Abhayagiri Anniversary event, Jun. 1, 2024
Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in Redwood Valley, California and online
2 sessions, 26 excerpts, 1:21:59 total duration
Show featured excerpts (4)
Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery commemorated its 28th anniversary with a Practice and Study Day on the theme of mindfulness of breathing and the contemplation of death. That evening, senior monks offered reflections on the history of Abhayagiri.
Original recordings available on www.youtube.comSession 4: Questions and Answers
Session 6: Stories from Our Past
1. [0:54] “How do you deal with a friend who has commited suicide and the despair and grief that comes with that? How do you support a friend who has feelings of seeking annihilation and wanting to kill themselves?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suicide ] [Depression] [Grief] [Craving not to become] // [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Compassion] [Suffering] [Language] [Cessation of Suffering] [Fear]
Quote: “Compassion is a skillful or beautiful response to the suffering of the world.” [Skillful qualities]
2. [6:48] “I am concerned about the clarity of mind if I have prolonged pain. How does one face death skillfully if one is in constant serious pain?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Pain] [Ageing] [Tranquility] [Death] // [Long-term practice]
Sutta: SN 55.22: Mahānāma worries about death. [Similes]
3. [13:12] “Could you say more about recollection of death and the healthy desire to have something fall away?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Craving not to become] [Recollection/Death] [Relinquishment] // [Cessation] [Middle Path] [Right View]
Sutta: MN 26.19: The Buddha doubts whether anyone will understand. [Buddha/Biography]
4. [18:21] 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]
5. [22:22] “How is suicide reconciled with the First Precept, the precept against taking life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Suicide] [Killing] // [Vinaya]
Sutta: SN 35.87: Channa Sutta.
6. [25:24] “What about a serious practitioner who refuses machines and procedures to extend life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Health care] [Suicide] [Aversion] // [Relinquishment]
[Abhayagiri]
1. [1:05] Reflections by Ajahn Pasanno on 28 years. [Community] [Monasteries] // [Saṅghapāla] [Lay supporters] [Debbie Stamp] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
Reflection: It’s the community and the people that really creates the monastery.
2. [4:35] Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: The early days of Abhayagiri were simple and basic. [Requisites] // [Lay supporters] [Building projects] [Generosity] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
Quote: “It was like a Buddhist trailer park.” [Lodging]
3. [8:29] Recollection of the deaths of key Abhayagiri contributors. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Death] [Lay supporters] // [Recollection/Death] [Generosity]
4. [10:31] Description of Erik Erikson’s eighth stage of psychological development: Integrity versus Despair by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Western psychology] [Recollection] // [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Ageing]
5. [11:56] How I decided to ordain at Abhayagiri. Recollection by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo ] [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
6. [15:49] Story: The first few years of Abhayagiri. Told by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. // [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo ] [Ajahn Visuddhi] [Debbie Stamp] [Lodging] [Ajahn Pasanno]
7. [18:03] Reflection by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo: First and foremost, this is a training monastery. [Monastic life] // [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Truth] [Vinaya]
8. [21:03] I arrived when Abhayagiri turned five. Recollection by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Ajahn Ñāṇiko ] // [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Ajahn Sudanto] [Ordination] [Debbie Stamp] [Sīladharā]
Recollection: The little house was the beating heart of Abhayagiri. [Lodging] [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Questions] [Gratitude] [Goodwill]
Quote: “I want to ordain. What do I do?” — Ajahn Ñāṇiko’s first email to the Abhayagiri guestmonk. [Ajahn Achalo] [Idealism]
Story: “Look, I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to practice.” [Spiritual friendship]
Quote: “Don’t think about it too much.” — Ajahn Pasanno to Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Monastic life/Motivation] [Proliferation]
9. [30:53] Recollection: When I first arrived at Abhayagiri. Recounted by Ajahn Cunda. // [Lodging] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Wat Metta]
10. [34:22] Story: Chatting loudly with the windows open. Told by Ajahn Cunda. [Idle chatter] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Admonishment/feedback]
11. [36:12] Story: Living down the street from Abhayagiri for Winter Retreat 2006. Told by Ajahn Cunda. // [Lodging] [Weather] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo]
12. [39:13] Story: What “duly noted” means in English. Told by Ajahn Cunda. [Language] // [Ajahn Amaro]
13. [40:55] Reflection by Ajahn Cunda: Training under the co-abbots. [Abbot] [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Mentoring] // [Craving] [Teaching Dhamma] [Communal harmony] [Ajahn Yatiko] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo]
Quote: “Two tigers in one cave.” — Thai saying. [Leadership] [Culture/Thailand]
14. [43:55] Reflections by Ajahn Cunda on my early training. // [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] [Monastic life]
Quote: “Don’t worry. The first 20 years are the hardest.” — Ajahn Amaro. [Sequence of training] [Suffering]
15. [45:36] Story: From rough beginnings, J contributes to the Abhayagiri community for six years. Told by Ajahn Cunda. [Lay supporters] // [Food] [Personality] [Death]
16. [47:35] Abhayagiri history: The people and the places. Recollections by Ajahn Ṭhitapañño. // [Community] [Sharing circles] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Lunar observance days]
17. [49:48] Why do some people stay and some people go? Reflection by Ajahn Ṭhitapañño. [Ajahn Amaro] [Monastic life] // [Worldly Conditions]
18. [50:25] A long-term sense of extended family. Reflection by Ajahn Ṭhitapañño. [Community]
19. [51:24] Reflections by Ajahn Sudhīro on his first year at Abhayagiri. // [Emotion] [Suffering] [Monastic life] [Community] [Communal harmony] [Food] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Happiness]
20. [56:37] What has and hasn’t changed at Abhayagiri. Reflection by Ajahn Sudhīro. [Unwholesome Roots] [Three Refuges]
Simile: An oasis in a desert. [Similes]