Includes tags: Requisites, Robes, Almsfood, Almsbowl, Lodging, Medicinal requisites, Monastic crafts, Building projects
“My heart really wanted to serve you and the rest of the Sangha food today (of all days—Thanksgiving) out of gratitude and also because I thought that food had to be directly placed in the alms bowl of a monk in order for it to be consumed. So can you please give us a quick guide on the Vinaya rules regarding the offering of food and other things / requisites to monks? Thank you for your explanation so we can better serve the Sangha.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gratitude] [Almsfood ] [Food] [Vinaya] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] // [Almsbowl] [Abhayagiri]
Story: Ajahn Ñāṇiko walks tudong from Fort Bragg. [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] [Tudong] [Almsfood ] [Lodging] [Weather]
2014 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 6, Excerpt 12
“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] [Medicinal requisites ]
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.
Recollection: The hunter-gatherer culture of Northeast Thailand. [Food] [Killing] [Geography/Thailand]
3. Reading from the draft biography: Young Chah plays at being a monk. Read by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Almsfood] [Five Precepts]
Reference: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 23
5. Ajahn Chah was always willing to challenge himself. Recollection by Paul Breiter. [Ascetic practices] [Ardency] [Ajahn Chah] // [Fear] [Ghost] [Sickness] [Culture/Natural environment] [Robes] [Lodging] [Suffering] [Meditation/Unusual experiences]
2. Many of the most profound teachings happened under Ajahn Chah’s kuti. Reflection by Joseph Kappel. [Teaching Dhamma] [Lodging] [Ajahn Chah] // [Tranquility]
4. Story: “Sleep is delicious.” Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Admonishment/feedback] [Goodwill] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Amaro ] [Joseph Kappel] [Upatakh] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Robes] [Mentoring] [Faith]
5. Story: “Sumedho, Wat Pah Pong, is it suffering?” Told by Ajahn Sumedho. [Wat Pah Pong] [Suffering] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Lunar observance days] [Work] [Monastic crafts] [Aversion] [Cleanliness]
Quote: “To want something that’s not present, something you don’t have, is suffering.” [Craving] [Cause of Suffering] [Culture/Natural environment] [Saṅgha] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Culture/West]
7. “Everything that’s placed in your bowl... [audio unclear]?” Answered by Ajahn Sundarā and Ajahn Amaro. [Almsfood] // [Killing] [Eating after noon] [Medicinal requisites]
2. Context of the reading: walking into Wat Pah Pong. Reflection by Joseph Kappel. [Ajahn Chah] // [Joseph Kappel] [Wat Pah Pong] [Culture/Natural environment] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Lodging] [Posture/Walking] [Dōgen] [Ajahn Amaro]
2. Story: Ajahn Sumedho meets Jack Kornfield. Told by Ajahn Sumedho. [Jack Kornfield] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Chah] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Insight Meditation Society] [Judgementalism]
Story: Ajahn Sumedho stays on Pupek Mountain. [Seclusion] [Suffering] [Aversion] [Sickness] [Self-pity] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Robes] [Humor] [Gratitude]
7. Wat Pah Pong: A place of dignity and surrender. Reflection by Jack Kornfield. [Wat Pah Pong ] [Dignity] [Perception of a samaṇa] [Relinquishment] [Ajahn Chah] // [Cleanliness] [Conflict] [Military] [Suffering] [Respect] [Virtue] [Almsround] [Pain] [Chanting] [Monastic crafts] [Bowing]
Quote: “An island of sanity in a sea of madness.” [Three Refuges]
Quote: “Everything you do in your life in this monastery is a chance to awaken.” — Ajahn Chah [Liberation] [Continuity of mindfulness]
20. He encouraged people to let go in so many different ways. Recollection by Jack Kornfield. [Relinquishment ] [Teachers] [Views] [Eightfold Path] [Ajahn Chah] // [Idle chatter] [Seclusion] [Aversion] [Ghost] [Fear] [Restlessness and worry] [Sense bases] [Direct experience] [Liberation]
Story: Sit in the middle of your anger. [Jack Kornfield] [Robes] [Lodging]
Story: Walk backwards in the forest in the middle of the night. [Sloth and torpor] [Posture/Walking] [Culture/Natural environment]
3. Ajahn Chah’s illness: his last teaching. Reflection by Paul Breiter. [Sickness] [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah] // [Paul Breiter] [Health care] [Grief] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Respect for elders] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] [Upatakh] [Almsfood] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
13. Story: Ṭhānissarā visits Ajahn Chah’s hut outside of Oxford. Told by Ṭhānissarā. [Ṭhānissarā] [Conventions] [Lodging] [Ajahn Chah] // [Kamma] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Humor] [Goodwill] [Not-self] [Teaching Dhamma]
3. Story: Ajahn Chah’s failing heath and Rains Retreat at Tam Saeng Pet. Told by Joseph Kappel. [Sickness] [Health care] [Rains retreat] [Wat Tam Saeng Pet] [Ajahn Chah] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Lodging] [Seclusion] [Generosity] [Joseph Kappel]
Story: “Pabakkaro, make me a Communist.” [Culture/Natural environment] [Medicinal requisites] [Contentment] [Sensual desire]
Story: Venerable Pabakkaro attends to Ajahn Chah. [Upatakh] [Humility]
Story: Ajahn Chah visits the branch monasteries for the last time. [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Vinaya] [Saṅgha]
4. Story: Ajahn Chah goes to Bangkok for treatment and an operation. Told by Joseph Kappel. [Sickness] [Health care] [Ajahn Chah] // [Joseph Kappel] [Medicinal requisites] [Generosity] [Saṅgha decision making] [Lodging]
Story: Ajahn Chah’s last word. [Language]
9. The sea of faith: Ajahn Chah’s funeral. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno. [Faith] [Funerals] [Ajahn Chah] // [Meditation] [Chanting] [Almsfood]
4. Recollection: The June 2000 Saṅgha Meeting discusses allowable sweets and protecting Ajahn Chah’s name. Recounted by Ajahn Sumedho. [Wat Pah Pong] [Saṅgha] [Saṅgha decision making] // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Seclusion] [Personality] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Medicinal requisites] [Technology]
5. Story: Wat Pah Pong monks develop malnutrition when Ajahn Chah goes away for several months. Told by Ajahn Sumedho. [Wat Pah Pong] [Almsfood] [Sickness] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Ajahn Chah] // [Mae Chee] [Food] [Almsround] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Liem] [Fierce/direct teaching]
2. “What happens when someone carefully builds the fire, but it turns into a forest fire–uncontrollable–and the person experiences mania, delusions, and paranoia? What is the spiritual treatment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mental illness] [Delusion] // [Precepts] [Association with people of integrity] [Generosity] [Becoming] [Medicinal requisites] [Thai] [Work]
Quote: “One of the first spiritual treatments is to get them to stop meditating.” [Meditation]
Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno learned by experience that meditation is not a panacea. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
4. “If one were to become a monastic at Abhayagiri, how would one go about it? What are the day-to-day activities of a monk? What do I need to know and consider before making such a commitment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Abhayagiri] [Monastic routine] // [Sequence of training] [Saṅgha decision making] [Mentoring] [Robes]
4. “When we have a retreat work period that requires us to leave a sitting after 15 or 30 minutes, should we come to the meditation hall and leave early or just practice elsewhere for that period?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation retreats] [Work] // [Abhayagiri] [Posture/Walking] [Posture/Sitting]
Story: A good doorknob. [Building projects]
1. Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno: The role of walking meditation. [Posture/Walking] [Ajahn Chah] // [Thai Forest Tradition] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Lodging] [Sloth and torpor]
Quote: Ajahn Chah admonishes the monks: “I’ve looked at the huts in the forest where you monks live. I see the walking meditation paths, and I don’t see human tracks. All I see are dog tracks!” [Lodging] [Fierce/direct teaching]
1. The tradition of almsround. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno. [Almsfood] [Almsround] [Generosity] [Almsbowl] // [Ajahn Chah] [Vinaya]
2. The monks’ requisites sustain our livelihood and are a focal point for our cultivation of mindfulness and attention. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno. [Requisites] [Almsbowl] [Mindfulness] // [Robes]
3. Story: A group of military generals ask Ajahn Chah to bless amulets to create a kitchen fund. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Amulets] [Ajahn Chah] [Military] [Almsfood] [Wat Pah Pong] // [Culture/Thailand] [Saṅgha decision making] [Festival days] [Almsbowl] [Stupas/monuments]
Quote: “The Buddha set up the foundation 2,500 years ago with just one baht.” — Ajahn Chah [Buddha] [Almsbowl] [Saṅgha]
1. Explanation of the meal blessing chant. [Anumodanā] [Almsfood] // [Pāli] [Gratitude] [Merit]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 50
2. Anumodana chanting: “Yathā vāri-vahāpūrā...” and “Bhavatu sabba-maṅgalaṃ...” (Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 50) offered by the Abhayagiri Saṅgha. [Anumodanā] [Almsfood] [Pāli] // [Gratitude] [Merit]
5. Reading from the draft biography: Ajahn Chah’s mentors: Ajahn Tongrat and Ajahn Kinaree Read by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mentoring] [Ajahn Tongrat] [Ajahn Kinaree] [Ajahn Chah] // [Personality] [Respect for elders] [Upatakh] [Tudong] [Visiting holy sites] [Robes] [Relinquishment] [Monastic crafts] [Pace of life] [Craving]
Reference: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 73
Story: Ajahn Chah meets Ajahn Tongrat.
Story: Ajahn Mun teaches his teacher, Ajahn Sao. [Ajahn Sao] [Ajahn Mun] [Liberation]
1. Question about how Ajahn Chah taught to deal with people externally. Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Community] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Mun] [Virtue] [Doubt] [Monastic life] [Views]
Story: A ghost tries to align the visitors sleeping in his hall. [Culture/Thailand] [Lodging] [Ghost] [Communal harmony]
Quote: “You have to have an anchor in your own practice.” [Similes]
3. Story: Ajahn Jotipālo’s tudong north along the Mississippi. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Jotipālo] [Tudong] // [Robes] [Sickness] [Culture/West] [Almsfood]
4. Story: Ajahn Chah asks Ajahn Sumedho if he might go back to America as a monk. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Culture/West] [Monastic life] [Tudong] // [Almsfood] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
Quote: “You mean to say there are no kind people in America?” — Ajahn Chah to Ajahn Sumedho [Compassion]
2. “What is the function of a layperson who accompanies a monk on tudong?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Lay life] [Tudong] // [Sequence of training] [Abhayagiri] [Eight Precepts] [Culture/Thailand] [Ajahn Chah]
Quote: “People who ordain quickly disrobe quickly.” — Ajahn Chah [Ordination] [Disrobing]
Story: Founding of Pacific Hermitage. [Pacific Hermitage] [Almsround] [Almsfood]
12. “If I saw you and the monks walking down the streets of Fairfax, I’m not sure I would know what to do. How should I approach you?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Almsround] [Tudong] // [Almsbowl] [Almsfood] [Not handling money]
2. Story: Ajahn Chah obsesses about getting robes. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Poverty] [Robes] [Greed] [Tudong] // [History/Thai Buddhism] [Determination] [Simplicity] [Craving] [Ajahn Kinaree]
1. Readings: Buddhist Economics: A Middle Way for the Market Place by P. A. Payutto, p. 19; Buddhist Economics: A Middle Way for the Market Place by P. A. Payutto, p. 36. Read by Ajahn Pasanno. [Commerce/economics] [Requisites] [Right Livelihood]
9. “Is caffeine an intoxicant?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Intoxicants] [Right Livelihood] // [Medicinal requisites]
13. “What is the view on medical or pharmaceutical professions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Health care] [Medicinal requisites] [Right Livelihood]
16. “Some people want to help but find themselves in situations in which profit dictates the priorities. How can they protect their integrity in such situations?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Compassion] [Health care] [Commerce/economics] [Right Intention] [Right Livelihood ] // [Learning] [Idealism] [Requisites] [Happiness]
Story: Ajahn Karuniko studies engineering, then quits a job in the arms industry to become a monk. [Military] [Monastic life/Motivation]
19. “Does the 5th precept include coffee or prescription drugs as drugs to avoid? Does the precept mean never drink alcohol or don’t abuse alcohol for a lay person?...Does Right Livelihood mean one cannot work in a place that serves and/or sells alcohol, coffees, or drugs? Or, does it mean don’t work where alcohol and drugs are made?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Intoxicants] [Medicinal requisites] [Right Livelihood]
7. “Did Ajahn Chah ever have to use any especially powerful methods of pushing people away when the time came for them to go somewhere else?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fierce/direct teaching] [Ajahn Chah] // [Respect]
Story: The unpopular branch monastery. [Wat Pah Supattaram] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Building projects] [Abbot] [Fasting]
1. “I recall hearing about some aspects of the korwat at Upasika Kee’s center, do you know any of those particular details?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Upasikā Kee Nanayon] [Protocols] // [Medicinal requisites] [Vegetarianism]
6. Ajahn Pasanno tells how he went to Wat Pah Nanachat to make a bowl stand but got sick with scrub typhus. An extended discussion ensues. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Monastic crafts] [Sickness] // [Rains retreat] [Joseph Kappel] [Kittisaro]
6. “Is Ajahn Liem continuing to take care of his health?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Liem] [Health] // [Medicinal requisites] [Food] [Health care]
5. “Did Ajahn Mahā Boowa always praise the dtuaṅga practices?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ascetic practices] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Mun] // [Qualities for non-decline]
Story: Ajahn Mun tells Ajahn Mahā Boowa to stop sweeping when he is sick with malaria. [Sickness] [Ardency] [Attachment to precepts and practices]
Story: Ajahn Mahā Boowa takes on the dtok bhat practice, but Ajahn Mun puts food in his bowl. Told by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Almsfood] [Conceit]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno meets a monk who didn’t need to sleep. [Devotion to wakefulness] [Sense restraint] [Concentration]
Story: Pa Auk Sayadaw didn’t sleep during a Rains Retreat. [Pa Auk Sayadaw]
6. “Why did older men ordain as pakows and follow Ajahn Chah on tudong?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Older monks] [Postulants] [Ajahn Chah] [Tudong] // [Culture/Thailand] [Food] [Almsfood]
1. Recollection: Saṅgha gatherings at Wat Pah Pong on Ajahn Chah’s birthday. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Pong] [Saṅgha] [Ajahn Chah] // [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Protocols] [Meditation]
Recollection: Inspecting almsbowls after the meal to see if there was any food left. [Almsbowl] [Food]
2. “There were a number of different alms routes out of Wat Pah Pong. How was it decided who went on each one and how was the food distributed for the meal?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Pong] [Almsround] [Almsfood] [Saṅgha decision making] // [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ajahn Liem]
Discussion of almsfood distribution at different monasteries. Led by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Pesalo. [Almsfood] [Ajahn Tongrat] [Wat Pah Ban Tat]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno helped pass out food at Wat Pah Pong. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Almsfood]
Story: Ajahn Tongrat exposes a monk concealing fish in his ball of sticky rice. [Food] [Admonishment/feedback]
Comments by Ajahn Pesalo and Ajahn Pasanno about food distribution at Wat Baan Tat. [Almsfood] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
Quote: “It’s incredibly tiresome how organized we [Westerners] have to be....Organic spontaneity–that’s how things work in Thailand.” [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand]
5. “Did they (Ajahn Ñāṇiko and Tan Pamutto) have backpacking gear?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] [Tudong] [Abhayagiri] [Lodging]
8. “Do you have to educate the local people about almsround when you go on tudong?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Tudong] [Almsround] // [Robes] [Culture/West] [Not handling money]
3. “Is walking meditation as ‘good’ as sitting meditation. Can one achieve the level of undistractedness that one needs to be able to investigate the human experience? Or is it part of the bigger picture of mindfulness for seven full days to experience stream entry?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Posture/Walking] [Posture/Sitting] [Insight meditation] [Stream entry] // [Meditation/General advice] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Concentration]
Stories about Ajahn Khao. [Ajahn Khao ]
Story: Walking meditation was Ajahn Khao’s preferred mode of practice.
Story: Ajahn Khao’s relics were purple, clear, and incredibly beautiful. [Relics] [Abhayagiri]
Recollection: Ajahn Khao expresses gratitude for the place he realized Awakening. [Liberation] [Gratitude] [Lodging] [Bodhi Tree]
12. “My heart really wanted to serve you and the rest of the Sangha food today (of all days—Thanksgiving) out of gratitude and also because I thought that food had to be directly placed in the alms bowl of a monk in order for it to be consumed. So can you please give us a quick guide on the Vinaya rules regarding the offering of food and other things / requisites to monks? Thank you for your explanation so we can better serve the Sangha.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gratitude] [Almsfood ] [Food] [Vinaya] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] // [Almsbowl] [Abhayagiri]
Story: Ajahn Ñāṇiko walks tudong from Fort Bragg. [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] [Tudong] [Almsfood ] [Lodging] [Weather]
3. “What is the significance of sitting to one side of the Buddha?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Debbie Stamp. [Sutta] [Buddha] [Posture/Sitting] // [Respect] [Cultural context] [Robes]
10. “What happens if you lose your spoon?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Almsfood] [Tudong] // [Requisites]
15. Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s tudong in India with Ajahn Jayasaro. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Culture/India] [Tudong] // [Impermanence] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Not handling money] [Hinduism] [Islam] [Lodging] [Trust] [Almsround] [Visiting holy sites] [Compassion] [Devotional practice]
Story: An Indian Kshetriya notices that Ajahn Pasanno’s etiquitte matches his training. [Vinaya] [Buddha/Biography]
Story: Ajahn Jayasaro tries to explain cricket to Ajahn Pasanno. [Recreation/leisure/sport]
17. “Do you split up your almsfood?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Almsbowl] [Almsfood] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Tudong] [Generosity] // [Culture/India]
18. “You slept outdoors?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Lodging] [Culture/India] [Tudong]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jayasaro stay the night at the Buddha’s kuti. [Visiting holy sites] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Lodging] [Buddha/Biography] [Great disciples]
8. “Is one of the benefits of being a monastic having to live up to people’s expectations?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Monastic life] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Robes] [Buddhist identity] // [Conventions] [Christianity] [Idealism] [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand]
11. “Can the monastics speak about the skillful use of caffeine for their practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Medicinal requisites]
20. “What is the pill in the little vial that sits next to you?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Medicinal requisites] [Health]
6. “With development (bhavana), is one able to shape the course of sickness or heal oneself to a degree?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Sickness] [Health] // [Happiness] [Medicinal requisites]
Comment: I’ve been reflecting on how AN 5.48 applies to environmental and collective well-being–engaging without the expectation that actions will have a certain result. [Environment] [Politics and society]
Response [History/Thai Buddhism]
13. “I am wondering if you could talk about spiritual bypass? What is it? How do you know if you’ve done it? And how do you disentangle from it?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spiritual bypass ] // [Conflict] [Not-self] [Truth] [Views] [Spiritual friendship]
Story: Half the roof blows off a monk’s kuti, but he doesn’t repair it because he is letting go. [Ajahn Chah] [Lodging] [Relinquishment]
14. “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] [Medicinal requisites ]
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.
Recollection: The hunter-gatherer culture of Northeast Thailand. [Food] [Killing] [Geography/Thailand]
4. “Will we get to see your kuti today?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abhayagiri] [Lodging]
Story: Early history of Abhayagiri Monastery. [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Master Hsuan Hua] [Seclusion] [Culture/Natural environment]
16. “Are there monastics who wander around the world without any home base or destination?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Tudong ] // [Ajahn Sucitto] [Sequence of training] [Rains retreat] [Abhayagiri] [Requisites] [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] [Almsround] [Culture/West] [Almsfood] [Not handling money] [Generosity]
28. “What precepts don’t most people know about that have a big effect on your life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Vinaya ] // [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Requisites] [Mindfulness] [Communal harmony]
9. Quote: During the construction of a new hall, an engineer asks when it will be finished. “Tonight. Comes the evening, it’s finished. Tomorrow morning, I might do it again.” — Ajahn Liem. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Liem] [Building projects] [Wat Pah Pong] [Relinquishment]
5. “Can you talk about skillful means to become more sensitive to the nuances of monastic training?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Dhamma] [Vinaya] // [Requisites] [Mindfulness] [Respect for elders] [Upatakh]
3. “Can you speak to the development of respect for the symbols of monastic life as opposed to respect for individual teachers?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Respect] [Teachers] [Monastic life] // [Almsbowl] [Buddha] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] [Human]
3. “Two questions: 1) What strengths do you see in other Buddhist traditions and Western culture that our tradition could benefit from? 2) How have you decided which aspects of korwat (protocols) from Thailand to adjust and which to maintain?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mahāyāna] [Vajrayāna] [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand] [Monastic life] [Vinaya] [Protocols] // [Abhayagiri] [Women in Buddhism] [Robes] [Cultural context] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas] [Dōgen] [Zen] [Ajahn Sumedho] [History/Western Buddhism] [Simplicity] [Christianity] [Renunciation] [Eight Precepts] [Not handling money] [Chithurst] [Ajahn Amaro] [Communal harmony]
Quote: “There are so many good things to do that you could be running around the country doing good things. I’d rather focus my attention here.” [Pace of life]
Quote: “There’s no reason to fit into American culture.”
Story: The monastic jacket is vindicated in England. [Robes] [Culture/Natural environment] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
Quote: “As Buddhist monastics and Buddhist practitioners, we’re trying to set conditions that give us the opportunity for learning.” [Lay life] [Learning]
3. “What is the value of living in community?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Saṅgha ] // [Self-identity view] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Tongrat] [Views] [Requisites] [Not handling money]
1. “What is the purpose of dhutaṅga practices?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Ascetic practices ] // [Simplicity] [Renunciation] [Almsround] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Almsfood] [Abhayagiri] [Impermanence] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Wat Pah Pong] [Wat Pah Ban Tat] [Long-term practice]
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]
15. “When you have completed the practice, does everything become ‘down time?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stages of awakening] [Recreation/leisure/sport] // [Clinging] [Almsfood] [Culture/Natural environment]
Quote: “It’s because we reflect on these ‘serious things’ that we can hold things lightly.” [Recollection]
Suttas: MN 2.13: Reflection on the requisites; AN 5.208: Benefits of chewing toothwood
5. Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s mother notices that he chants in tune. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Family] [Chanting] // [Almsfood] [Mindfulness]
7. “How do discoveries about the gut microbiome fit in with the Buddha’s teachings?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Science] [Dhamma] // [Not-self] [Self-identity view] [Mindfulness of body] [Clear comprehension] [Naturalness]
Follow-up: “How does the relate to monks who subsist on almsfood and sometimes don’t get enough, considering that the gut is controlling the brain?” [Monastic life] [Almsfood] [Health] [Ajahn Soṇa] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
8. Story: The cook assigned to look after Ajahn Pasanno doesn’t understand what he can and needs to eat. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Dtao Dum] [Almsfood] [Food] // [Industry] [Meditation] [Energy] [Health] [Patience] [Culture/Natural environment]
12. “When you weren’t getting enough food, had you been older and smarter, would you have been able, as a monk, to ask for vegetables?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Health] [Vinaya] [Almsfood] // [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Generosity]
7. “You spoke this morning about how monks don’t have money and don’t handle money. How does a monastery deal with purchasing materials?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Not handling money] [Commerce/economics] // [Monastery organizational structure] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Abhayagiri] [Building projects] [Almsfood]
Story: A wheel falls off the old Abhayagiri van. [Simplicity]
5. “Can you say more about recollection of renunciation? How can this be used skillfully or not?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Recollection/Generosity] [Renunciation] [Recollection] // [Contentment] [Self-pity] [Sickness] [Equanimity] [Buddha/Biography] [Fasting] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Lunar observance days] [Abhayagiri]
Recollection: Going without in the early days of Abhayagiri Monastery. [Almsfood]
5. Story: Abhayagiri’s first kutis. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Lodging] [Abhayagiri] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Building projects]
6. Recollection: Generous contributions in the early days of Abhayagiri. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Lay supporters] [Generosity] [Abhayagiri] // [Lodging] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo]
10. Story: Ajahn Liem declares that the Abhayagiri’s Reception Hall will last at least 150 years. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Liem] [Building projects] [Lodging] [Abhayagiri]
5. “Were there any memories from that period of training with Ajahn Chah that really stand out in your mind? In what ways did you find it difficult?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Monastic life] [Wat Pah Pong] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Poverty] [Requisites] [Posture/Sitting] [Monastic routine]
Quote: “It was difficult, but it was also very satisfying. It felt like exactly what I wanted to be doing and should be doing.” [Ardency] [Faith]
7. “What’s the feeling of wearing the same color for 50 years?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Robes] // [Culture/West]