Protective chants (paritta)
Devotional practice / Chanting / Protective chants 
15 excerpts, 1:01:47 total duration



Remembering Ajahn Chah Weekend, Session 26 – Apr. 29, 2001

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12. Story: Ajahn Chah to Jack Kornfield, “Did I heal her?” Told by Jack Kornfield. [Jack Kornfield] [Sickness] [Health] [Protective chants] [Ajahn Chah] [Teaching Dhamma] [Healing] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Truth]


Thanksgiving Retreat 2011, Session 5 – Nov. 23, 2010

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17. “Could you please talk about Shakyamuni Buddha, whose teaching we learn, and the ones before him, and the one to come Maitreya? Are the teachings the same? What is important for us to know about the Buddhas?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha] [Previous Buddhas] [Metteyya Bodhisatva] // [Naturalness] [Teaching Dhamma] [Discernment] [Goodwill]

Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book Volume 2, p. 54: The Twenty-Eight Buddhas’ Protection. [Protective chants]

Quote: “Ajahn Chah had tremendous lovingkindness, and because of that he had many, many people coming to him all the time. I’m going to focus on equanimity.” — Ajahn Liem. [Ajahn Liem] [Wat Pah Pong] [Ajahn Chah] [Equanimity]


Thanksgiving Retreat 2011, Session 7 – Nov. 25, 2010

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33. “You mentioned the Twenty-Eight Buddhas Protection Chant (Amaravati Chanting Book Volume 2, p. 54). It mentions several lists: 10 powers, 18 kinds of Buddhadhamma, 32 major and 80 minor marks of a great being. Where can I find these lists?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Protective chants] [Buddha]

Quote: “I’d go to Google!” [Dhamma online]


Thanksgiving Retreat 2012, Session 4 – Nov. 20, 2010

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15. “Please explain what gave rise to the 28 Buddhas Protection Discourse (Amaravati Chanting Book Volume 2, p. 54). Is this a sutta? It didn’t start with ‘Thus have I heard.’ Did Buddha ever mention or acknowledge the existence of other Buddhas?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Yatiko. [Protective chants] [Sutta] [Previous Buddhas] // [Metteyya Bodhisatva] [Culture/Thailand] [Ghost] [History/Sri Lankan Buddhism] [Children] [Fear]

Sutta: DN 14: Descriptions of six previous Buddhas.

Sutta: DN 26.25: The future Buddha Metteyya.

Sutta: DN 32: The Āṭānāṭiya Protection. [Protective chants]

Suttas: SN 12:4-10 mention six previous Buddhas who understood Dependent Origination.


Thanksgiving Retreat 2012, Session 5 – Nov. 21, 2010

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16. “You once had some recordings of chanting by a very young Sri Lankan boy who was apparently freshly reincarnated from a lifetime 1,500 years ago and chanted in the style of that time. Specifically, his rendition of the Metta Sutta. How to find?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Yatiko. [Chanting] [Rebirth] [Dhamma recordings] // [Sutta] [Protective chants] [Memory] [Insight Meditation Society]

Note: A few recordings of Dhammaruwan’s chanting can be found on Wisdom Publication’s website for Bhikkhu Anālayo’s book Rebirth in Early Buddhism and Current Research.


The Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Session 30 – Feb. 19, 2015

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1. Chanting: Paritta chanting for Ruth Denison. Offered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Protective chants] [Ruth Denison]


2015 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 8 – Nov. 28, 2015

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8. “What chants would you recommend as suitable to use for patients who may be in hospice or close to death? Can Buddhist monks give last rites?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Death] [Chanting] [Ceremony/ritual] // [Goodwill] [Three Refuges] [Protective chants] [Culture/Thailand] [Buddho mantra] [Recollection/Saṅgha]

Story: Ajahn Chah requests an army truck to pick up Por Puang’s body. [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Pah Pong] [Contentment] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Recollection/Death]

Reference: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 662.


Abhayagiri's 20th Anniversary, Session 1 – Jun. 4, 2016

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7. Chanting: Explanation of paritta chanting. Offered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Chanting] [Protective chants] // [Three Refuges] [Goodwill]


Devotion and Ritual: Becoming the Buddha, Session 3 – Apr. 30, 2017

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6. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: When one holds to that which is true, it has a transformative quality. [Truth ] // [Three Refuges] [Protective chants]

Reference: Sacca-kiriyā-gāthā, Bhikkhu Manual, p. 95.


Chanting, Session 3 – Jun. 2, 2018

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1. “Are the paritta chants not as effective in English?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Translation] [Language] [Pāli] [Chanting] [Protective chants] // [Devotional practice]


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2. “Do you find these chants as resonant here as in Thailand?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Culture/Thailand] [Culture/West] [Chanting] [Protective chants] // [Faith]


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3. “I notice that most of the paritta chants don’t have English translations. Is there a place we can find these?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Translation] [Chanting] [Protective chants] // [Sutta]

Suttas: DN 32: Āṭānāṭiya Sutta; SN 46.14-16: Sick [Protective chants] [Sickness] [Factors of Awakening]


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5. Comment: There are a couple books that have some parittas in English. [Translation] [Dhamma books] [Chanting] [Protective chants]

Reference: The Book of Protection by Piyadasi Thera

Response by Ajahn Ñāṇiko: Suggestion to read the Suttanipāta commentaries available in Bhikkhu Bodhi’s translation of this text. [Sutta] [Commentaries] [Bhikkhu Bodhi]


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6. Story: A monk at Poo Jum Gom dislodges a viper by chanting the Khandhaparitta despite believing that it won’t work. Told by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Animal] [Poo Jum Gom] [Ajahn Ñāṇiko] [Faith] [Chanting] [Protective chants]


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7. “Is there a rule of thumb for the pitches for the paritta chanting?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Chanting] [Protective chants] // [Thai]