Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
1. Quote: [Pointing to his heart] “It’s all here” — Ajahn Khao to Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Khao] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Knowing itself] // [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Mahā Amorn] [Isan]
3. Similes from Ajahn Chah: The natural state of the mind is like clear water or a still leaf. [Nature of mind] [Similes] // [Contact] [Feeling] [Moods of the mind] [Knowing itself]
Reference: “A Gift of Dhamma,” Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 226.
4. Quote: “Mindfulness is the graveyard of all things.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Mindfulness] [Cessation] // [Self-identity view] [Proliferation] [Compassion]
5. Story: A woman asked Ajahn Chah if she would have to give up listening to music to practice Buddhism. Ajahn Chah replied that learning to listen to the peaceful heart would be more pleasurable and satisfying. [Ajahn Chah] [Artistic expression] [Tranquility] [Happiness] // [Cessation] [Nature of mind]
Reference: Recollections of Ajahn Chah, p. 52.
Quote: “That quality of being without boundaries can be so peaceful. It’s much more compelling.” [Spaciousness]
Sutta: AN 3.32: “This is peaceful, this is sublime...”
6. Ajahn Chah’s letter to Ajahn Sumedho: “Whenever you have feelings of love or hate for anything whatsoever, these will be your aides and partners in building pārami. The Buddha Dhamma is not to be found in moving forwards, nor in moving backwards, nor in standing still. This, Sumedho, is your place of non-abiding.” [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Feeling] [Perfections] [Dhamma] [Emptiness] // [Self-identity view ] [Knowing itself]
Quote: “As long as we’re willing to be a somebody, we’ve got to be willing to suffer. We volunteered.” [Self-identity view ] [Suffering]
7. Story: When asked to teach about vipassanā, Ajahn Chah instructed practitioners to observe a wilting flower. [Ajahn Chah] [Insight meditation ] [Impermanence] // [Thai Forest Tradition] [Liberation] [Manjushri Institute]
8. Quote: “Samādhi is the one-pointed mind fixed on the point of balance.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Concentration ] [Unification] [Equanimity]
Quote: “Samādhi is a holiday for the heart.” — Ajahn Chah. [Heart/mind] [Ajahn Sumedho]
1. “What do you do at Abhayagiri? What is the value of being a monk? What’s the value of having a global saṅgha?” [Abhayagiri] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] // [Monasteries] [Fear] [Culture/Natural environment] [Community]
2. “Could you say a few words about how to cope emotionally with everything that’s happened since October 7? Everyone in Israel is still traumatized. This is an ongoing event, and everybody is so emotionally unstable. It’s like being on an active volcano....” [Abuse/violence] [Suffering] [Politics and society] // [Spiritual friendship] [Goodwill] [Human] [Delusion]
3. “Could you talk about the practicalities of reflective meditation for someone who hasn’t done much of this?” [Recollection] // [Mindfulness] [Translation] [Concentration] [Impermanence] [Knowing itself]
Quote: “The point that includes” — Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Unification] [Spaciousness]
1. “What was your experience of Ajahn Chah’s personality and character? What was most inspiring about how he conducted himself?” [Ajahn Chah ] [Personality] [Personal presence] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Admonishment/feedback] [Not-self] [Equanimity] [Humor]
Quote: “If you tried to create a CV for what a Bodhisattva should be, Luang Por Chah would fit that bill.” [Bodhisattva]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno chose to stay with Ajahn Chah for five years because he aspired to Ajahn Chah’s unshakeability. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
Story: Ajahn Chah gave the farang monks playful Thai names. [Thai] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Amaro]
2. “So Luang Por Sumedho had a bit of a temper in the beginning?” [Ajahn Sumedho] [Aversion] // [Ajahn Chah] [Humor]
3. “What was the nickname of Ajahn Amaro?” [Ajahn Amaro] [Thai] // [Ajahn Chah]
4. “In your long monastic life, have there been times that called for particular qualities to be developed?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Long-term practice] // [Perfections] [Not-self] [Personality] [Energy ] [Posture/Walking] [Sitter's practice]
5. “What is often the most neglected quality in individual monks? What are the most important qualities to develop for the benefit of the group?” [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] // [Idealism ] [Drawbacks] [Aspects of Understanding] [Four Noble Truths] [Patience]
Sutta: SN 22.26: Assādasutta
Quote: “Other than me, everyone is irritating!” [Aversion] [Humor]
6. “What personal obstacles, either internal or external have you used as dhammas, stepping stones to lift yourself up and go beyond it?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Long-term practice] // [Fear ] [Ajahn Chah] [Impermanence] [Mindfulness of body] [Knowing itself]
Quote: “The anxious and fearful mind is always trying to find some certainty somewhere. And of course it isn’t anywhere at all except in this present moment and in the quality of awareness that we have. But the personality doesn’t believe that for a long time.” [Present moment awareness]
Quote: “Be careful of believing your mind because it’s a liar and a cheat.” — Ajahn Chah. [Nature of mind]
7. “How do you respond to claims that religion and Buddhism specifically is escapist?” [Theravāda] [Saṃsāra] [Escape] // [Discernment] [Questions] [Liberation] [Compassion]
Quote: “What is the mind of an enlightened being like?” – “Only compassion.” — Ajahn Mahā Boowa. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Arahant]
8. “When practicing to get out of the world, how does one avoid slipping into unhappiness with the world?” [Escape] [Suffering] [Happiness] // [Saṃsāra] [Not-self] [Divine Abidings] [Unattractiveness] [Equanimity] [Gladdening the mind] [Concentration] [Knowledge and vision]
Sutta: MN 10.10: Contemplating the body as if it were a sack of grains.
Suttas: AN 6.10, AN 10.2: Causal chains yielding gladness (pāmojja) with different starting points.
9. “How do we cultivate faith?” [Faith ] // [Culture/West] [Sutta] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Buddha images] [Devotional practice] [Recollection/Saṅgha]
Recollection: Ajahn Liem estimates he has built at least 20 monasteries. [Ajahn Liem] [Building projects] [Master Hsu Yun]
10. “We can control unwholesome acts of body and speech through precepts, but whatever pops up in the mind we mostly can’t control. But how is kamma formed in the mind? Should we control that thing or should it be let go?” [Precepts] [Nature of mind] [Kamma] // [Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Ajahn Chah] [Volition]
Sutta: MN 19: Two Kind of Thought
11. “Whatever you do, if you do it with care and attention, it takes longer. If I rush, the task would not be done so well. How do we give care and attention in a quick manner?” [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Time management] // [Right Mindfulness] [Ardency]
Story: A man moves so slowly paying care and attention that he annoys his family. [Family]
Quote: “A good thief is really mindful.” Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah]
12. “When I meditate in a cold, open area, my mind goes to sleep. What do you suggest?” [Sloth and torpor] // [Posture/Sitting] [Hindrances]
13. “When you started teaching and taking on the role of leader of a community, did that affect the way you related to your own practice because you were being seen by others, having to be more careful about conduct?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abbot] [Leadership] // [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ajahn Chah] [Fear] [Faith] [Culture/Thailand]
Ajahn Chah always emphasized, “Whatever you’re doing, you have to learn from it.” [Learning]
[Session] Readings by Ajahn Amaro:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Introduction by Ajahn Sumedho, pp. 16-18.
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 1, pp. 28-30:
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1.6.
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 1, pp. 30-35. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Nyanatiloka Bhikkhu, “Nibbāna,” Buddhist Dictionary, p. 105.
The Mind Like Fire Unbound by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro, p. 2.
Suttas: MN 26.13; SN 38.1; AN 10.60; Ud 3.10; AN 3.55; AN 6.55; SN 43.1-44.
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1.5 (also occurs at SN 6.1 and MN 26.19).
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 1, pp. 39-42. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Bhikkhu Bodhi, “Introduction,” The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, pp. 31-2.
Note: The recording of the January 11 reading (The Island, pp. 35-39) was lost.
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 2, pp. 43-48. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Richard Gombrich, ‘Metaphor, Allegory, Satire,’ in How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings, p. 65-68.
The Wings to Awakening by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro p. 6.
The Mind Like Fire Unbound by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro p. 41.
Roberto Calasso, Ka, pp. 369-70.
Gita Mehta, A River Sutra, p. 290.
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 2, pp. 48-52. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Suttas: SN 35.28 (also at Mahāvagga 1.21); Iti 93; SN 44.9.
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 2, pp. 52-56. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Suttas: Thig 504-6; SN 14.12; Thag 1223-4; Thig 512; Snp 1086-7; Thig 112-16; SN 6.15.
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 3, pp. 58-61. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu, unpublished Dhamma talk, 1988.
A 10.92; The Wings to Awakening by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro, pp. 35-37.
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 3, pp. 61-63. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Sutta: SN 12.20; SN 12.41; AN 10.92.
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 3, pp. 64-67. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Suttas: MN 43.11; Ud 1.10; Iti 94.
Master Hsüan Hua, Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma Jewel Platform Sūtra, with Commentary, p. 149.
Śhūrangama Sūtra 1.169.
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 4, pp. 68-70. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Sutta: Ud 3.10.
Ven. P.A. Payutto, Dependent Origination, pp. 14-5.
4. “I’ve heard that to become a Buddha one must ask the blessing of an existing Buddha. Is this true?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Previous Buddhas] [Buddha] [Bodhisattva] // [Determination]
Story: The Brahmin Sumedha vows to become a Buddha (found in the Buddhavaṃsa and Jātaka tales).
Follow-up: “This makes it even more surprising that the Buddha doubted to fulfill his role (MN 26.19).” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Buddha/Biography] [Doubt] [Brahma gods] [Teaching Dhamma] [Addiction]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 124: Dhamma talk request.
6. “Does the Buddha require faith in order to complete the path?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Faith ] // [Self-identity view] [Faculties] [Courage] [Trust] [Recollection/Buddha]
7. “According to the Buddha, is the maximum spiritual potential found in the human realm?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro, Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Human ] // [Stages of awakening]
Follow-up: “How do you integrate this with daily life?” [Everyday life] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] [Buddha/Biography] [Liberation] [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Culture/West]
Comment: I work with human potential in children and their families....It’s so segregated...in the educational system there is no spiritual element. [Children] [Education ]
Response by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Western psychology] [Learning] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas]
Reference: Beyond, p. 441 in Happily Ever After by Ajahn Amaro.
8. “Did you say, ‘Nibbāna is the source of all virtue?’” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Nibbāna] [Virtue] // [Ven. Nāgasena]
Quote: “Nibbāna, once realized, is the source of the beauty of the virtues of all living beings.” — Milindapañha 320, quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 38..
Follow-up: “Can you reflect on this? It doesn’t quite fit with the Unconditioned, unformed, no footing....” [Unconditioned]
Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Arahant]
Sutta: AN 9.7-8: What an arahant can’t do.
Sutta: AN 3.7: Uposatha Sutta.
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Compassion]
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 4, pp. 70-76. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Ven. P.A. Payutto, Dependent Origination, pp. 14-5.
H.H. the Dalai Lama, The Four Noble Truths, pp. 53-57.
Suttas: MN 52.4-14, AN 11.16; SN 22.81; MN 140.20-22.
3. “What is the earliest source that mentions the three kinds of dukkha?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] // [Tipiṭaka]
Sutta: SN 45.165.
5. “In one of the first readings [Session 2, question 2 and Session 3, question 3] you mentioned momentary Nibbāna. How do jhānas relate to momentary Nibbāna?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna] [Jhāna] // [Clinging] [Ajahn Chah] [Liberation]
Sutta: MN 113.21: Don’t be content with jhāna.
Sutta: MN 26.15-16: Āḷāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta.
6. “What would you say is the importance of experiencing the four immaterial jhānas? Is there the possibility of investigation in these states?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Formless attainments] [Insight meditation] // [Thai Forest Tradition] [Jhāna] [Impermanence] [Aggregates]
[Session] Reading from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 4, pp. 80-82. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Ajahn Chah, ‘Toward the Unconditioned,’ in Food for the Heart, pp. 385-9 and Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, pp. 383-400.
Note: The recording of the January 25 reading (The Island, pp. 77-80) was lost.
1. “A question about physical pain. Sometimes it feels like I can deal with a certain level of pain, but every now and again there’s a level of pain that is too intense. Is there a technique for being okay with whatever level of pain?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Pain] // [Aversion] [Fear] [Goodwill] [Tranquility] [Buddha/Biography]
Sutta: SN 36.6: The Arrow.
Suttas: MN 53.5, AN 10.67, SN 35.243: Examples of the Buddha stretching his back.
Comment: In Viet Nam, native peasants needed less morphine than Americans paying for health care. [Health care]
Responses by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Attitude] [Sickness]
2. “If the Unconditioned is above distinctions of right and wrong, how do you reconcile this with the fact that we live in a moralistic society? If you are not enlightened, how do you live with the truth of the Unconditioned?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Unconditioned] [Virtue] // [Conventions] [Dhamma] [Vinaya] [Buddha] [Ven. Ananda Maitreya] [Clinging] [Suffering] [Recollection/Buddha]
Reference: “Still, Flowing Water” in Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 373.
Reference: Time & Timelessness by the Amaravati Saṅgha.
Reference: T. S. Elliot, The Dry Salvages.
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1: The story of the Buddha’s enlightenment.
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 4: Recollection of the Buddha: vijjācaraṇa-sampanno.
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 4, pp. 82-86. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Ajahn Chah, ‘Toward the Unconditioned,’ in Food for the Heart, pp. 385-91 and Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, pp. 383-400.
Ajahn Chah, ‘Convention and Liberation,’ in Food for the Heart, p. 307 and Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, pp. 21-27.
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 5, pp. 87-92. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Nyaṇatiloka Bhikkhu, Buddhist Dictionary, p. 106.
Suttas: MN 140.31; Dhp 21; AN 6.49; SN 22.49; SN 1.20; Nid 80.226; MN 144.9; SN 22.59 (also at Mahāvagga 1.6).
[Session] Readings by Ajahn Amaro:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 5, pp. 92-96 and 108-109:
Suttas: MN 102.23-4; AN 3.32; Ud 6.6; MN 2.7-8; SN 44.10; SN 22.15.
Sutta: Snp 5.14: Udaya’s Questions.
1. Comments by Ajahn Amaro, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo, Ajahn Kaccāna and Ajahn Pasanno about the designations for the Five Hindrances and insight in Snp 5.14. [Hindrances] [Insight meditation] // [Doubt] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Proliferation] [Not-self] [Great disciples]
Sutta: AN 3.33, quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 93.
2. “Does Ajahn Chah’s phrase, ‘Right in fact but wrong in Dhamma,’ imply that there is an objective world of facts and then a world above that which is Dhamma?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Truth] [Dhamma] // [Etymology] [Conventions] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Harsh speech]
Note: This phrase was discussed during the previous session.
Stories about the Buddha’s disciples who had killed people. [Great disciples] [Killing]
Suttas: MN 86: Aṅgulimāla Sutta; the story of Kuṇḍalakesī (Commentary to Dhp 102-103, Dhamma Verses Commentary translated by E. W. Burlingame and Ānandajoti Bhikkhu, p. 500).
Recollection: The lay disciple Pansak would sometimes show up drunk after work and spend the night under Ajahn Chah’s kuti. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Lay supporters] [Intoxicants]
Story: The monk Por Suey had been a hit man hired to kill Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah lineage] [Crime] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
[Session] Readings by Ajahn Amaro:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 5, pp. 96-101:
“No-self or Not-self” in Noble Strategy by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro.
Suttas: MN 1.3-194 (abridged); Ud 4.1 (also at AN 9.3); Ud 2.1.
David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, Section 6.
3. Comment: Anattā is a middle-way word between atthā and niratthā. [Pāli] [Etymology] [Middle Path] // [Right View]
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 5, pp. 101-105. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Suttas: Ud 3.10; Iti 58; MN 22.37; MN 22.20; AN 6.101.
Ajahn Sucitto, The Dawn of the Dhamma, p. 97.
Ajahn Chah, ‘No Abiding,’ in Food for the Heart, p. 316 and Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 33.
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 5, pp. 105-109. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Suttas: MN 75.12; MN 74.2-5; MN 102.12; Iti 49; SN 12.15, SN 22.90.
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1.6 (also at SN 22.59).
2. “You could have a reasonable intention to stop a habit or stop seeing someone. By telling yourself, ‘I want to stop,’ you identify with the object. But you can go round and round and round thinking about it....” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Spiritual friendship] [Volition] [Self-identity view] [Proliferation] // [Right Effort] [Mindfulness] [Discernment] [Attitude] [Becoming]
Sutta: Snp 2.4: Maṅgala Sutta.
Simile: Stinging nettles and dead nettles together in the same hedgerow. [Similes]
Quote: “I am an unenlightened person who has to do something now to become enlightened in the future.” — a paradigm based on self-view pointed out by Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Liberation]
Follow-up: “The only arbiter [of whether intention is based on self-view or wisdom] is your own experience....” [Self-reliance]
Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Teaching Dhamma]
Sutta: AN 9.3 Meghiya Sutta.
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities]
3. “I don’t have any clear memory of past lives, and I’m happy not to overly speculate about that. But some monks suggested that you need to take on the doctrine of rebirth as part of Right View. Do you have any thoughts about this?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Rebirth ] [Right View] // [Self-reliance] [Ajahn Amaro] [Four Noble Truths] [Ajahn Chah] [Becoming]
Sutta: MN 117.6: Definition of Right View.
Quote: “You don’t have to believe in past lives or future lives in order to be a practicing Buddhist, do you?” — The Dalai Lama. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Dalai Lama] [Buddhist identity]
Story: Ajahn Chah describes the supernatural beings who live at Wat Pah Pong to two sincere Dhamma practitioners, then refuses to answer inquiries about this topic by a group from Bangkok. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Non-human beings] [Wat Pah Pong]
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 5, pp. 109-112. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Ācariya Nāgārjuna, Mūlamadhyamaka-kārikā, Ch.15.
Spiritual Autobiography, Ajahn Chah.
2. “I’m wondering if there is an evolutionary explanation for Nibbāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Science] [Nibbāna] // [Suffering] [Human] [Environment] [Killing]
3. “I have never come to the bottom of this self or not self, and I come to the point where I just give up. Should I worry?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view ] [Not-self] // [Present moment awareness] [Proliferation] [Insight meditation] [Knowing itself] [Relinquishment]
Reflection by Ajahn Amaro: This which knows the person is not a person. [Personality]
Follow-up: “This goes strongly against what we experience outside of Amaravati; in work life there is very strong identity. To find a balance is very challenging.” [Work]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno: “Identification is the glue that holds suffering together.” [Suffering] [Non-identification]
Quote: “When were you ever made any the less by dying?” — Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī] [Death] [Right View]
[Session] Readings:
Ajahn Pasanno’s preface to The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, pp. 8-9.
Sutta: MN 26.1-21: Ariyapariyesanā Sutta.
1. “You said that letting go, relinquishing identification, is actually the real security. Could you expand on that?” [Relinquishment] [Non-identification] // [Suffering] [Impermanence] [Self-identity view]
2. “Even before the Bodhisattva leaves home, he has a strong sense that Nibbāna is possible. Where does he get this confidence?” [Buddha/Biography] [Nibbāna] [Faith] // [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Liberation] [Western psychology]
3. “What does ‘Seeing fear and blame in the other world’ refer to?” [Fear] [Realms of existence] // [Rebirth]
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 13, pp. 224-225:
Suttas: AN 4.179; AN 10.60; AN 1.494.
Sutta: MN 26.22-42: Ariyapariyesanā Sutta.
1. “You mentioned very precise words and actions of the Buddha [in MN 26], but how do we know this is a genuine story because they were written hundreds of years ago?” [Buddha/Biography ] [Tipiṭaka] // [Faith] [Cessation of Suffering]
Sutta: MN 26.25: The encounter with Upaka.
2. “In this context (The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 225), what does disenchantment mean?” [Disenchantment ] // [Relinquishment] [Recollection/Peace]
3. “Where does agati (bias) fit in the flow of the mind? Is it like an anusaya, an underlying tendency or potential, or is it when [the mind] has started to move into action as to where you put your attention?” [Biases] [Nature of mind] // [Etymology] [Perception]
4. “When developing disenchantment and dispassion by seeing the way things are, how do we not go to the extreme of aversion or the craving of unbecoming?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Disenchantment] [Dispassion] [Aversion] [Craving not to become] // [Suffering] [Four Noble Truths]
Story: Ajahn Chah prods Ajahn Pasanno to reflect on suffering. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno]
5. “How do we distinguish the nuances of happiness and suffering?” [Happiness] [Suffering] // [Language]
Reflection: Any language is always a problem.
Quote: “The language of Dhamma is the language of feeling.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma] [Feeling]
6. “Once we identify a perception of fear, how should we practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Perception] [Fear] // [Recollection] [Disenchantment] [Right Effort]
Follow-up: “How do we reconcile [bringing up a counter-perception] with the practice of opening and allowing and embracing?” [Spaciousness]
7. Recollecting the peace of Nibbāna. [Recollection/Peace] [Nibbāna] // [Cessation] [Dispassion] [Pāli] [Tranquility]
Reading: The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 225.
Suttas: AN 10.60.10; AN 1.494.
8. “Is ‘dark night of the soul’ a similar term to disenchantment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Disenchantment ] // [Pāli] [Skillful qualities] [Translation] [Suffering] [Western psychology]
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 13, pp. 226-230:
Suttas: Ud 5.5; AN 3.55; MN 26.19; Iti 54 & 55; MN 107.3-11; MN 73.14.
1. “Would you say that with the ending of greed, hatred, and delusion that these are eradicated and don’t arise anymore?” [Unwholesome Roots] [Cessation] // [Knowledge and vision] [Cause of Suffering] [Buddha] [Arahant]
Follow-up: “We hear sometimes that it arises, but the person isn’t grasping it.”
Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo: This is similar to Ajahn Chah’s declaration, “Yes, I have a lot of anger, but I don’t pick it up.” [Ajahn Chah] [Aversion] [Relinquishment]
Story: Ajahn Chah explains that the many lines in his palm mean that he had lots of suffering. [Suffering] [Ajahn Viradhammo] [Teaching Dhamma] [Discernment]
2. Comment: There’s the suggestion that just four hours of sleep is enough, and I know that some people can cope with that, but I’ve always struggled with not getting much sleep, and it feels like torture if I force myself to stay awake. [Devotion to wakefulness ]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Fasting] [Truth] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Moderation in eating]
3. “Was there a Winter Retreat where Ajahn Chah had the community practice midnight vigils every night? Were you there at that time?” [Ajahn Chah] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Rains retreat] [Sitter's practice]
Quote: “Ajahn Chah fired up. That’s pretty scary.”
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 13, pp. 230-233:
Suttas: MN 29.7; MN 24.10; AN 3.101; MN 70.13, .22 & .23.
Sutta: AN 3.102: Nimitta.
Sutta: MN 70: Kīṭāgiri Sutta.
1. “Could [the principles in AN 3.102] also be related to practicing anāpānāsati?” [Investigation of states] [Right Effort] [Mindfulness of breathing]
Quote: “Dhamma is that which is just right.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma]
Quote: “Dhamma is neither high nor low, not dark or light, not tall or short. It’s just right.” — Ajahn Kinaree. [Ajahn Kinaree] [Middle Path]
2. “In practice, how do you know if you are tending towards laziness or restlessness, etc.?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Investigation of states] // [Concentration] [Direct experience] [Clear comprehension] [Ajahn Sumedho]
Sutta: AN 3.102: “The mind becomes malleable, wieldy, luminous, not brittle...”
3. “Typically it seems that Luang Por Sumedho uses more passive language [in regards to abandoning defilements]. Lately I’ve come across teachings from Ajahn Geoff and Ajahn Chah that use much more aggressive language, even ‘go to war with your defilements.’ It seems contradictory to me.” [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Ajahn Chah] [Language] [Unwholesome Roots] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Culture/West ]
Recollection: A Westerner asks Ajahn Chah why he scolds the Thai monks more than the Western monks. [Monastic life] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy]
Comment by Sister Ñāṇasirī: “In Thailand, we can be extremely lax, so we need a little bit more push.” [Culture/Thailand]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah would rarely speak in personal terms. Instead he tried to get people to reflect on how we can take Dhamma as a refuge. Recounted by Ajahn Kaccāna and Ajahn Pasanno. [Dhamma] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa]
4. “You read, ‘he realizes with the body’ (MN 70.23), and I read in one of the suttas (perhaps AN 4.113 or SN 48.53) that arahants touch Nibbāna with their body. Could you elaborate on this?” [Body/form] [Arahant] [Nibbāna]
5. “Yesterday you mentioned that arahants as well take on some of these practices of the gradual path. What happens in their mind with these practices?” [Arahant ] [Gradual Teaching] // [Liberation]
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 13, pp. 233-235:
Sutta: MN 70: Kīṭāgiri Sutta.
1. “Where is the path [of stream entry etc.] clearly defined?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Stages of awakening] // [Aids to Awakening] [Stream entry] [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Ajahn Chah]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 7: “The four pairs, the eight kinds of noble beings.”
Sutta: MN 70.20-21: Definitions of faith follower and Dhamma follower.
2. “You mentioned that the Tathāgatā is a bit harsh in discipline [in MN 70]. What is the practical side of this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Buddha/Biography] [Fierce/direct teaching] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Mahāyāna] [Sutta]
Sutta: MN 34: The Shorter Discourse on the Cowherd.
3. “I have the impression that Ajahn Chah concentrated on direct realization and the practice of meditation. He didn’t recommend reading too much, but instead reading our mind. You mentioned the 37 faculties/tools to purify our mind. For a lay person, this is a long study. Is it enough for us as laypeople to just have the practice of being here now?” [Ajahn Chah] [Meditation] [Aids to Awakening] [Lay life] [Present moment awareness] // [Paul Breiter] [Four Noble Truths] [Right View] [Faith] [Learning]
Quote: “There needs to be a catalyst. We have to challenge the mind. That’s where the structure of the teachings is important.” [Teaching Dhamma] [Delusion]
Follow-up: “If we practice meditation, does understanding come naturally?” [Discernment]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Liberation] [Spiritual friendship] [Appropriate attention] [Tranquility] [Relinquishment]
Story: Ajahn Sumedho spends his first year as a monk in solitary meditation reading only Word of the Buddha by Venerable Ñāṇatiloka. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Monastic life]
Follow-up: “Having kids is a big structure.” [Children]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 13, pp. 235.
Sutta: MN 117.
1. Teaching: Confidence or belief in the law of kamma is the foundation of mundane Right View. [Faith] [Kamma] [Right View] // [Rebirth ]
Sutta: MN 117.7.
Follow-up: “Would you say [mundane Right View] includes rebirth?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Views] [Conditionality] [Spiritual traditions] [Ordination]
Sutta: MN 60: Apaṇṇaka Sutta.
2. Teaching: How the Buddha defines Right Intention. [Right Intention] // [Eightfold Path]
Sutta: MN 117.10.
3. “What is meant by supramundane?” [Kamma] [Saṃsāra] [Suffering]
4. “Is there a 2025 version of wrong livelihood?” [Right Livelihood ] // [Military] [Food] [Industry] [Intoxicants] [Commerce/economics]
Follow-up: “Would you classify drug dealing as wrong livelihood?”
5. Comment: The general formula for Right Livelihood seems to be addressed to laypeople, not bhikkhus. [Right Livelihood] [Lay life] [Monastic life] // [Vinaya]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo.
Suttas about wrong livelihood: AN 5.177 (lay), DN 2.56 (monastic).
Follow-up: “Why is acting as a medical doctor wrong livelihood for a bhikkhu?” [Health care] [Culture/Thailand]
6. “If you have a right view of causality, does that mean you automatically have Right Intention?” [Right View] [Conditionality] [Right Intention]
Sutta: MN 117: The Great Forty.
7. “What are the benefits of observing the Eight Precepts in relation to just the Five Precepts?” [Eight Precepts ] [Five Precepts] // [Renunciation] [Virtue] [Simplicity]
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 13, pp. 235-239:
Suttas: AN 10.2; MN 118.15; SN 56.11; SN 51.20.
1. Comment: Some of the links [in AN 10.2] seem more natural than others....For example, the Bodhisattva was really good at concentration, but he wouldn’t have described himself as having knowledge and vision of the way things are back when he was studying with Āḷāra Kālāma. Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Conditionality] [Naturalness] [Concentration] [Knowledge and vision] [Buddha/Biography]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right View]
2. “You mentioned that one of the links [in AN 10.2] is pleasure. What is this in Pāli?” [Happiness] [Translation]
3. “Is knowledge and vision [described in AN 10.2] different than the Dhammacakka Sutta [SN 56.11.5] where it says that knowledge and vision arose?” [Knowledge and vision] // [Four Noble Truths]
4. “Does that mean that sadness and misery is by nature a state of delusion?” [Suffering] [Delusion]
5. “Is having a virtuous life an integral part of having a sense of purpose and living with Right Livelihood?” [Virtue] [Purpose/meaning] [Right Livelihood]
6. Quote: “Whenever you have feelings of love or hate for anything whatsoever, these will be your aides and partners in building pārami. The Buddha Dhamma is not to be found in moving forwards, nor in moving backwards, nor in standing still. This, Sumedho, is your place of non-abiding.” — Ajahn Chah’s only letter to Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Greed] [Aversion] [Perfections] [Dhamma] [Middle Path ] // [Relinquishment] [Knowing itself]
7. “What is non-abiding?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Knowing itself] [Relinquishment] [Middle Path]
Sutta: SN 1.1.
8. The meaning of chanda (desire). [Desire ] [Translation] // [Bases of Success] [Craving] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] [Sensual desire]
9. “In the Four Biases (agatī), is chanda used in a negative sense?” [Biases] [Desire] [Unskillful qualities]
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25