Ajahn Amaro
Teachings by Ajahn Amaro
Ajahn Amaro
Teachings by Ajahn Amaro
1. Story: Ajahn Amaro tells his mother that he’s never eaten so well since he became a Buddhist monk. Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Amaro] [Food] [Monastic life]
1. Ajahn Amaro introduces Paul Breiter and Joseph Kappel. [Joseph Kappel] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Amaro] [Aruna Ratanagiri] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
1. “What is the daily schedule like?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Joseph Kappel. [Monastic life] [Ajahn Chah] // [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ajahn Amaro] [Joseph Kappel] [Chanting] [Meditation] [Almsround] [Work] [Abhayagiri] [Teaching Dhamma] [Upatakh]
3. Story: “Sleep is delicious.” Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Admonishment/feedback] [Goodwill] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Amaro] [Joseph Kappel] [Upatakh] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Robes] [Mentoring] [Faith]
2. Context of the reading: walking into Wat Pah Pong. Reflection by Joseph Kappel. [Ajahn Chah] // [Joseph Kappel] [Wat Pah Pong] [Culture/Natural environment] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Shelter] [Posture/Walking] [Dōgen] [Ajahn Amaro]
1. Ajahn Amaro introduces Kittisaro, Ṭhānissarā, and Paul Breiter. [Kittisaro] [Ṭhānissarā] [Ajahn Chah] // [Sutta] [Ajahn Amaro] [Recreation/leisure/sport] [Learning] [Ajahn Sumedho] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism] [Disrobing] [Zen] [Vajrayāna]
Reference: Being Dharma by Ajahn Chah (commercial)
7. “When we enter this life, everything is so funny.” Reflection by Ajahn Sundarā. [Monastic life] [Humor] // [Ṭhānissarā] [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Sundarā] [Vinaya]
Quote: “It was a hell of a life in the beginning.”
7. Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s tudong practice. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Seclusion] [Tudong] // [Meditation] [Sickness] [Ajahn Amaro] [Abhayagiri] [Patience]
16. “Do you miss Ajahn Amaro?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Amaro]
7. “What do monks do with Pāli study levels?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Learning] [Pāli] [Culture/Thailand] [Types of monks] // [P. A. Payutto]
Story: Tan Chao Khun Prayoon Dhammacitto, the head of the Buddhist University in Bangkok, visits Wat Pah Nanachat. [Chao Khun Prayoon] [Thai sects] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
Story: Ajahn Mahā Adisak, a ninth-degree Pāli scholar, spends a year at Amaravati. [Ajahn Mahā Adisak] [Amaravati] [Ajahn Sumedho]
Story: He found it difficult to translate Ajahn Amaro’s teachings to Westerners into Thai. [Ajahn Amaro] [Culture/West] [Translation] [Dhamma books]
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]
27. “Ajahn Amaro writes about transforming the energy of sense contact into compassion and metta. How does this work?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Amaro] [Contact] [Compassion] [Goodwill] // [Aversion] [Relinquishment] [Four Noble Truths] [Happiness]
8. “In one of Ajahn Amaro’s first tudongs in England, the laypeople often knew where he was going to be. Is that accepted in Thailand?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Amaro] [History/Western Buddhism] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Culture/Thailand] [Tudong] // [Culture/Natural environment]
5. “I understand that there is a council of Theravada elders who are a “decision making panel” guiding the tradition. Who exactly is part of this council and who or what determines their eligibility? Will the honor being bestowed upon you and Ajahn Amaro next month make you eligible? Are there other monks in modern times who have received this honor?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [History/Thai Buddhism] [Saṅgha decision making] [Monastic titles] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Amaro]
3. “Two questions: 1) What strengths do you see in other Buddhist traditions and Western culture that our tradition could benefit from? 2) How have you decided which aspects of korwat (protocols) from Thailand to adjust and which to maintain?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mahāyāna] [Vajrayāna] [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand] [Monastic life] [Vinaya] [Protocols] // [Abhayagiri] [Women in Buddhism] [Robes] [Cultural context] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas] [Dōgen] [Zen] [Ajahn Sumedho] [History/Western Buddhism] [Simplicity] [Christianity] [Renunciation] [Eight Precepts] [Not handling money] [Chithurst] [Ajahn Amaro] [Communal harmony]
Quote: “There are so many good things to do that you could be running around the country doing good things. I’d rather focus my attention here.” [Pace of life]
Quote: “There’s no reason to fit into American culture.”
Story: The monastic jacket is vindicated in England. [Culture/Natural environment] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
Quote: “As Buddhist monastics and Buddhist practitioners, we’re trying to set conditions that give us the opportunity for learning.” [Lay life] [Learning]
7. “What is the role of admonishement? How do we admonish skillfully?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Admonishment/feedback] [Right Intention] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] // [Respect for elders]
Story: Ajahn Amaro waits a year before giving feedback. [Ajahn Amaro]
17. “Abhayagiri’s daily and yearly schedule provide a good balance of individual and communal practice. How did this happen?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Abhayagiri] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Amaro] [Seclusion] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] // [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
5. Simile: Sculpting different materials requires different tools. This practice is more molding than hammering. [Similes] [Right Effort]
Response by Ajahn Ñāṇiko: Ajahn Amaro used to say, “The beatings won’t stop until morale improves.” At a certain point, you have to decide to stop. [Goodwill] [Ajahn Amaro] [Judgementalism] [Cessation]