Community
Includes tags: Community, Communal harmony, Conflict, Leadership
12. “Can you please talk more about the three happinesses and what we should be careful about?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Happiness] [Heedfulness] // [Everyday life] [Deva] [Nibbāna] [Hindrances] [Virtue] [Community]
Reference: Verses of Sharing and Aspiration, Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 33.
1. “The reflection on kamma (Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 55) uses language related to family: ‘born,’ ‘heir,’ ‘related’, ‘supported.’ What are the implications of this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Kamma] [Family] [Language] // [Community] [Perception]
4. “You spoke about the teachings and the training. What is the training for a lay practitioner other than the Five Precepts?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Dhamma] [Vinaya] [Lay life] [Five Precepts] // [Meditation] [Communal harmony] [Right Livelihood] [Family] [Work] [Politics and society] [Spiritual friendship]
1. Comment: I listen to the talks and read the books, and everything is so logical and rational, but I’m still stuck in habitual patterns of living. [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Dhamma books] [Everyday life] [Habits ]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Association with people of integrity] [Community] [Monasteries] [Lunar observance days] [Online community] [Chanting] [Spiritual friendship] [Impermanence] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Generosity]
Quote: “When you’re living with a group of people, not everybody is depressed and lazy and fed up at the same time.” [Community] [Unwholesome Roots]
Sutta: SN 55.5 Sāriputta [Factors for stream entry]
4. Comment: I’m appreciative of Zoom. It’s helpful on many levels, but I’m missing the actual physical presence. [Online community] [Pandemic] [Community]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Human] [Monasteries]
11. “As abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat, you were involved in a model reforestation project. How did this come about and what motivated you to promote reforestation in Thailand?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Environment ] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Culture/Thailand] [Commerce/economics] [Geography/Thailand] [Food] [Community]
Quote: “It’s not just forest that you want to pay attention to....The villagers need to make a living.” [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Right Livelihood] [Learning]
Quote: “I had good people helping me. It wasn’t just me.” [Community]
5. “I feel that a lot of people are disconnected with the reality world. They don’t have a place of social, and they withdraw themselves and go on the internet. So I think the fundamental problem is people [audio unclear] in this real world. Do you have any comments on how to connect people in the real world so there can be a replacement of social media?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Community] [Social media] [Internet] // [Dhamma online] [Pandemic] [Online community] [Abhayagiri] [Lunar observance days]
Sutta: SN 55.5: Spiritual friendship as a condition for Right View. [Spiritual friendship] [Right View] [Conditionality] [Appropriate attention]
6. Comment: Since the pandemic, I have been in better communication with my family. [Pandemic] [Family] [Internet] [Communal harmony]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Discernment]
7. “How to turn grief of the planet and humankind into creative action?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Grief] [Environment] [Human ] [Activism] // [Generosity] [Gratitude] [Purpose/meaning] [Community] [Aversion]
Quote: “If you think you’ve got to solve the problem completely yourself, that stirs one into inaction.”
Recollection: The nonprofit organization founded by Ajahn Pasanno to protect forests in Thailand is still operating. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Non-profit organizations] [Culture/Thailand]
2. “Would you speak about your response to the events in Israel and Gaza?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Conflict] [Politics and society] // [Grief] [Human] [Suffering] [Idealism]
Quote: “The world has been a sad place for a long time.” [Nature of the cosmos]
10. “What are the words or practices to develop equanimity? In this difficult, divisive period, it’s helpful to have as much non-ill-will as possible.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Equanimity ] [Conflict] [Goodwill] // [News] [Kamma] [Conditionality]
Quote: “[News] is not there to inform you. It’s there to create a reaction....Their job is to try to get click baits.” [Internet] [Advertizing]
14. “The world looms large. This is the source of most of my turmoil. How does one see all this strife as neutral when we know that the damage to the world is so great? How do we maintain acceptance when our children and grandchildren will suffer?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Conflict] [Politics and society] [Environment] [Equanimity] // [Right Effort] [Community]
3. “Have you ever regretted choosing the monastic life? Has your mother ever thought you made a wrong choice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Doubt] [Parents] // [Gratitude] [Retirement] [Energy] [Mentoring] [Christianity] [Abhayagiri]
Reflections on leadership. [Leadership ] [Ajahn Chah] [Abbot] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Discernment]
Quote: “You can’t lead just by telling people what to do and they are going to obey. Forget it!” [Leadership ]
Quote: “Everybody else is a mirror for oneself if one is willing to learn in teaching or leading others.” [Leadership ] [Learning]
1. Reflections by Ajahn Pasanno on 28 years. [Community] [Monasteries] [Abhayagiri] // [Saṅghapāla] [Lay supporters] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
Reflection: It’s the community and the people that really creates the monastery. [Community]
13. Reflection by Ajahn Cunda: Training under the co-abbots. [Abbot] [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Abhayagiri] [Mentoring] // [Craving] [Teaching Dhamma] [Communal harmony] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo]
Quote: “Two tigers in one cave.” — Thai saying. [Leadership] [Culture/Thailand]
16. Abhayagiri history: The people and the places. Recollections by Ajahn Ṭhitapañño. [Abhayagiri] // [Community] [Sharing circles] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Lunar observance days]
18. A long-term sense of extended family. Reflection by Ajahn Ṭhitapañño. [Community] [Abhayagiri]
19. Reflections by Ajahn Sudhīro on his first year at Abhayagiri. [Abhayagiri] // [Emotion] [Suffering] [Monastic life] [Community] [Communal harmony] [Food] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Happiness]
3. Ajahn Chah emphasized the importance of sīla during his second trip to the West. [Culture/West] [Virtue] [Ajahn Chah] // [Communal harmony]
Quote: “Teaching Buddhism without sīla is like sending someone out in the open sea in a leaky boat.” — Ajahn Chah. [Similes]
Simile: A millipede’s many legs all work together in harmony. [Communal harmony]
1. “What do you do at Abhayagiri? What is the value of being a monk? What’s the value of having a global saṅgha?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abhayagiri] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] // [Monasteries] [Fear] [Culture/Natural environment] [Community]
13. “When you started teaching and taking on the role of leader of a community, did that affect the way you related to your own practice because you were being seen by others, having to be more careful about conduct?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abbot] [Leadership] // [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ajahn Chah] [Fear] [Faith] [Culture/Thailand]
Ajahn Chah always emphasized, “Whatever you’re doing, you have to learn from it.” [Learning]
4. “What advice would you give to future abbots and teachers of Wat Pah Pong branch monasteries so that the communities maintain the most important characteristics of Ajahn Chah’s style of leadership?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abbot] [Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Saṅgha] [Leadership ] [Ajahn Chah] // [Dhamma] [Vinaya] [Chanting] [Translation]
Sutta: DN 16.6: Dhamma-Vinaya is your leader.
Quote: “Ajahn Chah was conservative, but he wasn’t fundamentalist.” [Leadership ] [Monastic life]
Story: The Dalai Lama asks the Abhayagiri monks to chant the Maṅgala Sutta (SN 2.4, Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 46) in Pāli. [Dalai Lama] [Pāli]
Story: Ajahn Chah was one of the first forest monks to ban smoking in the monastery. [Smoking] [Lunar observance days]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah was unique in consulting with senior monks and laypeople when making decisions. [Leadership ] [Saṅgha decision making]
8. “Many of Ajahn Chah’s direct disciples have become revered teachers themselves. Would you say the harsher conditions and more rigorous practices of the early days of Wat Pah Pong played a necessary role in their training and development or was it mostly due to Ajahn Chah being such a masterful teacher?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah lineage] [Ascetic practices] [Wat Pah Pong] [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah] // [Humility] [Ajahn Mun] [Mae Chee]
Quote: “There’s this nostalgia for the good old days....To me it’s a fallacy or a fantasy.” [Suffering] [Poverty]
Quote: “To be able to lay a foundation that was carried on is really exceptional.” [Saṅgha] [Leadership]
11. “Could you tell us your very first encounter with Luang Por Chah? How did it happen? What did he say to you? What impression did you have then?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] // [Temporary ordination] [Wat Pah Pong] [Culture/Natural environment] [Ajahn Sumedho]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno is impressed by handwritten notes about Ajahn Chah’s teaching by a visitor to Wat Pah Pong. [Wat Phleng Vipassanā]
Quote: “If you want to stay here, you have to stay at least five years.” — Ajahn Chah.
Quote: “The place itself [Wat Pah Pong] was a reflection of Ajahn Chah.” [Lay life] [Lunar observance days]
Story: The branch monasteries and lay community gather for Māgha Pūjā. [Festival days] [Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Community]
3. “When Luang Por Chah’s physical condition deteriorated and he was no longer physically active, how did the Saṅgha and lay community react to it? And how did you feel about it? How did the Saṅgha manage to organize new leadership? Any challenges, confusions, or conflicts?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sickness] [Saṅgha] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Leadership] [Ajahn Chah] [Conflict] // [Impermanence] [Saṅgha decision making] [Grief] [Wat Pah Pong] [Ajahn Liem]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah told the Saṅgha that his illness was incurable and they would have to look after him. [Health care ]
I did my grieving when Ajahn Chah was still alive and sick. Recollection by Ajahn Pasanno. [Death]
Recollection: Caring for Ajahn Chah as a community. [Health care ] [Mae Chee] [Communal harmony] [Leadership]
Recollection: Preparing for Ajahn Chah’s funeral. [Funerals] [Building projects]
Quote: “His example was always one of giving himself to what was of benefit to the Dhamma, to the Vinaya, to others. There was so little personal agenda and personal preferences ever shown.” [Generosity]
14. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: His leadership and his teaching came from his example. [Leadership] [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah] // [Lunar observance days] [Devotion to wakefulness]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah sits until midnight despite having malaria. [Sickness] [Posture/Sitting] [Sitter's practice]