(Editor’s Note: In honor of Luang Por Sumedho’s 80th birthday on July 27th and his recent visit to Abhayagiri, we will be posting a series of Luang Por Sumedho reflections.) A difficulty with the word Nibbana is that its meaning is beyond the power of words to describe. It is, essentially, undefinable. Another difficulty is that many Buddhists see Nibbana as something unobtainable—as so high and so r…

I’m not usually here for this special event—the remembering Tan Ajahn Chah’s birthday. We have another celebration on January 16 for his death. Usually I go to Thailand for that and also for many big meetings and a meditation retreat event at Wat Pah Pong, Ajahn Chah’s monastery. So, this is his birthday. He always thought celebrating birthdays was a bit of a joke. I think they have a different at…

A transcibed and translated Dhamma talk by Ajahn Preecha of Wat Santacittarama, Italy from the book “Ging Gahn Haeng Bodhinyana’ (Twigs and Branches of Bodhinyana)” Ajahn Preecha will be visiting Abhayagiri from June 11th to July 6th. An elder of our broader international community of Ajahn Chah monasteries, he has been resident at Wat Santacittarama, Italy for two decades. Luang Por Pasanno has k…

In our Dhamma practice, many of us may choose to work with the five hindrances throughout our day. And we should pay attention to these hindrances and work with them because, not only are they an obstruction when we sit down to practice meditation, but they’re also very concrete manifestations of the underlying tendencies of greed, hatred and delusion, tendencies that keep us moving through Samsar…

I’m experiencing a very worldly delight in non-involvement, non-responsibility. It’s very lovely to be visiting and not having to feel responsible for making all the threads come together. But, it’s also important, and the thing I like to reflect on a lot, that the complications that are difficult are not the external ones, like the logistical nightmares of the work monk. It’s more the logistical…

Since today is a community work day, there is an opportunity to work together for the benefit of the community and to recognize how we can look at opportunities for work. Sometimes we may feel that the word work already has the connotation of drudgery, a burden in some way. But that’s just how we perceive it and, therefore, create a certain feeling around it. Instead, we can change our perceptions…

In your own Citta, I think it’s very important to notice attitudes towards work and how you respond to it. Quite often we’re asked to do things we’re not competent in or used to doing. There’s a learning curve we all go through in the Sangha. If you’ve never had to do welding and you end up doing welding or you’ve never been an abbot and you end up being an abbot, it becomes a real training in how…

With all the Ajahns away there’s a certain sense of it being a little quieter here right now. A third of the community is gone; so, it does free up a little bit of space and room. Without so many interactions with people, it can create a sense of spaciousness. And the weather has been conducive to being indoors and getting back to the cabin to practice. It’s been quite nice in those ways. Otherwis…

The heart of what Luang Por was teaching, the two things he was stressing above all else, were the Vinaya and meditation practice. The monastic regimen was not to be discarded or interrupted under any circumstances. If it wasn’t absolutely necessary then there was no break from group meetings. He laid great emphasis on meditation practice. You were told to do walking and sitting meditation, to put…

A talk given by Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi during the ordination of Thitābho Bhikkhu and Sāmanera Cunda in 2007. I would like to express my great joy to be here today on this auspicious occasion. Originally when I planned my trip, I was to fly back to New York last night, but when I arrived at Abhayagiri last week I heard that an ordination was planned for today. Many people said to me, “It’s too bad…