Part of key topic Fruits of the Practice
1. “What should one consider when looking for a teacher or guru to guide one’s personal journey?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Teachers ] [Mentoring] [Discernment] // [Ajahn Chah] [Determination] [Truth] [Perfectionism] [Personality]
Quote: “I saw many people show up [at Wat Pah Pong] with their list of what they thought a perfect teacher should be. ... and they would leave.”
Quote: “It is only when we are willing to give ourselves to truth or reality that the teacher makes sense.” [Relinquishment]
3. “Could you say more about recollection of death and the healthy desire to have something fall away?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Craving not to become] [Recollection/Death] [Relinquishment] // [Cessation] [Middle Path] [Right View]
Sutta: MN 26.19: The Buddha doubts whether anyone will understand. [Buddha/Biography]
7. Reflection for approaching difficulties: “What am I hanging on to here?” Contributed by Ajahn Pasanno. [Clinging] [Relinquishment]
8. Ajahn Chah greets Jack Kornfield: “I hope you’re not afraid to suffer.” [Ajahn Chah] [Jack Kornfield] [Suffering] [Fear] // [Isan] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Relinquishment] [Faith]
9. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Relinquishment is the doorway to unshakeability. [Equanimity] [Relinquishment] // [Fear]
6. “You mentioned that often Ajahn Chah pushed his students through their suffering in order to help them let go. Can you share specific examples of this happening?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Suffering] [Teaching Dhamma] [Relinquishment]
Story: A restless ex-monk asks to reordain. Ajahn Chah says he will keep him as an anagārika for seven years. [Restlessness and worry] [Postulants] [Sequence of training]
Story: After one year, the restless monk asks to go tudong. [Tudong]
7. “You mentioned how much Ajahn Chah emphasized the importance of letting go. As a lay person, how do we do that? And how do we reconcile letting go with being kind to ourselves? For instance, it could be seen as a kindness to oneself to listen to one’s favorite music or eat one’s favorite foods.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Relinquishment] [Lay life] [Compassion] // [Right Effort] [Idealism] [Eight Precepts] [Contentment]
Story: A monk practices letting go by not fixing his roof. [Lodging] [Relinquishment]
9. “I’m struggling with the concept of unshakiness, as “I” am falling into the trap of envisioning an unshakeable self. How can letting go be allowed without an I that lets go?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Equanimity] [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment] // [Knowing itself] [Human] [Ajahn Chah] [Three Refuges]
6. Comment: When we let go of the kilesas, it’s not just the absence of kilesas. There is a brightness and freeing of the heart. The Buddha said that there is a cloud, but when the cloud shifts, we’re not just left with the sky, but it allows the sun to shine through. Contributed by Randula Haththotuwa. [Unwholesome Roots] [Relinquishment] [Liberation] [Similes]
Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Direct experience]
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] [Relinquishment] [Right View]
1. “You said that letting go, relinquishing identification, is actually the real security. Could you expand on that?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Relinquishment] [Non-identification] // [Suffering] [Impermanence] [Self-identity view]
6. Quote: “Whenever you have feelings of love or hate for anything whatsoever, these will be your aides and partners in building pārami. The Buddha Dhamma is not to be found in moving forwards, nor in moving backwards, nor in standing still. This, Sumedho, is your place of non-abiding.” — Ajahn Chah’s only letter to Ajahn Sumedho. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Greed] [Aversion] [Perfections] [Dhamma] [Middle Path ] // [Relinquishment] [Knowing itself]
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.
7. Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno: The four bases of clinging are a theme for investigation. [Clinging] [Discernment] [Relinquishment] // [Sensual desire] [Views] [Attachment to precepts and practices] [Doctrine-of-self clinging] [Not-self]
Sutta: Dhp 160: “Attā hi attano nātho” – “The self is the refuge of the self.”
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]
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.
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]
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]
9. Comment: Practicing the Four Brahmavihāras is a relation practice that is very powerful in letting go of the self. [Divine Abidings] [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment]
Response by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Emotion] [Ajahn Vajiro]
Reference: Abundant, Exalted, Immeasurable by Ajahn Pasanno.
4. “In the mind of an arahant, are unwholesome states immediately seen through the filter of the Four Noble Truths so they are immediately let go?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Arahant] [Unskillful qualities] [Four Noble Truths] [Relinquishment] // [Māra]
Sutta: MN 49.29 [Brahma gods]
2. “To dissociate—isn’t it like to withdraw? It feels like something violent or painful.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Language] [Relinquishment] // [Proliferation] [Similes] [Seclusion]
Sutta: MN 20: The Removal of Distracting Thoughts.
Sutta: SN 10.3: Sūciloma.
3. Reflections by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno about the Dhamma and Vinaya aspects of dependence. [Dhamma] [Vinaya] [Dependence] // [Middle Path] [Four Noble Truths]
Sutta: Snp 752-753: “There is danger in dependence.” [Clinging]
Quote: “The Dhamma is all about letting go, and the Vinaya is all about holding on. When you figure out how these work together, you’ll be fine.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Relinquishment]
3. “Is there a difference between citta and poo roo?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Heart/mind ] [Knowing itself] [Nature of mind] // [Thai] [Language] [Proliferation] [Dhamma] [Buddha] [Ajahn Amaro] [Dhamma books]
Quote: “If there’s anything left, just throw it to the dogs.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Chah] [Relinquishment]
6. “The abandonment of all path factors and saṅkhāras—how much autonomy is there and how much is a ripening and falling away and paying attention?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Relinquishment] [Volition] // [Patience] [Truth] [Kamma] [Conditionality]
4. Recollection: Ajahn Chah would often make the distinction of holding but not clinging. Recounted by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Clinging ] // [Relinquishment] [Emptiness] [Everyday life] [Sense bases] [Self-identity view]
Reference: Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 583: “Sense Contact: The Fountain of Wisdom.” [Discernment]
Sutta: DN 16.2.25: The Buddha compares his body to an old cart. [Buddha/Biography] [Pain]
Suttas: MN 35.5; AN 10.67: The Buddha stretches his back.
5. Comment: “The principle of letting go is that nothing is destroyed ... we are not buying into the future.” [Relinquishment] [Clinging] [Buddha] [Death]
Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Stream entry] [Aggregates]
Quote: “A samaṇa is one with no future.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Perception of a samaṇa] [Time]
3. “How does [disenchantment towards the aggregates] square with taking delight in the natural world?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Disenchantment] [Happiness] [Culture/Natural environment] // [Dispassion] [Beauty] [Culture/West] [Clinging] [Judgementalism]
Sutta: Thag 18.1.12: Mahākassapa’s verses about nature. [Great disciples]
Quote: “The more completely the heart lets go of the world, the more it can really enjoy it.” — Ajahn Amaro. [Relinquishment]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah had tremendous joy but no illusions about the world around him. [Ajahn Chah]
5. “What do you treasure most among what you/we have inherited from Luang Por Chah?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah]
Quote: “He had given himself completely, and he had reaped the fruits completely.” [Relinquishment] [Liberation]
10. “Were there any memories from the period of training with Ajahn Chah that really stand out in your mind? In what ways did you find it difficult?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno skips morning pūjā to meditate diligently at his kuti. Ajahn Chah calls him lazy. [Monastic routine]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno sits vigil at a cremation and makes a bathing cloth from the cloth used to wrap a corpse. [Funerals ] [Robes ] [Wat Pah Pong] [Recollection/Death]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno joins the Wat Pah Pong Saṅgha, exchanges his requisites, and excitedly attends his first Pāṭimokkha at Wat Pah Pong. Ajahn Chah keeps the monks sitting until 3 am. [Vinaya] [Requisites] [Not handling money] [Pāṭimokkha] [Compassion] [Relinquishment]
2. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: The sign of spiritual maturity is the inclination to disenchantment and relinquishment. [Meditation/Results] [Disenchantment] [Relinquishment] [Impermanence] // [Ajahn Chah]
14. “I am interested to hear more about the qualities of wholeheartedness. You mentioned that the English language does not have a word that captures it. There’s something that can go from non-attachment/dispassion to apathy, which is not helpful in the world.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Language] [Relinquishment] [Dispassion] [Sloth and torpor] [Impermanence] // [Disenchantment] [Skillful qualities] [Pāli] [Conditionality] [Abhidhamma]
Suttas: Suttas: AN 6.10, AN 10.2: The cascade of well being.
6. “How do you find it best to differentiate between true insights and insight defilements?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Cittapālā. [Insight meditation ] [Defilements of insight] // [Tranquility] [Relinquishment] [Simplicity]
Quote: “A really true insight—you don’t get anything from.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Relinquishment]
1. “What does letting go feel like?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Relinquishment] // [Clinging] [Happiness]
2. “Is renunciation like surrender?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Renunciation] [Relinquishment]
Quote: “You let go a little, you get a little peace. You let go a lot, and you get a lot peace. Let go completely, and you get complete peace.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Relinquishment] [Tranquility]
3. “Can renunciation be practiced in three aspects: material, speech and mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Renunciation] [Relinquishment] // [Right Speech]
4. “How do you deal with the fear of renunciation and sacrifice that you do on the path of practice? Giving things up that are familiar and comfortable, or even that you know are uncomfortable, but there’s still that dukkha around it. Or after you’ve given up, the mind can proliferate on these subjects a lot. What has your experience been like?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Cunda. [Renunciation] [Fear] [Suffering] [Proliferation] // [Self-identity view] [Cessation of Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Discernment] [Happiness] [Monastic life]
Quote: “Everything I’ve ever let go of has claw marks on it.” — David Foster Wallace. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Relinquishment] [Clinging]
Story: Just sweep the leaves in front of your broom. Told by Ajahn Cunda. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Present moment awareness] [Similes]
Story: A young child struggles to give Ajahn Sumedho a candy on almsround. Told by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Generosity] [Almsround] [Ajahn Sumedho]