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1. “What was your experience of Ajahn Chah’s personality and character? What was most inspiring about how he conducted himself?” [Ajahn Chah ] [Personality] [Personal presence] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Admonishment/feedback] [Not-self] [Equanimity] [Humor]
Quote: “If you tried to create a CV for what a Bodhisattva should be, Luang Por Chah would fit that bill.” [Bodhisattva]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno chose to stay with Ajahn Chah for five years because he aspired to Ajahn Chah’s unshakeability. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
Story: Ajahn Chah gave the farang monks playful Thai names. [Thai] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Amaro]
2. “So Luang Por Sumedho had a bit of a temper in the beginning?” [Ajahn Sumedho] [Aversion] // [Ajahn Chah] [Humor]
3. “What was the nickname of Ajahn Amaro?” [Ajahn Amaro] [Thai] // [Ajahn Chah]
4. “In your long monastic life, have there been times that called for particular qualities to be developed?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Long-term practice] // [Perfections] [Not-self] [Personality] [Energy ] [Posture/Walking] [Sitter's practice]
5. “What is often the most neglected quality in individual monks? What are the most important qualities to develop for the benefit of the group?” [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] // [Idealism ] [Drawbacks] [Aspects of Understanding] [Four Noble Truths] [Patience]
Sutta: SN 22.26: Assādasutta
Quote: “Other than me, everyone is irritating!” [Aversion] [Humor]
6. “What personal obstacles, either internal or external have you used as dhammas, stepping stones to lift yourself up and go beyond it?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Long-term practice] // [Fear ] [Ajahn Chah] [Impermanence] [Mindfulness of body] [Knowing itself]
Quote: “The anxious and fearful mind is always trying to find some certainty somewhere. And of course it isn’t anywhere at all except in this present moment and in the quality of awareness that we have. But the personality doesn’t believe that for a long time.” [Present moment awareness]
Quote: “Be careful of believing your mind because it’s a liar and a cheat.” — Ajahn Chah. [Nature of mind]
7. “How do you respond to claims that religion and Buddhism specifically is escapist?” [Theravāda] [Saṃsāra] [Escape] // [Discernment] [Questions] [Liberation] [Compassion]
Quote: “What is the mind of an enlightened being like?” – “Only compassion.” — Ajahn Mahā Boowa. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Arahant]
8. “When practicing to get out of the world, how does one avoid slipping into unhappiness with the world?” [Escape] [Suffering] [Happiness] // [Saṃsāra] [Not-self] [Divine Abidings] [Unattractiveness] [Equanimity] [Gladdening the mind] [Concentration] [Knowledge and vision]
Sutta: MN 10.10: Contemplating the body as if it were a sack of grains.
Suttas: AN 6.10, AN 10.2: Causal chains yielding gladness (pāmojja) with different starting points.
9. “How do we cultivate faith?” [Faith ] // [Culture/West] [Sutta] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Buddha images] [Devotional practice] [Recollection/Saṅgha]
Recollection: Ajahn Liem estimates he has built at least 20 monasteries. [Ajahn Liem] [Building projects] [Master Hsu Yun]
10. “We can control unwholesome acts of body and speech through precepts, but whatever pops up in the mind we mostly can’t control. But how is kamma formed in the mind? Should we control that thing or should it be let go?” [Precepts] [Nature of mind] [Kamma] // [Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Ajahn Chah] [Volition]
Sutta: MN 19: Two Kind of Thought
11. “Whatever you do, if you do it with care and attention, it takes longer. If I rush, the task would not be done so well. How do we give care and attention in a quick manner?” [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Time management] // [Right Mindfulness] [Ardency]
Story: A man moves so slowly paying care and attention that he annoys his family. [Family]
Quote: “A good thief is really mindful.” Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah]
12. “When I meditate in a cold, open area, my mind goes to sleep. What do you suggest?” [Sloth and torpor] // [Posture/Sitting] [Hindrances]
13. “When you started teaching and taking on the role of leader of a community, did that affect the way you related to your own practice because you were being seen by others, having to be more careful about conduct?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abbot] [Leadership] // [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ajahn Chah] [Fear] [Faith] [Culture/Thailand]
Ajahn Chah always emphasized, “Whatever you’re doing, you have to learn from it.” [Learning]
4. “I’ve heard that to become a Buddha one must ask the blessing of an existing Buddha. Is this true?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Previous Buddhas] [Buddha] [Bodhisattva] // [Determination]
Story: The Brahmin Sumedha vows to become a Buddha (found in the Buddhavaṃsa and Jātaka tales).
Follow-up: “This makes it even more surprising that the Buddha doubted to fulfill his role (MN 26.19).” Aswered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Buddha/Biography] [Doubt] [Brahma gods] [Teaching Dhamma] [Addiction]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 124: Dhamma talk request.
6. “Does the Buddha require faith in order to complete the path?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Faith ] // [Self-identity view] [Faculties] [Courage] [Trust] [Recollection/Buddha]
7. “According to the Buddha, is the maximum spiritual potential found in the human realm?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro, Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Human ] // [Stages of awakening]
Follow-up: “How do you integrate this with daily life?” [Everyday life] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] [Buddha/Biography] [Liberation] [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Culture/West]
Comment: I work with human potential in children and their families....It’s so segregated...in the educational system there is no spiritual element. [Children] [Education ]
Response by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Western psychology] [Learning] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas]
Reference: Beyond, p. 441 in Happily Ever After by Ajahn Amaro.
8. “Did you say, ‘Nibbāna is the source of all virtue?’” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Nibbāna] [Virtue] // [Ven. Nāgasena]
Quote: “Nibbāna, once realized, is the source of the beauty of the virtues of all living beings.” — Milindapañha 320, quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 38..
Follow-up: “Can you reflect on this? It doesn’t quite fit with the Unconditioned, unformed, no footing....” [Unconditioned]
Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Arahant]
Sutta: AN 9.7-8: What an arahant can’t do.
Sutta: AN 3.7: Uposatha Sutta.
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Compassion]
3. “What is the earliest source that mentions the three kinds of dukkha?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] // [Tipiṭaka]
Sutta: SN 45.165.
5. “In one of the first readings [Session 2, question 2 and Session 3, question 3] you mentioned momentary Nibbāna. How do jhānas relate to momentary Nibbāna?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna] [Jhāna] // [Clinging] [Ajahn Chah] [Liberation]
Sutta: MN 113.21: Don’t be content with jhāna.
Sutta: MN 26.15-16: Āḷāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta.
6. “What would you say is the importance of experiencing the four immaterial jhānas? Is there the possibility of investigation in these states?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Formless attainments] [Insight meditation] // [Thai Forest Tradition] [Jhāna] [Impermanence] [Aggregates]
1. “A question about physical pain. Sometimes it feels like I can deal with a certain level of pain, but every now and again there’s a level of pain that is too intense. Is there a technique for being okay with whatever level of pain?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Pain] // [Aversion] [Fear] [Goodwill] [Tranquility] [Buddha/Biography]
Sutta: SN 36.6: The Arrow.
Suttas: MN 53.5, AN 10.67, SN 35.243: Examples of the Buddha stretching his back.
Comment: In Viet Nam, native peasants needed less morphine than Americans paying for health care. [Health care]
Responses by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Attitude] [Sickness]
2. “If the Unconditioned is above distinctions of right and wrong, how do you reconcile this with the fact that we live in a moralistic society? If you are not enlightened, how do you live with the truth of the Unconditioned?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Unconditioned] [Virtue] // [Conventions] [Dhamma] [Vinaya] [Buddha] [Ven. Ananda Maitreya] [Clinging] [Suffering] [Recollection/Buddha]
Reference: “Still, Flowing Water” in Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 373.
Reference: Time & Timelessness by the Amaravati Saṅgha.
Reference: T. S. Elliot, The Dry Salvages.
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1: The story of the Buddha’s enlightenment.
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 4: Recollection of the Buddha: vijjācaraṇa-sampanno.
2. “Does Ajahn Chah’s phrase, ‘Right in fact but wrong in Dhamma,’ imply that there is an objective world of facts and then a world above that which is Dhamma?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Truth] [Dhamma] // [Etymology] [Conventions] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Harsh speech]
Note: This phrase was discussed during the previous session.
Stories about the Buddha’s disciples who had killed people. [Great disciples] [Killing]
Suttas: MN 86: Aṅgulimāla Sutta; the story of Kuṇḍalakesī (Commentary to Dhp 102-103, Dhamma Verses Commentary translated by E. W. Burlingame and Ānandajoti Bhikkhu, p. 500).
Recollection: The lay disciple Pansak would sometimes show up drunk after work and spend the night under Ajahn Chah’s kuti. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Lay supporters] [Intoxicants]
Story: The monk Por Suey had been a hit man hired to kill Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah lineage] [Crime] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
2. “You could have a reasonable intention to stop a habit or stop seeing someone. By telling yourself, ‘I want to stop,’ you identify with the object. But you can go round and round and round thinking about it....” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Spiritual friendship] [Volition] [Self-identity view] [Proliferation] // [Right Effort] [Mindfulness] [Discernment] [Attitude] [Becoming]
Sutta: Snp 2.4: Maṅgala Sutta.
Simile: Stinging nettles and dead nettles together in the same hedgerow. [Similes]
Quote: “I am an unenlightened person who has to do something now to become enlightened in the future.” — a paradigm based on self-view pointed out by Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Liberation]
Follow-up: “The only arbiter [of whether intention is based on self-view or wisdom] is your own experience....” [Self-reliance]
Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Teaching Dhamma]
Sutta: AN 9.3 Meghiya Sutta.
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities]
2. “I’m wondering if there is an evolutionary explanation for Nibbāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Science] [Nibbāna] // [Suffering] [Human] [Environment] [Killing]
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] [Right View]
1. “Even before the Bodhisattva leaves home, he has a strong sense that Nibbāna is possible. Where does he get this confidence?” [Buddha/Biography] [Nibbāna] [Faith] // [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Liberation] [Western psychology]
2. “What does ‘Seeing fear and blame in the other world’ refer to?” [Fear] [Realms of existence] // [Rebirth]
1. “You mentioned very precise words and actions of the Buddha [in MN 26], but how do we know this is a genuine story because they were written hundreds of years ago?” [Buddha/Biography ] [Tipiṭaka] // [Faith] [Cessation of Suffering]
Sutta: MN 26.25: The encounter with Upaka.
2. “In this context (The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 225), what does disenchantment mean?” [Disenchantment ] // [Relinquishment] [Recollection/Peace]
3. “Where does agati (bias) fit in the flow of the mind? Is it like an anusaya, an underlying tendency or potential, or is it when [the mind] has started to move into action as to where you put your attention?” [Biases] [Nature of mind] // [Etymology] [Perception]
4. “When developing disenchantment and dispassion by seeing the way things are, how do we not go to the extreme of aversion or the craving of unbecoming?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Disenchantment] [Dispassion] [Aversion] [Craving not to become] // [Suffering] [Four Noble Truths]
Story: Ajahn Chah prods Ajahn Pasanno to reflect on suffering. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno]
5. “How do we distinguish the nuances of happiness and suffering?” [Happiness] [Suffering] // [Language]
Reflection: Any language is always a problem.
Quote: “The language of Dhamma is the language of feeling.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma] [Feeling]
6. “Once we identify a perception of fear, how should we practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Perception] [Fear] // [Recollection] [Disenchantment] [Right Effort]
Follow-up: “How do we reconcile [bringing up a counter-perception] with the practice of opening and allowing and embracing?” [Spaciousness]
8. “Is ‘dark night of the soul’ a similar term to disenchantment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Disenchantment ] // [Pāli] [Skillful qualities] [Translation] [Suffering] [Western psychology]
1. “Would you say that with the ending of greed, hatred, and delusion that these are eradicated and don’t arise anymore?” [Unwholesome Roots] [Cessation] // [Knowledge and vision] [Cause of Suffering] [Buddha] [Arahant]
Follow-up: “We hear sometimes that it arises, but the person isn’t grasping it.”
Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo: This is similar to Ajahn Chah’s declaration, “Yes, I have a lot of anger, but I don’t pick it up.” [Ajahn Chah] [Aversion] [Relinquishment]
Story: Ajahn Chah explains that the many lines in his palm mean that he had lots of suffering. [Suffering] [Ajahn Viradhammo] [Teaching Dhamma] [Discernment]
2. Comment: There’s the suggestion that just four hours of sleep is enough, and I know that some people can cope with that, but I’ve always struggled with not getting much sleep, and it feels like torture if I force myself to stay awake. [Devotion to wakefulness ]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Fasting] [Truth] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Moderation in eating]
3. “Was there a Winter Retreat where Ajahn Chah had the community practice midnight vigils every night? Were you there at that time?” [Ajahn Chah] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Rains retreat] [Sitter's practice]
Quote: “Ajahn Chah fired up. That’s pretty scary.”
1. “Could [the principles in AN 3.102] also be related to practicing anāpānāsati?” [Investigation of states] [Right Effort] [Mindfulness of breathing]
Quote: “Dhamma is that which is just right.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma]
Quote: “Dhamma is neither high nor low, not dark or light, not tall or short. It’s just right.” — Ajahn Kinaree. [Ajahn Kinaree] [Middle Path]
2. “In practice, how do you know if you are tending towards laziness or restlessness, etc.?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Investigation of states] // [Concentration] [Direct experience] [Clear comprehension] [Ajahn Sumedho]
Sutta: AN 3.102: “The mind becomes malleable, wieldy, luminous, not brittle...”
3. “Typically it seems that Luang Por Sumedho uses more passive language [in regards to abandoning defilements]. Lately I’ve come across teachings from Ajahn Geoff and Ajahn Chah that use much more aggressive language, even ‘go to war with your defilements.’ It seems contradictory to me.” [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Ajahn Chah] [Language] [Unwholesome Roots] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Culture/West ]
Recollection: A Westerner asks Ajahn Chah why he scolds the Thai monks more than the Western monks. [Monastic life] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy]
Comment by Sister Ñāṇasirī: “In Thailand, we can be extremely lax, so we need a little bit more push.” [Culture/Thailand]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah would rarely speak in personal terms. Instead he tried to get people to reflect on how we can take Dhamma as a refuge. Recounted by Ajahn Kaccāna and Ajahn Pasanno. [Dhamma] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa]
4. “You read, ‘he realizes with the body’ (MN 70.23), and I read in one of the suttas (perhaps AN 4.113 or SN 48.53) that arahants touch Nibbāna with their body. Could you elaborate on this?” [Body/form] [Arahant] [Nibbāna]
5. “Yesterday you mentioned that arahants as well take on some of these practices of the gradual path. What happens in their mind with these practices?” [Arahant ] [Gradual Teaching] // [Liberation]
1. “Where is the path [of stream entry etc.] clearly defined?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Stages of awakening] // [Aids to Awakening] [Stream entry] [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Ajahn Chah]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 7: “The four pairs, the eight kinds of noble beings.”
Sutta: MN 70.20-21: Definitions of faith follower and Dhamma follower.
2. “You mentioned that the Tathāgatā is a bit harsh in discipline [in MN 70]. What is the practical side of this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Buddha/Biography] [Fierce/direct teaching] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Mahāyāna] [Sutta]
Sutta: MN 34: The Shorter Discourse on the Cowherd.
3. “I have the impression that Ajahn Chah concentrated on direct realization and the practice of meditation. He didn’t recommend reading too much, but instead reading our mind. You mentioned the 37 faculties/tools to purify our mind. For a lay person, this is a long study. Is it enough for us as laypeople to just have the practice of being here now?” [Ajahn Chah] [Meditation] [Aids to Awakening] [Lay life] [Present moment awareness] // [Paul Breiter] [Four Noble Truths] [Right View] [Faith] [Learning]
Quote: “There needs to be a catalyst. We have to challenge the mind. That’s where the structure of the teachings is important.” [Teaching Dhamma] [Delusion]
Follow-up: “If we practice meditation, does understanding come naturally?” [Discernment]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Liberation] [Spiritual friendship] [Appropriate attention] [Tranquility] [Relinquishment]
Story: Ajahn Sumedho spends his first year as a monk in solitary meditation reading only Word of the Buddha by Venerable Ñāṇatiloka. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Monastic life]
Follow-up: “Having kids is a big structure.” [Children]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
2. “What is meant by supramundane?” [Kamma] [Saṃsāra] [Suffering]
3. “Is there a 2025 version of wrong livelihood?” [Right Livelihood ] // [Military] [Food] [Industry] [Intoxicants] [Commerce/economics]
Follow-up: “Would you classify drug dealing as wrong livelihood?”
4. Comment: The general formula for Right Livelihood seems to be addressed to laypeople, not bhikkhus. [Right Livelihood] [Lay life] [Monastic life] // [Vinaya]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo.
Suttas about wrong livelihood: AN 5.177 (lay), DN 2.56 (monastic).
Follow-up: “Why is acting as a medical doctor wrong livelihood for a bhikkhu?” [Health care] [Culture/Thailand]
5. “If you have a right view of causality, does that mean you automatically have Right Intention?” [Right View] [Conditionality] [Right Intention]
Sutta: MN 117: The Great Forty.
6. “What are the benefits of observing the Eight Precepts in relation to just the Five Precepts?” [Eight Precepts ] [Five Precepts] // [Renunciation] [Virtue] [Simplicity]
1. Comment: Some of the links [in AN 10.2] seem more natural than others....For example, the Bodhisattva was really good at concentration, but he wouldn’t have described himself as having knowledge and vision of the way things are back when he was studying with Āḷāra Kālāma. Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Conditionality] [Naturalness] [Concentration] [Knowledge and vision] [Bodhisattva]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right View]
2. “You mentioned that one of the links [in AN 10.2] is pleasure. What is this in Pāli?” [Happiness] [Translation]
3. “Is knowledge an vision [described in AN 10.2] different than the Dhammacakka Sutta [SN 56.11.5] where it says that knowledge and vision arose?” [Knowledge and vision] // [Four Noble Truths]
4. “Does that mean that sadness and misery is by nature a state of delusion?” [Suffering] [Delusion]
5. “Is having a virtuous life an integral part of having a sense of purpose and living with Right Livelihood?” [Virtue] [Purpose/meaning] [Right Livelihood]
7. “What is non-abiding?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Knowing itself] [Relinquishment] [Middle Path]
Sutta: SN 1.1.
9. “In the Four Biases (agatī), is chanda used in a negative sense?” [Biases] [Desire] [Unskillful qualities]
1. Comment by Sister Ñāṇasirī: In this context that you just created, suddenly Dependent Origination, equanimity, and atammatayā...everything seems to be like it’s the same thing.... [Middle Path] [Not-self] [Dependent origination] [Equanimity] [Non-identification]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Doubt] [Direct experience] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Relinquishment]
2. “How do you understand the cessation of consciousness in this passage (SN 12.48)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Consciousness ] [Cessation] // [Knowing itself] [Etymology] [Buddho mantra]
Follow-up: “How is awareness not consciousness?” Aswered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Language] [Science]
Follow-up: “How could the cessation of consciousness happen?” Aswered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Non-identification]
3. “Could you elaborate more about cutting through and Buddho?” [Buddho mantra] // [Faith] [Spaciousness] [Cessation]
4. “In my experience, sometimes when I rest in the awareness for a long time, it feels very peaceful, nice, calm, and pure. But there’s a sense of ‘So what?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Knowing itself] // [Doubt] [Conditionality] [Ignorance] [Hindrances] [Investigation of states] [Suffering]
Sutta: AN 10.61: The Five Hindrances are the nutriment for ignorance.
1. Teaching: The satipaṭṭhāna insight formula is a pointer to atammayatā. [Right Mindfulness] [Insight meditation] [Non-identification] // [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Translation]
Sutta: MN 10.37: “Or else mindfulness that ‘there are mind objects’ is simply established in him to the extent necessary for bare knowledge and awareness. And he abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world.
Quote: “You don’t have to go and study every tree in the forest.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Similes]
Reference: Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening by Joseph Goldstein (commercial).
Follow-up: “Do you think that the not-self perception is the precursor to the experience of atammayatā?” [Not-self] [Relinquishment]
2. “When the term unworldly is used, does that refer to non-identification?” [Mindfulness of feeling] [Non-identification]
3. “What does the phrase ‘to the extent necessary’ mean [in the satipaṭṭhāna insight formula (MN 10.5)]?” [Right Mindfulness] [Insight meditation] // [Relinquishment]
4. “What does contemplating the body internally and externally mean [in MN 10.5]?” [Mindfulness of body] // [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Ajahn Chah]
1. Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo: AN 7.61 goes from some basic aspects of training through a graduated training. [Gradual Teaching]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sloth and torpor] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Idle chatter] [Spiritual friendship]
2. “You mentioned more of the physical remedies to reduce drowsiness, but if there is mental fatigue or lack of joy, how could we bring up more energy?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Sloth and torpor] [Energy] // [Investigation of states] [Recollection] [Chanting] [Posture/Walking] [Clear comprehension] [Culture/West]
3. “When the Buddha says don’t completely isolate yourself (in AN 7.61), does that mean you can’t be a hermit and complete the path?” [Seclusion] // [Community] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Great disciples] [Ajahn Mun]
Sutta: SN 45.12: The Buddha goes on retreat.
4. “When the Buddha addressed AN 7.61 to Mahā Mogallāna, was Mahā Mogallāna already and arahant?” [Great disciples] [Arahant] // [Fetters] [Almsround] [Perception of a samaṇa]
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1.23: Sāriputta meets Assaji and realizes stream entry after hearing a brief verse. [Stream entry]
5. Comment: That sense of directly knowing everything (SN 35.80) is the same language used in MN 1.27. [Knowledge and vision] [Unconditioned] [Perception]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
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...?” [Proliferation] [Clinging] [Ignorance] [Relinquishment] // [Directed thought and evaluation] [Discernment] [Investigation of states]
Sutta: MN 19.8: Dvedhāvitakka Sutta.
1. “When you explained the four kins of clinging, you said that sensual desire is more obvious [than the others]. But in terms of the different stages of realization, it’s not the first to go. Can you explain?” [Clinging] [Sensual desire] [Stages of awakening] [Attachment to precepts and practices] // [Stream entry] [Once return] [Non-return] [Self-identity view]
2. “Can you give a practical antidote in terms of how we can relinquish the attachment to view?” [Clinging] [Views] [Relinquishment] // [Suffering] [Ajahn Chah]
3. “Why isn’t the mind sense gate included as one of the cords of sensual pleasure?” [Sense bases] [Sensual desire]
4. “The Buddha teaches that you have pleasant vedanā, neutral vedanā, and unpleasant vedanā. But [in MN 75] he seems to be saying that all pleasant vedanā isn’t actually pleasant; it’s actually unpleasant.” [Feeling] // [Sensual desire] [Mindfulness of breathing]
Sutta: MN 44.22-24: Cūḷavedalla Sutta.
1. “What do you mean by adherence to views and observances? Isn’t that what we do here?” [Attachment to precepts and practices ]
2. “The Seven Factors of Awakening to be developed (MN 2.21)—is that the same as in the Anāpānāsati Sutta (MN 118)?” [Factors of Awakening] [Mindfulness of breathing]
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]?” [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.
5. When we live in community, in viharas, seclusion (at least kāyaviveka) is not so available.... Comment by Anagārikā Deepa. [Saṅgha] [Seclusion]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Idle chatter] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Chithurst]
6. “How does repugnance fit into disenchantment and dispassion?” [Disenchantment] [Dispassion] // [Translation] [Skillful qualities]
1. “Ananda’s answer (in SN 35.116) defines the world, but what did the Buddha mean by the end of the world?” [Sense bases] // [Cessation of Suffering]
2. “How should we approach the concept of Māra?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Sundarā. [Māra ] [Ignorance] [Unskillful qualities] // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Doubt] [Humor]
3. “Is conceiving a function of saṅkhāra? Is viññaṇa involved at all?” [Conceit] [Volitional formations] [Consciousness] // [Nature of mind]
Follow-up: “So the ceasing of conceiving is the cessation of manas; is saṅkhāra related or involved in that?” [Cessation] [Discernment]
4. “The Pāli word for conceit is very similar to the Pāli word for conceiving. In the Pāli Canon, does conceiving always have an element of ‘I’ in there?” [Conceit] [Tipiṭaka] [Pāli] [Language]
5. “What is the meaning of palpitation in the context of SN 35.248?” [Language] [Conceit]
6. “Could you explain the subtle differences between perceiving and conceiving? Since our sense of attention is so involved in conceiving ‘I’, how do we practice in order to extricate this?” [Perception] [Conceit] // [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Memory] [Translation] [Thai]
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?’” [Conceit] [Relinquishment] [Not-self] [Conventions]
8. “What does volitional formations mean?” [Volitional formations] // [Pāli] [Volition]
9. “In MN 138.3, what does ‘positioned’ mean?” [Clinging] [Fear]
10. “The phrase, ‘the knot of grasping’ (in Snp 794); is that upādāna?” [Clinging] // [Translation]
3. “How does atammayatā relate to Ajahn Chah’s simile about oil and water, the mind and the mind objects being separate?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Non-identification] [Ajahn Chah] [Similes ] [Nature of mind]
Quote: “Inside is Dhamma, outside is Dhamma, everything is Dhamma.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Dhamma]
Quote: “All symbols and similes are partially relevant. All analogies are partial.” — Ajahn Amaro. [Symbolism]
4. “I’m super perplexed and baffled with defining or understanding the term suchness or thusness. Are you able to communicate what it actually means?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Suchness ] // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Language] [Knowing itself] [Aggregates] [Unconditioned] [Dhamma] [Recollection/Dhamma]
Quote: “It’s like this.” “Reality is unimaginable.” — Ajahn Sumedho. [Direct experience]
Sutta: MN 72.20, quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 172.
1. “I’ve heard saññā interpreted as perception/memory. Is memory included in saññā?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro, Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Perception] [Memory] // [Mindfulness]
Reference: Uncommon Wisdom: The Life and Teachings of Ajahn Paññāvaḍḍho by Ajahn Dick Sīlaratano, p. 199.
3. “When the mind rests in awareness and it’s not going out, it feels very natural. It knows that this is the place to be, but still over and over again, no matter how clearly it sees this pure quality and peaceful quality, it still goes out to thoughts. The mind keeps going out. It keeps grabbing, it keeps identifying, even though it knows this is dukkha.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Knowing itself] [Clinging] [Suffering] [Long-term practice] // [Noting] [Mindfulness of mind] [Idealism] [Discernment] [Food] [Feeling] [Birth]
Quote: “It’s just that much.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah]
2. “Do you have any suggestions on how to strengthen our ability for non conceptual investigation?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation] // [Present moment awareness] [Artistic expression] [Mindfulness of mind]
3. “Would you say that way of reflecting using non conceptual thought is more effective or more penetrative than using verbalisation?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Jāgaro] [Culture/West]
Reference: “What is Contemplation?”, Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 475.
6. “The space where everything arises and ceases, where it is not arising and ceasing—it is just knowing. That is how I experience the still point…. When I turn the mind towards that, I sometimes feel like something is wrong because there is a sense of trying to keep it there. There is a sense of wanting to fixate on it…. So I wonder whether Ajahn or Luang Por have any helpful way of how we should hold turning towards it in a way that is the middle way.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Spaciousness] [Knowing itself] [Clinging] [Middle Path] // [Non-identification] [Similes] [Becoming]
Reference: Silence by John Cage. [Artistic expression]
3. “What about different definitions of the mind? Sometimes the Pāli is citta…” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Heart/mind] [Pāli] // [Nature of mind] [Sense bases] [Liberation] [Translation]
Sutta: SN 22.59 Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta: Their hearts (citta) were liberated... (Chanting book translation).
4. “We often speak of the mind, and we associate it with the mental mind, and we often feel that it’s in the area of the head. Then, when we feel the heart, we often feel like it’s in the area of the heart chakra. I see that in meditation, we can actually expand our field of awareness, maybe to the whole body or even more. Are there different approaches or degrees to this? How does it relate to consciousness?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Heart/mind] [Nature of mind] [Spaciousness] [Consciousness] // [Translation] [Language] [Hinduism] [Emotion] [Mindfulness of mind] [Body/form]
5. Comment: In the first Dhammapada verse, mano seems to be used not as a sense gate but sort of a leading part of consciousness. [Heart/mind] [Sense bases] [Consciousness]
Response by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Thai Forest Tradition] [Recollection] [Language] [Conventions]
Sutta: SN 1.25: The Buddha’s use of ‘I’ as conventional language.
6. “Did the Buddha use viññāṇa to describe the mind as the sixth sense gate sometimes?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Consciousness] [Heart/mind] [Sense bases]