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. Recollection: Ajahn Chah was a memorable person; his influence has spread around the world. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah lineage] [Ajahn Chah] // [Faith] [Ajahn Sumedho]
3. Recollection: My introduction to Ajahn Chah. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] // [Temporary ordination] [Travel] [Wat Phleng Vipassanā] [Forest versus city monks]
4. Recollection: Ajahn Chah’s community in 1975. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah lineage] [Ajahn Chah] // [Wat Pah Pong ] [Western Ajahn Chah lineage] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Isan] [Personal presence]
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]
6. Recollection: Why I stayed with Ajahn Chah. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Determination] [Ajahn Chah] // [Family] [Sequence of training] [Equanimity] [Personal presence]
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]
10. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Ajahn Chah used the Vinaya rules as a basis to train in mindfulness and clear comprehension. [Vinaya] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Ajahn Chah] // [Volition] [Perception of a samaṇa] [Protocols ] [Sense restraint] [Beauty] [Faith]
Story: Ajahn Chah demonstrates how to put down a yahm (monk’s shoulder bag). [Requisites] [Ajahn Sumedho]
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1.23: Sāriputta gains faith from Venerable Assiji’s demeanor. [Great disciples]
13. Recollection: Ajahn Chah enjoyed teasing people and playing with words. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Humor] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Gavesako] [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Compassion]
Stories: The Squirrel Story and the Donkey Story. [Kittisaro] [Monastic life] [Patience]
Note: Kittisaro tells these stories himself here.
14. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: His leadership and his teaching came from his example. [Leadership] [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah] // [Lunar observance days] [Devotion to wakefulness]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah sits until midnight despite having malaria. [Sickness] [Posture/Sitting] [Sitter's practice]
15. “When you first arrived at Ajahn Chah’s monastery, how did you communicate with him?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Language] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Translation] [Paul Breiter] [Thai] [Isan]
Story: Venerable Varapañño could recite the Pāṭimokkha perfectly. [Pāṭimokkha]
16. “Can you tell us more about Ajahn Chah’s background?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Geography/Thailand] [Education] [Novices] [Ordination] [Ajahn Sao] [Forest versus city monks] [Death] [Ajahn Mun] [Thai sects]
Story: Six-year-old Chah plays at being a monk. [Monastic life]
17. “Can you speak about Luang Por Chah’s opinion about Thai superstitions and amulets?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/Thailand] [Superstition] [Amulets] [Ajahn Chah] // [Humor] [Ghost] [Generosity]
Story: A young supporter drafted into the military asks Ajahn Chah for protection. [Buddha images]
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.”
4. “If you had to choose one monastery in Thailand that you can always go back to, where you had the best moments or experiences, what would it be?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] // [Dtao Dum ] [Culture/Natural environment]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno has the intuition that his time in Thailand had come to an end. [Culture/Thailand] [Monastic life]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s decision to help with Abhayagiri. [Abhayagiri] [Ajahn Amaro] [Saṅghapāla] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo]
10. “How do we recognize when we’re being taken advantage of when we’re trying to offer compassion? How do we draw a line to maintain our compassion without it impeding?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abuse/violence] [Compassion ] // [Discernment] [Ajahn Chah] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Suttas: SN 22.86.13; MN 22.37.
Reflection: The qualities of the Buddha: wisdom, compassion, purity. [Recollection/Buddha ] [Arahant] [Pūjā]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 3: Homage to the Buddha. [Recollection/Buddha ]
Story: A person asks the same question four times. [Questions]
14. “Sometimes we hear that with practice, some qualities change, but other qualities don’t change very much over a long time of practice. When I read certain biographies [of Buddhist teachers], it seems like certain rough qualities can remain even though the mind is pure. How to know the difference in oneself and others?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Long-term practice] [Personality ] [Teachers] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Unskillful qualities] // [Suffering] [Unwholesome Roots] [Relinquishment] [Hindrances]
Ajahn Pasanno describes the personality of great teachers he has met. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Thate] [Ajahn Dune] [Ajahn Chah]
Reflection: The arahant disciples of the Buddha were able to free their minds, but they all had different personalities. [Arahant] [Buddha] [Great disciples ]
Sutta: SN 14.15 Caṅkama Sutta: Monks with different personalities gather around the great disciples.
Note: Ajahn Pasanno mentions the similarly-themed Cūḷagosiṅga Sutta (MN 31) by name, but describes the content of the Caṅkama Sutta.
15. “Is it ever acceptable to put a life out of suffering, for example when it’s dying and suffering slowly?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Euthanasia ] [Killing ] [Death] [Pain] [Animal] // [Compassion] [Unattractiveness]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno and others look after a Brahma bull that was attacked by a tiger until it dies. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Health care] [Dtao Dum]
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]
1. Recollection: My first meeting with Ajahn Pasanno. Recounted by Ajahn Pavaro. [Ajahn Pavaro] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Birken] [Personal presence]
2. Recollection: Friendship and consistency of training at Abhayagiri Monastery. Recounted by Ajahn Pavaro. [Ajahn Pavaro] [Birken] [Abhayagiri] [Monastic life] [Spiritual friendship]
3. Recollection: Seeing the faith in Thailand. Recounted by Ajahn Pavaro. [Ajahn Pavaro] [Culture/Thailand] [Faith] [Respect] // [Ajahn Pasanno]
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]
3. Recollection: A monk who memorized the entire Tipiṭaka advises, “Don’t be lazy.” Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Tipiṭaka] [Memory] [Energy]