Q&A sessions, Jun. 17, 2025 to Jun. 18, 2025
Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in Hertfordshire, England
2 sessions, 21 excerpts, 2:37:55 total duration
Show featured excerpts (7)
Ajahn Pasanno answers written questions from the Amaravati Community about the life and teachings of Ajahn Chah.
External websiteSessions: 1 2
1. [1:08] “What distinguished Ajahn Chah from other meditation teachers?” [Teaching Dhamma] // [Meditation/Techniques] [Right View] [Monastic life]
Follow-up: “Did this inspire the way you teach?” [Ajahn Pasanno]
2. [8:13] “How did Ajahn Chah react to students who had studied in other Buddhist traditions?” [Teaching Dhamma] [Spiritual traditions] // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Master Hsu Yun] [Hua tou] [Zen] [Right Effort]
3. [12:03] “It is said that each monk who know Ajahn Chah well would describe him in a different way when asked. How would you describe him?” [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Personality] [Personal presence] [Compassion]
Quote: “You never quite knew which Ajahn Chah you were going to get, which always kept you on your toes. And if you weren’t on your toes, it wouldn’t take long before he would call you on it.” [Teaching Dhamma] [Clear comprehension]
4. [16:22] “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?” [Abbot] [Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Saṅgha] [Leadership ] // [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 (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. [Saṅgha decision making]
5. [27:23] “The word toramon is sometimes associated with Ajahn Chah’s style of training. Could he be “intentionally cruel?”” [Fierce/direct teaching ] // [Ascetic practices] [Teaching Dhamma] [Trust] [Compassion] [Saṃsāra] [Habits]
Quote: “Ajahn Chah was always willing to put obstructions in front of your desires, views and opinions, and habits, which was incredibly compassionate as well as courageous.” [Craving] [Views] [Courage] [Culture/West]
Story: Ajahn Chah lets a restless junior monk go tudong with devious stipulations. [Sequence of training] [Restlessness and worry] [Tudong]
6. [37:03] “There are a few stories about Ajahn Chah having psychic powers, particularly reading minds. Did you ever observe anything of that sort with Ajahn Chah? What was Ajahn Chah’s position on such things?” [Psychic powers ] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Nature of mind]
Story: Ajahn Chah describes the supernatural beings at Wat Pah Pong to a close lay follower, then refuses to talk about other realms with a group from Bangkok. [Wat Pah Pong] [Non-human beings] [Teaching Dhamma]
7. [44:39.9] “Were there any particular themes in Ajahn Chah’s teachings that regularly came up?” [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah ] // [Virtue] [Right View] [Relinquishment] [Knowing itself]
8. [47:44] “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?” [Ajahn Chah lineage] [Ascetic practices] [Wat Pah Pong] [Teaching Dhamma] // [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]
9. [58:03] “Can you speak about the connection Ajahn Chah had with Luang Por Tongrat and Luang Por Tongrat in general?” [Ajahn Tongrat ] // [Thai sects] [Ajahn Mun] [Monastic routine] [Almsround]
Reference: Ajahn Utane’s biography of Ajahn Tongrat. Ajahn Mudito translated this into Portuguese in 2019, and there is a machine translation from the Portuguese.
Quote: “Oh, Chah, you’ve come.” — Ajahn Tongrat’s first words to Ajahn Chah..
Story: Ajahn Tongrat makes a racket under Ajahn Mun’s kuti in order to provoke a Dhamma talk. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Story: Ajahn Tongrat dies in the Dhamma seat. [Death]
10. [1:11:44] “What would Ajahn Chah say if he visited our Western monasteries today in 2025? Would he recommend any changes?” [Western Ajahn Chah monasteries] // [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [History]
Quote: “Be careful about getting too comfortable.” [Heedlessness]
Suttas: SN 17: Be cautious about gain, honor, and fame. [Worldly Conditions] [Fierce/direct teaching]
11. [1:14:34] “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?” [Ajahn Pasanno] // [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]
1. [2:50] Reflection: Ajahn Chah inspired people to be willing to commit to practice and training. [Monastic life/Motivation] [Determination] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Fourfold Assembly] [Relinquishment]
2. [6:20] Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno writes to his parents that he will stay with Ajahn Chah for five years because he wants to pick up Ajahn Chah’s peace and unshakeability. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Sequence of training] [Equanimity]
3. [8:28] “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?” [Sickness] [Saṅgha] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Leadership] [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]
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]
4. [12:02] Story: A group of military generals ask Ajahn Chah to bless some medallions. [Amulets] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Food] [Saṅgha decision making] [Relics] [Funerals]
5. [36:43] “What do you treasure most among what you/we have inherited from Luang Por Chah?” [Ajahn Pasanno]
Quote: “He had given himself completely, and he had reaped the fruits completely.” [Relinquishment] [Liberation]
6. [39:04] “What were the criteria for founding new branch monasteries at Ajahn Chah’s time?” [Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Saṅgha decision making] // [Wat Keuan] [Environment] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Ajahn Anek] [Wat Pah Sai Ngam] [Faith] [Wat Phu Din Dang]
7. [47:50] “How did Luang Por Chah cultivate his wisdom (satipañña)? How did he generate his energy (viriya)?” [Discernment] [Energy] // [Doubt] [Teaching Dhamma]
Quote: “He was always curious to reflect, to investigate, to experiment, to try out things and to see what worked and what didn’t work.” [Personality] [Appropriate attention]
8. [52:06] “How did Luang Por Chah relate to the lay community around him and tailor the Dhamma to their own circumstances?” [Lay life] [Teaching Dhamma] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Lunar observance days] [Building projects] [Cultural context] [Stories]
Story: Ajahn Chah’s talkative older brother helps with their mother’s funeral. [Family] [Funerals]
9. [1:01:49] “Is there a story about when Ajahn Chah wanted to give feedback to a senior monk and he waited 20-30 years?” [Admonishment/feedback] // [Culture/Thailand]
10. [1:05:03] “Were there any memories from the period of training with Ajahn Chah that really stand out in your mind? In what ways did you find it difficult?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno skips morning pūjā to meditate diligently at his kuti. Ajahn Chah calls him lazy. [Monastic routine]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno sits vigil at a cremation and makes a bathing cloth from the cloth used to wrap a corpse. [Funerals ] [Robes ] [Wat Pah Pong] [Recollection/Death]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno joins the Wat Pah Pong Saṅgha, exchanges his requisites, and excitedly attends his first Pāṭimokkha at Wat Pah Pong. Ajahn Chah keeps the monks sitting until 3 am. [Vinaya] [Requisites] [Not handling money] [Pāṭimokkha] [Compassion] [Relinquishment]