4. “When I’m mindful, then I become more aware of suffering. I could just go into story and not know that I’m suffering, so why would we choose to become aware of the suffering?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness] [Suffering] [Proliferation] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Clinging]
Quote: “The flavor of the end of suffering—I like that.” [Cessation of Suffering]
10. “What is a skillful way of dealing with worry and aversion with respect to the current economic and political situation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Restlessness and worry] [Aversion] [Politics and society] // [Human] [Suffering] [Commerce/economics] [Conditionality] [Saṃsāra] [Buddha/Biography] [Cessation of Suffering]
13. “What does it mean to fully understand what causes us to suffer?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Cause of Suffering] // [Relinquishment] [Cessation of Suffering ]
Quote: “The mind aspires to truth and beauty, but pain we obey.” — Marcel Proust. [Suffering]
14. “To find out for ourselves may still be an individual truth. Wouldn’t the ultimate truth, the absolute truth, have the same flavor for everybody?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unconditioned ] // [Personality] [Cessation of Suffering] [Great disciples] [Commentaries]
Sutta: AN 8.19.16: The taste of liberation. [Similes]
7. “The Buddha wasn’t tortured like Jesus. Why did he set such high standards to tolerate pain with equanimity (MN 21.20)? Almost impossible to do for a human. Maybe som Tibetan monks can endure Chinese torture in such a detached way.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abuse/violence] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Liberation]
Sutta: AN 4.161-163: Modes of practice.
18. “I’m having a doubt attack. It all seems too deep and unfathomable and too many aeons plus unending kamma with nothing solid to hold on to. I’m overwhelmed.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Doubt] [Nature of the cosmos ] [Kamma] // [Saṃsāra] [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering]
4. “Today I saw a milk carton being thrown away. I’m not sure if everyone knows they are recyclable. This sight initiated a fire for me. I told myself, ‘It’s just thrown away.’ Then I told myself, ‘It’s just my mind on fire.’ Can you speak about Right View? Does it come back to what I can truly know? How do I consider long-term patterns that may not be apparent right away? One milk carton is not a big deal. One milk carton a day starts to add up.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Contact] [Feeling] [Environment] [Right View] // [Kamma] [Cause of Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering]
Quote: “We can be right and still create tremendous suffering.” [Views] [Suffering]
17. “Would an opposite of dukkha be contentment not dependent on conditioning?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] [Contentment] // [Happiness] [Cessation of Suffering] [Equanimity]
21. “After his enlightenment, did the Buddha ever feel anger or sadness? Were those entries wiped from his program?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha] [Liberation] [Aversion] [Grief] [Emotion] // [Cessation of Suffering]
2. “It seems that having some Western psychological understanding or undergoing therapy can be helpful to a Buddhist practitioner. What are the dangers, drawbacks associated with integrating these different ways of working with the mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Western psychology] [Benefit/gratification] [Drawbacks] // [Cause of Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering]
5. “Sometimes you hear something...[audio unclear]....What is your opinion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gladdening the mind] [Discernment] [Release] [Cessation of Suffering]
Sutta: AN 8.19: “Just as the ocean has only one taste...” [Liberation]
5. “How may the levels of concentration needed for each of the four stages of enlightenment be described? How can these be cultivated? Are the types of details seen prior to the different fruits different?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Concentration] [Stages of awakening] // [Relinquishment] [Insight meditation] [Sensual desire] [Self-identity view] [Cessation of Suffering]
19. Comment by Ajahn Yatiko: Right Livelihood isn’t about judging other people’s livelihood. [Judgementalism] [Right Livelihood]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eightfold Path] [Pāli] [Cessation of Suffering] [Happiness]
4. “Could you talk about contemplation in meditation? You mentioned earlier about using methods; my understanding is that they help one to calm the mind. How does one get into the state of contemplation without disturbing that calm state of mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Characteristics of existence] // [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Cessation of Suffering] [Desire] [Bases of Success]
6. “I find I do need some pleasures even though they don’t last, things like fine arts and being in nature. I’m curious, how did you manage as a monk in your early years at Ajahn Chah’s monastery where there’s almost no pleasure....How did you manage to keep going over the years until the present?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sensual desire] [Artistic expression] [Culture/Natural environment] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Ajahn Chah] [Food] [Entertainment and adornment] [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Happiness ] [Simplicity ] [Association with people of integrity] [Empathetic joy] [Human] [Hindrances] [Jhāna] [Virtue] [Discernment]
Quote: “One of the extraordinary perks of being a monk is that everyone tries to be good around you.”
Sutta: MN 36.32: “Why am I afraid of that happiness?” [Buddha/Biography] [Ascetic practices] [Suffering] [Skillful qualities] [Eightfold Path]
Quote: “As a monk, I can look back on forty years of living in a way where I don’t have to feel remorseful or regret anything.”
10. Comment: So the ability to hold the meditation object, go through your daily routines, keep an eye on the mind tone, and watch the stress flavor of all arising phenomenon seems like a fairly advanced practice state to arrive at and maintain twenty-four hours a day. [Continuity of mindfulness ] [Everyday life] [Mindfulness of mind] [Suffering]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno: It’s a great option if you don’t want to suffer. [Cessation of Suffering] [Happiness]
11. “She talks about making a story out of denying your defilements. Does the story of having fun denying your defilements come from that space of dwelling in that state of continuous mindfulness, or does continuous mindfulness come about from going through the suffering of forcing yourself not to enjoy anything?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Upasikā Kee Nanayon] [Unwholesome Roots] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Conditionality] // [Discernment]
Quote: “Relinquishment isn’t so much a giving up something that we have but enjoying the non-moving to get or trying to make.” [Relinquishment] [Cessation of Suffering] [Non-identification]
Simile: Learning to drive or walk. — Ajahn Kaccāna. [Similes]
2. “Would you be willing to talk about the difference between mindfulness, bare knowing, and the one who knows?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness ] [Direct experience] [Knowing itself] // [Buddha] [Clear comprehension] [Thai] [Discernment] [Ardency] [Seclusion] [Cessation of Suffering]
Sutta: MN 10: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta
1. “When you were living with Ajahn Chah, were many of his talks more related to the Korwat or practical matters, as opposed to the High Dhamma?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Teaching Dhamma] [Protocols ] [Dhamma]
Quote: “There’s not really a separation.” [Vinaya ]
Comment: Ajahn Chah taught to the situation. Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Learning] [Sequence of training]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Cessation of Suffering] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma]
1. “There seems to be a point of difference in teachings – some teachers emphasize mindfulness of the mind and others say “go for the body.” Do you have any reflections about that?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Mindfulness of mind] [Mindfulness of body] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Science]
5. “In my desire to get to the “heart of it” I find part of my mind really wants this, but another part of my mind is not going along with the program. How do I keep myself on the Path?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Desire] [Simplicity] [Volition] // [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Impermanence] [Cessation] [Upasikā Kee Nanayon]
Follow-up: “The experience of arising and disbanding isn’t yet practical for me. I need something more operational.” [Tranquility]
Simile: Making a fire flare up or die down (SN 46.53). — Ajahn Pasanno. [Factors of Awakening] [Energy] [Mindfulness]
2. “Why did the Buddha ask the monk to develop meditation in many ways [in AN 8.63]?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation] [Meditation/General advice] [Buddha/Biography] // [Directed thought and evaluation] [Rapture] [Happiness] [Equanimity] [Jhāna] [Calming meditation] [Cessation of Suffering]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah would rarely label meditation states. [Ajahn Chah]
9. “Is the goal (Nibbāna) a thought-less state of mind?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna] [Heart/mind] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Formless attainments] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Impermanence]
“Who is the only person who doesn’t think? An arahant? A Buddha?” “No. The only person who doesn’t think is a dead person.” – Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Arahant] [Buddha] [Death]
16. “The fear that arises upon the realization that there’s nothing there is so strong that it takes away from the awareness being able to stay with it. Any suggestions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fear] [Knowledge and vision] [Not-self] // [Recollection] [Goodwill] [Gladdening the mind] [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Learning] [Faith]
12. Comment by Rik Center: I notice how the mind defends suffering because it’s so closely related to that idea of self. But if I let go of defending, what am I? [Clinging] [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment] [Not-self]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Learning] [Cessation of Suffering]
5. “Do we have any control over the arising of desire?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volition] [Desire] // [Cause of Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Four Noble Truths] [Cessation of Suffering] [Cessation] [Pāli]
16. “If you know of an abusive situation and both the abuser and victim are stuck in it, how do you hold this? How to encourage them to follow this path?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abuse/violence] [Compassion] [Buddhist identity] // [Cessation of Suffering]
Quote: “You plant seeds of possibility. You can’t make the seeds grow, but you can plant the seeds.” [Similes]
22. “Is there a distinction between observing the mind and observing what arises?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of mind] [Impermanence] // [Knowing itself ] [Liberation ] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Buddha] [Relinquishment] [Cessation of Suffering]
7. “The Middle Way – It is not 50% becoming and 50% annihilation, right? What is it the middle of?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Middle Path ] // [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering]
2. “Is desire itself the problem or is clinging to and identifying with desire the problem?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Desire] [Clinging] [Self-identity view] [Sensual desire] [Naturalness ] [Craving ] // [Feeling] [Dependent origination]
Quote: “Taṇhā is eliminate-able.” [Cessation of Suffering]
Comment about distinguishing between hunger and taṇha at meal time. [Food] [Moderation in eating]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Views]
1. “Can I respond to my thoughts in ways that I think are useful?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Self-identity view] // [Right Effort] [Cause of Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Knowing itself]
Reference: “Identity” in The Sound of Silence by Ajahn Sumedho (Anthology volume 4 or commercial).
Appreciation for Ajahn Sumedho’s image of the wheel. [Similes]
Sutta: MN 24: The purpose of Buddhist practice. [Liberation]
6. “Is there a precise definition of the saṅkhāra of delusion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volitional formations] [Delusion] // [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering]
1. Question about views on whether the cause of suffering is desire or clinging to desire. Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Craving] [Clinging] [Cause of Suffering] // [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Idealism] [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering]
Reference: Salutation to the Triple Gem: “Rūpūpādānakkhandho...”
Follow-up: “Is the greater suffering the reaction to pain?” [Pain] [Feeling] [Aversion]
Quote: “All these different teachings and expressions of teachings....We don’t have to make them mesh, but try to figure out what they are pointing to.” [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Recollection/Dhamma]
15. “Ajahn, what is your instruction regarding the Noble Eightfold Path and the most useful attitude toward the word “right”?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eightfold Path ] // [Pāli] [Cessation of Suffering]
6. “Please talk about fixed views and the nine conceits.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Views ] [Conceit ] // [Pāli] [Proliferation ] [Craving] [Self-identity view] [Cessation of Suffering] [Competitiveness] [Culture/West]
Teaching: The three papañcadhammas.
4. “Where is the middle way taught in the suttas? and how might that help some of us who consider extensive sitting practice an ascetic practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Middle Path ] [Sutta] // [Virtue] [Concentration] [Discernment] [Right View] [Cessation of Suffering] [Knowledge and vision] [Eightfold Path] [Etymology]
Sutta: SN 56.11: Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Chanting Book translation).
Quote: “It’s not a middle way that is a compromise where you can cut out the hard bits and split the difference so you feel good about it.”
4. “At the beginning of this retreat, Tan Ajahn Anan advised us, “Don’t forget Nibbāna.” How do we orient ourselves towards Nibbāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna ] [Ajahn Anan] [Monastic life] // [Dispassion] [Cessation of Suffering] [Etymology] [Stream entry]
Sutta: AN 10.60: Girimānanda Sutta [Cessation]
Sutta: SN 56.11: “Whatever is of the nature to arise, that is of the nature to cease.” [Conditionality]
Quote: “[The goal] is incredibly worthy, and it is not beyond our capability and means to experience.” [Direct experience]
5. “I was reading the book Hooked about desire, consumerism, and society. The author writes about the desire to know things. How does the desire to know relate to practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Desire] [Monastic life] // [Cause of Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Bases of Success] [Sensual desire] [Craving]
Sutta: SN 51.15: The path has an end. [Great disciples]
4. “You mentioned ‘Look for the gap.’ Is this related to looking for fading away?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation] [Dispassion] [Recollection] // [Cessation] [Cessation of Suffering] [Impermanence] [Faith]
Follow-up: “So we’re not just looking at the blank...” [Wrong concentration] [Emptiness] [Nature of the cosmos] [Unwholesome Roots] [Not-self]
6. “How can you hold appreciation and gratitude and not lose an awareness of dukkha and understanding of dukkha?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Gratitude] [Noble Truth of Suffering] // [Cessation of Suffering]
1. “How do you avoid falling in the trap of caring about something/someone too much and becoming attached to that something/someone?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Compassion] [Clinging] // [Suffering] [Equanimity] [Goodwill] [Generosity] [Bases of Success] [Desire] [Self-identity view] [Craving] [Cessation of Suffering]
9. “Can you please describe the main stages of insight meditation?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Insight meditation] [Progress of insight] // [Suffering] [Direct experience] [Cessation of Suffering] [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Ignorance] [Cause of Suffering]
Quote: “What are the stages of getting my hand out of this fire?” [Similes] [Cessation of Suffering]
19. “When one moves through the world with compassion and lovingkindness, how does one avoid feeling depleted? In a world of ‘individuals,’ most take more than they give and to always be giving can be exhausting.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Compassion] [Goodwill] [Selfishness] [Generosity] [Depression] // [Not-self] [Four Noble Truths] [Cause of Suffering]
Quote: “When we are attentive to freedom from suffering, there’s an inexhaustible well of goodness there.” [Cessation of Suffering] [Skillful qualities]
6. “Please, a short talk on Nibbāna.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna ] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Cessation] [Unwholesome Roots] [Relinquishment] [Jhāna]
Quote: “Nibbāna is not a thing.”
Sutta: Ud 3.10: Yena yena hi maññati, tato taṁ hoti aññathā. – “For however one conceives it, it is always other than that.”
Reference: The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro
2. “Where can I find the effort and patience to transcend resistance? How can we balance effort and effortlessness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Effort] [Patience] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Self-reliance]
1. “What is the translation of sabbaṃ dukkhaṃ? The way you translate it seems psychological. In Sanskrit, dukkhaṃ means out of the cosmic flow of Dhamma. But perhaps dukkhaṃ is best left untranslated. If untranslated, does dukkhaṃ mean the same thing in Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] [Pāli] [Equanimity] [Dhamma] [Translation] [Advaita Vedanta] // [Thai] [Human] [Aggregates] [Clinging ] [Knowing itself] [Relinquishment]
Ancient etymology of dukkha: du = bad, unwanted, unpleasant, uncomfortable, not easy; kha = where the axle fits into the wheel. [Language] [History/Indian Buddhism]
Sutta: SN 56.11: Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Chanting Book translation)
Teaching: The four forms of clinging. [Clinging ] [Sensual desire] [Impermanence] [Naturalness] [Happiness] [Neutral feeling] [Attachment to precepts and practices] [Views] [Doctrine-of-self clinging] [Not-self]
Quote: “Nibbāna is the reality of non-grasping.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Nibbāna] [Cessation of Suffering]
1. “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]
4. “How did Ajahn Chah speak about non-self and consciousness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Not-self] [Consciousness] // [Impermanence] [Doctrine-of-self clinging] [Language] [Thai ] [Pāli] [Sense bases] [Unestablished consciousness] [Knowing itself] [Cessation of Suffering]
Quote: “One of the beauties of the Thai language is that it is wonderfully imprecise....it’s a feeling language.” [Thai ] [Proliferation]
Story: George Sharp asks Ajahn Chah why he teaches “Buddho” all the time. Ajahn Chah responds, “Namo viññāṇa dhātu” [Homage to the element of consciousness]. [George Sharp] [Buddho mantra] [Elements]
3. “How do you tell the difference between genuine insight and conceptual fabrication?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Insight meditation] [Proliferation] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Spiritual friendship] [Suffering] [Lawfulness] [Doubt] [Stream entry] [Self-reliance]
Follow-up: “The fact that it can’t be verified intuitively makes me uncomfortable. I can see how that would lead to delusion of falsity.” [Delusion]
Story: Ajahn Sumedho asks Ajahn Chah whether he [Ajahn Sumedho] is a stream enterer. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Chah]
2. “Even before the Bodhisattva leaves home, he has a strong sense that Nibbāna is possible. Where does he get this confidence?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography] [Nibbāna] [Faith] // [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Liberation] [Western psychology]
1. “You mentioned very precise words and actions of the Buddha [in MN 26], but how do we know this is a genuine story because they were written hundreds of years ago?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography ] [Tipiṭaka] // [Faith] [Cessation of Suffering]
Sutta: MN 26.25: The encounter with Upaka.
1. “Ananda’s answer (in SN 35.116) defines the world, but what did the Buddha mean by the end of the world?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sense bases] // [Cessation of Suffering]
6. “Could you explain the subtle differences between perceiving and conceiving? Since our sense of attention is so involved in conceiving ‘I’, how do we practice in order to extricate this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Perception] [Conceit] // [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Memory] [Translation] [Thai]
6. “You mentioned [existentialism/eternalism] and nihilism as familiar Western philosophical ideas. I understand that Buddhism’s approach is not one or the other. How do other Western philosophical ideas like solipsism or materialism sit?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Philosophy ] [Middle Path] // [God] [Humor] [Views] [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Teaching Dhamma]
Sutta: SN 22.86: “I teach suffering and the end of suffering.” [Cessation of Suffering]
Comment: Philosophy usually tries to create a philosophy from which you pull down how to live your life, but the Buddha is the other way around.
Sutta: DN 1: Sixty-two wrong views.
4. “How did the Buddha deal with this issue of people becoming enlightened contemporaneous with him and getting a little bit crazy? His contemporaries also had siddhis [psychic powers] and practices? How did he distinguish between Buddhist and non-Buddhist attainments?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Buddha/Biography] [Liberation] [Delusion] [Psychic powers] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment] [Becoming]
Sutta: AN 6.48: A proper declaration of full knowledge does not include a sense of me and mine.
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1.38: Rules for wanderers of other sects wanting to become bhikkhus.
4. “What practice would you recommend if you are too serious with your thinking?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Delusion] // [Hindrances] [Heedfulness] [Heedlessness] [Cessation of Suffering]