Sense restraint (indriyesu guttadvāro)
Renunciant practice / Incontrovertible practices / Sense restraint 
Glosses: Restraint
28 excerpts, 2:31:09 total duration



Abhayagiri Monastic Retreat 2013, Session 3 – Nov. 25, 2013

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15. “Thank you Luang Por for your time and teachings. I would like to hear more about the idea of restraint (especially in regards to raising a teenager).” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Family] [Sense restraint] [Children]


Western Disciples of the Thai Forest Tradition, Session 39 – Mar. 3, 2016

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3. “Could you say something about the problem of swinging back and forth with restraint practices?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sense restraint] [Determination] // [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Learning] [Becoming] [Self-identity view] [Eightfold Path] [Discernment]

Follow-up: “I remember you saying something similar in respect to sīla.” [Virtue] [Attachment to precepts and practices]


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4. “Would you speak on skillful and unskillful ways to approach restraint?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Kondannyo Bhikkhu. [Sense restraint] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] // [Self-identity view] [Vinaya] [Monastic life] [Culture/Natural environment] [Spiritual friendship] [Continuity of mindfulness]

Story: Ajahn Pasanno gets frustrated with meditation and starts sweeping. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Meditation] [Generosity] [Cleanliness]

Story: Paul Breiter did not consider Abhayagiri cushy. Told by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Paul Breiter] [Abhayagiri] [Sense restraint]

Comment: When you see the danger in investing outside, you don’t need a straightjacket. [Sense restraint] [Disenchantment]


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6. “Regarding the Honeyball Sutta (MN 18), is withdrawal of external contact, e.g. eye contact, enough?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Kaccāna and Kondannyo Bhikkhu. [Perception] [Contact] [Proliferation] [Sense restraint] // [Translation]

Reference: Concept and Reality in Early Buddhist Thought by Bhikkhu Ñāṇananda.


Abhayagiri 25th Anniversary Retreat, Session 22 – Jun. 15, 2021

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5. “How does one practice wise restraint in lay life when one has to deal with family, friends, coworkers, and so on? Especially on the level of speech and emotions that one encounters.” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Sense restraint] [Lay life] [Right Speech] [Emotion] // [Discernment] [Unwholesome Roots] [Appropriate attention] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Mindfulness of body] [Clear comprehension]

Vinaya: Conditions for skillful admonishment in the Buddhist Monastic Code’s discussion of Bhikkhu Saṅghādisesā 8. [Admonishment/feedback]


Q&A at Sudhana Center – Jul. 12, 2023

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8. “My understanding is that it is not good to indulge the five senses. But is there a way to make that help with your cultivation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sense bases] [Sense restraint] // [Appropriate attention] [Discernment] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities]

Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 6: Recollection of the Dhamma [Recollection/Dhamma]

Sutta: SN 35.23: The six senses are the all.

Sutta: SN 35.116: A perceiver of the world, a conceiver of the world.


Readings from The Island, Session 42 – Mar. 10, 2025

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2. Comment: When I decide not to watch news about what is going on in the world, it ceases to stand out, to be a reality for me, and then there’s peace. [News] [Sense restraint] [Tranquility]

Response by Ajahn Amaro.