Dispassion (virāga)
Includes tags: Dispassion, Disenchantment, Cessation
See also: Cessation of Suffering
2. [When talking about the qualities for developing the Eightfold Path, seclusion, cessation, and dispassion.] “Could you distinguish between cessation and dispassion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eightfold Path] [Progress of insight] [Cessation] [Dispassion] // [Pāli] [Etymology]
3. “Could you give the Pāli words for dispassion, cessation, and maturing? Also the word you used with otappa?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pāli] [Dispassion] [Cessation] [Release] [Conscience and prudence] // [Seclusion]
4. “Can you say more about the practice of awareness of arising and ceasing in relation to discernment and right view?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Becoming] [Cessation] [Mindfulness] [Discernment] [Right View] // [Impermanence] [Ajahn Chah] [Conditionality] [Self-identity view] [Happiness] [Mindfulness of mind] [Patience]
Reading from an unnamed recent Ajahn Chah book. [Relinquishment] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
Quote: “I don’t teach you guys much. Just be patient.” — Ajahn Chah.
1. “Thank you for your talk. Can you flesh out: ‘dispassionate about what?’ Also, trying to encourage dispassion along with arousing energy.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Dispassion ] [Energy] // [Craving] [Sense bases] [Body/form] [Emotion] [Contentment] [Tranquility]
Quote: “When there’s a coolness towards the world around one, that frees up a lot of energy for directing attention to what’s actually useful and beneficial.” [Dispassion ] [Discernment]
4. “Thank you for the wonderful teachings...Can you further discuss dispassion and nonattachment in the context of the ‘middle way.’ (particularly for a layperson in a loving relationship)” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Relationships] [Dispassion]
12. “Is there a distinction between dispassion and equanimity?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Dispassion] [Equanimity]
9. “I’ve been sitting on this question for the past few days. It has to do with dispassion, shedding, simplifying and being easily satisfied on the one end of the spectrum and being engaged and active in the world, even taking an unpopular stand, on the other end. How can one practice shedding internally but still be responsive and engaged regarding the suffering from environmental and social issues? It seems that would complicate things, but that is where my heart is drawn.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Dispassion] [Simplicity] [Contentment] [Politics and society ] [Environment] // [Suffering]
Quote: “When there is displassion and shedding, a clarity arises in the mind, when can then more easily be applied to something that is useful or beneficial without complicating things.” [Dispassion] [Clear comprehension] [Compassion]
Quote: “Do you think there’s any hope for saving all the forests in Thailand?”—“I don’t think there’s hope that it’s going to make a huge impact right now. I’m just planting the seeds for the future, and maybe something will change. It’s not an option not to do it.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Culture/Thailand]
12. “Is the pursuit of peace, cessation, stillness any different from any other pursuit or desire?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Tranquility] [Cessation] [Desire]
9. “Is there consciousness (awareness, knowing) in the experience of nibbana or is there a complete cessation of all six senses, as some traditions say. (Particularly in relation to the experience of stream-entry, which is sometimes described as a cessation.)” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna ] [Sense bases] [Stream entry] [Cessation] // [Liberation] [Ajahn Chah] [Sutta] [Thai Forest Tradition]
Sutta: SN 22.59.11 Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta: knowledge of liberation (Chanting Book translation).
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]
14. “She talks about virtue being the other hand of discernment in the meditation experience, and whenever discernment discerns stress, virtue is what lets go of the cause of stress, that virtue does the disbanding of it. Is virtue an unusual word to use there?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Upasikā Kee Nanayon] [Virtue] [Discernment] [Cessation of Suffering] [Dispassion] // [Pāli] [Conscience and prudence] [Ajahn Chah]
Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 14: Many levels of sīla. [Commentaries] [Eightfold Path]
1. “Could you describe ways to work with delighting and wanting around the pleasure of food?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Food ] [Craving] [Happiness] [Unattractiveness] [Disenchantment] // [Elements] [Mindfulness of body] [Clinging] [Impermanence] [Dependent origination]
Sutta: AN 5.208: The benefits of chewing toothwoods. [Cleanliness]
6. “You mentioned that asubha practice can cool sensual desire. But what if what you are attracted to is not so much a physical thing but an attraction of the heart—of good qualities you see. What cools the heart if you are hooked?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unattractiveness] [Dispassion] [Clinging] // [Ageing] [Impermanence]
10. “Thank you for so many wonderful teachings. I am contemplating cessation and would like to hear more about the cessation of the body-death. I have been with a few beings as they have died, 1 human and a few pets. Is the manner of death important to having a ‘good’ rebirth? Does being afraid or suffering a great deal affect the next life directly or is the experience of death just added to ones overall karma?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Death] [Rebirth] [Cessation] [Fear] [Suffering] [Kamma] // [Stream entry] [Health care] [Patience] [Humility]
16. “Was the fire sermon a ‘teaching moment’ of hyperbole? I love to take photographs, for example, and it helps me engage much more deeply with the world outside my skull. And it fills me with rapture, compassion, and joy! Does the Buddha’s recipe for liberation truly entail cutting off this experience of beauty? Where’s the Theravada equivalent to the Zen ‘suchness’ —the awe of life and its ephemerality? Thank you!” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Dispassion] [Impermanence] [Suchness] [Recreation/leisure/sport] [Liberation] [Compassion] [Happiness] [Beauty]
Sutta: SN 35.28: Ādittapariyāya Sutta
1. “Which Pāli word is translated as “fading away?”” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pāli] [Translation] [Dispassion] // [Cessation]
2. “How does nirodha differ from arising and ceasing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Cessation] [Impermanence] [Pāli] [Translation] // [P. A. Payutto] [Dependent origination]
6. “I’ve heard the teaching that if you watch your kilesas in samādhi, they tend to subside. Sometimes you watch your sakkāya-diṭṭhi and it’s not going away. What to do?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unskillful qualities] [Mindfulness] [Concentration] [Cessation] [Not-self] [Self-identity view] // [Impermanence] [Suffering]
8. “Do you think it’s enough to just be aware of the suffering that’s caused by the clinging to self?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
5. “Does name and form cease or not arise?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Aggregates] [Cessation] // [Language] [Proliferation]
Sutta: DN 11.85.10: Kevaṭṭasutta.
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]
9. Comment: It’s so hard not to identify with the contents of the mind, to not make it me and mine. Realizing how useless so many of my thoughts are helps. [Self-identity view] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Suffering] [Disenchantment] [Directed thought and evaluation]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness] [Pāli]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Not-self] [Humility]
5. “Can you say more about how disenchantment can be uplifting?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Disenchantment] [Gladdening the mind] [Politics and society] // [Translation] [Bhikkhu Bodhi] [Suffering] [Skillful qualities] [Progress of insight]
Quote: “There’s no known defense against cheesecake.” — Ajahn Sucitto. [Ajahn Sucitto] [Food] [Sensual desire]
2. “Snp 4.6 says something about not clinging to passion and dispassion. Usually I hear that cultivating dispassion is a good thing.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Clinging] [Sensual desire] [Dispassion]
4. “You mentioned ‘Look for the gap.’ Is this related to looking for fading away?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation] [Dispassion] [Recollection] // [Cessation] [Cessation of Suffering] [Impermanence] [Faith]
Follow-up: “So we’re not just looking at the blank...” [Wrong concentration] [Emptiness] [Nature of the cosmos] [Unwholesome Roots] [Not-self]
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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
2. “In this context (The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 225), what does disenchantment mean?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Disenchantment ] // [Relinquishment] [Recollection/Peace]
4. “When developing disenchantment and dispassion by seeing the way things are, how do we not go to the extreme of aversion or the craving of unbecoming?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Disenchantment] [Dispassion] [Aversion] [Craving not to become] // [Suffering] [Four Noble Truths]
Story: Ajahn Chah prods Ajahn Pasanno to reflect on suffering. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno]
8. “Is ‘dark night of the soul’ a similar term to disenchantment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Disenchantment ] // [Pāli] [Skillful qualities] [Translation] [Suffering] [Western psychology]
1. “Would you say that with the ending of greed, hatred, and delusion that these are eradicated and don’t arise anymore?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unwholesome Roots] [Cessation] // [Knowledge and vision] [Cause of Suffering] [Buddha] [Arahant]
Follow-up: “We hear sometimes that it arises, but the person isn’t grasping it.”
Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo: This is similar to Ajahn Chah’s declaration, “Yes, I have a lot of anger, but I don’t pick it up.” [Ajahn Chah] [Aversion] [Relinquishment]
Story: Ajahn Chah explains that the many lines in his palm mean that he had lots of suffering. [Suffering] [Ajahn Viradhammo] [Teaching Dhamma] [Discernment]
2. “How do you understand the cessation of consciousness in this passage (SN 12.48)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Consciousness ] [Cessation] // [Knowing itself] [Etymology] [Buddho mantra]
Follow-up: “How is awareness not consciousness?” Aswered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Language] [Science]
Follow-up: “How could the cessation of consciousness happen?” Aswered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Cessation] [Non-identification]
6. “How does repugnance fit into disenchantment and dispassion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Disenchantment] [Dispassion] // [Translation] [Skillful qualities]
2. “In the passage you read out [DN 11.85], on the one hand it’s referring to consciousness that is infinite and radiant and non-manifestative, but then it went on to say that consciousness ceases. Do you have any thoughts about this?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Consciousness] [Unestablished consciousness] [Cessation]
2. “Are [the links of Dependent Origination] from the perspective of the mind or is it also from the perspective of the jhānas where you have the cessation of appearances altogether? Or is it strictly on the level of volition?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Dependent origination] [Jhāna] [Cessation] [Volition] // [Nature of mind] [Appropriate attention] [Conditionality]
3. “When you are talking about Dependent Origination and craving, I thought that all of that had ceased for an arahant.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Dependent origination] [Craving] [Arahant] [Cessation] // [Feeling] [Unskillful qualities] [Ignorance] [Māra]
Suttas: SN 4.6; SN 4.20: The Buddha’s encounters with Māra. [Buddha/Biography]
Sutta: MN 50: Mahā Mogallāna rebukes Māra. [Great disciples]
Sutta: SN 10.3: Sūciloma. [Non-human beings]
13. “Could you talk about what to do with disenchantment? You may feel that you’re being lazy by not engaging with the world....” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Disenchantment] [Seclusion] // [Spiritual friendship] [Amaravati] [Abhayagiri] [Dhamma online]
Sutta: SN 45.2: Half of the Holy Life.
14. “I am interested to hear more about the qualities of wholeheartedness. You mentioned that the English language does not have a word that captures it. There’s something that can go from non-attachment/dispassion to apathy, which is not helpful in the world.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Language] [Relinquishment] [Dispassion] [Sloth and torpor] [Impermanence] // [Disenchantment] [Skillful qualities] [Pāli] [Conditionality] [Abhidhamma]
Suttas: Suttas: AN 6.10, AN 10.2: The cascade of well being.
3. “Could you speak about the practice of being mindful of craving and allowing it to pass?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unskillful qualities] [Mindfulness] [Craving] [Cessation] // [Hindrances] [Relinquishment] [Recollection/Dhamma] [Faith] [Memory]
Quote: “If we don’t understand the obstacle, we can’t be free from it.” [Discernment] [Liberation]
Quote: “You’ve got to be really careful because the mind is a liar and a cheat.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Nature of mind] [Heedfulness]