Dhamma
Includes tags: Dhamma, Recollection/Dhamma
2. “Dependent co-origination is referred to as Dhamma. The unoriginated and unconditioned is also Dhamma. Could you explain?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Dependent origination] [Dhamma] [Unconditioned] // [Cessation] [Conventions]
Sutta: MN 28.22: One who sees Dependent Origination sees the Dhamma.
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.
4. “I’ve been pondering Ajahn Chah’s phrase, ‘Right but not true; true but not right.’ I’ve never been able to figure our ‘Right but not true....’” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Chah] [Truth] // [Clear comprehension]
Quote: “You are right in fact but wrong in Dhamma.” — Ajahn Chah. [Dhamma]
Story: Ajahn Sumedho reports Ajahn Buddhadāsa’s different approach to Vinaya to Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Vinaya]
Story: Ajahn Sumedho criticizes an outspoken monk’s loud speech at Paṭimokkha. The monk leaves Wat Pah Pong soon after. [Harsh speech] [Admonishment/feedback]
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]
5. “How do we distinguish the nuances of happiness and suffering?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
1. “Could [the principles in AN 3.102] also be related to practicing anāpānāsati?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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] [Dhamma] [Middle Path]
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.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
6. Quote: “Whenever you have feelings of love or hate for anything whatsoever, these will be your aides and partners in building pārami. The Buddha Dhamma is not to be found in moving forwards, nor in moving backwards, nor in standing still. This, Sumedho, is your place of non-abiding.” — Ajahn Chah’s only letter to Ajahn Sumedho. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Greed] [Aversion] [Perfections] [Dhamma] [Middle Path ] // [Relinquishment] [Knowing itself]
4. “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/metaphor]
6. “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. Comment: The separation between the mind and the sense/mind objects can be helpfully contemplated at multiple levels of acuity. Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Nature of mind] [Knowing itself] [Sense bases] // [Nibbāna] [Ajahn Chah]
Sutta: AN 11.9.
Reference: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, pp. 90-91.
Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Perception] [Etymology]
Quote: “The Five Khandhas exist, but they aren’t real. The Dhamma is real, but it doesn’t exist.” — Ajahn Paññāvaḍḍho. [Ajahn Paññāvaḍḍho] [Aggregates] [Dhamma]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
Quote: “Bright, loud, and mobile is the false; subtle and indistinct is the true.” — Master Hsuan Hua to Ajahn Amaro in a dream. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Master Hsuan Hua] [Ajahn Amaro] [Dreams] [Truth]
3. “Is there a difference between citta and poo roo?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Heart/mind ] [Knowing itself] [Nature of mind] // [Thai] [Language] [Proliferation] [Dhamma] [Buddha] [Ajahn Amaro] [Dhamma books]
Quote: “If there’s anything left, just throw it to the dogs.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Chah] [Relinquishment]
7. “One of the descriptions of Dhamma is ‘here and now.’ Have you had an equivalent insight into now-ness? (Refers to the previous story about here-ness.)” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Dhamma] [Ajahn Amaro] [Insight meditation] [Time] // [Impermanence] [Not-self] [Conventions]
Reference: The Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra.
4. “What advice would you give to future abbots and teachers of Wat Pah Pong branch monasteries so that the communities maintain the most important characteristics of Ajahn Chah’s style of leadership?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abbot] [Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Saṅgha] [Leadership ] [Ajahn Chah] // [Dhamma] [Vinaya] [Chanting] [Translation]
Sutta: DN 16.6: Dhamma-Vinaya is your leader. [Dhamma]
Quote: “Ajahn Chah was conservative, but he wasn’t fundamentalist.” [Monastic life]
Story: The Dalai Lama asks the Abhayagiri monks to chant the Maṅgala Sutta (Snp 2.4, Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 46) in Pāli. [Dalai Lama] [Pāli]
Story: Ajahn Chah was one of the first forest monks to ban smoking in the monastery. [Smoking] [Lunar observance days]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah was unique in consulting with senior monks and laypeople when making decisions. [Saṅgha decision making]
6. Quote: “No cracks, no Buddhism.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Stupas/monuments] [Impermanence] // [Recollection/Dhamma]
2. “How to find a good balance between personal individual practice and helping the community? How have you practiced with this yourself, having had the role of abbot for such a long time?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Service] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abbot] // [Seclusion ] [Restlessness and worry] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Idealism] [Becoming] [Craving not to become] [Monastic routine]
Quote: “You really have to learn how to step back from your own mind and give attention to that sense of solid connection with the Dhamma practice.” [Dhamma]
Quote: “If we don’t really develop a sense of giving and sharing and lovingkindness and compassion, any amount of meditation that you do never really comes to much fruition.” [Generosity] [Goodwill]
3. “Could you speak about the practice of being mindful of craving and allowing it to pass?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unskillful qualities] [Mindfulness] [Craving] [Cessation] // [Hindrances] [Relinquishment] [Recollection/Dhamma] [Faith] [Memory]
Quote: “If we don’t understand the obstacle, we can’t be free from it.” [Discernment] [Liberation]
Quote: “You’ve got to be really careful because the mind is a liar and a cheat.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Nature of mind] [Heedfulness]