Ajahn Sumedho   Tag [Ajahn Sumedho]
42 excerpts, 4:20:11 total duration


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 4 – Apr. 28, 2001

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5. Story: How Ajahn Sumedho met Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Language] [Military] [Vinaya] [Ordination]


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7. How would Ajahn Chah fare in England? [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Culture/West] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Respect for elders] [Culture/Thailand] [Vinaya] [Discernment] [Pace of life]

Story: An emergency landing in Rome. [Fear] [Sensual desire]

Story: Ajahn Chah was threatened while walking almsround in London. [Almsround] [Dhamma]


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8. Ajahn Chah made me look at myself. [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho ] // [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Posture/Sitting] [Pain] [Aversion] [Admonishment/feedback] [Humor] [Patience] [Goodwill] [Discernment] [Contentment] [Cessation] [Happiness] [Saṅgha] [Views] [Relinquishment]

Quote: “Your practice now is patience.” — Ajahn Chah.

Story: Ajahn Chah chats for hours after Pāṭimokkha. [Idle chatter] [Judgementalism]


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 16 – Apr. 28, 2001

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1. Reflection: From idealism to the way it is. [Idealism ] [Equanimity] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Culture/Thailand] [Culture/West] [Suffering] [Delusion] [Aversion]

Story: A Thai monk’s perspective on worldly stupidity. [Military]

Quote: “Someone with that kind of pure presence is really a mirror.” [Personal presence] [Teaching Dhamma]


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2. I was the first Westerner at Wat Pah Pong. [Wat Pah Pong] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Military] [Culture/Thailand] [Aversion] [Rains retreat] [Types of monks]


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3. “When I went to stay with Luang Por Chah, he said, ‘Don’t read anything.’” [Learning] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Abhidhamma] [Rains retreat] [Meditation]


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4. “His way of teaching was direct....He would use the essential teaching of the Buddha, the Four Noble Truths.” [Teaching Dhamma] [Four Noble Truths ] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Human] [Culture/Thailand] [Ageing] [Sickness] [Death] [Spiritual traditions] [Self-identity view]

Quote: “It’s the suffering that awakens you.” — Ajahn Chah. [Suffering] [Liberation]


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5. Story: “Sumedho, Wat Pah Pong, is it suffering?” [Wat Pah Pong] [Suffering] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Lunar observance days] [Work] [Monastic crafts] [Aversion] [Cleanliness]

Quote: “To want something that’s not present, something you don’t have, is suffering.” [Craving] [Cause of Suffering] [Culture/Natural environment] [Saṅgha] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Culture/West]


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 20 – Apr. 28, 2001

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1. “How did Ajahn Chah relate to the lay community around him and tailor the Dharma to their own circumstances?” Answered by Ajahn Sumedho and Ṭhānissarā. [Lay life ] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Ajahn Chah] [Teaching Dhamma]

Story: Thai villagers tell Ajahn Sumedho that they never understood Buddhism until they met Luang Por Chah. Told by Ajahn Sumedho. [Culture/Thailand] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Monastic life] [Generosity] [Meditation] [Community] [Family] [Mindfulness]

Quote: “He didn’t respond to the external cues but went to the heart and grabbed you in that way.” — Ṭhānissarā. [Conventions] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Not-self]


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2. “Did Ajahn Chah pass his teaching style to you or do you use your own separate style?” Answered by Ajahn Sumedho and Paul Breiter. [Personality] [Ajahn Chah] [Teaching Dhamma]

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Story: Ajahn Sumedho, first abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat. Told by Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Abbot] [Wat Pah Nanachat ] [Sequence of training] [Culture/West] [Joseph Kappel] [Aversion] [Suffering] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Humor]

Quote: “The special thing about Luang Por Chah was that he was at ease and completely himself.” — Ajahn Sumedho. [Contentment]

Response by Paul Breiter: “The elements are there, but different teachers are expressing them in a living way.”


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 26 – Apr. 29, 2001

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2. Story: Ajahn Sumedho meets Jack Kornfield. [Jack Kornfield] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Chah] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Insight Meditation Society] [Judgementalism]

Story: Ajahn Sumedho stays on Pupek Mountain. [Seclusion] [Suffering] [Aversion] [Sickness] [Self-pity] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Robes] [Humor] [Gratitude]


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 30 – Apr. 29, 2001

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2. I was the first Westerner, so he gave me an enormous amout of attention for the first two or three years. [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Mentoring] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Mahā Amorn] [Other Thai Forest teachers] [Pāṭimokkha] [Conceit] [Paul Breiter] [Truth] [Compassion] [Humor]

Story: Venerable Varapañño chants the Pāṭimokkha better than Ajahn Sumedho. [Competitiveness] [Jealousy]

Note: The story that Ajahn Sumedho didn’t tell is probably told in Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 189.


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5. Story: Ajahn Chah orders Ajahn Sumedho to stay in England for five years. [Ajahn Sumedho] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Ajahn Chah] // [Determination]

Story: The Kaṭhina that Ajahn Sumedho didn’t want to attend. [Kaṭhina] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Harsh speech]


Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 35 – Apr. 29, 2001

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4. Recollection: The June 2000 Saṅgha Meeting discusses allowable sweets and protecting Ajahn Chah’s name. [Wat Pah Pong] [Saṅgha] [Saṅgha decision making] // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Seclusion] [Personality] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Medicinal requisites] [Technology]


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5. Story: Wat Pah Pong monks develop malnutrition when Ajahn Chah goes away for several months. [Wat Pah Pong] [Almsfood] [Sickness] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Ajahn Chah] // [Mae Chee] [Food] [Almsround] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Liem] [Fierce/direct teaching]


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6. Recollection: The June 2000 Saṅgha Meeting concludes in harmony. [Wat Pah Pong] [Saṅgha] [Saṅgha decision making] [Communal harmony] [Ajahn Chah] // [Views] [Harsh speech] [Asking forgiveness ceremony] [Three Refuges] [Culture/West]

Quote: “Luang Por Chah wasn’t giving us views and opinions....[He gave] us all a confidence in the unspoken unity of our humanity.” [Faith] [Human]