22 excerpts, 2:15:33 total duration
7. How would Ajahn Chah fare in England? Teaching by Ajahn Sumedho. [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Culture/West] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Respect for elders] [Culture/Thailand] [Vinaya] [Discernment] [Pace of life]
Story: An emergency landing in Rome. [Fear] [Sensual desire]
Story: Ajahn Chah was threatened while walking almsround in London. [Almsround] [Dhamma]
1. Ajahn Amaro introduces Paul Breiter and Joseph Kappel. [Paul Breiter] [Joseph Kappel] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Amaro] [Aruna Ratanagiri] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
2. I was the first Westerner at Wat Pah Pong. Recollection by Ajahn Sumedho. [Wat Pah Pong] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Military] [Culture/Thailand] [Aversion] [Rains retreat] [Types of monks]
1. Ajahn Amaro introduces Kittisaro, Ṭhānissarā, and Paul Breiter. [Kittisaro] [Ṭhānissarā] [Paul Breiter] [Ajahn Chah] // [Sutta] [Ajahn Amaro] [Recreation/leisure/sport] [Learning] [Ajahn Sumedho] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Disrobing] [Zen] [Vajrayāna]
Reference: Being Dharma by Ajahn Chah (commercial)
2. I was the first Westerner, so he gave me an enormous amout of attention for the first two or three years. Reflection by Ajahn Sumedho. [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Mentoring] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Mahā Amorn] [Other Thai Forest teachers] [Pāṭimokkha] [Conceit] [Paul Breiter] [Truth] [Compassion] [Humor]
Story: Venerable Varapañño chants the Pāṭimokkha better than Ajahn Sumedho. [Competitiveness] [Jealousy]
Note: The story that Ajahn Sumedho didn’t tell is probably told in Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 189.
5. Story: Ajahn Chah orders Ajahn Sumedho to stay in England for five years. Told by Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Sumedho] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Ajahn Chah] // [Determination]
Story: The Kaṭhina that Ajahn Sumedho didn’t want to attend. [Kaṭhina] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Harsh speech]
2. “When you and other Western seekers went to Thailand [and returned to teach], are the teachings of lay and monastic disciples of Ajahn Chah the same or different? How can we as laypeople relate to the teachings and tradition of the monastic establishment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah lineage] [Lay teachers] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Ajahn Chah] // [History/Thai Buddhism] [Military] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Virtue] [Right View]
Story: Abhayagiri’s bell is an American bomb casing. [Abhayagiri]
Diligent lay meditators attend Wat Pah Pong’s all-night vigil on the lunar observance days. Recollection by Ajahn Pasanno. [Lay life] [Ardency] [Wat Pah Pong] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Lunar observance days]
9. Reading: Ajahn Chah’s first Western disciple. Read by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Sumedho] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Ajahn Chah] // [Military] [Humor] [Monastic life] [Wat Pah Pong]
Reference: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 486
4. Story: Ajahn Chah asks Ajahn Sumedho if he might go back to America as a monk. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
1. “Can you tell us about how Ajahn Chah taught Western monks when he doesn’t know English?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Language]
4. Recollection: Ajahn Chah didn’t let Western monks stay with Ajahn Koon since it was close to the Laos border. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Military] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] // [Ajahn Koon] [Ajahn Anando]
8. “So then technically Abhayagiri belongs to the Mahānikāya?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abhayagiri] [Thai sects] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
11. “Can bhikkhshunis walk tudong?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Bhikkhunī] [Tudong] // [Vinaya] [Sīladharā] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Christianity]
16. “May I ask for your secret? [Why is Abhayagiri monastic training so often successful?]” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sequence of training] [Abhayagiri] [Monastic life] // [Theravāda] [Simplicity] [Vinaya] [Culture/Thailand] [Ajahn Chah] [Middle Path] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Right Effort] [Compassion]
4. “Will we get to see your kuti today?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abhayagiri] [Lodging]
Story: Early history of Abhayagiri Monastery. [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Master Hsuan Hua] [Seclusion] [Culture/Natural environment]
3. “Two questions: 1) What strengths do you see in other Buddhist traditions and Western culture that our tradition could benefit from? 2) How have you decided which aspects of korwat (protocols) from Thailand to adjust and which to maintain?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mahāyāna] [Vajrayāna] [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand] [Monastic life] [Vinaya] [Protocols] // [Abhayagiri] [Women in Buddhism] [Robes] [Cultural context] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas] [Dōgen] [Zen] [Ajahn Sumedho] [History/Western Buddhism] [Simplicity] [Christianity] [Renunciation] [Eight Precepts] [Not handling money] [Chithurst] [Ajahn Amaro] [Communal harmony]
Quote: “There are so many good things to do that you could be running around the country doing good things. I’d rather focus my attention here.” [Pace of life]
Quote: “There’s no reason to fit into American culture.”
Story: The monastic jacket is vindicated in England. [Culture/Natural environment] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
Quote: “As Buddhist monastics and Buddhist practitioners, we’re trying to set conditions that give us the opportunity for learning.” [Lay life] [Learning]
5. Comment: It’s important for the Saṅgha to look after all members in terms of sickness and ageing. [Sickness] [Ageing] [Health care] [Death] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha ]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
Vinaya: Kd 8.26.1-8: The Monk with Dysentery [Buddha/Biography]
Recollections of Saṅgha members who have died. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
17. “Abhayagiri’s daily and yearly schedule provide a good balance of individual and communal practice. How did this happen?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Abhayagiri] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Amaro] [Seclusion] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] // [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
[Session] Ajahn Pasanno introduces the Ajahn Chah Compilation Video and Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro. [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma books] // [Goodwill] [Compassion] [Personal presence] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
Reference: The Ajahn Chah Compilation Video on YouTube
Reference: The Buddha Comes to Sussex (BBC, 1979) on Youtube [History/Western Buddhism] [Chithurst]
Reference: The Mindful Way (BBC, 1977) on YouTube [Wat Pah Pong]
3. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Establishing relations with family and friends in Dhamma. [Family] [Spiritual friendship] [Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah would sometimes allow Westerners to ordain without their parent’s permission. [Ordination] [Parents] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
2. “Are the dots under m and n [ṃ, ṇ] that inscrutable non-English sound that was mentioned earlier?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Chanting] [Pāli]
Follow-up: “And that has nothing to do with the pitch going down? That’s the carat mark?” [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
13. “Could you say something about the fact that extreme hardship exists in the world?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
14. “In 2018 you stepped away from the role of abbot of Abhayagiri, passing the role to Ajahn Karunadhammo and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. Both these monks are American and have mostly trained in the United States at Abhayagiri. How do you feel about this milestone?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abhayagiri] [Abbot] [Retirement] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Ajahn Pasanno ] [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Culture/West] // [Monastic life]