Part of tag cluster Language in key topic Context of the Teachings
151 excerpts, 9:01:55 total duration
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.
6. “Is there a difference between mindfulness and awareness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness] [Present moment awareness] // [Language ] [Translation] [Culture/West] [Pāli] [Kamma] [Thai]
23. “Do you understand impermanence as the phenomena of a river flowing or as a light being turned on and off as Bhikkhu Analayo describes?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Impermanence ] [Ven. Anālayo] [Similes] // [Pāli] [Translation] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Ajahn Chah]
9. “Is the blessing chant after receiving food only reserved to monks or are there appropriate occasions when lay people can chant it? Which Pali verses are your favorite to enjoy sound and poetic beauty of the language?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Anumodanā] [Pāli] [Chanting]
12. “When [the Buddha] talks about sensual desire, that’s craving, right?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sensual desire] [Craving] [Directed thought and evaluation]
Follow-up: “Do you know what the Pāli word used for sensual desire [in MN 19] is? I think that craving and sensual desire are different.” [Pāli]
9. “When the word evil comes up in a Buddhist context, it always takes me by surprise. What is the word being translated as evil thoughts [in MN 20]?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unskillful qualities ] [Pāli] [Translation] // [Thai] [Language]
9. Comment: It’s so hard not to identify with the contents of the mind, to not make it me and mine. Realizing how useless so many of my thoughts are helps. [Self-identity view] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Suffering] [Disenchantment] [Directed thought and evaluation]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness] [Pāli]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Not-self] [Humility]
4. Comment: We’re blessed to have study guides in English to learn the basics of Pāli and then go straight to the suttas. [Culture/West] [Pāli] [Sutta] [Learning]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Chao Khun Upāli] [Ajahn Mun]
7. “Have you done much memorization practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Learning] // [Eightfold Path] [Pāli] [Right Mindfulness] [Chanting] [Energy]
13. “Can you talk about evolution and growth in regards to the precepts as opposed to just following rules?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Five Precepts] [Precepts] [Attachment to precepts and practices] // [Pāli] [Etymology] [Learning] [Suffering] [Doubt] [Self-identity view]
12. “The duty in regard to the First Noble Truth is to understand suffering. How do you do this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Noble Truth of Suffering ] [Suffering] // [Fear] [Pāli] [Characteristics of existence] [Aversion] [Postures] [Direct experience] [Conditionality] [Relinquishment]
13. “The fourth precept used to be translated as false and harmful speech. In the new chanting book, it’s just lying. Is there a reason for this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [False speech] [Pāli] [Chanting] // [Right Speech]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 130
Sutta: MN 41: Saleyyaka Sutta
1. “Sometimes there’s no pause between the words we’re chanting. Why?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [History/Early Buddhism] [Chanting] [Pāli]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 129: Five Precepts.
2. “Are the dots under m and n [ṃ, ṇ] that inscrutable non-English sound that was mentioned earlier?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Chanting] [Pāli]
Follow-up: “And that has nothing to do with the pitch going down? That’s the carat mark?” [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
3. Comment: It seems like we stretch out ‘saha’ in the request for the Five Precepts (Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 126). [Chanting] [Pāli]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
4. “Can you explain the rhythm and scanning of the seventh of the Eight Precepts (Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 135)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Eight Precepts] [Entertainment and adornment] [Chanting] [Pāli]
5. Comment: I also get tripped up chanting the fifth precept (Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 130). [Five Precepts] [Intoxicants] [Chanting] [Pāli]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Thai]
6. Story: Ajahn Pasanno spends Vassa on the Burmese border, but can’t chant smoothly with two monks of different nationalities. Told by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Rains retreat] [Chanting] [Pāli]
7. Comment: We usually chant like that [a simple style] in primary school. It changes when we get to high school. [Culture/Thailand] [Chanting] [Pāli]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
8. “Do you have any suggestions for audio support for chanting?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Dhamma online] [Chanting] [Pāli]
Reference: Abhayagiri Chanting Karaoke
Note: The recordings on this website come from the older 2010 Abhayagiri Chanting Book.
9. “Are there any standards for the high and low tone marks?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Ñāṇiko and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Chanting] [Pāli] // [Thai]
1. “Are the paritta chants not as effective in English?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Translation] [Language] [Pāli] [Chanting] [Protective chants] // [Devotional practice]
4. “Are there books or online resources for the study of Pāli?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Pāli ] [Dhamma books] [Dhamma online]
Reference: A New Course in Reading Pāli by James W. Gair and W. S. Karunatillake (pdf) [Pāli ] [Learning]
Note: Bhikkhu Bodhi’s Reading the Buddha’s Discourses in Pāli was published in 2020.
6. Comment: There are two kinds of desire, chanda (good) and taṇha (bad). [Desire] [Craving] [Pāli]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Goodwill] [Clinging] [Generosity] [Teaching Dhamma]
7. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Abhayagiri: a place of safety. [Fear] [Abhayagiri] // [Pāli] [Realms of existence] [Culture/West] [Competitiveness] [Abuse/violence]
2. “Early on in practice, I learned that practicing sīla (virtue) leads to the bliss of the blamelessness life and creates the conditions for samādhi. What is the Pāli word that translates to ‘the bliss of the blameless life?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Virtue ] [Merit] [Happiness ] [Concentration] [Pāli] // [Right Livelihood] [Generosity] [Right Intention]
Quote: “Sīla is the opportunity to rise up to a life of integrity.”
1. “Is misery the absence of happiness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] [Happiness] // [Language] [Conditionality] [Pāli]
Derivation of dukkha: du = not good or not comfortable; kha = where the axle goes into the wheel. [Pāli]
Story: Driving a car with frozen wheels is dukkha. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Similes]
1. “After the mind has settled and I’m with the breath, the boundaries of the body disappear and the breath starts to be barely perceptible. When anxiety arises in this situation, is it a feeling or a sensation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Tranquility] [Restlessness and worry] [Feeling] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Pāli] [Emotion] [Volitional formations]
Quote: “You’re falling out of a tree. You don’t have to count all the branches as you go down. You just have to know it’s going to hurt when you hit the bottom.” Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Dependent origination] [Similes] [Suffering]
Follow-up: “So I can just feel the feeling tone as unpleasant, pleasant, or neutral...?” [Noting]
4. “Krishnamurti spoke of ‘effortless effort.’ Can you make sense of this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Krishnamurti] [Right Effort]
Reflection: Samma means right in tune. [Pāli] [Eightfold Path]
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] [Pāli] [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]
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]
8. “Mindfulness and meditation practices of the Eightfold Path have gained tremendous popularity in modern times. Can you please elaborate on how the ethics-related practices (Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood) contribute towards the end of suffering?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eightfold Path ] [Virtue] [Cessation of Suffering] // [Generosity] [Conscience and prudence] [Respect] [Language] [Pāli]
1. “When I was looking at The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro about a year ago, there are lots of Pāli quotes, and it’s not obvious that it is coming from Bhikkhu Bodhi or another translator. That particular passage you read out with the forsaking (The Island p. 32); did you translate it yourself? I think Bhikkhu Bodhi uses relinquishment of acquisitions.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Pāli] [Translation] [Bhikkhu Bodhi] [Ajahn Amaro] // [Ajahn Pasanno]
4. Comment: Exploring the different qualities or expressions of Nibbāna, I was comparing them with the Sinhalese language. You said Nibindatti. Bindinava means breaking up in Sinhalese. The second half of Nibbāna is bana. To give an example of what bana means, let’s say you have a truckload of things. Taking the things out, lowering them down and putting them down is bana. So the whole process is emptying out. Contributed by Randula Haththotuwa. [Nibbāna] [Pāli] [Sinhalese] // [Etymology] [Ven. Ananda Maitreya]
Story: Ajahn Anando gives a retreatant his empty coffee cup to wash. Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Meditation retreats] [Ajahn Anando]
3. Comment by Ajahn Pasanno: Anattā is a middle-way word between atthā and niratthā. [Pāli] [Etymology] [Middle Path] // [Right View]
4. “How does [the preceding discussion of insight meditation] differ from sakkāyādiṭṭhi?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Self-identity view] [Insight meditation] // [Pāli] [Etymology] [Not-self]
7. Recollecting the peace of Nibbāna. Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection/Peace] [Nibbāna] // [Cessation] [Dispassion] [Pāli] [Tranquility]
Reading: The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 225.
Suttas: AN 10.60.10; AN 1.494.
8. “Is ‘dark night of the soul’ a similar term to disenchantment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Disenchantment ] // [Pāli] [Skillful qualities] [Translation] [Suffering] [Western psychology]
2. “Is there a Pāli word that you think equates to the sound of silence?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pāli] [Sound of silence]
Reference: Śhūrangama Sūtra.
4. “The Pāli word for conceit is very similar to the Pāli word for conceiving. In the Pāli Canon, does conceiving always have an element of ‘I’ in there?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Conceit] [Tipiṭaka] [Pāli] [Language]
8. “What does volitional formations mean?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volitional formations] // [Pāli] [Volition]
3. “What about different definitions of the mind? Sometimes the Pāli is citta…” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Heart/mind] [Pāli] // [Nature of mind] [Sense bases] [Liberation] [Translation]
Sutta: SN 22.59 Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta: Their hearts (citta) were liberated... (Chanting book translation).
8. Comments about the everyday use of the words corresponding to mano and dukkha in Indian languages. Contributed by Anagārikā Deepa. [Language] [Pāli] [Culture/India] [Heart/mind] [Suffering]
Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Proliferation] [Ven. Ananda Maitreya] [Tipiṭaka] [Humor] [Translation] [Bhikkhu Bodhi]
3. Comment about how English must be more specific than Pāli when describing the cognition associated with direct quotes. Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Pāli] [Language] [Directed thought and evaluation]
Sutta: AN 10.6.
1. “What is the Pāli term that [the Buddha] uses for volitional formations [in SN 12.64]?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Pāli] [Volitional formations] // [Volition] [Nutriment]
4. “Are mindfulness of mind and contemplating a subject such as impermanence two different approaches?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of mind] [Recollection] // [Ajahn Chah] [Language] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Appropriate attention] [Lawfulness]
Reference: “What is Contemplation?”, Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, pp. 475-479.
Quote: “Your best contemplation is quite thoughtless.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Tranquility]
Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Yoniso manasikāra is a way of paying attention to the process of experience. [Pāli] [Characteristics of existence]
3. “The connection between tathatā and suññatā—would you like to expound a bit more?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suchness] [Emptiness ] // [Proliferation] [Relinquishment] [Pāli] [Conventions] [Aggregates] [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Characteristics of existence] [Self-identity view]
Quote: “It’s just that much.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah]
Sutta: MN 72.20: “...unfathomable like the great ocean.” [Buddha]
Sutta: Ud 8.3: “There is the unborn, the unoriginated, the uncreated, the unformed.” (Chanting Book Translation).
Reference: The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard.
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]
5. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: If you see the steadfastness and orderliness of the Dhamma, of the truth, it can free the heart. [Lawfulness] [Naturalness] [Liberation] [Impermanence] // [Pāli]
14. “I am interested to hear more about the qualities of wholeheartedness. You mentioned that the English language does not have a word that captures it. There’s something that can go from non-attachment/dispassion to apathy, which is not helpful in the world.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Language] [Relinquishment] [Dispassion] [Sloth and torpor] [Impermanence] // [Disenchantment] [Skillful qualities] [Pāli] [Conditionality] [Abhidhamma]
Suttas: Suttas: AN 6.10, AN 10.2: The cascade of well being.
6. “How did you learn Pāli syntax?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pāli] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Learning]