Part of tag cluster Monastic life in key topic Monastic Life
4. “I was curious why the ascetics used to grow their hair in dreadlocks, but the Buddha decided to shave.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Culture/India] [Buddha/Biography] [Monastic life] // [Vinaya] [Cleanliness] [Simplicity] [Renunciation] [Ajahn Amaro]
Comment: I heard that sometimes the yogis at that time would grow their hair all their life and only at the time of death cut their hair.
5. Comment: The story of Patācārā realizing the end of suffering [in Thig 112-116, The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, pp. 54-55] illustrates the possibility of samādhi while going about daily activities. [Great disciples] [Liberation] [Concentration] [Monastic life]
Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Jhāna] [Buddha/Biography] [Similes] [Mahāyāna]
Vinaya: Khandhaka 21.1.5: Ānanda realizes arahantship the dawn before the First Council while just beginning to lie down. [Arahant] [Postures] [Psychic powers]
3. “Typically it seems that Luang Por Sumedho uses more passive language [in regards to abandoning defilements]. Lately I’ve come across teachings from Ajahn Geoff and Ajahn Chah that use much more aggressive language, even ‘go to war with your defilements.’ It seems contradictory to me.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Ajahn Chah] [Language] [Unwholesome Roots] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Culture/West ]
Recollection: A Westerner asks Ajahn Chah why he scolds the Thai monks more than the Western monks. [Monastic life] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy]
Comment by Sister Ñāṇasirī: “In Thailand, we can be extremely lax, so we need a little bit more push.” [Culture/Thailand]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah would rarely speak in personal terms. Instead he tried to get people to reflect on how we can take Dhamma as a refuge. Recounted by Ajahn Kaccāna and Ajahn Pasanno. [Dhamma] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa]
3. “I have the impression that Ajahn Chah concentrated on direct realization and the practice of meditation. He didn’t recommend reading too much, but instead reading our mind. You mentioned the 37 faculties/tools to purify our mind. For a lay person, this is a long study. Is it enough for us as laypeople to just have the practice of being here now?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Meditation] [Aids to Awakening] [Lay life] [Present moment awareness] // [Paul Breiter] [Four Noble Truths] [Right View] [Faith] [Learning]
Quote: “There needs to be a catalyst. We have to challenge the mind. That’s where the structure of the teachings is important.” [Teaching Dhamma] [Delusion]
Follow-up: “If we practice meditation, does understanding come naturally?” [Discernment]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Liberation] [Spiritual friendship] [Appropriate attention] [Tranquility] [Relinquishment]
Story: Ajahn Sumedho spends his first year as a monk in solitary meditation reading only Word of the Buddha by Venerable Ñāṇatiloka. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Monastic life]
Follow-up: “Having kids is a big structure.” [Children]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
5. Comment: The general formula for Right Livelihood seems to be addressed to laypeople, not bhikkhus. [Right Livelihood] [Lay life] [Monastic life] // [Vinaya]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo.
Suttas about wrong livelihood: AN 5.177 (lay), DN 2.56 (monastic).
Follow-up: “Why is acting as a medical doctor wrong livelihood for a bhikkhu?” [Health care] [Monastic life] [Culture/Thailand]
10. “If you are constantly around someone who engages you with prolonged and agitated discussion, how do you handle that?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Idle chatter] // [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Admonishment/feedback]
Sutta: MN 2: Sabbāsava Sutta.
Quote: “Never give feedback to your fellow samaṇas before the meal.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Monastic life]
Quote: “We can be completely mindful of taking initiative. Our capacity to act is part of the way things are.” — Ajahn Amaro. [Right Action ] [Discernment] [Right Mindfulness] [Buddha/Biography]
3. Reflection from Ajahn Chah: A bhikkhu is one who sees the dangers in saṃsāra. Related by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Monastic life] [Drawbacks ] [Saṃsāra] // [Almsfood]
Sutta: AN 7.66: Seven Suns.
4. “What advice would you give to future abbots and teachers of Wat Pah Pong branch monasteries so that the communities maintain the most important characteristics of Ajahn Chah’s style of leadership?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abbot] [Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Saṅgha] [Leadership ] [Ajahn Chah] // [Dhamma] [Vinaya] [Chanting] [Translation]
Sutta: DN 16.6: Dhamma-Vinaya is your leader.
Quote: “Ajahn Chah was conservative, but he wasn’t fundamentalist.” [Monastic life]
Story: The Dalai Lama asks the Abhayagiri monks to chant the Maṅgala Sutta (Snp 2.4, Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 46) in Pāli. [Dalai Lama] [Pāli]
Story: Ajahn Chah was one of the first forest monks to ban smoking in the monastery. [Smoking] [Lunar observance days]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah was unique in consulting with senior monks and laypeople when making decisions. [Saṅgha decision making]
10. “Were there any memories from the period of training with Ajahn Chah that really stand out in your mind? In what ways did you find it difficult?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno skips morning pūjā to meditate diligently at his kuti. Ajahn Chah calls him lazy. [Monastic routine]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno sits vigil at a cremation and makes a bathing cloth from the cloth used to wrap a corpse. [Funerals ] [Robes ] [Wat Pah Pong] [Recollection/Death]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno joins the Wat Pah Pong Saṅgha, exchanges his requisites, and excitedly attends his first Pāṭimokkha at Wat Pah Pong. Ajahn Chah keeps the monks sitting until 3 am. [Vinaya] [Requisites] [Not handling money] [Pāṭimokkha] [Compassion] [Relinquishment]
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]
8. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Amaravati and other monasteries are offshoots of Ajahn Chah’s gift of monastic training where people can continue to practice. [Monastic life] [Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Ajahn Chah]
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]
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.
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]
19. “In the draft of your biography, it says that growing up you felt you didn’t fit in with normal society. When you came to a Buddhist country and the monastery, did it feel like home?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand] [Monastic life] // [Purpose/meaning]
21. “How did your becoming a monk go down with your family, and how did that affect you?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Family] // [Ajahn Jayasaro]
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]
9. Comment by Tan Candasaro: At Wat Pah Nanachat a monk asked you, “What advice would you have for young monastics on the path?” You replied, “Peaks and valleys, ups and downs.” [Monastic life] [Long-term practice]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
2. Recollection: Friendship and consistency of training at Abhayagiri Monastery. Recounted by Ajahn Pavaro. [Birken] [Abhayagiri] [Monastic life] [Spiritual friendship]
1. Reflection by Ajahn Ahiṃsako: My monastic life was born at Abhayagiri. [Abhayagiri] [Monastic life]
2. Quote: “Monasteries are made of people.” — Ajahn Pasanno. Quoted by Ajahn Ahiṃsako. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monasteries ] [Monastic life] [Community] // [Desire] [Saṅghapāla] [Buddha] [Saṅgha] [Abhayagiri]
1. “What is the benefit of having more monks in the world?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] // [Virtue] [Saṅgha] [Vinaya] [Culture/West] [Seclusion]
Reference: Recollection of the Saṅgha (Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 7). [Recollection/Saṅgha]
2. “There are stories of you taking on people for training that on the surface seem very unsuitable, for example a heroin addict at Wat Pah Nanachat who eventually stayed in robes for 20 years. What made you stick with characters like that? How do you see the secret ingredient of what’s hiding below the surface?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] // [Intuition]
3. “What have you seen be the key difference between those who blossom and those who wilt [in monastic life]?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] // [Truth] [Energy] [Patience]
Quote: “The quickest way to Awakening is to look straight at the heart, point right at it, [and say] ‘Liar!’” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Liberation]
4. “There are certain monastic traditions, like the Pa Auk tradition, where monks will have an interview with their teacher every day to get meditation advice. You don’t do that; that’s not a characteristic of the Thai Forest Tradition. You mentioned that you led and trained others like a duck. Could you explain that metaphor?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pa Auk Sayadaw] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Similes] [Monastic life] // [Questions] [Dhamma]
Simile from Ajahn Chah: I teach like a duck rather than teach like a chicken. [Ajahn Chah] [Teaching Dhamma]
Quote: “You have to learn to teach yourself.” [Self-reliance]
5. “A lot of monks want to find ways to quantify their practice, count the number of hours they meditate or sleep or the number of spoonfuls they eat. And you don’t advocate that. How does one measure their practice if they’re not counting it in some way?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Kovilo] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] // [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities]
6. “What’s the biggest story you’ve had to work through yourself? Did you have any moments when you really had to step up?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] // [Fear] [Ajahn Chah] [Delusion] [Admonishment/feedback]
Quote: “I want to live in a way that is exemplary and free. I don’t want to live under the tyranny of my own anxiety and delusions.” [Liberation]
7. “Many people think monastic life is a training in meditation. You mentioned Ajahn Chah’s approach to training was trying to inculcate virtue and Right View. How do you teach these to others?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Virtue] [Right View] [Teaching Dhamma] [Monastic life] // [Happiness] [Contentment] [Gratitude] [Self-identity view] [Idealism] [Spaciousness] [Relinquishment]
8. “When you hear about one of your students thinking of disrobing, how do you approach that?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Disrobing ] [Monastic life] // [Listening]
9. “What do you think about the practice of a monk taking lifetime vows? It’s not required in our Thai tradition, but is expected in other traditions. Do you ever encourage this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Determination] [Culture/Thailand] [Monastic life] // [Idealism]
10. “If you had to choose between having an overly greedy monk disciple and an overly aversive monk disciple, which would you choose?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Greed] [Aversion] [Monastic life]
Follow-up: “If you had to choose between a monk who eats too much versus a monk who sleeps too much, what would be preferable?” [Moderation in eating] [Devotion to wakefulness]
Quote: “We’re never going to make Abhayagiri comfortable.” [Abhayagiri]
11. “If you had to choose between having a monk who talks too much and a monk who doesn’t talk at all, which would you choose?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Idle chatter] [Monastic life]
12. “If you had to choose between a monk who is overly attached to ritual versus a monk who is totally dismissive of ritual, which would you choose?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Attachment to precepts and practices ] [Monastic life] // [Views]
14. “Has Ajahn Chah ever used physical force to discipline his stubborn disciples out of kindness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Compassion] [Monastic life] // [Ajahn Pasanno]
Story: Ajahn Chah kicks Ajahn Ñāṇadhammo in the chest. [Ajahn Ñāṇadhammo]