Tag cluster: Precepts (sikkhāpada)
Part of key topic Foundations of Dhamma Practice
Includes tags: Precepts, Five Precepts, Eight Precepts
See also: Right Speech, Right Action, Intoxicants



Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 11 – Apr. 28, 2001

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8. Ajahn Chah emphasized sīla and precepts when teaching in the West. Recollection by Joseph Kappel. [Virtue ] [Five Precepts] [Teaching Dhamma] [Culture/West] [Ajahn Chah] // [Communal harmony] [Meditation] [Sensual desire] [Long-term practice]


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 19 – Apr. 28, 2001

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3. Story: Ajahn Sundarā stays with a nun who lived at Wat Pah Pong with Ajahn Chah. Told by Ajahn Sundarā. [Ajahn Sundarā] [Mae Chee ] [Wat Pah Pong] [Ajahn Chah]

Story: The first nun at Wat Pah Pong. [Artistic expression] [Determination] [Sequence of training] [Eight Precepts]

Story: The Wat Pah Pong nuns go pindapat. [Almsround]

Quote: “Does anyone find having nuns around difficult?” – “Yes.” – “Well, you can go then.” — Ajahn Chah. [Pāṭimokkha] [Women in Buddhism]

Story: A woman brings only enough food for the monks, so Ajahn Chah asks the nuns to chant the blessing. [Generosity] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Chanting] [Fierce/direct teaching]

Note: Stillness Flowing Chapter 9 contains more information about the Wat Pah Pong mae chees at the time of Ajahn Chah.


Right Livelihood, Session 1 – Apr. 21, 2013

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29. Story: The head of Lalanka Water invites monks to stay above his office and teach the employees. Told by Ajahn Yatiko. [Work] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Teaching Dhamma] [Right Livelihood] // [Lunar observance days] [Eight Precepts] [Meditation] [Dhamma discussion] [Respect]

Story: The ultra-competent assistant who wants to ordain. [Monastic life/Motivation]

Story: The king’s assistant who dives into the water to get 20 pounds of gold (DN 17).


Right Livelihood, Session 2 – Apr. 21, 2013

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3. “Everyone in our group is struggling with issues about livelihood. Does anyone here feel their livelihood is in tune?” Answered by Ajahn Yatiko and Ajahn Pasanno. [Work] [Idealism] // [Contentment] [Eightfold Path] [Kamma]

Quote: “Maybe it would be better phrased ‘Right-enough livelihood.’” — Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Right Livelihood]

Story: An upright career police officer in Thailand transfers in and out of a corrupt assignment. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Community] [Crime] [Corruption] [Family] [Precepts]

Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo: Even monks face moral dillemas. [Monastic life] [Vinaya]


Buddhist Identity in the Modern World – Aug. 15, 2015

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18. Story: A woman likes Buddhist teachings and principles, follows the precepts, and meditates, but hates when people identify with this and call themselves Buddhist. Told by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Dhamma] [Precepts] [Meditation] [Aversion] [Buddhist identity] [Clinging] [Self-identity view]


Suttas You've Never Heard Of, Session 2 – Jun. 25, 2016

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1. Story: A man in an airport asks Ajahn Chah, “If everyone is Buddhist, why are there so many thieves in Thailand?” Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Culture/Thailand] [Stealing] [Virtue] [Precepts]


Thanksgiving Retreat 2016, Session 1 – Nov. 19, 2016

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6. “Does the Buddha say all beings are inherently good? How about generosity? Do all human beings have the capacity for generosity?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nature of mind ] [Generosity ]

Sutta: AN 1.51-52

Story: A Mafia boss stays under Ajahn Chah’s kuti and helps out at Wat Pah Pong. [Ajahn Chah] [Crime] [Wat Pah Pong] [Precepts]

Quote: “Generosity is an important doorway for many reasons.”


Thanksgiving Retreat 2016, Session 3 – Nov. 21, 2016

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13. “I remember reading some stories of Ajahn Chah teaching lay people about herbal medicines. I know some Tibetan monks practice medicine. Is there such a tradition in Thailand? Are there any stores of Ajahn Chah healing people physically with traditional medicines?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Health care] [Medicinal requisites ] [Culture/Thailand] // [Thai Forest Tradition] [History/Thai Buddhism] [Vinaya] [Right Livelihood] [Almsfood]

Recollection: Walking around the forest with Ajahn Chah. [Culture/Natural environment]

Story: Bung Wai villagers walk to Wat Pah Pong to practice meditation all night on Wan Phra. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Wat Pah Pong] [Lunar observance days] [Monastic routine] [Meditation]

Story: Por Am argues with Ajahn Chah for three days. [Doubt] [Precepts]

Story: Ajahn Chah teaches Por Am to be a herbal doctor so he can keep the precepts. [Precepts]

Recollection: The hunter-gatherer culture of Northeast Thailand. [Food] [Killing] [Geography/Thailand]


Thanksgiving Retreat 2016, Session 6 – Nov. 24, 2016

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7. “‘Teacher of Gods and Humans’. Can you talk about this? What Gods did the Buddha teach? What other beings did the Buddha teach?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Buddha] [Buddha] [Teaching Dhamma] [Deva] [Human] // [Realms of existence ] [Sutta] [Buddha/Biography] [Ajahn Chah]

Sutta: DN 21: Sakka’s Questions.

Sutta: Snp 2.4: Maṅgala Sutta (Chanting Book translation).

Vinaya: Kd 17.3.11: The Buddha subdues an enraged elephant. [Animal]

Story: Ajahn Chah describes the beings inhabiting Wat Pah Pong. [Wat Pah Pong] [Non-human beings]

Story: The head being acquires faith, listens to teachings, and temporarily takes on the Eight Precepts. [Faith] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Eight Precepts]


Can We Function without Attachement?, Session 2 – Oct. 1, 2017

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3. “I heard the word samatonsin all my life, but never knew it means ‘to hold it rightly.’ Is there a way to hold it wrongly?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Thai] [Clinging] // [Precepts] [Attachment to precepts and practices] [Three Refuges]

Story: Ajahn Passanno accidentally drinks fruit juice mixed with vodka at a family gathering. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Intoxicants] [Precepts]


The New Ajahn Chah Biography, Session 3 – Apr. 21, 2018

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7. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 647-648 “Por Am” Read by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] // [Right Livelihood] [Views] [Intoxicants]

Story: Ajahn Chah teaches Por Am herbal medicine so he can avoid killing animals. [Culture/Thailand] [Food] [Precepts] [Medicinal requisites] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Health care] [Lunar observance days]

Quote: “It’s not possible to defeat the Dhamma, you know, and that’s why you fainted.” — Ajahn Chah to Por Am. [Dhamma]


Perspectives on Buddhist Practice from Ajahn Chah, Session 1 – Aug. 25, 2024

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6. Recollection: Ajahn Chah taught that the precepts are a mirror for the mind to understand the intention behind actions of body, speech, and mind. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Precepts] [Virtue] [Volition] [Ajahn Chah]