Paul Breiter, who, thirty years ago, was Varapañño Bhikkhu, recollects his experiences with Luang Por Sumedho in the early 1970s. My first year in college I had one of those rare instructors who prodded and provoked students into thinking and investigating the world and themselves. One day he was talking about myth. He said that myths are something relevant to their time and place and fill a nee…

A Dhamma talk given by Ajahn Sumedho at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery on the Lunar Observance Night, June 18, 2008 This is the Uposatha Night and the full moon, the month of June, and you’ve gathered to listen to the Dhamma—for practicing. This evening you took refuge in Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha. This can be a Theravadin ceremony, or it can be a reminder of what a refuge is, and why we would repeat…

(Editor’s Note: In honor of Luang Por Sumedho’s 80th birthday on July 27th and his recent visit to Abhayagiri, we will be posting a series of Luang Por Sumedho reflections.) Bring your attention to this moment, here and now. Whatever you’re feeling physically or emotionally, whatever its quality, this is the way it is. And this knowing of the way it is is consciousness; it’s how we experience the…

(Editor’s Note: In honor of Luang Por Sumedho’s 80th birthday on July 27th and his recent visit to Abhayagiri, we will be posting a series of Luang Por Sumedho reflections.) A difficulty with the word Nibbana is that its meaning is beyond the power of words to describe. It is, essentially, undefinable. Another difficulty is that many Buddhists see Nibbana as something unobtainable—as so high and so r…

I’m not usually here for this special event—the remembering Tan Ajahn Chah’s birthday. We have another celebration on January 16 for his death. Usually I go to Thailand for that and also for many big meetings and a meditation retreat event at Wat Pah Pong, Ajahn Chah’s monastery. So, this is his birthday. He always thought celebrating birthdays was a bit of a joke. I think they have a different at…

A transcibed and translated Dhamma talk by Ajahn Preecha of Wat Santacittarama, Italy from the book “Ging Gahn Haeng Bodhinyana’ (Twigs and Branches of Bodhinyana)” Ajahn Preecha will be visiting Abhayagiri from June 11th to July 6th. An elder of our broader international community of Ajahn Chah monasteries, he has been resident at Wat Santacittarama, Italy for two decades. Luang Por Pasanno has k…

In our Dhamma practice, many of us may choose to work with the five hindrances throughout our day. And we should pay attention to these hindrances and work with them because, not only are they an obstruction when we sit down to practice meditation, but they’re also very concrete manifestations of the underlying tendencies of greed, hatred and delusion, tendencies that keep us moving through Samsar…

I’m experiencing a very worldly delight in non-involvement, non-responsibility. It’s very lovely to be visiting and not having to feel responsible for making all the threads come together. But, it’s also important, and the thing I like to reflect on a lot, that the complications that are difficult are not the external ones, like the logistical nightmares of the work monk. It’s more the logistical…

Since today is a community work day, there is an opportunity to work together for the benefit of the community and to recognize how we can look at opportunities for work. Sometimes we may feel that the word work already has the connotation of drudgery, a burden in some way. But that’s just how we perceive it and, therefore, create a certain feeling around it. Instead, we can change our perceptions…

In your own Citta, I think it’s very important to notice attitudes towards work and how you respond to it. Quite often we’re asked to do things we’re not competent in or used to doing. There’s a learning curve we all go through in the Sangha. If you’ve never had to do welding and you end up doing welding or you’ve never been an abbot and you end up being an abbot, it becomes a real training in how…