Relics (sarīra)
Devotional practice / Objects of veneration / Relics 
11 excerpts, 1:05:36 total duration




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

Download audio (3:17)
5. “Was Ajahn Chah an arahant? How can one tell when someone’s work is done? Also, is it inappropriate to ask one’s teacher if they are a stream enterer, once-returner, etc.?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Arahant ] [Teachers] [Stages of awakening] // [Suffering] [Unwholesome Roots]

Quote: “To me, I’m more like a tree that birds can come and feed in....[What they say] I am is just the chattering of the birds.” — Ajahn Chah. [Similes] [Teaching Dhamma]

Sutta: AN 4.192: Discerning another person’s wisdom. [Discernment]

Recollections of mistaken estimates of enlightenment. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Delusion] [Relics]


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

Download audio (17:39)
10. “Would you discuss Buddhist rites and rituals regarding death and dying? What are the rites surrounding the death and cremation of an arahant?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ceremony/ritual] [Death ] [Funerals] [Arahant] // [Cultural context] [Recollection/Virtue] [Three Refuges] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Culture/Thailand]

Recollections of Ajahn Chah’s funeral. [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Pah Pong] [Relics] [Ajahn Chah Stupa]

Follow-up: “Did you see Ajahn Chah’s relics?” [Relics] [Amulets]


Abhayagiri Monastic Retreat 2013, Session 8 – Nov. 30, 2013

Download audio (1:48)
1. “Just curious- is there any explanation of how bones turn to crystal?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Relics]


Thai Forest Tradition, Session 1 – Jun. 14, 2014

Download audio (1:45)
9. Story: Ajahn Mun becomes enlightened and goes back to teach his teacher. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Sao] [Liberation] [Thai Forest Tradition]

Story: Ajahn Mun’s relics [Relics] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Abhayagiri]


2014 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 1 – Nov. 22, 2014

Download audio (8:44)
3. “Is walking meditation as ‘good’ as sitting meditation. Can one achieve the level of undistractedness that one needs to be able to investigate the human experience? Or is it part of the bigger picture of mindfulness for seven full days to experience stream entry?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Posture/Walking] [Posture/Sitting] [Insight meditation] [Stream entry] // [Meditation/General advice] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Concentration]

Download audio (5:46)

Stories about Ajahn Khao. [Ajahn Khao ]

Story: Walking meditation was Ajahn Khao’s preferred mode of practice. [Ajahn Khao ]

Story: Ajahn Khao’s relics were purple, clear, and incredibly beautiful. [Ajahn Khao ] [Relics] [Abhayagiri]

Recollection: Ajahn Khao expresses gratitude for the place he realized Awakening. [Ajahn Khao ] [Liberation] [Gratitude] [Lodging] [Bodhi Tree]


The Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Session 15 – Jan. 24, 2015

Download audio (3:11)
7. Ajahn Sucitto speaks of feeling water washing through you [as a way of releasing tension related to effort]. Comment by Debbie Stamp. [Ajahn Sucitto] [Elements] [Right Effort]

Story: Khun Kesari’s brother enters concentration by visualizing drinking a glass of water. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Concentration] [Visualization]

Story: Kesari’s mother walked into Wat Ban Tad before there was a road. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Ban Tat] [Relics]


Western Disciples of the Thai Forest Tradition, Session 48 – Mar. 18, 2016

Download audio (2:37)
1. “How does your relic puja work for you?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Relics] [Pūjā] [Prayer] [Devotional practice ] // [Respect] [Chanting]

Reference: “Great Chant of Universal Blessings,” Bhikkhu Manual, p. 135.


The Teaching and the Training, Session 7 – Mar. 23, 2018

Download audio (10:38)
6. “What about relics?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Relics ] [Monastic life] // [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Khao] [Mae Chee Kaew] [Master Hsuan Hua] [Ajahn Chah]

Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s mother observes multiplying relics. [Relics ]


Download audio (1:40)
7. “What do you think might have happened to the few relics in my house when it burned down?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Relics]


Questions and Answers about Ajahn Chah, Session 2 – Jun. 18, 2025

Download audio (7:22)
4. Story: A group of military generals ask Ajahn Chah to bless some medallions. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Amulets] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Food] [Saṅgha decision making] [Relics] [Ajahn Chah Stupa] [Funerals]