Family
Includes tags: Family, Parents, Children
5. “I have had many losses over the year, and both my parents passed away six years ago. I found that taking refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha, keeping the precepts, and having daily meditation practice helps. There is peacefulness and gratitude. I have heard that if one wants to share merits with the deceased, one could. What is the proper way? Could you give some guidance?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Death] [Grief] [Parents] [Merit ] // [Recollection/Virtue] [Goodwill] [Translation] [Three Refuges] [Precepts] [Generosity] [Happiness]
Sutta: Iti 22: “Do not be afraid of puñña.”
Quote: “Puñña is accomplished through the heart itself.” [Heart/mind] [Cultural context]
Quote: “A spark of merit is worth more than a mountain of effort.” — Tibetan saying. [Vajrayāna] [Self-identity view]
21. “My husband died 10 years ago. There was sadness but also relief that his journey was over and sadness and relief for myself. I can still hear his advice regarding my medications. Is this clinging? He lives in my heart. What do you do with memories and teachings yourself?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Family] [Death] [Grief] [Memory] [Clinging]
Recollection: I still hear Ajahn Chah’s voice. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] [Dreams] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa]
4. “Would you be willing to share memories of Ajahn Chah?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Pasanno ] [Temporary ordination] [Personality] [Not-self] [Equanimity]
When asked about the core essence of the Buddha’s teachings, Ajahn Chah replies, “Is this a big stick or a little stick?” [Teaching Dhamma] [Conventions] [Cause of Suffering]
Story: Ajahn Chah pretends to forget simple questions in order to embarrass his translator. [Forest versus city monks] [Media] [Aversion] [Questions] [Translation] [Similes]
Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno writes to his family that he’s staying in Thailand because Ajahn Chah is peaceful, solid, clear, and unshakeable in the midst of all that’s going on around him. [Family] [Tranquility] [Clear comprehension]
3. “Have you ever regretted choosing the monastic life? Has your mother ever thought you made a wrong choice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Doubt] [Parents] // [Gratitude] [Retirement] [Energy] [Mentoring] [Christianity] [Abhayagiri]
Reflections on leadership. [Leadership ] [Ajahn Chah] [Abbot] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Discernment]
Quote: “You can’t lead just by telling people what to do and they are going to obey. Forget it!” [Leadership ]
Quote: “Everybody else is a mirror for oneself if one is willing to learn in teaching or leading others.” [Leadership ] [Learning]
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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
5. “When Sariputta and Moggallāna died, [the Buddha] expressed almost a sense of grief in the context of the absence from the assembly. I wonder how that fits with the idea of Nibbāna.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Great disciples] [Death] [Buddha/Biography] [Grief] // [Pain] [Suffering] [Emotion] [Tranquility] [Theravāda]
Sutta: SN 47.14: Ukkacelā Sutta: “This assembly appears to me empty now....”
Sutta: SN 36.6: The Arrow.
Story: Ajahn Sumedho’s experience of his mother’s death. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Parents]
7.1. 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] [Culture/West]
Reference: Beyond, p. 441 in Happily Ever After by Ajahn Amaro.
3. “Does the Buddha speak about karma in relation to the family we find ourselves in?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Tipiṭaka] [Kamma] [Family] // [Jātaka Tales] [Great disciples] [Rebirth] [Buddha/Biography] [Previous Buddhas] [Ajahn Sumedho]
Sutta: MN 81 Ghaṭīkāra Sutta
Story: An eight-year-old girl remembers being her grandmother’s mother.
5. Story: The parents of a four-year-old wish their child to attain Nibbāna in this life. Told by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Parents] [Nibbāna] [Desire]
Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Happiness]
8. “How did Luang Por Chah relate to the lay community around him and tailor the Dhamma to their own circumstances?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Lay life] [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Lunar observance days] [Building projects] [Cultural context] [Stories]
Story: Ajahn Chah’s talkative older brother helps with their mother’s funeral. [Family] [Funerals]
6. Recollection: Why I stayed with Ajahn Chah. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Determination] [Ajahn Chah] // [Family] [Sequence of training] [Equanimity] [Personal presence]
21. “How did your becoming a monk go down with your family, and how did that affect you?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Family] // [Ajahn Jayasaro]