All quotes
72 events, 294 sessions, 627 excerpts, 46:22:22 total duration
Most common topics:
Ajahn Chah
(296)
Suffering
(58)
Relinquishment
(57)
Ajahn Sumedho
(42)
Similes
(42)
Ajahn Pasanno
(41)
Dhamma
(39)
Discernment
(39)
Liberation
(33)
Teaching Dhamma
(33)
5. Recollection: Ajahn Chah taught by example, but put the focus on the monastic training and community. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] [Ajahn Chah] // [Humility]
Quote: “He was unique in his ability to draw people in without it having to be about him.” [Personal presence ] [Personality]
7. Recollection: He was always willing to push us beyond what we thought we could do. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fierce/direct teaching] [Ajahn Chah] // [Intuition]
Quote: “I hope you’re not afraid of suffering. … If you’re afraid of suffering, you’re not going to grow in wisdom here.” — Ajahn Chah to Jack Kornfield. [Jack Kornfield] [Fear] [Suffering] [Discernment]
Quote: “If you want to stay here, you have to stay at least five years.” — Ajahn Chah to Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Sequence of training] [Determination]
Story: Ajahn Chah asks the young Ajahn Pasanno to become abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Abbot] [Sickness]
9. Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno’s first lunar observance night at Wat Pah Pong. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Pong] [Lunar observance days] [Ajahn Chah] // [Monastic life] [Pace of life] [Patience]
Quote: “You learn as you go. You expand your ability to go beyond the limitations you set for yourself.” [Learning]
Quote: “The more you resist and complain in your mind, the more you suffer.” [Aversion] [Suffering] [Habits]
12. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Ajahn Chah’s compassion and empathy. [Compassion] [Ajahn Chah]
Quote: “I’ve been like that.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Munindo] [Suffering]
1. Quote: “Whatever speech doesn’t take into account the reality of impermanence is not the speech of wise person.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Right Speech] [Discernment] [Impermanence]
3. When asked why there are thieves in Thailand, Ajahn Chah replies, “The Buddha didn’t tell them to do that. They do that themselves.” [Ajahn Chah] [Culture/Thailand] [Buddhist identity] [Stealing]
4. The perception of impermanence should be cultivated for the removal of the conceit “I am.” Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno. [Conceit] [Impermanence] // [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment] [Nibbāna] [Cessation of Suffering]
Quote: “Being right doesn’t lead one to freedom from suffering. Oftentimes it just makes you a pain in the butt.” [Views]
Sutta: Ud 4.1.21: Meghiya Sutta.
Sutta: AN 10.60.11: “This is peaceful, this is sublime …”
6. Quote: “No cracks, no Buddhism.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Stupas/monuments] [Impermanence] // [Recollection/Dhamma]
7. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Absorbing the truth, “Even the Sāsana will pass away,” doesn’t lead to a sense of dismay; it leads to wonder and the motivation, “How can I help others?” [Truth] [Spiritual urgency] [Compassion] [Suffering] [Impermanence] [Characteristics of existence]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah saw so clearly and was incredibly compassionate. [Ajahn Chah] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Quote: “What is the mind of an arahant like?” – “Only compassion.” — Ajahn Mahā Boowa. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Mun]
Quote: “Anicca, dukkha, and anatta are tools we rely on for transforming the heart.”
11. “Is Nibbāna unconditioned? Can Nibbāna make a connection with you, or do you have to go to Nibbāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna] [Unconditioned ] [Impermanence] // [Characteristics of existence]
Sutta: Ud 8.3: Nibbāna Sutta (Chanting Book translation).
Quote: “The place where there’s no coming, no going, no standing still. What’s that?” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah]
12. “You mentioned that Ajahn Mahā Boowa has been a bit coarse with his disciples. Has your voice always been soft and kind and loving?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Compassion]
Quote: “Well, I hope I’ve gotten better. … The early years of being the abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat, I was pretty insufferable.” [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Abbot]
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. “People often say that Amaravati is like an institution. What is a perspective on this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Amaravati ] [Saṅgha] [Monastery organizational structure] // [Ajahn Pasanno]
Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Ahiṃsako and Ajahn Karuṇiko: The benefits and drawbacks of large monasteries. [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Teaching Dhamma] [Christian monastics] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Spiritual traditions]
Quote: “You don’t have to worry, Dad. Buddhism in Thailand isn’t organized.” — Ajahn Siripañño. [Ajahn Siripañño] [Culture/Thailand]
6. “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.
7. “Can you offer any reflections about people’s tendency to measure samādhi, concentration, and jhāna and their doubt and discontent about how much is enough to develop insight?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Calming meditation] [Concentration] [Jhāna] [Insight meditation] // [Craving] [Relinquishment] [Etymology] [Translation] [Right Mindfulness] [Right Effort]
Quote: “Samādhi is a holiday for the heart.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho]
Simile: Samādhi is like a chicken in a bamboo coop. [Similes] [Spaciousness] [Mindfulness]
Sutta: MN 44.12: The bases of samādhi.
Simile: Unification of mind is like a bowl of fruit. [Unification]
2. “Could you offer some reflections on experiencing mind as mind in the Noble Eightfold Path?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eightfold Path] [Chanting] [Chithurst] [Amaravati] [Mindfulness of mind ] // [Noting] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Nature of mind] [Knowing itself]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 97.
Sutta: MN 10.34: Mindfulness of mind.
Follow-up: “Does this relate to Luang Por Dune’s reformulation of the Four Noble Truths where it says, ‘The mind seeing the mind?’” [Ajahn Dune] [Four Noble Truths] [Mindfulness of mind ]
Reference: Gifts He Left Behind by Ajahn Dune, p. 3.
Quote: “An inward-staying unentangled knowing.” — Upāsikā Kee Nanayon. [Upāsikā Kee Nanayon]
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]
8. “The Buddha had a quality of fearlessness. How can we understand fearlessness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha] [Fear ] // [Non-identification] [Not-self] [Self-identity view] [Suffering]
Quote: “The core of fearlessness is not having a self, an I, a me, a mine that it’s trying to protect.”
2. “Is renunciation like surrender?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Renunciation] [Relinquishment]
Quote: “You let go a little, you get a little peace. You let go a lot, and you get a lot peace. Let go completely, and you get complete peace.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Tranquility]
3. “If you live long enough and you start to have Alzheimer’s or dementia, if you’re well-practiced throughout your whole life, you’ll still be grounded in something, right?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ageing] [Sickness] [Memory ] [Long-term practice] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Despite having dementia, Venerable Mahāghosānanda attends a meeting of Buddhist leaders at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Abhayagiri monks look after him and delight in his presence. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Preah Mahāghosānanda] [Spirit Rock] [Upatakh] [Abhayagiri] [Personal presence] [Dalai Lama]
Reflection: When Ajahn Chah was sick, his cognitive functions deteriorated, but his citta was unwavering. [Heart/mind] [Nature of mind] [Translation] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro]
Quote: “You don’t have to worry about Ajahn Chah. His mind is bright and pure.” — Ajahn Phut. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Phut] [Dependent origination] [Chanting] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
Reference: Vipassanā-bhūmī, Amaravati Chanting Book Volume 2, p. 67.
Reflection by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo: The mind is another sense base. It’s not who you are. [Sense bases] [Not-self]
4. “How do you deal with the fear of renunciation and sacrifice that you do on the path of practice? Giving things up that are familiar and comfortable, or even that you know are uncomfortable, but there’s still that dukkha around it. Or after you’ve given up, the mind can proliferate on these subjects a lot. What has your experience been like?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Cunda. [Renunciation] [Fear] [Suffering] [Proliferation] // [Self-identity view] [Cessation of Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Discernment] [Happiness] [Monastic life]
Quote: “Everything I’ve ever let go of has claw marks on it.” — David Foster Wallace. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Clinging]
Story: Just sweep the leaves in front of your broom. Told by Ajahn Cunda. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Present moment awareness] [Similes]
Story: A young child struggles to give Ajahn Sumedho a candy on almsround. Told by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Generosity] [Almsround] [Ajahn Sumedho]
5. Reflection by Ajahn Pesalo: The balance between community and self-reliance. [Saṅgha] [Self-reliance ] [Abhayagiri] // [Faith] [Ajahn Chah] [Trust ] [Monastic life] [Present moment awareness]
Quote: “One’s attitude towards practice should be: ‘If he can do it, I can do it.’” — Ajahn Mahā Boowa. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Meditation]
Quote: “You are the awareness. All of us are the awareness.” — Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Knowing itself]
Quote: “Give it 40 years.” — Ajahn Sucitto. [Ajahn Sucitto] [Determination] [Patience]
2. Quote: “Monasteries are made of people.” — Ajahn Pasanno. Quoted by Ajahn Ahiṃsako. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monasteries ] [Monastic life] [Community] // [Desire] [Saṅghapāla] [Buddha] [Saṅgha] [Abhayagiri]
3. Recollection: The early foundations of Abhayagiri Monastery. Recounted by Ajahn Ahiṃsako. [Abhayagiri] // [Ajahn Amaro] [Desire] [Lodging] [Saṅgha] [Community ]
Reflection: Building foundations of community requires care and attention. [Community ] [Vinaya]
Quote: “Holding on with wisdom.” — Ajahn Jayasaro. [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Clinging] [Discernment]