Almsfood (piṇḍapāta)
Almsfood (piṇḍapāta)
1. The tradition of almsround. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno. [Almsfood] [Almsround] [Generosity] [Almsbowl] // [Ajahn Chah] [Vinaya]
3. Story: A group of military generals ask Ajahn Chah to bless amulets to create a kitchen fund. [Amulets] [Ajahn Chah] [Military] [Almsfood] [Wat Pah Pong] // [Culture/Thailand] [Saṅgha decision making] [Festival days] [Almsbowl] [Stupas/monuments]
Quote: “The Buddha set up the foundation 2,500 years ago with just one baht.” — Ajahn Chah [Buddha] [Saṅgha]
1. Explanation of the meal blessing chant. [Chanting] [Almsfood] // [Pāli] [Gratitude] [Merit]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 50
2. Anumodana chanting: "Yathā vāri-vahāpūrā..." and "Bhavatu sabba-maṅgalaṃ..." (Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 50) offered by the Abhayagiri Saṅgha. [Chanting] [Almsfood] [Pāli] // [Gratitude] [Merit]
3. Story: Ajahn Jotipālo's tudong north along the Mississippi. [Ajahn Jotipālo] [Tudong] // [Robes] [Sickness] [Culture/West] [Almsfood]
4. Story: Ajahn Chah asks Ajahn Sumedho if he might go back to America as a monk. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Culture/West] [Monastic life] [Tudong] // [Almsfood] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
Quote: “You mean to say there are no kind people in America?” — Ajahn Chah to Ajahn Sumedho [Compassion]
2. “What is the function of a layperson who accompanies a monk on tudong?” [Lay life] [Tudong] // [Sequence of training] [Abhayagiri] [Eight Precepts] [Culture/Thailand] [Ajahn Chah]
Quote: “People who ordain quickly disrobe quickly.” — Ajahn Chah [Ordination] [Disrobing]
Story: Founding of Pacific Hermitage. [Pacific Hermitage] [Almsround] [Almsfood]
12. “If I saw you and the monks walking down the streets of Fairfax, I'm not sure I would know what to do. How should I approach you?” [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Almsround] [Tudong] // [Almsbowl] [Almsfood] [Not handling money]
5. “Did Ajahn Mahā Boowa always praise the dtuaṅga practices?” [Ascetic practices] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Mun] // [Qualities for non-decline]
Story: Ajahn Mun tells Ajahn Mahā Boowa to stop sweeping when he is sick with malaria. [Sickness] [Ardency] [Attachment to rites and rituals]
Story: Ajahn Mahā Boowa takes on the dtok bhat practice, but Ajahn Mun puts food in his bowl. Told by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Almsfood] [Conceit]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno meets a monk who didn't need to sleep. [Devotion to wakefulness] [Sense restraint] [Concentration]
Story: Pa Auk Sayadaw didn't sleep during a Rains Retreat. [Pa Auk Sayadaw]
6. “Why did older men ordain as pakows and follow Ajahn Chah on tudong?” [Older monks] [Postulants] [Ajahn Chah] [Tudong] // [Culture/Thailand] [Food] [Almsfood]
2. “There were a number of different alms routes out of Wat Pah Pong. How was it decided who went on each one and how was the food distributed for the meal?” [Wat Pah Pong] [Almsround] [Almsfood] [Saṅgha decision making] // [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ajahn Liem]
Discussion of almsfood distribution at different monasteries. Led by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Pesalo. [Almsfood] [Ajahn Tongrat] [Wat Pah Ban Tat]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno helped pass out food at Wat Pah Pong. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Almsfood]
Story: Ajahn Tongrat exposes a monk concealing fish in his ball of sticky rice. [Food] [Admonishment/feedback]
Comments by Ajahn Pesalo and Ajahn Pasanno about food distribution at Wat Baan Tat. [Almsfood] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
Quote: “It's incredibly tiresome how organized we [Westerners] have to be....Organic spontaneity–that's how things work in Thailand.” [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand]
12. “My heart really wanted to serve you and the rest of the Sangha food today (of all days—Thanksgiving) out of gratitude and also because I thought that food had to be directly placed in the alms bowl of a monk in order for it to be consumed. So can you please give us a quick guide on the Vinaya rules regarding the offering of food and other things / requisites to monks? Thank you for your explanation so we can better serve the Sangha.” [Gratitude] [Almsfood] [Food] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
10. “What happens if you lose your spoon?” [Almsfood] [Tudong] // [Requisites]
17. “Do you split up your almsfood?” [Almsbowl] [Almsfood] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Tudong] [Generosity] // [Culture/India]
16. “Are there monastics who wander around the world without any home base or destination?” [Monastic life] [Tudong] // [Rains retreat] [Abhayagiri] [Requisites] [Almsround] [Culture/West] [Almsfood] [Not handling money] [Generosity]
1. “What is the purpose of dhutaṅga practices?” [Monastic life] [Ascetic practices] // [Simplicity] [Renunciation] [Almsround] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Almsfood] [Abhayagiri] [Impermanence] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Wat Pah Pong] [Wat Pah Ban Tat] [Long-term practice]
15. “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
5. Story: Ajahn Pasanno's mother notices that he chants in tune. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Family] [Chanting] // [Almsfood] [Mindfulness]
7. “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.
8. Story: The cook assigned to look after Ajahn Pasanno doesn't understand what he can and needs to eat. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Dtao Dum] [Almsfood] [Food] // [Industry] [Meditation] [Energy] [Health] [Patience] [Culture/Natural environment]
12. “When you weren't getting enough food, had you been older and smarter, would you have been able, as a monk, to ask for vegetables?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Health] [Vinaya] [Almsfood] // [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Generosity]
7. “You spoke this morning about how monks don't have money and don't handle money. How does a monastery deal with purchasing materials?” [Not handling money] [Commerce/economics] // [Monastery organizational structure] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Abhayagiri] [Building projects] [Almsfood]
Story: A wheel falls off the old Abhayagiri van. [Simplicity]
5. “Can you say more about recollection of renunciation? How can this be used skillfully or not?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Recollection/Generosity] [Renunciation] [Recollection] // [Contentment] [Self-pity] [Sickness] [Equanimity] [Buddha/Biography] [Fasting] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Lunar observance days] [Abhayagiri]
Recollection: Going without in the early days of Abhayagiri Monastery. [Almsfood]