27 excerpts, 2:12:55 total duration
Reading from the draft biography: Ajahn Chah accepts his dying father’s request to stay as a monk for life. Read by Ajahn Pasanno. [Parents] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Sickness] [Death] [Ajahn Chah] [Determination ] // [Mindfulness of body] [Spiritual urgency ] [Saṃsāra]
Recollections of Ajahn Chah [2010], Session 1, Excerpt 10.1
“There’s tremendous value in having a teacher who can remind you or impose that urgency of practice. As a layperson who doesn’t have that resource, what strategies would you use to call the urgency back in and not get distracted?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spiritual urgency ] [Lay life] // [Dhamma books] [Sutta] [Dhamma online] [Time management]
Recollections of Ajahn Chah: 100th Birthday Anniversary Celebration [2018], Session 3, Excerpt 16
7. Story: Ajahn Chah ordains at age 20. Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Ordination] [Ajahn Chah] // [Monastic life/Motivation] [Spiritual urgency] [Forest versus city monks]
1. Story: My experiences with Ajahn Chah. Told by Nan Meister. [Gratitude] [Faith] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Liem] [Suffering] [Commerce/economics] [Spiritual urgency] [Joseph Kappel] [Bowing] [Wat Pah Pong] [Mae Chee Kumfah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Mae Chee] [Ghost] [Conceit] [Fierce/direct teaching]
10.1. Reading from the draft biography: Ajahn Chah accepts his dying father’s request to stay as a monk for life. Read by Ajahn Pasanno. [Parents] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Sickness] [Death] [Ajahn Chah] [Determination ] // [Mindfulness of body] [Spiritual urgency ] [Saṃsāra]
18. “Might you expound on the aspect of Right Intention? Also, are the Five Spiritual Powers meant to be the positive side of the coin in correlation to the Five Hindrances? Also, what is saṃvega?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Intention] [Faculties] [Hindrances] [Spiritual urgency] // [Idealism] [Skillful qualities]
1. “How to balance saṃvega (urgency) and patience?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spiritual urgency] [Patience] // [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities]
4. Comment: Saṃvega comes in there somewhere. [Spiritual urgency] [Pāli]
[Session] Ajahn Pasanno begins the retreat by encouraging us to return to the basics of the Noble Eightfold Path. He mentions Iris Landsberg, a long-standing lay supporter dying of lung cancer, both to set the tone for the monk’s final visit to her and to encourage us to practice while there is still time. Iris passed away February 1, 2014. [Eightfold Path] [Sickness] [Death] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Spiritual urgency] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Meditation retreats] [Family] [Health care]
Sutta: DN 16.5.27: The world will not be devoid of awakened beings as long as people are practicing the Eightfold Path. [Stages of awakening]
Story: Ajahn Pāvaro decides to practice in Bodh Gaya after receiving worrying medical news. [Ajahn Pavaro] [Visiting holy sites] [Impermanence]
Sutta: MN 131: Bhaddekaratta Sutta (Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 75)
1. “Is samwat a Thai word for saṁvega?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Thai] [Spiritual urgency]
6. Comment: I cultivate saṁvega by contemplating the heart. [Spiritual urgency] [Unattractiveness]
14. “This retreat has greatly reinforced my gratitude for this birth and for my ability to practice the Dhamma. Especially as I am ageing, I feel more of an urgency to awaken. Unfortunately, I live in a small town on the central coast, and there are no Buddhist centers within hundreds of miles. How can I continue to deepen my practice in the absence of a living teacher?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gratitude] [Spiritual urgency] [Long-term practice] [Teachers] // [Dhamma online] [Abhayagiri] [Dhamma books] [Monastic routine] [Meditation groups] [Lunar observance days]
3. Comments about the translation of saṃvega as fear, terror, or awe. Contributed by Ajahn Ñāṇiko and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Spiritual urgency] [Translation] [Fear]
2. “Contemplating the decline of Vesali, how can we distinguish saṃvega from sadness that has no purpose?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [History/Indian Buddhism] [Spiritual urgency] [Depression] // [Principles of non-decline] [Naturalness]
Reference: “The Deathless Drum,” Chapter 9 of Rude Awakenings by Ajahn Sucitto and Nick Scott.
Sutta: AN 7.21: Seven principles of non-decline.
Comments by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Pesalo about Buddhism relying upon principles rather than geographic location. [Dhamma] [Geography/India] [Visiting holy sites]
16. “There’s tremendous value in having a teacher who can remind you or impose that urgency of practice. As a layperson who doesn’t have that resource, what strategies would you use to call the urgency back in and not get distracted?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spiritual urgency ] [Lay life] // [Dhamma books] [Sutta] [Dhamma online] [Time management]
17. “Referring to the inner coach or the inner voice, what advice would you give in distinguishing between ferocious wisdom that redirects you back to the path and the inner critic that is just telling you that you suck?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spiritual urgency] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] // [Discernment] [Skillful qualities] [Judgementalism]
5. “How does one know the difference between appropriate grieving and honoring the memory of a beloved versus clinging and attachment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Grief ] [Clinging] // [Cause of Suffering] [Self-identity view] [Spiritual urgency]
Recollection: Grieving for Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Spiritual urgency]
Quote: “It’s that personalization of experience that gets us into trouble over and over again in different ways.” [Suffering]
4. Comment: Sometimes when I contemplate maraṇassati, a strong sense of saṃvega will come over me and work seems pointless. But I’m currently in lay life, so if I get so much saṃvega that I don’t want to work, this is a problem. [Recollection/Death] [Spiritual urgency] [Work] [Lay life]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Right Effort] [Discernment] [Skillful qualities]
7. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Absorbing the truth, “Even the Sāsana will pass away,” doesn’t lead to a sense of dismay; it leads to wonder and the motivation, “How can I help others?” [Truth] [Spiritual urgency] [Compassion] [Suffering] [Impermanence] [Characteristics of existence]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah saw so clearly and was incredibly compassionate. [Ajahn Chah] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Quote: “What is the mind of an arahant like?” – “Only compassion.” — Ajahn Mahā Boowa. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Mun]
Quote: “Anicca, dukkha, and anattā are tools we rely on for transforming the heart.”