29 excerpts, 2:03:31 total duration
[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.” [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]
1. Reflection by Ajahn Sumedho: The effect of one human being. [Human] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Kamma] [Ajahn Chah] // [Culture/Thailand] [Liberation] [Conventions] [Vinaya] [Compassion] [Happiness] [Emptiness] [Not-self]
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.” [Self-identity view] [Dhamma] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Faith] [Three Refuges]
Simile: “Getting in the vehicle and allowing it to carry you.” [Similes]
1. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Context of Ajahn Chah’s early efforts at meditation. [Meditation] [Ajahn Chah] // [Thai sects] [Ajahn Mun] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
5. Quote: “I sacrificed my life for the Dhamma because I had faith in the reality of enlightenment and the path to get there.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Spiritual search] [Dhamma] [Faith] [Eightfold Path] // [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Determination] [Courage]
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]
3. Quote: “You fall down, you get up, you crawl along. ” — Ajahn Mahā Boowa. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Patience] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Tudong]
2. Comment: Ajahn Chah said that Nibbāna is letting go, but this is difficult to do at deep levels. [Ajahn Chah] [Nibbāna] [Relinquishment] [Suffering]
Responses by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Yatiko. [Self-identity view] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
1. Comment by Ajahn Yatiko: In the image of planting a seed (AN 1.314-315), for Dhamma practice it needs to be a seed that comes from the Buddha. [Similes] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Teaching Dhamma] [Gradual Teaching] [Buddha]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right View] [Christianity]
2. “In the analogy of the accountant (MN 107), it seems that the training works linearly. Are there basic practices that are important to focus on in the beginning? Are ther other practices which should not be attempted in the beginning?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Similes] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Gradual Teaching] // [Faith] [Kamma] [Unconditioned] [Learning] [Relinquishment] [Concentration]
Story: A monk carrying money asks to stay at Wat Pah Pong. [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Pah Pong] [Not handling money]
8. “How do we know when to ask for directions on the path as opposed to just continuing farther? What would we ask?” Answered by Ajahn Yatiko. [Questions] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Gradual Teaching] // [Suffering] [Discernment] [Conditionality] [Faith]
Sutta: SN 12.23: Suffering is the cause of faith.
Follow-up: “What about when things are pleasant, but we’re not headed in the right direction?” [Happiness] [Mindfulness] [Deva] [Relinquishment]
Sutta: MN 75: Simile of the leper. [Similes]
Sutta: SN 56.35: Stream entry after 100 years. [Stream entry] [Four Noble Truths]
4. “Can you say more about the practice of awareness of arising and ceasing in relation to discernment and right view?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Becoming] [Cessation] [Mindfulness] [Discernment] [Right View] // [Impermanence] [Ajahn Chah] [Conditionality] [Self-identity view] [Happiness] [Mindfulness of mind] [Patience]
Reading from an unnamed recent Ajahn Chah book. [Relinquishment] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
Quote: “I don’t teach you guys much. Just be patient.” — Ajahn Chah
9. “For me, the practice starts with concentration to get to a place of well-being. Is there a missing piece here?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Concentration] [Happiness] // [Cultural context] [Generosity] [Precepts] [Culture/West] [Western psychology] [Meditation]
Quote: “It is helpful to get a picture of the whole path and realize how integrated and mutually nourishing those path factors are.” [Eightfold Path] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
5. “What did Ajahn Chah mean by ‘Nowadays there are only sterile remains of the Dhamma.’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma] // [Culture/Thailand] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Liberation]
1. Reading: Interview with Ajahn Bprasert Thavaro from Twigs and Branches of the Bodhinyana. Read by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Ajahn Chah] // [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Impermanence]
5. “When is it useful to determine to stick with a single practice, even when it doesn’t seem to work, instead of exploring other options?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/General advice] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Pain] // [Suffering] [Right Effort] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Mindfulness of mind] [Discernment] [Direct experience] [Self-identity view]
5. “Did Ajahn Chah ever tell a student to study?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Learning ] // [Eightfold Path] [Study monks] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
Quote: “These are not absolute statements. When Ajahn Chah says something, he’s pointing. He just doesn’t work that way. And we take it as an absolute.” [Teaching Dhamma] [Proliferation]
Story: Ajahn Chah monks who became study monks. [Ajahn Bunjong] [Ajahn Mahā In]
1. “When you were living with Ajahn Chah, were many of his talks more related to the Korwat or practical matters, as opposed to the High Dhamma?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Teaching Dhamma] [Protocols] [Dhamma]
Quote: “There’s not really a separation.” [Vinaya ]
Comment: Ajahn Chah taught to the situation. Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Learning] [Sequence of training]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Cessation of Suffering] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
4. “When Ajahn Liem says, ‘Practice is just for practice,’ what arises for me is that any time I put a meaning on practice, there has to be an ego state that arises around that meaning....It’s like letting go even o fthe idea of practicing in order to become enlightened.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Liem] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Self-identity view] [Becoming] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Liberation] [Relinquishment]
Quote: “Practicing for Nibbāna is just another kind of desire.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Nibbāna] [Desire] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
11. Comment: Before I get to all that [deep reflection on not-self], in the meantime I thing of Luang Por Sumedho’s saying, ‘Every time I think of myself, I get depressed.’ [Ajahn Sumedho] [Self-identity view] [Depression] [Not-self]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Five Precepts]
Quote: “It’s difficult but it’s not that complicated. The Buddha’s teachings go against the grain of our conditioning and habits, but the essence of it is quite simple.” [Proliferation] [Right Effort] [Craving] [Simplicity] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
12. Comment: I notice how the mind defends suffering because it’s so closely related to that idea of self. But if I let go of defending, what am I? [Clinging] [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment] [Not-self]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Learning] [Cessation of Suffering]
2. “What did the Buddha think following his teachings should mean or entail?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Three Refuges] [Precepts] [Buddhist identity ] // [Virtue] [Lay life] [Five Precepts] [Faith] [Generosity] [Association with people of integrity] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Learning] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Conceit]
Sutta: AN 8.26 Jīvaka Sutta
5. “Are the qualities in the Jīvaka Sutta (AN 8.26) listed in order of ascending goodness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Skillful qualities] [Buddhist identity] // [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Stream entry]
10. “I meditate. Pleasure arises, and I enjoy that. Does that mean it’s Dhamma practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Happiness] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Jhāna] // [Investigation of states] [Feeling] [Mindfulness of mind]
10. “After forty years of meditating, what do you still find that is interesting?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno ] [Long-term practice] // [Mindfulness of breathing] [Gladdening the mind] [Learning]
Quote: “Practicing Dhamma...sometimes it’s difficult, but it’s always interesting.” [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Purpose/meaning]
8. “Is the list of Seven Treasures sequential?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Treasures] // [Stream entry] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Conditionality] [Eightfold Path]
10. “What is a good balance between listening to Dhamma and practicing more deeply? How long should one keep one’s practices, and when to expand or shink them?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Determination] // [Four Noble Truths] [Direct experience] [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma books] [Mindfulness of mind] [Learning]
13. “Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 682 “Dhamma Practice”” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] // [Characteristics of existence]
1. “You have so much community-building experience. Can you talk about what you have found challenging or effective in this? How did Ajahn Chah build community?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Community] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] // [Saṅgha] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Virtue] [Trust] [Communal harmony] [Compassion] [Culture/Thailand] [Ajahn Chah lineage] [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Sequence of training] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Abhayagiri] [Eightfold Path] [Learning]
Sutta: MN 48: Kosambiya Sutta [Principles of Cordiality] [Goodwill] [Generosity] [Right View]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno pays respects to Ajahn Chah: “If you want to stay here, you have to stay at least five years.”
Quote: “The whole path of the Buddha is a path of learning, of education.”