Pāli] [Conscience and prudence] [Ajahn Chah]

Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 14: Many levels of sīla. [Commentaries] [Eightfold Path]


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 37: Paticca-Samuppada: Practical Dependent OriginationAjahn Pasanno – Feb. 25, 2014

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1. (4:59) “Could you describe ways to work with delighting and wanting around the pleasure of food?” [Food] [Craving] [Happiness] [Unattractiveness] [Disenchantment] // [Elements] [Mindfulness of body] [Clinging] [Impermanence] [Dependent origination]

Sutta: AN 5.208: The benefits of chewing toothwoods. [Cleanliness]


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2. (5:30) “How should we relate to the Buddha's statement that sensual pleasure is to be feared?” [Sensual desire] [Sense bases] [Fear] // [Culture/West] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy]

Sutta: MN 66.19: Sensual pleasure is to be feared.


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4. (3:43) “Could you say more about the positive causal process that is the opposite of paticcasamuppada?” [Dependent origination] [Conditionality] [Mindfulness] // [Skillful qualities] [Right Mindfulness] [Factors of Awakening]

Sutta: SN 12.23 Upanisa: Dukkha is a cause for faith. [Suffering] [Faith]

Sutta: AN 10.61 Avijjā: The Five Hindrances are a cause for ignorance. [Hindrances] [Ignorance]


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 40: The Natural Character of AwakeningAjahn Pasanno – Mar. 2, 2014

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5. (7:52) “What is the difference between abandoning craving and realizing the abandoning of craving?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Impermanence] [Aggregates] [Cause of Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] // [Commentaries] [Doubt] [Relinquishment] [Concentration] [Gladdening the mind] [Desire] [Becoming] [Right View]

Sutta: SN 56.11 Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. [Four Noble Truths]

Sutta: MN 121 Cūḷa Suññata Sutta: The Shorter Discourse on Emptiness [Emptiness]

Quote: “The characteristic of cessation is not just ending something and annihilating [it], but it's being willing and able to stop. The nature of the mind is that it doesn't like to stop. And it's [through] that not stopping that we keep creating that sense of me.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Cessation] [Nature of mind] [Self-identity view]


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 41: Steady PracticeAjahn Pasanno – Mar. 3, 2014

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6. (7:30) “How does one cultivate self-supervision?” [Ajahn Chah] [Desire] [Self-reliance] [Postures] [Continuity of mindfulness] // [Mindfulness of body] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Mindfulness of breathing]

Quote: “The body is like a mirror for the different moods and state of the mind as we're experiencing things.” [Similes] [Mindfulness of mind]

Follow-up: “I try to practice body awareness when my mind is being supervised...” [Long-term practice] [Ajahn Sucitto]

Sutta: MN 10 Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta [Right Mindfulness]


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 42: The Dhamma-Truth of Samatha-Vipassana for the Nuclear AgeAjahn Pasanno – Mar. 4, 2014

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5. (8:09) “How does one work with dullness and drowsiness in sitting meditation?” [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]


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 47: Meeting Ajahn ChahAjahn Pasanno – Mar. 11, 2014

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12. (0:54) “If you had moved Wat Pah Nanachat to Wat Keun, would you have left Thailand?” [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Wat Keun] [Ajahn Pasanno]

Quote: “I had one plan and the devas had a different one.” [Deva]

Sutta: DN 16.6.15: Mahāparinibbāna Sutta [Buddha/Biography] [Great disciples]


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 48: Conversations with Ajahn PiakAjahn Pasanno – Mar. 12, 2104

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2. (6:24) “Would you be willing to talk about the difference between mindfulness, bare knowing, and the one who knows?” [Mindfulness] [Direct experience] [Knowing itself] // [Buddha] [Clear comprehension] [Thai] [Discernment] [Ardency] [Seclusion] [Cessation of Suffering]

Sutta: MN 10: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 58: Discernment versus Self-Deception and Awareness Right at AwarenessAjahn Pasanno – Mar. 28, 2014

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2. (2:50) “All Dhammas are not to be clung to.” Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno. [Clinging] [Relinquishment] // [Cessation] [Meditation/Techniques] [Right View] [Upasikā Kee Nanayon] [Suffering]

Sutta: MN 37 Cūḷataṇhāsaṅkhaya Sutta


Death and Dying, Session 1: Practical and Social Aspects of Death and DyingAjahn Pasanno – May. 9, 2014 [Death]

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8. (3:21) “What is Jeta's Grove?” [Buddha/Biography] // [Great disciples] [Ajahn Sucitto]

Vinaya: Anāthapiṇḍika purchases Jeta's Grove (Kd 16.4.8). [Generosity]


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9. (4:56) “Why is the story of Sarakāni controversial in Sri Lanka?” [Stream entry] [Intoxicants] [History/Sri Lankan Buddhism] // [Stages of awakening]

Sutta: SN 55.24-25: Sarakāni

Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo regarding the wide range of views about stream entry. [Views]


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19. (3:01) “Is it possible to dedicate merit to our four-legged companions after they pass?” [Animal] [Merit] [Grief] // [Generosity]

Sutta: AN 10.177: Jāṇussoṇī


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22. (0:54) “I read about the advice given to dying devas. Should more people know about the cosmological background of the Buddha's teachings?” [Deva] [Realms of existence]

Sutta: Iti 83: Five omens that appear when a deva is about to pass away. [Rebirth]


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24. (2:50) “If beings are reborn immediately, how does ritual [sharing of merit] benefit the person who has passed?” [Rebirth] [Ceremony/ritual] [Merit] // [Theravāda] [Realms of existence] [Goodwill]

Sutta: AN 10.177: Jāṇussoṇī


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26. (2:43) “If a family member who has passed turns into a hungry ghost, how might one help them when they're in that realm?” [Family] [Rebirth] [Ghost] [Compassion] // [Merit]

Sutta: AN 10.177: Jāṇussoṇī

Follow-up: “Does it work the same way if the person hasn't made much merit?” [Kamma] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] [Human]


Death and Dying, Session 2: Personal Experiences with Death and DyingAjahn Yatiko, Jeanne Daskais and Debbie Stamp – May. 9, 2014 [Death]

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4. (11:33) Reflection by Jeanne Daskais: How Dhamma practice helped me be with my mother's death and support my family through the process. [Family] [Sickness] [Buddhist identity] // [Grief] [Christianity] [Health care] [Relationships] [Recollection/Death] [Generosity]

Sutta: SN 47.19: The Bamboo Acrobat


Thai Forest Tradition, Session 3Ajahn Pasanno – Jun. 14, 2014 [Thai Forest Tradition]

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11. (3:45) “How is there clinging to personality?” [Clinging] [Personality] [Self-identity view] // [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]


Questions and Answers with Dharma Realm Buddhist UniversityAjahn Pasanno – Nov. 18, 2014

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18. (8:51) “How do we take refuge in awareness (Buddho) in daily life?” [Buddha] [Recollection/Buddha] [Knowing itself] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Everyday life] // [Precepts] [Mindfulness] [Discernment] [Recollection] [Clear comprehension] [Right Effort] [Seclusion] [Nature of mind] [Proliferation] [Culture/Thailand]

Sutta: MN 10: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta

Note: In the answer to this question, Ajahn Pasanno equates awareness with mindfulness.

Quote: “The literal meaning of Buddho is 'the one who knows,' but it's also being the one who knows, where you have the opportunity for us to be that knowing.”


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24. (5:41) “Ajahn Mun's biography describes a constant fierce vigilance, watching the mind. But meeting you guys, you're so peaceful and calm. How does this work in terms of practice?” [Ajahn Mun] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Right Effort] [Tranquility] // [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Culture/Thailand] [Dhamma books] [Teaching Dhamma]

Quote: “Any great teacher is not monochromatic.” [Buddha] [Arahant]

Sutta: AN 4.243: "But Ānanda, when has Anuruddha ever concerned himself with disciplinary issues in the midst of the Saṅgha?" [Great disciples] [Personality]


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25. (5:18) “So what about the Bodhisattva practice?” [Bodhisattva] // [Theravāda] [Mahāyāna] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Generosity] [Ajahn Chah] [Upatakh] [Teaching Dhamma]

Sutta: AN 4.17-20: Practice that benefits self, others, both or neither.

Quote: "What are the mind states of an enlightened being?" "Only compassion." — Ajahn Mahā Boowa [Arahant] [Compassion] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Wat Pah Nanachat]


2014 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 5Ajahn Pasanno – Nov. 26, 2014

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16. (7:43) “Was the fire sermon a “teaching moment” of hyperbole? I love to take photographs, for example, and it helps me engage much more deeply with the world outside my skull. And it fills me with rapture, compassion, and joy! Does the Buddha's recipe for liberation truly entail cutting off this experience of beauty? Where's the Theravada equivalent to the Zen “suchness” —the awe of life and its ephemerality? Thank you!” [Dispassion] [Impermanence] [Suchness] [Recreation/leisure/sport] [Liberation] [Compassion] [Happiness]

Sutta: SN 35.28: Ādittapariyāya Sutta


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 5: Advantages of Mindfulness, Disadvantages of AttachmentAjahn Karuṇadhammo – Jan. 10, 2015

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[Session] (42:15) Readings from Body Contemplation: A Study Guide by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro. [Mindfulness of body]

AN 4.184: Janussonī; AN 10.60: Girimananda; SN 35.247: Six Animals; AN 4.45: Rohitassa; Thag 1.104: Khitaka.

Dhp 259, Dhp 299, Dhp 46; Ud 3.5.

AN 1.575 and onward, Mindfulness immersed in the body (SuttaCentral numbering).

AN 1.616 and onward, Deathless (SuttaCentral numbering).


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2. (1:51) “In this passage where the Buddha lists illnesses and calamaties (AN 10.60), he separates kamma out as a cause of those things. However the cause of being subject to these things is because of making good or bad kamma. Is kamma [in this list] a direct, proximate cause?” [Kamma] [Sickness] [Conditionality]

Sutta: SN 36.21 Sīvaka: The Buddha refutes the notion that kamma causes everything.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 11: Elements 1Ajahn Karuṇadhammo – Jan. 18, 2015 [Elements]

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2. (3:01) “Is it common for body contemplation to veer towards aversion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Mindfulness of body] [Unattractiveness] [Aversion] // [Translation] [Not-self] [Ajahn Chah]

Sutta: MN 62: Mahārāhulaovāda Sutta, The Greater Discourse of Advice to Rāhula.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 14: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 1Ajahn Pasanno – Jan. 23, 2015 [Right Mindfulness]

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2. (7:32) “How can one be mindful of the beginning of thought?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Kaccāna and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Mindfulness] // [Appropriate attention] [Perception] [Proliferation]

Comments about observing proliferating thoughts. [Conditionality] [Right Effort] [Restlessness and worry] [Mindfulness of mind]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Feeling]

Sutta: MN 118 Ānāpānasati Sutta.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 15: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 2Ajahn Pasanno – Jan. 24, 2015

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2. (3:10) “Is the Buddha quoted as saying “I teach a path of the application of effort?”” [Buddha] [Energy] [Right Effort] [Eightfold Path] // [Aids to Awakening]

Sutta: AN 3.137: Doctrine of energy (vīriyavādā)

Sutta: DN 16: Mahāparinibbāna Sutta


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4. (3:57) “Can you speak about the roots of wholesome and unwholesome desire?” [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 Thanissara (commercial).


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 16: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 3Ajahn Pasanno – Jan. 25, 2015 [Right Mindfulness]

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2. (6:16) “Why is the intellect not included in the five cords of sensual pleasure?” [Sense bases] [Sensual desire] // [Culture/West] [History] [Culture/Thailand] [Craving]

Sutta: SN 47.6-7.

Follow-up: “Are the pīti and sukha of samādhi considered mano (intellect) states?” [Rapture] [Happiness] [Concentration] [Aversion]


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4. (2:06) “Could it be that the five cords of sensual pleasure need an outside stimulus to be activated while the mind is an internal frame of reference?” [Sensual desire] [Sense bases] [Heart/mind] // [Craving] [Concentration]

Sutta: MN 137: Replacing sensual pleasure with the pleasure of samādhi.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 18: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 5Ajahn Pasanno – Jan. 29, 2015 [Right Mindfulness]

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1. (2:09) “What are the rewards for the skillful monk?” [Monastic life] [Skillful qualities] // [Happiness] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Concentration]

Sutta: SN 47.8: Simile of the skillful cook. [Similes] [Similes]

Story: Ajahn Mun criticizes Ajahn Mahā Boowa for developing meditation like a tree stump. [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Admonishment/feedback]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 19: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 6Ajahn Pasanno – Jan. 30, 2015

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1. (1:52) “How does cruelty differ from ill will?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ill-will] // [Goodwill] [Compassion] [Right Mindfulness] [Concentration] [Right Effort]

Sutta: MN 19: Dvedhavitakka Sutta, Two Kinds of Thought.


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3. (2:05) “What are antidotes to the strained, tired mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Sloth and torpor] // [Directed thought and evaluation] [Skillful qualities] [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of breathing]

Sutta: MN 19: Dvedhavitakka Sutta, Two Kinds of Thought.


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5. (1:39) “Can jhana occur in walking meditation?” [Jhāna] [Posture/Walking] // [Concentration] [Ajahn Viradhammo]

Sutta: AN 5.29: Walking Meditatation.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 20: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 7Ajahn Pasanno – Jan. 31, 2015

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2. (1:58) “Does the consistency of vicara correlate with samadhi?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Concentration] // [Rapture] [Happiness] [One pointedness]

Sutta: MN 119: Simile of the bathman. [Similes]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 22: The Ānānpānasati SuttaAjahn Pasanno – Feb. 2, 2015

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3. (3:00) “How do you practice with painful feeling?” [Pain] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Suffering] // [Emotion] [Blame and praise] [Happiness] [Proliferation]

Sutta: SN 36.6: Sallatha Sutta, The Arrow.


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4. (4:17) “What does “know the mind as mind; know feeling as feeling” mean?” [Right Mindfulness] [Relinquishment] // [Proliferation]

Comment: Self-view forms around the feeling from sense contact. [Sense bases] [Contact] [Feeling] [Self-identity view]

Sutta: MN 18: Madhupiṇḍika Sutta, The Honeyball.

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volitional formations] [Perception]

Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta. [Mindfulness of breathing]


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5. (1:38) “Should the sixteen steps be practiced simultaneously?” [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Meditation/General advice] [Right Effort]

Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta.


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6. (2:51) Comment by Ajahn Ñāṇiko: There is the concern that we practice meditation to make something happen. [Meditation/General advice]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Neutral feeling] [Delusion]

Sutta: MN 44: Cūḷavedalla Sutta, The Small Discourse Giving an Elaboration. [Feeling] [Unwholesome Roots]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 24: The Structure of Breath Meditation 2Ajahn Ñāṇiko – Feb. 6, 2015

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1. (10:00) “Why does the Buddha describe perception in terms of colors but consciousness in terms of tastes?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Perception] [Consciousness] [Sense bases] // [Bhikkhu Bodhi] [Commentaries] [Ven. Analayo] [Memory] [Feeling]

Sutta: SN 22.79: Being Devoured; footnote 114 in Bhikkhu Bodhi translation.

Follow-up: “Could you say that perception is identification whereas consciousness is more refined?” [Aggregates] [Not-self] [Self-identity view] [Rebirth] [Translation] [Similes]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 25: The Structure of Breath Meditation 3Ajahn Ñāṇiko – Feb. 8, 2015

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1. (4:23) “In Right Mindfulness, Ajahn Ṭhānissaro focuses on how the first three tetrads apply to high states of concentation. How can these be useful in more mundane levels of meditation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Mindfulness] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Jhāna] // [Investigation of states] [Rapture] [Volitional formations] [Heart/mind]

Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 137: Five levels of pīti.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 31: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 1Ajahn Pasanno – Feb. 20, 2015

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1. (2:20) Discussion of Ajahn Ṭhānissaro's translation “practice jhāna.” [Jhāna] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Translation] [Pāli]

Sutta: SN 47.10 Bhikkhunūpassaya Sutta, At the Nun's Residence.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 33: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 3Ajahn Pasanno – Feb. 22, 2015

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8. (3:06) “Do you have to emerge from jhāna to contemplate the characteristics of the aggregates?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Jhāna] [Insight meditation] [Aggregates] // [Mindfulness] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Knowing itself]

Sutta: AN 9.36: “Jhāna.”

Quote: “Contemplation gets really good when you stop thinking.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Directed thought and evaluation]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 34: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 4Ajahn Pasanno – Feb. 23, 2015

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1. (6:03) Comments by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo contrasting the cannonical and commentarial approaches to breath meditation. [Sutta] [Commentaries] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Pa Auk Sayadaw] [Culture/Sri Lanka] [Culture/Thailand] [Pāli] [Ajahn Pasanno]

Sutta: MN 44 identifies in-and-out breathing as the bodily fabrication/conditioner (saṅkhāra).


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 35: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 5Ajahn Pasanno – Feb. 24, 2015

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2. (3:58) “Was it commonly accepted that the composers of the Vedas could not assert “I know, I see?”” [Culture/India] [History/Indian Buddhism] [Ceremony/ritual] [Spiritual traditions]

Sutta: MN 95: Cankī Sutta.


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3. (6:58) “Are any of the lists in this sutta (MN 95) explained in other suttas?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Sutta] // [Bhikkhu Bodhi]

Reference: P.A. Payutto's Dictionary of Numerical Dhammas (in Thai). [P. A. Payutto] [Pāli]

Explanation of volume and page numbers in the Pāli Tipitika.

Comment by Debbie Stamp: Similar listings often refer to the gradual training. [Gradual Teaching]

Sutta: MN 107: Gaṇakamoggallāna Sutta.

Sutta: MN 47: Vīmaṃsaka Sutta.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 39: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 9: FeelingAjahn Pasanno – Mar. 2, 2015 [Sensual desire]

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1. (3:12) “Could you explain the simile of the embers in regards to sensuality?” [Similes] [Pain] // [Concentration] [Liberation]

Sutta: SN 36.6: The Dart. An undeveloped person knows no escape from dukkha other than sensual pleasure. [Suffering]


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

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3. (2:12) “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.


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

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2. (0:55) 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. (1:11) 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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8. (2:44) 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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10. (1:12) 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 47: Vedanā 3Ajahn Karuṇadhammo – Mar. 17, 2015 [Feeling]

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2. (9:09) Discussion about kamma and the results of kamma. Led by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo, Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Kamma] [Conditionality] // [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 1Ajahn Karuṇadhammo – Mar. 18, 2015 [Proliferation] [Perception]

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1. (7:04) Discussion of the meaning of papañca in AN 8.30 and various other suttas. [Pāli] [Translation] // [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 2Ajahn Karuṇadhammo – Mar. 22, 2015 [Proliferation] [Perception]

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5. (6:55) Examples of signs and secondary characteristics of sense objects? Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Sense bases] // [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]


The Middle Way of Not-Self, Session 1: The Middle Way of Not-SelfAjahn Pasanno – May. 27, 2015 [Not-self]

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2. (2:21) “What are mental formations and consciousness?” [Aggregates] [Volitional formations] [Consciousness] // [Sense bases] [Contact]

Sutta: MN 44: Cūḷavedalla Sutta


The Middle Way of Not-Self, Session 2: The Purpose of Not-SelfAjahn Pasanno – May. 27, 2015 [Not-self]

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2. (1:09) “Does everything point back to the third satpaṭṭhāna (mindfulness of mind)?” [Mindfulness of mind] // [Aggregates]

Sutta: Dhp 1


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3. (2:59) “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?” [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Chah] [Heart/mind] [Moods of the mind] [Nature of mind] [Discernment] // [Conditionality] [Liberation] [Direct experience]

Response: Both of these are wrong. [Proliferation]

Sutta: MN 11 Cūḷasīhanāda Sutta


Desire or Aspiration, Session 1Ajahn Pasanno – Jun. 14, 2015

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5. (2:15) “I'm not sure how to be with close friends or family members who out of a desire to avoid pain and find happiness engage in self-destructive behaivor that also harms those around them.” [Family] [Spiritual friendship] [Unskillful qualities] [Craving] [Compassion] // [Discernment]

Sutta: Maṅgala Sutta: Don't associate with fools.


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10. (5:42) “Any advice for cures for burnout? I'm in a helping profession and feel depleted and exhausted. I need help getting the balance between giving and receiving.” [Depression] [Work] [Health] [Generosity] [Compassion] // [Culture/West] [Idealism] [Commentaries] [Selfishness]

Quote: “Compassion in the English language means 'to suffer with.' If you end up suffering with too much, you end up burnt out.” [Language] [Suffering]

Quote: “Don't think you're a ten-wheeled dump truck when all you are is a wheelbarrow.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah]

Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 291: Classical cultivation of goodwill and compassion, first to yourself. [Goodwill]

Quote: “Our ability to be with others and to help and to give is dependent on our being kind and compassionate to ourselves.” [Spiritual friendship] [Self-reliance]


Buddhist Identity in the Modern WorldAjahn Pasanno – Aug. 15, 2015 [Buddhist identity]

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2. (7:34) “What did the Buddha think following his teachings should mean or entail?” [Three Refuges] [Precepts] [History/Western Buddhism] // [Virtue] [Lay life] [Faith] [Generosity] [Association with people of integrity] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Learning] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Conceit]

Sutta: AN 8.26 Jīvaka Sutta


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4. (3:53) “Why did Jīvaka ask whether a virtuous lay follower is practicing for themselves or others (AN 8.26)?” [Great disciples] [Lay life] [Virtue] [Compassion] // [Culture/India] [Lunar observance days] [Teaching Dhamma]

Vinaya: Kd 2.1.1: Origin of Lunar Observance Days.


Jhāna: A Practical Approach, Session 2: Abandoning the HindrancesAjahn Karuṇadhammo – Oct. 10, 2015 [Hindrances]

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3. (2:01) “Sometimes I just notice that the state that is there [a hindrance] is going to go away. Isn't that a skillful way of looking at it?” [Impermanence] [Skillful qualities] // [Clear comprehension] [Habits]

Sutta: MN 20: The Removal of Distracting Thoughts [Right Effort] [Similes]


Jhāna: A Practical Approach, Session 3: Questions and Answers about JhānaAjahn Pasanno – Oct. 10, 2015 [Jhāna]

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7. (3:43) “The story that we hear frequently about the Buddhaa as a child in the cattle pasture with his father. He talks about going into a pleasant, rapturous state. Would you consider that jhāna?” [Buddha/Biography] [Happiness] [Rapture] // [Skillful qualities]

Sutta: MN 36.31 Mahāsaccaka Sutta


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16. (2:37) “The rapture and joy that are being described are not pleasure, right?” [Rapture] [Happiness] // [Pāli]

Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 139 [Similes]


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17. (1:20) “Does jhāna exclusively contain the five mental states?” [Directed thought and evaluation] [Rapture] [Happiness] [One pointedness] // [Right Concentration]

Sutta: MN 111 Anupada Sutta


Jhāna: A Practical Approach, Session 4: More Questions about JhānaAjahn Pasanno – Oct. 10, 2015 [Jhāna]

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5. (2:06) “Is the purpose of jhāna aand meditation to build up the strength of the mind so we will be able to contemplate the Four Noble Truths?” [Meditation] [Heart/mind] [Four Noble Truths] // [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation]

Sutta: AN 4.170: In Conjunction


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12. (1:25) Comment: In mindfulness of breathing, you feel the breath throughout the body. This suffusion is similar in jhāna. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Mindfulness of body]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Mindfulness]

Suttas: MN 10: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta


Suttas You've Never Heard Of, Session 2: Responding to the Human SituationAjahn Pasanno – Jun. 25, 2016

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9. (5:23) “I like the translations 'conscience' aand 'concern' for hiri and otappa. Having done unskillful actions in the past that create suffering, and being aware of the tendency to personalize, how can it be over and done?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Treasures] [Conscience and prudence] [Unskillful qualities] [Suffering] [Kamma] [Self-identity view] // [Four Noble Truths] [Divine Abidings]

Quote: “As a human being, I have the opportunity to learn from the past and move on to skillful action in the future. I don't have to be like a dog that barfs stuff up and goes back and eats it again.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Human] [Learning] [Skillful qualities] [Similes]

Quote: “The not-self refrain, 'This is not me, this is not mine, this is not what or who I am,' is not an abdication of responsibility but an understanding, 'This is the way I can put things down and move on, move past the things that are still creating suffering.'” — Ajahn Pasanno [Not-self] [Relinquishment]

Suttas: SN 42.8 The Conch Blower; AN 3.100: A Lump of Salt.


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16. (3:31) “Part of the sense of loss and sorrow is the joys that have created attachment. How to approach this?” [Grief] [Happiness] [Clinging] // [Naturalness] [Human] [Spaciousness]

Sutta: Thag 1062: Mahākassapa delights in nature. [Great disciples] [Culture/Natural environment]


Two Kinds of Thought and the Removal of Distracting Thoughts, Session 3: Responses from Small Group DiscussionsAjahn Pasanno – Jun. 4, 2017 [Directed thought and evaluation]

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7. (6:50) “Do thoughts by themselves have karmic consequences?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Kamma] // [Perception] [Feeling] [Volition] [Self-identity view]

Sutta: MN 56: Upāli

Follow-up: “Is it good kamma to decide not to act on an unskillful thought?” [Skillful qualities]

Story: A person talks with Ajahn Liem, analyzing their consistently bad thoughts and obsessions. He replies, "If you see a pile of excrement, why would you want to stick your nose in it?" Told by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ajahn Liem] [Unskillful qualities] [Similes] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Culture/Thailand] [Thai Forest Tradition]

Comment: I think my problem is that my nose is already in there, and I don't want to realize that I'm so stupid that it's hard to get it out. [Delusion]


Teen Weekend 2017Ajahn Pasanno – Sep. 2, 2017

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10. (2:08) Comment: I haven't heard any Buddhist teachers talk about wholesome romantic relationships. [Relationships] [Skillful qualities]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Family] [Treasures]

Sutta: AN 4.55 Samajīvī Sutta [Virtue]


The Teaching and the Training, Session 2: Celibacy, Symbol, and the TranscendentAjahn Pasanno – Mar. 13, 2018 [Monastic life]

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2. (6:02) “Are their multiple levels of brahmacariyā (celibacy)?” [Celibacy] [Christianity] [Sensual desire] // [Becoming]

Sutta: AN 7.50 Sexual Intercourse


The Teaching and the Training, Session 5: Being Your Own RefugeAjahn Pasanno – Mar. 21, 2018 [Monastic life]

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3. (7:29) “What about senior monks who don't meet our expectations of conduct or practice?” [Respect for elders] // [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa]

Sutta: AN 4.192 Facts


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4. (1:05) “Do you remember the sutta that compares people's behaivor to a puddle?” [Sutta] [Similes] // [Ill-will]

Sutta: AN 5.162 Removing Resentment


The Teaching and the Training, Session 6: Caring for Monks in Aging, Sickness, and DeathAjahn Pasanno – Mar. 22, 2018 [Monastic life] [Saṅgha]

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1. (11:26) “How does upatakhing fit into our training and what can we learn from it?” [Upatakh] [Vinaya] [Respect for elders] // [Culture/Thailand] [Conceit] [Generosity] [Protocols] [Discernment] [Mindfulness]

Vinaya: Cv 8: Vattakkhandhaka - Protocols

Story: Ajahn Lee upataks Ajahn Mun. [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo]


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5. (8:59) Comment: It's important for the Saṅgha to look after all members in terms of sickness and ageing. [Sickness] [Ageing] [Death]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]

Vinaya: Kd 8.26.1-8: The Monk with Dysentery [Buddha/Biography]


The Teaching and the Training, Session 10: The Relationship Between Study and PracticeAjahn Pasanno – Mar. 28, 2018 [Learning]

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5. (6:01) “How do we use sutta study in our practice and what are the pitfalls?” [Sutta] [Views] // [Non-contention] [Self-identity view] [Culture/India] [Relinquishment]

Sutta: MN 18


The Teaching and the Training, Session 11: Foundations, Community, Rebirth, NibbanaAjahn Pasanno – Mar. 29, 2018 [Monastic life]

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1. (15:11) “How can those just entering monastic life lay a good foundation?” // [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


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2. (5:14) “Would you be willing to speak on the importance of having faith in rebirth?” [Faith] [Rebirth] // [Culture/West] [Right View] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno]

Sutta: MN 117: Definition of right view


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4. (5:04) “At the beginning of this retreat, Tan Ajahn Anan advised us, "Don't forget Nibbāna." How do we orient ourselves towards Nibbāna?” [Nibbāna] [Ajahn Anan] // [Dispassion] [Cessation of Suffering] [Etymology] [Stream entry]

Sutta: AN 10.60: Girimānanda Sutta [Cessation]

Sutta: SN 56.11: "Whatever is of the nature to arise, that is of the nature to cease." [Conditionality]

Quote: “[The goal] is incredibly worthy, and it is not beyound our capability and means to experience.” [Direct experience]


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5. (5:36) “I was reading the book Hooked about desire, consumerism, and society. The author writes about the desire to know things. How does the desire to know relate to practice?” [Desire] // [Cause of Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Bases of Success] [Sensual desire] [Craving]

Sutta: SN 51.15: The path has an end. [Great disciples]


The New Ajahn Chah Biography, Session 3: Readings with Q&A Part 2Ajahn Pasanno – Apr. 21, 2018

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15. (5:02) “When you have completed the practice, does everything become 'down time?'” [Stages of awakening] [Recreation/leisure/sport] // [Clinging] [Almsfood] [Culture/Natural environment]

Quote: “It's because we reflect on these 'serious things' that we can hold things lightly.” [Recollection]

Suttas: MN 2.13: Reflection on the requisites; AN 5.208: Benefits of chewing toothwood


Chanting, Session 1: Purposes and PracticesAjahn Pasanno – Jun. 2, 2018 [Chanting]

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13. (2:12) “The fourth precept used to be translated as false and harmful speech. In the new chanting book, it's just lying. Is there a reason for this?” [False speech] [Pāli] // [Right Speech]

Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 130

Sutta: MN 41: Saleyyaka Sutta


Chanting, Session 3: History and MeaningAjahn Ñāṇiko and Ajahn Pasanno – Jun. 2, 2018 [Chanting] [Protective chants]

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3. (1:51) “I notice that most of the paritta chants don't have English translations. Is there a place we can find these?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Translation] // [Sutta]

Suttas: DN 32: Āṭānāṭiya Sutta; SN 46.14-16: Sick [Sickness] [Factors of Awakening]


The Path of Practice, Session 1Ajahn Pasanno – Jun. 15, 2019

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3. (4:26) “You spoke of experiencing the breath and experiencing feelings and mind. Are you suggesting that we experience the mind knowing the breath or when it's doing other things?” [Mindfulness of breathing] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Mindfulness of mind] // [Right Mindfulness] [Volitional formations] [Conditionality]

Suttas: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta; MN 10: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta


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4. (3:28) “Is the fourth foundation of mindfulness as simple as, for example, with the third foundation I identify aversion, and then in the fourth foundation I identify aversion as a hindrance?” [Mindfulness of dhammas] [Mindfulness of mind] // [Āgama] [Sutta] [Hindrances] [Four Noble Truths] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Progress of insight]

Suttas: MN 10: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta; MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta [Right Mindfulness]

Reference: Satipaṭṭhāna Perspectives by Bhante Analayo (commercial)


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7. (5:45) “How do discoveries about the gut microbiome fit in with the Buddha's teachings?” [Science] [Dhamma] // [Not-self] [Self-identity view] [Mindfulness of body] [Clear comprehension] [Naturalness]

Follow-up: “How does the relate to monks who subsist on almsfood and sometimes don't get enough, considering that the gut is controlling the brain?” [Monastic life] [Almsfood] [Health] [Ajahn Soṇa] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]

Sutta: AN ??.?? - Stay where the practice advances, not where the requisites are.


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13. (8:39) “Could you say something about the fact that extreme hardship exists in the world?” [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]


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15. (1:26) “Was there specific advice from the Buddha to the monks about [advising a dying person]?” [Monastic life] [Death] // [Sickness] [Compassion] [Goodwill]

Vinaya: Kd 26.7: Attributes of a carer.


Love, Attachment, and Friendship, Session 3: The Experience of Love and AttachmentAjahn Pasanno – Oct. 12, 2019

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5. (2:14) “Is there a sutta about preferring the [forest] to the village, and then the bare earth, becoming more and more simple?” [Sutta] [Seclusion] [Simplicity] // [Emptiness] [Elements] [Relinquishment] [Generosity] [Goodwill]

Sutta: MN 121: The Lesser Discourse on Emptiness


Living in a Changing SocietyAjahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko – Aug. 23, 2020

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9. (6:01) “How do we overcome unpleasant mental or physical feelings in the present moment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Feeling] [Present moment awareness] // [Aversion] [Fear] [Suffering] [Goodwill] [Ajahn Sumedho]

Sutta: DN 22: Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta [Mindfulness of feeling]


Honoring the Buddha: The Mahāparinibbāna SuttaAjahn Pasanno – Apr. 25, 2021 [Sutta] [Buddha/Biography]

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2. (5:02) “What is the origin of asking a question three times?” [Questions] [Teaching Dhamma]

Sutta: AN 4.42: Questions


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3. (9:41) “Did vibhavatanha arise in any of the monks at the loss of the Buddha? How do we notice vibhavatanha in practice, and what is a wise and compassionate response?” [Craving not to become] [Death] [Grief] // [Stream entry] [Stages of awakening] [Recollection/Dhamma] [Three Refuges] [Precepts] [Spiritual friendship] [Devotional practice] [Suffering]

Sutta: DN 16: Mahāparinibbāna Sutta [Nibbāna]

Story: The funeral of a close Wat Pah Nanachat supporter. [Funerals] [Wat Pah Nanachat]


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5. (1:56) “What was the sutta you mentioned in regard to Ananda's question 'What do we do about women?'” [Women in Buddhism] [Great disciples] [Sensual desire]

Suttas: DN 16: Mahāparinibbāna Sutta; SN 35.127: Bhāradvāja


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7. (3:46) “When the Buddha accepted the meal from Cunda, did he know what the consequences would be, and if so, why do you think he did that?” [Food] [Sickness] [Death]

Sutta: DN 16: Mahāparinibbāna Sutta


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10. (3:31) Comment by Ajahn Pasanno: Throughout the whole teaching (DN 16) there is the sense of the ordinary and the transcendant together all the time. [Conventions] [Unconditioned] // [Nature of mind] [Ceremony/ritual] [Precepts] [Meditation] [Devotional practice] [Middle Path] [Release]

Sutta: Aniccā vata saṅkhārā... (SN 6.15) [Cessation] [Happiness] [Recollection/Peace]


Tea Time Q&A with Ajahn PasannoAjahn Pasanno – May. 16, 2021

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1. (21:54) “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?” [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 [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.”


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2. (11:10) “How to balance the tension between the warrior energy (taking action), the awareness of the perfection of all that is, and the weariness and humility that leads through this?” [Right Effort] [Present moment awareness] [Disenchantment] // [Suffering] [Discernment] [Fear] [Human] [Gladdening the mind] [Aversion] [Recollection] [Nature of mind] [Tranquility]

Sutta: AN 1.296-305: The Ten Recollections

Quote: “The happy mind is easily settled.” [Happiness] [Concentration]


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5. (4:21) “How to reach the state of peace and serenity when we're just human beings and we strive to be good people?” [Tranquility] [Equanimity] [Human] [Virtue] // [Happiness] [Generosity] [Association with people of integrity] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Hindrances]

Sutta: DN 2: Sāmaññaphala Sutta - Fruits of the Holy Life

Quote: When asked about his attainments as a monk, “I'm just really happy about all the things I didn't do.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Ajahn Pasanno] [Stages of awakening] [Monastic life] [Sense restraint]


Abhayagiri Kaṭhina 2021, Session 2: Practical Questions and AnswersAjahn Pasanno – Nov. 5, 2021

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1. (8:09) Comment: I listen to the talks and read the books, and everything is so logical and rational, but I'm still stuck in habitual patterns of living. [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Dhamma books] [Everyday life] [Habits]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Association with people of integrity] [Community] [Monasteries] [Lunar observance days] [Online community] [Chanting] [Spiritual friendship] [Impermanence] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Generosity]

Quote: “When you're living with a group of people, not everybody is depressed and lazy and fed up at the same time.” [Unwholesome Roots]

Sutta: SN 55.5 Sāriputta [Factors for stream entry]


Q&A at Sudhana CenterAjahn Pasanno – Jul. 12, 2023

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1. (8:01) “In reference to the fragrance of the flower....There are many roses in the courtyard across the street....Why do we cultivate beauty? Where does beauty arise from?” [Beauty] // [Clinging] [Happiness] [Master Hsuan Hua] [Empathetic joy] [Unconditioned]

Sutta: MN 37: Sabbe dhamma nalam abhinivesaya. (Nothing whatsoever should be clung to.)

Story: Ajahn Pasanno's mother sends his old letters to Abhayagiri. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abhayagiri]

Recollection: Ajahn Chah was unshakeable in the midst of all the things that were happening around him and responded warmly and compassionately to the people around him. [Ajahn Chah] [Equanimity] [Compassion] [Family] [Monastic life/Motivation]


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5. (3:45) “I feel that a lot of people are disconnected with the reality world. They don't have a place of social, and they withdraw themselves and go on the internet. So I think the fundamental problem is people [audio unclear] in this real world. Do you have any comments on how to connect people in the real world so there can be a replacement of social media?” [Community] [Social media] [Internet] // [Dhamma online] [Pandemic] [Online community] [Abhayagiri] [Lunar observance days]

Sutta: SN 55.5: Spiritual friendship as a condition for Right View. [Spiritual friendship] [Right View] [Conditionality] [Appropriate attention]


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8. (2:39) “My understanding is that it is not good to indulge the five senses. But is there a way to make that help with your cultivation?” [Sense bases] [Sense restraint] // [Appropriate attention] [Discernment] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities]

Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 6: Recollection of the Dhamma [Recollection/Dhamma]

Sutta: SN 35.23: The six senses are the all.

Sutta: SN 35.116: A perceiver of the world, a conceiver of the world.