Part of key topic Fruits of the Practice
7. “I have a hard time ending or letting go of relationships after they no longer serve me or prove to be unskillful people. ... Is this attachment to person or aversion/ fear etc of the unknown?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Relationships] [Relinquishment] [Clinging] [Fear]
8. “How do you decrease the times an obsessive thought arises in the mind? The more I try to let it go and come back to my body, the more it arises and proliferates. If I do the opposite and turn attention to it, it does the same thing. What is obsession anyways?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Proliferation ] [Restlessness and worry] // [Self-identity view] [Suffering] [Relinquishment]
20. “Can you talk about path and fruit in regards to the stages of awakening? What are they? How are they different?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stages of awakening ] // [Insight meditation] [Relinquishment] [Fetters] [Stream entry] [Self-identity view] [Aggregates] [Attachment to precepts and practices] [Doubt] [Once return] [Sensual desire] [Ill-will] [Non-return] [Arahant]
3. “When Ajahn Mahā Boowa says that the peaceful mind is the gathering place for the defilements, are these the underlying tendencies?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Concentration] [Unwholesome Roots] // [Knowledge and vision] [Relinquishment] [Delusion] [Stages of awakening]
4. “What does “the longing for the good is the cause of the trouble” mean?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mun] [Craving] [Skillful qualities] [Right Effort] // [Eightfold Path] [Aggregates] [Liberation] [Self-identity view] [Virtue] [Relinquishment] [Jhāna] [Ignorance] [Cause of Suffering]
Story: Sixth Patriarch Sutra: “No mirror, no dust.”
Recollection: Ajahn Chah taught you could grasp at either samut (the conventional) or vimut (the transcendent). [Ajahn Chah] [Conventions] [Unconditioned] [Clinging] [Discernment]
5. Comment: This reminds me of the phrase “possessing goodness.” [Self-identity view] [Virtue]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno: “The relinquishment doesn’t negate the need for cultivation of goodness.” [Conceit] [Right Effort] [Relinquishment]
6. “Is this similar to the Buddha’s teaching to let go of the path?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eightfold Path] [Relinquishment] // [Ajahn Chah] [Non-identification] [Right Effort] [Ajahn Mun] [Thai]
Sutta: SN 1.1 Oghataraṇa: Crossing the Flood.
5. “It’s interesting that he equates the extreme of self mortification to aversion, ill-will, and pushing away.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Middle Path] [Aversion] [Ill-will] // [Ajahn Chah] [Desire] [Ajahn Liem] [Relinquishment] [Arahant] [Idealism]
1. “With your meditation object, when you turn to contemplate it in terms of the three characteristics: anicca, dukkha and anatta, and that doesn’t come up, does that mean you need to stabilize the mind more to see the object more clearly?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Disenchantment] [Characteristics of existence ] [Concentration] // [Self-identity view] [Knowledge and vision] [Relinquishment] [Dhamma]
11. “She talks about making a story out of denying your defilements. Does the story of having fun denying your defilements come from that space of dwelling in that state of continuous mindfulness, or does continuous mindfulness come about from going through the suffering of forcing yourself not to enjoy anything?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Upasikā Kee Nanayon] [Unwholesome Roots] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Conditionality] // [Discernment]
Quote: “Relinquishment isn’t so much a giving up something that we have but enjoying the non-moving to get or trying to make.” [Relinquishment] [Cessation of Suffering] [Non-identification]
Simile: Learning to drive or walk. — Ajahn Kaccāna. [Similes]
17. “You were talking about the positive aspect of relinquishment, and that’s what will motivate giving up, that positive aspect of giving up and letting go. When it’s painful giving up and you give up, you can say, ‘Wait, I’m just focusing on the negative aspect of giving up, I need to switch my mind to the benefits of relinquishment?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Relinquishment] [Suffering] [Appropriate attention] // [Self-identity view] [Clinging] [Humor] [Humility]
18. Discussion about where there may be regret and longing linked to giving up something, although on reflection after relinquishment it can then feel like a non-event, no big deal. [Clinging] [Relinquishment] [Cessation of Suffering]
5. “What is the difference between abandoning craving and realizing the abandoning of craving?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Impermanence] [Aggregates] [Cause of Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] // [Commentaries] [Doubt] [Relinquishment] [Concentration] [Gladdening the mind] [Desire] [Becoming] [Non-return] [Right View]
Sutta: SN 56.11 Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. [Four Noble Truths]
Sutta: AN 9.36 Jhāna Sutta: Passion for Dhamma leads to non-return. [Dhamma] [Rapture]
Sutta: MN 121 Cūḷa Suññata Sutta: The Shorter Discourse on Emptiness [Emptiness]
Quote: “The characteristic of cessation is not just ending something and annihilating [it], but it’s being willing and able to stop. The nature of the mind is that it doesn’t like to stop. And it’s [through] that not stopping that we keep creating that sense of me.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Cessation] [Nature of mind] [Self-identity view]
2. Comment about the purpose and function of the path. Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Eightfold Path] [Cessation of Suffering] [Concentration] [Discernment]
Responses by Ajahn Ñāṇiko and Ajahn Pasanno. [Right View] [Relinquishment] [Self-identity view]
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. [Culture/Natural environment] [Work] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Restlessness and worry] [Aversion]
Story: Ajahn Chah calls Ajahn Pasanno lazy. [Pūjā]
Quote: “Do you give up?” — Ajahn Chah to Ajahn Pasanno. [Vinaya] [Relinquishment]
2. “All Dhammas are not to be clung to.” Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno. [Clinging] [Relinquishment] // [Cessation] [Meditation/Techniques] [Right View] [Upasikā Kee Nanayon] [Suffering]
Sutta: MN 37 Cūḷataṇhāsaṅkhaya Sutta
4. “With the succinct teaching “know and let go,” I notice a tendency in the mind to go through the motions of that without really being able to enter into it – what do I do about that?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness] [Relinquishment ] // [Truth] [Perfections]
7. Readings: MN 143, SN 2.20: Death of Anāthapiṇḍika Read by Ajahn Pasanno. [Great disciples] [Death] // [Sense bases] [Relinquishment] [Teaching Dhamma] [Lay life] [Deva]
25. Comment: Merit is faith driven, so there aren’t any limitations to where that can take you, and it has real value. [Merit] [Faith] [Realms of existence] [Death]
Story: Two Thai doctors take temporary ordination to make merit to rejoin their deceased brother in a future life. [Culture/Thailand] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Temporary ordination] [Family] [Rebirth]
Story: The mother of a woman killed in a bus crash dedicates merit so that the dead woman will be reborn in the family. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ghost] [Relinquishment] [Ceremony/ritual] [Kamma] [Volition]
Quote: “We live in a fairly limited concept of the world; it’s very material in the West. There’s a lot more happening than what we can see.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Nature of the cosmos] [Culture/West]
14. “Ajahn Pasanno, in your Dhamma talk “Letting Go of the Wheel,” you described a driver who saw an oncoming car cross into his lane and let go of the wheel. Is this a metaphor?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Relinquishment] [Symbolism/metaphor] [Death]
Quote: “When there’s death in your face, you don’t start negotiating. You have to be willing to let go.” [Relinquishment]
Follow-up: “So do you let your merit carry you?” [Merit]
8. Quote: “There’s only two things you have to do in practice: know and let go.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Mindfulness] [Knowing itself] [Relinquishment] [Thai Forest Tradition]
9. “Regarding thought fabrications, in daily life we have to focus on our work. How can we integrate the principles of anatta and dukkha into daily life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volitional formations] [Everyday life] [Work ] [Not-self] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Suffering] // [Right Livelihood] [Restlessness and worry] [Energy] [Impermanence] [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment]
11. “As the mind takes fabrications as its object, does the mind expand?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Upasikā Kee Nanayon] [Volitional formations] [Heart/mind] [Mindfulness of mind] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Relinquishment]
12. Comments by Ajahn Pasanno about being aware of awareness itself. [Upasikā Kee Nanayon] [Knowing itself] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Tranquility] [Becoming] [Cessation] [Fear] [Relinquishment]
4. “When Ajahn Liem says, ‘Practice is just for practice,’ what arises for me is that any time I put a meaning on practice, there has to be an ego state that arises around that meaning. ... It’s like letting go even of the idea of practicing in order to become enlightened.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Liem] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma ] [Self-identity view] [Becoming] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Liberation] [Relinquishment]
Quote: “Practicing for Nibbāna is just another kind of desire.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Nibbāna] [Desire]
6. Comment: I appreciate Ajahn Liem saying, ‘I didn’t make much of it.’ It’s a contradiction between being very active and not being active at the same time. [Ajahn Liem] [Middle Path] [Thai Forest Tradition]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Relinquishment] [Meditation] [Concentration] [Proliferation] [Nature of mind] [Faith]
1. Comment: I notice a connection between a person who is preparing for transition and going though agonal breathing. It’s one breath per minute or two, and it’s relaxed. [Death] [Mindfulness of breathing]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Release] [Clinging] [Relinquishment]
Quote: “You have to keep letting go until there is no remainder.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Relinquishment] [Liberation]
6. “When I practice mindfulness of breathing, thought arises. Do I want to eliminate thinking?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Concentration] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Proliferation] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Nature of mind] [Self-identity view] [Discernment] [Mindfulness of mind] [Investigation of states] [Relinquishment]
9. “Sometimes there will be spontaneous verbal recollection of Dhamma. Is this skillful?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Dhamma] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Relinquishment] [Proliferation]
19. “How do you not objectify this awareness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Knowing itself] [Mindfulness] [Proliferation] // [Four Noble Truths] [Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Investigation of states]
Quote: “If you objectify awareness, you’re going to suffer.” [Nature of mind]
Quote: “These Four Noble Truths are not an endpoint, they are something that you’re internalizing and using in your meditation practice and in your daily life.” [Meditation] [Everyday life]
25. “Ajahn Amaro writes about transforming the energy of sense contact into compassion and metta. How does this work?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Amaro] [Contact] [Compassion] [Goodwill] // [Aversion] [Relinquishment] [Four Noble Truths] [Happiness]
4. “Thank you for your talk on mindfulness today—very helpful. I’ve been practicing for a long time (and have even had a few insights that made big impressions on me) and while my sila has definitely improved, my mindfulness is a priority and I might have a tad more wisdom, my mind looks for ways to suffer. Sometimes I feel like a total failure as a Buddhist. I understand that letting go of identity view is the answer, but how? What am I missing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Long-term practice] [Suffering] [Perfectionism] [Self-identity view] // [Aggregates] [Relinquishment] [Drawbacks] [Gladdening the mind]
Sutta: SN 22.22: The Burden (Chanting Book translation)
7. “In the context of deep love—like between spouses or between parent and child—what is the application of the concept of non-attachment? What does it mean?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Family] [Relinquishment] [Relationships ] // [Characteristics of existence] [Compassion]
Quote: “A really loving gift is giving that person the autonomy to be a human being but to really care for them.” [Generosity] [Self-reliance] [Human]
13. “I am still very attached to my husband and children. I don’t want to relinquish the intimacy I share with my husband. I will suffer when they are gone. How do I reconcile this practice of relinquishment with the reality that I am a wife, mother and householder? With love.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gratitude] [Family ] [Lay life] [Relinquishment ] // [Spaciousness] [Suffering] [Clinging] [Cause of Suffering] [Communal harmony]
Quote: “Relinquishment is a skillful acknowledgement of the areas where we do create suffering.” [Relinquishment ]
Story: Visākhā, the stream enterer who raised 20 children. [Great disciples] [Stream entry] [Culture/India]
Quote: “Families that grow up with strong spiritual models are an incredible blessing.” [Mentoring]
8. “Can you please explain releasing the mind (again) in the context of the 12th step of the ānāpānasati. Thank you for your teachings. Mettā!” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Liberation ] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Mindfulness of mind] // [Relinquishment] [Hindrances] [Self-identity view] [Perception]
Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta
Quote: “Practice is very simple. There’s only two things to do: know and let go.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Mindfulness] [Relinquishment]
3. “Is mindfulness of the body fabricating a wholesome mental image of the body as opposed to an unwholesome image? But how can we know the body in any way other than vedanā?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Mindfulness of body] [Visualization] [Feeling] // [S. N. Goenka] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Postures] [Clear comprehension] [Right Mindfulness] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Delusion] [Characteristics of existence]
Quote: “The availability of insight is through stepping back from the assumptions that we make, whether it’s around the body or feeling or mind or the sense of self.” [Relinquishment]
4. “What does “know the mind as mind; know feeling as feeling” mean?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Mindfulness] [Relinquishment] // [Proliferation]
Comment: Self-view forms around the feeling from sense contact. [Sense bases] [Contact] [Feeling] [Self-identity view]
Sutta: MN 18: Madhupiṇḍika Sutta, The Honeyball.
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volitional formations] [Perception]
Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta. [Mindfulness of breathing]
2. Commentary on AN 9.36, “Jhāna.” Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno. [Jhāna] [Formless attainments] [Characteristics of existence] [Aggregates] [Liberation] [Deathless] [Progress of insight] [Relinquishment] [Nibbāna]
4. “After emerging from these attainments, can one function in the world?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Jhāna] [Formless attainments] [Everyday life] // [Discernment] [Relinquishment] [Spiritual bypass]
Comment: If you happen to exist in a body, it seems you need to learn how to live in a body. [Body/form]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of body] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Relinquishment] [Liberation]
1. Commentary on MN 121: The Lesser Discourse on Emptiness. Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno. [Emptiness] [Relinquishment] [Theravāda] [Not-self]
9. “Is the goal (Nibbāna) a thought-less state of mind?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna] [Heart/mind] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Formless attainments] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Impermanence]
“Who is the only person who doesn’t think? An arahant? A Buddha?” “No. The only person who doesn’t think is a dead person.” – Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Arahant] [Buddha] [Death]
11. “Can tudong be understood as a metaphor for practice? When we carry a lot of heavyweight stuff for a long time, we get tired and need to drop something.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Symbolism/metaphor] [Clinging] [Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Tudong]
3. “The Buddha didn’t answer the question, ‘Is there a self?’ But this question seems more important than other questions he didn’t answer. How should we relate to not-self?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography] [Questions] [Not-self ] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Feeling] [Relinquishment] [Self-identity view] [Four Noble Truths] [Views]
4. “Are the skillful means for dealing with not-self aas easy as know and let go?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness] [Relinquishment] [Not-self] // [Discernment] [Truth]
7. “Why go through all the trouble to teach us how to not have a self and then refuse to tell us there is no self?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Teaching Dhamma] [Middle Path] [Not-self] // [Relinquishment] [Suffering] [Questions] [Aggregates] [Sense bases]
10. “In regard to self and emotions, you acknowledge and embrace it but don’t hold tightly?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Emotion] [Clinging] [Relinquishment] [Middle Path] [Not-self] // [Discernment]
4. Comment about working with not-self in direct experience in relation to discomfort and awareness of embodied release. [Direct experience] [Feeling] [Suffering] [Impermanence] [Not-self] [Mindfulness of body] [Relinquishment] [Fear]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Proliferation]
12. Comment: I notice how the mind defends suffering because it’s so closely related to that idea of self. But if I let go of defending, what am I? [Clinging] [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment] [Not-self]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Learning] [Cessation of Suffering]
2. “A film came out recently called Monk with a Camera. How does one balance between pursuing one’s artistic interests and sincerely following a path of relinquishment.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Renunciation] [Artistic expression ] // [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment] [Entertainment and adornment] [Generosity] [Energy] [Devotional practice]
Story: Rev. Heng Sure uses music to teach Dhamma. [Rev. Heng Sure] [Teaching Dhamma]
Story: Two Abhayagiri monks learn icon painting from the abbot of the Ukrainian Uniate monastery next door. [Abhayagiri] [Ajahn Jotipālo] [Father Damien] [Holy Transfiguration Monastery]
5. “Do we have any control over the arising of desire?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volition] [Desire] // [Cause of Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Four Noble Truths] [Cessation of Suffering] [Cessation] [Pāli]
17. “What is the right point to drop or ignore the desire to identify with the Buddhist identity?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Relinquishment] [Desire] [Self-identity view] [Buddhist identity] // [Suffering] [Perfectionism] [Clear comprehension] [Conventions] [Ajahn Chah] [Right Effort]
2. “I was thinking about Ajahn Chah’s advice that all you need to do is know and let go. I’m wondering about knowing, developing, and letting go. Where does development fit in?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Knowing itself] [Relinquishment] [Right Effort]
5. “Is jhāna only in meditation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Jhāna] // [Right Concentration]
Quote: “Only farangs [Westerners] go into meditation rock climbing! Does he contemplate the Four Noble Truths?” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Culture/West] [Recreation/leisure/sport] [Four Noble Truths] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Relinquishment]
24. “In the jhāna similes (MN 39.15), ‘He makes ...’ seems very active. In dropping away things, is it a conscious dropping or an allowing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Right Concentration] [Relinquishment] [Jhāna] // [Volitional formations] [Conditionality] [Right Effort]
Quote: “Ajahn Chah emphasizes the doing within a sphere of detachment and letting go.” [Ajahn Chah] [Relinquishment]
6. “What is the difference between piti and sukha? Also equanimity and emptiness as a felt sense?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Rapture ] [Happiness ] [Equanimity] [Emptiness ] // [Self-identity view] [Theravāda] [Relinquishment]
Teaching: The difference between pīti and sukha. [Rapture ] [Happiness ] [Emotion]
Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 139: Similes for pīti and sukha. [Similes] [Rapture ] [Happiness ]
3. “You spoke of using the body as reference, backdrop for the breath. Always coming back to the body. Doesn’t this foster a sense of attachment to the body as mine? And what if the body is not in good shape, ill, and hurting?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Body/form] [Clinging] [Self-identity view] [Sickness] // [Relinquishment]
7. “Could you offer a bit of advice on how to deal with the apparent dichotomy between seeing people (including myself) as real & solid (for example when sending them metta), and the doctrine of no-self whereby there is no such imagined solidity at all – just an ever-changing combination of the khandas?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Not-self ] [Aggregates] // [Middle Path] [Pāli] [Impermanence] [Proliferation] [Relinquishment] [Liberation]
15. “In a Dhamma talk at Abhayagiri, you quoted Luang Por Chah as saying ‘Nibbāna lies on the shores of death.’ Could you say more about this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna] [Death] [Ajahn Chah] // [Relinquishment]
Quote: “Oftentimes we’re really not ready to let go until there’s absolutely no alternative left.” [Relinquishment]
22. “Is there a distinction between observing the mind and observing what arises?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of mind] [Impermanence] // [Knowing itself ] [Liberation ] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Buddha] [Relinquishment] [Cessation of Suffering]
5. “Competitiveness feels so pervasive here in America. What are your thoughts for working with it or healing it?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Competitiveness ] [Culture/West] // [Suffering] [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment] [History/America] [Proliferation]
Reflection: The nine bases of conceit. [Conceit]
9. “In this afternoon’s talk, Ajahn Karunadhammo mentioned the benefits of the bhava that results from practice or the Eightfold Path, but he described a consciousness that doesn’t land in or on a self and results in freedom. Is that a consciousness that results in neither arising nor non-arising. Could you elaborate? The moment between in and out breaths seems to hold potential for this kind of consciousness.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eightfold Path] [Becoming] [Unestablished consciousness] [Self-identity view] [Liberation] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Proliferation] [Consciousness] [Relinquishment] [Fear]
Quote: “You want to pay attention to the experience rather than the idea about it.” [Direct experience]
Suttas: DN 11.85, MN 49.25: Consciousness luminous all around.
Sutta: SN 12.64: Simile of the western wall. [Similes]
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]
12. “Several months ago, I started to use the phrase: ‘I’d rather be loved than right.’ This small shift has had a tremendous impact in my life as I relinquish my need to be right, to control and to assert my ego into things.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Relinquishment] [Views]
21. “I have attended many deaths and that last breath appears to be really difficult to relinquish. Does this training really help? I have trouble relinquishing the small aches and pains in my body.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Death] [Relinquishment] [Long-term practice] [Pain]
Quote: “The holding on is way more painful than the relinquishing.” [Clinging] [Relinquishment] [Suffering]
3. Ajahn Sucitto suggests cutting out habitual reaction patterns by bringing up the perception of not-self. Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ajahn Sucitto] [Right Effort] [Habits] [Not-self] [Conditionality] [Relinquishment]
Reference: Kamma and the End of Kamma by Ajahn Sucitto.
1. “Can you provide guidance on the contemplation of conceiving, and name and form?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Conceit] [Aggregates] [Proliferation] // [Suffering] [Nature of mind] [Advertizing] [Impermanence] [Relinquishment] [Non-identification] [Four Noble Truths]
Sutta: Ud 3.10: “For however one conceives it, it is always other than that.”
Quote: “The mind is a liar and a cheat.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [False speech]
Reference: Ajahn Buddhadāsa’s Nine Eyes, The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 116. [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Characteristics of existence]
Sutta: Ud 1.10 Bāhiya Sutta: “In the seen there is only the seen ...” [Sense bases] [Perception]
Quote: “You can hurt yourself even with really good tools.” [Meditation/Techniques] [Right Effort]
1. “Could you talk about how to integrate interaction and physical seclusion to develop citta viveka - mental seclusion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Seclusion ] [Community] // [Concentration] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Relinquishment] [Happiness] [Contact] [Proliferation]
Quote: “Cittaviveka is essentially sāmadhi.”
2. “What is the difference between upadhi viveka and citta viveka?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Seclusion ] [Concentration] [Discernment] // [Relinquishment] [Aggregates] [Characteristics of existence]
Quote: “Upadi viveka is more transportable. You can carry it with you.”
Sutta: SN 22.22: The Burden (Chanting Book translation).
3. “Is there a way to stabilize the perception of impermanence?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Perception] [Impermanence] // [Cessation] [Relinquishment] [Suffering]
Sutta: SN 12.15: Kaccānagotta.
13. Reflection by Ajahn Amaro: The world of things we leave behind, but the qualities of the heart are the abiding refuge. [Relinquishment] [Skillful qualities] // [Abhayagiri] [Monastic life] [Faith] [Simplicity] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
9. “I like the translations ‘conscience’ and ‘concern’ for hiri and otappa. Having done unskillful actions in the past that create suffering, and being aware of the tendency to personalize, how can it be over and done?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Treasures] [Conscience and prudence ] [Unskillful qualities] [Suffering] [Kamma] [Self-identity view] // [Four Noble Truths] [Divine Abidings]
Quote: “As a human being, I have the opportunity to learn from the past and move on to skillful action in the future. I don’t have to be like a dog that barfs stuff up and goes back and eats it again.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Human] [Learning] [Skillful qualities] [Similes]
Quote: “The not-self refrain, ‘This is not me, this is not mine, this is not what or who I am,’ is not an abdication of responsibility but an understanding, ‘This is the way I can put things down and move on, move past the things that are still creating suffering.’” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Not-self] [Relinquishment]
Suttas: SN 42.8 The Conch Blower; AN 3.100: A Lump of Salt.
14. “Could you comment on the tendency to use one aspect of the teaching to bypass another?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spiritual bypass] // [Four Noble Truths] [Recollection/Dhamma] [Relinquishment]
Quote: “With some things, letting go means you’re willing to commit to hard work, and other times you’re willing to put down what is burdensome.” [Relinquishment] [Ardency]
3. “Thank you for this opportunity to practice and your guidance. Can you explain nirodha?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Cessation ] // [Nibbāna] [Suffering] [Language] [Dependent origination ] [Relinquishment] [Release] [Thai]
Sutta: MN 118 Ānāpānasati Sutta. [Mindfulness of breathing]
7. “Would you have some suggestions on working with shame? As an emotion, it feels very “sticky” and probably the hardest one for me to work with. It seems like it is deeply rooted in my mind (probably thanks to Christianity). Is it true that Thai people have an easier time with it than westerners? Is an antidote to shame self-compassion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Guilt/shame/inadequacy ] [Culture/Thailand] [Culture/West] [Compassion] // [Goodwill] [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment]
12. “I am wondering if you could talk about spiritual bypass? What is it? How do you know if you’ve done it? And how do you disentangle from it?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spiritual bypass ] // [Conflict] [Not-self] [Truth] [Views] [Spiritual friendship]
Story: Half the roof blows off a monk’s kuti, but he doesn’t repair it because he is letting go. [Ajahn Chah] [Lodging] [Relinquishment]
12. “It’s a common phrase: “If you see the Buddha on the road, kill him.” Obviously it’s using hyperbole for effect but I think it means to trust only in your own experience. At what point do the guidelines and precepts leave off and the way to proceed on findings begins? I know it’s not a linear path, but I’d appreciate your thoughts.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Direct experience] [Precepts] [Trust] [Long-term practice] // [Zen] [Vinaya] [Dhamma] [Relinquishment] [Middle Path]
Quote: “The Vinaya and the precepts are for holding on, and the Dhamma is for letting go. When you learn how to balance those two, then you will be free from dukkha.” — Ajahn Chah to Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Relinquishment] [Liberation]
11. “Can you speak a bit about aversion and letting go? I’m dealing with the loss of my brother and the ending of a 15 year marriage. The painful memories are hard to process, and it is easier to push them away. I’d like to “know” and “let go” of them.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Aversion] [Relinquishment] [Grief] [Relationships]
5. “I am tangled up in self-identification and conceit. What should I do to get myself out?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view ] [Conceit] // [Suffering] [Discernment] [Relinquishment] [Clinging]
4. “Is realization of anatta a sudden event or does it happen gradually with sense of self becoming less and less dense until it eventually dissolves?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Not-self] [Progress of insight ] [Self-identity view] // [Relinquishment]
21. “Regarding unworldly or spiritual feelings, would you talk about what pleasant, painful, and neither look like? Is there guidance or examples to help practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Feeling] // [Relinquishment]
5. Comment: The mind can get caught on relinquishment itself. [Relinquishment] [Clinging] // [Compassion]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Views] [Attachment to precepts and practices] [Self-identity view] [Appropriate attention]
9. Quote: During the construction of a new hall, an engineer asks when it will be finished. “Tonight. Comes the evening, it’s finished. Tomorrow morning, I might do it again.” — Ajahn Liem. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Liem] [Building projects] [Wat Pah Pong] [Relinquishment]
1. “Why do upatakhs do things for their ajahns that the ajahns can do better themselves?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Upatakh] [Monastic life] // [Self-identity view] [Generosity] [Relinquishment] [Culture/Thailand] [Culture/West]
1. “Ajahn Chah encouraged his monks to all come together for communal chores and stay until the chores are finished. Why is that?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Work] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] // [Communal harmony] [Relinquishment] [Clinging] [Culture/West]
5. “How do we use sutta study in our practice and what are the pitfalls?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sutta ] [Views] [Learning ] // [Dhamma online] [Non-contention] [Self-identity view] [Culture/India] [Relinquishment]
Sutta: MN 18: Madhupiṇḍika Sutta.
6. Comment: Another major danger of over-intellectualizing is overestimating our progress. [Progress of insight] [Learning]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Views] [Relinquishment]
11. “Is refining the Five Precepts sufficient for lay practice to be transformative?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Five Precepts ] [Lay life] [Ajahn Chah] // [Vinaya] [Mindfulness] [Right Intention] [Relinquishment] [Compassion] [Truth]
14. “When you find happiness, there’s the hope that you won’t lose it and the fear that you will. How do you peel away the hope and the fear and bathe in happiness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Happiness] [Desire] [Fear] [Impermanence] // [Suffering] [Learning] [Relinquishment]
5. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 533-535 “A Snake in the House” Read by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Similes] // [Relinquishment] [Cessation] [Saṃsāra] [Nibbāna]
12. “The duty in regard to the First Noble Truth is to understand suffering. How do you do this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Noble Truth of Suffering ] [Suffering] // [Fear] [Pāli] [Characteristics of existence] [Aversion] [Postures] [Direct experience] [Conditionality] [Relinquishment]
17. “The Buddha had the talent of knowing precisely what to say to a person at a given moment. The teaching ajahns have developed this as well, but I’ve never heard of it as part of the training. Can you reflect on that?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Teaching Dhamma] [Buddha/Biography] [Monastic teachers] // [Personality] [Discernment] [Idealism] [Ajahn Chah] [Suffering] [Humility] [Relinquishment] [Fear] [Self-identity view]
18. “Before we relinquish the self, there needs to be a recognition of what’s going on. I often realize this minutes or hours later. Any suggestions for this initial step of noticing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Relinquishment] [Self-identity view] [Mindfulness] // [Investigation of states] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Cessation] [Spaciousness]
1. “In Canada, medical assistance in death is legal. As an old person who will be sick and dying not too far off, it raises the question: If I got to the point where I felt even with good palliative and hospice care, I couldn’t withstand the pain any longer, it’s an option. But what about the first precept of not taking life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sickness] [Pain] [Death] [Health care ] [Euthanasia] [Killing] // [Relinquishment] [Self-identity view] [Idealism]
Quote: “Being present for the falling apart of the body opens doorways to release that don’t really happen with, ‘I just want to be done with this. This totally sucks.’” [Present moment awareness] [Mindfulness of body] [Release] [Aversion] [Fear] [Clinging] [Saṃsāra]
2. “For some people, death comes with extreme pain. Part of being able to navigate through the dissolution of self requires clarity of mind. My understanding is that a lot of pain management involves morphine or other mind-numbing drugs. How does one navigate the pain?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Death] [Pain] [Relinquishment] [Self-identity view] [Clear comprehension] [Health care] [Intoxicants] // [Fear]
9. “When strong feelings associated with conceit come, what to do?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Conceit] [Feeling] // [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Clear comprehension] [Nutriment] [Relinquishment] [Patience]
13. “I live with my 96-year old mother. Her mind is quite good, but her body is ageing and there is pain in both legs. She has a stubborn will to carry on. We have our fights, but get through them quickly. I’m wanting to go to another level to develop patience. Can you comment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ageing] [Parents] [Pain] [Patience] // [Empathetic joy] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Relinquishment] [Gratitude] [Idealism]
Quote: “Even monks have mothers.”
5. “Is there a sutta about preferring the [forest] to the village, and then the bare earth, becoming more and more simple?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sutta] [Seclusion] [Simplicity] // [Emptiness] [Elements] [Relinquishment] [Generosity] [Goodwill]
Sutta: MN 121: The Lesser Discourse on Emptiness
8. “Could you say some more about the process of change?... You can have a big tool kit and apply it with the best of intentions. Sometimes magical things happen, and sometimes nothing happens.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Effort] [Conditionality] [Right Intention] [Progress of insight ] // [Goodwill] [Relinquishment] [Ajahn Chah] [Impermanence] [Long-term practice] [Learning] [Dependent origination] [Not-self] [Mindfulness]
9. Question about cultivating goodwill towards a difficult coworker. Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Work] [Goodwill] [Forgiveness] // [Suffering] [Right Effort] [Craving] [Relinquishment] [Kamma]
Comment: Sometimes having metta means leaving the situation. [Association with people of integrity] [Clear comprehension]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 46
2. “Can one bring up a theme to gain deeper understanding?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation] [Recollection] // [Relinquishment] [Cause of Suffering] [Dependent origination] [Conditionality] [Not-self] [Long-term practice]
Sutta: SN 56.11.11: Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: “Whatever is of the nature to arise is of the nature to cease.” [Impermanence]