1. “Should we judge the quality of our meditation only by the time we spend in focused concentration?” Answered by Ajahn Jotipālo, Ajahn Ñāṇiko, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and the Abhayagiri Saṅgha. [Ajahn Ñāṇadhammo] [Meditation/Results ] [Concentration] // [Mindfulness] [Right Effort] [Investigation of states] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Hindrances]
References: Walking Meditation by Ajahn Ñāṇadhammo; “The Five Hindrances,” from The Anthology Vol. 1 by Ajahn Sumedho, pp. 35–44.
Story: Ajahn Tate and the bhavaṅga states. Told by Ajahn Jotipālo and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Ajahn Tate] [Wrong concentration] [Ajahn Mun] [Mindfulness of body]
Story: Ajahn Khao meditates all night with no awareness. Told by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Ajahn Khao]
1. “Do the Thai Forest masters emphasize hair, teeth, nails, and skin in their body contemplation because those are more obvious to cultivate?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Thai Forest Tradition] [Mindfulness of body] [Unattractiveness] // [Ordination]
2. “Do you contemplate the body before you contemplate mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Thai Forest Tradition] [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of mind] // [Culture/West] [Nature of mind] [Sense bases] [Aggregates]
Follow-up: “Do you need to let go of the body before you can go deep into the mind?” [Mindfulness of body]
5. Story: Ajahn Kalyano 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. Question about the differences between expansive knowing, concentration, and divided knowing or awareness; difference between viññāṇa and paññā. [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Mindfulness of body] [Consciousness] [Concentration] [Spaciousness] // [Energy] [Unification] [Continuity of mindfulness]
3. “How do you apply mindfulness of the body in terms of jhana practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of body] [Jhāna ] // [Mindfulness of breathing] [Similes ] [Rapture] [Happiness]
Sutta: MN 118 Ānāpānasati Sutta.
Sutta: MN 119.18: Similes for jhāna.
6. “Today there was a lot of rapturous energy during the sits. It started to get to be too much. How do I work with this? Do I let it take its course or do I try to ground it down?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Rapture] // [Restlessness and worry] [Mindfulness of body] [Happiness]
Simile: A traveller through a desert learns of an oasis (pīti) then drinks and bathes at the oasis (sukha) (Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 139). [Similes]
12. “When I try to fully experience the body, I seem to hold the in-breath too tightly, causing tension in the abdomen. Do you have any tips for loosening up diaphragm or the belly area?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Mindfulness of body]
6. “Can you suggest some ways of approaching walking meditation that you have found fruitful? Do the themes of anapanasati apply, for example? Is this an adaptable, useful structure?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Posture/Walking ] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Thai Forest Tradition] [Mindfulness of body] [Tranquility] [Buddho mantra]
4. Comment by Rik Center: That [MN 19.8] feels like it goes to the Four Foundations of Mindfulness of knowing when the mind is here, knowing what’s happening to the body. [Right Mindfulness] [Mindfulness of body] [Directed thought and evaluation]
4. “When you go into your body to feel the underlying emotion behind a thought, what happens when the bodily feeling is so uncomfortable that you really don’t want to feel it?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Mindfulness of body] [Emotion] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Suffering ] [Aversion] [Fear] // [Recollection/Buddha] [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Recollection/Virtue] [Faith]
Follow-up: “It seems really difficult to think of Dhamma or the refuges while in such a wrapped-up state. I don’t know if I could do that.” [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Visualization] [Goodwill] [Compassion]
6. “I’m struggling with developing a personal faith that I can trust in my body and not hurt myself and accept myself.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Faith] [Mindfulness of body] // [Faculties] [Language]
11. Comment by Rik Center about developing faith in the practice by watching energies move, change, and dissipate in the body. [Faith] [Mindfulness of body] // [Grief]
2. Comment: Our group talked about body scanning, coming back to the body, as a way to find your center. Everyone was conscious of skillful means in knowing themselves. We all had different ways of knowing what works and adapting to different circumstances that arise. [Body scanning] [Mindfulness of body] [Right Effort] [Directed thought and evaluation]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of body] [Long-term practice]
4. Comment: Our group talked about our suffering, the kind of thoughts that we’re laboring under, the nature of obsessive and addictive thoughts, and how these teachings might help us choose freedom. [Suffering] [Addiction] [Liberation] [Directed thought and evaluation]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of body] [Four Noble Truths]
8. “How to work with suspicion skillfully? Is it a combination of looking at the fact as well as your gut feeling?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Doubt] [Intuition] [Politics and society] // [Unwholesome Roots] [Right Effort] [Mindfulness of body]
10. “I’ve heard that someone asked Ajahn Chah if he could read his students’ minds. He replied that he didn’t need to; he just watched how they walked in the door and bowed. Do you get a feel for this over time?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Psychic powers] [Teaching Dhamma] [Mindfulness of body] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] [Bowing]
7. “How do discoveries about the gut microbiome fit in with the Buddha’s teachings?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Science] [Dhamma] // [Not-self] [Self-identity view] [Mindfulness of body] [Clear comprehension] [Naturalness]
Follow-up: “How does the relate to monks who subsist on almsfood and sometimes don’t get enough, considering that the gut is controlling the brain?” [Monastic life] [Almsfood] [Health] [Ajahn Soṇa] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
Sutta: MN 17: Vanapattha Sutta.
1. “In Canada, medical assistance in death is legal. As an old person who will be sick and dying not too far off, it raises the question: If I got to the point where I felt even with good palliative and hospice care, I couldn’t withstand the pain any longer, it’s an option. But what about the first precept of not taking life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sickness] [Pain] [Death] [Health care ] [Euthanasia] [Killing] // [Relinquishment] [Self-identity view] [Idealism]
Quote: “Being present for the falling apart of the body opens doorways to release that don’t really happen with, ‘I just want to be done with this. This totally sucks.’” [Present moment awareness] [Mindfulness of body] [Release] [Aversion] [Fear] [Clinging] [Saṃsāra]
11. Comment: I’m improving my skill at seeing the greed or aversion when there are pleasant or unpleasant feelings, but I often don’t see the neutral feeling state so clearly. [Mindfulness of feeling] [Feeling] [Unwholesome Roots] [Neutral feeling] [Delusion] // [Mindfulness of body] [Restlessness and worry] [Fear] [Present moment awareness]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
Sutta: SN 35.116: “That whereby one is a conceiver of the world, a perceiver of the world, that is the world.” [Nature of the cosmos] [Proliferation] [Perception]
1. “Sometimes in meditation, it feels like I’m moving in waves even though my body is still. What does it mean? What should I do when it happens?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Unusual experiences] // [Self-identity view] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Right Mindfulness] [Four Noble Truths] [Liberation] [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of dhammas] [Factors of Awakening]
Sutta: MN 10.4: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta.
2. “There is a constant sense of confusion underneath most of the experiences. Other defilements come and go, but moha of various form and intensity seems to be always present. Any suggestions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Delusion ] [Unwholesome Roots] // [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Mindfulness of body] [Continuity of mindfulness]
Quote: “The mind is a liar and a cheat.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Heart/mind] [False speech]
13. Quote: Abhayagiri ethos: “We all live in the forest. Everyone’s in a kuti.” — Ajahn Amaro. [Lodging ] [Culture/Natural environment ] [Abhayagiri] // [Amaravati] [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Weather]
Quote: “Mindfulness of the body is an absolute necessity.” [Mindfulness of body]
8. “How do you deal with anger?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Aversion ] // [Sense restraint] [Right Speech] [Mindfulness of body] [Proliferation] [Spaciousness] [Patience] [Goodwill]
9. “How to forgive a person who has hurt and done very wrong things to you?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Forgiveness ] [Abuse/violence] // [Aversion] [Memory] [Mindfulness of body] [Kamma] [Spiritual friendship] [Proliferation]
See also the previous question, “How do you deal with anger?”
7. “How do you understand the phrase, ‘The body within the body?’” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Right Mindfulness] [Mindfulness of body] // [Views] [Discernment] [Relinquishment]
5. “How does one practice wise restraint in lay life when one has to deal with family, friends, coworkers, and so on? Especially on the level of speech and emotions that one encounters.” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Sense restraint] [Lay life] [Right Speech] [Emotion] // [Discernment] [Unwholesome Roots] [Appropriate attention] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Mindfulness of body] [Clear comprehension]
Vinaya: Conditions for skillful admonishment in the Buddhist Monastic Code’s discussion of Bhikkhu Saṅghādisesā 8. [Admonishment/feedback]
2. “Can you speak more about the progression of mindfulness of breathing, how the Four Foundations of Mindfulness develop the Seven Factors of Awakening?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Mindfulness] [Factors of Awakening] [Mindfulness of breathing ] // [Emotion] [Conditionality] [Tranquility] [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of feeling]
Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta. [Mindfulness] [Mindfulness of mind] [Bases of Success]
Quote: “We’re breathing in and out anyway, but taking an interest in it is a game-changer.” [Desire]
2. Comment: If I’m able to settle into ease and spaciousness this time, the next time I sit, it doesn’t settle as easily, and I get frustrated and tense wanting to get to that ease again. [Tranquility] [Meditation/General advice] [Restlessness and worry] [Desire] [Judgementalism]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Mindfulness of body] [Present moment awareness]
6. “When will I get wisdom? How can we not get exhausted when observing the monkey mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Discernment] [Mindfulness of mind] [Energy] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Knowing itself] [Mindfulness of body] [Tranquility]
7. “I’m a mother to four kids, one of whom has special needs. I’m lucky if I can meditate 10-15 minutes a day. Are there practices one can do when one is frequently around little ones?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Children ] [Meditation/General advice] // [Posture/Sitting] [Three Refuges] [Precepts] [Recollection/Virtue] [Recollection/Generosity] [Gladdening the mind] [Mindfulness of body] [Clear comprehension]
Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 104: Forty subjects of meditation.
Sri Lankan Buddhists keep a book of good deeds which is read near the time of death. [Culture/Sri Lanka] [Merit] [Death]
Story: Debbie Stamp served as primary caregiver to her father during the pandemic. [Debbie Stamp] [Parents] [Pandemic]
15. “Any suggestions for managing dizziness or nausea from the energy on retreat? I’m feeling a little overwhelmed today.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation retreats] [Health] // [Posture/Lying down] [Posture/Walking] [Goodwill] [Mindfulness of body]
18. “Can you talk about fear as a cause of dukkha and how to work with it?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fear ] [Suffering] // [Unwholesome Roots] [Abhidhamma] [Delusion] [Mindfulness of body] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Biases]
Quote: “In terms of personality, [fear] was my go-to option.” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Personality]
5. “What would be your advice when young monks are wavering in their decision?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life/Motivation ] [Doubt] // [Fear] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Delusion] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Mindfulness of body]
Recurrent refrain in the Suttas: “I know you, Māra,” e. g. SN 4.1, SN 4.5. [Māra] [Sutta] [Knowing itself]
6. “What personal obstacles, either internal or external have you used as dhammas, stepping stones to lift yourself up and go beyond it?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Long-term practice] // [Fear ] [Ajahn Chah] [Impermanence] [Mindfulness of body] [Knowing itself]
Quote: “The anxious and fearful mind is always trying to find some certainty somewhere. And of course it isn’t anywhere at all except in this present moment and in the quality of awareness that we have. But the personality doesn’t believe that for a long time.” [Present moment awareness]
Quote: “Be careful of believing your mind because it’s a liar and a cheat.” — Ajahn Chah. [Nature of mind]
4. “Thinking about sensuality and thinking about noticing and cognizing all this stuff. So is noticing just a pure mental exercise or does bodily sensation also have a place?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Insight meditation] [Mindfulness of body] // [Discernment] [Personality] [Ajahn Sucitto] [Ajahn Amaro]
Follow-up: “So do we try to find our own way or do we try to balance our attitudes?” [Attitude]
Reference: Meditation: A Way of Awakening by Ajahn Sucitto.
4. “What does contemplating the body internally and externally mean [in MN 10.5]?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of body] // [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Ajahn Chah]
4. “The naming of proliferation—I’m getting to this idea that, okay now that I named it, it will stop now. I have this hope that I’ve found the key that’s gonna stop it all and then I get frustrated with myself because it’s still going on. Do I have to name it again? What do I do now?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Noting] [Proliferation] // [Relinquishment] [Non-identification] [Mindfulness of body]
5. “It seems there are so many things to comment on it is kind of overwhelming. How to deal with that?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Noting] // [Mindfulness of body] [Present moment awareness]
Story: “The body understands!” Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Zen] [Koan] [Mindfulness of body]
4. Recollection: Ajahn Chah’s advice for establishing mindfulness in the midst of strong emotions. Recounted by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Mindfulness] [Emotion] // [Ajahn Amaro] [Food] [Suffering] [Conditionality] [Equanimity] [Mindfulness of body] [Greed]
Story: Ajahn Chah eats 37 mangoes.
5. “It seems like I’m using physical tension to block out emotion. When I try to put my attention on it, the mind goes blank or starts thinking about work. I don’t know what I’m avoiding. Any suggestions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pain] [Emotion ] // [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Concentration] [Translation] [Spaciousness] [Body scanning]