Upāsikā Day, Apr. 30, 2017
Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in Redwood Valley, California and online
3 sessions, 34 excerpts, 1:59:20 total duration
Show featured excerpts (12)
Ajahn Pasanno describes the origins, elements, and meaning of the recent consecration ceremony for the Buddha image in Abhayagiri’s newly-build Reception Hall.
External websiteSession 1: Sequence and Meaning of the Consecration Ceremony
Session 2: Readings and Reflections on MN 26: The Noble Search
Session 3: Devotion to the Buddha and Our Teachers
[Session] Reference: Becoming the Buddha by Donald Swearer (commercial).
1. [8:19] Story: It took three tries to make Abhayagiri’s sandstone Buddha image. [Abhayagiri] [Buddha images] [Artistic expression] // [Ajahn Achalo] [Postures]
2. [13:47] Teaching: The Buddha symbolizes wisdom, compassion and purity in balance. [Buddha] [Discernment] [Compassion] [Virtue]
3. [28:35.5] Story: The origin of Buddha images. [History/Early Buddhism] [Buddha images] // [Culture/West] [Geography/India]
4. [31:18] Reflection: Buddha images show the eyes open because Buddha literally means “awake.” [Buddha images] [Buddha]
5. [35:41] Story: A visiting monk gives extensive teachings about the meaning of each word in the recollection of Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha. [Three Refuges] // [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Theravāda]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, pp. 4-8.
6. [37:34] Story: A 17-year old novice flees Vietnam with a group of boat people, but the engine breaks down. Thai pirates board the boat and threaten the refugees, but then pay homage to the novice and help repair the boat. [Abuse/violence] [Respect] [Compassion]
7. [40:33] Story: A Sri Lankan monk is attacked by a bull elephant. He chants “Itipi so....” The elephant stops. [Animal] [Abuse/violence] [Chanting] [Recollection/Buddha] [Three Refuges]
References: Amaravati Chanting Book Volume 2, p. 54; Amaravati Chanting Book, pp. 4-8.
8. [42:09] Reflection: In Theravāda culture, the Buddha is always a human being. [Buddha ] [Human] [Theravāda] // [Mahāyāna]
9. [44:40.5] Reflections on AN 3.136: “Whether a Buddha appears in the world or not....” [Characteristics of existence] [Buddha] // [Truth]
Quote: “Whether you’ve got a well or don’t have a well, there’s water in the ground.” [Ajahn Chah] [Similes]
10. [46:37] The story of the Bodhisattva seeing the old person, the sick person, and the dead person isn’t in the scriptures. [Buddha/Biography ] [Tipiṭaka] [Stories] // [Jātaka Tales] [Postulants]
Sutta: DN 14.2 ascribes this story to the previous Buddha Vipassī. [Previous Buddhas]
Sutta: Snp 3.1 describes the Bodhisattva’s going forth.
11. [50:03.5] The time of the Buddha was a time of great change. [Buddha/Biography] [History/Early Buddhism] // [Saṅgha decision making] [Spiritual traditions] [Views]
Sutta: DN 1: Brahmajāla Sutta.
Sutta: Snp 3.1: King Bimbisāra meets the Bodhisattva.
12. [57:57.5] Story: The origin of the Guan Yin statue in Abhayagiri’s Reception Hall. [Buddha images] [Abhayagiri] // [Generosity]
13. [1:04:07] “Does the phrase ‘much dust in their eyes’ refer to obfuscation? Can you give encouragement to those living in a household surrounded by obfuscation?” [Ignorance] [Lay life] // [Three Refuges] [Virtue] [Monastic life]
14. [1:07:08] “Are devas imagery or symbolism, or are they tangible for some people? Particularly the talk around the heavenly minstrels and nagas in the water (Snp 3.11)....” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Deva ] [Symbolism] [Realms of existence] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Recollection/Devas] [Virtue] [Kamma]
1. [1:12:07] Reading: MN 26: The Noble Search. [Buddha/Biography]
Reflections on the meaning of freedom. [Liberation] [Culture/West]
Reflections on the conditions suitable for Dhamma practice. [Culture/Natural environment] [Sense bases] [Energy]
Suttas: Ud 1.1-3: The Buddha’s reflections after awakening.
Sutta: MN 36.42: Awakening to the Four Noble Truths. [Four Noble Truths]
Sutta: SN 22.26: Benefit, drawback, and escape. [Aspects of Understanding]
Reference: Dhamma talk request, Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 124.
2. [1:32:04.5] Reflection: Bowing to the Buddha is bowing to the qualities the Buddha manifested and recollecting those qualities in ourselves. [Bowing ] [Buddha images ] [Recollection/Buddha] [Recollection/Virtue]
3. [1:35:35.5] “The passage where the Buddha attains enlightenment and then thinks, ‘They’re never going to get it,’ (MN 26.19) speaks to me about self-doubt. Could you speak about conquering doubt?” [Buddha/Biography] [Human] [Doubt] // [Self-identity view] [Skillful qualities] [Faith]
Quote: “Every time I think about myself, I get depressed.” — Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Depression]
Quote: “It’s not me being successful when I’m diligent and me failing when I’m not. That’s what happens in the human condition.” [Energy]
4. [1:40:49.5] Comment: The Buddha’s reflection about those who have little dust in their eyes (MN 26.21) may refer to those who have the ability to be inspired towards long-term practice. Contributed by Ajahn Sudanto. [Buddha/Biography] [Faith] [Human]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [History/Early Buddhism] [Culture/Thailand]
5. [1:43:21] “Can you speak about why the number one god in the universe had to appeal to the Buddha to teach out of compassion (MN 26.20)?” [Brahma gods] [Buddha/Biography] [Teaching Dhamma] [Compassion] // [Symbolism]
6. [1:45:16] “When you don’t feel like practicing, what do you do?” [Energy] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Cleanliness] [Ajahn Chah] [Spiritual friendship]
1. [1:49:27] Story: The making of the small replicas of the main Buddha image. [Buddha images] [Artistic expression] [Abhayagiri] // [Devotional practice] [Lay life]
2. [1:54:44] Reflection: Ajahn Chah as a focus of devotion. [Ajahn Chah] [Devotional practice] // [Respect for elders] [Skillful qualities]
Quote: “Ajahn Chah was an exemplary being and incredible teacher, but that didn’t mean that you always agreed with him or that he was always just very nice to you all the time.” [Human]
Recollection: The annual Ajahn Chah remembrance day in January. [Ajahn Chah Remembrance Day] [Stupas/monuments]
3. [2:01:09] Reflection: The aspects of pūjā or devotion are an opportunity to nourish the roots of our practice. [Devotional practice ] [Pūjā] // [Sloth and torpor] [Energy]
4. [2:05:09] Quote: “I just follow the Buddha. You do the same.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Buddha] // [Humility] [Three Refuges]
5. [2:06:50.5] Teaching: The Buddha’s first exclamation after his enlightenment evokes the sense of being free from saṃsāra. [Buddha/Biography] [Saṃsāra ] [Liberation] // [Proliferation] [Cessation] [Craving]
Sutta: Dhp 153-154 (Chanting Book translation).
6. [2:14:24] Reflection: When one holds to that which is true, it has a transformative quality. [Truth ] // [Three Refuges] [Protective chants]
Reference: Sacca-kiriyā-gāthā, Bhikkhu Manual, p. 95.
7. [2:16:50.5] Teaching: The paramī are bright qualities that carry one across from confusion to peace. [Perfections ] [Etymology] // [Theravāda] [Mahāyāna] [Chanting] [History/Early Buddhism] [Buddha] [Liberation]
8. [2:21:23.5] Teaching: There is no difference between the mind of enlightenment of a Buddha and anyone else who experiences awakening. [Buddha] [Arahant ] [Liberation] // [Perfections] [Personality]
9. [2:22:20] Reflections on the personalities of the great disciples. [Great disciples ] [Personality] // [Mindfulness] [Memory] [Buddha/Biography] [Perfections]
10. [2:25:02.5] A detailed description of the paramī as qualities that can transform ourselves and others. [Perfections ] // [Generosity] [Virtue] [Culture/West] [Renunciation] [Discernment] [Energy] [Right Effort] [Patience] [Ajahn Chah] [Truth] [Determination] [Goodwill] [Equanimity]
Story: Master Hsu Yun and the bandits. [Master Hsu Yun] [Stealing] [Bowing] [Tudong]
Sutta: SN 56.11.11: The Dhamma Eye: “All that has the nature to arise....”
11. [2:44:08] Teaching: Mindfulness of breathing is the practice that the Buddha recommended most. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Buddha/Biography]
Sutta: SN 54.11: The Buddha practices mindfulness of breathing while on retreat. [Meditation retreats]
12. [2:45:55] Ajahn Pasanno encourages the recipients of the small Buddha images to chant and do ceremonies so that the images gain power to invoke wholesome qualities from the heart. [Buddha images] [Pūjā] [Skillful qualities] [Buddha]
13. [2:47:30] “Can you reflect about the meaning of ‘essence and conventions’ in Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 5?” [Conventions ] // [Buddha images] [Teaching Dhamma] [Ceremony/ritual] [Liberation]
Sutta: MN 30: Cūḷasāropama Sutta.
14. [2:51:36] “Do the perfections have a progressive quality to them?” [Perfections] // [Jātaka Tales] [Generosity]