Part of key topic Unskillful Qualities
Also a subtag of Fetters
See also: Faith
33 excerpts, 3:00:38 total duration
“Could you talk about how to manage doubt when it arises?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Doubt ] // [Mindfulness of body] [Continuity of mindfulness]
Quote: “It’s the continuity of mindfulness and clarity that we build up that’s going to alleviate the doubt as opposed to any particular clever answer.” [Doubt ] [Clear comprehension]
2015 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 4, Excerpt 8
“Could you talk more about working with the hindrance of doubt?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Doubt ] // [Fear] [Aversion] [Sensual desire] [Mindfulness of body] [Tranquility] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Right Speech] [Delusion]
Simile: A dish of muddy water placed in a dark cupboard (SN 46.55). [Doubt ] [Similes]
Metta Retreat (2008), Session 2, Excerpt 9
“It’s been so helpful to hear stories from your own experience. Could you talk about some of the more challenging moments in your practice and how you worked with them?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gratitude] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Long-term practice] // [Doubt ] [Patience]
Quote: “It’s not me resolving doubt, but it’s allowing the practice or the Dhamma to work.” [Doubt ] [Self-identity view] [Dhamma] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Faith] [Three Refuges]
Simile: “Getting in the vehicle and allowing it to carry you.” [Similes]
[Session] Reading: “Meditation” from Living Dhamma by Ajahn Chah, pp. 50-53. Read by Ajahn Jitindriyā. [Meditation]
“Cultivate the tree right from the seed.” [Similes] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
“To practice in a way that’s peaceful means to place the mind neither too high or too low, but at the point of balance.” [Middle Path] [Ajahn Chah]
“So many teachers, so many teachings.” [Teachers] [Doubt] [Meditation/Techniques]
“Where there is knowing, there is no need to think.” [Knowing itself] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Tranquility] [Mindfulness] [Discernment] [Proliferation]
“Resolve that right now is the time for training the mind and nothing else.” [Ardency] [Determination] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Body scanning] [Relinquishment] [Sense restraint]
“Sometimes there may be doubt, so you must have sati, to be the one who knows, continually following and examining the agitated mind.” [Doubt] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Restlessness and worry] [Heedfulness] [Concentration] [Feeling]
Simile: Chicken in a coop.
8. Reading from the draft biography: Ajahn Chah’s dying father asks him to remain in robes for life. Read by Ajahn Amaro. [Sickness] [Recollection/Death] [Parents] [Monastic life] [Ajahn Chah] [Determination] // [Learning] [Culture/Thailand] [Unattractiveness] [Forest versus city monks] [Sutta] [Spiritual urgency]
Quote: “I dedicate my body and mind, my whole life, to the practice of the Lord Buddha’s teachings in their entirety. I will realize the truth in this lifetime … I will let go of everything and follow the teachings. No matter how much suffering and difficulty I have to endure I will persevere, otherwise there will be no end to my doubts. I will make this life as even and continuous as a single day and night. I will abandon attachments to mind and body and follow the Buddha’s teachings until I know their truth for myself.” — Ajahn Chah [Buddha] [Dhamma] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Knowledge and vision] [Truth] [Relinquishment] [Suffering]
Reflection: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 40 [Energy] [Doubt] [Continuity of mindfulness]
23. What does not suffering mean? Reflection by Jack Kornfield. [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Ajahn Chah] // [Judgementalism] [Politics and society] [Discrimination] [Environment] [Discernment] [Compassion] [Human] [Buddha] [Proliferation] [Relinquishment]
Quote: “We human beings are constantly in combat, at war to escape the fact of being limited by so many circumstances that we can’t control...”” — Ajahn Chah [Conflict] [Characteristics of existence]
Quote: “Doubts are natural.” — Ajahn Chah [Doubt] [Naturalness] [Impermanence] [Not-self] [Liberation]
Quote: “The desire mind is like children.” — Ajahn Chah [Desire] [Similes]
Story: “Scary ride, wasn’t it?” [Jack Kornfield] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Fear] [Death]
5. Quote: “If I’ve developed any wisdom, it’s because I had such gigantic defilements.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Chah] [Discernment] [Unwholesome Roots] // [Hindrances ] [Restlessness and worry] [Aversion] [Doubt] [Sensual desire]
9. “Could you talk more about working with the hindrance of doubt?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Doubt ] // [Fear] [Aversion] [Sensual desire] [Mindfulness of body] [Tranquility] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Right Speech] [Delusion]
Simile: A dish of muddy water placed in a dark cupboard (SN 46.55). [Doubt ] [Similes]
14. “When doubt is mentioned under the hindrances, is it mainly referring to doubt about the Buddha’s teachings? Are there other implications?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Doubt] [Hindrances] [Dhamma] // [Everyday life] [Mindfulness of mind] [Investigation of states] [Mindfulness of body] [Suffering] [Perfectionism]
11. “It’s been so helpful to hear stories from your own experience. Could you talk about some of the more challenging moments in your practice and how you worked with them?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gratitude] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Long-term practice] // [Doubt ] [Patience]
Quote: “It’s not me resolving doubt, but it’s allowing the practice or the Dhamma to work.” [Doubt ] [Self-identity view] [Dhamma] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Faith] [Three Refuges]
Simile: “Getting in the vehicle and allowing it to carry you.” [Similes]
10. Reading from the draft biography: Ajahn Chah accepts his dying father’s request to stay as a monk for life. Read by Ajahn Pasanno. [Parents] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Sickness] [Death] [Ajahn Chah ] [Determination] // [Mindfulness of body] [Spiritual urgency] [Saṃsāra]
Reference: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 40
Quote: “I dedicate my body and mind, my whole life, to the practice of the Lord Buddha’s teachings in their entirety. I will realize the truth in this lifetime … I will let go of everything and follow the teachings. No matter how much suffering and difficulty I have to endure I will persevere, otherwise there will be no end to my doubts. I will make this life as even and continuous as a single day and night. I will abandon attachments to mind and body and follow the Buddha’s teachings until I know their truth for myself.” — Ajahn Chah [Ardency] [Patience] [Doubt] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Relinquishment] [Knowledge and vision]
Reference: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 42
The singular quality of Ajahn Chah’s resolution. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno.
1. Reading: Beyond Doubt. Read by Ajahn Pasanno. [Doubt] [Ajahn Chah] // [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Teachers] [Buddha] [Spiritual search] [Relinquishment] [Present moment awareness] [Emptiness] [Characteristics of existence] [Conditionality] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Liberation]
1. Question about how Ajahn Chah taught to deal with people externally. Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Community] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Mun] [Virtue] [Doubt] [Monastic life] [Views]
Story: A ghost tries to align the visitors sleeping in his hall. [Culture/Thailand] [Lodging] [Ghost] [Communal harmony]
Quote: “You have to have an anchor in your own practice.” [Similes]
7. “Is there a distinction between the awareness and the naming? Does naming bring intellect or self into play? Is confusion the nagging sense of self or self-consciousness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Knowing itself] [Perception] [Noting] [Self-identity view] [Delusion] // [Investigation of states] [Proliferation] [Relinquishment] [Equanimity] [Doubt] [Mindfulness of body] [Continuity of mindfulness]
8. Comment: For me it is a question of whether I can believe it or not. It depends on where I place my mind. [Faith] [Science] [Emptiness] [Proliferation] [Deva] [Recollection/Devas] [Dalai Lama] [Death]
Response by Ajahn Yatiko. [Doubt] [Trust] [Tranquility]
5. “In regards to the simile of the path to Rājagaha (MN 107), could you describe classic mistakes made by sincere beginning, intermediate and advanced practitioners?” Answered by Ajahn Yatiko and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Similes] [Gradual Teaching] // [Faith] [Doubt] [Truth] [Virtue] [Liberation] [Conditionality] [Christianity] [Suffering]
1. Comment: Even though I’ve seen the fruit of awareness in and of itself many times, the doubt is still so deeply embedded that there is not that place of letting go. [Knowing itself] [Doubt] [Clinging] [Relinquishment] [Tranquility] [Proliferation]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Faith]
Reference: “Goal-Oriented and Source-Oriented Practice,” Dhamma Talk by Ajahn Pasanno, August 10, 2013.
5. “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] [Non-return] [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]
4. “How do you balance Ajahn Chah’s instruction to put away the books with the desire to study and understand the teachings?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Learning] [Sutta] [Study monks] // [Culture/West] [Faith] [Doubt]
7. “Was there a time in Thailand when no one had any noble attainments?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Jotipālo and Ajahn Cunda. [History/Thai Buddhism] [Stages of awakening] // [Chao Khun Upāli] [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Media]
Story: Prince Mongkut ordains seven times. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Vajirayan] [Ordination] [Doubt]
5. Reflection by Debbie Stamp: Caring for dying and grieving Abhayagiri supporters and family members. [Abhayagiri] [Sickness] [Family] [Parents] [Death] [Grief] [Health care] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Christianity] [Forgiveness] [Fear] [Impermanence] [Merit] [Doubt]
Reference: Debbie transcribed Ajahn Pasanno’s 2008 Metta Retreat, published it as Abundant, Exalted, Immeasurable, and dedicated the merit to her mother. [Meditation retreats] [Dhamma books]
Story: Ajahn Ñāṇiko hikes to the top of Mount Dana to dedicate merit to deceased relatives. [Ajahn Ñāṇiko]
13. “Ajahn Mun spent a lot of time teaching the devas. Can you share any thoughts on this relevant to Western culture?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mun] [Teaching Dhamma] [Deva ] [Doubt] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Culture/West] // [Faith] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Nature of the cosmos]
Reference: Venerable Ācariya Mun Bhūridatta Thera: A Spiritual Biography by Ajahn Mahā Boowa
4. “At what point in your meditation do you shift to knower or witness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Techniques] [Knowing itself] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Investigation of states] [Happiness] [Tranquility] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Doubt] [Desire]
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]
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]
7. “Are there different stages of enlightenment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stages of awakening] // [Stream entry]
Follow-up: “And how would one know if you’ve reached the first stage [of awakening]?” [Doubt] [Self-identity view] [Not-self] [Liberation] [Attachment to precepts and practices] [Knowledge and vision]
8. “Could you talk about how to manage doubt when it arises?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Doubt ] // [Mindfulness of body] [Continuity of mindfulness]
Quote: “It’s the continuity of mindfulness and clarity that we build up that’s going to alleviate the doubt as opposed to any particular clever answer.” [Doubt ] [Clear comprehension]
14. “I remember reading some stories of Ajahn Chah teaching lay people about herbal medicines. I know some Tibetan monks practice medicine. Is there such a tradition in Thailand? Are there any stores of Ajahn Chah healing people physically with traditional medicines?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Health care] [Medicinal requisites ] [Culture/Thailand] // [Thai Forest Tradition] [History/Thai Buddhism] [Vinaya] [Right Livelihood] [Almsfood]
Recollection: Walking around the forest with Ajahn Chah. [Culture/Natural environment]
Story: Bung Wai villagers walk to Wat Pah Pong to practice meditation all night on Wan Phra. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Wat Pah Pong] [Lunar observance days] [Monastic routine] [Meditation]
Story: Por Am argues with Ajahn Chah for three days. [Doubt] [Precepts]
Story: Ajahn Chah teaches Por Am to be a herbal doctor so he can keep the precepts.
Recollection: The hunter-gatherer culture of Northeast Thailand. [Food] [Killing] [Geography/Thailand]
7. “As I get deeper insights how conditioned the mind is, there is a sense of burden being released but also a doubt began to arise: If the mind is conditioned, how is it even possible to arrive at the Unconditioned? Does free will even exist or am I just pushed around by kilesas? If the trick is to recognize that there is no free will, how can I sincerely believe that when I’m making choices to practice and do wholesome deeds, they really matter and it’s not my delusion? Please dispel my doubts!” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nature of mind ] [Doubt] [Unconditioned] [Delusion] // [Four Noble Truths] [Self-identity view] [Questions] [Conditionality]
18. “Do you have any doubts in the Dhamma’s promise that the result of accomplished practice is total liberation from suffering?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Doubt] [Dhamma] [Liberation] [Cessation of Suffering]
8. “How to work with suspicion skillfully? Is it a combination of looking at the factsas well as your gut feeling?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Doubt] [Intuition] [Politics and society] // [Unwholesome Roots] [Right Effort] [Mindfulness of body]
8. “I appreciate your saying “The trancendance of doubt isn’t getting the answers to your doubt, it’s being comfortable with the doubt.”” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Doubt]
9. “When the suttas describe a practitioner as “having gone beyond doubt,” (e.g. DN 3) what do they mean?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Doubt] [Sutta] // [Four Noble Truths] [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: An Ajahn Chah monk accused of a heavy offense. [Vinaya]
13. “Can you talk about evolution and growth in regards to the precepts as opposed to just following rules?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Five Precepts] [Precepts] [Attachment to precepts and practices] // [Pāli] [Etymology] [Learning] [Suffering] [Doubt] [Self-identity view]
2. “I have a family and family responsibilities. How do I know I’m on the path and making right effort?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Family] [Right Effort] [Doubt] // [Four Noble Truths] [Culture/West] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Direct experience]
3. “Have you ever regretted choosing the monastic life? Has your mother ever thought you made a wrong choice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Doubt] [Parents] // [Gratitude] [Retirement] [Energy] [Mentoring] [Christianity] [Abhayagiri]
Reflections on leadership. [Leadership ] [Ajahn Chah] [Abbot] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Discernment]
Quote: “You can’t lead just by telling people what to do and they are going to obey. Forget it!”
Quote: “Everybody else is a mirror for oneself if one is willing to learn in teaching or leading others.” [Learning]
5. “What would be your advice when young monks are wavering in their decsion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life/Motivation ] [Doubt] // [Fear] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Delusion] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Mindfulness of body]
Recurrent refrain in the Suttas: “I know you, Māra,” e. g. SN 4.1, SN 4.5. [Māra] [Sutta] [Knowing itself]