Skillful qualities (kusalā dhammā)
Skillful qualities (kusalā dhammā)
4. “As a guilt-ridden American, how do you respond to personal mistakes without guilt?” [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Culture/West] [Great disciples] // [Saṅgha] [Conscience and prudence] [Pāli] [Skillful qualities] [Self-identity view] [Respect] [Perception] [Virtue] [Buddha]
Story: A monk falsely accuses Sāriputta (AN 9.11). [Forgiveness]
6. “When there is a lot of pain in the body, it is difficult to maintain “right effort,” yet sometimes through patient endurance the pain lessens or dissipates. Could you speak about right effort and the connection between right effort and samadhi?” [Pain] [Right Effort] [Patience] [Concentration] // [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] [Fear] [Aversion] [Discernment] [Naturalness]
Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno learned from pain and illness in his early monastic life. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Sickness] [Monastic life]
3. “What is the definition of wholesome? The word for me connotes the 50's era of Ozzie and Harriet.” [Skillful qualities] [Culture/West] // [Pāli] [Happiness] [Tranquility] [Unwholesome Roots]
8. “I’m not sure in the context of this retreat when to be resting simply with the four foundations of mindfulness and when to be reciting metta phrases. Can you please advise as to how/when to skillfully move from one practice to the other?” [Right Mindfulness] [Goodwill] [Mantra] // [Emotion] [Sloth and torpor] [Mindfulness of body] [Calming meditation] [Discernment]
Sutta: MN 19: Dvedhāvitakka Sutta [Directed thought and evaluation] [Skillful qualities]
17. “What is the difference between 'meditating on' versus 'contemplating' or just thinking about something. Can you give some examples how one may skillfully meditate on something versus unskillfully? What does saṅkhāra mean?” [Meditation] [Recollection] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Skillful qualities] [Volitional formations] [Pāli] // [Concentration] [Progress of insight] [Self-identity view] [Aggregates]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 11: A passage to arouse urgency.
12. “The near enemy to equanimity is aloofness. Can you offer clues on how to differentiate between these in oneself?” [Equanimity] [Discernment] // [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] [Aversion] [Present moment awareness]
Quote: “Tuning into kusala/akusala sorts things out really quickly.” [Skillful qualities]
Sutta: AN 3.65: Kālāma Sutta
3. “As an abbot taking care of a community, how do you handle it when a kerfluffle comes up?” [Abbot] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Community] [Conflict] // [Patience] [Views] [Skillful qualities] [Four Noble Truths]
Follow-up: “What are the antidotes to the next two Noble Truths?”
5. Comment: I ask myself, "Do I believe in Māra?" There's no doubt. I try to balance this with the devas. [Māra] [Deva] [Recollection/Devas]
Response by Ajahn Yatiko. [Skillful qualities]
12. “The Buddha taught the five forms of wrong livelihood [AN 5.177]. This is from the producer side. Is there a similar teaching from the consumer side?” [Commerce/economics] [Right Livelihood] // [Idealism] [Politics and society] [Buddha/Biography] [Skillful qualities]
5. “What is your take on satisfaction, being in tune, and stagnation?” [Contentment] [Energy] [Ardency] // [Skillful qualities] [Discernment] [Buddha/Biography] [Spiritual search] [Right Effort]
Sutta: AN 2.5: Effort and noncontentment with wholesome states.
Story: The Thai government made it illegal for monks to teach contentment. [History/Thai Buddhism] [Monastic life] [Teaching Dhamma]
Comment about the simile of the lute. [Middle Path] [Similes]
Sutta: AN 6.55: Soṇa Sutta
10. “When we say right Eightfold Path, is there any general rule to tell what is right, what is wrong?” [Eightfold Path] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] // [Unwholesome Roots]
5. “Would you please give an example of how wholesome qualities can condition unwholesome qualities?” [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] [Conditionality]
2. “What do you think about the idea of secular Buddhism? Earlier you spoke about bhāvanā versus meditation, that meditation is not a useful translation [of bhāvanā]. Do you think secular Buddhism is useful or not?” [Secular Buddhism] [Meditation] // [Human] [Suffering] [Cultural context] [Buddhist identity] [Culture/West] [Learning]
Quote: “Anything is useful if it's picking up the actual teachings of the Buddha and applying [them] in a skillful way.” [Eightfold Path] [Skillful qualities]
6. “I find I do need some pleasures even thought they don't last, things like fine arts and being in nature. I'm curious, how did you manage as a monk in your early years at Ajahn Chah's monastery where there's almost no pleasure....How did you manage to keep going over the years until the present?” [Sensual desire] [Artistic expression] [Culture/Natural environment] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Ajahn Chah] [Food] [Entertainment and adornment] [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Happiness] [Simplicity] [Association with people of integrity] [Empathetic joy] [Human] [Hindrances] [Jhāna] [Virtue] [Discernment]
Quote: “One of the extraordinary perks of being a monk is that everyone tries to be good around you.”
Sutta: MN 36.32: "Why am I afraid of that happiness?" [Buddha/Biography] [Ascetic practices] [Suffering] [Skillful qualities] [Eightfold Path]
Quote: “As a monk, I can look back on forty years of living in a way where I don't have to feel remorseful or regret anything.”
4. “What does “the longing for the good is the cause of the trouble” mean?” [Ajahn Mun] [Craving] [Skillful qualities] [Right Effort] // [Eightfold Path] [Aggregates] [Liberation] [Self-identity view] [Virtue] [Relinquishment] [Jhāna] [Ignorance] [Cause of Suffering]
Story: Sixth Patriarch Sutra: "No mirror, no dust."
Recollection: Ajahn Chah taught you could grasp at either samut (the conventional) or vimut (the transcendant). [Ajahn Chah] [Conventions] [Unconditioned] [Clinging] [Discernment]
4. “I seem to make a virtue of laziness and don't quite believe the teachings about doing without food and sleep. Do you have any advice for me?” [Sloth and torpor] [Ascetic practices] // [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities]
4. “Could you say more about the positive causal process that is the opposite of paticcasamuppada?” [Dependent origination] [Conditionality] [Mindfulness] // [Skillful qualities] [Right Mindfulness] [Factors of Awakening]
Sutta: SN 12.23 Upanisa: Dukkha is a cause for faith. [Suffering] [Faith]
Sutta: AN 10.61 Avijjā: The Five Hindrances are a cause for ignorance. [Hindrances] [Ignorance]
6. When the practice is difficult, one can look at wholesome states and say, "This is the result when I did this. There actually was some good that came of it." Comment by Ajahn Cunda. [Skillful qualities] [Conditionality] [Gladdening the mind] [Kamma]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Virtue]
7. Quote: “The art of the pause.” — Ajahn Sucitto [Ajahn Sucitto] [Pace of life] // [Discernment] [Skillful qualities]
13. Comment: We can't know the kamma or state of mind of someone who is dying. Because the dying person's consciousness can be very open, it's useful to remind them of their wholesome actions. Contributed by Jeanne Daskais. [Kamma] [Consciousness] [Spaciousness] [Recollection/Virtue] [Death]
Story: Sri Lankans keep a lifelong record of the good things they have done. Friends and relatives read this to them at the time of death. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Skillful qualities] [History/Sri Lankan Buddhism]
26. “If a family member who has passed turns into a hungry ghost, how might one help them when they're in that realm?” [Family] [Rebirth] [Ghost] [Compassion] [Death] // [Merit]
Sutta: AN 10.177: Jāṇussoṇī
Follow-up: “Does it work the same way if the person hasn't made much merit?” [Kamma] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] [Human]
4. “Can you speak about the roots of wholesome and unwholesome desire?” [Energy] [Desire] [Becoming] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] // [Discernment] [Right Effort] [Learning] [Ajahn Chah]
Sutta: AN 10.58.
Reference: Listening to the Heart by Kittisaro and Thanissara (commercial).
1. “What are the rewards for the skillful monk?” [Monastic life] [Skillful qualities] [Right Mindfulness] // [Happiness] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Concentration]
Sutta: SN 47.8: Simile of the skillful cook. [Similes] [Similes]
Story: Ajahn Mun criticizes Ajahn Mahā Boowa for developing meditation like a tree stump. [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Admonishment/feedback]
3. “What are antidotes to the strained, tired mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Sloth and torpor] // [Directed thought and evaluation] [Skillful qualities] [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of breathing]
Sutta: MN 19: Dvedhavitakka Sutta, Two Kinds of Thought.
2. “How should householders deal with sensual pleasure?” [Lay life] [Sensual desire] // [Virtue] [Happiness] [Generosity] [Skillful qualities]
Comments by Ajahn Kaccāna, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno about similies for sensual pleasures found in MN 54 and MN 75. [Similes]
2. Examples of pleasures of renunciation? Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Happiness] [Renunciation] [Rapture] // [Skillful qualities]
Sutta: Ud 2.10: "Oh, what bliss!"
3. Examples of unworldly, unpleasant feelings? Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Feeling] [Suffering] [Skillful qualities] // [Sense restraint]
Sutta: MN 44: Cūḷavedalla Sutta.
5. “Are the qualities in the Jīvaka Sutta (AN 8.26) listed in order of ascending goodness?” [Skillful qualities] [Buddhist identity] // [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Stream entry]
15. “Can you say more about how living up to cultural expectations can be skillful?” [Conscience and prudence] [Skillful qualities] [Buddhist identity] // [Killing] [Sense restraint] [Clear comprehension] [Compassion] [Malicious speech] [Right Speech]
19. Comment by Ajahn Ñāṇiko: I keep coming back to true principle–what are we doing it all for? [Dhamma] [Killing] [Right Intention] [Buddhist identity]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Attachment to rites and rituals] [Suffering] [Happiness] [Skillful qualities]
3. “Sometimes I just notice that the state that is there [a hindrance] is going to go away. Isn't that a skillful way of looking at it?” [Impermanence] [Skillful qualities] [Hindrances] // [Clear comprehension] [Habits]
Sutta: MN 20: The Removal of Distracting Thoughts [Right Effort] [Similes]
2. “I'm thinking that not all samādhi is wholesome, but all jhāna is wholesome.” [Concentration] [Skillful qualities] [Jhāna] // [Right Concentration]
7. “The story that we hear frequently about the Buddhaa as a child in the cattle pasture with his father. He talks about going into a pleasant, rapturous state. Would you consider that jhāna?” [Buddha/Biography] [Happiness] [Rapture] [Jhāna] // [Skillful qualities]
Sutta: MN 36.31 Mahāsaccaka Sutta
8. Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo: Absorption dependent on the pleasure that comes from sense contact may not be completely wholesome. [Concentration] [Happiness] [Contact] [Sense bases] [Jhāna] [Skillful qualities]
8. “I practice the brahmavihāras, and not just on the cushion. How do these relate to jhāna?” [Divine Abidings] [Posture/Sitting] [Posture/Walking] [Jhāna] // [Continuity of mindfulness] [Skillful qualities]
Quote: “You can sit on your cushion for a long time. Chickens sit for a long time, and they don't get enlightened!” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Liberation] [Animal]
9. “What would you respond to the perspecitve, 'Those jhānas seem impossible to attain, so I'm going to forget about them.'” [Jhāna] // [Continuity of mindfulness] [Skillful qualities] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Self-identity view] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Goodwill] [Happiness]
9. “I like the translations 'conscience' aand 'concern' for hiri and otappa. Having done unskillful actions in the past that create suffering, and being aware of the tendency to personalize, how can it be over and done?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Treasures] [Conscience and prudence] [Unskillful qualities] [Suffering] [Kamma] [Self-identity view] // [Four Noble Truths] [Divine Abidings]
Quote: “As a human being, I have the opportunity to learn from the past and move on to skillful action in the future. I don't have to be like a dog that barfs stuff up and goes back and eats it again.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Human] [Learning] [Skillful qualities] [Similes]
Quote: “The not-self refrain, 'This is not me, this is not mine, this is not what or who I am,' is not an abdication of responsibility but an understanding, 'This is the way I can put things down and move on, move past the things that are still creating suffering.'” — Ajahn Pasanno [Not-self] [Relinquishment]
Suttas: SN 42.8 The Conch Blower; AN 3.100: A Lump of Salt.
13. “When you're living on the precepts, how do I relate to (for example) a friend who tells me about an affair they are having?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Precepts] [Spiritual friendship] [Sexual misconduct] // [Skillful qualities] [Admonishment/feedback] [Discernment] [Right Speech] [Vinaya] [Abhayagiri]
Quote: “Don't admonish your fellow monks before the meal.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Monastic life] [Food] [Eating after noon]
15. “AN 5.38 says, 'Not by sorrow can even the slightest good come.' How does this work with the natural process of grieving?” [Grief] [Skillful qualities] // [Cultural context] [Family] [Ajahn Chah] [Death] [Characteristics of existence]
8. “I'm curious about the wholesome/unwholesome assessment [in MN 19]. If it's a thought of ill-will, greed, hatred, or delusion, but we're not attached to it, we're just seeing it arise, seeing it pass, recognizing it, being aware that it's in the mind. Does the unwholesomeness come from believing it?” [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] [Investigation of states] [Unwholesome Roots] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Mindfulness of mind] // [Habits] [Hindrances]
7. Comment: One time I really to the edge of all kinds of sadness and my mind came up with [audio unclear] and Three Refuges in a way that seemed very useful for me. [Depression] [Three Refuges] // [Mantra] [Determination] [Suffering]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Skillful qualities]
7. “Do thoughts by themselves have karmic consequences?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Kamma] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Perception] [Feeling] [Volition] [Self-identity view]
Sutta: MN 56: Upāli
Follow-up: “Is it good kamma to decide not to act on an unskillful thought?” [Skillful qualities]
Story: A person talks with Ajahn Liem, analyzing their consistently bad thoughts and obsessions. He replies, "If you see a pile of excrement, why would you want to stick your nose in it?" Told by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ajahn Liem] [Unskillful qualities] [Similes] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Culture/Thailand] [Thai Forest Tradition]
Comment: I think my problem is that my nose is already in there, and I don't want to realize that I'm so stupid that it's hard to get it out. [Delusion]
5. “Can you say more about how disenchantment can be uplifting?” [Disenchantment] [Gladdening the mind] [Politics and society] // [Translation] [Bhikkhu Bodhi] [Suffering] [Skillful qualities] [Progress of insight]
Quote: “There's no known defense against cheesecake.” — Ajahn Sucitto [Ajahn Sucitto] [Food] [Sensual desire]
10. Comment: I haven't heard any Buddhist teachers talk about wholesome romantic relationships. [Relationships] [Skillful qualities]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Family] [Treasures]
Sutta: AN 4.55 Samajīvī Sutta [Virtue]
6. “Can you talk more about "Skillfully contributing to an upredictable situation"?” [Impermanence] [Skillful qualities] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Clear comprehension]
16. “Can you speak about regret?” [Conscience and prudence] [Restlessness and worry] // [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Determination] [Skillful qualities] [Culture/West] [Kamma] [Goodwill]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno can't translate guilt into Thai. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Thai] [Suffering]
8. “Can we approach chanting as praying for someone in a difficult situation?” [Christianity] [Devotional practice] [Family] [Health] [Chanting] // [Skillful qualities] [Compassion] [Right Intention] [Merit] [Abhayagiri] [Nature of the cosmos]
5. “Could you please address judgement and discernment?” [Judgementalism] [Discernment] // [Self-identity view] [Skillful qualities] [Four Noble Truths] [Culture/West] [Impermanence] [Conditionality]
3. “My natural tendency is to push the world away and to have the attitude that enjoyment is wrong. I'm working on trying to enjoy life. Do you have any ideas about this?” [Craving not to become] [Christianity] [Hinduism] [Ascetic practices] [Happiness] [Skillful qualities] // [Monastic life] [Ajahn Sucitto] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Culture/West]
The Rule of St. Benedict and Ajahn Sucitto's talk "Fellow Worms." [Humility]
Story: A BBC interviewer asks King Rama IX about original sin. [Media] [Culture/Thailand] [Nature of mind]
Causal processes leading to sāmadhi and dispassion have different starting points, but they all go through delight and happiness. [Conditionality] [Concentration] [Dispassion]
Quote: “Monks, do not be afraid of puñña.” — Iti 22 [Merit] [Fear] [Liberation]
Quote: “The happy mind is easily concentrated.”
7. Comment: Words that I haven't grown up with like skillfulness and wholesomeness have the spectrum to reflect on the different levels of these qualities. [Language] [Culture/West] [Skillful qualities]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
2. “What advice do you have for students or graduates hoping to progess on the Noble Path towards Nibbāna while a student or in the workplace?” [Eightfold Path] [Nibbāna] [Learning] [Work] [Lay life] // [Human] [Discernment] [Compassion] [Generosity] [Perfectionism] [Desire] [Suffering] [Politics and society] [Simplicity] [Environment] [Depression] [Restlessness and worry] [Skillful qualities] [Community]
5. “In your guided meditation you mentioned noticing, 'This is bearable.' When is it skillful to bear with and when it is skillful to put effort towards change, whether in action or in the mind?” [Patience] [Equanimity] [Right Effort] // [Discernment] [Pain] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] [Happiness] [Clear comprehension]
7. “In what way are qualities and effects viral? Are right perception, right speech, right thought, and right action also viral?” [Media] [Online community] [Perception] [Right View] [Right Speech] [Right Action] // [Abhayagiri] [History/Western Buddhism] [Mindfulness] [Skillful qualities] [Happiness] [Tranquility] [Trust] [Human]
8. “You mentioned that ruminating on how one would like to change the world or the conditions around oneself can be a source of needless suffering. But there are times when one does want to work to change the world or the way society is organized for the sake of lovingkindness and alleviating suffering. How do we engage with those desire for change in a skillful way?” [Politics and society] [Suffering] [Desire] [Goodwill] [Compassion] [Skillful qualities] [Activism] // [Conditionality] [Self-identity view] [Conflict] [Poverty] [Judgementalism] [Aversion] [Culture/Thailand] [Environment] [Idealism]
Quote: “If one is going to commit oneself to change, one has to get used to looking at things from a big perspective, a perspective of 'How do we include rather than exclude?'” [Community]
Quote: “You want to approach a particular problem with an open a mind as possible and then see who might be willing and able to help.”
8. “My understanding is that it is not good to indulge the five senses. But is there a way to make that help with your cultivation?” [Sense bases] [Sense restraint] // [Appropriate attention] [Discernment] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 6: Recollection of the Dhamma [Recollection/Dhamma]
Sutta: SN 35.23: The six senses are the all.
Sutta: SN 35.116: A perceiver of the world, a conceiver of the world.