All stories
68 events, 309 sessions, 736 excerpts, 56:39:26 total duration
Most common topics:
Ajahn Chah
(321)
Ajahn Pasanno
(181)
Abhayagiri
(100)
Wat Pah Pong
(74)
Ajahn Sumedho
(67)
Ajahn Amaro
(61)
Wat Pah Nanachat
(54)
Culture/Thailand
(51)
Sickness
(48)
Tudong
(48)
2. Story: Entering a cold river is just saṅkhāra, told by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Ajahn Kusalo] [Bhante Rahula] [Volitional formations] // [Ajahn Jotipālo] [Arrow River]
6. Story: Ajahn Khemadhammo creates Buddha groves in prisons. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Khemadhammo] [Prisons] [Buddha images] // [Ceremony/ritual] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Tranquility]
7. Story: The inmate leading the Buddhist group was caught selling drugs. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Khemadhammo] [Prisons] [Intoxicants]
Comments about intoxicants, crime, and prisons. Contributed by Beth Steff and Ajahn Pasanno. [Crime]
1. “At what point does it become unskillful to continue to reflect on one’s own good deeds?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Beth Steff. [Recollection/Virtue] [Unskillful qualities] // [Self-identity view] [Right Effort] [Recollection/Generosity] [Culture/West] [Christianity] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy]
Quote: “In Buddhism, we don’t believe in original sin. We believe in original purity.” — King Rama IX to a BBC interviewer. [King Rama IX] [Nature of mind]
Reference: The 1979 BBC interview on YouTube.
Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 104: Forty subjects of meditation.
Story: Western researchers find Tibetans who have been tortured don’t suffer post-traumatic stress. [Abuse/violence] [Vajrayāna] [Three Refuges] [Compassion]
Story: God’s finger over the “Smite” button. [God] [The Far Side]
Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo: The Dalai Lama emphasizes the effect of faith in the law of kamma. [Dalai Lama] [Kamma] [Faith]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right View]
2. Discussion about evaluating the results of practice. Led by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Results] [Right Effort] // [Faith] [Investigation of states] [Self-identity view] [Not-self]
Comment: I notice that I have preconceptions about the way I evaluate my practice.
Response: Ajahn Pasanno distinguishes between investigation and evaluation.
The very pattern, “What will make me good enough?” is suffering. Comment by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Habits] [Cause of Suffering]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
Story: Aversion towards the nada sound and the importance of having a teacher. Told by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Teachers] [Ajahn Jotipālo] [Sound of silence] [Aversion] [Insight Meditation Society] [Ajahn Amaro]
3. “Ajahn Ñāṇiko, during your time in India, was there a big takeaway from your experience or stories or experiences you would be willing to share?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] [Visiting holy sites] // [Culture/India] [Sickness] [Poverty]
Story: Going almsround outside Bodh Gaya: “It’s rare to be able to give to a samaṇa.” [Perception of a samaṇa] [Types of monks]
5. Story: Ajahn Kalyāno instructs monks to memorize the organs while watching an autopsy. Told by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Ajahn Kalyāṇo] [Unattractiveness] [Mindfulness of body] // [Aversion]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Disenchantment] [Dispassion] [Skillful qualities]
2. “At what point in the Forest Tradition do you use a “warrior strategy” to conquer pain, defilements?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unwholesome Roots] [Pain] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Determination] [Self-identity view] [Spaciousness] [Right Effort]
Comment: The Krooba Ajahns can get intense and fiery, but what they are actually doing is making their minds calm and then contemplating and understanding pain and defilements. [Fierce/direct teaching] [Tranquility] [Discernment]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/West] [Abuse/violence] [Culture/Thailand]
Story: A gung-ho five vassa monk tears down the spirit house in a southern Thai fishing village. [Superstition] [Rains retreat] [Ajahn Chah]
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] [Contact]
1. Recollection: Ajahn Dohn’s recollection of teaching on mindfulness to develop right speech. Recounted by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Ajahn Dohn] [Mindfulness] [Right Speech]
4. Story: Personality of the Abhayagiri co-abbots: “Is he the one with the personality or is he the one who laughs all the time?” Told by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Amaro] [Personality] [Humor]
5. “Do people confuse the definitions of ego and self?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Western psychology ] [Self-identity view] // [Four Noble Truths]
Story: An applicant to Wat Pah Nanachat writes a letter avoiding all personal pronouns.
6. Discussion about psychotherapy models, attachment, and self. Led by Ajahn Pasanno. [Western psychology] [Self-identity view] [Clinging] // [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Four Noble Truths]
Story: Meditation helps a psychiatrist treat other psychiatrists. [Meditation] [Language]
1. Ajahn Pasanno recollects visiting the Japanese temple in Vesali described in Chapter 9 of Rude Awakenings by Ajahn Sucitto and Nick Scott. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Visiting holy sites] // [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Nichiren Buddhism]
4. “Would you speak on skillful and unskillful ways to approach restraint?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Kondannyo Bhikkhu. [Sense restraint] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] // [Self-identity view] [Vinaya] [Monastic life] [Culture/Natural environment] [Spiritual friendship] [Continuity of mindfulness]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno gets frustrated with meditation and starts sweeping. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Meditation] [Generosity] [Cleanliness]
Story: Paul Breiter did not consider Abhayagiri cushy. Told by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Paul Breiter] [Abhayagiri]
Comment: When you see the danger in investing outside, you don’t need a straightjacket. [Disenchantment]
2. “Did Ajahn Chah have a common statement about his own core practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Ajahn Chah] [Meditation/Techniques] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Teaching Dhamma]
Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta.
Story: Ajahn Piak reports that Ajahn Chah reaches jhāna quickly. [Ajahn Piak] [Psychic powers] [Jhāna]
3. Reflections by Ajahn Kaccāna and Ajahn Pasanno about Ajahn Sumedho and Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Chah] // [Habits] [Seclusion] [Monastic life/Motivation]
Story: Ajahn Sumedho becomes so fed up living with Westerners at Tam Seang Pet that he leaves. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Tam Saeng Pet] [Western Ajahn Chah lineage] [Tudong]
Description of Wat Tam Saeng Pet. [Culture/Natural environment]
5. Story: Ajahn Chah spends Vassa at Wat Tam Saeng Pet. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Sickness] [Wat Tam Saeng Pet] [Rains retreat] // [Health care]
6. Story: Ajahn Pasanno goes to Wat Pah Nanachat to work on a bowl stand and gets sick. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Monastic crafts] [Sickness] // [Rains retreat]
8. “Were you on tudong for a year?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Tudong] // [Seclusion] [Dtao Dum] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno takes a restless novice on tudong. [Novices] [Food]
9. Story: Ajahn Pasanno founds Dtao Dum Monastery. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Dtao Dum ] // [Environment] [Ajahn Chah] [Joseph Kappel] [Rains retreat] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ajahn Gavesako]
2. Story: Master Hsu Yun is beaten twice by Chinese soldiers and holds on to life for their sake. Told by Ajahn Jotipālo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Master Hsu Yun] [Abuse/violence] // [Kamma] [Arahant] [Compassion]
1. “Is it possible for a monastic to look after their parents while still practicing the vinaya?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Monastic life] [Vinaya] [Parents] // [Ajahn Vīradhammo] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Liem] [Ajahn Dtun] [Ajahn Jayasaro]
Story: Two burka-clad women stare at Ajahn Jayasaro in Kuwait. [Robes] [Conventions]
3. “How can I change my motivation around trying to get my Buddhist parents to adopt the correct Right View?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right View] [Right Intention] [Parents] // [Compassion] [Patience]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah taught in a way that made you think that you figured it out yourself. [Ajahn Chah] [Teaching Dhamma] [Self-reliance]
Ajahn Ñāṇiko quotes the Dtao Te Ching regarding leadership. [Taoism] [Leadership]
3. “What does a delusion type of person look like?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Tan Jāgaro and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Delusion] // [Doubt] [Views]
Story: An anagārika with endless questions. Told by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Postulants] [Ajahn Amaro] [Questions]
2. Discussion of beneficial effects of prayer even without an external entity to which it is directed. [Prayer] [Healing] [God] // [Culture/Sri Lanka]
Story: A threatening storm disappears the same night Rev. Heng Sure leads chanting for the Mississippi pilgrims. Told by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Ajahn Jotipālo] [Tudong] [Rev. Heng Sure] [Mantra]
2. Story: Ajahn Pasanno describes his time in India with Ajahn Jayasaro. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Tudong] [Visiting holy sites] // [Impermanence] [Almsround]
Story: A month to be away from Wat Pah Nanachat. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Abbot] [Ajahn Puriso]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno stays in Bodh Gaya to do pūjās. [Pūjā] [Determination]
7. Story: Ajahn Ñāṇiko stays in an Indian hotel. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] [Culture/India] [Lodging] // [Animal]
3. “Is divided consciousness the same as divided awareness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Kondannyo Bhikkhu. [Consciousness] // [Pāli] [Proliferation] [Concentration] [Sense bases] [Ignorance]
Story: A man born blind gains sight. Told by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Contact]
Sutta: MN 43.6: Viññāṇa is to be understood and paññā is to be developed. [Discernment] [Kamma]
3. “How is Dzogchen similar to the Thai Forest Tradition?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Amaro] [Vajrayāna] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Emptiness]
Ajahn Pasanno describes the context of the Small Boat, Great Mountain retreat. [Spirit Rock] [Tsoknyi Rinpoche] [Theravāda]
Reference: Small Boat, Great Mountain by Ajahn Amaro.
5. Discussion about keeping the continuity of practice within engagement and daily life. [Everyday life] [Continuity of mindfulness] // [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Kinaree]
Story: Ajahn Chah sews a robe obsessively. [Robes] [Craving]
Follow-up: “Were Ajahn Mahā Boowa’s teachings less focused on daily life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Pesalo. [Ajahn Mun] [Cleanliness] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Determination] [Ardency] [Personality]
Story: Ajahn Mun teases Ajahn Mahā Boowa for being like an old boxer.
Comment: You can read the suttas, but you don’t really get a feel for what the Buddha’s teachings are until you study and practice the Vinaya. [Sutta] [Vinaya] [Protocols] [Communal harmony] [Requisites]
2. Story: Ajahn Pasanno attends Dharma Master Heng Lyu’s ordination. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Bhikshu Heng Lyu] [Ordination] // [Ajahn Amaro] [Weather]
5. Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s first impressions of Wat Pah Pong. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Pong] // [Temporary ordination] [Ajahn Chah] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Lunar observance days]
6. Recollections: Ajahn Pasanno’s motivations for moving to Abhayagiri; twenty years went by quick. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abhayagiri] // [Western Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Ajahn Amaro] [Community]
1. Story: Abhayagiri’s neighbors and origins of the Abhayagiri property. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abhayagiri] [Ajahn Mahā Prasert] [Father Damien] // [Master Hsuan Hua] [Lodging] [Christianity]
1. Reflection by Bhikshu Heng Lyu: The relationship between Abhayagiri and The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. [Abhayagiri] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas] // [Master Hsuan Hua] [Ajahn Sumedho]
Story: Master Hua invites Ajahn Sumedho to be the precept master for an ordination at The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas [Ordination] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Amaro] [Bhikshu Heng Lyu]
1. Recollection: The friendship between disciples of Ajahn Chah and the disciples of Master Hua. Recounted by Bhikshu Heng Shun. [Spiritual friendship] [Ajahn Chah lineage] [Master Hsuan Hua] // [Abhayagiri] [Mahāyāna] [Theravāda]
Sutta: SN 45.2: Half of the Holy Life.
Story: Master Xuanzang writes that the Abhayagiri Vihara has “Mahāyāna Theravādins.” [Master Xuanzang] [History/Sri Lankan Buddhism]
2. Story: Heng Shun meets Ajahn Pasanno at Wat Phleng Vipassanā in 1973. Told by Bhikshu Heng Shun. [Bhikshu Heng Shun] [Wat Phleng Vipassanā] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Temporary ordination]
3. Story: Heng Shun visits Ajahn Chah. Told by Bhikshu Heng Shun. [Bhikshu Heng Shun] [Ajahn Chah] // [Paul Breiter] [Ajahn Anando] [Master Hsuan Hua]
Reference: Venerable Father by Paul Breiter (commercial).
“Very imposing, very strict, very straightforward, and very challenging.” — Heng Shun describes Ajahn Chah [Personality]
4. Story: Ajahn Sumedho meets Master Hua. Told by Bhikshu Heng Shun. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Master Hsuan Hua] // [Ajahn Anando] [Gold Mountain Monastery] [Bhikshu Heng Shun]
5. Story: Dharma Master Heng Shun meets Ajahn Pasanno at Wat Pah Nanachat. Told by Bhikshu Heng Shun. [Bhikshu Heng Shun] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
6. Story: More details about the 1991 City of Ten Thousand Buddhas ordination. Told by Bhikshu Heng Shun. [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas] [Ordination] // [Bhikshu Heng Shun] [Master Hsuan Hua] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Khantipālo]
8. Story: Dharma Master Heng Shun teaches his students to recite the Mata Sutta (SN 15.14-19) before meditation. Told by Bhikshu Heng Shun. [Bhikshu Heng Shun] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas] [Learning] [Meditation] [Chanting] // [Goodwill] [Saṃsāra]
2. Story: Father Damien’s first visit to The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. Told by Father Damien. [Father Damien] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas] // [Bhikshu Heng Shun]
4. Story: Father Boniface meets Ajahn Sumedho: “It’s not good to have two roosters on the same dung heap.” Told by Father Damien. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Father Boniface] [Holy Transfiguration Monastery] [Abhayagiri] // [Ajahn Amaro]
5. Father Damien explains the icon given to him by Abhayagiri monks. [Icons] [Abhayagiri] // [Culture/Thailand] [Christianity]
1. Recollection: How I came to Buddhism and the beginnings of the Saṅghapāla Foundation. Recounted by Marc Lieberman. [Saṅghapāla] // [Taungpulu Sayadaw] [Temporary ordination] [Vinaya] [Jack Kornfield] [Joseph Goldstein] [Insight Meditation Society] [Ajahn Anando] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Amaro]
1. Story: Coming to Buddhism through the AIDS crisis. Told by Susan Barber. [Sickness] [Death] // [Gratitude] [Stephen Levine] [Spirit Rock] [Christianity]
2. Story: Offering food to monks and board members; joining the Saṅghapāla Foundation. Told by Susan Barber. [Food] [Saṅghapāla] // [Ajahn Sumedho]
3. Story: The first seven years of the Saṅghapāla Foundation. Told by Susan Barber. [Saṅghapāla] // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Debbie Stamp] [Meditation retreats] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas] [Abhayagiri] [Ajahn Sundarā] [Community] [Christianity] [Gratitude]
1. Story: Meeting Buddhism in Thailand and becoming a Saṅghapāla board member. Told by Fred Kral. [Culture/Thailand] [Saṅghapāla] // [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Wat Ram Poeng] [Ajahn Chah] [Meditation retreats] [Dhammapala] [Debbie Stamp] [Ajahn Amaro]
2. Story: Saṅghapāla Foundation and the beginnings of Abhayagiri Monastery. Told by Fred Kral. [Abhayagiri] [Saṅghapāla] // [Monastery organizational structure]
1. Story: Meeting Buddhism in Thailand and San Francisco. Told by Noel Brewer. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Wat Keuan] [Saṅghapāla]
Quote: “At that time, Saṅghapāla board members were selected among the three people who would regularly attend sittings, so if you attended more than two sittings, you were basically a board member.”
2. Story: Accepting donations for the purchase of Abhayagiri’s land; resolving a conflict on the board. Told by Noel Brewer. [Abhayagiri] [Generosity] [Conflict] [Saṅghapāla] // [Media] [Ajahn Amaro] [Vinaya]
Vinaya: Bhikkhu Adhikaraṇasamatha 7: Covering over as with grass; discussion in The Buddhist Monastic Code.
5. Story: The monastery comes to our doorstep. Told by Peter Mayland. [Abhayagiri]
1. Story: The first anagārika ordained on Abhayagiri property returns. Told by Mark Sponseller. [Abhayagiri] [Postulants] // [Spirit Rock] [Ajahn Amaro] [Lodging] [Gratitude] [Meditation]
1. Story: A life-changing Dhamma talk. Told by Debbie Stamp. [Hearing the true Dhamma] // [Amaravati] [Chithurst] [Generosity] [Gratitude]
2. Story: Inviting monks to California to start a monastery. Told by Debbie Stamp. [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Generosity] [Saṅghapāla] // [Views] [Ajahn Amaro] [Faith]
3. Story: Ajahn Sucitto’s explanation of saṅghakamma redefines the focus of Saṅghapāla Foundation. Told by Debbie Stamp. [Ajahn Sucitto] [Vinaya] [Saṅghapāla] // [Ajahn Amaro]
3. Story: Ajahn Amaro hears of Master Hsuan Hua through Ajahn Sumedho. Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Amaro] [Master Hsuan Hua] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Chithurst] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas]
Quote: “I always thought I would never meet anyone else like Luang Por Chah, but I just met another one.” — Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Chah]
4. Story: Ajahn Sumedho asks Ajahn Amaro to go to California. Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Amaro] // [Master Hsuan Hua] [Elders' Council] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas] [Ordination] [Jack Kornfield]
5. Recollection: The virtual monastery in San Francisco. Recounted by Ajahn Amaro. [Saṅghapāla] // [Ajahn Amaro]
6. Recollection: Ajahn Sumedho delays the opening of a San Francisco vihara in 1992. Recounted by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Ajahn Chah] [Disrobing]
7. Story: The history of Abhayagiri Monastery: Master Hua offers land to Ajahn Sumedho the day after the Elders’ Council approves a land search. Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Master Hsuan Hua] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Elders' Council] [Abhayagiri ] // [Saṅghapāla] [Gratitude] [Amaravati] [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Vīradhammo] [Sickness]
Quote: “It had been the dream of my life to bring the Northern and Southern Traditions together again, and I never thought I was going to be able to do it until I met Sumedho.” — Master Hsuan Hua. [Mahāyāna] [Theravāda] [Communal harmony]
8. Testing times: Saṅghapāla Foundation scrambles to purchase the plot of land adjacent to Master Hsuan Hua’s gift.Recollected by Ajahn Amaro. [Saṅghapāla] [Abhayagiri] // [Ajahn Amaro] [Faith]
9. Story: Moving onto the Abhayagiri land. Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Abhayagiri] // [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Ajahn Amaro] [Saṅghapāla] [Gratitude]
11. Recollection: Origins of the Abhayagiri co-abbotship. Recounted by Ajahn Amaro. [Abbot] [Abhayagiri] // [Master Hsuan Hua] [Three Conditions Monastery] [Jealousy] [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Leadership]
Quote: “You can’t have two tigers living in the same cave.” — Ajahn Mahā Prasert. [Ajahn Mahā Prasert] [Culture/Thailand]
12. Recollection: The connection with Ajahn Mahā Prasert and Casa Serena. Recounted by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Mahā Prasert] [Abhayagiri] // [Gratitude] [Father Damien]
4. “In the West, we personalize every bit of suffering. Is it different in Thailand?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Culture/West ] [Suffering] [Self-identity view] [Culture/Thailand] // [Language] [Liberation]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno can’t translate guilt into Thai. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Thai] [Translation]
Quote: “That’s really suffering. Tell them not to do that.” — Ajahn Paññānanda. [Ajahn Paññānanda]
Reference: Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast (commercial). [Ageing] [Sickness] [Parents] [Health care]
1. Story: A man in an airport asks Ajahn Chah, “If everyone is Buddhist, why are there so many thieves in Thailand?” Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Culture/Thailand] [Stealing] [Virtue] [Precepts]
3. Story: Once a junior monk approached Ajahn Chah and listed all Ajahn Chah’s faults. Ajahn Chah replied, “It’s a good thing you’re not looking for perfection in yourself!” Told by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Ajahn Chah] [Virtue] [Perfectionism]
6. Story: Ajahn Pasanno visits the elderly Cambodian monk Mahāghosānanda who has Alzheimer’s disease. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Preah Mahāghosānanda] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Sickness] // [Dalai Lama] [Divine Abidings] [Ajahn Chah] [Heart/mind]
Quote: “That thing you learn in meditation—that you don’t lose.” — Ajahn Fuang. [Ajahn Fuang] [Meditation] [Liberation]
Story: A monk known for psychic powers visits Ajahn Chah’s sick room and reports: “You don’t have to worry about Ajahn Chah. His heart is so bright.” [Ajahn Phut] [Psychic powers] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Lunar observance days] [Dependent origination]
2. The meaning of perception (saññā) in the Girimānanda Sutta (AN 10.60). Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno. [Perception] [Recollection] // [Meditation] [Tranquility] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Discernment]
Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno gives instruction from the Girimānanda Sutta to the monks on the first four-week retreat at Dtao Dum. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Dtao Dum] [Teaching Dhamma]
Sutta: MN 43.8-9: Conjoined, not disjoined. [Feeling] [Consciousness]
Sutta: AN 10.57: Ten perceptions culminating in the Deathless. [Deathless]
16. AN 10.60.8 describes the dangers inherent in the human body. Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno. [Drawbacks] [Sickness] // [Aspects of Understanding] [Benefit/gratification] [Escape]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno visits a hospital library. [Ajahn Pasanno]
5. “What about the second part of the Girimānanda Sutta (AN 10.60.19) about healing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Healing] [Sickness] // [Dhamma] [Desire] [Body/form] [Gladdening the mind] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Concentration]
Story: Ajahn Toon meditates through a malarial fever. [Ajahn Toon]
2. Comment: Dr. Saddhatissa’s translation of the Sutta Nipāta uses common language. [Dr. Saddhatissa] [Translation]
Story: Ajahn Chah told Ajahn Sumedho to take Dr. Saddhatissa as the Saṅgharāja of England. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Elders' Council]
6. Story: Ajahn Sumedho admonishes a misbehaving monk at Pāṭimokkha when Ajahn Chah was away. The monk disappears the next day. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Admonishment/feedback] [Pāṭimokkha] [Right Speech] // [Culture/Thailand] [Ajahn Chah]
Quote: “True but not right; right but not true.” — Ajahn Chah. [Truth]
7. Story: Ajahn Amaro waits three years before admonishing a senior monk. Told by Ajahn Jotipālo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Amaro] [Admonishment/feedback] [Right Speech]
7. Story: The Quail’s Protection told by Ajahn Jotipālo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Truth]
Commentary: Ja 35: The Bodhisatta is born as a baby quail (The Birth Stories revised by Ānandajoti Bhikkhu, p. 293-296). [Jātaka Tales]
Reference: Vaṭṭaka-paritta.
5. “Could you tell us your stories related to the King Rama 9 of Thailand?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [King Rama IX] [Culture/Thailand] // [Leadership] [Meditation] [Recreation/leisure/sport] [Commerce/economics]
Story: Thai lay supporters remember King Rama IX at Abhayagiri’s 2016 Kaṭhina. [Abhayagiri] [Kaṭhina]
Story: King Rama IX attends Ajahn Chah’s funeral. [Ajahn Chah] [Funerals] [Wat Pah Pong] [Tranquility]
Story: King Rama IX asks President Nixon for understanding. [Politics and society] [Communal harmony] [Listening]
6. “Does the Buddha say all beings are inherently good? How about generosity? Do all human beings have the capacity for generosity?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nature of mind ] [Generosity ]
Sutta: AN 1.51-52
Story: A Mafia boss stays under Ajahn Chah’s kuti and helps out at Wat Pah Pong. [Ajahn Chah] [Crime] [Wat Pah Pong] [Precepts]
Quote: “Generosity is an important doorway for many reasons.”
9. “Can Ajahn Pasanno teach us how Ajahn Chah teaches or gives techniques on physical states and mental states? Can you tell us more about Ajahn Chah’s biography, for example, when and how Ajahn Chah wanted to become a monk?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Body/form] [Heart/mind] // [Christianity] [Conditionality]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah engaged in conversation with the villagers before the meal to reveal the junior monks’ desires around food. [Idle chatter] [Food] [Sensual desire]
Advice from Ajahn Chah: “Don’t admonish anybody before the meal.” [Admonishment/feedback]
Update about the progress on the new Ajahn Chah biography. [Dhamma books] [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Ajahn Kovilo]
Reference: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro
Story: Nine year old Ajahn Chah goes to the monastery after getting fed up with household chores. [Culture/Thailand] [Geography/Thailand] [Faith] [Monasteries] [Family] [Work]
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.
12. “I am wondering if you could talk about spiritual bypass? What is it? How do you know if you’ve done it? And how do you disentangle from it?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spiritual bypass ] // [Conflict] [Not-self] [Truth] [Views] [Spiritual friendship]
Story: Half the roof blows off a monk’s kuti, but he doesn’t repair it because he is letting go. [Ajahn Chah] [Lodging] [Relinquishment]
13. “I remember reading some stories of Ajahn Chah teaching lay people about herbal medicines. I know some Tibetan monks practice medicine. Is there such a tradition in Thailand? Are there any stores of Ajahn Chah healing people physically with traditional medicines?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Health care] [Medicinal requisites ] [Culture/Thailand] [Healing] // [Thai Forest Tradition] [History/Thai Buddhism] [Vinaya] [Right Livelihood] [Almsfood]
Recollection: Walking around the forest with Ajahn Chah. [Culture/Natural environment]
Story: Bung Wai villagers walk to Wat Pah Pong to practice meditation all night on Wan Phra. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Wat Pah Pong] [Lunar observance days] [Monastic routine] [Meditation]
Story: Por Am argues with Ajahn Chah for three days. [Doubt] [Precepts]
Story: Ajahn Chah teaches Por Am to be a herbal doctor so he can keep the precepts.
Recollection: The hunter-gatherer culture of Northeast Thailand. [Food] [Agriculture] [Killing] [Geography/Thailand]
5. “I was struck by the suggestion you shared about orienting oneself toward what one can give to a moment rather than what one can get from a moment. This mind shift seems hugely beneficial. Would you expand on this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Generosity] [Present moment awareness ] // [Patience ] [Tranquility]
Recollection: “Nine times out of ten, Ajahn Chah’s answer would be, ‘Just be patient.’” [Ajahn Chah]
Reference: Don’t Hold Back by Ajahn Pasanno
7. “‘Teacher of Gods and Humans’. Can you talk about this? What Gods did the Buddha teach? What other beings did the Buddha teach?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Buddha] [Buddha] [Teaching Dhamma] [Deva] [Human] // [Realms of existence ] [Sutta] [Buddha/Biography] [Ajahn Chah]
Sutta: DN 21: Sakka’s Questions.
Sutta: Snp 2.4: Maṅgala Sutta (Chanting Book translation).
Vinaya: Khandhaka 17.3.11: The Buddha subdues an enraged elephant. [Animal]
Story: Ajahn Chah describes the beings inhabiting Wat Pah Pong. [Wat Pah Pong] [Non-human beings]
Story: The head being acquires faith, listens to teachings, and temporarily takes on the Eight Precepts. [Faith] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Eight Precepts]
10. “Does having no craving mean doing things in the world knowing they won’t bring lasting satisfaction? For example, planning a vacation realizing that it will eventually end or taking measures to cure a headache without expecting to feel completely better. I am trying to understand how this would look like in real life without one becoming apathetic and depressed about the meaninglessness of basically all activities except meditation. How to balance the ability to still enjoy life with abandoning all craving?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Craving ] [Characteristics of existence] [Depression] [Happiness] // [Cause of Suffering] [Desire] [Generosity]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno is planning to take his mother to Hawaii. “And I think I’ll enjoy it too!” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Parents] [Travel]
17. “I grew up in an environment where any difference was met with hostility. I was bullied, I was robbed a few times, I didn’t feel safe. No wonder the idea of refuge always resonated with me. … However, even after living in very tolerant California and generally feeling myself safe here, when I am outdoors practicing walking meditation, whenever I see or hear strangers approaching me, my mind begins rushing in anticipation that this encounter would turn hostile. Being on precepts makes me feel particularly vulnerable. Could you share some teaching about protecting qualities of the Dhamma and how I can feel less fear while keeping the precepts? Could some of the monastics share their stories of receiving unexpected kindness from seemingly hostile strangers or stories of resolving physical or verbal attacks while wearing the robes and keeping precepts?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Discrimination] [Abuse/violence] [Fear] [Three Refuges] [Meditation retreats] [Precepts] [Dhamma] [Monastic life] [Stories] [Generosity] // [Human] [Truth] [Compassion] [Abhayagiri] [Almsround]
Story: A football hooligan has a sharing session with a monk on a train.
Story: Ajahn Gunha wanders into a Communist base on tudong. [Ajahn Gunha] [Tudong] [Politics and society] [Rains retreat]
Story: Ajahn Sudanto goes almsround each day in White Salmon. [Ajahn Sudanto] [Pacific Hermitage]
2. “How do I become a more generous person if there is a constant underlying worry about having enough (money for living, retirement, etc.)? How to create a sense of abundance within so I can freely give to others?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Generosity ] [Fear] [Commerce/economics] // [Culture/West] [Greed] [Community] [Culture/Thailand] [Poverty]
Quote: “I don’t have any money, but I’m not poor.” — Por Am, a Wat Pah Pong lay supporter. [Lay supporters] [Wat Pah Pong] [Health care]
Recollection: Thai children sharing cold Pepsi given to them by the monks at special events.
10. “I was wondering how I include the discernment obtained from lifting up the mind to solve a life issue. I wish I could be more intelligent and brighter to solve my life problem in a skillful way. Please advise.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Discernment] [Everyday life ] // [Trust] [Meditation retreats] [Time management]
Story: A disciple of Ajahn Chah moves to Bangkok. [Ajahn Chah] [Lay life] [Commerce/economics]
11. “It is the eighth evening of the retreat; feels timely to ask what was Ajahn Chah’s teaching for local lay people regarding sexual desire and sexual misconduct. Did he make a different emphasis when he taught westerners?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Lay life] [Sensual desire] [Sexual misconduct] [Culture/West] // [Culture/Thailand]
Story: In response to questions about sexuality, Ajahn Chah picks his nose. [Insight Meditation Society] [Humor]
22. “Going on alms round, especially in the US, seems like a very noble, patient practice. Would you speak more of what happens when monastics go for alms for the first time in an American town like Ukiah or in Oregon? When people have no idea what you are doing, and you can’t ask for anything, what happens? Did the monastics go hungry the first few times? Do you explain to people? Do you bless everyone with a chant who gives you food?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Almsround ] [Culture/West] // [Abhayagiri] [Generosity] [Not handling money]
Story: The bakery on State Street offers food to the Abhayagiri monks every week.
Story: The monks at Pacific Hermitage go almsround every day. [Pacific Hermitage] [Ajahn Sudanto] [Monastic routine]
Story: Ajahn Ñāṇiko and Tan Ṭhitabho walked from Abhayagiri to Pacific Hermitage. Only once did they not receive food on almsround. [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] [Tudong]
8. “Do you have any inspiring stories to share of practicing with strong fear (animals,etc)? I’m inspired when I hear such stories from monks of this tradition.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fear] [Stories] [Animal]
Story: A tiger circles Ajahn Pasanno’s walking path. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Dtao Dum] [Posture/Walking]
Sutta: MN 4: Fear and Dread.
Story: A tiger kills a 1,500 pound Brahma bull.
1. Story: It took three tries to make Abhayagiri’s sandstone Buddha image. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abhayagiri] [Buddha images] [Artistic expression] // [Ajahn Achalo] [Postures]
3. Story: The origin of Buddha images. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [History/Early Buddhism] [Buddha images] // [Culture/West] [Geography/India]
5. Story: A visiting monk gives extensive teachings about the meaning of each word in the recollection of Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Three Refuges] // [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Theravāda]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, pp. 4-8.
6. Story: A 17-year old novice flees Vietnam with a group of boat people, but the engine breaks down. Thai pirates board the boat and threaten the refugees, but then pay homage to the novice and help repair the boat. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abuse/violence] [Respect] [Compassion]
7. Story: A Sri Lankan monk is attacked by a bull elephant. He chants “Itipi so …” The elephant stops. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Animal] [Abuse/violence] [Chanting] [Recollection/Buddha] [Three Refuges]
References: Amaravati Chanting Book Volume 2, p. 54; Amaravati Chanting Book, pp. 4-8.
12. Story: The origin of the Guan Yin statue in Abhayagiri’s Reception Hall. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha images] [Abhayagiri] // [Generosity]