Part of key topic Teaching and Teachers
235 excerpts, 18:02:04 total duration
“Can you tell us your story of when you decided to become a monk?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno ] [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Learning] [Travel] [Culture/Thailand] [Meditation] [Mahasi Sayadaw] [Temporary ordination] [Ajahn Chah]
Quote: “If you want to stay here, you have to stay at least five years.” — Ajahn Chah [Wat Pah Pong] [Sequence of training] [Determination]
2015 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 2, Excerpt 7
“How did you come to be abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Abbot] [Ajahn Pasanno ] // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Jāgaro] [Ajahn Puriso] [Ajahn Brahmavaṃso] [Wat Keuan] [Ajahn Chah]
Follow-up: “How did you feel about it?” [Ajahn Pasanno ] [Culture/West] [Fear] [Trust]
Following the Path of a Forest Monk (2023), Excerpt 7
“How did you come to join Ajahn Amaro as co-abbot of the newly established Abhayagiri Monastery in California?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Amaro] [Abbot] [Abhayagiri] [Ajahn Pasanno ] // [Saṅghapāla] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Jack Kornfield] [Elders' Council] [Chithurst]
Following the Path of a Forest Monk (2023), Excerpt 9
“In 2018 you stepped away from the role of abbot of Abhayagiri, passing the role to Ajahn Karunadhammo and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. Both these monks are American and have mostly trained in the United States at Abhayagiri. How do you feel about this milestone?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abhayagiri] [Abbot] [Retirement] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Ajahn Pasanno ] [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Culture/West] // [Monastic life]
Following the Path of a Forest Monk (2023), Excerpt 14
“After forty years of meditating, what do you still find that is interesting?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno ] [Long-term practice] // [Mindfulness of breathing] [Gladdening the mind] [Learning]
Quote: “Practicing Dhamma...sometimes it’s difficult, but it’s always interesting.” [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Purpose/meaning]
2015 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 7, Excerpt 10
“What makes you keep on moving?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno ] [Energy] // [Liberation] [Human]
Interreligious Retreat-Seminar on Dhamma and Non-duality (2023), Session 1, Excerpt 4
1. Ajahn Amaro introduces Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] // [Abhayagiri] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
2. Story: How I met Ajahn Chah. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] // [Types of monks] [Wat Pah Pong] [Seclusion]
Quote: “If you want to stay here, you have to be here for five years.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Pasanno] [Sequence of training]
8. Ajahn Chah used the forest environment to train us. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/Natural environment ] [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah] // [Pace of life]
Story: Two mating lizards fall out of a tree. [Almsround] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Animal] [Sensual desire] [Suffering]
3. You weren’t there to prepare for something else. Reflection by Paul Breiter. [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah] // [Sequence of training] [Everyday life] [Disrobing] [Kamma] [Monastic life] [Ascetic practices] [Suffering] [Happiness] [Saṃsāra]
Quote: “Talk about the benefits of lay life....on paper you can make a good case for it. In practice it’s a constant challenge just to keep your head above water and remember how you’re supposed to deal with things. I urge people in robes to stay there.” [Lay life] [Right Action]
Quote: “Ajahn Pasanno doesn’t want me sending everyone to ordain with him, but I think you do better following his way than my way.” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Paul Breiter]
1. Story: My experiences with Ajahn Chah. Told by Nan Meister. [Gratitude] [Faith] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Liem] [Suffering] [Commerce/economics] [Spiritual urgency] [Joseph Kappel] [Bowing] [Wat Pah Pong] [Mae Chee Kumfah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Mae Chee] [Ghost] [Conceit] [Fierce/direct teaching]
1. Ajahn Amaro introduces Jospeh Kappel and Ajahn Pasanno. [Joseph Kappel] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] // [Health care] [Funerals]
7. Story: Mute, wheelchair-bound Ajahn Chah meets a mother and her young son. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sickness] [Children] [Bowing] [Compassion] [Ajahn Chah] // [Health care] [Joseph Kappel] [Ajahn Pasanno]
5. “How would you describe the jhana states and do you teach this kind of meditation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Jhāna] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Concentration] [Energy] [Clear comprehension] [Knowledge and vision] [Ajahn Chah] [Relinquishment] [Craving] [Conceit]
6. “When there is a lot of pain in the body, it is difficult to maintain “right effort,” yet sometimes through patient endurance the pain lessens or dissipates. Could you speak about right effort and the connection between right effort and samadhi?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pain] [Right Effort] [Patience] [Concentration] // [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] [Fear] [Aversion] [Discernment] [Naturalness]
Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno learned from pain and illness in his early monastic life. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Sickness] [Monastic life]
8. Quote: “I appreciate people’s questions. I enjoy the questions, and I never quite know what’s going to come out when people present a question. It’s interesting to me as well.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Questions ] [Ajahn Pasanno]
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]
10. “Would you share some of your personal journey, including the time before you became a monk, and why you became a monk, and how the holy life can help people grow and change?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Monastic life] [Long-term practice ] // [Culture/West] [Travel] [Culture/Thailand]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno begins meditation with a month-long Mahasi Sayadaw retreat. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Meditation retreats] [Mahasi Sayadaw] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s first visit to Wat Pah Pong. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ordination] [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Pah Pong]
Quote: “If you want to stay here, you have to stay at least five years.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Pasanno] [Sequence of training]
Reflection: “Five years is five years. I’ll go back and give myself to Ajahn Chah.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Ajahn Pasanno] [Relinquishment] [Mentoring]
Quote: “There’s no such thing as the ideal monastic or the ideal practitioner.” [Idealism] [Lay life] [Faith] [Disrobing] [Suffering] [Energy] [Patience]
11. “It’s been so helpful to hear stories from your own experience. Could you talk about some of the more challenging moments in your practice and how you worked with them?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gratitude] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Long-term practice] // [Doubt ] [Patience]
Quote: “It’s not me resolving doubt, but it’s allowing the practice or the Dhamma to work.” [Self-identity view] [Dhamma] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Faith] [Three Refuges]
Simile: “Getting in the vehicle and allowing it to carry you.” [Similes]
14. “Do you think being introduced to Buddhism guided you to the contemplative life or would you have become a monk in any tradition?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Spiritual traditions] // [Meditation]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s aunt remembers that he said he wanted to be a priest when he was young. [Ajahn Pasanno]
16. “I had an experience yeserday in which I may have seen a group of beings above us, particularly above you....I don’t think I’m crazy, but I’m very interested in what the Dhamma says about otherworldly/non-material beings.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Deva] [Goodwill] [Compassion] [Mental illness] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Culture/Thailand] [Realms of existence] [Culture/Natural environment]
Recollection: Spirits at Wat Pah Nanachat would request Ajahn Pasanno to dedicate merit. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Funerals] [Ghost] [Merit]
Quote: “They always had to use an intermediary because I was thick, thick, thick.” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Psychic powers]
Story: Ajahn Plien declares Casa Serena free of ghosts. [Ajahn Plien] [Abhayagiri] [Rebirth]
1. “In the palm reader story, you mentioned that Ajahn Chah still had a lot of anger, but he chose not to act from it. So does this mean that if there was a troublesome monk, Ajahn Chah would still experience a flare of anger but have the wisdom to set it aside and consider what to do with a cool head? This sounds similar to something Ram Das said about his practice....” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Aversion ] [Discernment] [Ram Dass] [Unwholesome Roots] // [Personality] [Kamma]
Story: Ajahn Jayasaro is massaging Ajahn Chah’s feet when a monk undergoing a disciplinary procedure walks by. [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Vinaya] [Fierce/direct teaching ] [Emotion]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno observes Ajahn Mahā Boowa’s fierce behaivor. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Arahant] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Rapture] [Goodwill]
Quote: “You never quite knew...you were always very careful around [Ajahn Chah] because you never knew which side was going to come out. It wasn’t as if he was just playing with you, but he always responded to the situation or the person.” [Heedlessness] [Personal presence] [Teaching Dhamma]
3. “Reflecting on your 35 years in robes, do you have any strong lessons that stand out?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Long-term practice] [Discernment] // [Patience ] [Ajahn Chah] [Virtue] [Meditation retreats]
Quote: “Oftentimes we don’t really recognize the goodness that we’re doing.” [Perfectionism] [Judgementalism]
Quote: “Patience isn’t just enduring. It’s being able to be present with experience.” [Direct experience] [Present moment awareness]
10. “What does Pasanno mean?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Translation] // [Faith]
Story: Why Ajahn Pasanno’s name is mispronounced. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
11. “Can I give a metta hug to the cute little Ajahn?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Goodwill] [Ajahn Pasanno]
1. Recollection: My connection with Ajahn Chah. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] // [Wat Pah Pong]
Quote: “If you want to stay here, you have to stay at least five years.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Pasanno] [Sequence of training]
Jack Kornfield arrives with a large picture of Ajahn Chah. [Jack Kornfield]
Story: The needlepoint Ajahn Chah portrait at Abhayagiri. [Abhayagiri] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Devotional practice]
2. “Did you as a Westerner have any difficulties meeting Ajahn Chah either with Buddhism or with Thailand? How did it get resolved or did it get resolved?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/West] [Theravāda] [Culture/Thailand] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Ajahn Chah replies evasively when asked three straightforward questions to teach his translator (Ajahn Pasanno) a lesson. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Aversion] [Questions] [Simplicity] [Teaching Dhamma] [Food] [Suffering]
3. “As an abbot taking care of a community, how do you handle it when a kerfluffle comes up?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abbot] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Community] [Conflict ] // [Patience] [Views] [Skillful qualities] [Four Noble Truths]
Follow-up: “What are the antidotes to the next two Noble Truths?”
1. Story: Ajahn Pasanno attempts tudong in California. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abhayagiri] [Tudong] // [Ageing] [Health]
7. Story: Ajahn Supah chooses tudong over further studies. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Supah] [Culture/Thailand] [Study monks] [Learning] [Tudong] // [Liberation] [Goodwill] [Simplicity] [Virtue] [Recollection/Virtue]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s mother cries when she meets Ajahn Supah. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Faith] [Rapture]
Story: A python begins to eat Ajahn Supah. [Animal] [Determination]
4. “Can the practice be used in a punitative or punishing way?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] // [Culture/West] [Habits] [Clear comprehension] [Craving not to become]
Quote: “Having a human mind...it’s amazing how perverse it can be sometimes.” [Human] [Unwholesome Roots]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno can’t translate guilt into Thai. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Translation] [Culture/Thailand] [Suffering]
Quote: “All you need to do is create a cage of mindfulness around [unskillful habits].” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Sense restraint] [Mindfulness] [Unskillful qualities] [Similes]
Follow-up: “What about letting the tiger go instead of keeping it in a cage?”
Follow-up: “What about the case when one feels one is the tiger trapped in a metaphorical cage. How to escape?” [Liberation] [Perception] [Self-identity view] [Spiritual friendship]
6. “Could you tell of your personal experience with a tiger?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Animal] [Tudong]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno hears and smells a tiger while doing walking meditation. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Dtao Dum] [Culture/Natural environment] [Posture/Walking] [Fear] [Death] [Impermanence] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension]
Sutta: MN 4: Fear and Dread
11. “I’m curious about your pre-monastic life and specifically what led you to the monastic life.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Temporary ordination] [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Pah Pong]
Quote: “If you want to stay here, you have to stay at least five years.” — Ajahn Chah to Ajahn Pasanno [Ajahn Pasanno] [Sequence of training]
13. “To what extend is spreading the teachings part of the tudong tradition?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Teaching Dhamma] [Tudong] // [Culture/Thailand]
Vinaya: Kd 1.23: Venerable Assaji’s demeanor inspires Sariputta. [Great disciples] [Perception of a samaṇa]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno goes tudong and is asked for lottery numbers. [Ajahn Pasanno]
4. Story: Ajahn Chah struggles through lust with patience. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Sensual desire ] [Patience] [Tudong] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Human] [Meditation/Techniques] [Impermanence]
Quote: Ajahn Chah to biographer: “If you don’t put that in the book, don’t bother printing it.” [Dhamma books]
Quote: “If you ordain as a monk, your defilements ordain with you.” [Monastic life] [Unwholesome Roots]
6. Story: How Ajahn Pasanno became abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Abbot] [Tudong] // [Ajahn Chah] [Saṅgha decision making]
7. Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s tudong practice. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Seclusion] [Tudong] // [Meditation] [Sickness] [Ajahn Amaro] [Abhayagiri] [Patience]
8. Story: Ajahn Pasanno gets a foot infection on tudong. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Sickness] [Culture/Thailand] [Health care] [Tudong] // [Killing] [Goodwill]
9. Story: Ajahn Pasanno loses his vision on tudong. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Sickness] [Health care] [Tudong] // [Patience] [Seclusion] [Dtao Dum]
7. “In the West, there are so many religious practices from the East. How do we relate to them all.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spiritual traditions] [Hinduism] [Gradual Teaching] // [Buddha/Biography] [Teaching Dhamma]
Sutta: MN 95: Caṅkī Sutta [Conditionality] [Faith]
Quote: “I’ve been an abbot for thirty years, and I’m quite happy. One of the reasons I’m happy is I don’t feel I have to go and convince anybody of anything.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Happiness] [Contentment]
1. “Could you tell us how you became a monk?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ordination] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Culture/Thailand] [Meditation]
Quote: “I stumbled into it.” [Monastic life]
8. “I appreciate your emphasis on clarity, stability, and spaciousness. How does concentration relate to these?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Clear comprehension] [Unification] [Spaciousness] [Concentration ] // [Pāli] [Thai] [Etymology] [Tranquility] [Happiness] [Rapture] [Conditionality]
Suttas: AN 10.3: Virtuous Behaivor; AN 6.10 Mahānāma [Virtue]
Quote: “The way my mind worked before was, ‘Boy, when I get my concentration together, I’m going to be happy...’” [Ajahn Pasanno]
Quote: “The happy mind is easily concentrated.” [Hindrances] [Relinquishment] [Knowledge and vision]
2. Comment: I have found your saying ‘Just don’t make a problem of it.’ very helpful. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Cessation of Suffering] [Tranquility] [Proliferation]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
4. “I saw one of your new publications ‘Don’t Hold Back.’ Why did you choose this title? The chapter on chanting answered many questions I had.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Dhamma books] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Chanting]
2. “If this question is okay, could you please tell us any more about how Ajahn Chah challenged you in those first five years – and/or later?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno]
18. “After your 17 talks on Anapanasati, were you out of breath?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Ajahn Pasanno]
1. “Would you mind sharing some of the difficulties you have had in your practice and how you resolved them?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno]
23. “Would you be willing to tell as a little about the first steps that led you out of Northern Manitoba towards becoming an abbot in Thailand?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno]
2. “At what point did your practice change from serving yourself (to end your own suffering) to self-less service?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Long-term practice] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Cessation of Suffering] [Generosity ]
Sutta: MN 128.12: “Why don’t I set aside what I want to do and do what’s of benefit to the others?”
16. “Do you miss Ajahn Amaro?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Amaro]
6. “I find I do need some pleasures even thought they don’t last, things like fine arts and being in nature. I’m curious, how did you manage as a monk in your early years at Ajahn Chah’s monastery where there’s almost no pleasure....How did you manage to keep going over the years until the present?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sensual desire] [Artistic expression] [Culture/Natural environment] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Ajahn Chah] [Food] [Entertainment and adornment] [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Happiness ] [Simplicity ] [Association with people of integrity] [Empathetic joy] [Human] [Hindrances] [Jhāna] [Virtue] [Discernment]
Quote: “One of the extraordinary perks of being a monk is that everyone tries to be good around you.”
Sutta: MN 36.32: “Why am I afraid of that happiness?” [Buddha/Biography] [Ascetic practices] [Suffering] [Skillful qualities] [Eightfold Path]
Quote: “As a monk, I can look back on forty years of living in a way where I don’t have to feel remorseful or regret anything.”
2. “What were the interesting practices you used so that you would get up as soon as you woke up?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Devotion to wakefulness ] // [Mindfulness of body] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Sitter's practice]
5. “Ajahn Pasanno, did I hear correctly the other day that you met Luang Por Dune?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Dune] // [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Wat Burapha] [Personality] [Teaching Dhamma]
8. “I was reading that Reverend Heng Sure found that his meditation object was particularly bright and clear when he was around his teacher Master Hua. I wondered if you experienced anything like that when you paid respects to various Ajahns?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Rev. Heng Sure] [Master Hsuan Hua] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Meditation] // [Conscience and prudence] [Respect for elders]
4. “Was Ajahn Jun around when you were training?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Jun] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Liem] [Ajahn Boon Choo]
Story: Ajahn Sumedho gets upset at Ajahn Chah for not admonishing lax monks. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Admonishment/feedback]
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]
1. “Did you participate in massage sessions with senior monks besides Luang Por Chah?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Upatakh]
13. “Can you recommend any practices to develop honesty with ourselves?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Truth] [Delusion] // [Unwholesome Roots] [Direct experience]
Quote: “You can’t take yourself too seriously. That’s really deadly.” [Humor] [Self-identity view]
Quote: “Do we have to sweep all of this?” “No, just sweep what’s in front of your broom.” [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Cleanliness]
6. “Were there short periods of time when you lived with Luang Por Koon?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Koon] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Wat Keuan] [Ajahn Puriso]
5. “How does one work with dullness and drowsiness in sitting meditation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sloth and torpor] [Posture/Sitting] // [Hindrances] [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Ajahn Chah] [Posture/Walking] [Culture/Natural environment] [Posture/Standing] [Continuity of mindfulness]
Sutta: AN 7.58 Capala Sutta: “Are you nodding, Moggallana?” [Great disciples]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno walks in the forest without a flashlight to dispel drowsiness. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Dtao Dum] [Devotion to wakefulness]
1. “Did you live with Ajahn Mahā Som?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno]
5. “Did you think of relocating Wat Pah Nanachat to Wat Keuan?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Wat Keuan] // [Seclusion] [Ajahn Puriso] [Deva]
Story: Ajahn Chah asks Ajahn Pasanno to take over as abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abbot]
Story: Supporters offer Ajahn Pasanno several properties to start monasteries, but he passes them to others. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Generosity] [Culture/Natural environment] [Ajahn Gavesako] [Ajahn Liem] [Environment]
6. “You were offered a cornfield in Ohio? What year was that?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Generosity] [Ajahn Pasanno]
11. Story: A Saṅgha meeting decides that Ajahn Boon Choo should look after Wat Keuan. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Boon Choo] [Wat Keuan] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Saṅgha decision making] [Respect for elders] // [Ajahn Puriso] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Wat Pah Pong]
12. “If you had moved Wat Pah Nanachat to Wat Keuan, would you have left Thailand?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Wat Keuan] [Ajahn Pasanno]
Quote: “I had one plan and the devas had a different one.” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Deva]
Sutta: DN 16.6.15: Mahāparinibbāna Sutta [Buddha/Biography] [Great disciples]
4. Ajahn Pasanno describes the meditation method he used during his first year as a monk. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Meditation/Techniques] // [Contact] [Feeling] [Movement meditation] [Concentration]
9. “Did you use the method of balancing a needle between your thumbs?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Meditation/Techniques]
5. “Do you know Venerable Nirodha who translated this book?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Teean] [Dhamma books] [Translation] [Ajahn Pasanno]
2. “Did I understand correctly, that this talk was originally given in Lao?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Language] // [Ajahn Chah] [Thai] [Admonishment/feedback]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno translates the talk “Two Faces of Reality” for the book Bodhinyana. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Translation]
Story: Chao Khun Nor eats the same meal every day. [Chao Khun Nor] [Food] [Seclusion] [Pūjā]
4. “Was your eight years living with novices like how it was described in this reading [‘Toilets on the Path’]?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Novices] // [Thai]
Story: Ajahn Preecha comes to Wat Pah Pong at the age of 11 or 12. [Ajahn Preecha] [Postulants] [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Pah Pong]
1. “When you were living with Ajahn Chah, were many of his talks more related to the Korwat or practical matters, as opposed to the High Dhamma?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Teaching Dhamma] [Protocols] [Dhamma]
Quote: “There’s not really a separation.” [Vinaya ]
Comment: Ajahn Chah taught to the situation. Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Learning] [Sequence of training]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Cessation of Suffering] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
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. [Ajahn Tongrat] [Wat Pah Ban Tat]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno helped pass out food at Wat Pah Pong. [Ajahn Pasanno]
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. [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]
[Session] Readings from Sotāpattimagga by Ajahn Anan: “The Peaceful Heart Discovers the Truth” (partial), pp. 21-23; “When Calm Arises, Investigate the Body,” pp. 41-45; “When the Practice Declines,” pp. 68-70; “Nibbana is the Highest Happiness,” pp. 89-91. Read by Anagārika J.R..
Story: Ajahn Pasanno meets Ajahn Anan when Ajahn Anan was still a lay person. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Anan]
1. “Are there any stories you can share from the times when you were attendant to Luang Por Chah?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Upatakh] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Mentoring]
Quote: “I never asked him for anything. It never occured to me to ask Ajahn Chah for anything.” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Contentment]
Story: Ajahn Chah makes fun of Ajahn Pasanno’s first Pāṭimokkha chanting. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Pāṭimokkha]
Quote: “He would be unrelenting if you were stuck in some aversion....He wouldn’t indulge it. It was inevitably painful if one did.” [Aversion] [Fierce/direct teaching]
2. “Were there any other ways in which he tormented you specifically?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Story: Ajahn Chah won’t let Ajahn Pasanno go to a branch monastery to escape the misery of the hot season. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Culture/Natural environment] [Work] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Restlessness and worry] [Aversion]
Story: Ajahn Chah calls Ajahn Pasanno lazy. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Pūjā]
Quote: “Do you give up?” — Ajahn Chah to Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Vinaya] [Relinquishment]
18. Story: Ajahn Mahā Boowa bows to a newly-discovered photograph of Ajahn Mun. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Devotional practice] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Bowing]
7. “How often do you employ mindfulness of breathing in daily life? How much volition are you still using?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Everyday life] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Volition] [Mindfulness of breathing ] // [Mindfulness of body]
17. “I am wondering if Buddha spoke about what part of us reincarnates. Is it possible to remember our past lives? Thank you.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Rebirth] [Psychic powers] // [Aggregates] [Self-identity view] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Supernatural] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ghost]
Story: A being at Wat Pah Nanachat employs a go-between to request that Ajahn Pasanno dedicate merit. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Merit]
4. “I just wanted to share my gratitude for Ajahn Karuṇadhammo, Ajahn Ñāniko, and Debbie (you too Luang Por) for giving each day, very needed and timely encouragements—sometimes immediately answering a question I had just posed to myself. It’s like you are all just reading my mind / heart. Questions go deeper and so do your reflections on Dhamma. (Bow, bow, bow, añjali.)” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gratitude] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] [Teaching Dhamma]
10. “Thank you so very much for your very compassionate, clear, and useful teachings. Can you please talk a little bit about dependent origination so that we may put an end to the causes of suffering? Thank you again for your compassionate teachings and humor. We appreciate you and the rest of the Sangha!” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gratitude] [Dependent origination] [Cessation of Suffering] // [Conditionality] [Suffering] [Cause of Suffering]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno writes a term paper on dependent origination at university. [Ajahn Pasanno]
Quote: “When you’re falling down from a tree, you don’t have to count the branches. You just have to know that when you hit the bottom, it’s going to hurt.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah]
5. “The guidance through seeing the non-self in relationship to the elements was very helpful. Can you explain what to look for in order to see the non self in relationship to strong emotions like grief. When do you look for the emptiness in emotions and when do you experience or express them. How does one balance the two?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Not-self] [Elements] [Emotion ] [Grief ]
Ajahn Pasanno reflects on his feelings after Ajahn Chah died. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] [Death] [Sickness] [Gratitude] [Respect]
Ajahn Pasanno’s response to his father’s death. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Parents] [Spaciousness]
9. “Can one contemplate pain using the four elements or is here a more direct way to penetrate physical pain? Many thanks for your teachings.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pain ] [Elements ] // [Investigation of states] [Mindfulness of body] [Middle Path] [Discernment] [Sickness]
Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno spent many of his early years as a monk contemplating pain. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life]
2. Reflections by Ajahn Pasanno on the value of samaṇas in Indian culture. [Culture/India] [Perception of a samaṇa] // [Commentaries] [Buddha] [Virtue] [Truth] [Hospitality]
Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno was really cared for during his tudong in Northern India. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Tudong] [Not handling money]
1. “What was the context in which this reflection was given by Ajahn Chah?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] // [Leadership] [Culture/Thailand] [History/Thai Buddhism]
Recollection: When Ajahn Pasanno first became abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat, he gave monthly teachings at the World Fellowsip of Buddhists. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Abbot] [Teaching Dhamma]
6. “Do you plan to lead any trips on pilgrimage?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Visiting holy sites] // [Sickness]
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. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Vinaya] [Buddha/Biography]
Story: Ajahn Jayasaro tries to explain cricket to Ajahn Pasanno. [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] [Buddha/Biography] [Great disciples]
5. “I wanted to confirm that we’re also not putting this self on other objects like the redness belonging to the rose.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Proliferation] [Not-self]
Quote: “It makes me suffer when those roses turn black and they’re still on the shrine...which happens all the time!” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abhayagiri] [Devotional practice] [Impermanence]
10. Quote: “One of the things I often attend to is the juxtaposition of stillness and movement. It’s not that one is right and the other wrong. We can be still and really dull or the mind can move with clarity and acuity. But stillness and movement, what’s generating it, what’s pushing it? That bhavadiṭṭhi/vibhavadiṭṭhi is the engine behind it and the force behing the arising of a sense of self, a sense of me.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Ajahn Pasanno] [Insight meditation] [Calming meditation] [Right Concentration] [Not-self] [Clear comprehension] [Nature of mind] [Conditionality] [Becoming ] [Craving not to become] [Views] [Self-identity view ]
6. “How did you get through the 106° heat? Did you have a different schedule?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abhayagiri] [Culture/Natural environment] // [Mindfulness of breathing] [Work]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno attends a very hot ordination at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. [Ajahn Pasanno] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas] [Ordination]
3. “A lot of my life has been based on guilt, punishment, achievement, feeling driven, and perfectionism. Recently I experienced the reverse of this. Perfectionism is mixed up with wholesome desire. Could you respond?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Judgementalism] [Idealism] [Desire] [Contentment] // [Discernment] [Self-identity view] [Human]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno can’t translate the question ‘How do I work with guilt?’ into Thai. [Ajahn Paññānanda] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Language] [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand] [Suffering]
3. “Is there a way to get involved in controversial political issues and still maintain a correct [audio unclear]?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Politics and society] [Compassion] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Environment] [Buddhist identity] // [Learning] [Corruption] [Divine Abidings] [Depression] [Ill-will] [Equanimity]
Reference: The Heart of the Revolution by Noah Levine.
4. “What should we do during eating? How to eat with meditation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Food ] // [Pace of life] [Present moment awareness]
Quote: “Learn how to slow down and chew your food well.” — The Supreme Patriarch’s advice to new monks [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Health]
10. “For those of us who need to routinely rest more due to aging, illness, or disability, could you share some suggestions and advice for how to optimize ths time as mediation in a lying down posture?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ageing] [Sickness] [Posture/Lying down ] // [Determination] [Body scanning] [Clear comprehension] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Pain] [Buddha images] [Tranquility] [Perception]
Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno develops lying down meditation after breaking his pelvis. [Ajahn Pasanno]
7. “Can you tell us your story of when you decided to become a monk?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno ] [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Learning] [Travel] [Culture/Thailand] [Meditation] [Mahasi Sayadaw] [Temporary ordination] [Ajahn Chah]
Quote: “If you want to stay here, you have to stay at least five years.” — Ajahn Chah [Wat Pah Pong] [Sequence of training] [Determination]
1. “As inspiration for the rest of us, would you please talk about some of your milestone insights over your years of practice and what kept you going over the years, especially when you hit roadblocks?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Long-term practice] // [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Ajahn Chah] [Impermanence] [Right Mindfulness] [Self-identity view]
Sutta: MN 10: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta
15. “There is a mean streak in my family, a tendency to be dishonest and manipulative. I can see how it has been passed down over generations. I have worked hard to overcome these habits in myself. At this stage of life my familiar relationships are mostly positive and harmonious, but I still sometimes run across their manipulation or dishonesty. I would like to discuss or address it within my family, but there is no apperent recouse or means of addressing the situation. Any suggestions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Family] [False speech] [Habits]
Quote: “I don’t teach my family anything.” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Teaching Dhamma]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s mother visits Abhayagiri. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Parents] [Kaṭhina]
23. “It seems that nimittas can appear before the mind is fully settled in concentration. Is it useful to understand what that is happening? Should one ignore the nimitta until concentration is firmly established? Or is there some other response or skillful way to work with the nimitta while establishing samadhi?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nimitta ] [Concentration] // [Proliferation] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Ajahn Pasanno]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno has a nimitta of bowing to the Buddha but then realizes that he is nodding. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Bowing] [Sloth and torpor]
2. “How could you accomplish studying Buddhism in Thailand with Luang Por Chah? How did Luang Por Chah teach you as a you were a foreigner new monk? How did you cope with the language issue?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah ] [Teaching Dhamma] [Monastic life] [Language] // [Culture/Thailand] [Patience] [Wat Pah Pong] [Novices]
Quote: “It’s just like teaching buffaloes.” — Ajahn Chah [Western Ajahn Chah lineage] [Similes]
Quote: “Dhamma is not about the words, about the concepts, about the ideas. It’s about the experience.” — Ajahn Chah [Dhamma ] [Direct experience ]
2. “An Ajahn visiting Abhayagiri spoke of you receiving an honor. Would you elaborate on what it was, who bestows it, and what it means for you and the community?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic titles] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abhayagiri]
9. “Can you say more about trusting the seeds of meditation practice after Alzheimer’s/dementia kick in? What do you mean by going beyond liberation or consciousness? What do you mean by ‘many deeper layers’ are affected by the practice and the fruits of it will express naturally?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sickness] [Consciousness] [Long-term practice] // [Happiness] [Proliferation] [Relinquishment] [Self-identity view]
Story: A monk with psychic abilities investigates Ajahn Chah’s mind after Ajahn Chah loses his mental faculties. [Ajahn Chah] [Psychic powers]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno brings the Wat Pah Nanachat community to Ajahn Chah’s nursing kuti to chant verses including Dependent Origination. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Chanting] [Dependent origination]
Quote: “The fruits of practice arise through the simple quality of being the one who knows, taking the Buddha as refuge.” [Knowing itself] [Buddha] [Three Refuges]
10. “After forty years of meditating, what do you still find that is interesting?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno ] [Long-term practice] // [Mindfulness of breathing] [Gladdening the mind] [Learning]
Quote: “Practicing Dhamma...sometimes it’s difficult, but it’s always interesting.” [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Purpose/meaning]
2. “When you spent time with family, did you notice any old habits resurfacing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Family] [Habits]
3. “Can you please speak about faith? How to develop it? How to maintain it through the ups and downs of practice? How have you maintained your faith over forty years of practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Faith ] [Long-term practice] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Language] [Ajahn Chah] [Patience] [Mindfulness]
5. “I understand that there is a council of Theravada elders who are a ‘decision making panel’ guiding the tradition. Who exactly is part of this council and who or what determines their eligibility? Will the honor being bestowed upon you and Ajahn Amaro next month make you eligible? Are there other monks in modern times who have received this honor?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [History/Thai Buddhism] [Saṅgha decision making] [Monastic titles] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Chah] // [Politics and society] [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Sumedho] [P. A. Payutto] [CALM Group]
10. “Can you tell us what you find interesting about the breath? What insights have arisen for you from watching the breath?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Ajahn Pasanno]
16. “How does the process work to get a title as you do? Is this title only for monks? Will you be the only one in the USA?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic titles] [Ajahn Pasanno]
20. “What is the pill in the little vial that sits next to you?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Medicinal requisites] [Health]
24. “I’m curious about the ceremony to bestow the honorific title. What does it entail? What is the new title? Does it change the appropriate way for us to address or refer to you?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic titles] [Ajahn Pasanno]