Tranquility and insight (samatha-vipassanā)
Includes tags: Calming meditation, Insight meditation
{80} Story: When asked to teach about vipassanā, Ajahn Chah instructed practitioners to observe a wilting flower. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Insight meditation ] [Impermanence] // [Manjushri Institute]
Perspectives on Buddhist Practice from Ajahn Chah [2024], Session 3, Excerpt 7.1
{90} “Can you expand more on the seeing through of vipassanā?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation ] // [Characteristics of existence] [Conditionality]
Madison Insight Retreat 2023, Session 1, Excerpt 3
{105} “Please explain enjoying a pleasant meditation versus hanging out blissfully with an angelic face. At what point should a calm mind switch to insight practice, and when do you use the term awareness or mindfulness practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Happiness] [Meditation] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation ] [Mindfulness] // [Four Noble Truths] [Craving] [Learning]
Thanksgiving Retreat 2011, Session 6, Excerpt 6
{120} “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. [Insight meditation ]
Q&A with the Chithurst Community [2025], Excerpt 6
{150} “Does AN 4.94 undercut the whole debate about whether to practice insight meditation or samādhi first?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation ] [Calming meditation ] // [Views] [Buddha] [Suffering] [Human]
Quote: “Just work with what you’ve got and try to free the mind. It’s pretty straightforward.” [Liberation]
The Four Foundations of Mindfulness [2015], Session 33, Excerpt 1
{200} Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Fine-tuning the balance between stillness and investigation. [Calming meditation ] [Insight meditation ] [Gladdening the mind] // [Mindfulness of breathing]
Sutta: SN 15.1: “Bound by ignorance and obstructed by craving.” [Ignorance] [Craving]
Ānāpānasati: Mindfulness of In-and-Out Breathing [2005], Session 11, Excerpt 1
1. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Fine-tuning the balance between stillness and investigation. [Calming meditation ] [Insight meditation ] [Gladdening the mind] // [Mindfulness of breathing]
Sutta: SN 15.1: “Bound by ignorance and obstructed by craving.” [Ignorance] [Craving]
3. Ārammaṇupanijjhāna (meditation using an object as a focus) and lakkhaṇupanijjhāna (meditation using the characteristics as a focus); when to contemplate anicca, dukkha, anatta. Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno. [Jhāna] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Characteristics of existence] [Concentration]
1. Making impermanence the focal point for attending to the breath. Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno. [Impermanence] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Characteristics of existence] // [Insight meditation] [Direct experience]
2. The cessation of self view is a window into emptiness. Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view] [Emptiness] [Becoming] [Cessation] [Cessation of Suffering] [Mindfulness of breathing]
Meditation instructions from Ajahn Jumnien: Rest attention midway between the eye and a visual object. [Ajahn Jumnien] [Sense bases]
Samatha practices allow us to become familiar with peaceful places in our mind. [Calming meditation] [Tranquility]
Teaching from Ajahn Chah: Can you be continuously angry for two hours? [Ajahn Chah] [Aversion] [Impermanence]
2. “Can you speak a little about samatha/vipassana and explain the difference between serenity and equanimity?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Equanimity] // [Commentaries] [Ajahn Chah] [Relinquishment] [Liberation] [Concentration] [Divine Abidings] [Factors of Awakening] [Discernment]
Quote: “Samatha-vipassanā is like a green mango and a ripe mango. Same mango.” — Ajahn Chah. [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Similes]
8. “I’m not sure in the context of this retreat when to be resting simply with the four foundations of mindfulness and when to be reciting metta phrases. Can you please advise as to how/when to skillfully move from one practice to the other?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Mindfulness] [Goodwill] [Mantra] // [Emotion] [Sloth and torpor] [Mindfulness of body] [Calming meditation] [Discernment]
Sutta: MN 19: Dvedhāvitakka Sutta [Directed thought and evaluation] [Skillful qualities]
13. “What are the general Theravada monastic communities thought on S. N. Goenka’s meditation techniques and vipassana centers?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Theravāda] [S. N. Goenka] [Meditation/Techniques] [Meditation retreats] // [Calming meditation] [Generosity] [Dhamma]
15. (A) “Please say a few more words on posture. For example, I noticed that my body was leaning towards the left. If I weighted my right hand with intention, this seems to stop. Is this a correct tactic?” (B) “In my martial arts training, a goal is to relax and make the breathing easier. Is that true of vipassanā as well?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Posture/Sitting] [Mindfulness of body] [Volition] [Tranquility] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Insight meditation] // [Aggregates] [Energy] [Buddha images]
Quote: “That looks like a farang [Western] Buddha. It looks very tense.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Artistic expression] [Culture/West]
4. Teaching by Ajahn Chah: Meditation is like a single piece of wood. Insight is one end of the stick, and serenity is the other. Read by Ajahn Pasanno. [Similes] [Insight meditation] [Calming meditation] [Ajahn Chah] // [Naturalness]
1. Guided meditation: Resolve right now is the time for training the mind and nothing else. From “The Key to Liberation” by Ajahn Chah. Read by Ajahn Pasanno. [Calming meditation] [Proliferation] [Determination] [Ajahn Chah] // [Mindfulness] [Discernment] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Body scanning] [Relinquishment] [Unification] [Restlessness and worry] [Concentration] [Present moment awareness] [Clear comprehension] [Impermanence] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Sense restraint]
Quote: “Sitting and walking meditation are in essence the same, differing only in the posture used.” [Posture/Sitting] [Posture/Walking]
Simile: Chicken in a coop. [Similes]
Simile: Mindfulness, clear comprehension, and wisdom are like three workers lifting heavy planks.
1. Guided meditation: The rhythm of the sensation of the body as it is walking. Offered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Posture/Walking ] [Mindfulness of body] [Ajahn Chah] // [Calming meditation] [Present moment awareness] [Proliferation] [Tranquility] [Investigation of states]
9. “How can one skillfully investigate feelings without simply getting lost in analytical thought?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of feeling] [Proliferation] // [Suffering] [Directed thought and evaluation]
Quote: “The best investigation takes place when the mind is very still and not formulating a lot of ideas.” [Insight meditation] [Tranquility] [Direct experience]
13. “What is the difference in practice between mindfulness, vipassanā (insight), and concentration (samatha)? How does directed and non-directed practice fit here? To build continuity, what about time not in formal practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness] [Insight meditation] [Calming meditation] [Concentration] [Continuity of mindfulness] // [Everyday life] [Precepts] [Perfections] [Spiritual friendship]
14. “In one meditation, I had the sure knowledge for a few moments that all the versions of me throughout life until the present were and are fabrications, that there is no time but the present and nothing but experience through the six sense bases and what the mind makes of it. Then a big wave of fear came into the mind, “I’m going nuts, coming unglued, unhinged, unmoored!” I swam back to safety. Was I going nuts? Or if this was experiential insight, why so scary? What allows insight to be stabilized and integrated?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation] [Time] [Not-self] [Fear] // [Self-identity view] [Habits] [Gradual Teaching] [Spiritual friendship] [Characteristics of existence]
Sutta: The Buddha is a kalyāṇa-mitta for the world. [Buddha]
15. “Would you contrast the samatha transformation of the Five Hindrances with the vipassanā approach of uprooting them? Is there an integration of the two?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Hindrances ] // [Stages of awakening]
15. “It has been helpful to pay attention to the gap between the out-breath and the subsequent in-breath. There feels to be a waiting or assumption that there is a next breath. What is paid attention to after the last breath?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Death] // [Knowing itself ] [Faith] [Calming meditation] [Tranquility] [Jhāna] [Ajahn Chah]
Quote: “I’m preparing to die.” — The Dalai Lama. [Dalai Lama] [Meditation]
22. “Following the rapture/bliss of realization of deep insight of the sort the questioner posed last night, ther inevitably seems to follow a ‘spiritual narcissism’ and other vipassanā defilements. Perhaps these are the same old obstructions, just repackaged, but they seem more insidious. Any special advice or experience to share working through these?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Rapture] [Insight meditation] [Conceit] [Defilements of insight] // [Suffering]
5. “If sati or mindfulness is the cage, what is the use of samatha?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Similes] [Mindfulness] [Calming meditation] [Concentration] [Unwholesome Roots] // [Tranquility] [Discernment] [Relinquishment]
6. “As I finished one length of my walking path, I realized that I was not the same person as when I started, that I was making myself each moment based on choices I made. How do I develop or at least remember this so I don’t fall back into habitual patterns? It seems like each morning I have to rebuild my awareness.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Posture/Walking] [Insight meditation] [Memory] [Habits] // [Mindfulness]
2. “I believe we all found Ajahn Yatiko’s comment on true insight shattering our beliefs pretty intriguing. I’m fairly certain that I’m millions of miles away from true insight, but what about those meditative moments where you go, ‘Oh! I’ve never thought about that before, but how true.’? Are these possibly akin to true insight?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation] [Views] [Ajahn Yatiko] [Truth] // [Intuition] [Faith]
4. “A small window of anatta has opened. It is very fresh, light, and breezy, but the opening is small, and the rest of the window is caked with so much dirt and grime. I’m fearful that outside of the support of retreat, it could close. Even now it feels like it is opening and closing. How to best proceed?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Not-self] [Symbolism/metaphor] [Fear] [Meditation retreats] // [Insight meditation] [Restlessness and worry] [Proliferation]
Quote: “The best thing is not claiming ownership over that insight....Pay attention to the feeling of it.” [Insight meditation] [Non-identification] [Direct experience ] [Feeling]
Quote: “If you just stick your finger in the warm water, then you’ll know what warm water is.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Language] [Dhamma]
6. “Please explain enjoying a pleasant meditation versus hanging out blissfully with an angelic face. At what point should a calm mind switch to insight practice, and when do you use the term awareness or mindfulness practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Happiness] [Meditation] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation ] [Mindfulness] // [Four Noble Truths] [Craving] [Learning]
7. Comment: While sitting in the dining hall, the image of a square cushion dropping away from my solar plexus occured. That brought the insight that I was neither inferior nor superior to others, as ego asserts, but we’re all equal. [Insight meditation] [Conceit]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view] [Cause of Suffering] [Suffering] [Relinquishment]
Quote: “Friends and relatives in old age, sickness and death.” — a common way to begin a Dhamma talk in Thailand.. [Birth] [Ageing] [Death] [Culture/Thailand]
10. “What’s the relationship between a deep insight experience (what’s called kensho in Zen) and stream entry?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Zen] [Insight meditation] [Stream entry] // [Ajahn Pasanno]
2. “Is it skillful to dig up sensual thoughts and contemplate the ugly side of it during vipassanā?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sensual desire] [Unattractiveness] [Insight meditation]
30. “What is the relationship between atammayatā (non-fashioning) and jhāna? Are jhānas experienced regularly only those who have experienced insight? Is abiding in atammayatā the same as abiding in Nibbāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Non-identification] [Jhāna] [Insight meditation] [Nibbāna] // [Emptiness]
Sutta: MN 113.21: Inclining the mind towards atammayatā.
31. “To me, at least for now, the part of the mind most imbued with a sense of self is the decision-maker, that which decided to come to this retreat, to be aware, to remember to be aware. Which part of the mind is that, and how can one gain more insights into the decisions we seemingly make?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view] [Volition] [Insight meditation] // [Impermanence]
34. “Contemplation: The heart is still, the mind is calm, the thoughts come, and the thoughts go. The thoughts are not thought about, kind of like a free riding in the mind. The heart stays peaceful. Insights do arise with this free flow. Can you please speak on contemplation as a form of meditation and these insights?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection] [Tranquility] [Concentration] [Insight meditation] // [Craving] [Cause of Suffering] [Proliferation] [Bases of Success] [Discernment] [Investigation of states]
12. “I’m experiencing the observer watching the breath, but remember a (previous) more unified space that I am in the body or breath field, not aside from it as the watcher. How do I get back in? Does this come with the mind/heart quieting down more? This desire is dukkha, and there is awareness of that too.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Mindfulness of body] [Calming meditation] [Suffering] // [Relinquishment]
13. “There’s a short book at the monastery about using the ever-present high-pitched buzz, also known as the sound of silence. Could you comment on how to use the sound of silence as an insight practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sound of silence] [Insight meditation] // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Characteristics of existence]
Reference: Inner Listening by Ajahn Amaro.
5. “How may the levels of concentration needed for each of the four stages of enlightenment be described? How can these be cultivated? Are the types of details seen prior to the different fruits different?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Concentration] [Stages of awakening] // [Relinquishment] [Insight meditation] [Sensual desire] [Self-identity view] [Cessation of Suffering]
12. “Since the suttas indicate that ‘dry insight’ meditators were a relative rarity, and both anger and greedy personalities would need a certain amount of samādhi or jhāna before being capable of deep insight, can it be assumed that jhāna is a prerequisite for stream entry for a majority of yogis? Did the Buddha recommend a certain amount of jhāna in part because the letting go that allows that state to aries also supports letting go of the self to drop into the stream of Nibbāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sutta] [Insight meditation] [Jhāna] [Stream entry] [Relinquishment] // [Commentaries] [Right Concentration] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Virtue] [Right View]
7. “What is with the kasiṇa? In many years of practice, this has never been taught by any of my teachers. How would it benefit one’s practice compared to a life of contemplating the Four Noble Truths? How is the color chosen?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Kasiṇa] // [Calming meditation] [Commentaries] [Thai Forest Tradition]
Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 104: 40 subjects of meditation.
6. “In the past few years, I’ve used the narrow area near a nostril as my meditation object, without much success in calming the mind. Lately, I have been using the whole body as object. Is there a difference in depth between these two types of objects as ways to experience the breath?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Calming meditation] [Mindfulness of body] [Meditation/Techniques ] // [Desire] [Continuity of mindfulness]
11. “Would you please explain bhāvanā-mayā paññā? What exactly is it? Does it only happen when we are at least a sotāpanna or can it happen to a puttujana? Does it only happen in one mind-moment and may happen again or does it stay with you once it happens?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Discernment] [Stream entry] [Time] [Impermanence] [Insight meditation] // [Commentaries] [Hearing the true Dhamma]
Note: A retreatant later explains that DN 33.1.10 (43) mentions the three kinds of wisdom.
5. “I notice that in retreats of this length, there is a certain trajectory of depth of concentration. During the final one or two days, the mind is a bit busier, more slippery. This is not because of being disengaged in the process, it is just what is (for me). Is it skillful use of this remaining time to turn to contemplations of well-being as a way to aim, calm and soothe, or better to try to simply watch the process of the mind emerging from the depths of retreat?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation retreats ] [Concentration] [Proliferation] [Goodwill] // [Calming meditation] [Investigation of states] [Unwholesome Roots]
9. “How can we balance knowing and letting go with investigation? In what circumstances should one be used rather than the other?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness] [Relinquishment] [Investigation of states] [Discernment ] // [Ajahn Chah] [Calming meditation]
Quote: “The most efficacious investigation comes when the mind has stopped thinking.” — Ajahn Chah. [Concentration]
4. “I feel like I keep having the same insight into not-self from slightly different angles. It seems like a big deal at the moment, but when I think about it later, I realize that I already knew that. Is this normal or am I just slow?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation] [Not-self]
7. “Would you speak about the place of vipassanā in walking meditation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation] [Posture/Walking] // [Recollection]
Simile from Ajahn Chah: You learn to write in school, but you don’t need to go back to the school to write a letter. [Ajahn Chah] [Meditation] [Everyday life ] [Similes]
15. “I’ve always felt a draw to the Fire Sermon (SN 35.28). Could you expound a bit more on this teaching?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sutta ] [Teaching Dhamma] // [Sense bases] [Similes] [Unwholesome Roots] [Disenchantment] [Buddha/Biography]
The three cardinal suttas give different frameworks for investigation: [Insight meditation]
Sutta: SN 56.11: Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta; Amaravati Chanting Book Volume 2, p. 2. [Four Noble Truths]
Sutta: SN 22.59: Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta; Amaravati Chanting Book Volume 2, p. 14. [Not-self] [Aggregates]
Sutta: SN 35.28: Ādittapariyāya Sutta; Amaravati Chanting Book Volume 2, p. 24.
17. “From reading about or hearing talks and stories of some of the great Thai Forest masters, its seems that many of them were particularly fascinated pre-enlightenment with a single Dhamma principle. They then intensely investigated said principle almost like a Zen koan until they entered the stream. Was the Dhamma koan the cause of their stream entry or was triggering it just part of the greater process?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Thai Forest Tradition] [Koan] [Stream entry] [Conditionality] // [Desire] [Insight meditation]
2. “Can one use the subtle sensations of comfort and discomfort that accompany in and out breathing as a basis for insight? If so, how much thinking/nudging the mind is useful versus simple observation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Mindfulness of feeling ] [Insight meditation] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Impermanence] [Not-self] [Suffering] [Right Effort]
2. Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno: MN 64.9 explains how jhāna forms the basis for insight. [Jhāna] [Characteristics of existence] [Insight meditation] // [Formless attainments]
Follow-up: “Does that imply that insight is realized during that absorption?” [Insight meditation]
5. “If the task is to fully understand and you have an affinity for understanding form, does that affect how you understand the other aggregates?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Body/form] [Aggregates] // [Thai Forest Tradition] [Mindfulness of body] [Insight meditation]
Sutta: AN 1.616: Mindfulness directed to the body and the deathless.
8. “Dear Ajahn Pasanno, Thank you for all the guidance and encouragement. The past months have been very busy and stressful for me. Now as I begin to let my mind settle, I’m noticing lots of patterns of tension in my heart, diaphragm, belly, etc. These tensions sometimes make the breath an unpleasant object to stay with. Any advice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Suffering] // [Body scanning] [Visualization] [Calming meditation] [Goodwill]
3. “‘Like exercise makes the body strong, inner stillness makes the mind strong.’ Why stillness and not awareness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Calming meditation] [Tranquility] [Present moment awareness]
19. “One practice is to cultivate joy, happiness...But if these are ‘defilements of insight,’ I feel empty. Any comment.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gladdening the mind] [Happiness] [Insight meditation] [Defilements of insight]
20. “Can you talk about path and fruit in regards to the stages of awakening? What are they? How are they different?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stages of awakening ] // [Insight meditation] [Relinquishment] [Fetters] [Stream entry] [Self-identity view] [Aggregates] [Attachment to precepts and practices] [Doubt] [Once return] [Sensual desire] [Ill-will] [Non-return] [Arahant]
4. “Could you talk about contemplation in meditation? You mentioned earlier about using methods; my understanding is that they help one to calm the mind. How does one get into the state of contemplation without disturbing that calm state of mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Characteristics of existence] // [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Cessation of Suffering] [Desire] [Bases of Success]
3. “Is this talk a response to the vipassanā movement in Thailand?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Culture/Thailand] [Mahasi Sayadaw] // [Study monks] [History/Thai Buddhism] [Jhāna] [Formless attainments] [Psychic powers]
4. “Is the samatha versus vipassanā debate still active in Thailand?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Culture/Thailand] [Views] // [Ajahn Chah]
Sutta: AN 6.46 Cunda Sutta: Study monks versus meditation monks. [Study monks]
6. “Did Upasika Kee focus on vedana more than other things or was that just in this chapter?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Upasikā Kee Nanayon] [Feeling] // [Insight meditation]
8. “In that talk he [Ajahn Sim] seemed to stress doing samatha meditation before practicing vipassana. Is that strictly held within this tradition?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Sim] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Tranquility] [Knowing itself] [Concentration] [Language]
Quote: “The qualities of the one pointed mind are vitakka, vicāra, pīti, sukha, and ekaggatā....It’s not one pointed excluding. It works together, it harmonizes, it’s balanced.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Unification ] [Right Concentration]
4. “At what point in your meditation do you shift to knower or witness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Techniques] [Knowing itself] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Investigation of states] [Happiness] [Tranquility] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Doubt] [Desire]
10. “When you contemplate, ‘Who is thinking? Who is breathing?’ how does this differ from thinking? Why doesn’t it generate more thought?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Hua tou] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Proliferation] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Insight meditation] [Tranquility] [Restlessness and worry]
Quote: “The mind can still think and be peaceful. What a concept!”
3. “Is walking meditation as ‘good’ as sitting meditation. Can one achieve the level of undistractedness that one needs to be able to investigate the human experience? Or is it part of the bigger picture of mindfulness for seven full days to experience stream entry?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Posture/Walking] [Posture/Sitting] [Insight meditation] [Stream entry] // [Meditation/General advice] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Concentration]
Stories about Ajahn Khao. [Ajahn Khao ]
Story: Walking meditation was Ajahn Khao’s preferred mode of practice. [Ajahn Khao ]
Story: Ajahn Khao’s relics were purple, clear, and incredibly beautiful. [Ajahn Khao ] [Relics] [Abhayagiri]
Recollection: Ajahn Khao expresses gratitude for the place he realized Awakening. [Ajahn Khao ] [Liberation] [Gratitude] [Lodging] [Bodhi Tree]
16. “Can you please talk a bit about samatha meditation and its uses for calming a very agitated or restless mind and how one might go about finding a ‘disk of earth’ or an object of suitable color? Do they sell these somewhere? Amazon? Thank you for your explanation.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Calming meditation] [Kasiṇa]
15. “My body does not physically handle sitting or stationary positions for long periods of time. I would like to do more walking meditation. Walking has a lot more distractions. Can you give some specifics on where to put my focus? Rise and fall of breath, feet, skeleton moving? Where to look, etc. Is it possible to achieve the same level of calmness, concentration and insights when the body is moving and you cannot close the eyes or keep focus on one spot?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Posture/Walking] [Proliferation] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation]
3. “Is mindfulness of the body fabricating a wholesome mental image of the body as opposed to an unwholesome image? But how can we know the body in any way other than vedanā?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Mindfulness of body] [Visualization] [Feeling] // [S. N. Goenka] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Postures] [Clear comprehension] [Right Mindfulness] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Delusion] [Characteristics of existence]
Quote: “The availability of insight is through stepping back from the assumptions that we make, whether it’s around the body or feeling or mind or the sense of self.” [Insight meditation] [Relinquishment]
4. Discussion of which exercises described as mindfulness of the body (MN 10) are reflective techniques and which are based on vedanā. Led by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Mindfulness of body] [Recollection] [Feeling] // [Elements] [Unattractiveness] [Insight meditation] [Liberation]
Comment about S.N. Goenka’s use of the term vedanā. Contributed by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [S. N. Goenka] [Contact] [Sense bases] [Aggregates]
[Session] The contemplation of the parts of the body can be used to reduce sexual craving, to still the mind, and to induce insight into the nature of the body. In the first slideshow, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo gives a brief description of the structure and function of each of the thirty-two parts. The Abhayagiri Chanting Book, p. 37 lists the thirty-two parts in Pali and English. Many of the slide show images come from 32parts.com, an internet resource for body contemplation. [Sensual desire] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Unattractiveness ]
6. Comment: When I go through the list [of the 32 parts], I separate the object from my body and envision my body with it absent. [Visualization] [Unattractiveness]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ajahn Chah] [Not-self] [Sensual desire] [Calming meditation] [Sloth and torpor]
[Session] Ajahn Karuṇadhammo reviews the slideshow again with an emphasis on internal contemplation and insight. Teaching by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Recollection] [Insight meditation] [Unattractiveness]
2. “Why did the Buddha ask the monk to develop meditation in many ways [in AN 8.63]?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Meditation/General advice] [Buddha/Biography] // [Directed thought and evaluation] [Rapture] [Happiness] [Equanimity] [Jhāna] [Calming meditation] [Cessation of Suffering]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah would rarely label meditation states. [Ajahn Chah]
1. “Does AN 4.94 undercut the whole debate about whether to practice insight meditation or samādhi first?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation ] [Calming meditation ] // [Views] [Buddha] [Suffering] [Human]
Quote: “Just work with what you’ve got and try to free the mind. It’s pretty straightforward.” [Liberation]
5. “Related to the need to emerge from neither-perception-nor-non-perception and cessation of perception to contemplate the five khandhas [in AN 9.36], don’t some of the commentaries imply that that’s what you do with first jhāna; that insight is not possible even in first jhāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Formless attainments] [Aggregates] [Insight meditation] [Commentaries] [Jhāna] // [Views]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah emphasized that every step of the way there has to be awareness. Awareness has to form the basis of the whole practice. [Ajahn Chah] [Insight meditation] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Right Concentration] [Right View]
8. “Do you have to emerge from jhāna to contemplate the characteristics of the aggregates?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Jhāna] [Insight meditation] [Aggregates] // [Mindfulness] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Knowing itself]
Sutta: AN 9.36: “Jhāna.”
Quote: “Contemplation gets really good when you stop thinking.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Insight meditation] [Directed thought and evaluation]
1. Commentary on AN 11.11: “Mahānāma:” Using recollection to gladden and settle the mind. Teaching by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Recollection] [Recollection/Buddha] [Recollection/Dhamma] [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Recollection/Virtue] [Recollection/Devas] [Gladdening the mind] [Calming meditation]
8. “Do you think it’s enough to just be aware of the suffering that’s caused by the clinging to self?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] [Clinging] [Self-identity view] [Dispassion] [Not-self] // [Characteristics of existence] [Cessation] [Ignorance] [Knowledge and vision] [Release] [Proliferation]
Quote: “The most efficacious investigation comes from a still mind.” [Concentration] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation]
10. Quote: “One of the things I often attend to is the juxtaposition of stillness and movement. It’s not that one is right and the other wrong. We can be still and really dull or the mind can move with clarity and acuity. But stillness and movement, what’s generating it, what’s pushing it? That bhavadiṭṭhi/vibhavadiṭṭhi is the engine behind it and the force behind the arising of a sense of self, a sense of me.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Insight meditation] [Calming meditation] [Right Concentration] [Not-self] [Clear comprehension] [Nature of mind] [Conditionality] [Becoming ] [Craving not to become] [Views] [Self-identity view ]
5. “Is the purpose of jhāna and meditation to build up the strength of the mind so we will be able to contemplate the Four Noble Truths?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Heart/mind] [Four Noble Truths] [Jhāna] // [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation]
Sutta: AN 4.170: In Conjunction
1. “I was just reading a talk of Ajahn Chah’s. He mentions ‘vipassanu.’ Could you explain this more?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Insight meditation]
1. Comments by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo on right view and skillful cause and effect regarding the brahmaviharas. [Right View] [Right Intention] [Conditionality] [Kamma] [Divine Abidings] // [Insight meditation] [Goodwill]
2. “Does insight arise from deeper concentration or can it also arise from different things?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Concentration] [Insight meditation] // [Tranquility]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno experiences insight on a bus in Bangkok. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Insight meditation] [Contact]
3. “What is the difference between yoniso manasikara and insight?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Appropriate attention ] [Insight meditation] // [Conditionality]
11. “It seems I can quiet my mind easier in the midst of noise. It’s been one continuous monkey mind. Please help.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Calming meditation] [Proliferation] [Restlessness and worry] // [Tranquility] [Culture/Natural environment] [Suffering] [Investigation of states]
Story: Spending the Vassa at quiet Poo Jum Gom [Poo Jum Gom] [Geography/Thailand]
Quote: “I’ve got nobody to blame anymore.” — A junior monk.
1. “From my limited understanding, when the construction of self drops away in meditation, the is joy and peace. This makes me think that deep insight into anatta might be profoundly blissful. I’m having trouble seeing how the same would be true for dukkha and anicca. Can you help?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Not-self] [Insight meditation] [Happiness] [Characteristics of existence ] [Impermanence] [Suffering]
13. “Please demystify jhana a little for those like myself whose vipassana past has had minimal samadhi focus. The emphasis on calming and brightening has been so helpful. Whereas in past I associated deep concentration with vipassana elites and insight practice more for those living in the mess of the world, now I wonder, in our post election universe, whether a more jhanic or balance between practices would prevent overwhelm, hiding, running to Canada! Thoughts?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Jhāna] [Insight meditation] [Gladdening the mind] [Calming meditation] [Everyday life] [Politics and society]
3. “I find when the mind settles, it is highly suggestible, and the gentlest whisper of piti or sukha will sometimes bring those, if they haven’t arisen on their own. You spoke a little last night about sustaining and expanding piti and rapture and moving the mind towards equanimity. If you could expand or reiterate, that might be helpful for further exploration.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Calming meditation] [Rapture] [Equanimity]
13. “I sometimes experience states in which the body is very relaxed and it is easy to become very absorbed in the breath. They are pleasurable and quite calming but is there something I should do with them?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Calming meditation] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Concentration ] [Happiness] // [Discernment] [Self-identity view]
3. “I got a little confused about the part [of MN 19] where it says, ‘these thoughts are not to be feared.’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fear] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Right Intention] [Calming meditation] [Happiness]
Quote: “In trying to stop thinking, there’s an incredible tension that is created in the mind.” [Calming meditation] [Suffering]
Follow-up: “[MN 19] mentioned that these thoughts might make you tired.” [Sloth and torpor]
8. “All these practices [in MN 20] have been useful to calm the thoughts in the moment, but with ill-will and forgiveness, it hasn’t genuinely changed the underlying emotion. I thought I had forgiven somebody, but ill-will comes up towards that person six months later. When do you genuinely change the underlying emotion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Calming meditation] [Ill-will] [Forgiveness] [Unwholesome Roots] // [Right Intention] [Conditionality] [Perfectionism]
10. “How can you connect the five methods [of MN 20] with the development of insight, which people tend to equate with just observing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] // [Investigation of states] [Characteristics of existence] [Dependent origination] [Cessation]
1. “Do you feel metta is to be developed or do you feel metta is just an outcome of your life and your practice?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Goodwill] [Right Effort] [Conditionality] // [Meditation] [Precepts] [Calming meditation] [Suffering] [Aversion] [Appropriate attention] [Gratitude]
2. “Can one bring up a theme to gain deeper understanding?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation] [Recollection] // [Relinquishment] [Cause of Suffering] [Dependent origination] [Conditionality] [Not-self] [Long-term practice]
Sutta: SN 56.11.11: Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta: “Whatever is of the nature to arise is of the nature to cease.” [Impermanence]
4. “You mentioned ‘Look for the gap.’ Is this related to looking for fading away?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation] [Dispassion] [Recollection] // [Cessation] [Cessation of Suffering] [Impermanence] [Faith]
Follow-up: “So we’re not just looking at the blank...” [Wrong concentration] [Emptiness] [Nature of the cosmos] [Unwholesome Roots] [Not-self]
6. “Bhāvanā means ‘bring into being.’ How do I balance this with making the mind clear or peaceful?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Tranquility] [Calming meditation] [Recollection] // [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Contentment] [Insight meditation] [Sloth and torpor] [Patience]
1. “When we meditate, we observe our breath. What should we do if we reach a state of stillness where no breath can be observed?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Calming meditation] [Concentration] [Tranquility] // [Knowing itself] [Happiness] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Mindfulness] [Buddho mantra]
2. “During my sitting this morning, the thoughts keep arising one after the other. It seems endlessly. How do I notice, learn, and recognize thoughts as a function of the mind and not be affected by them? Also, how can one make use of skillful thoughts in meditation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Restlessness and worry] [Proliferation] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Mindfulness of mind] [Recollection] // [Craving not to become] [Characteristics of existence] [Insight meditation] [Relinquishment] [Goodwill] [Patience] [Concentration] [Attitude]
Quote: “Kae nun lae (Thai) – It’s just that much.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah]
7. Question about the function of mindfulness of breathing. Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] // [Meditation/Techniques] [Sutta] [Characteristics of existence]
2. “I would appreciate further explanation of vitakka and vicāra.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Directed thought and evaluation ] // [Translation] [Investigation of states] [Bases of Success] [Desire] [Energy] [Heart/mind] [Calming meditation] [Hindrances] [Happiness]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah’s teachings about vitakka-vicāra. [Ajahn Chah]
9. “Can you please describe the main stages of insight meditation?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Insight meditation] [Progress of insight] // [Suffering] [Direct experience] [Cessation of Suffering] [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Ignorance] [Cause of Suffering]
Quote: “What are the stages of getting my hand out of this fire?” [Similes]
7. “The concepts of non-self and rebirth seem contradictory to me. Can you expand on these topics? What is it that passes from one life to the next if there is no self?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Not-self] [Rebirth] // [Views] [Tranquility] [Insight meditation] [Aggregates] [Self-identity view] [Disenchantment] [Dispassion] [Unwholesome Roots] [Consciousness] [Proliferation] [Conditionality]
Sutta: DN 15.21 refers to rebirth and consciousness.
3. “Is there a time and place for intentionally breathing or using the breath as a means of calming the mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volition] [Calming meditation] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Tranquility] [Energy]
Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta.
Recollection: To deal with the restless mind, Ajahn Chah taught to breath in deeply and not breathe out. [Restlessness and worry] [Ajahn Chah]
2. “In the Ānāpānasati Sutta there are many steps. Is there space in these to investigate the causes and conditions for greed, anger, and delusion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Investigation of states] [Conditionality] [Unwholesome Roots] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Mindfulness of mind] [Heart/mind] [Calming meditation] [Hindrances] [Mindfulness of dhammas] [Impermanence]
Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Mindfulness of breathing is not a linear process. You have to work with what’s actually helpful.
3. “Can you expand more on the seeing through of vipassanā?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation ] // [Characteristics of existence] [Conditionality]
4. “Please speak about sense consciousness and how the release of attachment is achieved.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sense bases] [Consciousness] [Clinging] [Relinquishment] // [Delusion] [Insight meditation] [Knowledge and vision] [Feeling] [Contact] [Drawbacks] [Compassion]
Quote: “Dhamma practice is not difficult. There are only two things you need to do: know and let go.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma]
5. “How to contemplate the state of emptiness, stillness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation] [Emptiness] [Tranquility] // [Relinquishment] [Gladdening the mind]
7. Story: When asked to teach about vipassanā, Ajahn Chah instructed practitioners to observe a wilting flower. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Insight meditation ] [Impermanence] // [Thai Forest Tradition] [Liberation] [Manjushri Institute]
4. “Thinking about sensuality and thinking about noticing and cognizing all this stuff. So is noticing just a pure mental exercise or does bodily sensation also have a place?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Insight meditation] [Mindfulness of body] // [Discernment] [Personality] [Ajahn Sucitto] [Ajahn Amaro]
Follow-up: “So do we try to find our own way or do we try to balance our attitudes?” [Attitude]
Reference: Meditation: A Way of Awakening by Ajahn Sucitto.