6. “Can you speak about working with fear and loss of ego identity, fear, and death?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fear] [Self-identity view] [Death] // [Goodwill] [Aggregates] [Impermanence] [Delusion] [Faith] [Eightfold Path] [Perfections] [Recollection]
Reference: Description of dukkha. [Suffering]
Quote: “We respond to teachings on liberation and Nibbāna with a curious sense of fear and trepidation.” — Ajahn Mahā Boowa speaking about Ajahn Mun. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Mun] [Liberation] [Nibbāna] [Family] [Clinging]
3. “I am hoping to go to the Udon/KhonKaen area in Thailand. Are there temples and teachers there you would recommend for lay practice? Who was the teacher you mentioned who has students stay on themselves as metta objects for so long?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Other Thai forest monasteries] [Lay life] [Goodwill] // [Ajahn Mahā Chatchai] [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [History/Thai Buddhism]
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]
1. “You spoke about recognizing that when the mind goes off into busyness that there’s not just that particular quality. Could you talk more about this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Tranquility] [Proliferation] // [Appropriate attention] [Impermanence] [Knowing itself] [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Chah] [Clinging] [Suffering]
5. “Before Ajahn Chah, were there any Mahanikai teachers worthy of respect?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Thai sects] // [Ajahn Kinaree] [Ajahn Tongrat] [Ajahn Mun]
6. “Where did Ajahn Tongrat and Ajahn Kinaree live?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Tongrat] [Ajahn Kinaree] // [Ajahn Mun]
7. “Did the Dhammayut/Mahanikai differences matter to serious practice monks?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Thai sects] [Monastic life] // [Pāṭimokkha] [Saṅgha] [Ajahn Baen] [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa]
6. “Is this similar to the Buddha’s teaching to let go of the path?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eightfold Path] [Relinquishment] // [Ajahn Chah] [Not-made-of-that] [Right Effort] [Ajahn Mun] [Thai]
Sutta: SN 1.1 Oghataraṇa: Crossing the Flood.
2. “Did Ajahn Teean have contact with Ajahn Chah?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Teean] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Mun] [Geography/Thailand]
4. “What shaped the Thai Forest Tradition and gave it its flavor?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/Thailand] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Simplicity] [Vinaya] [History/Early Buddhism] [Ajahn Mun] [Attachment to precepts and practices]
7. “Could you say a few words about the structure of the Thai Saṅgha and where the Thai Forest Tradition fits in?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [History/Thai Buddhism ] [Thai sects ] [Thai Forest Tradition ] // [Somdet Vajirañāṇavarorasa] [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Kinaree] [Ajahn Tongrat] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Ajahn Chah asks Ajahn Mun, “Shall I reordain in the Dhammayut Order to live with you?” He responds, “Mahānikāya needs good monks also.” [Ajahn Mun] [Ordination]
13. Comment: I’m reminded of the encouragement to come back to the body as a basis. [Mindfulness of body] [Thai Forest Tradition]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mun] [Knowing itself]
7. “Why are the first five parts chosen for special contemplation?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Unattractiveness] // [Ajahn Mun] [Sensual desire]
1. “What are the rewards for the skillful monk?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Skillful qualities] [Right Mindfulness] // [Happiness] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Concentration]
Sutta: SN 47.8: Simile of the skillful cook. [Similes] [Similes]
Story: Ajahn Mun criticizes Ajahn Mahā Boowa for developing meditation like a tree stump. [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Admonishment/feedback]
1. “What is the Thai that is translated as “mind” and “mind objects?”” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Thai] [Translation] [Heart/mind] [Moods of the mind] // [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Chah]
13. “How important is chanting for one’s practice? Do you have any tips for how to recite/remember the Pali chants?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Chanting ] [Memory] [Pāli] // [Monastic life] [Recollection] [Devotional practice] [Energy] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Long-term practice] [Dhamma recordings] [Posture/Walking] [Almsround] [Mindfulness]
Story: Ajahn Mun would chant for over an hour each evening before he started meditating. [Ajahn Mun] [Monastic routine]
Suttas: AN 10.60 Girimānanda Sutta; SNSN 22.22: Dhammacakkappavattanasutta (Chanting Book translation).
Story: The evening program at Wat Fah Krahm is three hours of chanting followed by a three-hour sit. [Wat Fah Krahm] [Meditation]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 138: Rhythm of the Pāli language.
Sutta: SN 48.9: Mindfulness related to memory.
1. “Should we judge the quality of our meditation only by the time we spend in focused concentration?” Answered by Ajahn Jotipālo, Ajahn Ñāṇiko, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Abhayagiri Saṅgha. [Ajahn Ñāṇadhammo] [Meditation/Results] [Concentration] // [Mindfulness] [Right Effort] [Investigation of states] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Hindrances]
Reference: Walking Meditation by Ajahn Ñāṇadhammo.
Story: Ajahn Tate and the bhavaṅga states. Told by Ajahn Jotipālo and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Ajahn Tate] [Wrong concentration] [Ajahn Mun] [Mindfulness of body]
Story: Ajahn Khao meditates all night with no awareness. Told by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Ajahn Khao] [Ajahn Mun]
2. Comment: Ajahn Amaro talked about a teacher who was an ex-boxer with rough manners. [Personality] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unwholesome Roots]
Story: Ajahn Mun admonishes Ajahn Mahā Boowa: “You need to develop some subtlety!” [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Admonishment/feedback]
1. “How does upatakhing fit into our training and what can we learn from it?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Upatakh ] [Vinaya] [Respect for elders] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] // [Culture/Thailand] [Conceit] [Generosity] [Protocols] [Discernment] [Mindfulness]
Vinaya: Cv 8: Vattakkhandhaka - Protocols
Story: Ajahn Lee upataks Ajahn Mun. The Autobiography of Phra Ajahn Lee by Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo, p. 23. [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo]
6. “What about relics?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Relics] [Monastic life] // [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Khao] [Mae Chee Kaew] [Master Hsuan Hua] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s mother observes multiplying relics.
3. “In Thailand, is the only way to study the suttas to go to a study monastery?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/Thailand] [Sutta] [Education] [Learning] // [History/Thai Buddhism] [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Mun]
4. Comment: We’re blessed to have study guides in English to learn the basics of Pāli and then go straight to the suttas. [Culture/West] [Pāli] [Sutta] [Learning]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Chao Khun Upāli] [Ajahn Mun]
8. “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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah lineage] [Ascetic practices] [Wat Pah Pong] [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah] // [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. “Can you speak about the connection Ajahn Chah had with Luang Por Tongrat and Luang Por Tongrat in general?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Tongrat ] [Ajahn Chah] // [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 Mun] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Story: Ajahn Tongrat dies in the Dhamma seat. [Death]
16. “Can you tell us more about Ajahn Chah’s background?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Geography/Thailand] [Education] [Novices] [Ordination] [Ajahn Sao] [Forest versus city monks] [Death] [Ajahn Mun] [Thai sects]
Story: Six-year-old Chah plays at being a monk. [Monastic life]