All questions
61 events, 319 sessions, 2181 excerpts, 126:03:19 total duration
Most common topics:
Ajahn Chah
(145)
Ajahn Pasanno
(132)
Monastic life
(127)
Mindfulness of breathing
(90)
Suffering
(70)
Proliferation
(66)
Happiness
(65)
Death
(62)
Jhāna
(61)
Directed thought and evaluation
(59)
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2. “I didn’t understand what was meant by inferences [in “No-self or Not-self” by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro].” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Teaching Dhamma] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Suffering]
4. “How does [the preceding discussion of insight meditation] differ from sakkāyādiṭṭhi?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Self-identity view] [Insight meditation] // [Pāli] [Etymology] [Not-self]
5. “Is no-self in the observer? ...I find myself noticing the observer, and then I find myself noticing that I’m noticing, and then I get in a tangle.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Not-self] [Perception] [Proliferation] // [Humor]
6. “Could sakkāyadiṭṭhi also mean viewing someone else as having a self?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Self-identity view]
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.
2. “I’ve been noticing during meditation that my mind goes a lot into planning. Can you consider this bhavataṇha?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Becoming] [Proliferation] // [Volition] [Discernment] [Ajahn Amaro] [Habits] [Amaravati] [Building projects] [Suffering]
4. “You mentioned that the Vedic tradition describes reaching the Atman as pure consciousness, awake, and blissful. How is that different from what Luang Por Sumedho always describes pure consciousness, awake, and blissful as the ultimate state?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Hinduism] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Unestablished consciousness] // [Language]
5. Story: The parents of a four-year-old wish their child to attain Nibbāna in this life. Told by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Parents] [Nibbāna] [Desire]
Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Happiness]
1. Comment: This reading about the bliss of Nibbāna (The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 105; MN 75.12) reminds me of the monk who had previously been a king who went about saying ‘Oh, what bliss!’ [Nibbāna] [Happiness] [Great disciples] [Royalty]
Sutta: Ud 2.10.
Response by Ajahn Amaro.
2. “You could have a reasonable intention to stop a habit or stop seeing someone. By telling yourself, ‘I want to stop,’ you identify with the object. But you can go round and round and round thinking about it....” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Spiritual friendship] [Volition] [Self-identity view] [Proliferation] // [Right Effort] [Mindfulness] [Discernment] [Attitude] [Becoming]
Sutta: Snp 2.4: Maṅgala Sutta.
Simile: Stinging nettles and dead nettles together in the same hedgerow. [Similes]
Quote: “I am an unenlightened person who has to do something now to become enlightened in the future.” — a paradigm based on self-view pointed out by Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Liberation]
Follow-up: “The only arbiter [of whether intention is based on self-view or wisdom] is your own experience....” [Self-reliance]
Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Teaching Dhamma]
Sutta: AN 9.3 Meghiya Sutta.
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities]
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]
4. “Is it correct that name-and-form and consciousness can’t be separated, contact and feeling can’t be separated, and the same for becoming and birth? Is it correct that those links can’t be interrupted?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Dependent origination] // [Tipiṭaka] [Conditionality] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Direct experience]
Sutta: DN 15: Mahānidāna Sutta.
Reference: “Hetu paccayo...,” Funeral Chanting in Amaravati Chanting Book Volume 2, p. 66.
Sutta: MN 43.9: Feeling, perception, and consciousness are conjoined.
2. “I’m wondering if there is an evolutionary explanation for Nibbāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Science] [Nibbāna] // [Suffering] [Human] [Environment] [Killing]
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]
4. “What is the meaning of dukkha?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Suffering ] // [Etymology]
5. “Is meditation mainly the process of just focusing on your breath and watching it?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Meditation] // [Mindfulness of breathing] [Meditation/Techniques]
1. “Even before the Bodhisattva leaves home, he has a strong sense that Nibbāna is possible. Where does he get this confidence?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography] [Nibbāna] [Faith] // [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Liberation] [Western psychology]
2. “What does ‘Seeing fear and blame in the other world’ refer to?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fear] [Realms of existence] // [Rebirth]
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.
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]
3. “Where does agati (bias) fit in the flow of the mind? Is it like an anusaya, an underlying tendency or potential, or is it when [the mind] has started to move into action as to where you put your attention?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Biases] [Nature of mind] // [Etymology] [Perception]
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]
5. “How do we distinguish the nuances of happiness and suffering?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Happiness] [Suffering] // [Language]
Reflection: Any language is always a problem.
Quote: “The language of Dhamma is the language of feeling.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma] [Feeling]
6. “Once we identify a perception of fear, how should we practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Perception] [Fear] // [Recollection] [Disenchantment] [Right Effort]
Follow-up: “How do we reconcile [bringing up a counter-perception] with the practice of opening and allowing and embracing?” [Spaciousness]
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. 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]
3. “Was there a Winter Retreat where Ajahn Chah had the community practice midnight vigils every night? Were you there at that time?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Rains retreat] [Sitter's practice]
Quote: “Ajahn Chah fired up. That’s pretty scary.”
1. “Could [the principles in AN 3.102] also be related to practicing anāpānāsati?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Investigation of states] [Right Effort] [Mindfulness of breathing]
Quote: “Dhamma is that which is just right.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma]
Quote: “Dhamma is neither high nor low, not dark or light, not tall or short. It’s just right.” — Ajahn Kinaree. [Ajahn Kinaree] [Middle Path]
2. “In practice, how do you know if you are tending towards laziness or restlessness, etc.?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Investigation of states] // [Concentration] [Direct experience] [Clear comprehension] [Ajahn Sumedho]
Sutta: AN 3.102: “The mind becomes malleable, wieldy, luminous, not brittle...”
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]
4. “You read, ‘he realizes with the body’ (MN 70.23), and I read in one of the suttas (perhaps AN 4.113 or SN 48.53) that arahants touch Nibbāna with their body. Could you elaborate on this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Body/form] [Arahant] [Nibbāna]
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]
1. “Where is the path [of stream entry etc.] clearly defined?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Stages of awakening] // [Aids to Awakening] [Stream entry] [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Ajahn Chah]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 7: “The four pairs, the eight kinds of noble beings.”
Sutta: MN 70.20-21: Definitions of faith follower and Dhamma follower.
2. “You mentioned that the Tathāgatā is a bit harsh in discipline [in MN 70]. What is the practical side of this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Buddha/Biography] [Fierce/direct teaching] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Mahāyāna] [Sutta]
Sutta: MN 34: The Shorter Discourse on the Cowherd.
3. “I have the impression that Ajahn Chah concentrated on direct realization and the practice of meditation. He didn’t recommend reading too much, but instead reading our mind. You mentioned the 37 faculties/tools to purify our mind. For a lay person, this is a long study. Is it enough for us as laypeople to just have the practice of being here now?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Meditation] [Aids to Awakening] [Lay life] [Present moment awareness] // [Paul Breiter] [Four Noble Truths] [Right View] [Faith] [Learning]
Quote: “There needs to be a catalyst. We have to challenge the mind. That’s where the structure of the teachings is important.” [Teaching Dhamma] [Delusion]
Follow-up: “If we practice meditation, does understanding come naturally?” [Discernment]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Liberation] [Spiritual friendship] [Appropriate attention] [Tranquility] [Relinquishment]
Story: Ajahn Sumedho spends his first year as a monk in solitary meditation reading only Word of the Buddha by Venerable Ñāṇatiloka. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Monastic life]
Follow-up: “Having kids is a big structure.” [Children]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
2. “What is meant by supramundane?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Kamma] [Saṃsāra] [Suffering]
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?”
4. Comment: The general formula for Right Livelihood seems to be addressed to laypeople, not bhikkhus. [Right Livelihood] [Lay life] [Monastic life] // [Vinaya]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo.
Suttas about wrong livelihood: AN 5.177 (lay), DN 2.56 (monastic).
Follow-up: “Why is acting as a medical doctor wrong livelihood for a bhikkhu?” [Health care] [Culture/Thailand]
5. “If you have a right view of causality, does that mean you automatically have Right Intention?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right View] [Conditionality] [Right Intention]
Sutta: MN 117: The Great Forty.
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]
1. Comment: Some of the links [in AN 10.2] seem more natural than others....For example, the Bodhisattva was really good at concentration, but he wouldn’t have described himself as having knowledge and vision of the way things are back when he was studying with Āḷāra Kālāma. Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Conditionality] [Naturalness] [Concentration] [Knowledge and vision] [Bodhisattva]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right View]
2. “You mentioned that one of the links [in AN 10.2] is pleasure. What is this in Pāli?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Happiness] [Translation]
3. “Is knowledge an vision [described in AN 10.2] different than the Dhammacakka Sutta [SN 56.11.5] where it says that knowledge and vision arose?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Knowledge and vision] // [Four Noble Truths]
4. “Does that mean that sadness and misery is by nature a state of delusion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] [Delusion]
5. “Is having a virtuous life an integral part of having a sense of purpose and living with Right Livelihood?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Virtue] [Purpose/meaning] [Right Livelihood]
7. “What is non-abiding?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Knowing itself] [Relinquishment] [Middle Path]
Sutta: SN 1.1.
9. “In the Four Biases (agatī), is chanda used in a negative sense?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Biases] [Desire] [Unskillful qualities]
1. Comment by Sister Ñāṇasirī: In this context that you just created, suddenly Dependent Origination, equanimity, and atammatayā...everything seems to be like it’s the same thing.... [Middle Path] [Not-self] [Dependent origination] [Equanimity] [Non-identification]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Doubt] [Direct experience] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Relinquishment]
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]
3. “Could you elaborate more about cutting through and Buddho?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddho mantra] // [Faith] [Spaciousness] [Cessation]
4. “In my experience, sometimes when I rest in the awareness for a long time, it feels very peaceful, nice, calm, and pure. But there’s a sense of ‘So what?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Knowing itself] // [Doubt] [Conditionality] [Ignorance] [Hindrances] [Investigation of states] [Suffering]
Sutta: AN 10.61: The Five Hindrances are the nutriment for ignorance.
1. Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno: The satipaṭṭhāna insight formula is a pointer to atammayatā. [Right Mindfulness] [Insight meditation] [Non-identification] // [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Translation]
Sutta: MN 10.37: “Or else mindfulness that ‘there are mind objects’ is simply established in him to the extent necessary for bare knowledge and awareness. And he abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world.
Quote: “You don’t have to go and study every tree in the forest.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Similes]
Reference: Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening by Joseph Goldstein (commercial).
Follow-up: “Do you think that the not-self perception is the precursor to the experience of atammayatā?” [Not-self] [Relinquishment]
2. “When the term unworldly is used, does that refer to non-identification?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of feeling] [Non-identification]
3. “What does the phrase ‘to the extent necessary’ mean [in the satipaṭṭhāna insight formula (MN 10.5)]?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Mindfulness] [Insight meditation] // [Relinquishment]
4. “What does contemplating the body internally and externally mean [in MN 10.5]?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of body] // [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Ajahn Chah]
1. Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo: AN 7.61 goes from some basic aspects of training through a graduated training. [Gradual Teaching]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sloth and torpor] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Idle chatter] [Spiritual friendship]
2. “You mentioned more of the physical remedies to reduce drowsiness, but if there is mental fatigue or lack of joy, how could we bring up more energy?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Sloth and torpor] [Energy] // [Investigation of states] [Recollection] [Chanting] [Posture/Walking] [Clear comprehension] [Culture/West]
3. “When the Buddha says don’t completely isolate yourself (in AN 7.61), does that mean you can’t be a hermit and complete the path?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Seclusion] // [Community] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Great disciples] [Ajahn Mun]
Sutta: SN 45.12: The Buddha goes on retreat.
4. “When the Buddha addressed AN 7.61 to Mahā Mogallāna, was Mahā Mogallāna already and arahant?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Great disciples] [Arahant] // [Fetters] [Almsround] [Perception of a samaṇa]
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1.23: Sāriputta meets Assaji and realizes stream entry after hearing a brief verse. [Stream entry]
5. Comment: That sense of directly knowing everything (SN 35.80) is the same language used in MN 1.27. [Knowledge and vision] [Unconditioned] [Perception]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
6. “The characteristic of thinking is that one joins another and we are not aware. So in this context, ‘Nothing is fit to be clung to,’ in practice, what does it mean? Does it mean that we step back and we realize...?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Proliferation] [Clinging] [Ignorance] [Relinquishment] // [Directed thought and evaluation] [Discernment] [Investigation of states]
Sutta: MN 19.8: Dvedhāvitakka Sutta.
1. “When you explained the four kins of clinging, you said that sensual desire is more obvious [than the others]. But in terms of the different stages of realization, it’s not the first to go. Can you explain?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Clinging] [Sensual desire] [Stages of awakening] [Attachment to precepts and practices] // [Stream entry] [Once return] [Non-return] [Self-identity view]
2. “Can you give a practical antidote in terms of how we can relinquish the attachment to view?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Clinging] [Views] [Relinquishment] // [Suffering] [Ajahn Chah]
3. “Why isn’t the mind sense gate included as one of the cords of sensual pleasure?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sense bases] [Sensual desire]
4. “The Buddha teaches that you have pleasant vedanā, neutral vedanā, and unpleasant vedanā. But [in MN 75] he seems to be saying that all pleasant vedanā isn’t actually pleasant; it’s actually unpleasant.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Feeling] // [Sensual desire] [Mindfulness of breathing]
Sutta: MN 44.22-24: Cūḷavedalla Sutta.
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 ]
2. “The Seven Factors of Awakening to be developed (MN 2.21)—is that the same as in the Anāpānāsati Sutta (MN 118)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Factors of Awakening] [Mindfulness of breathing]
4. “I’m reading the autobiography of Luang Por Thoon. He’s speaking at the end about the āsava kayañāṇas, the knowledge that the taints are destroyed. Would that be relinquishment of the āsavas [in MN 2]?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Outflows] [Knowledge and vision] [Relinquishment] // [Arahant]
References: The Autobiography of Venerable Ācariya Thoon Khippapañño, Volume 1, p. 350; The Autobiography of Venerable Ācariya Thoon Khippapañño, Volume 2, p. 24.
5. When we live in community, in viharas, seclusion (at least kāyaviveka) is not so available.... Comment by Anagārikā Deepa. [Saṅgha] [Seclusion]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Idle chatter] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Chithurst]
6. “How does repugnance fit into disenchantment and dispassion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Disenchantment] [Dispassion] // [Translation] [Skillful qualities]
1. “Ananda’s answer (in SN 35.116) defines the world, but what did the Buddha mean by the end of the world?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sense bases] // [Cessation of Suffering]
2. “How should we approach the concept of Māra?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Sundarā. [Māra ] [Ignorance] [Unskillful qualities] // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Doubt] [Humor]
3. “Is conceiving a function of saṅkhāra? Is viññaṇa involved at all?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Conceit] [Volitional formations] [Consciousness] // [Nature of mind]
Follow-up: “So the ceasing of conceiving is the cessation of manas; is saṅkhāra related or involved in that?” [Cessation] [Discernment]
4. “The Pāli word for conceit is very similar to the Pāli word for conceiving. In the Pāli Canon, does conceiving always have an element of ‘I’ in there?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Conceit] [Tipiṭaka] [Pāli] [Language]
5. “What is the meaning of palpitation in the context of SN 35.248?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Language] [Conceit]
6. “Could you explain the subtle differences between perceiving and conceiving? Since our sense of attention is so involved in conceiving ‘I’, how do we practice in order to extricate this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Perception] [Conceit] // [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Memory] [Translation] [Thai]
7. “The dissolving of ‘I am’ ends up as not-self. Do we end up with a dissolving of ‘I am’ at an essential level and we still have a worldly convenient ‘I am?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Conceit] [Relinquishment] [Not-self] [Conventions]
8. “What does volitional formations mean?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volitional formations] // [Pāli] [Volition]
9. “In MN 138.3, what does ‘positioned’ mean?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Clinging] [Fear]
10. “The phrase, ‘the knot of grasping’ (in Snp 794); is that upādāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Clinging] // [Translation]
1. “Is it correct that if the conceit ‘I am’ is penetrated that essentially eliminates the other four fetters?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Fetters] [Conceit]
Sutta: AN 9.3 / Ud 4.1: Meghiya Sutta.
2. “If sakkāyadiṭṭhi is seen or penetrated, then do doubt and the other two follow?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Self-identity view] [Doubt] [Attachment to precepts and practices] [Fetters] // [Impermanence] [Great disciples] [Characteristics of existence]
Sutta: SN 56.11: Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: Kondañño’s knowing (Chanting Book translation).
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]
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.
5. “Can you say, ‘Why do you go out and bother the thoughts?’” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Proliferation] [Sense bases]
1. “I’ve heard saññā interpreted as perception/memory. Is memory included in saññā?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro, Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Perception] [Memory] // [Mindfulness]
Reference: Uncommon Wisdom: The Life and Teachings of Ajahn Paññāvaḍḍho by Ajahn Dick Sīlaratano, p. 199.
2. “Are unworldly feelings to be treated the same? (referring to MN 18.8, ‘nothing is found there to delight in.’) Some of them appear in the cessation cycle, for example joy. They’re pleasant spiritual feelings.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Feeling] [Happiness] [Skillful qualities] // [Jhāna] [Formless attainments] [Conditionality] [Ajahn Chah]
3. “When the mind rests in awareness and it’s not going out, it feels very natural. It knows that this is the place to be, but still over and over again, no matter how clearly it sees this pure quality and peaceful quality, it still goes out to thoughts. The mind keeps going out. It keeps grabbing, it keeps identifying, even though it knows this is dukkha.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Knowing itself] [Clinging] [Suffering] [Long-term practice] // [Noting] [Mindfulness of mind] [Idealism] [Discernment] [Food] [Feeling] [Birth]
Quote: “It’s just that much.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah]
4. “The naming of proliferation—I’m getting to this idea that, okay now that I named it, it will stop now. I have this hope that I’ve found the key that’s gonna stop it all and then I get frustrated with myself because it’s still going on. Do I have to name it again? What do I do now?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Noting] [Proliferation] // [Relinquishment] [Non-identification] [Mindfulness of body]
5. “It seems there are so many things to comment on it is kind of overwhelming. How to deal with that?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Noting] // [Mindfulness of body] [Present moment awareness]
Story: “The body understands!” Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Zen] [Koan]
6. “According to what you read in the book (The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 123-124; MN 18.16-19), first there is contact and then phassa and vedana. So first when we have contact there is no self yet. For example, if I contact something painful, at that time I feel I have no self, and then when I feel painful there is still no self, but then I feel like, ‘Oh, I don’t like this painfulness,’ the desire not to have it. Is feeling more self related with desire? It always comes together or not always?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Contact] [Feeling] [Pain] [Self-identity view] [Craving] // [Clinging] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Ascetic practices] [Heedfulness]
Sutta: Ud 1.10: Bāhiya.
Sutta: AN 10.58: “Rooted in interest are all things...”
Reference: Catastrophe/Apostrophe by Ajahn Amaro, p. 139.
Quote: “Just a few more things for you to let go of.” — Ajahn Chah’s response to Jack Kornfield’s description of his travels and meditation experiences.. [Ajahn Chah] [Jack Kornfield] [Relinquishment] [Conceit] [Restlessness and worry]
2. “Do you have any suggestions on how to strengthen our ability for non conceptual investigation?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation] // [Present moment awareness] [Artistic expression] [Mindfulness of mind]
3. “Would you say that way of reflecting using non conceptual thought is more effective or more penetrative than using verbalisation?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Jāgaro] [Culture/West]
Reference: “What is Contemplation?”, Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 475.
4. “So in contemplation there is still mental movement, but not the translation of that movement into words?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Insight meditation] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Clear comprehension] [Perception] [Chanting] [Lawfulness]
Sutta: SN 1.1.
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.
6. “The space where everything arises and ceases, where it is not arising and ceasing—it is just knowing. That is how I experience the still point…. When I turn the mind towards that, I sometimes feel like something is wrong because there is a sense of trying to keep it there. There is a sense of wanting to fixate on it…. So I wonder whether Ajahn or Luang Por have any helpful way of how we should hold turning towards it in a way that is the middle way.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Spaciousness] [Knowing itself] [Clinging] [Middle Path] // [Non-identification] [Similes] [Becoming]
Reference: Silence by John Cage. [Artistic expression]
1. “MN 49.26 says that the Buddha made himself invisible. Are the suttas always to be taken literally?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Buddha/Biography] [Psychic powers] [Tipiṭaka] // [Brahma gods] [Culture/India] [Ven. Ananda Maitreya]
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1.7.8: The Buddha conceals Yasa.
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]
3. “What about different definitions of the mind? Sometimes the Pāli is citta…” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Heart/mind] [Pāli] // [Nature of mind] [Sense bases] [Liberation] [Translation]
Sutta: SN 22.59 Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta: Their hearts (citta) were liberated... (Chanting book translation).
4. “We often speak of the mind, and we associate it with the mental mind, and we often feel that it’s in the area of the head. Then, when we feel the heart, we often feel like it’s in the area of the heart chakra. I see that in meditation, we can actually expand our field of awareness, maybe to the whole body or even more. Are there different approaches or degrees to this? How does it relate to consciousness?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Heart/mind] [Nature of mind] [Spaciousness] [Consciousness] // [Translation] [Language] [Hinduism] [Emotion] [Mindfulness of mind] [Body/form]
5. Comment: In the first Dhammapada verse, mano seems to be used not as a sense gate but sort of a leading part of consciousness. [Heart/mind] [Sense bases] [Consciousness]
Response by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Thai Forest Tradition] [Recollection] [Language] [Conventions]
Sutta: SN 1.25: The Buddha’s use of ‘I’ as conventional language.
6. “Did the Buddha use viññāṇa to describe the mind as the sixth sense gate sometimes?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Consciousness] [Heart/mind] [Sense bases]
7. Comment: The quality that the Dhammapada describes (Dhp 1) seems like it has the quality of the beginning of the formations, like saṅkhāra, with its quality of intention. To me this seems like a mano kind of quality as opposed to the broader citta quality. So that kind of mind, mano, is the forerunner of stuff that gets produced. Contributed by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Heart/mind] [Volitional formations] [Volition]
Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Kamma]
8. Comments about the everyday use of the words corresponding to mano and dukkha in Indian languages. Contributed by Anagārikā Deepa. [Language] [Pāli] [Culture/India] [Heart/mind] [Suffering]
Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Proliferation] [Ven. Ananda Maitreya] [Tipiṭaka] [Humor] [Translation] [Bhikkhu Bodhi]