Sickness (byādhi)
Skillful qualities / Four Noble Truths / Noble Truth of Suffering / Sickness
Part of key topic The Human Dillema
79 excerpts, 7:24:11 total duration

All excerpts (81) Most relevant (64) Questions about (21) Answers involving (21) Stories (30) Quotes (7) Readings (6) Texts (2) References (1)

Abhayagiri Monastic Retreat 2013, Session 2 – Nov. 24, 2013

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1. “I have seen both monastics and laypeople start getting ill after they became serious about practice. Can you relate this to your talk today? (whether such illness is karmic. Etc.)” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sickness] [Kamma]


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11. “Thank you for your uplifting and encouraging talks. My husband died 6 months ago. Could you give suggestions for how to contemplate anicca and anatta in the context of his life, illness, and death?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Impermanence] [Not-self] [Sickness] [Death] [Relationships]


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 32 – Feb. 18, 2014

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4. “How do monks treat intestinal worms?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Health care] [Sickness] [Killing]


Abhayagiri 2014 Winter Retreat, Session 47 – Mar. 11, 2014

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10. “Did Luang Por Liem ask Luang Por Boon Choo to stay back when Luang Por Chah became ill?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Liem] [Ajahn Boon Choo] [Wat Pah Pong] [Ajahn Chah] [Sickness] // [Wat Pahk Kut Wai] [Upasikā Kee Nanayon] [Geography/Thailand]

Story: Karaoke bars spring up around Wat Pahk Kut Wai. [Seclusion]


2014 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 4 – Nov. 25, 2014

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9. “I have an autoimmune disorder of undiagnosed origin. I was wondering if it was worth this precious time of practice to send mettā and thoughts of healing to the body. If so, how do you recommend approaching it? Also, is this compatible with seeing this ailment as a heavenly messenger (and as a contemplation of the body’s demise)? As symptom management reduces it to a mild physical irritation should I also contemplate unpleasant feelings? Or is it best to just stay grounded in the breath and mettā and not risk proliferation. Much gratitude.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sickness] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Recollection/Death] [Proliferation] [Goodwill]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 5 – Jan. 10, 2015

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2. “In this passage where the Buddha lists illnesses and calamaties (AN 10.60), he separates kamma out as a cause of those things. However the cause of being subject to these things is because of making good or bad kamma. Is kamma [in this list] a direct, proximate cause?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Kamma] [Sickness] [Conditionality]

Sutta: SN 36.21 Sīvaka: The Buddha refutes the notion that kamma causes everything.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 8 – Jan. 15, 2015

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2. “Where does a stomach ache originate from?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Sickness] [Unattractiveness]


2015 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 1 – Nov. 21, 2015

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10. “For those of us who need to routinely rest more due to aging, illness, or disability, could you share some suggestions and advice for how to optimize ths time as mediation in a lying down posture?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ageing] [Sickness] [Posture/Lying down ] // [Determination] [Body scanning] [Clear comprehension] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Pain] [Buddha images] [Tranquility] [Perception]

Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno develops lying down meditation after breaking his pelvis. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Sickness]


2015 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 2 – Nov. 22, 2015

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4. “What do you recommend for pet owners with aging, sick pets? Do they get to live out their lives or is a merciful end at the hands of a vet OK?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Animal] [Ageing] [Sickness] [Euthanasia] [Precepts]


2015 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 3 – Nov. 23, 2015

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3. “You spoke of using the body as reference, backdrop for the breath. Always coming back to the body. Doesn’t this foster a sense of attachment to the body as mine? And what if the body is not in good shape, ill, and hurting?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Form] [Clinging] [Self-identity view] [Sickness] // [Relinquishment]


2015 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 5 – Nov. 25, 2015

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7. “I’m concerned about Alzheimer’s disease and getting stuck between life and death, loosing all I’ve learned about mindfulness practice and all my dignity. Where is the silver lining in this life’s challenge?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Death] [Sickness] [Ageing]


2015 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 7 – Nov. 27, 2015

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9. “Can you say more about trusting the seeds of meditation practice after Alzheimer’s/dementia kick in? What do you mean by going beyond liberation or consciousness? What do you mean by ‘many deeper layers’ are affected by the practice and the fruits of it will express naturally?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sickness] [Consciousness] [Long-term practice] // [Happiness] [Proliferation] [Relinquishment] [Self-identity view]

Story: A monk with psychic abilities investigates Ajahn Chah’s mind after Ajahn Chah loses his mental faculties. [Ajahn Chah] [Sickness] [Psychic powers]

Story: Ajahn Pasanno brings the Wat Pah Nanachat community to Ajahn Chah’s nursing kuti to chant verses including Dependent Origination. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Sickness] [Chanting] [Dependent origination]

Quote: “The fruits of practice arise through the simple quality of being the one who knows, taking the Buddha as refuge.” [Knowing itself] [Buddha] [Three Refuges]


Suttas You've Never Heard Of, Session 1 – Jun. 25, 2016

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2. “How do these particular teachings (AN 5.48: Situations) fit with kamma?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Kamma] [Sickness] [Sutta] [Human] // [Lawfulness] [Characteristics of existence]


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6. “With development (bhavana), is one able to shape the course of sickness or heal oneself to a degree?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Sickness] [Health] // [Happiness] [Medicinal requisites]

Comment: I’ve been reflecting on how AN 5.48 applies to environmental and collective well-being–engaging without the expectation that actions will have a certain result. [Environment] [Politics and society]

Response [History/Thai Buddhism]


The Teaching and the Training, Session 6 – Mar. 22, 2018

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5. Comment: It’s important for the Saṅgha to look after all members in terms of sickness and ageing. [Sickness] [Ageing] [Death] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]

Vinaya: Kd 8.26.1-8: The Monk with Dysentery [Sickness] [Buddha/Biography]


The Path of Practice, Session 1 – Jun. 15, 2019

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14. “What are your thoughts about maintaining a practice you’re at the bedside of someone actively passing away?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sickness] [Death] // [Listening] [Fear] [Personal presence] [Intuition]

Story: Ram Dass anxiously tries to guide his stepmother through the dying process. [Ram Dass] [Teaching Dhamma] [Restlessness and worry] [Mindfulness of mind] [Recollection/Death]


The Path of Practice, Session 2 – Jun. 16, 2019

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1. “In Canada, medical assistance in death is legal. As an old person who will be sick and dying not too far off, it raises the question: If I got to the point where I felt even with good palliative and hospice care, I couldn’t withstand the pain any longer, it’s an option. But what about the first precept of not taking life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sickness] [Pain] [Health care] [Euthanasia] [Killing] // [Relinquishment] [Self-identity view] [Idealism]

Quote: “Being present for the falling apart of the body opens doorways to release that don’t really happen with, ‘I just want to be done with this. This totally sucks.’” [Present moment awareness] [Death] [Mindfulness of body] [Release] [Aversion] [Fear] [Clinging] [Saṃsāra]


Living in a Changing Society – Aug. 23, 2020

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1. “Ajahn Chah was ill for the last ten years of his life. How could he endure that and why did this take place?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Sickness] // [Perfections] [Teaching Dhamma] [Saṅgha] [Death] [Monastic teachers] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Upatakh] [Generosity]


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10. Comment: I had a stroke 3 1/2 months ago, and the health professionals say I can’t do this or that. I find this frustrating. [Sickness] [Health] [Aversion]

Response by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Dhamma] [Recollection/Dhamma] [Recollection]


Honoring the Buddha: The Mahāparinibbāna Sutta – Apr. 25, 2021

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7. “When the Buddha accepted the meal from Cunda, did he know what the consequences would be, and if so, why do you think he did that?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Food] [Sickness] [Death] [Sutta] [Buddha/Biography]

Sutta: DN 16: Mahāparinibbāna Sutta


Abhayagiri 25th Anniversary Retreat, Session 9 – Jun. 11, 2021

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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]