Language
Includes tags: Language, Pāli, Translation
4. “Krishnamurti spoke of ‘effortless effort.’ Can you make sense of this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Krishnamurti] [Right Effort]
Reflection: Samma means right in tune. [Pāli] [Eightfold Path]
1. “What is the translation of sabbaṃ dukkhaṃ? The way you translate it seems psychological. In Sanskrit, dukkhaṃ means out of the cosmic flow of Dhamma. But perhaps dukkhaṃ is best left untranslated. If untranslated, does dukkhaṃ mean the same thing in Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] [Pāli] [Equanimity] [Dhamma] [Translation] [Advaita Vedanta] // [Thai] [Human] [Aggregates] [Clinging ] [Knowing itself] [Relinquishment]
Ancient etymology of dukkha: du = bad, unwanted, unpleasant, uncomfortable, not easy; kha = where the axle fits into the wheel. [Language] [Pāli] [Translation] [History/Indian Buddhism]
Sutta: SN 56.11: Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Chanting Book translation)
Teaching: The four forms of clinging. [Clinging ] [Sensual desire] [Impermanence] [Naturalness] [Happiness] [Neutral feeling] [Attachment to precepts and practices] [Views] [Doctrine-of-self clinging] [Not-self]
Quote: “Nibbāna is the reality of non-grasping.” — Ajahn Chah. [Nibbāna] [Cessation of Suffering]
1. “How do you deal with a friend who has commited suicide and the despair and grief that comes with that? How do you support a friend who has feelings of seeking annihilation and wanting to kill themselves?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suicide ] [Depression] [Grief] [Craving not to become] // [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Compassion] [Suffering] [Language] [Cessation of Suffering] [Fear]
Quote: “Compassion is a skillful or beautiful response to the suffering of the world.” [Skillful qualities]
12. Story: What “duly noted” means in English. Told by Ajahn Cunda. [Language] [Abhayagiri] // [Ajahn Amaro]
5. Reading: Ajahn Mun answers Ajahn Chah’s questions about Vinaya. Read by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mun] [Vinaya] [Ajahn Chah] // [Commentaries] [Conscience and prudence] [Simplicity] [Mindfulness]
Reference: “Understanding Vinaya,” Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, pp. 533-534.
The meaning of hiri-otappa. [Translation] [Respect]
4. “How did Ajahn Chah speak about non-self and consciousness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Not-self] [Consciousness] // [Impermanence] [Doctrine-of-self clinging] [Language] [Thai ] [Pāli] [Sense bases] [Unestablished consciousness] [Knowing itself] [Cessation of Suffering]
Quote: “One of the beauties of the Thai language is that it is wonderfully imprecise....it’s a feeling language.” [Thai ] [Language] [Proliferation]
Story: George Sharp asks Ajahn Chah why he teaches “Buddho” all the time. Ajahn Chah responds, “Namo viññāṇa dhātu” [Homage to the element of consciousness]. [George Sharp] [Buddho mantra] [Elements]
8. “Mindfulness and meditation practices of the Eightfold Path have gained tremendous popularity in modern times. Can you please elaborate on how the ethics-related practices (Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood) contribute towards the end of suffering?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eightfold Path ] [Virtue] [Cessation of Suffering] // [Generosity] [Conscience and prudence] [Respect] [Language] [Pāli]
3. “Could you talk about the practicalities of reflective meditation for someone who hasn’t done much of this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection] // [Mindfulness] [Translation] [Concentration] [Impermanence] [Knowing itself]
Quote: “The point that includes” — Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Unification] [Spaciousness]
5. “I work as a psychotherapist and it seems to be useful to have a more or less stable self, a more or less stable ego, to be able to transcend the ego.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Western psychology ] [Self-identity view] [Liberation] // [Mark Epstein] [Virtue] [Happiness] [Conditionality] [Language] [Ajahn Chah] [Conventions]
Reference: “The Wisdom of the Ego” in Head and Heart Together by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro.
Sutta: SN 1.25: “Skillful, knowing the world’s parlance, he uses such terms as mere expressions.”
4. “In Nonviolent Communication they say that when you talk to people it’s better to tell them exactly what you want them to do than what you don’t want them to do. Why exactly is it like this?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Nonviolent Communication] [Language] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Precepts] [Thich Nhat Hahn] [Western psychology] [Buddha/Biography] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Four Noble Truths]
1. “When I was looking at The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro about a year ago, there are lots of Pāli quotes, and it’s not obvious that it is coming from Bhikkhu Bodhi or another translator. That particular passage you read out with the forsaking (The Island p. 32); did you translate it yourself? I think Bhikkhu Bodhi uses relinquishment of acquisitions.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Pāli] [Translation] [Bhikkhu Bodhi] [Ajahn Amaro] // [Ajahn Pasanno]
2. “Something that I’ve noticed is that my wish to translate something differently at one point in my practice changes later when I realize, ‘Hmm…perhaps I’m just trying to get around the point.’ I feel uncomfortable with that translation and then later on realize I have to practice with this one. Does that sometimes happen to you?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Translation] // [Truth]
Story: Jack Kornfield translates for Ajahn Chah at Insight Meditation Center and puts his own spin on the precepts. Ajahn Chah figures it out. [Jack Kornfield] [Ajahn Chah] [Joseph Kappel] [Insight Meditation Society] [Translation] [Precepts]
4. Comment: Exploring the different qualities or expressions of Nibbāna, I was comparing them with the Sinhalese language. You said Nibindatti. Bindinava means breaking up in Sinhalese. The second half of Nibbāna is bana. To give an example of what bana means, let’s say you have a truckload of things. Taking the things out, lowering them down and putting them down is bana. So the whole process is emptying out. Contributed by Randula Haththotuwa. [Nibbāna] [Pāli] [Sinhalese] // [Etymology] [Ven. Ananda Maitreya]
Story: Ajahn Anando gives a retreatant his empty coffee cup to wash. Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Meditation retreats] [Ajahn Anando]
1. “This is a bit pedantic, but shouldn’t it be 1,003? It says the three Kassapa brothers and their 1,000 disciples.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Language]
Sutta: SN 35.28: Ādittapariyāya Sutta (Chanting book translation).
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1.15: The story of the Kassapa brothers.
2. “I understand that the Dhamma is beyond duality. But does the distinction between conditioned and unconditioned support duality?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Dhamma] [Advaita Vedanta] [Unconditioned] // [Language] [Conventions] [Non-identification]
Reference: Richard Gombrich, ‘Metaphor, Allegory, Satire,’ in How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings, pp 86-87, quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 118.
Sutta: SN 1.25: “Skilful, knowing the world’s parlance, he uses such terms as mere expressions.”
Follow-up: “The usage of symbols sometimes helps as well....” [Symbolism]
Quote: “All similes and analogies are partial.” [Knowing itself]
1. “Ajahn Geoff often says that non-duality is not part of the Buddha’s teachings because it refers to unity rather than complete transcendence. In your experience, do most teachings on non-duality refer to an allness or something more compatible with the Buddha’s teachings?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Right View] [Unconditioned] [Advaita Vedanta] // [Equanimity] [Non-identification] [Knowing itself] [Language] [Culture/West] [Culture/India]
Sutta: MN 137.17: Equanimity based on diversity, etc.
Sutta: MN 1.25: They are attached to the All.
Quote: “One of my pet peeves is when people say, ‘I really love non-duality.’” — Eric McCord. [Language]
3. “When Luang Por Sumedho talks about resting in awareness in which everything is included, is this connected to the subject part [of non-duality] or is this neither there nor in between (Ud 1.10)?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Knowing itself] [Non-identification] [Equanimity] [Advaita Vedanta] // [Buddhist identity] [Not-self] [Language] [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Unestablished consciousness] [Brahma gods]
Recollection: When Ajahn Amaro first arrived at Wat Pah Nanachat, a monk recommended Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. [Ajahn Amaro] [Zen]
5. “Is there any other language that can describe things correctly? For example, mathematics or physics?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Language] [Unconditioned ] [Science] // [Suchness]
Sutta: Ud 3.10: “Whatever you conceive it to be, it is ever other than that.”
Reference: “Suchness and the Square Root of Minus One,” Happily Ever After by Ajahn Amaro, p. 507.
3. Comment by Ajahn Pasanno: Anattā is a middle-way word between atthā and niratthā. [Pāli] [Etymology] [Middle Path] // [Right View]
4. “How does [the preceding discussion of insight meditation] differ from sakkāyādiṭṭhi?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Self-identity view] [Insight meditation] // [Pāli] [Etymology] [Not-self]
4. “You mentioned that the Vedic tradition describes reaching the Atman as pure consciousness, awake, and blissful. How is that different from what Luang Por Sumedho always describes pure consciousness, awake, and blissful as the ultimate state?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Hinduism] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Unestablished consciousness] // [Language]
1. Comment: When you were reading from the passage from Ācariya Nāgārguna’s Mūlamadhyamaka-kārikā (quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 109), it struck me that the use of the word essence is equivalent to the way the Buddha uses the word self. [Acariya Nāgārguna] [Language] [Self-identity view] // [Mahāyāna] [Philosophy]
Sutta: SN 5.10: The Bhikkhunī Vajirā.
5. “How do we distinguish the nuances of happiness and suffering?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Happiness] [Suffering] // [Language]
Reflection: Any language is always a problem. [Language]
Quote: “The language of Dhamma is the language of feeling.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma] [Language] [Feeling]
7. Recollecting the peace of Nibbāna. Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Peace] [Nibbāna] // [Cessation] [Dispassion] [Pāli] [Tranquility]
Reading: The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 225.
Suttas: AN 10.60.10; AN 1.494.
8. “Is ‘dark night of the soul’ a similar term to disenchantment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Disenchantment ] // [Pāli] [Skillful qualities] [Translation] [Suffering] [Western psychology]
3. “Typically it seems that Luang Por Sumedho uses more passive language [in regards to abandoning defilements]. Lately I’ve come across teachings from Ajahn Geoff and Ajahn Chah that use much more aggressive language, even ‘go to war with your defilements.’ It seems contradictory to me.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Ajahn Chah] [Language] [Unwholesome Roots] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Culture/West ]
Recollection: A Westerner asks Ajahn Chah why he scolds the Thai monks more than the Western monks. [Monastic life] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy]
Comment by Sister Ñāṇasirī: “In Thailand, we can be extremely lax, so we need a little bit more push.” [Culture/Thailand]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah would rarely speak in personal terms. Instead he tried to get people to reflect on how we can take Dhamma as a refuge. Recounted by Ajahn Kaccāna and Ajahn Pasanno. [Dhamma] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa]
2. “You mentioned that one of the links [in AN 10.2] is pleasure. What is this in Pāli?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Happiness] [Translation]
8. The meaning of chanda (desire). Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno. [Desire ] [Translation] // [Bases of Success] [Craving] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] [Sensual desire]
2. “How do you understand the cessation of consciousness in this passage (SN 12.48)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Consciousness ] [Cessation] // [Knowing itself] [Etymology] [Buddho mantra]
Follow-up: “How is awareness not consciousness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Language] [Science]
Follow-up: “How could the cessation of consciousness happen?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Non-identification]
1. Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno: The satipaṭṭhāna insight formula is a pointer to atammayatā. [Right Mindfulness] [Insight meditation] [Non-identification] // [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Translation]
Sutta: MN 10.37: “Or else mindfulness that ‘there are mind objects’ is simply established in him to the extent necessary for bare knowledge and awareness. And he abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world.
Quote: “You don’t have to go and study every tree in the forest.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Similes]
Reference: Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening by Joseph Goldstein (commercial).
Follow-up: “Do you think that the not-self perception is the precursor to the experience of atammayatā?” [Not-self] [Relinquishment]
5. “How important is it to develop wholesome actions (the second of the four kinds of action in MN 57.7) to progress with the fourth [kind of action]?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Kamma] [Skillful qualities] // [Merit] [Translation] [Happiness] [Concentration]
Sutta: Iti 22: Do not be afraid of puñña.
2. “Is there a Pāli word that you think equates to the sound of silence?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pāli] [Sound of silence]
Reference: Śhūrangama Sūtra.
6. “How does repugnance fit into disenchantment and dispassion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Disenchantment] [Dispassion] // [Translation] [Skillful qualities]
4. “The Pāli word for conceit is very similar to the Pāli word for conceiving. In the Pāli Canon, does conceiving always have an element of ‘I’ in there?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Conceit] [Tipiṭaka] [Pāli] [Language]
5. “What is the meaning of palpitation in the context of SN 35.248?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Language] [Conceit]
6. “Could you explain the subtle differences between perceiving and conceiving? Since our sense of attention is so involved in conceiving ‘I’, how do we practice in order to extricate this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Perception] [Conceit] // [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Memory] [Translation] [Thai]
8. “What does volitional formations mean?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volitional formations] // [Pāli] [Volition]
10. “The phrase, ‘the knot of grasping’ (in Snp 794); is that upādāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Clinging] // [Translation]
6. “I’m super perplexed and baffled with defining or understanding the term suchness or thusness. Are you able to communicate what it actually means?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Suchness ] // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Language] [Knowing itself] [Aggregates] [Unconditioned] [Dhamma] [Recollection/Dhamma]
Quote: “It’s like this.” “Reality is unimaginable.” — Ajahn Sumedho. [Direct experience]
Sutta: MN 72.20, quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 172.
3. “What about different definitions of the mind? Sometimes the Pāli is citta…” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Heart/mind] [Pāli] // [Nature of mind] [Sense bases] [Liberation] [Translation]
Sutta: SN 22.59 Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta: Their hearts (citta) were liberated... (Chanting book translation).
4. “We often speak of the mind, and we associate it with the mental mind, and we often feel that it’s in the area of the head. Then, when we feel the heart, we often feel like it’s in the area of the heart chakra. I see that in meditation, we can actually expand our field of awareness, maybe to the whole body or even more. Are there different approaches or degrees to this? How does it relate to consciousness?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Heart/mind] [Nature of mind] [Spaciousness] [Consciousness] // [Translation] [Language] [Hinduism] [Emotion] [Mindfulness of mind] [Body/form]
5. Comment: In the first Dhammapada verse, mano seems to be used not as a sense gate but sort of a leading part of consciousness. [Heart/mind] [Sense bases] [Consciousness]
Response by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Thai Forest Tradition] [Recollection] [Language] [Conventions]
Sutta: SN 1.25: The Buddha’s use of ‘I’ as conventional language.
8. Comments about the everyday use of the words corresponding to mano and dukkha in Indian languages. Contributed by Anagārikā Deepa. [Language] [Pāli] [Culture/India] [Heart/mind] [Suffering]
Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Proliferation] [Ven. Ananda Maitreya] [Tipiṭaka] [Humor] [Translation] [Bhikkhu Bodhi]
3. Comment about how English must be more specific than Pāli when describing the cognition associated with direct quotes. Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Pāli] [Language] [Directed thought and evaluation]
Sutta: AN 10.6.
1. “What is the Pāli term that [the Buddha] uses for volitional formations [in SN 12.64]?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Pāli] [Volitional formations] // [Volition] [Nutriment]
2. “To dissociate—isn’t it like to withdraw? It feels like something violent or painful.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Language] [Relinquishment] // [Proliferation] [Similes] [Seclusion]
Sutta: MN 20: The Removal of Distracting Thoughts.
Sutta: SN 10.3: Sūciloma.
3. “Is there a difference between citta and poo roo?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Heart/mind ] [Knowing itself] [Nature of mind] // [Thai] [Language] [Proliferation] [Dhamma] [Buddha] [Ajahn Amaro] [Dhamma books]
Quote: “If there’s anything left, just throw it to the dogs.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Chah] [Relinquishment]
4. Story: Huineng evades his pursuers with a koan. Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Koan] [Huineng]
Follow-up: “Do you know why Huineng returned after sixteen years?”
Recollection: Ajahn Buddhadāsa translated a few Chinese Buddhist texts into Thai. [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Translation] [Ajahn Chah]
2. Comment: Ajahn Ṭhānissaro has made a more literal translation of “What is Contemplation?” called “The Knower.” Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Ajahn Chah] [Translation]
4. “Are mindfulness of mind and contemplating a subject such as impermanence two different approaches?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of mind] [Recollection] // [Ajahn Chah] [Language] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Appropriate attention] [Lawfulness]
Reference: “What is Contemplation?”, Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, pp. 475-479.
Quote: “Your best contemplation is quite thoughtless.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Tranquility]
Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Yoniso manasikāra is a way of paying attention to the process of experience. [Pāli] [Characteristics of existence]
7. Comment: The translation of the Nibbāna Sutta (Ud 8.3) in The Island renders paññāyati as ‘discerned;’ the Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 49 translates it as ‘possible.’ Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Discernment] [Translation] [Chanting]
Response by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno.
Quote: “If you can’t go forward, if you can’t go backwards, if you can’t stand still, where do you go?” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Koan]
Sutta: Ud 8.1.
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.” [Monastic life]
Story: The Dalai Lama asks the Abhayagiri monks to chant the Maṅgala Sutta (Snp 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. [Saṅgha decision making]
15. “When you first arrived at Ajahn Chah’s monastery, how did you communicate with him?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Language] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Translation] [Paul Breiter] [Thai] [Isan]
Story: Venerable Varapañño could recite the Pāṭimokkha perfectly. [Pāṭimokkha]
5. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: If you see the steadfastness and orderliness of the Dhamma, of the truth, it can free the heart. [Lawfulness] [Naturalness] [Liberation] [Impermanence] // [Pāli]
14. “I am interested to hear more about the qualities of wholeheartedness. You mentioned that the English language does not have a word that captures it. There’s something that can go from non-attachment/dispassion to apathy, which is not helpful in the world.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Language] [Relinquishment] [Dispassion] [Sloth and torpor] [Impermanence] // [Disenchantment] [Skillful qualities] [Pāli] [Conditionality] [Abhidhamma]
Suttas: Suttas: AN 6.10, AN 10.2: The cascade of well being.
7. “Can you offer any reflections about people’s tendency to measure samādhi, concentration, and jhāna and their doubt and discontent about how much is enough to develop insight?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Calming meditation] [Concentration] [Jhāna] [Insight meditation] // [Craving] [Relinquishment] [Etymology] [Translation] [Right Mindfulness] [Right Effort]
Quote: “Samādhi is a holiday for the heart.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho]
Simile: Samādhi is like a chicken in a bamboo coop. [Similes] [Spaciousness] [Mindfulness]
Sutta: MN 44.12: The bases of samādhi.
Simile: Unification of mind is like a bowl of fruit. [Unification]
5. “It seems like I’m using physical tension to block out emotion. When I try to put my attention on it, the mind goes blank or starts thinking about work. I don’t know what I’m avoiding. Any suggestions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pain] [Emotion ] // [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Concentration] [Translation] [Spaciousness] [Body scanning]
6. “How did you learn Pāli syntax?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pāli] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Learning]
11. “Luang Por Sumedho describes sati-sampajañña as intuitive awareness. But contemplating the four aspects of sampajañña (purpose, suitability, etc.) engages the logical, thinking mind. If these arise intuitively, it’s wonderful, but to cultivate them, I think a lot.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Clear comprehension ] [Intuition] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Mindfulness] [Translation] [Bhante Sujato] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro]