Glosses: Restraint
41 excerpts, 3:16:41 total duration
20. “Can you offer some inspiration to the group as to observing the Eight Precepts on the Uposatha Days? I’ve been observing every quarter moon, and it would be comforting to know that I’m part of a larger group. Please reflect on the value of restraint outside the retreat environment.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eight Precepts] [Lunar observance days ] [Sense restraint] [Everyday life] // [Culture/Thailand] [Wat Pah Pong] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s first Uposatha Day at Wat Pah Pong. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Lay life]
Sutta: AN 8.41: “Suppose the lay people spent a day and a night living like the arahants.” [Arahant]
28. “I’ve appreciated your reflections on the origins and translations of key words. For example, this morning was the first time I noticed the ‘enchantment’ and ‘illusion’ in disenchanted and disillusioned. They seem very positive words now. Do you have any reflections on the instructions to guard the senses?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Etymology] [Translation] [Disenchantment] [Sense restraint ] // [Pāli] [Sense bases]
1. “Is there a place in the suttas where a bhikkhu asks, ‘How does one not grasp at the signs and features?’ and the Buddha replies with the Four Foundations of Mindfulness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Sense restraint] [Right Mindfulness] // [Appropriate attention]
2. “In order to guard the sense doors continually, is it necessary to find a sense of ease in the body to serve as an anchor?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sense restraint] [Tranquility] // [Mindfulness] [Right Effort]
Sutta: SN 36.6, The Dart: An undeveloped person knows no escape from dukkha other than sensual pleasure.
Story: Ajahn Chah resolves not to look up for three months. [Ajahn Chah] [Sense restraint] [Sensual desire]
Follow-up: “What is beneficial as opposed to just looking down?” [Sense restraint] [Conditionality] [Concentration] [Unification]
1. “There’s a tradition that if one keeps the Five Precepts, one stays in the human realm. SN 35.235 implies that if one’s senses are unrestrained, one could end up in the lower realms. Any thoughts?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Five Precepts] [Human] [Sense restraint] [Hell] // [Death] [Conditionality]
2. “SN 35.235 contains the phrase, ‘grasp the sign through the features.’ Does this differ from the more frequent ‘signs or features?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Sense bases] [Sense restraint] // [Sensual desire] [Commentaries]
5. “What is a useful way to hold the image of beating the bull that wanders into the barley field in SN 35.246?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Cunda. [Similes] [Sense restraint] // [Contentment] [Tranquility] [Conscience and prudence]
15. “Thank you Luang Por for your time and teachings. I would like to hear more about the idea of restraint (especially in regards to raising a teenager).” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Family] [Sense restraint ] [Children] // [Ajahn Chah] [Tranquility] [Happiness] [Similes]
3. “Could you say something about the problem of swinging back and forth with restraint practices?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sense restraint] [Determination] // [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Learning] [Becoming] [Self-identity view] [Eightfold Path] [Discernment]
Follow-up: “I remember you saying something similar in respect to sīla.” [Virtue] [Attachment to precepts and practices]
4. “Would you speak on skillful and unskillful ways to approach restraint?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Kondannyo Bhikkhu. [Sense restraint] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] // [Self-identity view] [Vinaya] [Monastic life] [Culture/Natural environment] [Spiritual friendship] [Continuity of mindfulness]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno gets frustrated with meditation and starts sweeping. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Meditation] [Generosity] [Cleanliness]
Story: Paul Breiter did not consider Abhayagiri cushy. Told by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Paul Breiter] [Abhayagiri] [Sense restraint]
Comment: When you see the danger in investing outside, you don’t need a straightjacket. [Sense restraint] [Disenchantment]
6. “Regarding the Honeyball Sutta (MN 18), is withdrawal of external contact, e.g. eye contact, enough?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Kaccāna and Kondannyo Bhikkhu. [Perception] [Contact] [Proliferation] [Sense restraint] // [Translation]
Reference: Concept and Reality in Early Buddhist Thought by Bhikkhu Ñāṇananda.
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]
8. “My understanding is that it is not good to indulge the five senses. But is there a way to make that help with your cultivation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sense bases ] [Sense restraint] // [Appropriate attention] [Discernment] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 6: Recollection of the Dhamma [Recollection/Dhamma]
Sutta: SN 35.23: The six senses are the all.
Sutta: SN 35.116: A perceiver of the world, a conceiver of the world.
2. Comment: When I decide not to watch news about what is going on in the world, it ceases to stand out, to be a reality for me, and then there’s peace. [News] [Sense restraint] [Tranquility]
Response by Ajahn Amaro.
1. Comment: The gist of [AN 4.96 and AN 4.99] all seem to be about refraining from; the way to really benefit yourself and others is not to do. When you hear it, it feels quite negative. [Generosity] [Precepts] [Sense restraint]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Personal presence] [Compassion] [Buddha/Biography] [Teachers]
Sutta: Iti 22: “Do not look down on merit.” [Merit] [Happiness]
Sutta: MN 21.20: The Simile of the Saw.