Glosses: Meaning
21 excerpts, 1:13:36 total duration
“I struggle to find meaning in life. ... I struggle to find what to do during my days and what to do in the future in terms of career or lifestyle. ... What would be your advice for someone who feels lost as to what to do next in his/her life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Purpose/meaning ] [Sickness] [Work] [Depression] // [Right Effort] [Generosity] [Virtue] [Kamma] [Happiness] [Clear comprehension]
Abhayagiri 25th Anniversary Retreat [2021], Session 9, Excerpt 3
2. “If there is no self, why do you think we are here, alive on Earth as individuals?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Not-self] [Purpose/meaning] // [Craving] [Ignorance] [Self-identity view] [Saṃsāra]
Sutta: SN 15.1: “A first point is not discerned of beings roaming and wandering on, hindered by ignorance and fettered by craving.”—Bhikkhu Bodhi translation.
18. “What are hallmarks or signs or markers of stream entry? Is this a realistic goal for a modern lay person?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stream entry ] [Lay life] // [Faith] [Three Refuges] [Virtue] [Self-identity view] [Attachment to precepts and practices] [Doubt]
Quote: “If you’re going to have a goal in life, this is the one to have.” [Purpose/meaning]
Sutta: SN 55.5: Sāriputta teaches four factors of stream entry. [Factors for stream entry] [Association with people of integrity] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Appropriate attention] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
7. “What is the meaning of life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Purpose/meaning]
15. “I’m sitting here looking at the passion of Christ. My good friends are Christian and Muslim, and I want to be respectful and non-judgemental, but once in a great while I think they are micchā-diṭṭhi (wrong view). What does the Buddha say about other beliefs? Are they all true in their own way? How should I skillfully hold my attitude toward Jesus, Mohammed, etc.?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spiritual traditions ] [Christianity] [Islam] [Judgementalism] [Views] // [Kamma]
Recollection: Buddhist-Christian monastic dialogue at The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. [Monastic life] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas]
Quote: “All religions are trying to deal with the human condition in a meaningful way. ... A lot of it is around the intention and integrity that individual practitioners bring to their life and practice as opposed to the label that they practice under.” [Human] [Purpose/meaning] [Truth]
10. “After forty years of meditating, what do you still find that is interesting?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno ] [Long-term practice] // [Mindfulness of breathing] [Gladdening the mind] [Learning]
Quote: “Practicing Dhamma ... sometimes it’s difficult, but it’s always interesting.” [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Purpose/meaning]
3. “I struggle to find meaning in life. ... I struggle to find what to do during my days and what to do in the future in terms of career or lifestyle. ... What would be your advice for someone who feels lost as to what to do next in his/her life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Purpose/meaning ] [Sickness] [Work] [Depression] // [Right Effort] [Generosity] [Virtue] [Kamma] [Happiness] [Clear comprehension]
7. “I’m lucky not to have any obligations such as taking care of a family, making money, working, etc., but I don’t know what to do with my life. ... Always wondering what to do with my life is a bit tough. How would you suggest I approach the situation? ... How do you figure out what to do with your life when you have too much freedom?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Purpose/meaning] [Work] // [Culture/West] [Right Effort] [Conceit] [Generosity]
See also Question 3 in this same session.
4. “Why do you think we sometimes don’t know what to do with our lives? Did you experience this before becoming a monk and do you sometimes still experience it? What helped you when you felt that way?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Purpose/meaning] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Monastic life] // [Delusion] [Sensual desire] [Māra] [Impermanence] [Clinging] [Truth] [Determination]
3. “I know people who have seen the fruits of the fully-developed Eightfold Path in someone [else] or have been to a monastery and felt what it feels like to live in line with that. They find the life they return to at home is very distant from that. Because of obligations or kammic ties, they aren’t able to bring their life into alignment with the Dhamma in the way they would want. What would you tell someone with one foot in the monastery and the other foot on a banana peel?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eightfold Path] [Monastic life] [Lay life ] // [Doubt] [Spiritual friendship] [Factors for stream entry] [Association with people of integrity] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Idealism] [Contentment]
Story: “I could cry every day, but what’s the point? It’s better to just get on with life.” [Retirement] [Pain] [Purpose/meaning]
6. “Going to Thailand—was it a divine plan or was it your own wish? Is enlightenment a path or a destination?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [God] [Purpose/meaning] [Stages of awakening] // [Skillful qualities] [Unconditioned] [Similes]
Quote: “None of the above.”
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. Reflection by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno: Stream entry is a really good retirement plan. [Stream entry] [Purpose/meaning] [Retirement] // [Factors for stream entry] [Meditation] [Association with people of integrity] [Hearing the true Dhamma]