47 excerpts, 3:22:10 total duration
{100} “I’ve been feeling a large space/awareness in my body and in my head. I feel the outline of my form. What is a skillful way to deepen this place?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spaciousness ] // [Mindfulness] [Tranquility] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Mindfulness of body] [Knowing itself]
Thanksgiving Retreat 2011, Session 4, Excerpt 16
{120} “I’m feeling spacious in my heart. it is pleasant, and then I get sleepy. Can you advise on how to cultivate interest in spaciousness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spaciousness ] [Sloth and torpor] // [Perception of light] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Continuity of mindfulness]
5. Ajahn Chah taught us to speak without preparation. Recollection by Joseph Kappel. [Teaching Dhamma ] [Ajahn Chah] // [Trust] [Human] [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Spaciousness]
10. Story: Applying Ajahn Chah’s teachings to lay life in South Africa. Told by Ṭhānissarā. [Lay life] [Ajahn Chah] // [Monastic life] [Abuse/violence] [Self-reliance] [Discernment] [Compassion] [Spaciousness] [Liberation]
How would Ajahn Chah have responded to issues like feminism, democracy, engaged Buddhism, interfaith, and materialism that we’ve had to meet? [Women in Buddhism] [Politics and society] [Spiritual traditions] [Greed]
6. “What does deeping the practice mean? This inner sense of expansion and one-pointedness at the same time feels non-directional, and yet there are different spaces available to us.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spaciousness] [Unification] // [Discernment] [Faith]
1. “I’m feeling spacious in my heart. it is pleasant, and then I get sleepy. Can you advise on how to cultivate interest in spaciousness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spaciousness ] [Sloth and torpor] // [Perception of light] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Continuity of mindfulness]
16. “I’ve been feeling a large space/awareness in my body and in my head. I feel the outline of my form. What is a skillful way to deepen this place?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spaciousness ] // [Mindfulness] [Tranquility] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Mindfulness of body] [Knowing itself]
3. “At times the breath becomes very subtle, almost imperceptible. I try to focus on the still point, but don’t seem to be able to absorb. No lights have yet appeared. The space is quite pleasant, but eventually the refinement seems to dissipate and fade. Anything else to ‘do?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Concentration] [Perception of light] [Spaciousness] [Happiness] // [Proliferation] [Knowing itself]
12. “I’m having alternating intense periods of spaciousness and intense periods of agitation and sleepiness. Can you speak to this? I seem to identify very strongly with both states. It takes some time before I see the dukkha. I feel a bit hopeless about identification and the possibility of relinquishing it or even getting some relief from it. Any guidance would be appreciated.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spaciousness] [Restlessness and worry] [Sloth and torpor] [Self-identity view] [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Relinquishment] // [Cause of Suffering]
Simile from Ajahn Chah: A gardener’s duty is to prepare the soil and protect the tree. The fruit appears according to the nature of the tree. [Ajahn Chah] [Agriculture] [Similes]
3. “When there is no movement in the mind, I think you referred to this as a cessation of dukkha. However, spaciousness is impermanent. Is it thus not dukkha also?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Tranquility] [Cessation of Suffering] [Spaciousness] [Impermanence] [Suffering] // [Feeling] [Characteristics of existence]
8. “I appreciate your emphasis on clarity, stability, and spaciousness. How does concentration relate to these?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Clear comprehension] [Unification] [Spaciousness] [Concentration ] // [Pāli] [Thai] [Etymology] [Tranquility] [Happiness] [Rapture] [Conditionality]
Suttas: AN 10.3: Virtuous Behavior; AN 6.10 Mahānāma [Virtue]
Quote: “The way my mind worked before was, ‘Boy, when I get my concentration together, I’m going to be happy...’” [Ajahn Pasanno]
Quote: “The happy mind is easily concentrated.” [Hindrances] [Relinquishment] [Knowledge and vision]
13. Comment: We can’t know the kamma or state of mind of someone who is dying. Because the dying person’s consciousness can be very open, it’s useful to remind them of their wholesome actions. Contributed by Jeanne Daskais. [Kamma] [Consciousness] [Spaciousness] [Recollection/Virtue] [Death]
Story: Sri Lankans keep a lifelong record of the good things they have done. Friends and relatives read this to them at the time of death. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Skillful qualities] [History/Sri Lankan Buddhism]
12. Comment: In Western culture, we’re not given enough space to be with death. [Culture/West] [Spaciousness] [Grief] [Death]
Story: Hospice workers took the body of my father-in-law away too quickly. [Health care]
Story: When my husband died, we kept and washed the body. [Ceremony/ritual]
Response by Debbie Stamp.
5. “The guidance through seeing the non-self in relationship to the elements was very helpful. Can you explain what to look for in order to see the non self in relationship to strong emotions like grief. When do you look for the emptiness in emotions and when do you experience or express them. How does one balance the two?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Not-self] [Elements] [Emotion ] [Grief ]
Ajahn Pasanno reflects on his feelings after Ajahn Chah died. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] [Death] [Sickness] [Gratitude] [Respect]
Ajahn Pasanno’s response to his father’s death. [Parents] [Spaciousness]
2. “Could we say that it [unification] is expansive?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unification] [Spaciousness] [Jhāna] // [Right Concentration]
2. Question about the differences between expansive knowing, concentration, and divided knowing or awareness; difference between viññāṇa and paññā. [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Mindfulness of body] [Consciousness] [Concentration] [Spaciousness] // [Energy] [Unification] [Continuity of mindfulness]
7. “Upon awakening one morning, I found my mind was locked open in awareness. It seems this was stable as long as I did not do any conceptual thinking. Is this a feature of samādhi? Can it be cultivated?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Unusual experiences] [Present moment awareness] [Spaciousness] [Concentration] // [Right Concentration] [Mindfulness]
5. Story: A woman asked Ajahn Chah if she would have to give up listening to music to practice Buddhism. Ajahn Chah replied that learning to listen to the peaceful heart would be more pleasurable and satisfying. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Artistic expression] [Tranquility] [Happiness] // [Cessation] [Nature of mind]
Reference: Recollections of Ajahn Chah, p. 52.
Quote: “That quality of being without boundaries can be so peaceful. It’s much more compelling.” [Spaciousness]
Sutta: AN 3.32: “This is peaceful, this is sublime...”
3. “Could you talk about the practicalities of reflective meditation for someone who hasn’t done much of this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Recollection] // [Mindfulness] [Translation] [Concentration] [Impermanence] [Knowing itself]
Quote: “The point that includes” — Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Unification] [Spaciousness]
6. “The space where everything arises and ceases, where it is not arising and ceasing—it is just knowing. That is how I experience the still point…. When I turn the mind towards that, I sometimes feel like something is wrong because there is a sense of trying to keep it there. There is a sense of wanting to fixate on it…. So I wonder whether Ajahn or Luang Por have any helpful way of how we should hold turning towards it in a way that is the middle way.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Spaciousness] [Knowing itself] [Clinging] [Middle Path] // [Non-identification] [Similes] [Becoming]
Reference: Silence by John Cage. [Artistic expression]
4. “We often speak of the mind, and we associate it with the mental mind, and we often feel that it’s in the area of the head. Then, when we feel the heart, we often feel like it’s in the area of the heart chakra. I see that in meditation, we can actually expand our field of awareness, maybe to the whole body or even more. Are there different approaches or degrees to this? How does it relate to consciousness?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Heart/mind] [Nature of mind] [Spaciousness] [Consciousness] // [Translation] [Language] [Hinduism] [Emotion] [Mindfulness of mind] [Body/form]