Part of tag cluster Teaching Dhamma in key topic Teaching and Teachers
21 excerpts, 1:14:48 total duration
Quote: “I appreciate people’s questions. I enjoy the questions, and I never quite know what’s going to come out when people present a question. It’s interesting to me as well.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Questions ] [Ajahn Pasanno]
3. “Learning to Listen.” Teaching by Ajahn Chah. Translated and read by Joseph Kappel. [Learning] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah] // [Present moment awareness] [Teaching Dhamma] [Questions] [Buddha] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Unconditioned]
1. Quote: “It looks like there’s a veritable blizzard of questions. That’s always encouraging.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Questions]
8. Quote: “I appreciate people’s questions. I enjoy the questions, and I never quite know what’s going to come out when people present a question. It’s interesting to me as well.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Questions ] [Ajahn Pasanno]
20. “I’m glad that people have questions and people are reflecting on their experience of what the practice is. It’s very heartening to see.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Questions] [Appropriate attention] [Empathetic joy]
2. “Did you as a Westerner have any difficulties meeting Ajahn Chah either with Buddhism or with Thailand? How did it get resolved or did it get resolved?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/West] [Theravāda] [Culture/Thailand] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Ajahn Chah replies evasively when asked three straightforward questions to teach his translator (Ajahn Pasanno) a lesson. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Aversion] [Questions] [Simplicity] [Teaching Dhamma] [Food] [Suffering]
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]
11. “Would you please describe the four ways of skillfully answering or asking questions or the different types of questions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Questions]
13. “Would you kindly review the four ways to respond to questions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Questions]
Reference: Skill in Questions by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro.
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]
7. “Why go through all the trouble to teach us how to not have a self and then refuse to tell us there is no self?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Teaching Dhamma] [Middle Path] [Not-self] // [Relinquishment] [Suffering] [Questions] [Aggregates] [Sense bases]
14. Comment: I’ve found it helpful to recognize that for me there aren’t any right answers, only right questions. [Culture/West] [Questions] [Not-self]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view]
2. “Praise for the question and answer session. Every question is important; can you answer them all?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Questions] // [Meditation retreats]
12. “Have you ever put a publication together on the retreat questions? Are the talks of this retreat being recorded?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation retreats] [Questions] [Dhamma recordings] // [Internet] [Dhamma books]
Reference: Abundant, Exalted, Immeasurable by Ajahn Pasanno transcribes the talks and questions from the 2008 Metta Retreat.
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]
7. “So you’ve asked all your questions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Questions] [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life]
8. Comment by Ajahn Ñāṇiko: But in a sense Por Am had wisdom, questioning Ajahn Chah from every possible angle. [Ajahn Chah] [Questions] [Discernment]
Reflection: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 647
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Thai] [Wat Pah Pong]
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
10. “What is the illumination that appears during sitting meditation? Is the false or the true? Is it from inside or outside or neither?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Suffering] [Questions] [Proliferation]
Refer to the previous question.
Story: Well, I contemplated impermanence and nothing happened. [Impermanence] [Recollection] [Meditation/Results]
1. Ajahn Pasanno mentions the Question and Story Archive. [Questions] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abhayagiri] [Dhamma online]
4. “Would you be willing to share memories of Ajahn Chah?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah ] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Temporary ordination] [Personality] [Not-self] [Equanimity]
When asked about the core essence of the Buddha’s teachings, Ajahn Chah replies, “Is this a big stick or a little stick?” [Teaching Dhamma] [Conventions] [Cause of Suffering]
Story: Ajahn Chah pretends to forget simple questions in order to embarass his translator. [Forest versus city monks] [Media] [Aversion] [Questions] [Translation] [Similes]
Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno writes to his family that he’s staying in Thailand because Ajahn Chah is peaceful, solid, clear, and unshakeable in the midst of all that’s going on around him. [Family] [Tranquility] [Clear comprehension]
8. I arrived when Abhayagiri turned five. Recollection by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] [Abhayagiri] // [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Ajahn Sudanto] [Ordination] [Sīladharā]
Recollection: The little house was the beating heart of Abhayagiri. [Lodging] [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Questions] [Gratitude] [Goodwill]
Quote: “I want to ordain. What do I do?” — Ajahn Ñāṇiko’s first email to the Abhayagiri guestmonk. [Ajahn Achalo] [Idealism]
Story: “Look, I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to practice.” [Spiritual friendship]
Quote: “Don’t think about it too much.” — Ajahn Pasanno to Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Monastic life/Motivation] [Proliferation]