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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4. “Where is Wat Buridat?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Pesalo. [Wat Buridat] // [Ajahn Suwat] [Wat Metta] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Insight Meditation Society]
5. “Did Ajahn Mahā Boowa always praise the dtuaṅga practices?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ascetic practices] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Mun] // [Incontrovertible practices]
Story: Ajahn Mun tells Ajahn Mahā Boowa to stop sweeping when he is sick with malaria. [Sickness] [Ardency] [Attachment to precepts and practices]
Story: Ajahn Mahā Boowa takes on the dtok bhat practice, but Ajahn Mun puts food in his bowl. Told by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Almsfood] [Conceit]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno meets a monk who didn’t need to sleep. [Devotion to wakefulness] [Sense restraint] [Concentration]
Story: Pa Auk Sayadaw didn’t sleep during a Rains Retreat. [Pa Auk Sayadaw]
3. “Did the pakow who accompanied Ajahn Chah to the cremation ground ever ordain?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Postulants]
5. “Are the boundaries between Dhammayut and Mahanikai breaking down?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Thai sects] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Vinaya]
1. “Is samwat a Thai word for saṁvega?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Thai] [Spiritual urgency]
2. “How common is burial as opposed to cremation in Thailand?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/Thailand] [Funerals ] // [Death] [Suicide] [Ghost] [Rebirth]
Story: A person killed by a gunshot wound doesn’t realize that he is dead.
3. “Why are dead children buried?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Death] [Children] [Culture/Thailand] [Funerals]
4. “When and why did Ajahn Chah talk about his past?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Teaching Dhamma] // [Stories]
5. “Did Ajahn Chah say, “I’m such a good teacher because I had so many defilements?”” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Teaching Dhamma] [Unwholesome Roots]
Story: Ajahn Chah explains that he had a lot of defilements to work with. [Ajahn Viradhammo]
6. “Did Ajahn Chah use asubha practice during his battle with lust?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Sensual desire] [Unattractiveness] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Impermanence] [Patience] [Conditionality]
Reference: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 81.
3. Ajahn Anan’s deference to Luang Por Chah. Recollection by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Ajahn Anan] [Ajahn Chah] [Respect for elders]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
5. “It seems unusual for a monk to talk about his meditative attainments. Is this unusual or frowned upon?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Stages of awakening]
6. “Did Ajahn Piak and Ajahn Anan leave Wat Pah Pong together to found Wat Fah Krahm?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Piak] [Ajahn Anan] [Wat Pah Pong] [Wat Fah Krahm] // [Ajahn Dtun] [History/Thai Buddhism] [Sequence of training]
7. “Is this the monastery near the airport?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Fah Krahm]
8. “When Ajahn Anan left for Rayong, had Ajahn Dtun already left?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Anan] [Ajahn Dtun]
9. “How long was Ajahn Anan at Wat Fah Krahm?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Anan] [Wat Fah Krahm]
10. “How can we interest the mind in the recollection of death?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Death] [Desire] // [Mindfulness of breathing] [Sickness] [Death] [Poo Jum Gom] [Mindfulness of body] [Spiritual urgency]
11. “Is recollection of death useful for laypeople?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Death] [Lay life] // [Human]
12. Comment by Ajahn Ñāṇiko: There is a belief that contemplating death can call death to you. [Recollection/Death] [Death] // [Fear]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
13. “How do I keep the mind from proliferating about what happens after death?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Death] [Rebirth] [Proliferation] // [Progress of insight]
14. “If you don’t think you will reach Nibbāna in this life, did Ajahn Chah advise a place to aspire for rebirth in?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Anan] [Pure Land] [Ajahn Dtun] [Death] [Nibbāna] [Rebirth] [Buddha] [Ajahn Chah] // [Culture/Thailand] [Merit] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Sutta: AN 3.136 Uppādā Sutta: “Whether Tathāgatās appear in the world or not...” [Characteristics of existence]
15. Discussion about faith followers and Dhamma followers. [Stream entry] [Stages of awakening] [Death] [Sutta]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Not-self] [Concentration] [Recollection/Death]
Reference: Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, pp. 441-445: Ajahn Chah comes down Pu Pek Mountain and nothing is the same. [Ajahn Chah]
Response by Ajahn Cunda. [Ajahn Amaro]
16. Comment: Comments about bringing death contemplation into the present moment. [Recollection/Death] [Present moment awareness] [Rebirth]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Vajrayāna]
1. “Did you live with Ajahn Mahā Som?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno]
3. “Which monastery is Wat Keuan?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Keuan] [Environment] // [Almsround]
4. “What is the town across from Wat Keuan?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Keuan] // [Ajahn Puriso]
5. “Did you think of relocating Wat Pah Nanachat to Wat Keuan?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Wat Keuan] // [Seclusion] [Ajahn Puriso] [Deva]
Story: Ajahn Chah asks Ajahn Pasanno to take over as abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat. [Ajahn Chah] [Abbot]
Story: Supporters offer Ajahn Pasanno several properties to start monasteries, but he passes them to others. [Generosity] [Culture/Natural environment] [Ajahn Gavesako] [Ajahn Liem] [Environment]
6. “You were offered a cornfield in Ohio? What year was that?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Generosity] [Ajahn Pasanno]
7. “Do foreigners still go to Wat Keuan?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Keuan] [Ajahn Boon Choo] // [Personality] [Ajahn Liem] [Seclusion]
8. “Did Ajahn Boon Choo go to Europe?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Boon Choo] // [Thai sects] [Personality]
10. “Did Luang Por Liem ask Luang Por Boon Choo to stay back when Luang Por Chah became ill?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Liem] [Ajahn Boon Choo] [Wat Pah Pong] [Ajahn Chah] [Sickness] // [Wat Pahk Kut Wai] [Upasikā Kee Nanayon] [Geography/Thailand]
Story: Karaoke bars spring up around Wat Pahk Kut Wai. [Seclusion]
12. “If you had moved Wat Pah Nanachat to Wat Keuan, would you have left Thailand?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Wat Keuan] [Ajahn Pasanno]
Quote: “I had one plan and the devas had a different one.” [Deva]
Sutta: DN 16.6.15: Mahāparinibbāna Sutta [Buddha/Biography] [Great disciples]
13. “What happened to Ajahn Puriso?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Puriso] [Disrobing] // [Translation] [Dhamma books] [P. A. Payutto]
1. “Is it rare for someone to master samādhi before developing wisdom?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Concentration] [Discernment] [Ajahn Piak]
2. “Would you be willing to talk about the difference between mindfulness, bare knowing, and the one who knows?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness ] [Direct experience] [Knowing itself] // [Buddha] [Clear comprehension] [Thai] [Discernment] [Ardency] [Seclusion] [Cessation of Suffering]
Sutta: MN 10: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta
3. “Could constant movement like Luang Por Teean’s technique be useful for drowsiness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sloth and torpor] [Ajahn Teean] [Movement meditation] // [Continuity of mindfulness]
5. Ajahn Jotipālo tells about Luang Por Teean’s technique at Wat Pah Nanachat. [Ajahn Teean] [Movement meditation] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno: “It isn’t a method that’s going to work. It’s how you apply and use it and become skilled with it.”
6. “Could the Ajahn Teean technique work for restlessness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Teean] [Movement meditation] [Restlessness and worry]
Quote: “There’s no such thing as the Ajahn Chah method of meditation.” [Ajahn Chah] [Meditation/Techniques] [Right Effort] [Mindfulness of mind]
7. “Did Ajahn Chah speak about paramī?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Perfections] // [Culture/Thailand]
9. “Did you use the method of balancing a needle between your thumbs?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Meditation/Techniques]
10. “What if your problem is restlessness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Restlessness and worry] // [Tranquility] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Energy]
11. “What is a reasonable amount of time to try out a new method?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Ajahn Chah] [Meditation/Techniques] // [Personality] [Patience]
1. “Did Ajahn Teean learn his method from someone else?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Teean] [Movement meditation]
2. “Did Ajahn Teean have contact with Ajahn Chah?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Teean] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Mun] [Geography/Thailand]
3. “Does Luang Por Teean have disciples who are still alive?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Teean]
4. “Questions about a translated book by a Luang Por Teean disciple.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Teean]
5. “Do you know Venerable Nirodha who translated this book?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Teean] [Dhamma books] [Translation] [Ajahn Pasanno]
6. “Why did older men ordain as pakows and follow Ajahn Chah on tudong?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Older monks] [Postulants] [Ajahn Chah] [Tudong] // [Culture/Thailand] [Food] [Almsfood]
7. “Is it common for older men to ordain?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Older monks] // [Postulants] [Association with people of integrity]
8. “How long would such pakows ordain?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Older monks] [Postulants] // [Amaravati] [Dhammapala]
9. “Was Luang Por Teean a forest teacher? Dhammayut or Mahanikai?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Teean] [Forest versus city monks] [Thai sects]
3. “Who offered the second reading?” Answered by Ajahn Pesalo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Gi] [Ajahn Tongrat] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
4. “Did any Wat Pah Pong monks spend time with Luang Por Gi?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Pong] [Ajahn Gi] // [Seclusion] [Ajahn Piak] [Ajahn Anek]
5. “How much time did Ajahn Chah spend with Ajahn Tongrat?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Tongrat] // [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Tudong]
7. “Was there a time in Thailand when no one had any noble attainments?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Jotipālo and Ajahn Cunda. [History/Thai Buddhism] [Stages of awakening] // [Chao Khun Upāli] [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Media]
Story: Prince Mongkut ordains seven times. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Vajirayan] [Ordination] [Doubt]
8. “Are there any of Luang Por Tongrat’s teachings available?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Tongrat] [Dhamma books] // [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Jayasaro]
9. “Has the Ajahn Utane biography been translated into English?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Tongrat] [Translation] [Ajahn Utane] [Dhamma books]
Note: Ajahn Mudito translated Ajahn Utane’s biography of Ajahn Tongrat into Portuguese in 2019. A machine translation from Portuguese to English is available on the internet.
10. “Is Ajahn Utane’s monastery the same as Ajahn Tongrat’s?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Tongrat] [Ajahn Utane] // [Ajahn Liem] [Stupas/monuments]
1. “Sometimes I will see a bit of greed come up, I apply an antidote, for example, if its craving, apply some asuba; but it seems to exacerbate it–do you have any encouragement or similes from Ajahn Chah?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unwholesome Roots] [Right Effort] [Meditation/Results] [Ajahn Chah] // [Investigation of states] [Patience]
Simile: Putting a tiger in a cage. [Similes] [Mindfulness] [Discernment]
2. “The citta is sometimes defined as pure awareness, and it being in the fourth khanda, but it sounds like here [Ajahn Wanchai] is talking about the activity of awareness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Heart/mind] [Ajahn Wanchai] [Knowing itself] [Volitional formations] // [Rebirth]
Quote: “There is that which is beyond birth and death. And then you start asking, ‘Well, what is it and how is it? How should it be?’ It’s just the same as in the Sabbāsava Sutta (MN 2.7)...As soon as you get into conceiving, you’ve already started the process of dukkha.” [Unconditioned ] [Proliferation] [Conceit] [Suffering]
Follow-up: “So is it better to hear what he said and let it go when I notice awareness that’s good, but I don’t have to make anything out of it?”
Quote: “The investigation is not a conceiving. The best investigation is when the mind is exceedingly still and not conceiving, not creating concepts.” [Discernment] [Concentration]
Follow-up: “So is it a realizing, not a conceiving?” [Knowledge and vision]
3. “If you keep chipping away at a theme of contemplation, you keep doing it, doing it, and nothing is changing in your experience, at some stage you feel this isn’t working, do you just have to move on and try something else? Is it the case that you just have to try them all? No-one can tell you which is going to work for you?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Depression] [Recollection] // [Patience] [Spiritual friendship]
Story: Ajahn Wanchai has a spinal injury and is in chronic pain but doesn’t refer to himself. Told by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Ajahn Wanchai] [Suffering] [Sickness] [Pain] [Conceit]
4. Comment: The story you told where a monk was punched, I really didn’t see the point of that. [Ajahn Jia] [Admonishment/feedback] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Cunda: Enlightened people still have personalities. [Cleanliness] [Liberation] [Personality] [Ajahn Tate] [Spiritual friendship] [Vinaya]
Quote: “Gold wrapped in a dirty rag.” — Ajahn Mahā Boowa describing Ajahn Jia.. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Similes]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah was always the center of attention. [Ajahn Chah] [Personal presence]
Story: Some monks go to spend Vassa with Ajahn Jia, but he leaves to take care of his teacher. Told by Ajahn Cunda. [Rains retreat] [Ajahn Khao]
5. Comment: In the Thai Forest tradition there are some fierce teachers. In other Buddhist traditions the “don’t question the guru” mentality seems to get way out of hand, but in Thailand that doesn’t seem to happen so often. [Thai Forest Tradition] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Mentoring] [Ajahn Jia]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno: Well, they just leave. [Ajahn Chah] [Respect] [Culture/Thailand]
Comments by Ajahn Pesalo and Ajahn Pasanno about Ajahn Jia. [Faith] [Liberation] [Personality]
Comments by Ajahn Jotipālo and Ajahn Pasanno about avoiding both blind faith and badmouthing others. [Malicious speech] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Kamma] [Ajahn Wanchai]
2. “Did I understand correctly, that this talk was originally given in Lao?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Language] // [Ajahn Chah] [Thai] [Admonishment/feedback]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno translates the talk “Two Faces of Reality” for the book Bodhinyana. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Translation]
Story: Chao Khun Nor eats the same meal every day. [Chao Khun Nor] [Food] [Seclusion] [Pūjā]
3. “In the reading, did it say that he [Chao Khun Nor] slept in a coffin?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Chao Khun Nor] [Recollection/Death]
4. “Was your eight years living with novices like how it was described in this reading [‘Toilets on the Path’]?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Novices] // [Thai]
Story: Ajahn Preecha comes to Wat Pah Pong at the age of 11 or 12. [Ajahn Preecha] [Postulants] [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Pah Pong]
5. “Was there a cap, a certain number of novices allowed at the monastery at one time?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Pong] [Novices] // [Ajahn Chah] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries]
6. Comment: I got the impression from that introduction that the monastery was over-run with novices. [Wat Pah Pong] [Novices]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Rains retreat]
7. “How did Ajahn Chah communicate with his branch monasteries and how often?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Monastery organizational structure] // [Abbot] [Technology]
Story: Growth of Wat Pah Pong branch monasteries from 1975 to 1980. [Wat Pah Nanachat]
8. Comment: Ajahn Chah probably wasn’t a micro manager. [Ajahn Chah] [Abbot]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
Recollection: Ajahn Chah used the branch monasteries as part of the training of senior monks. [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Sequence of training]
10. “So they do temporary ordinations in Thailand?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/Thailand] [Temporary ordination] [Novices]
Follow-up: “What would be the duration, was there a range?” [Wat Pah Pong] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Ajahn Chah ordains 80 temporary monks for his mother’s funeral. [Parents] [Death] [Funerals]
Follow-up: “Did they come in as anāgārikas or sāmaṇeras?” [Sequence of training] [Postulants]
Story: Ajahn Chah takes on temporary ordinations for three years.
11. “Did they do temporary ordinations at Wat Pah Nanachat?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Temporary ordination] // [Novices] [Ajahn Kevali] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
Story: Ajahn Siripañño’s first ordination was as a temporary novice. [Ajahn Siripañño]
12. “Was there a temporary ordination in England for Maurice Walsh?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Maurice Walsh] [Temporary ordination] [Amaravati] // [Learning] [Older monks] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Pūjā]
13. “How many other traditions in Thailand use the model of anagārika for one year and sāmaṇera for one year?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sequence of training] // [Ajahn Sanong] [Media]
1. “When you were living with Ajahn Chah, were many of his talks more related to the Korwat or practical matters, as opposed to the High Dhamma?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Teaching Dhamma] [Protocols ] [Dhamma]
Quote: “There’s not really a separation.” [Vinaya ]
Comment: Ajahn Chah taught to the situation. Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Learning] [Sequence of training]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Cessation of Suffering] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
2. “There were a number of different alms routes out of Wat Pah Pong. How was it decided who went on each one and how was the food distributed for the meal?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Pong] [Almsround] [Almsfood] [Saṅgha decision making] // [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ajahn Liem]
Discussion of almsfood distribution at different monasteries. Led by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Pesalo. [Ajahn Tongrat] [Wat Pah Ban Tat]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno helped pass out food at Wat Pah Pong. [Ajahn Pasanno]
Story: Ajahn Tongrat exposes a monk concealing fish in his ball of sticky rice. [Food] [Admonishment/feedback]
Comments by Ajahn Pesalo and Ajahn Pasanno about food distribution at Wat Baan Tat. [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
Quote: “It’s incredibly tiresome how organized we [Westerners] have to be....Organic spontaneity–that’s how things work in Thailand.” [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand]
3. “At Wat Pah Pong there’s a large mural of lay people eating, do you know where that came from or how long its been there?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Pong] [Lay life] [Food] [Protocols]
4. “I have heard that the food would go into a big pot and get all mixed up. How often did that happen?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Food] // [Abhayagiri] [Ajahn Sucitto]
6. “Did the alms routes stay the same over the years?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Pong] [Almsround]
7. “Do you try to pass most of the houses in the village?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Pong] [Almsround] // [Culture/Thailand] [Culture/West]
8. “You’d have one village supporting more than one monastery, is that right?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Almsround] // [Forest versus city monks] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
9. “How many villages are around Poo Jom Gom?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Poo Jum Gom] [Almsround]
1. “Are there any stories you can share from the times when you were attendant to Luang Por Chah?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Upatakh] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Mentoring]
Quote: “I never asked him for anything. It never occured to me to ask Ajahn Chah for anything.” [Contentment]
Story: Ajahn Chah makes fun of Ajahn Pasanno’s first Pāṭimokkha chanting. [Pāṭimokkha]
Quote: “He would be unrelenting if you were stuck in some aversion....He wouldn’t indulge it. It was inevitably painful if one did.” [Aversion] [Fierce/direct teaching]
2. “Were there any other ways in which he tormented you specifically?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Story: Ajahn Chah won’t let Ajahn Pasanno go to a branch monastery to escape the misery of the hot season. [Culture/Natural environment] [Work] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Restlessness and worry] [Aversion]
Story: Ajahn Chah calls Ajahn Pasanno lazy. [Pūjā]
Quote: “Do you give up?” — Ajahn Chah to Ajahn Pasanno.. [Vinaya] [Relinquishment]
3. “Would Luang Por Chah teach or test monks and students in different ways?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Mentoring] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Recollection: Joseph Kappel shakes with fear when on the receiving end of Ajahn Chah’s admonishments. [Joseph Kappel] [Admonishment/feedback] [Fear]
4. “There was a reference to the four assemblies – what are they?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fourfold Assembly]
5. “Within Luang Por Mun’s disciples, were some renowned for wisdom, others for samādhi, determination, psychic powers, faith, and so on?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and the Abhayagiri Saṅgha. [Ajahn Mun] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Chorp] [Ajahn Khao] [Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo] [Ajahn Wanchai]
6. “Who was the monk that was said to be flying around with the military planes?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Psychic powers] // [Ajahn Waen]
8. “In that talk he [Ajahn Sim] seemed to stress doing samatha meditation before practicing vipassana. Is that strictly held within this tradition?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Sim] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Tranquility] [Knowing itself] [Concentration] [Language]
Quote: “The qualities of the one pointed mind are vitakka, vicāra, pīti, sukha, and ekaggatā....It’s not one pointed excluding. It works together, it harmonizes, it’s balanced.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Unification ] [Right Concentration]
9. “When he [Ajahn Sim] talked about nama rupa, is that looking at the fundamental movement of the mind towards unwholesome dhammas?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Sim] [Aggregates] [Unwholesome Roots] [Investigation of states] // [Restlessness and worry] [Self-identity view]
1. “There seems to be a point of difference in teachings – some teachers emphasize mindfulness of the mind and others say “go for the body.” Do you have any reflections about that?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Mindfulness of mind] [Mindfulness of body] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Science]
3. Comment by Ajahn Kaccāna: When working with the mind in a comfortable environment, one can skip past the fear of death. [Mindfulness of mind] [Pain] [Fear] [Death]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
4. “With the succinct teaching “know and let go,” I notice a tendency in the mind to go through the motions of that without really being able to enter into it – what do I do about that?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness] [Relinquishment ] // [Truth] [Perfections]
5. “In my desire to get to the “heart of it” I find part of my mind really wants this, but another part of my mind is not going along with the program. How do I keep myself on the Path?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Desire] [Simplicity] [Volition] // [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Impermanence] [Cessation] [Upasikā Kee Nanayon]
Follow-up: “The experience of arising and disbanding isn’t yet practical for me. I need something more operational.” [Tranquility]
Simile: Making a fire flare up or die down (SN 46.53). — Ajahn Pasanno. [Factors of Awakening] [Energy] [Mindfulness]
6. When the practice is difficult, one can look at wholesome states and say, “This is the result when I did this. There actually was some good that came of it.” Comment by Ajahn Cunda. [Skillful qualities] [Conditionality] [Gladdening the mind] [Kamma]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Virtue]
8. “What is Jeta’s Grove?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography] [Death] // [Great disciples] [Ajahn Sucitto]
Vinaya: Anāthapiṇḍika purchases Jeta’s Grove (Khandhaka 16.4.8). [Generosity]
9. “Why is the story of Sarakāni controversial in Sri Lanka?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stream entry] [Intoxicants] [History/Sri Lankan Buddhism] [Death] // [Stages of awakening]
Sutta: SN 55.24-25: Sarakāni
Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo regarding the wide range of views about stream entry. [Views]
10. “The suttas say ‘The wise protect their diligence as their greatest treasure.’ How does one protect one’s diligence?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Heedfulness ] [Ardency] [Death] // [Sickness] [Mindfulness] [Discernment] [Mindfulness of mind] [Right Effort]
11. “Is there a meditation practice to use with someone who is dying?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Death] // [Faith] [Simplicity] [Happiness] [Recollection/Death] [Ageing] [Sickness]
Story about Ram Dass’s dying mother: “Richard, shut up!” [Ram Dass] [Fear] [Restlessness and worry]
12. Comments about uncertainty, impermanence, and denial of the reality of one’s own death. [Impermanence ] [Culture/West] [Heedfulness] [Virtue] [Death] [Recollection/Death] // [Happiness] [Spaciousness]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
15. “Living in the West, chances are most of us will die in a hospital, which could be quite chaotic. Any advice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/West] [Health care] [Death] // [Spiritual friendship] [Community] [Saṅgha]
Story: The Abhayagiri community attends to a dying lay supporter. [Abhayagiri]
Comments about hospitals contributed by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo.
19. “Is it possible to dedicate merit to our four-legged companions after they pass?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Animal ] [Merit] [Grief] [Death] // [Generosity]
Sutta: AN 10.177: Jāṇussoṇī
21. “Can you dedicate merit to someone who is approaching death?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Merit ] [Death]
Story: Ajahn Paññānanda speaks out against superstition but tells the story of a shipwrecked sailor who benefited from dedication of merit. [Ajahn Paññānanda] [Superstition] [Suffering]
22. “I read about the advice given to dying devas. Should more people know about the cosmological background of the Buddha’s teachings?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Deva] [Realms of existence] [Death]
Sutta: Iti 83: Five omens that appear when a deva is about to pass away. [Rebirth]
23. “In Vajrayāna you visualize a column of light and going out the top of your head in preparation for death. Is there a related practice in this tradition?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Vajrayāna] [Visualization] [Recollection/Death] [Theravāda] [Death] // [Tranquility] [Mindfulness]
Reference: “Our Real Home” in Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 145.
24. “If beings are reborn immediately, how does ritual [sharing of merit] benefit the person who has passed?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Rebirth] [Ceremony/ritual] [Merit] [Death] // [Theravāda] [Realms of existence] [Goodwill]
Sutta: AN 10.177: Jāṇussoṇī
26. “If a family member who has passed turns into a hungry ghost, how might one help them when they’re in that realm?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Family] [Rebirth] [Ghost ] [Compassion] [Death] // [Merit]
Sutta: AN 10.177: Jāṇussoṇī
Follow-up: “Does it work the same way if the person hasn’t made much merit?” [Kamma] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] [Human]
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