All questions
63 events, 345 sessions, 2258 excerpts, 130:54:46 total duration
Most common topics:
Ajahn Chah
(145)
Ajahn Pasanno
(134)
Monastic life
(127)
Mindfulness of breathing
(94)
Suffering
(70)
Happiness
(68)
Proliferation
(66)
Death
(62)
Jhāna
(62)
Self-identity view
(61)
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1. “What are the commentaries? How do they know stuff that isn’t in the suttas?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Commentaries ] [Sutta] [History/Early Buddhism] // [History/Sri Lankan Buddhism] [Culture/Thailand] [Direct experience]
2. “What are mental formations and consciousness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Aggregates] [Volitional formations] [Consciousness] [Not-self] // [Sense bases] [Contact]
Sutta: MN 44: Cūḷavedalla Sutta
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]
5. Comment: The question that occured to me was “If I take this as myself, where does it lead me?” [Discernment] [Not-self]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] [Self-identity view]
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]
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]
9. “Is renting a good metaphor for not-self?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Similes] [Not-self] // [Ajahn Chah]
Quote: “We only rent this house. We don’t own it.”
Reference: “Our Real Home” in Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 145
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]
12. “The Buddha asks us to look at the things we identify with as self and notice they are not who we are. But if there’s nothing else but those things, there is no self, right?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha] [Middle Path] [Not-self ] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Learning] [Liberation] [Suffering]
Follow-up: “Isn’t there then an implication that there is something else that could be self?” [Views]
13. Comments regarding not-self. [Nature of the cosmos] [Kamma] [Self-identity view] [Not-self]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha] [Teaching Dhamma]
14. Comment: I’ve found it helpful to recognize that for me there aren’t any right answers, only right questions. [Culture/West] [Questions] [Not-self]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view]
15. “Is the heir to my thoughts, words, and deeds me or some other guy?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Kamma] [Rebirth] [Not-self] // [Becoming] [Cessation] [Self-identity view] [Direct experience]
16. “The fear that arises upon the realization that there’s nothing there is so strong that it takes away from the awareness being able to stay with it. Any suggestions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fear] [Knowledge and vision] [Not-self] // [Recollection] [Goodwill] [Gladdening the mind] [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Learning] [Faith]
1. Comment: With the analogy of the scent and the flower (SN 22.89), it sounds like it [the sense of self] is relational and there is an effect. But it gets tricky... [Conditionality] [Not-self]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view]
2. “Does everything point back to the third satpaṭṭhāna (mindfulness of mind)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of mind] [Not-self] // [Aggregates]
Sutta: Dhp 1
3. “Ajahn Mun taught Ajahn Chah to distinguish between the mind and mind objects. Is the mind that distinguishes between these a development of ordinary mind or a larger mind that we tap into as we develop wisdom?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Chah] [Heart/mind] [Moods of the mind] [Not-self] [Nature of mind] [Discernment] // [Conditionality] [Liberation] [Direct experience]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno: Both of these are wrong. [Proliferation]
Sutta: MN 11 Cūḷasīhanāda Sutta
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]
5. “I wanted to confirm that we’re also not putting this self on other objects like the redness belonging to the rose.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
6. “Things change. But can’t that be part of its nature that things change?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Impermanence] [Not-self]
7. “Could you say that attavādupādāna is that very trying to say ‘Is it self or is to no self?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Doctrine-of-self clinging] [Not-self]
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]
9. Comment: What you said reminds me of ‘da resin.’ [audio unclear] [Not-self]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno: “It’s that sticky bit that creates the problems.” [Clinging] [Self-identity view] [Views] [Becoming] [Present moment awareness]
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]
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]
13. “Is bhavadiṭṭhi the same word as cultivation (bhāvanā)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Becoming] [Views] [Meditation] [Pāli] [Not-self] // [Etymology]
1. “Was the Buddha so miserable that he kept thinking about all these ideas? Where did his motivation come from?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography ] [Suffering] [Desire] [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Western psychology] [Rebirth] [Spiritual search]
2. “If the Buddha had been born elsewhere, would he have turned out the same way?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography] [Cultural context] // [Commentaries] [Culture/India ] [Spiritual search] [Renunciation] [Mahāyāna] [Saṃsāra]
3. “I’ve been confused between intention and desire. For me, desire arises from non-conceptual craving.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volition] [Craving] [Desire] [Language] // [Cause of Suffering] [Right Effort] [Happiness] [Kamma] [Pāli]
4. “Are all manifestations of desire and motivation ultimately a desire for happiness or are there motivations for truly negative things?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Desire] [Craving] [Volition] [Happiness] [Unskillful qualities] [Nature of mind] // [Ill-will] [Fear] [Discernment]
5. “I’m not sure how to be with close friends or family members who out of a desire to avoid pain and find happiness engage in self-destructive behavior that also harms those around them.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Family] [Spiritual friendship] [Unskillful qualities] [Craving] [Compassion] // [Discernment]
Sutta: Maṅgala Sutta: Don’t associate with fools.
6. “How did you get through the 106° heat? Did you have a different schedule?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abhayagiri] [Culture/Natural environment] // [Mindfulness of breathing] [Work]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno attends a very hot ordination at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. [Ajahn Pasanno] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas] [Ordination]
7. “Are there different stages of enlightenment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stages of awakening] // [Stream entry]
Follow-up: “And how would one know if you’ve reached the first stage [of awakening]?” [Doubt] [Self-identity view] [Not-self] [Liberation] [Attachment to precepts and practices] [Knowledge and vision]
8. “What to do when you have a lot of freedom in your mind, but in your body you’re stuck with a bad habit?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Desire] [Liberation] [Heart/mind] [Body/form] [Habits] [Craving] // [Direct experience] [Meditation/Techniques] [Translation] [Mindfulness of breathing]
9. “Could you speak to how we sink into a place and you lift yourself with brightness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gladdening the mind] // [Concentration] [Meditation] [Language] [Spaciousness]
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.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
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]
3. “A lot of my life has been based on guilt, punishment, achievement, feeling driven, and perfectionism. Recently I experienced the reverse of this. Perfectionism is mixed up with wholesome desire. Could you respond?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Judgementalism] [Perfectionism] [Desire] [Contentment] // [Discernment] [Self-identity view] [Human]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno can’t translate the question ‘How do I work with guilt?’ into Thai. [Ajahn Paññānanda] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Language] [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand] [Suffering]
4. “I’ve heard ‘not being in control’ as a description of anatta. In relation to desire, do we really have any choice or free will in the context of Buddhist understanding?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Not-self] [Desire] [Volition] [Nature of the cosmos] // [Kamma] [Clear comprehension] [Right Effort]
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]
1. Comment: Secular Buddhism is a new Buddhist identity. [Secular Buddhism] [Buddhist identity]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abhayagiri] [Monastic life] [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand]
2. “What did the Buddha think following his teachings should mean or entail?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Three Refuges] [Precepts] [Buddhist identity ] // [Virtue] [Lay life] [Five Precepts] [Faith] [Generosity] [Association with people of integrity] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Learning] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Conceit]
Sutta: AN 8.26 Jīvaka Sutta
3. “Is there a way to get involved in controversial political issues and still maintain a correct [audio unclear]?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Politics and society] [Compassion] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Environment] [Buddhist identity] // [Learning] [Corruption] [Divine Abidings] [Depression] [Ill-will] [Equanimity]
Reference: The Heart of the Revolution by Noah Levine.
4. “Why did Jīvaka ask whether a virtuous lay follower is practicing for themselves or others (AN 8.26)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Great disciples] [Lay life] [Virtue] [Compassion] [Buddhist identity] // [Culture/India] [Lunar observance days] [Teaching Dhamma]
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 2.1.1: Origin of Lunar Observance Days.
5. “Are the qualities in the Jīvaka Sutta (AN 8.26) listed in order of ascending goodness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Skillful qualities] [Buddhist identity] // [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Stream entry]
7. Comments about the positive reputation of Buddhism in the West. [Culture/West] [Precepts] [Idealism] [Buddhist identity]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
8. “Is one of the benefits of being a monastic having to live up to people’s expectations?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Monastic life] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Robes] [Buddhist identity] // [Conventions] [Christianity] [Idealism] [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand]
9. “The Dalai Lama is the iconic image of Buddhism in the West, but the Theravāda lineage is not much out there. How do you spread the word?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Dalai Lama] [Culture/West] [Theravāda] [Buddhist identity] // [Perfections] [Rebirth] [Advertizing] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abhayagiri] [Dhamma books] [Generosity] [Virtue]
10. Comment regarding the power of encouraging as opposed to demanding. [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Generosity] [Abhayagiri] [Buddhist identity]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
11. Comment: People outside will sometimes make fun of our efforts to keep the First Precept. [Killing] [Culture/West] [Buddhist identity]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno]
12. Story about not killing a rattlesnake. [Killing] [Culture/West] [Animal] [Buddhist identity]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Culture/Thailand]
13. “Should someone who follows the five precepts and meditates but has their own faith and belief call themselves a Buddhist?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Five Precepts] [Meditation] [Faith] [Spiritual traditions] [Buddhist identity ] // [Dhamma] [Truth] [Eightfold Path] [Happiness]
14. Comment: Some Buddhists get upset when they hear someone say that Buddhism is a philosophy. [Philosophy] [Aversion] [Buddhist identity]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno: “It’s a lot more than that.”
15. “Can you say more about how living up to cultural expectations can be skillful?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Conscience and prudence] [Skillful qualities] [Buddhist identity] // [Killing] [Sense restraint] [Clear comprehension] [Compassion] [Malicious speech] [Right Speech]
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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
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]
19. Comment by Ajahn Ñāṇiko: I keep coming back to true principle–what are we doing it all for? [Dhamma] [Killing] [Right Intention] [Buddhist identity]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Attachment to precepts and practices] [Suffering] [Happiness] [Skillful qualities]
1. “Could you clarify the difference between mindfulness and concentration?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Mindfulness] [Concentration ] // [Nature of mind] [Pāli] [Translation]
Follow-up: “You said earlier that mindfulness always comes before concentration, but based on what you just defined, I would think it would be the opposite.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno.
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]
1. “What do you do when things like knee pain arise?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Meditation/General advice] [Pain] [Aversion] [Hindrances] // [Compassion]
2. “Is there ever a dominant hindrance, but then in the service of that, the mind picks up other hindrances?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Aversion] [Hindrances] // [Sensual desire] [Sloth and torpor]
3. “Sometimes I just notice that the state that is there [a hindrance] is going to go away. Isn’t that a skillful way of looking at it?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Impermanence] [Skillful qualities] [Hindrances] // [Clear comprehension] [Habits]
Sutta: MN 20: The Removal of Distracting Thoughts [Right Effort] [Similes]
4. “If a hindrance comes up, one thing to do is to acknowledge it and observe it, but on the other hand, one can bring up its opposite. Do you do either depending on what is needed? Sometimes when I bring up the opposite, it prevents me from seeing it.” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Sloth and torpor] [Right Effort] [Hindrances]
5. “Do you have any advice for obsessive thoughts, thinking the same thing again and again?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Proliferation] [Hindrances] // [Investigation of states] [Mindfulness of body]
1. “Is jhāna the same as samādhi?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Concentration] [Jhāna]
2. “I’m thinking that not all samādhi is wholesome, but all jhāna is wholesome.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Concentration] [Skillful qualities] [Jhāna] // [Right Concentration]
3. “In the jhāna formula, in what sense is the word ‘seclusion’ used?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Seclusion] [Jhāna] // [Hindrances]
4. “Does jhāna arise only in seated meditation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Posture/Sitting] [Jhāna]
Reference: Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 332: Ajahn Chah talks about developing jhāna factors in walking meditation. [Ajahn Chah] [Posture/Walking]
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]
6. “If there isn’t an intention, [meditation] isn’t useful for the goal?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Volition] [Jhāna] // [Volitional formations] [Kamma]
7. “The story that we hear frequently about the Buddha as a child in the cattle pasture with his father. He talks about going into a pleasant, rapturous state. Would you consider that jhāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography ] [Happiness] [Rapture] [Jhāna] // [Skillful qualities]
Sutta: MN 36.31 Mahāsaccaka Sutta
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]
10. “I meditate. Pleasure arises, and I enjoy that. Does that mean it’s Dhamma practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Happiness] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Jhāna] // [Investigation of states] [Feeling] [Mindfulness of mind]
11. “How are the jhāna factors causal bases for awareness to release into Nibbāna? Do they diminish craving all the way?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Release] [Nibbāna] [Craving] [Jhāna] // [Contentment]
12. Comment: Exercise in the morning can be used to overcome sloth. [Exercise] [Sloth and torpor] [Energy]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno]
13. “Ajahn Chah said happiness and unhappiness are two ends of suffering and we should aim for peace. Is this kind of jhānic happiness different from what he was talking about?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Happiness] [Suffering] [Jhāna]
14. “That sukha (happiness) is still experienced through the sense object of the mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
15. “So it [jhāna] is still a conditional thing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Conditionality] [Jhāna]
16. “The rapture and joy that are being described are not pleasure, right?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Rapture] [Happiness] [Jhāna] // [Pāli]
Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 139 [Similes]
17. “Does jhāna exclusively contain the five mental states?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Rapture] [Happiness] [Unification] [Jhāna] // [Right Concentration]
Sutta: MN 111 Anupada Sutta
18. “As our practice develops, is it common or normal for the mind to bypass first and second jhāna and go straight to three or four?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Long-term practice] [Jhāna] // [Ajahn Pasanno]
20. “What’s the difference between directed thought and mindfulness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Mindfulness] [Jhāna]
21. “When it says neither pleasant nor unpleasant, is this neutral?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Feeling] [Neutral feeling] [Jhāna] // [Mindfulness] [Pāṭimokkha]
22. “So the rapture and joy has dropped away between second and third jhāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Rapture] [Jhāna] // [Happiness] [Mindfulness] [Equanimity]
23. “When we drop directed thought and evaluation, do we drop the object of our concentration and just abide in mindfulness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Concentration] [Mindfulness] [Meditation] [Jhāna] // [Knowing itself]
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]
25. “In concentration, you’re aware of one object. If in that state you become aware of pleasure, does that mean you’ve already left jhāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Concentration] [Unification] [Happiness] [Right Mindfulness] [Jhāna] // [Self-identity view] [Discernment] [Clinging]
1. “What is the difference between ekaggatā and vitakka?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unification] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Pāli] [Jhāna] // [Right Concentration]
2. “Could we say that it [unification] is expansive?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unification] [Spaciousness] [Jhāna] // [Right Concentration]
4. “Before the Buddha practiced the ascetic way, he already learned the seventh and eighth levels of jhāna. Why didn’t that lead to his awakening?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography] [Formless attainments] [Liberation] [Jhāna] // [Right Concentration] [Right View] [Suffering] [Middle Path] [Characteristics of existence]
5. “Is the purpose of jhāna and meditation to build up the strength of the mind so we will be able to contemplate the Four Noble Truths?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Heart/mind] [Four Noble Truths] [Jhāna] // [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation]
Sutta: AN 4.170: In Conjunction
6. “The jhānas seem foundational to the practice, yet Ajahn Chah was reluctant to talk about them. Is this a view that was pervasive among the other Krooba Ajahns?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Teaching Dhamma] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Jhāna ] // [Desire]
Follow-up: “If the jhānas aren’t accessible to everyone, can you still go far along the path without them?” [Eightfold Path] [Right Effort] [Right Concentration] [Self-identity view]
7. “I practice the brahmavihāras, and not just on the cushion. How do these relate to jhāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Divine Abidings] [Posture/Sitting] [Posture/Walking] [Jhāna] // [Continuity of mindfulness] [Skillful qualities]
Quote: “You can sit on your cushion for a long time. Chickens sit for a long time, and they don’t get enlightened!” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Liberation] [Animal]
8. “What would you respond to the perspective, ‘Those jhānas seem impossible to attain, so I’m going to forget about them.’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Jhāna] // [Continuity of mindfulness] [Skillful qualities] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Self-identity view] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Goodwill] [Happiness]
9. Comment: Hearing about vitakka and vicāra, I just realized that they’re not exclusive to getting jhāna. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Jhāna]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Becoming]
10. Comment: This wanting mind becomes doing something... [Desire] [Jhāna]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Feeling] [Craving] [Ardency] [Happiness] [Tranquility] [Mindfulness of body]
11. Comment: In mindfulness of breathing, you feel the breath throughout the body. This suffusion is similar in jhāna. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Mindfulness of body] [Jhāna]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Mindfulness]
Suttas: MN 10: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta
12. “Ajahn Chah talks about the one who knows. Is this a purely mental exercise or is it embodied?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
13. “So the one who knows includes the other five sense bases?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Knowing itself] [Sense bases] [Jhāna]
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