All featured excerpts

571 excerpts, 40:59:54 total duration

Page:   123456

Readings from The Island, Session 13: All That is Conditioned – Part 3 – Jan. 26, 2025

Download audio (3:39)
3. Story: Ajahn Mahā Boowa argues with Ajahn Mun, then can’t access higher states of concentration. Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa ] [Ajahn Mun] [Concentration] // [Conceit] [Insight meditation]

Story: Mae Chee Kaew insisted that meditation connected with [supernatural] beings was the right way; Ajahn Mahā Boowa threw her out. Told by Ajahn Sundarā. [Mae Chee Kaew] [Non-human beings] [Fierce/direct teaching]


Download audio (2:56)
5. “Is there any other language that can describe things correctly? For example, mathematics or physics?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Language] [Unconditioned ] [Science] // [Suchness]

Sutta: Ud 3.10: “Whatever you conceive it to be, it is ever other than that.”

Reference: “Suchness and the Square Root of Minus One,” Happily Ever After by Ajahn Amaro, p. 507.


Readings from The Island, Session 18: To Be or Not to Be: Is That the Question? – Part 4 – Feb. 3, 2025

Download audio (1:43)
1. “When we immerse and lose ourselves in a book or movie, is this the craving or thirst for non-being?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Craving not to become ] // [Kamma] [Volition] [Restlessness and worry]

Sutta: AN 6.63.33: Kamma is intention.


Readings from The Island, Session 19: To Be or Not to Be: Is That the Question? – Part 5 – Feb. 4, 2025

Download audio (9:04)
3. “I don’t have any clear memory of past lives, and I’m happy not to overly speculate about that. But some monks suggested that you need to take on the doctrine of rebirth as part of Right View. Do you have any thoughts about this?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Rebirth ] [Right View] // [Self-reliance] [Ajahn Amaro] [Four Noble Truths] [Ajahn Chah] [Becoming]

Sutta: MN 117.6: Definition of Right View.

Quote: “You don’t have to believe in past lives or future lives in order to be a practicing Buddhist, do you?” — The Dalai Lama. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Dalai Lama] [Buddhist identity]

Story: Ajahn Chah describes the supernatural beings who live at Wat Pah Pong to two sincere Dhamma practitioners, then refuses to answer inquiries about this topic by a group from Bangkok. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Non-human beings] [Wat Pah Pong]


Readings from The Island, Session 20: To Be or Not to Be: Is That the Question? – Part 6 – Feb. 7, 2025

Download audio (8:15)
3. “I have never come to the bottom of this self or not self, and I come to the point where I just give up. Should I worry?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view ] [Not-self] // [Present moment awareness] [Proliferation] [Insight meditation] [Knowing itself] [Relinquishment]

Reflection by Ajahn Amaro: This which knows the person is not a person. [Personality]

Follow-up: “This goes strongly against what we experience outside of Amaravati; in work life there is very strong identity. To find a balance is very challenging.” [Work]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno: “Identification is the glue that holds suffering together.” [Suffering] [Non-identification]

Quote: “When were you ever made any the less by dying?” — Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī] [Death] [Right View]


Download audio (0:46)
4. “What is the meaning of dukkha?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Suffering ] // [Etymology]


Readings from The Island, Session 22: Practices and Perspectives I – Part 1 – Feb. 9, 2025

Download audio (1:41)
1. “You mentioned very precise words and actions of the Buddha [in MN 26], but how do we know this is a genuine story because they were written hundreds of years ago?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography ] [Tipiṭaka] // [Faith] [Cessation of Suffering]

Sutta: MN 26.25: The encounter with Upaka.


Download audio (1:48)
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]


Download audio (3:28)
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]


Readings from The Island, Session 23: Practices and Perspectives I – Part 2 – Feb. 10, 2025

Download audio (3:30)
2. Comment: There’s the suggestion that just four hours of sleep is enough, and I know that some people can cope with that, but I’ve always struggled with not getting much sleep, and it feels like torture if I force myself to stay awake. [Devotion to wakefulness ]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Fasting] [Truth] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Moderation in eating]


Readings from The Island, Session 24: Practices and Perspectives I – Part 3 – Feb. 11, 2025

Download audio (3:13)
3. “Typically it seems that Luang Por Sumedho uses more passive language [in regards to abandoning defilements]. Lately I’ve come across teachings from Ajahn Geoff and Ajahn Chah that use much more aggressive language, even ‘go to war with your defilements.’ It seems contradictory to me.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Ajahn Chah] [Language] [Unwholesome Roots] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Culture/West ]

Recollection: A Westerner asks Ajahn Chah why he scolds the Thai monks more than the Western monks. [Monastic life] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy]

Comment by Sister Ñāṇasirī: “In Thailand, we can be extremely lax, so we need a little bit more push.” [Culture/Thailand]

Recollection: Ajahn Chah would rarely speak in personal terms. Instead he tried to get people to reflect on how we can take Dhamma as a refuge. Recounted by Ajahn Kaccāna and Ajahn Pasanno. [Dhamma] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa]


Download audio (1:51)
5. “Yesterday you mentioned that arahants as well take on some of these practices of the gradual path. What happens in their mind with these practices?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Arahant ] [Gradual Teaching] // [Liberation]


Readings from The Island, Session 26: Practices and Perspectives I – Part 5 – Feb. 15, 2025

Download audio (2:57)
3. “Is there a 2025 version of wrong livelihood?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Livelihood ] // [Military] [Food] [Industry] [Intoxicants] [Commerce/economics]

Follow-up: “Would you classify drug dealing as wrong livelihood?”


Download audio (1:36)
6. “What are the benefits of observing the Eight Precepts in relation to just the Five Precepts?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eight Precepts ] [Five Precepts] // [Renunciation] [Virtue] [Simplicity]


Readings from The Island, Session 27: Practices and Perspectives I – Part 6 – Feb. 16, 2025

Download audio (1:49)
6. Quote: “Whenever you have feelings of love or hate for anything whatsoever, these will be your aides and partners in building pārami. The Buddha Dhamma is not to be found in moving forwards, nor in moving backwards, nor in standing still. This, Sumedho, is your place of non-abiding.” — Ajahn Chah’s only letter to Ajahn Sumedho. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Greed] [Aversion] [Perfections] [Dhamma] [Middle Path ] // [Relinquishment] [Knowing itself]


Download audio (1:12)
8. The meaning of chanda (desire). Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno. [Desire ] [Translation] // [Bases of Success] [Craving] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] [Sensual desire]


Readings from The Island, Session 28: Practices and Perspectives I – Part 7 – Feb. 17, 2025

Download audio (2:44)
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. [Non-identification]


Readings from The Island, Session 34: Practices and Perspectives II – Part 6 – Feb. 25, 2025

Download audio (1:22)
1. “What do you mean by adherence to views and observances? Isn’t that what we do here?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Attachment to precepts and practices ]


Readings from The Island, Session 35: Practices and Perspectives II – Part 7 – Feb. 28, 2025

Download audio (3:29)
2. “How should we approach the concept of Māra?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Sundarā. [Māra ] [Ignorance] [Unskillful qualities] // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Doubt] [Humor]


Readings from The Island, Session 36: Attamayatā: “Not Made of That” – Part 1 – Mar. 2, 2025

Download audio (1:40)
3. “How does atammayatā relate to Ajahn Chah’s simile about oil and water, the mind and the mind objects being separate?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Non-identification] [Ajahn Chah] [Similes ] [Nature of mind]

Quote: “Inside is Dhamma, outside is Dhamma, everything is Dhamma.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Dhamma]

Quote: “All symbols and similes are partially relevant. All analogies are partial.” — Ajahn Amaro. [Symbolism]


Download audio (3:36)
4. “I’m super perplexed and baffled with defining or understanding the term suchness or thusness. Are you able to communicate what it actually means?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Suchness ] // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Language] [Knowing itself] [Aggregates] [Unconditioned] [Dhamma] [Recollection/Dhamma]

Quote: “It’s like this.” “Reality is unimaginable.” — Ajahn Sumedho. [Direct experience]

Sutta: MN 72.20, quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 172.


Readings from The Island, Session 38: Attending to the Deathless – Part 2 – Mar. 4, 2025

Download audio (1:08)
5. Comment: You mentioned the example of sport, dancing, and music [in the previous question]. I thought of upatakhing as non-verbal attention that is not over involved and not dissociated. It came to mind when I saw Venerable Cittadhammo come in at the end of pūjā to help Luang Por Pasanno get up. It was very lovely; it was like he was watching to see just the right moment, and it was wordless. Contributed by Anagārikā Deepa. [Artistic expression] [Upatakh ] [Clear comprehension]

Response by Ajahn Amaro.


Readings from The Island, Session 40: Unsupported and Unsupportive Consciousness – Part 2 – Mar. 8, 2025

Download audio (9:48)
6. “You mentioned [existentialism/eternalism] and nihilism as familiar Western philosophical ideas. I understand that Buddhism’s approach is not one or the other. How do other Western philosophical ideas like solipsism or materialism sit?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Philosophy ] [Middle Path] // [God] [Humor] [Views] [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Teaching Dhamma]

Sutta: SN 22.86: “I teach suffering and the end of suffering.”

Comment: Philosophy usually tries to create a philosophy from which you pull down how to live your life, but the Buddha is the other way around.

Sutta: DN 1: Sixty-two wrong views.


Readings from The Island, Session 41: Unsupported and Unsupportive Consciousness – Part 3 – Mar. 9, 2025

Download audio (6:02)
3. Story: Ajahn Amaro’s insight his first day at Wat Pah Nanachat: “I didn’t get the pineapple and nothing is missing!” Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Amaro ] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Desire] [Eating after noon] [Impermanence] [Insight meditation] // [Liberation]

Quote: “Desire is a liar.” [Craving]

Ajahn Pasanno recollects Ajahn Amaro’s arrival at Wat Pah Nanachat.


Download audio (2:36)
6. “If worldly experiences are based on previous conditions, how is it possible to reach the world beyond our experience?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Conditionality] [Liberation ] // [Insight meditation] [Cessation] [Knowing itself]

Sutta: DN 11.85: “Where long and short, coarse and fine, pure and impure find no footing...”

Sutta: SN 2.26: The end of the world.


Readings from The Island, Session 42: Unsupported and Unsupportive Consciousness – Part 4 – Mar. 10, 2025

Download audio (2:45)
10.1. Quote: “We can be completely mindful of taking initiative. Our capacity to act is part of the way things are.” — Ajahn Amaro. [Mindfulness] [Right Action ] // [Discernment] [Right Mindfulness] [Buddha/Biography]


Readings from The Island, Session 44: Unsupported and Unsupportive Consciousness – Part 6 – Mar. 12, 2025

Download audio (5:48)
5. “How does pīti relate to the fulfillment of desire?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Rapture ] [Gratification] [Happiness] // [Unification] [Jhāna] [Craving] [Relinquishment] [Addiction]


Readings from The Island, Session 45: Unsupported and Unsupportive Consciousness – Part 7; The Unconditioned and Non-locality – Part 1 – Mar. 15, 2025

Download audio (1:32)
3.1. “Is there a difference between citta and poo roo?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Heart/mind ] [Knowing itself] [Nature of mind] // [Thai] [Language] [Proliferation] [Dhamma] [Buddha]

Quote: “If there’s anything left, just throw it to the dogs.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Chah] [Relinquishment]


Download audio (3:47)
6. Story: Ajahn Amaro realizes that the sense of here-ness is a quality of grasping. Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Amaro ] [Clinging] [Nature of mind] // [Abhayagiri] [Insight meditation] [Not-self]


Questions and Answers about Ajahn Chah, Session 1 – Jun. 17, 2025

Download audio (10:46)
4. “What advice would you give to future abbots and teachers of Wat Pah Pong branch monasteries so that the communities maintain the most important characteristics of Ajahn Chah’s style of leadership?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abbot] [Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Saṅgha] [Leadership ] [Ajahn Chah] // [Dhamma] [Vinaya] [Chanting] [Translation]

Sutta: DN 16.6: Dhamma-Vinaya is your leader.

Quote: “Ajahn Chah was conservative, but he wasn’t fundamentalist.” [Monastic life]

Story: The Dalai Lama asks the Abhayagiri monks to chant the Maṅgala Sutta (Snp 2.4, Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 46) in Pāli. [Dalai Lama] [Pāli]

Story: Ajahn Chah was one of the first forest monks to ban smoking in the monastery. [Smoking] [Lunar observance days]

Recollection: Ajahn Chah was unique in consulting with senior monks and laypeople when making decisions. [Saṅgha decision making]


Download audio (9:29)
5. “The word toramon is sometimes associated with Ajahn Chah’s style of training. Could he be ‘intentionally cruel?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Fierce/direct teaching ] // [Ascetic practices] [Teaching Dhamma] [Trust] [Compassion] [Saṃsāra] [Habits]

Quote: “Ajahn Chah was always willing to put obstructions in front of your desires, views and opinions, and habits, which was incredibly compassionate as well as courageous.” [Craving] [Views] [Courage] [Culture/West]

Story: Ajahn Chah lets a restless junior monk go tudong with devious stipulations. [Sequence of training] [Restlessness and worry] [Tudong]


Download audio (7:29)
6. “There are a few stories about Ajahn Chah having psychic powers, particularly reading minds. Did you ever observe anything of that sort with Ajahn Chah? What was Ajahn Chah’s position on such things?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Psychic powers ] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] // [Nature of mind]

Story: Ajahn Chah describes the supernatural beings at Wat Pah Pong to a close lay follower, then refuses to talk about other realms with a group from Bangkok. [Wat Pah Pong] [Non-human beings] [Teaching Dhamma]


Download audio (2:47)
7. “Were there any particular themes in Ajahn Chah’s teachings that regularly came up?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah ] // [Virtue] [Right View] [Relinquishment] [Knowing itself]


Download audio (13:38)
9. “Can you speak about the connection Ajahn Chah had with Luang Por Tongrat and Luang Por Tongrat in general?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Tongrat ] [Ajahn Chah] // [Thai sects] [Ajahn Mun] [Monastic routine] [Almsround]

Reference: Ajahn Utane’s biography of Ajahn Tongrat. Ajahn Mudito translated this into Portuguese in 2019, and there is a machine translation from the Portuguese.

Quote: “Oh, Chah, you’ve come.” — Ajahn Tongrat’s first words to Ajahn Chah..

Story: Ajahn Tongrat makes a racket under Ajahn Mun’s kuti in order to provoke a Dhamma talk. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Fierce/direct teaching]

Story: Ajahn Tongrat dies in the Dhamma seat. [Death]


Questions and Answers about Ajahn Chah, Session 2 – Jun. 18, 2025

Download audio (6:38)
3.1. Recollection: Caring for Ajahn Chah as a community. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Health care ] [Saṅgha] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Mae Chee] [Communal harmony] [Leadership]


Download audio (2:06)
10.1. Story: Ajahn Pasanno sits vigil at a cremation and makes a bathing cloth from the cloth used to wrap a corpse. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Funerals ] [Robes ] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Recollection/Death]


What Luang Por Chah Taught – Jul. 27, 2025

Download audio (4:23)
4. Recollection: Ajahn Chah’s community in 1975. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah lineage] [Ajahn Chah] // [Wat Pah Pong ] [Western Ajahn Chah lineage] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Isan] [Personal presence]


Download audio (2:46)
5. Recollection: Ajahn Chah taught by example, but put the focus on the monastic training and community. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] [Ajahn Chah] // [Humility]

Quote: “He was unique in his ability to draw people in without it having to be about him.” [Personal presence ] [Personality]


Download audio (7:02)
10. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Ajahn Chah used the Vinaya rules as a basis to train in mindfulness and clear comprehension. [Vinaya] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Ajahn Chah] // [Volition] [Perception of a samaṇa] [Protocols ] [Sense restraint] [Beauty] [Faith]

Story: Ajahn Chah demonstrates how to put down a yahm (monk’s shoulder bag). [Requisites] [Ajahn Sumedho]

Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1.23: Sariputta gains faith from Venerable Assiji’s demeanor. [Great disciples]


Even the Sāsana Will Pass Away – Aug. 24, 2025

Download audio (2:58)
7. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Absorbing the truth, “Even the Sāsana will pass away,” doesn’t lead to a sense of dismay; it leads to wonder and the motivation, “How can I help others?” [Truth ] [Spiritual urgency] [Compassion] [Suffering] [Impermanence] [Characteristics of existence]

Recollection: Ajahn Chah saw so clearly and was incredibly compassionate. [Ajahn Chah] [Fierce/direct teaching]

Quote: “What is the mind of an arahant like?” – “Only compassion.” — Ajahn Mahā Boowa. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Mun]

Quote: “Anicca, dukkha, and anattā are tools we rely on for transforming the heart.”


Download audio (1:01)
10. “Is liberation impermanent?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Liberation ] [Impermanence] // [Nibbāna]


Download audio (1:29)
11. “Is Nibbāna unconditioned? Can Nibbāna make a connection with you, or do you have to go to Nibbāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna] [Unconditioned ] [Impermanence] // [Characteristics of existence]

Sutta: Ud 8.3: Nibbāna Sutta (Chanting Book translation).

Quote: “The place where there’s no coming, no going, no standing still. What’s that?” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah]


Q&A with the Chithurst Community – Aug. 30, 2025

Download audio (1:15)
1.1. “What are the options for practicing with getting older, getting weaker, physically and mentally less resilient?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ageing ] // [Relinquishment] [Death] [Not-self]


Download audio (6:16)
2. “How to find a good balance between personal individual practice and helping the community? How have you practiced with this yourself, having had the role of abbot for such a long time?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Service] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abbot] // [Seclusion ] [Restlessness and worry] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Idealism] [Becoming] [Craving not to become] [Monastic routine]

Quote: “You really have to learn how to step back from your own mind and give attention to that sense of solid connection with the Dhamma practice.” [Dhamma]

Quote: “If we don’t really develop a sense of giving and sharing and lovingkindness and compassion, any amount of meditation that you do never really comes to much fruition.” [Generosity] [Goodwill]


Download audio (7:25)
3. “People often say that Amaravati is like an institution. What is a perspective on this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Amaravati ] [Saṅgha] [Monastery organizational structure] // [Ajahn Pasanno]

Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Ahiṃsako and Ajahn Karuṇiko: The benefits and drawbacks of large monasteries. [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Teaching Dhamma] [Christian monastics] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Spiritual traditions]


Download audio (7:17)
4. “If you had to choose one monastery in Thailand that you can always go back to, where you had the best moments or experiences, what would it be?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] // [Dtao Dum ] [Culture/Natural environment]

Story: Ajahn Pasanno has the intuition that his time in Thailand had come to an end. [Culture/Thailand] [Monastic life]

Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s decision to help with Abhayagiri. [Abhayagiri] [Ajahn Amaro] [Saṅghapāla] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo]


Download audio (9:00)
5. “It sounds like you’re quite a community builder in various places.... When I first came here (to Chithurst), I was struck by the way the community works amazingly well. Have you seen any examples of communities of laypeople living together based on monastic principles?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Ahiṃsako, Sister Ñāṇasirī and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Community ] [Saṅgha] [Lay life] // [Precepts] [Vinaya] [Portland Friends of the Dhamma] [Amaravati] [Gaia House] [Culture/Thailand] [Upasikā Kee Nanayon] [Culture/West]


Download audio (1:47)
6. “How do you find it best to differentiate between true insights and insight defilements?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Cittapālā. [Insight meditation ] [Unwholesome Roots] // [Tranquility] [Relinquishment] [Simplicity]

Quote: “A really true insight—you don’t get anything from.” — Ajahn Pasanno.


Kathina Q&A with the Chithurst Community, Session 1 – Oct. 11, 2025

Download audio (1:34)
1. “After more than 50 years, is the practice getting easier?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Long-term practice ] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Mindfulness] [Happiness]


Download audio (3:32)
2.1. “Could you offer some reflections on experiencing mind as mind in the Noble Eightfold Path?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eightfold Path] [Right Mindfulness] [Mindfulness of mind ] // [Noting] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Nature of mind] [Knowing itself]

Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 97.

Sutta: MN 10.34: Mindfulness of mind.

Follow-up: “Does this relate to Luang Por Dune’s reformulation of the Four Noble Truths where it says, ‘The mind seeing the mind?’” [Ajahn Dune] [Four Noble Truths]

Reference: Gifts He Left Behind by Ajahn Dune, p. 3.

Quote: “An inward-staying unentangled knowing.” — Upasikā Kee Nanayon. [Upasikā Kee Nanayon]


Download audio (6:33)
5. “It seems like I’m using physical tension to block out emotion. When I try to put my attention on it, the mind goes blank or starts thinking about work. I don’t know what I’m avoiding. Any suggestions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pain] [Emotion ] // [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Concentration] [Translation] [Spaciousness] [Body scanning]


Download audio (1:04)
7. “The Second Noble Truth, sumudaya—do you know it as arising of suffering or origin of suffering or does it matter?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Cause of Suffering ] // [Craving]

Sutta: SN 56.11.4: Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Chanting book translation): “ever seeking fresh delight.”


Download audio (1:30)
8. “The Buddha had a quality of fearlessness. How can we understand fearlessness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha] [Fear ] // [Non-identification] [Not-self] [Self-identity view] [Suffering]

Quote: “The core of fearlessness is not having a self, an I, a me, a mine that it’s trying to protect.”


Download audio (2:40)
9. “Could you say something about the name-and-form step in Dependent Origination?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Aggregates ] [Dependent origination] // [Heart/mind] [Body/form] [Self-identity view] [Human] [Realms of existence]

Sutta: MN 43.9: Conjoined not disjoined.


Download audio (6:50)
10. “How do we recognize when we’re being taken advantage of when we’re trying to offer compassion? How do we draw a line to maintain our compassion without it impeding?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abuse/violence] [Compassion ] // [Discernment] [Ajahn Chah] [Fierce/direct teaching]

Suttas: SN 22.86.13; MN 22.37.

Download audio (1:05)

Reflection: The qualities of the Buddha: wisdom, compassion, purity. [Recollection/Buddha ] [Arahant] [Pūjā]

Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 3: Homage to the Buddha. [Recollection/Buddha ]

Story: A person asks the same question four times. [Questions]


Download audio (4:05)
11. “Luang Por Sumedho describes sati-sampajañña as intuitive awareness. But contemplating the four aspects of sampajañña (purpose, suitability, etc.) engages the logical, thinking mind. If these arise intuitively, it’s wonderful, but to cultivate them, I think a lot.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Clear comprehension ] [Intuition] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Mindfulness] [Translation] [Bhante Sujato] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro]


Download audio (5:43)
12. “When someone opens up about issues or something difficult they are dealing with, when should one just listen and when should one say something that might help?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Listening ] [Right Speech] [Compassion] // [Spiritual friendship] [Trust] [Virtue] [Goodwill] [Admonishment/feedback] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abbot] [Ajahn Chah]


Download audio (3:02)
13. “How does the practice of patience fit into the Noble Eightfold Path? How is patience the incinerator of defilements?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Patience ] [Eightfold Path] [Unwholesome Roots] // [Perfections] [Suffering] [Self-identity view] [Worldly Conditions]

Reference: Ovāda Pātimokkha: Dhp 183-185 (Chanting book translation).


Download audio (5:16)
14. “Sometimes we hear that with practice, some qualities change, but other qualities don’t change very much over a long time of practice. When I read certain biographies [of Buddhist teachers], it seems like certain rough qualities can remain even though the mind is pure. How to know the difference in oneself and others?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Long-term practice] [Personality ] [Teachers] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Unskillful qualities] // [Suffering] [Unwholesome Roots] [Relinquishment] [Hindrances]

Ajahn Pasanno describes the personality of great teachers he has met. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Tate] [Ajahn Dune] [Ajahn Chah]

Download audio (0:59)

Reflection: The arahant disciples of the Buddha were able to free their minds, but they all had different personalities. [Arahant] [Buddha] [Great disciples ]

Sutta: SN 14.15 Caṅkama Sutta: Monks with different personalities gather around the great disciples.

Note: Ajahn Pasanno mentions the similarly-themed Cūḷagosiṅga Sutta (MN 31) by name, but describes the content of the Caṅkama Sutta.


Download audio (4:05)
15. “Is it ever acceptable to put a life out of suffering, for example when it’s dying and suffering slowly?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Euthanasia ] [Killing ] [Death] [Pain] [Animal] // [Compassion] [Unattractiveness]

Story: Ajahn Pasanno and others look after a Brahma bull that was attacked by a tiger until it dies. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Health care] [Dtao Dum]


Page:   123456