Liberation (vimutti)
Liberation (vimutti)
4. Story: When I met Ajahn Chah. Told by Ṭhānissarā. [Ṭhānissarā] [Ajahn Chah] // [Meditation retreats] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Personal presence] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Liberation] [Happiness]
Story: Ajahn Chah bows to a small, neglected Buddha image in a secular meditation center and inspires Ṭhānissarā‘s faith. [Bowing] [Buddha images] [Perception of a samaṇa] [Human] [Faith]
Quote: “If you’ve been listening to this and you think this is good or you think this is bad, then you haven’t been listening properly.” — Ajahn Chah [Judgementalism] [Appropriate attention]
10. Story: Applying Ajahn Chah’s teachings to lay life in South Africa. Told by Ṭhānissarā. [Lay life] [Ajahn Chah] // [Monastic life] [Abuse/violence] [Self-reliance] [Discernment] [Compassion] [Spaciousness] [Liberation]
How would Ajahn Chah have responded to issues like feminism, democracy, engaged Buddhism, interfaith, and materialism that we’ve had to meet? [Women in Buddhism] [Politics and society] [Spiritual traditions] [Greed]
5. Reading from the draft biography: Ajahn Chah’s mentors: Ajahn Tongrat and Ajahn Kinaree [Mentoring] [Ajahn Tongrat] [Ajahn Kinaree] [Ajahn Chah] // [Personality] [Respect for elders] [Upatakh] [Tudong] [Visiting holy sites] [Robes] [Relinquishment] [Monastic crafts] [Pace of life] [Craving]
Reference: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 73
Story: Ajahn Chah meets Ajahn Tongrat.
Story: Ajahn Mun teaches his teacher, Ajahn Sao. [Ajahn Sao] [Ajahn Mun] [Liberation]
7. Story: Ajahn Supah chooses tudong over further studies. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Supah] [Culture/Thailand] [Study monks] [Learning] [Tudong] // [Liberation] [Goodwill] [Simplicity] [Virtue] [Recollection/Virtue]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s mother cries when she meets Ajahn Supah. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Faith] [Rapture]
Story: A python begins to eat Ajahn Supah. [Animal] [Determination] [Liberation]
4. “What does “the longing for the good is the cause of the trouble” mean?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mun] [Craving] [Skillful qualities] [Right Effort] // [Eightfold Path] [Aggregates] [Liberation] [Self-identity view] [Virtue] [Relinquishment] [Jhāna] [Ignorance] [Cause of Suffering]
Story: Sixth Patriarch Sutra: “No mirror, no dust.” [Liberation]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah taught you could grasp at either samut (the conventional) or vimut (the transcendant). [Ajahn Chah] [Conventions] [Unconditioned] [Clinging] [Discernment]
3. “When Luang Ta Mahā Boowa says he’s looking for a sign or vision, what does he mean by that?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Nimitta] [Deva] // [Culture/Thailand] [Culture/West] [Dreams] [Determination]
Story: Ajahn Tiradhammo asks Ajahn Chah what event convinced him that he was on the path to liberation. [Ajahn Tiradhammo] [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma books] [History/Thai Buddhism] [Liberation]
1. “I am curious about ways to know if one is lying to oneself and what to do?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Truth] [Delusion] // [Suffering] [Discernment] [Bases of Success]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah said the fastest way to enlightenment is to look directly at the mind, point your finger, and say “Liar!” [Ajahn Chah] [Liberation] [Proliferation]
6. Comment: There can be this view that the enlightened mind doesn’t have any thoughts or defilements. It’s just perfectly clear and stable and there’s nothing going on. [Liberation] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Unwholesome Roots] [Concentration]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno: Clear and stable and nothing going on are two different things.
Follow-up: “Does the enlightened mind not have any unwholesome thoughts or does it just not pick up unwholesome thoughts?” [Liberation] [Unskillful qualities] [Proliferation] [Clinging] [Cause of Suffering]
Story: A palmist looks at Ajahn Chah’s hands. [Ajahn Chah] [Aversion] [Personality] [Liberation]
9. Story: Ajahn Mun becomes enlightened and goes back to teach his teacher. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Sao] [Liberation] [Thai Forest Tradition]
Story: Ajahn Mun’s relics [Relics] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Abhayagiri]
4. “I thought to be self-critical was to improve yourself, to know how and where you need to improve yourself. How is being self-critical not good for yourself?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Judgementalism] [Right Effort] // [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Energy] [Goodwill] [Idealism] [Unwholesome Roots]
Story: Eight months to Enlightenment. [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] [Abhayagiri] [Liberation]