Part of key topic Skillful Qualities
Subsumes: Non-cruelty (avihiṃsā, Harmlessness)
105 excerpts, 7:53:23 total duration
7. Ajahn Chah could be with people where they are. Recollection by Joseph Kappel. [Compassion] [Present moment awareness] [Ajahn Chah]
10. Story: Applying Ajahn Chah’s teachings to lay life in South Africa. Told by Ṭhānissarā. [Lay life] [Ajahn Chah] // [Monastic life] [Abuse/violence] [Self-reliance] [Discernment] [Compassion] [Spaciousness] [Liberation]
How would Ajahn Chah have responded to issues like feminism, democracy, engaged Buddhism, interfaith, and materialism that we’ve had to meet? [Women in Buddhism] [Politics and society] [Spiritual traditions] [Greed]
9. Story: Dump your money in the river. Told by Jack Kornfield. [Conceit] [Commerce/economics] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Truth] [Ajahn Chah] [Humor] // [Compassion]
2. Did Ajahn Chah train Thais and Westerners differently? Reflection by Kittisaro. [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand] [Monastic life] [Ajahn Chah] // [Jack Kornfield] [Teaching Dhamma] [Suffering] [Compassion]
In my contact with Ajahn Chah, he tended to be very loving and very kind. [Kittisaro] [Goodwill] [Compassion]
3. Story: Kittisaro’s parents visit Wat Pah Pong. Told by Kittisaro. [Kittisaro] [Parents] [Wat Pah Pong] [Ajahn Chah] // [Culture/West] [Learning] [Monastic life] [Renunciation] [Fear] [Cults] [Children] [Ordination] [Compassion]
Quote: “Wanting your parents to understand is suffering.” — Ajahn Sumedho [Ajahn Sumedho] [Family] [Suffering]
Quote: “The Communists you really need to be concerned about, the ones who can really hurt you, are the ones who hide inside your own heart.” — Ajahn Chah [Politics and society] [Unwholesome Roots]
4. Stories: The Chipmunk Story and The Donkey Story. Told by Kittisaro. [Kittisaro] [Depression] [Humor ] [Similes] [Ajahn Chah] // [Recreation/leisure/sport] [Perfectionism] [Meditation] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Sickness] [Animal] [Learning] [Health care] [Self-identity view] [Joseph Kappel] [Compassion] [Energy] [Right Effort] [Equanimity] [Lawfulness]
7. Story: Mute, wheelchair-bound Ajahn Chah meets a mother and her young son. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sickness] [Children] [Bowing] [Compassion] [Ajahn Chah] // [Health care] [Joseph Kappel] [Ajahn Pasanno]
5. “There is a borderline between being fierceful (in a wholesome way) and being aggressive. I can’t say anything about Dhamma teachers as I have never experienced Thai Ajahns, but a few yoga teachers I’ve studied with in my opinion were rather just exercising their power over students. How to tell the difference between a teacher who genuinely means well to their students while acting fierce-fully from someone on a power trip?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Teaching Dhamma] [Fierce/direct teaching ] [Abuse/violence] // [Truth] [Compassion] [Generosity] [Personality ]
Recollection: On the surface, Ajahn Liem appears disinterested in the human condition. [Ajahn Liem] [Wat Pah Pong] [Leadership]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah could be very forceful, but the bigger picture was compassion. [Ajahn Chah] [Compassion]
Quote: “What is the mind of an enlightened being like?” — “Only compassion” — Ajahn Mahā Boowa [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Arahant] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Compassion]
Sutta: AN 4.243: ‘But Ānanda, since when has Anuruddha been involved in disciplinary issues in the midst of the Saṅgha?’ [Buddha/Biography] [Great disciples] [Conflict]
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]
17. “I grew up in an environment where any difference was met with hostility. I was bullied, I was robbed a few times, I didn’t feel safe. No wonder the idea of refuge always resonated with me....However, even after living in very tolerant California and generally feeling myself safe here, when I am outdoors practicing walking meditation, whenever I see or hear strangers approaching me, my mind begins rushing in anticipation that this encounter would turn hostile. Being on precepts makes me feel particularly vulnerable. Could you share some teaching about protecting qualities of the Dhamma and how I can feel less fear while keeping the precepts? Could some of the monastics share their stories of receiving unexpected kindness from seemingly hostile strangers or stories of resolving physical or verbal attacks while wearing the robes and keeping precepts?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Discrimination] [Abuse/violence] [Fear] [Three Refuges] [Meditation retreats] [Precepts] [Dhamma] [Monastic life] [Stories] [Generosity] // [Human] [Truth] [Compassion] [Abhayagiri] [Almsround]
Story: A football hooligan has a sharing session with a monk on a train. [Compassion]
Story: Ajahn Gunha wanders into a Communist base on tudong. [Ajahn Gunha] [Tudong] [Politics and society] [Rains retreat]
Story: Ajahn Sudanto goes almsround each day in White Salmon. [Ajahn Sudanto] [Pacific Hermitage]
1. “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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]