Includes tags: Nibbāna, Deathless, Unestablished consciousness, Unconditioned, Recollection/Peace
2. Comment: Ajahn Chah said that Nibbāna is letting go, but this is difficult to do at deep levels. [Ajahn Chah] [Nibbāna] [Relinquishment] [Suffering]
Responses by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Yatiko. [Self-identity view] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
2. Comment: I’m looking at contemplating peace as opposed to grasping for peace as a result of aversion to dukkha. There’s not the same result. [Recollection/Peace] [Clinging] [Aversion] [Suffering]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Craving not to become] [Relinquishment] [Kamma]
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 mistargeting something important?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stages of awakening] [Unconditioned] [Contentment] // [Idealism] [Four Noble Truths]
9. “Is there consciousness (awareness, knowing) in the experience of nibbana or is there a complete cessation of all six senses, as some traditions say. (Particularly in relation to the experience of stream-entry, which is sometimes described as a cessation.)” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna ] [Sense bases] [Stream entry] [Cessation] // [Liberation] [Ajahn Chah] [Sutta] [Thai Forest Tradition]
Sutta: SN 22.59.11 Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta: knowledge of liberation (Chanting Book translation).
15. “‘There is no-self in the created or the un-created’...Does this statement conceal an asymmetry? Surely we investigate the created to separate from it – But can we investigate the uncreated? And if so, is it not to identify with it?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Not-self] [Unconditioned] [Self-identity view]
9. A retreatant expresses appreciation for the concept of non-stickiness. [Gratitude] [Release] [Nibbāna]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Idealism] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Personality] [Mae Chee Kaew] [Language]
14. “If you don’t think you will reach Nibbāna in this life, did Ajahn Chah advise a place to aspire for rebirth in?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Anan] [Pure Land] [Ajahn Dtun] [Death] [Nibbāna] [Rebirth] [Buddha] [Ajahn Chah] // [Culture/Thailand] [Merit] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Sutta: AN 3.136 Uppādā Sutta: “Whether Tathāgatās appear in the world or not...” [Characteristics of existence]
3. “What word does the translator (Saddhatissa) render as “immortality?”” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Translation] [Deathless]
Reference: Sn 1.4: The Farmer Bhāradvāja
6. Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo comparing putting the mind towards the Deathless with Dzogchen practice. [Deathless] [Vajrayāna] [Emptiness] [Progress of insight]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spiritual bypass]
7. “Why is the Deathless described as an element?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Deathless] [Elements]
9. “Is the goal (Nibbāna) a thought-less state of mind?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna] [Heart/mind] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Formless attainments] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Impermanence]
“Who is the only person who doesn’t think? An arahant? A Buddha?” “No. The only person who doesn’t think is a dead person.” – Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Arahant] [Buddha] [Death]
11. “How are the jhāna factors causal bases for awareness to relase into Nibbāna? Do they diminish craving all the way?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Release] [Nibbāna] [Craving] [Jhāna] // [Contentment]
15. “In a Dhamma talk at Abhayagiri, you quoted Luang Por Chah as saying ‘Nibbāna lies on the shores of death.’ Could you say more about this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna] [Death] [Ajahn Chah] // [Relinquishment]
Quote: “Oftentimes we’re really not ready to let go until there’s absolutely no alternative left.”
4. “‘Luminous is the mind.’ Is the luminous mind conditioned or unconditioned? If unconditioned, then it’s Nirvana. If conditioned/impermanent, then Nirvana is beyond the mind? Yet it can be known by the mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nature of mind] [Unconditioned] [Nibbāna]
Sutta: AN 1.49
4. “Could you talk more about the two levels of understanding the true nature of karma: mundane and transcendent?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Kamma] [Conventions] [Unconditioned] // [Right View ] [Four Noble Truths] [Impermanence] [Conditionality]
Quote: “Outside of cause, beyond effect; outside of suffering, beyond happiness.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Unconditioned]
9. “In this afternoon’s talk, Ajahn Karunadhammo mentioned the benefits of the bhava that results from practice or the Eightfold Path, but he described a consciousness that doesn’t land in or on a self and results in freedom. Is that a consciousness that results in neither arising nor non-arising. Could you elaborate? The moment between in and out breaths seems to hold potential for this kind of consciousness.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eightfold Path] [Becoming] [Unestablished consciousness] [Self-identity view] [Liberation] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Proliferation] [Consciousness] [Relinquishment] [Fear]
Quote: “You want to pay attention to the experience rather than the idea about it.” [Direct experience]
Suttas: DN 11.85, MN 49.25: Consciousness luminous all around. [Unestablished consciousness]
Sutta: SN 12.64: Simile of the western wall. [Similes] [Unestablished consciousness]
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 ]
7. “As I get deeper insights how conditioned the mind is, there is a sense of burden being released but also a doubt began to arise: If the mind is conditioned, how is it even possible to arrive at the Unconditioned? Does free will even exist or am I just pushed around by kilesas? If the trick is to recognize that there is no free will, how can I sincerely believe that when I’m making choices to practice and do wholesome deeds, they really matter and it’s not my delusion? Please dispel my doubts!” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nature of mind ] [Doubt] [Unconditioned] [Delusion] // [Four Noble Truths] [Self-identity view] [Questions] [Conditionality]
10. “This morning as I was walking upstairs, my mind suddenly went bright and clear for a brief time. Was this a glimpse of Nibbana? And if so, where do I catch the express train?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna] // [Clinging] [Self-identity view]
4. “At the beginning of this retreat, Tan Ajahn Anan advised us, “Don’t forget Nibbāna.” How do we orient ourselves towards Nibbāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna ] [Ajahn Anan] [Monastic life] // [Dispassion] [Cessation of Suffering] [Etymology] [Stream entry]
Sutta: AN 10.60: Girimānanda Sutta [Cessation] [Nibbāna ]
Sutta: SN 56.11: “Whatever is of the nature to arise, that is of the nature to cease.” [Conditionality]
Quote: “[The goal] is incredibly worthy, and it is not beyound our capability and means to experience.” [Nibbāna ] [Direct experience]
3. “You mentioned the example of the monk who wanted to commit suicide and then he remembered his virtue and that uplifted him. In the Saṃyutta Nikaya there are a few instances where monks committeed suicide, but the Buddha said they attained Nibbāna (SN 22.87 Vakkali; SN 35.87 Channa). How is that possible?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Monastic life] [Suicide] [Sutta] [Buddha/Biography] [Recollection] [Nibbāna] // [Jhāna] [Māra] [Saṃsāra] [Delusion]
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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
6. “Is it possible that someone is following the Eightfold Path without being aware that it is the path laid out by the Buddha? It seems conceivable that someone could figure out [effort to increase wholesome states and decrease unwholesome states] but never realize what they are doing is Right Effort from the Eightfold Path. Could someone like this attain Nibbāna?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Eightfold Path] [Buddhist identity] [Right Effort] [Nibbāna] // [Paccekabuddha] [Buddha]
6. “Please, a short talk on Nibbāna.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna ] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Cessation] [Unwholesome Roots] [Relinquishment] [Jhāna]
Quote: “Nibbāna is not a thing.” [Nibbāna ]
Sutta: Ud 3.10: Yena yena hi maññati, tato taṁ hoti aññathā. – “For however one conceives it, it is always other than that.”
Reference: The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro
3. “Why don’t we concentrate not so much on personal liberation, but think more about our practice? What are your thoughts about the Bodhisattva ideal, thinking of others all the time rather than achievement or personal liberation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Liberation] [Bodhisattva] [Compassion] [Nibbāna]
Quote: “Thinking of yourself is isolating. Thinking of others is proliferating....Suffering is an experience rather than a conceptualization.” [Self-identity view] [Proliferation] [Suffering]
Quote: “Don’t be an arhant. Don’t be a Bodhisattva. Don’t be anything at all. As long as you’re anything or anybody, you are going to suffer. And as long as you’re suffering, you’re going to be sharing that out with everyone else as well.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Arahant]
4. “Is the practice of jhāna necessary for attaining Nibbāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Jhāna ] [Nibbāna] // [Self-identity view] [Greed] [Relinquishment]
6. “Maybe for most practitioners it is possible to understand a little bit about Nibbāna in a momentary sense. But to become permanently free from defilements is more difficult to understand. Please explain.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Liberation] [Nibbāna] // [Buddha/Biography] [Teaching Dhamma]
Sutta: MN 26.19: The Buddha’s initial inclination not to teach.
7. “People associate Nibbāna with a neutral state. Experiencing pīti and sukha is a pleasant state, so why should I meditate to attain this ultimate goal when it’s a state of non-feeling?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Neutral feeling] [Rapture] [Happiness] [Nibbāna] // [Middle Path]
8. “Are there examples in real life that we can witness someone who has attained Nibbāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna] // [Doubt] [Four Noble Truths] [Buddha/Biography]
Sutta: MN 26.25: The Buddha’s encounter with Upaka.