Similes (opammā)
Teaching Dhamma / Similes 
154 excerpts, 12:20:47 total duration



Thanksgiving Retreat 2010, Session 1 – Nov. 20, 2010

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6. “What are some skillful ways to deal with anger and resentment?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Aversion] [Ill-will ] // [Suffering] [Drawbacks] [Goodwill] [Views]

Quote: “There’s no way that you can have anger and resentment and feel peaceful and happy.” [Happiness]

Sutta: Dhp 125: Throwing dust into the air. [Similes]


Thanksgiving Retreat 2010, Session 2 – Nov. 21, 2010

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3. “Where in the Pāli Canon does the Buddha discuss physical pain and how to deal with it? Is physical pain categorized as a sense hindrance or a mental object?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Tipiṭaka] [Pain] [Sense bases] [Volitional formations] // [Patience] [Feeling]

Sutta: SN 36.6: The Dart. [Similes]

Sutta: MN 86.17. [Kamma] [Arahant]

Sutta: MN 44.25: The underlying tendencies associated with feeling.


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7. “Could you elaborate on what the malleable mind is and how it differs from pliable?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Heart/mind] // [Pāli]

Sutta: AN 3.101-102: Similes of a goldsmith. [Similes]


Thanksgiving Retreat 2010, Session 3 – Nov. 22, 2010

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14. “To find out for ourselves may still be an individual truth. Wouldn’t the ultimate truth, the absolute truth, have the same flavor for everybody?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unconditioned ] // [Personality] [Cessation of Suffering] [Great disciples] [Commentaries]

Sutta: AN 8.19.16: The taste of liberation. [Similes]


Thanksgiving Retreat 2010, Session 5 – Nov. 24, 2010

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3. “I am working with a repetitive thought that is bringing up doubt, worry, and anxiety. It seems strong, sneaky, nagging, and insistent. I must be feeding it somehow, or why would it keep coming up again and again? How to work with a repetitive thought?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Proliferation] [Doubt] [Restlessness and worry] [Nutriment] // [Directed thought and evaluation] [Drawbacks] [Human] [Relinquishment]

Sutta: MN 20: The Removal of Distracting Thoughts. [Similes]


The Gradual Training, Session 2 – Oct. 20, 2012

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8. “How do we know when to ask for directions on the path as opposed to just continuing farther? What would we ask?” Answered by Ajahn Yatiko. [Questions] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Gradual Teaching] // [Suffering] [Discernment] [Conditionality] [Faith]

Sutta: SN 12.23: Suffering is the cause of faith.

Follow-up: “What about when things are pleasant, but we’re not headed in the right direction?” [Happiness] [Mindfulness] [Deva] [Relinquishment]

Sutta: MN 75: Simile of the leper. [Similes]

Sutta: SN 56.35: Stream entry after 100 years. [Stream entry] [Four Noble Truths]


The Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness, Session 21 – Feb. 5, 2013

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2. “How is nama-rupa usually defined?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Consciousness] [Aggregates] // [Volition]

Sutta: SN 12.67: Sheaves of reeds. [Similes]


The Fourth Foundation of Mindfulness, Session 32 – Feb. 21, 2013

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5. “How would you answer the questions in SN 22.86 for a puthujjana (a person who has not entered the stream of Dhamma)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Death] [Aggregates] [Clinging] // [Kamma] [Views]

Sutta: SN 44.9: Flame blown by the wind. [Rebirth] [Similes]


Right Livelihood, Session 2 – Apr. 21, 2013

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5. “What is your take on satisfaction, being in tune, and stagnation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Contentment ] [Energy] [Ardency ] // [Skillful qualities] [Discernment] [Buddha/Biography] [Spiritual search] [Right Effort]

Sutta: AN 2.5: Effort and non-contentment with wholesome states.

Story: The Thai government made it illegal for monks to teach contentment. [History/Thai Buddhism] [Monastic life] [Teaching Dhamma]

Comment about the simile of the lute. [Middle Path] [Similes]

Sutta: AN 6.55: Soṇa Sutta [Similes]


Abhayagiri Monastic Retreat 2013, Session 5 – Nov. 27, 2013

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14. “It seems like the ‘Reflection on the 32 Parts’ of the body is missing several parts. Nose, muscles, sex organs, etc. Is it meant to be comprehensive? Or is it just the ugly bits?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unattractiveness ] // [Elements] [Human] [Disenchantment] [Equanimity]

Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 60: Reflection on the Thirty-Two Parts.

Sutta: MN 10.10: Simile of different grains. [Similes]


The Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Session 18 – Jan. 29, 2015

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1. “What are the rewards for the skillful monk?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Skillful qualities] [Right Mindfulness] // [Happiness] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Concentration]

Sutta: SN 47.8: Simile of the skillful cook. [Similes]

Story: Ajahn Mun criticizes Ajahn Mahā Boowa for developing meditation like a tree stump. [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Admonishment/feedback]


The Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Session 20 – Jan. 31, 2015

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2. “Does the consistency of vicara correlate with samadhi?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Directed thought and evaluation ] [Concentration] // [Rapture] [Happiness] [Unification]

Sutta: MN 119: Simile of the bathman. [Similes]


Jhāna: A Practical Approach, Session 2 – Oct. 10, 2015

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3. “Sometimes I just notice that the state that is there [a hindrance] is going to go away. Isn’t that a skillful way of looking at it?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Impermanence] [Skillful qualities] [Hindrances] // [Clear comprehension] [Habits]

Sutta: MN 20: The Removal of Distracting Thoughts [Right Effort] [Similes]


Jhāna: A Practical Approach, Session 3 – Oct. 10, 2015

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16. “The rapture and joy that are being described are not pleasure, right?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Rapture] [Happiness] [Jhāna] // [Pāli]

Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 139 [Similes]


2015 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 1 – Nov. 21, 2015

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6. “What is the difference between piti and sukha? Also equanimity and emptiness as a felt sense?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Rapture ] [Happiness ] [Equanimity] [Emptiness ] // [Self-identity view] [Theravāda] [Relinquishment]

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Teaching: The difference between pīti and sukha. [Rapture ] [Happiness ] [Emotion]

Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 139: Similes for pīti and sukha. [Similes] [Rapture ] [Happiness ]


2015 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 6 – Nov. 26, 2015

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9. “In this afternoon’s talk, Ajahn Karunadhammo mentioned the benefits of the bhava that results from practice or the Eightfold Path, but he described a consciousness that doesn’t land in or on a self and results in freedom. Is that a consciousness that results in neither arising nor non-arising. Could you elaborate? The moment between in and out breaths seems to hold potential for this kind of consciousness.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eightfold Path] [Becoming] [Unestablished consciousness] [Self-identity view] [Liberation] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Proliferation] [Consciousness] [Relinquishment] [Fear]

Quote: “You want to pay attention to the experience rather than the idea about it.” [Direct experience]

Suttas: DN 11.85, MN 49.25: Consciousness luminous all around.

Sutta: SN 12.64: Simile of the western wall. [Similes]


Thanksgiving Retreat 2016, Session 6 – Nov. 24, 2016

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3. “How do you apply mindfulness of the body in terms of jhana practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of body] [Jhāna ] // [Mindfulness of breathing] [Similes ] [Rapture] [Happiness]

Sutta: MN 118 Ānāpānasati Sutta.

Sutta: MN 119.18: Similes for jhāna. [Similes ]


28th Anniversary Practice and Study Day, Session 4 – Jun. 1, 2024

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2. “I am concerned about the clarity of mind if I have prolonged pain. How does one face death skillfully if one is in constant serious pain?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Pain] [Ageing] [Tranquility] [Death] // [Long-term practice]

Sutta: SN 55.22: Mahānāma worries about death. [Similes]