Part of tag cluster Stages of awakening in key topic Fruits of the Practice
Subtags: Stream entry, Once return, Non-return, Arahant, Bodhisattva, Paccekabuddha, Nibbāna
30 excerpts, 2:03:11 total duration
8. Story: Ajahn Sumedho wants Ajahn Chah to affirm whether he had attained a degree of insight. Told by Ajahn Jitindriyā. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Stages of awakening] [Ajahn Chah] // [Impermanence] [Liberation] [Bowing] [Becoming]
Reference: Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 606
Quote: “We talk about things to develop and thigs to give up, but there’s really nothing to develop and nothing to give up.” — Ajahn Chah [Right Effort] [Relinquishment] [Emptiness] [Dispassion]
Reference: Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 102
1. “One of my lay insight mediation teachers said, ‘The Western lay practitioner is an experiment in Buddhism.’ What do you think? To me it seems our lay teachers are also an experiment.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/West] [Lay life] [Lay teachers] // [Monastic life] [Abhayagiri] [Sīladharā] [Culture/Thailand]
Quote: “Because the monastic presence is so strong in Asia, oftentimes people overlook the strength of the tradition of lay practice and lay teachers.” [Cultural context]
Story: The Buddha tells Māra he will found the fourfold assembly (UD 6.1). [Buddha/Biography] [Māra] [Fourfold Assembly] [Stages of awakening] [Learning]
12. “What does it mean – the four pairs, the eight kinds of noble beings – in the recollection of the Sangha?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Chanting] [Stages of awakening] // [Commentaries]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 27: Recollection of the Saṅgha
1. “Realized beings abound these days. Care to comment? When the conditions are conducive and the inquiry is in earnest, is it possible to wake up quickly?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stages of awakening] [Saṅgha] [Progress of insight] [Ardency] [Conditionality] // [Patience] [Ajahn Pasanno]
Quote: “Buddhism hasn’t come to America yet.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Culture/West] [Insight Meditation Society]
2. “Which suttas describe path and fruit?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stages of awakening] [Sutta]
Sutta: MN 70: Kīṭāgiri Sutta
5. Story: Ajahn Mun doesn’t spend consecutive rains retreats in the same place until his mid-70s. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mun] [Rains retreat] [Ageing] [Tudong] // [Stages of awakening] [Seclusion] [Teaching Dhamma]
Story: Saṅgha authorities appoint Ajahn Mun abbot of a monastery in Chiang Mai. He leaves before dawn the next day. [Abbot] [History/Thai Buddhism] [Saṅgha decision making]
Story: One million people attend the funeral of Ajahn Mahā Boowa. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Funerals]
11. “Once I aspired to open my mind beyond this conditioned world. Now I mostly try to be at ease with my limitations. Am I forgetting something important?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stages of awakening] [Unconditioned] [Contentment]
13. “What are the 4 stages of Enlightenment? What defilements have the four Noble Beings shed?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stages of awakening] [Fetters]
12. “In ‘Homage to the Sangha’ chant, what are the ‘Four pairs, the eight kinds of Noble Beings?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Stages of awakening]
20. “Can you talk about path and fruit in regards to the stages of awakening? What are they? How are they different?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stages of awakening]
5. “It seems unusual for a monk to talk about his meditative attainments. Is this unusual or frowned upon?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Stages of awakening]
15. Discussion about faith followers and Dhamma followers. [Stream entry] [Stages of awakening] [Death] [Sutta]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Not-self] [Concentration] [Recollection/Death]
Reference: Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, pp. 441-445: Ajahn Chah comes down Pu Pek Mountain and nothing is the same. [Ajahn Chah]
Response by Ajahn Cunda. [Ajahn Amaro]
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]
19. “So being the one who knows, you don’t have to react to dislike and like?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Buddha] [Knowing itself] [Aversion] [Greed]
Quote: “The difference between an awakened mind and an unawakened mind is that the unawakened mind keeps following likes and dislikes. An awakened mind can see that arise, establish itself, and pass away. The mind is the same.” [Nature of mind] [Stages of awakening] [Impermanence] [Cessation]
2. “What is left once there is no self? Is it the same as enlightenment? Can a person still function in a daily life (drive a car for example)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view ] [Stages of awakening]
Quote: “What’s it like being the abbot of a big monastery?” — “I come out of my kuti and I do the things that I need to do, and then I go back to my kuti. And if some people want to call that being an abbot, well that’s their business.” — Ajahn Liem. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ajahn Liem ] [Abbot ] [Wat Pah Pong] [Work] [Conventions] [Simplicity]
1. “Is it easy for a person with attainments to deal with the world?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stages of awakening] [Everyday life] // [Discernment] [Conceit] [Culture/West] [Wrong concentration]
Quote: “To push away the world is also to reifying it. One gives it power when one is afraid of it.” [Craving not to become] [Proliferation] [Fear]
Laypeople with highly developed meditation practice function well in the world. Comment by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Lay life] [Meditation/Results] [Energy]
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]
6. “Would you remind us what ‘the four pairs, the eight kinds of noble beings’ means and perhaps in a nutshell what is the English translation of the meal blessing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Stages of awakening] [Anumodanā]
27. “Do you think it’s possible to experience Nibbāna before becoming fully awakened - ‘moments of enlightenment?’ But if Nibbāna is beyond consciousness, would you remember that it happened?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna] [Stages of awakening] [Consciousness] // [Stream entry ]
12. “Will you briefly remind us who are “the four pairs, eight kinds of noble beings”?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stages of awakening]
15. “When you have completed the practice, does everything become ‘down time?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stages of awakening] [Recreation/leisure/sport] // [Clinging] [Almsfood] [Culture/Natural environment]
Quote: “It’s because we reflect on these ‘serious things’ that we can hold things lightly.” [Recollection]
Suttas: MN 2.13: Reflection on the requisites; AN 5.208: Benefits of chewing toothwood
5. “How to reach the state of peace and serenity when we’re just human beings and we strive to be good people?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Tranquility] [Equanimity] [Human] [Virtue] // [Happiness] [Generosity] [Association with people of integrity] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Hindrances]
Sutta: DN 2: Sāmaññaphala Sutta - Fruits of the Holy Life
Quote: When asked about his attainments as a monk, “I’m just really happy about all the things I didn’t do.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Ajahn Pasanno] [Stages of awakening] [Monastic life] [Sense restraint]
1. “In the dialogue between Ānanda and Sariputta (AN 4.179), could you say more about the reason people don’t become enlightened in this lifetime?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stages of awakening] // [Perception] [Conditionality] [Progress of insight]
6. “Going to Thailand—was it a divine plan or was it your own wish? Is enlightenment a path or a destination?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [God] [Purpose/meaning] [Stages of awakening] // [Skillful qualities] [Unconditioned] [Similes]
Quote: “None of the above.”