Buddha/Biography
History / Buddha/Biography
Part of key topic Teaching and Teachers
Also a subtag of Buddha
48 excerpts, 3:40:35 total duration

Events (1) All excerpts (48) Most relevant (28) Questions about (20) Answers involving (22) Stories (4) Texts (10)

Right Livelihood, Session 2 – Apr. 21, 2013

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7. Comment about the Buddha developing skills after enlightenment. [Buddha/Biography] [Liberation] [Learning]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Vinaya] [History/Early Buddhism]


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 21 – Feb. 3, 2014

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7. 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 31 – Feb. 17, 2014

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5. “It’s interesting with vegetarianism, some follow that and there are others that don’t?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Vegetarianism] [Buddha/Biography] [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Gunha] [Upasikā Kee Nanayon] // [Protocols]


Death and Dying, Session 1 – May. 9, 2014

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8. “What is Jeta’s Grove?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography] [Death] // [Great disciples] [Ajahn Sucitto]

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


2014 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 7 – Nov. 28, 2014

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18. “Overall, why do you think there is no application of conscious control of breath in Buddhist practice, e.g., no scriptural references to prolonged exhalations to help calm down the mind? Is it conceivable to speculate that Gautama Buddha did practice prāṇāyāmas with his two teachers before joining the ascetics but somehow did not find them useful?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Buddha/Biography]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 32 – Feb. 21, 2015

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2. “Why did the Buddha ask the monk to develop meditation in many ways [in AN 8.63]?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Meditation/General advice] [Buddha/Biography] // [Directed thought and evaluation] [Rapture] [Happiness] [Equanimity] [Jhāna] [Calming meditation] [Cessation of Suffering]

Recollection: Ajahn Chah would rarely label meditation states. [Ajahn Chah]


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

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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]


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

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1. “Was the Buddha so miserable that he kept thinking about all these ideas? Where did his motivation come from?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography ] [Suffering] [Desire] [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Western psychology] [Rebirth] [Spiritual search]


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2. “If the Buddha had been born elsewhere, would he have turned out the same way?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography] [Cultural context] // [Commentaries] [Culture/India ] [Spiritual search] [Renunciation] [Mahāyāna] [Saṃsāra]


Jhāna: A Practical Approach, Session 3 – Oct. 10, 2015

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7. “The story that we hear frequently about the Buddha as a child in the cattle pasture with his father. He talks about going into a pleasant, rapturous state. Would you consider that jhāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography ] [Happiness] [Rapture] [Jhāna] // [Skillful qualities]

Sutta: MN 36.31 Mahāsaccaka Sutta


Jhāna: A Practical Approach, Session 4 – Oct. 10, 2015

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4. “Before the Buddha practiced the ascetic way, he already learned the seventh and eighth levels of jhāna. Why didn’t that lead to his awakening?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography] [Formless attainments] [Liberation] [Jhāna] // [Right Concentration] [Right View] [Suffering] [Middle Path] [Characteristics of existence]


Thanksgiving Retreat 2016, Session 7 – Nov. 25, 2016

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9. “Was sati, vedana, jhana part of the religious climate current at the Buddha’s time? How revolutionary was he seen to be then? Do we know?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [History/Early Buddhism] [Buddha/Biography] [Mindfulness] [Feeling] [Jhāna] // [Four Noble Truths] [Aggregates] [Culture/India ] [Kamma] [Volition]


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

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17. “The Buddha had the talent of knowing precisely what to say to a person at a given moment. The teaching ajahns have developed this as well, but I’ve never heard of it as part of the training. Can you reflect on that?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Teaching Dhamma] [Buddha/Biography] [Monastic teachers] // [Personality] [Discernment] [Idealism] [Ajahn Chah] [Suffering] [Humility] [Relinquishment] [Fear] [Self-identity view]


Developing Skill in Reflective Meditation, Session 2 – Dec. 1, 2019

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3. “You mentioned the example of the monk who wanted to commit suicide and then he remembered his virtue and that uplifted him. In the Saṃyutta Nikaya there are a few instances where monks committeed suicide, but the Buddha said they attained Nibbāna (SN 22.87 Vakkali; SN 35.87 Channa). How is that possible?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Monastic life] [Suicide] [Sutta] [Buddha/Biography] [Recollection] [Nibbāna] // [Jhāna] [Māra] [Saṃsāra] [Delusion]


Honoring the Buddha: The Mahāparinibbāna Sutta – Apr. 25, 2021

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2. “What is the origin of asking a question three times?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Questions] [Teaching Dhamma] [Sutta] [Buddha/Biography]

Sutta: AN 4.42: Questions


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3. “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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Craving not to become ] [Death] [Grief ] [Sutta] [Buddha/Biography] // [Stream entry] [Stages of awakening] [Recollection/Dhamma] [Three Refuges] [Precepts] [Spiritual friendship] [Devotional practice] [Suffering]

Sutta: DN 16: Mahāparinibbāna Sutta [Buddha/Biography] [Nibbāna]

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


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5. “What was the sutta you mentioned in regard to Ananda’s question ‘What do we do about women?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Women in Buddhism] [Great disciples] [Sensual desire] [Sutta] [Buddha/Biography]

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


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6. “In your guided meditation, devotion to the teachings really touched me. Could you say more about this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Devotional practice] [Recollection/Dhamma ] [Generosity] [Compassion] [Sutta] [Buddha/Biography] // [Faith] [Cultural context] [Respect] [Gratitude] [Culture/Thailand] [Three Refuges] [Relinquishment] [Release]


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7. “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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Food] [Sickness] [Death] [Sutta] [Buddha/Biography]

Sutta: DN 16: Mahāparinibbāna Sutta


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9. Comment: The Mahāparinibbāna Sutta (DN 16) brings the Buddha’s quest full circle. [Sutta] [Buddha/Biography]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ageing] [Sickness] [Death]