1. “Is it easy for a person with attainments to deal with the world?” [Stages of awakening] [Everyday life] // [Discernment] [Conceit] [Culture/West] [Wrong concentration]
Quote: “To push away the world is also to reifying it. One gives it power when one is afraid of it.” [Craving not to become] [Proliferation] [Fear]
Laypeople with highly developed meditation practice function well in the world. Comment by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Lay life] [Meditation/Results] [Energy]
1. “Does AN 4.94 undercut the whole debate about whether to practice insight meditation or samādhi first?” [Insight meditation ] [Calming meditation ] // [Views] [Buddha] [Suffering] [Human]
Quote: “Just work with what you’ve got and try to free the mind. It’s pretty straightforward.” [Liberation]
3. Quote: “Tudong should be something you’re learning from.” [Learning] [Tudong]
5. “I wanted to confirm that we’re also not putting this self on other objects like the redness belonging to the rose.” [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]
8. “Do you think it’s enough to just be aware of the suffering that’s caused by the clinging to self?” [Suffering] [Clinging] [Self-identity view] [Dispassion] [Not-self] // [Characteristics of existence] [Cessation] [Ignorance] [Knowledge and vision] [Release] [Proliferation]
Quote: “The most efficacious investigation comes from a still mind.” [Concentration] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation]
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 behind the arising of a sense of self, a sense of me.” [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 ]
11. Comment: Before I get to all that [deep reflection on not-self], in the meantime I think of Luang Por Sumedho’s saying, ‘Every time I think of myself, I get depressed.’ [Ajahn Sumedho] [Self-identity view] [Depression] [Not-self]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Five Precepts]
Quote: “It’s difficult but it’s not that complicated. The Buddha’s teachings go against the grain of our conditioning and habits, but the essence of it is quite simple.” [Proliferation] [Right Effort] [Craving] [Simplicity] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
10. “Any advice for cures for burnout? I’m in a helping profession and feel depleted and exhausted. I need help getting the balance between giving and receiving.” [Depression] [Work] [Health] [Generosity] [Compassion ] // [Culture/West] [Idealism] [Commentaries] [Selfishness]
Quote: “Compassion in the English language means ‘to suffer with.’ If you end up suffering with too much, you end up burnt out.” [Language] [Suffering]
Quote: “Don’t think you’re a ten-wheeled dump truck when all you are is a wheelbarrow.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah]
Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 291: Classical cultivation of goodwill and compassion, first to yourself. [Goodwill]
Quote: “Our ability to be with others and to help and to give is dependent on our being kind and compassionate to ourselves.” [Spiritual friendship] [Self-reliance]
11. “Is sexuality and wanting an intimate connection with another considered a negative desire?” [Sensual desire] [Relationships] [Desire] [Unskillful qualities] // [Food] [Clear comprehension] [Compassion] [Selfishness] [Discernment] [Precepts] [Trust]
Quote: “It’s not so much a matter of thwarting desire, but understanding how desire works so we can build those bonds of trust and care.”
1. “I’ve been struggling with sleepiness while trying to meditate, having the intention to be present and aware, but finding myself dozing off.” [Sloth and torpor] [Clear comprehension] [Meditation retreats] // [Conditionality] [Lay life] [Craving not to become] [Directed thought and evaluation]
Story: Ajahn Boon Choo meditates through tiredness after staying up for days. [Ajahn Boon Choo] [Kaṭhina] [Wat Pah Pong] [Energy] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Ardency]
Quote: “The boundaries we set for ourselves are oftentime much smaller than what we can actually deal with, work with, or be with.” [Self-identity view] [Clinging] [Patience]
16. “If you know of an abusive situation and both the abuser and victim are stuck in it, how do you hold this? How to encourage them to follow this path?” [Abuse/violence] [Compassion] [Buddhist identity] // [Cessation of Suffering]
Quote: “You plant seeds of possibility. You can’t make the seeds grow, but you can plant the seeds.” [Similes]
9. “Isn’t rapture and joy a sensual pleasure?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Rapture] [Happiness] [Sense bases] [Jhāna] // [Dhamma] [Virtue] [Generosity] [Compassion] [Recollection/Virtue]
Quote: “You can actually give yourself permission to enjoy the meditation.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation]
14. “That sukha (happiness) is still experienced through the sense object of the mind?” [Happiness] [Rapture] [Sense bases] [Jhāna] // [Mindfulness of body]
Quote: “The way the Buddha describes the jhāna factors, all the images are grounded in the body.” (MN 39.15) [Similes]
19. Quote: “There are a lot of confusing views and opinions about jhāna and meditation. It’s helpful to ask, ‘What’s the Buddha actually say? How does he put it?’ I have a lot more faith in him than in a lot of what’s out there.” [Meditation] [Faith] [Views] [Buddha] [Jhāna]
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]
12. “Ajahn Chah talks about the one who knows. Is this a purely mental exercise or is it embodied?” [Ajahn Chah] [Knowing itself ] [Mindfulness of body] [Jhāna] // [Culture/West] [Nature of mind]
Quote: “The Thai Krooba Ajahns translate ‘Buddho’ as ‘being the one who knows.’” [Thai Forest Tradition] [Buddho mantra] [Translation]
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?” [Nibbāna] [Death] [Ajahn Chah] // [Relinquishment]
Quote: “Oftentimes we’re really not ready to let go until there’s absolutely no alternative left.”
16. “How are you satisfied and/or dissatisfied with students?” [Teaching Dhamma] // [Blame and praise]
Quote: “Whatever expectations I have are my expectations.” [Suffering]
8. “Could you talk about how to manage doubt when it arises?” [Doubt ] // [Mindfulness of body] [Continuity of mindfulness]
Quote: “It’s the continuity of mindfulness and clarity that we build up that’s going to alleviate the doubt as opposed to any particular clever answer.” [Clear comprehension]
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 apparent recourse or means of addressing the situation. Any suggestions?” [Family] [False speech] [Habits]
Quote: “I don’t teach my family anything.” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Teaching Dhamma]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s mother visits Abhayagiri. [Parents] [Kaṭhina]
20. “Last night you spoke about balancing tranquility of mind with investigation or a theme for contemplation. Can you clarify how this can be accomplished without getting into the usual mind states of planning, associating, etc.?” [Tranquility] [Investigation of states ] [Recollection ] [Proliferation] // [Impermanence] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Discernment] [Recollection/Death] [Visualization] [Divine Abidings]
Mistaken assumption: “I think, therefore I suffer. If I didn’t think, then I wouldn’t suffer.” [Suffering]
Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 104: Forty subjects of meditation.
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.” [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]
6. “Can you give me some ideas for antidotes to restlessness? So far the best I have is to give myself a set time and not move one iota from sitting or standing. Another is not to fight it but use it for imaginative contemplation.” [Restlessness and worry ] [Determination] [Recollection] // [Perfections] [Patience] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Happiness] [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Tranquility]
Quote: “It’s the continuity of wholesome mental states that allows the mind to become settled and steady.” [Skillful qualities]
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?” [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?” [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]
7. “Can you give a concrete description of how you recollect or contemplate? What’s going on in your mind while you do it? What resources or mental formations do you use?” [Recollection] // [Learning] [Four Noble Truths] [Right Effort] [Directed thought and evaluation]
Quote: “The most effective contemplation takes place when the mind is still.” [Tranquility]
18. “I often feel overwhelmed with the greed, hatred, ill-will, and delusion that the corporate world exerts over the masses to the benefit of only themselves and that is destroying the planet’s ability to renew itself. Could you speak about Buddhist involvement in social change movements?” [Politics and society] [Activism] [Unwholesome Roots] [Commerce/economics] [Selfishness] [Environment] // [Truth] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Non-profit organizations]
Ajahn Pasanno reflects on the results of his efforts to preserve forests in Thailand. [Geography/Thailand] [Learning] [Greed] [Corruption]
Quote: “Can I set an example myself and can I help encourage other people who are interested?”
19. “Who are the most senior monks in the Theravāda/Thai Forest Tradition? Can you speak about the lineage? Are there Thai teachers of your seniority who come to the West?” [Theravāda] [Thai Forest Tradition]
Quote: “Sometimes people assume that the Thai Theravāda Forest Tradition is one thing. – No.” [Culture/Thailand]
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.” [Death] [Relinquishment] [Long-term practice] [Pain]
Quote: “The holding on is way more painful than the relinquishing.” [Clinging] [Suffering]
1. “Is Ajahn Sumedho saying that art is always coming from a place of ego?” [Artistic expression] [Self-identity view] // [Doubt]
Quote: “How do we respond to doubt? ... out of fear, out of worry? How do we try to make things certain and sure? That’s what we have to figure out.” [Fear] [Impermanence]
1. “Can you provide guidance on the contemplation of conceiving, and name and form?” [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. “How much did you have to adapt Ajahn Chah’s training for your own practice?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] [Monastic life] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Generosity] [Mindfulness] [Discernment]
Quote: “Ajahn Chah didn’t have a template.” [Meditation/Techniques]
1. “Could you talk about how to integrate interaction and physical seclusion to develop citta viveka - mental seclusion?” [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?” [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).
6. “What is right effort? What is the right level, kind of effort so that mindfulness comes more easily?” [Right Effort ] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Ardency] [Long-term practice] // [Aids to Awakening]
Quote: “You look at the definition of Right Effort, and it’s not about what you do, but it’s about the quality of the mind.” [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities]
1. Question about views on whether the cause of suffering is desire or clinging to desire. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Craving] [Clinging] [Cause of Suffering] // [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Idealism] [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering]
Reference: Salutation to the Triple Gem: “Rūpūpādānakkhandho ...”
Follow-up: “Is the greater suffering the reaction to pain?” [Pain] [Feeling] [Aversion]
Quote: “All these different teachings and expressions of teachings. ... We don’t have to make them mesh, but try to figure out what they are pointing to.” [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Recollection/Dhamma]
1. Quote: “This is what heat is like.” [Weather] [Abhayagiri]
4. Quote: “A monastery isn’t the buildings or the land, but it’s the people.” [Monasteries] [Community] // [Theravāda] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Ajahn Chah]
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.
12. Comments about ongoing Dhamma practice and coming back to the heart. [Long-term practice] [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Ill-will] [Forgiveness] [Mindfulness of mind]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Merit]
Quote: “We’re making choices all the time anyway; we may as well choose to be happy.” [Volitional formations] [Happiness]
14. “Could you comment on the tendency to use one aspect of the teaching to bypass another?” [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.” [Ardency]
6. “Does the Buddha say all beings are inherently good? How about generosity? Do all human beings have the capacity for generosity?” [Nature of mind ] [Generosity ]
Sutta: AN 1.51-52
Story: A Mafia boss stays under Ajahn Chah’s kuti and helps out at Wat Pah Pong. [Ajahn Chah] [Crime] [Wat Pah Pong] [Precepts]
Quote: “Generosity is an important doorway for many reasons.”
7. “In practice we are often doing battle with our defilements. Can you speak about ways of “gladdening” the heart?” [Unwholesome Roots] [Gladdening the mind] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Conflict] [Self-identity view] [Skillful qualities]
Quote: “Quit picking a fight with them.” [Right Effort]
10. “How would you describe romantic love? And how do you know if it is real or wishful thinking?” [Relationships ] [Delusion] // [Self-identity view] [Faith] [Virtue] [Generosity] [Discernment]
Quote: “I think you’re asking the wrong person!”
Sutta: AN 4.55
11. “If someone spreads a harmful story about another that is untrue, but has convinced her/himself it is true (including her/his own embellishments), does this break the fourth precept?” [Malicious speech] [False speech ] // [Precepts] [Ajahn Chah] [Volition] [Truth] [Nature of mind]
Quote: “The precepts are there for training as opposed to making a legal decision or character judgement.”
5. “When one dies, do they carry memory of their former life into their next life? Is it possible to make amends from the former life into the next life?” [Rebirth] [Memory] // [Kamma]
Quote: “It’s bad enough just remembering what you’ve done in this life.”
4. “Where is the middle way taught in the suttas? and how might that help some of us who consider extensive sitting practice an ascetic practice?” [Middle Path ] [Sutta] // [Virtue] [Concentration] [Discernment] [Right View] [Cessation of Suffering] [Knowledge and vision] [Eightfold Path] [Etymology]
Sutta: SN 56.11: Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Chanting Book translation).
Quote: “It’s not a middle way that is a compromise where you can cut out the hard bits and split the difference so you feel good about it.”
3. “The passage where the Buddha attains enlightenment and then thinks, ‘They’re never going to get it,’ (MN 26.19) speaks to me about self-doubt. Could you speak about conquering doubt?” [Buddha/Biography] [Human] [Doubt] // [Self-identity view] [Skillful qualities] [Faith]
Quote: “Every time I think about myself, I get depressed.” — Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Depression]
Quote: “It’s not me being successful when I’m diligent and me failing when I’m not. That’s what happens in the human condition.” [Energy]
2. Reflection: Ajahn Chah as a focus of devotion. [Ajahn Chah] [Devotional practice] // [Respect for elders] [Skillful qualities]
Quote: “Ajahn Chah was an exemplary being and incredible teacher, but that didn’t mean that you always agreed with him or that he was always just very nice to you all the time.” [Human]
Recollection: The annual Ajahn Chah remembrance day in January. [Ajahn Chah Remembrance Day] [Ajahn Chah Stupa]
3. “I got a little confused about the part [of MN 19] where it says, ‘these thoughts are not to be feared.’” [Fear] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Right Intention] [Calming meditation] [Happiness]
Quote: “In trying to stop thinking, there’s an incredible tension that is created in the mind.” [Suffering]
Follow-up: “[MN 19] mentioned that these thoughts might make you tired.” [Sloth and torpor]
1. Quote: “That person is making me suffer. ... If they would just smarten up and do what I like, then I would be happy. My life would be smooth and peaceful again, just like it always was before.” [Cause of Suffering] [Humor] [Politics and society]
Quote: “Don’t believe your mind. It’s a liar and a cheat.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Heart/mind] [False speech] [Delusion]
9. “Some of my suffering in the current situation comes from feeling compassion with regard to specific suffering that I’m aware of and not acting in response to it. What are helpful stories to frame a patient, long-term effort to effect change?” [Suffering] [Compassion] [Patience] [Long-term practice] [Politics and society] [Kamma] [Activism] [Views] // [Association with people of integrity] [Right Effort]
Quote: “And just because one doesn’t see results doesn’t mean one shouldn’t do something. ... To put the causes into something–that’s the only way that change is going to happen.” [Conditionality]
12. “Is this along the concept of Right Effort in a global sense? Not getting attached to the outcome, but yet finding something that’s important enough to put some energy into?” [Right Effort] [Activism] [Politics and society] // [Kamma] [Energy]
Quote: “There’s no such thing as doing nothing.”
1. “How do we make sense of the whirlpool of assumptions?” [Proliferation] [Clinging] // [Discernment] [Perception] [Impermanence] [Ajahn Chah] [Views]
Quote: “Welcome to the human existence.” [Human]
1. “Why are the precepts worded as things not to do rather than as aspirations?” [Precepts ] [Vinaya] // [Dhamma]
Quote: “You can’t mandate goodness.”
3. “Two questions: 1) What strengths do you see in other Buddhist traditions and Western culture that our tradition could benefit from? 2) How have you decided which aspects of korwat (protocols) from Thailand to adjust and which to maintain?” [Mahāyāna] [Vajrayāna] [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand] [Monastic life] [Vinaya] [Protocols] // [Abhayagiri] [Women in Buddhism] [Robes] [Cultural context] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas] [Dōgen] [Zen] [Ajahn Sumedho] [History/Western Buddhism] [Simplicity] [Christianity] [Renunciation] [Eight Precepts] [Not handling money] [Chithurst] [Ajahn Amaro] [Communal harmony]
Quote: “There are so many good things to do that you could be running around the country doing good things. I’d rather focus my attention here.” [Pace of life]
Quote: “There’s no reason to fit into American culture.”
Story: The monastic jacket is vindicated in England. [Culture/Natural environment] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
Quote: “As Buddhist monastics and Buddhist practitioners, we’re trying to set conditions that give us the opportunity for learning.” [Lay life] [Learning]
6. “Can you talk about the dangers of misplaced or wrongly directed faith in a teacher?” [Faith] [Teachers ] [Respect for elders] [Monastic life] // [Recollection/Dhamma] [Middle Path]
Quote: “A good teacher encourages people to practice and figure this out rather than telling them exactly what to do.” [Teaching Dhamma] [Discernment]
4. “At the beginning of this retreat, Tan Ajahn Anan advised us, “Don’t forget Nibbāna.” How do we orient ourselves towards Nibbāna?” [Nibbāna ] [Ajahn Anan] [Monastic life] // [Dispassion] [Cessation of Suffering] [Etymology] [Stream entry]
Sutta: AN 10.60: Girimānanda Sutta [Cessation]
Sutta: SN 56.11: “Whatever is of the nature to arise, that is of the nature to cease.” [Conditionality]
Quote: “[The goal] is incredibly worthy, and it is not beyond our capability and means to experience.” [Direct experience]
1. Quote: “Ajahn Chah tried to make practice into everything we were doing, whether we were monastics or laypeople.” [Ajahn Chah] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Monastic life] [Lay life] // [Work]
15. “When you have completed the practice, does everything become ‘down time?’” [Stages of awakening] [Recreation/leisure/sport] // [Clinging] [Almsfood] [Culture/Natural environment]
Quote: “It’s because we reflect on these ‘serious things’ that we can hold things lightly.” [Recollection]
Suttas: MN 2.13: Reflection on the requisites; AN 5.208: Benefits of chewing toothwood
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?” [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]
5. “Years ago I considered the Buddha someone who practiced harm reduction. But having worked in the field, I’ve started to have a lot of conflict around when people request paraphernalia to help them use [drugs]. The idea is to keep them alive, but now it’s become very complicated because people are still dying. Is this a violation of right livelihood? Could you speak about wisdom and compassion?” [Intoxicants] [Health care] [Death] [Right Livelihood] [Discernment] [Compassion] [Gratitude] // [Right Intention] [Crime] [Politics and society]
Quote: “As a person who is trying to help, you have to learn harm reduction to yourself.” [Depression]
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?” [Ageing] [Parents] [Pain] [Patience] // [Empathetic joy] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Relinquishment] [Gratitude] [Idealism]
Quote: “Even monks have mothers.”
2. Quote: “Learning how to be comfortable with dukkha ... is a willingness to open the heart to the whole realm of experience. That’s an act of love.” [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Direct experience] [Goodwill] // [Generosity] [Fear] [Listening] [Clear comprehension]
6. Quote: “We have to get out of the habit of being thieves.” — Ajahn Buddhadāsa. [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Relinquishment] [Stealing] [Recollection] // [Aggregates] [Clinging] [Naturalness]
Quote: “The peace of Nibbāna is not something that you gain, that you get, that you claim ownership over; it’s by relinquishing and releasing these bases of identity.” [Nibbāna] [Recollection/Peace] [Release] [Self-identity view]
1. “What is your favorite thing you’ve gotten from monastic life?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Virtue] [Teachers] [Contentment]
Quote: “You really get to see the best of the human condition as a monastic. That’s a real treat.” [Human] [Monastic life]
8. “You mentioned that ruminating on how one would like to change the world or the conditions around oneself can be a source of needless suffering. But there are times when one does want to work to change the world or the way society is organized for the sake of lovingkindness and alleviating suffering. How do we engage with those desire for change in a skillful way?” [Politics and society] [Suffering] [Desire] [Goodwill] [Compassion] [Skillful qualities] [Activism] // [Conditionality] [Self-identity view] [Conflict] [Poverty] [Judgementalism] [Aversion] [Culture/Thailand] [Environment] [Idealism]
Quote: “If one is going to commit oneself to change, one has to get used to looking at things from a big perspective, a perspective of ‘How do we include rather than exclude?’” [Community]
Quote: “You want to approach a particular problem with an open a mind as possible and then see who might be willing and able to help.”
4. “What technique to use to realize the fruits of this practice in this life? What technique is easiest and most effective?” [Meditation/Techniques ] [Stages of awakening] // [Ardency] [Energy] [Right Effort] [Learning] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
Quote: “I can guarantee that looking for the easiest way is the least effective way.”
Quote: “Practice is one mistake after another.” — Dōgen. [Dōgen]
Story: Someone asks the Dalai Lama, “What is the easiest and quickest way to realize emptiness?” The Dalai Lama cries. [Dalai Lama] [Emptiness] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Sutta: AN 3.137: A teaching of effort.
1. “You have so much community-building experience. Can you talk about what you have found challenging or effective in this? How did Ajahn Chah build community?” [Community] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] // [Saṅgha] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Virtue] [Trust] [Communal harmony] [Compassion] [Culture/Thailand] [Ajahn Chah lineage] [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Sequence of training] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Abhayagiri] [Eightfold Path] [Learning]
Sutta: MN 48: Kosambiya Sutta [Principles of Cordiality] [Goodwill] [Generosity] [Right View]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno pays respects to Ajahn Chah: “If you want to stay here, you have to stay at least five years.”
Quote: “The whole path of the Buddha is a path of learning, of education.”
2. “How to balance the tension between the warrior energy (taking action), the awareness of the perfection of all that is, and the weariness and humility that leads through this?” [Right Effort] [Present moment awareness] [Disenchantment] // [Suffering] [Discernment] [Fear] [Human] [Gladdening the mind] [Aversion] [Recollection] [Nature of mind] [Tranquility]
Sutta: AN 1.296-305: The Ten Recollections
Quote: “The happy mind is easily settled.” [Happiness] [Concentration]
5. “How to reach the state of peace and serenity when we’re just human beings and we strive to be good people?” [Tranquility] [Equanimity] [Human] [Virtue] // [Happiness] [Generosity] [Association with people of integrity] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Hindrances]
Sutta: DN 2: Sāmaññaphala Sutta - Fruits of the Holy Life
Quote: When asked about his attainments as a monk, “I’m just really happy about all the things I didn’t do.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Stages of awakening] [Monastic life] [Sense restraint]
7. “Your advice to leaders in the conflicts of 2021 in terms of the leaders themselves and how they can inspire their teams and communities?” [Leadership] [Conflict] [Community] // [Trust] [Generosity] [Compassion] [Listening] [Ajahn Chah]
Quote: “Leadership always comes by example.”
Quote: “[Ajahn Chah] never asked us to do something that he himself wasn’t doing.”
12. Comment: These days Ajahn Sumedho is on fire teaching Dhamma. [Ajahn Sumedho ] [Teaching Dhamma] // [Amaravati] [Ageing]
Quote: “He’s not talking a lot about the details. He’s talking about the essence. It’s very beautiful.” [Liberation] [Knowledge and vision] [Simplicity] [Proliferation]
Note: As of mid-2024, Ajahn Sumedho continues to give weekly Dhamma talks available on Amaravati’s YouTube channel.
2. “Early on in practice, I learned that practicing sīla (virtue) leads to the bliss of the blamelessness life and creates the conditions for samādhi. What is the Pāli word that translates to ‘the bliss of the blameless life?’” [Virtue ] [Merit] [Happiness ] [Concentration] [Pāli] // [Right Livelihood] [Generosity] [Right Intention]
Quote: “Sīla is the opportunity to rise up to a life of integrity.”
4. “How did it come to be that you ended up with Ajahn Chah? What was it like the first time you met him?” [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Determination] [Wat Pah Pong]
Quote: (To himself) “Five years if five years. You’ve got to do it.”
6. “Were there any memories from that period of training with Ajahn Chah that really stand out in your mind? In what ways did you find it difficult?” [Ajahn Chah] [Monastic life] [Wat Pah Pong] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Poverty] [Requisites] [Posture/Sitting] [Monastic routine]
Quote: “It was difficult, but it was also very satisfying. It felt like exactly what I wanted to be doing and should be doing.” [Ardency] [Faith]
11. “As abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat, you were involved in a model reforestation project. How did this come about and what motivated you to promote reforestation in Thailand?” [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Environment ] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Culture/Thailand] [Commerce/economics] [Geography/Thailand] [Food] [Agriculture] [Community]
Quote: “It’s not just forest that you want to pay attention to. ... The villagers need to make a living.” [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Right Livelihood] [Learning]
Quote: “I had good people helping me. It wasn’t just me.”
14. “Abhayagiri is not near a major city, but there has been plenty of interest from both laypeople and those wishing to ordain. What do you credit for the successful establishment phase of Abhayagiri Monastery?” [Abhayagiri] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Trust] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Vinaya]
Quote: “We are what we say we are. That helps.” [Truth]
9. “It’s understandable that we crave happiness through the senses. Attaching to a certain type of happiness through the senses is not helpful for cultivation. But there’s also the emphasis on joy in the Buddha’s teachings. So there should be a balance, and where to find that?” [Sense bases] [Sensual desire] [Happiness] [Gladdening the mind] // [Four Noble Truths]
Quote: “All the elements of the path are a source of happiness and well-being.” [Eightfold Path]
Follow-up: “What about the joy that comes from enjoying sensual things like music, painting, scents, and water?” [Artistic expression] [Beauty] [Clinging] [Spaciousness]
3. “During times of intense joy and happiness, I find that joy and happiness itself can trigger worry, fear, or desire to control. From this morning’s teachings, I took that one way to skillfully hold happiness is to share it; another is to express gratitude for it. Do you have any advice on how to hold happiness when it feels almost too big to release into?” [Happiness ] [Fear] [Gratitude] // [Self-identity view] [Compassion] [Discernment] [Right Speech] [Admonishment/feedback] [Humility]
Sutta: AN 2.126: Two conditions for the arising of Right View. [Right View] [Spiritual friendship] [Appropriate attention]
Quote: “What is the essence of the Buddha’s teachings? You are not what you think.” [Not-self] [Proliferation]
7. “How to turn grief of the planet and humankind into creative action?” [Grief] [Environment] [Human ] [Activism] // [Generosity] [Gratitude] [Purpose/meaning] [Community] [Aversion]
Quote: “If you think you’ve got to solve the problem completely yourself, that stirs one into inaction.”
Recollection: The nonprofit organization founded by Ajahn Pasanno to protect forests in Thailand is still operating. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Non-profit organizations] [Culture/Thailand]
2. “Can you speak more about the progression of mindfulness of breathing, how the Four Foundations of Mindfulness develop the Seven Factors of Awakening?” [Right Mindfulness] [Factors of Awakening] [Mindfulness of breathing ] // [Emotion] [Conditionality] [Tranquility] [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of feeling]
Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta. [Mindfulness] [Mindfulness of mind] [Bases of Success]
Quote: “We’re breathing in and out anyway, but taking an interest in it is a game-changer.” [Desire]
1. “After the mind has settled and I’m with the breath, the boundaries of the body disappear and the breath starts to be barely perceptible. When anxiety arises in this situation, is it a feeling or a sensation?” [Tranquility] [Restlessness and worry] [Feeling] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Pāli] [Emotion] [Volitional formations]
Quote: “You’re falling out of a tree. You don’t have to count all the branches as you go down. You just have to know it’s going to hurt when you hit the bottom.” Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Dependent origination] [Similes] [Suffering]
Follow-up: “So I can just feel the feeling tone as unpleasant, pleasant, or neutral ... ?” [Noting]
4. “If I want to see what I’m doing to keep generating certain thought patterns, does my mind need to be really calm?” [Discernment] [Volitional formations] [Tranquility] [Mindfulness of breathing]
Quote: “If you start investigating and you get really interested, you’ll start to get calm.” [Investigation of states] [Desire]
5. “How does one know the difference between appropriate grieving and honoring the memory of a beloved versus clinging and attachment?” [Grief ] [Clinging] // [Cause of Suffering] [Self-identity view] [Spiritual urgency]
Recollection: Grieving for Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Recollection/Saṅgha]
Quote: “It’s that personalization of experience that gets us into trouble over and over again in different ways.” [Suffering]
1. “By moving to lovingkindness [meditation], I may be missing some of the deeper insights and wisdom that are present in feelings of anger, ill-will, and resentment. I think this is what is referred to as spiritual bypassing. Can you speak to this distinction or provide suggestions for accessing the wisdom that may be present within or underneath the hindrances?” [Goodwill] [Aversion] [Ill-will] [Spiritual bypass ] [Discernment] [Hindrances] // [Truth] [Suffering] [Benefit/gratification]
Quote: “Sensual desire is just trying to get a relief from suffering. Even anger and ill-will ... and the same with all the rest of the hindrances. They are looking for some relief from suffering in some way, shape, or form.” [Sensual desire]
2. “Would you speak about your response to the events in Israel and Gaza?” [Conflict] [Politics and society] // [Grief] [Human] [Suffering] [Idealism]
Quote: “The world has been a sad place for a long time.” [Nature of the cosmos]
5. “I have had many losses over the year, and both my parents passed away six years ago. I found that taking refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha, keeping the precepts, and having daily meditation practice helps. There is peacefulness and gratitude. I have heard that if one wants to share merits with the deceased, one could. What is the proper way? Could you give some guidance?” [Death] [Grief] [Parents] [Merit ] // [Recollection/Virtue] [Goodwill] [Translation] [Three Refuges] [Precepts] [Generosity] [Happiness]
Sutta: Iti 22: “Do not be afraid of puñña.”
Quote: “Puñña is accomplished through the heart itself.” [Heart/mind] [Cultural context]
Quote: “A spark of merit is worth more than a mountain of effort.” — Tibetan saying. [Vajrayāna] [Self-identity view]
10. “What are the words or practices to develop equanimity? In this difficult, divisive period, it’s helpful to have as much non-ill-will as possible.” [Equanimity ] [Conflict] [Goodwill] // [News] [Kamma] [Conditionality]
Quote: “[News] is not there to inform you. It’s there to create a reaction. ... Their job is to try to get click baits.” [Internet] [Advertizing]
16. “How does one reconcile perceived imperfections and unskillful behavior in Buddhist institutions and interactions with teachers?” [Unskillful qualities] [Teachers] // [Monasteries] [Monastic life] [Admonishment/feedback] [Blame and praise]
Quote: “The Buddha set up an institution that was not assuming infallibility.” [Buddha] [Lay life] [Human]
Sutta: Dhp 227: Nobody lives without criticism.
18. “Can you talk about fear as a cause of dukkha and how to work with it?” [Fear ] [Suffering] // [Unwholesome Roots] [Abhidhamma] [Delusion] [Mindfulness of body] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Biases]
Quote: “In terms of personality, [fear] was my go-to option.” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Personality]
19. “When one moves through the world with compassion and lovingkindness, how does one avoid feeling depleted? In a world of ‘individuals,’ most take more than they give and to always be giving can be exhausting.” [Compassion] [Goodwill] [Selfishness] [Generosity] [Depression] // [Not-self] [Four Noble Truths] [Cause of Suffering]
Quote: “When we are attentive to freedom from suffering, there’s an inexhaustible well of goodness there.” [Cessation of Suffering] [Skillful qualities]
6. “Please, a short talk on Nibbāna.” [Nibbāna ] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Cessation] [Unwholesome Roots] [Relinquishment] [Jhāna]
Quote: “Nibbāna is not a thing.”
Sutta: Ud 3.10: Yena yena hi maññati, tato taṁ hoti aññathā. – “For however one conceives it, it is always other than that.”
Reference: The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro
3. “Have you ever regretted choosing the monastic life? Has your mother ever thought you made a wrong choice?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Doubt] [Parents] // [Gratitude] [Retirement] [Energy] [Mentoring] [Christianity] [Abhayagiri]
Reflections on leadership. [Leadership ] [Ajahn Chah] [Abbot] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Discernment]
Quote: “You can’t lead just by telling people what to do and they are going to obey. Forget it!” [Leadership ]
Quote: “Everybody else is a mirror for oneself if one is willing to learn in teaching or leading others.” [Leadership ] [Learning]
6. “Going to Thailand—was it a divine plan or was it your own wish? Is enlightenment a path or a destination?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [God] [Purpose/meaning] [Stages of awakening] // [Skillful qualities] [Unconditioned] [Similes]
Quote: “None of the above.”
8. “Can building a continuous narrative regarding impermanence hinder the perception of beauty?” [Impermanence] [Proliferation] [Perception] [Beauty]
Quote: “It’s not about finding a perfect position that you can be in. What you’re doing is finding a place of balance that you’re not shaken by anything.” [Middle Path] [Equanimity]
1. “From the Christian perspective, I understand we get knowledge or wisdom from God, but it is through our human effort that we get a taste of the wisdom. You mentioned [neither] moving backward, forward, or being still. In Zen meditation, they taught being present. Is this grace or effort?” [Christianity] [Discernment] [God] [Human] [Right Effort] [Zen] // [Relinquishment] [Faith ] [Three Refuges]
Sutta: SN 1.1
Quote: “To me it’s much more faith that surrenders, that relinquishes, that’s willing to let go.” [Faith ]
Quote: “Suffering and being stuck in saṃsāra and in the world is just a bad habit.” [Suffering] [Saṃsāra] [Habits]
1. “What should one consider when looking for a teacher or guru to guide one’s personal journey?” [Teachers ] [Mentoring] [Discernment] // [Ajahn Chah] [Determination] [Truth] [Perfectionism] [Personality]
Quote: “I saw many people show up [at Wat Pah Pong] with their list of what they thought a perfect teacher should be. ... and they would leave.”
Quote: “It is only when we are willing to give ourselves to truth or reality that the teacher makes sense.” [Relinquishment]
1. “How do you deal with a friend who has commited suicide and the despair and grief that comes with that? How do you support a friend who has feelings of seeking annihilation and wanting to kill themselves?” [Suicide ] [Depression] [Grief] [Craving not to become] // [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Compassion] [Suffering] [Language] [Cessation of Suffering] [Fear]
Quote: “Compassion is a skillful or beautiful response to the suffering of the world.” [Skillful qualities]
2. Reflection: The early days of Abhayagiri were simple and basic. [Requisites] [Abhayagiri] // [Lay supporters] [Building projects] [Generosity] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
Quote: “It was like a Buddhist trailer park.” [Lodging]