2. “Did Ajahn Chah pass his teaching style to you or do you use your own separate style?” Answered by Ajahn Sumedho and Paul Breiter. [Personality] [Ajahn Chah] [Teaching Dhamma]
Story: Ajahn Sumedho, first abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat. Told by Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Abbot] [Wat Pah Nanachat ] [Sequence of training] [Culture/West] [Joseph Kappel] [Aversion] [Suffering] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Humor]
Quote: “The special thing about Luang Por Chah was that he was at ease and completely himself.” — Ajahn Sumedho. [Contentment]
Response by Paul Breiter: “The elements are there, but different teachers are expressing them in a living way.”
6. “Can you speak about working with fear and loss of ego identity, fear, and death?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fear] [Self-identity view] [Death] // [Goodwill] [Aggregates] [Impermanence] [Delusion] [Faith] [Eightfold Path] [Perfections] [Recollection]
Reference: Description of dukkha. [Suffering]
Quote: “We respond to teachings on liberation and Nibbāna with a curious sense of fear and trepidation.” — Ajahn Mahā Boowa speaking about Ajahn Mun. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Ajahn Mun] [Liberation] [Nibbāna] [Family] [Clinging]
14. “When doubt is mentioned under the hindrances, is it mainly referring to doubt about the Buddha’s teachings? Are there other implications?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Doubt] [Hindrances] [Dhamma] // [Everyday life] [Mindfulness of mind] [Investigation of states] [Mindfulness of body] [Suffering] [Perfectionism]
10. “Would you share some of your personal journey, including the time before you became a monk, and why you became a monk, and how the holy life can help people grow and change?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Monastic life] [Long-term practice ] // [Culture/West] [Travel] [Culture/Thailand]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno begins meditation with a month-long Mahasi Sayadaw retreat. [Meditation retreats] [Mahasi Sayadaw] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s first visit to Wat Pah Pong. [Ordination] [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Pah Pong]
Quote: “If you want to stay here, you have to stay at least five years.” — Ajahn Chah. [Sequence of training]
Reflection: “Five years is five years. I’ll go back and give myself to Ajahn Chah.” — Ajahn Pasanno [Relinquishment] [Mentoring]
Quote: “There’s no such thing as the ideal monastic or the ideal practitioner.” [Idealism] [Lay life] [Faith] [Disrobing] [Suffering] [Energy] [Patience]
4. “Is it hopeless to send loving-kindness to Mara?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Goodwill] [Māra] // [Craving] [Suffering] [Kamma]
6. “What are the characteristics of personality? Are they conditioned by kamma and our family, culture, and nationality? How do I learn not to take mine as truth and real?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Personality ] [Conditionality] [Kamma] [Family] [Cultural context] [Self-identity view] // [Suffering] [Characteristics of existence] [Humor]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah tended to translate anicca as uncertain or not sure. [Ajahn Chah] [Impermanence ] [Translation] [Proliferation] [Direct experience]
16. “What could American culture learn from Thai culture?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand ] // [P. A. Payutto] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Cultural context]
Quote: “Mai bpen rai.”
Quote: “‘If there was a culture that was steeped in Buddhism, that would really solve all the problems of the world.’ No it wouldn’t. There are still human beings there. They’ll create suffering wherever they go.” [Politics and society] [Human] [Suffering]
2. “Did you as a Westerner have any difficulties meeting Ajahn Chah either with Buddhism or with Thailand? How did it get resolved or did it get resolved?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/West] [Theravāda] [Culture/Thailand] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Ajahn Chah replies evasively when asked three straightforward questions to teach his translator (Ajahn Pasanno) a lesson. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Aversion] [Questions] [Simplicity] [Teaching Dhamma] [Food] [Suffering]
2. “How do we forgive close friends or family who harm us by not respecting our boundaries? Is forgiveness the same as reconciliation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Forgiveness] [Family] // [Suffering] [Aversion] [Habits]
Reference: “Reconciliation, Right & Wrong” by Thānissaro Bhikkhu.
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]
9. “How do we work with self-destructive and harmful repetitive patterns in our life? We can’t really force change.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Habits ] [Unskillful qualities] // [Craving not to become] [Drawbacks] [Suffering] [Self-identity view]
Sutta: AN 6.63.42: Two results of suffering. [Suffering]
10. “What is a skillful way of dealing with worry and aversion with respect to the current economic and political situation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Restlessness and worry] [Aversion] [Politics and society] // [Human] [Suffering] [Commerce/economics] [Conditionality] [Saṃsāra] [Buddha/Biography] [Cessation of Suffering]
13. “What does it mean to fully understand what causes us to suffer?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Cause of Suffering] // [Relinquishment] [Cessation of Suffering ]
Quote: “The mind aspires to truth and beauty, but pain we obey.” — Marcel Proust. [Suffering]
5. “Please speak to judgement, both from the perspective of subject and object.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Judgementalism] // [Views] [Christianity] [Suffering] [Conceit]
6. “I want to let go of things that I dislike as fast as possible. How do I do that?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Aversion] [Relinquishment] // [Suffering] [Craving not to become] [Drawbacks]
9. “How can one skillfully investigate feelings without simply getting lost in analytical thought?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of feeling] [Proliferation] // [Suffering] [Directed thought and evaluation]
Quote: “The best investigation takes place when the mind is very still and not formulating a lot of ideas.” [Insight meditation] [Tranquility] [Direct experience]
10. “Can you speak a little more about the essential differences between working with vedanā, the hindrances, and mind states and the differences and similarities between ‘spiritual’ use of this and more psychological/personal growth oriented [approaches]? Is there a difference?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of feeling] [Hindrances] [Mindfulness of dhammas] [Western psychology] // [Impermanence] [Suffering] [Not-self] [Self-identity view] [Happiness] [Generosity] [Virtue]
6. “Is Nibbāna the ending of kamma or rather the fruition of skillful kamma? What is meant by kamma that results in neither good nor bad kamma in light of the Buddha’s explanation of the four kinds of action (MN 57.7)? How to understand volition/intention in relation to kamma and Nibbāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna] [Kamma] [Volition] // [Suffering] [Rebirth] [Non-identification]
Sutta: AN 6.63.33: The formula of the Four Noble Truths applied to kamma. [Four Noble Truths]
Quote: “For an enlightened being, there is no response to the human condition other than compassion.” — Ajahn Mahā Boowa. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Arahant] [Compassion] [Human]
8. “What is a good way to cultivate forgiveness and compassion deeper in the heart? What are genuine signs of progress?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Forgiveness] [Compassion] // [Suffering] [Ignorance]
Sutta: SN 15.1: “Bound by ignorance and obstructed by craving.”
10. “I am unable at this point to wrap my understanding around no-self. I feel truth in that form is not self, feeling is not self, perception, mental formations, and consciousness is not self. How can we be sure self is not hiding somewhere we haven’t looked? How do I cultivate an understanding of non-self? Isn’t that part of us that continually takes rebirth self or soul?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Not-self] [Aggregates] [Rebirth] // [Spiritual traditions] [Impermanence] [Suffering] [History/Indian Buddhism] [Discrimination]
Sutta: SN 22.96: A Lump of Cow Dung. [Liberation]
Sutta: SN 22.59 Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta (Chanting Book translation).
18. “I’m having a doubt attack. It all seems too deep and unfathomable and too many aeons plus unending kamma with nothing solid to hold on to. I’m overwhelmed.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Doubt] [Nature of the cosmos ] [Kamma] // [Saṃsāra] [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering]
22. “Following the rapture/bliss of realization of deep insight of the sort the questioner posed last night, ther inevitably seems to follow a ‘spiritual narcissism’ and other vipassanā defilements. Perhaps these are the same old obstructions, just repackaged, but they seem more insidious. Any special advice or experience to share working through these?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Rapture] [Insight meditation] [Conceit] [Defilements of insight] // [Suffering]
4. “Can the practice be used in a punitive or punishing way?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] // [Culture/West] [Habits] [Clear comprehension] [Craving not to become]
Quote: “Having a human mind...it’s amazing how perverse it can be sometimes.” [Human] [Unwholesome Roots]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno can’t translate guilt into Thai. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Translation] [Culture/Thailand] [Suffering]
Quote: “All you need to do is create a cage of mindfulness around [unskillful habits].” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Sense restraint] [Mindfulness] [Unskillful qualities] [Similes]
Follow-up: “What about letting the tiger go instead of keeping it in a cage?”
Follow-up: “What about the case when one feels one is the tiger trapped in a metaphorical cage. How to escape?” [Liberation] [Perception] [Self-identity view] [Spiritual friendship]
9. “I have an internal voice that’s concerned whether I’m doing it right; if I’m not doing it right, then I won’t get where I want to go. Is this delusion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eightfold Path] [Perfectionism] [Delusion] // [Suffering] [Fear] [Mindfulness of body] [Volitional formations]
10. “I keep getting overwhelmed by a variety of intense and unpleasant bodily sensations. I have been trying to keep my focus on more neutral places in the body, but I still find that keeping the concentration anywhere in the body amplifies the unpleasant feelings, and I can’t settle into a place of ease.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pain] [Mindfulness of body] [Neutral feeling] // [Aversion] [Restlessness and worry] [Fear] [Self-identity view] [Body/form] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Posture/Walking] [Chanting] [Goodwill]
Quote: “The energy we invest in it is where the suffering actually lies. In the end, a body is just a body.” [Suffering]
16. “Can you share some ways to deal with pride when the ego influences feelings negatively?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Conceit] // [Self-identity view] [Suffering] [Proliferation]
Sutta: AN 6.104: I-making and mine-making.
19. “How does one develop compassion such that one harbors no ill-will even when bandits dismember you with a double-handed saw (MN 21.20)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Compassion] [Ill-will ] [Abuse/violence] // [Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Four Noble Truths]
Quote: “For the enlightened person, there’s no choice but compassion.” — Ajahn Mahā Boowa. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Liberation]
13. “I’ve been experiencing and witnessing an incredible sadness. At times it is dormant; at times it seems all-consuming. I’ve done okay at staying present, questioning its nature, its benefits, its hindrances, its source. I haven’t come up with a specific cause for this grief/sorrow. Do you have any suggestions for furthering my investigation working with sadness, and how I might someday send it on its way?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Grief] [Aspects of Understanding] [Cause of Suffering ] [Discernment] // [Self-identity view] [Suffering] [Clinging] [Goodwill] [Divine Abidings] [Middle Path]
Quote: “Viewed from any sane perspective, the human condition is pretty sad.” [Human]
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]
8. “How should a stream enterer skillfully deal with delusional others, especially when it comes to family members? I feel like things can get really weird when the view of a stream enterer is so different from the rest.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stream entry] [Delusion] [Family] // [Suffering] [Monastic life] [Views]
18. “Is it atta that carries kamma? Is it atta that takes a rebirth? How can we talk about atta?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Kamma] [Rebirth] // [Suffering] [Naturalness] [Not-self ] [Middle Path] [Spiritual traditions] [Pāli] [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment]
25. “Is the Deathless element, the knowing as Ajahn Chah called it, and rigpa as the Tibetans call it the same thing? And how is that different from the fifth khanda, consciousness? How can one practice with seeing the grasping of that khandha in meditation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Deathless] [Ajahn Chah] [Knowing itself] [Vajrayāna] [Consciousness] [Clinging] // [Sense bases] [Volitional formations] [Suffering] [Self-identity view]
27. “Most of the time I feel like a duck in a world full of chickens. Any advice on techniques to prevent the urge to compare myself to others would be greatly appreciated.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Similes] [Conceit] // [Suffering] [Communal harmony]
Simile from Ajahn Chah: Why aren’t the ducks more like chickens? [Ajahn Chah]
1. “What are some practices to deal with ill-will going repetitively towards one object?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ill-will] // [Kamma] [Cause of Suffering] [Proliferation]
Sutta: AN 5.161: Removing Resentment.
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 41: Reflection on kamma.
Quote: “If there’s a solution to the problem, why create difficulty around it? And then if there’s not a solution to the problem, why create difficulty around it?” — Shantideva. [Shantideva] [Suffering]
7. Comment: While sitting in the dining hall, the image of a square cushion dropping away from my solar plexus occured. That brought the insight that I was neither inferior nor superior to others, as ego asserts, but we’re all equal. [Insight meditation] [Conceit]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view] [Cause of Suffering] [Suffering] [Relinquishment]
Quote: “Friends and relatives in old age, sickness and death.” — a common way to begin a Dhamma talk in Thailand.. [Birth] [Ageing] [Death] [Culture/Thailand]
12. “For several months now, I’ve been trying not to get caught up in stories and just focus on the feelings. Every time I stop the story, the feeling seems to consistently stop as well, and I can no longer focus on it. What am I missing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Proliferation] [Feeling] [Cessation] // [Suffering]
4. “Today I saw a milk carton being thrown away. I’m not sure if everyone knows they are recyclable. This sight initiated a fire for me. I told myself, ‘It’s just thrown away.’ Then I told myself, ‘It’s just my mind on fire.’ Can you speak about Right View? Does it come back to what I can truly know? How do I consider long-term patterns that may not be apparent right away? One milk carton is not a big deal. One milk carton a day starts to add up.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Contact] [Feeling] [Environment] [Right View] // [Kamma] [Cause of Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering]
Quote: “We can be right and still create tremendous suffering.” [Views] [Suffering]
1. “When a discrete awareness arises and passes away with respect to each mental image, sound, etc., should it be characterized as mindfulness (saṅkhāric aggregate) or consciousness (viññāṇa aggregate)? Are the mental images, sounds, etc. characterized as mind object consciousness, sound consciousness, etc.? What about when consciousness arises and passes away in turn by itself?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness] [Consciousness] [Aggregates] [Sense bases] // [Proliferation]
Quote: “Knowing and letting go.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Relinquishment]
Simile from Ajahn Chah: Investigating Dependent Origination is like falling out of a tree. You don’t have to count every branch as you’re going down. You just have to know that when you hit the bottom it’s going to hurt. [Dependent origination] [Suffering]
6. Comment: The simile of the snake (MN 22) describes my practice. I’ve been bitten quite a lot. [Similes] [Gradual Teaching]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Yatiko. [Suffering] [Humility]
5. “In regards to the simile of the path to Rājagaha (MN 107), could you describe classic mistakes made by sincere beginning, intermediate and advanced practitioners?” Answered by Ajahn Yatiko and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Similes] [Gradual Teaching] // [Faith] [Doubt] [Truth] [Virtue] [Liberation] [Conditionality] [Christianity] [Suffering]
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. [Suffering]
Follow-up: “What about when things are pleasant, but we’re not headed in the right direction?” [Happiness] [Suffering] [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]
9. “Can you speak more about the impermanence of goodness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Impermanence] [Virtue] [Gradual Teaching] // [Conditionality] [Happiness] [Compassion] [Fear] [Suffering] [Clinging]
Sutta: AN 8.39: Five great gifts which give freedom from fear. [Generosity] [Five Precepts]
Quote: “The basis of Right View is knowing that this cup is a broken glass.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Right View]
14. “Seclusion of the heart really interests me, especially because of a busy family atmosphere. Is a way to develop seclusion of the heart to work on not taking this personally, not letting the self-making perceptions insert themselves into the heart?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Seclusion] [Family] [Non-identification ] // [Self-identity view] [Similes]
Quote: “Not being caught by the gladness or the sadness of the mind.” — Ajahn Liem. [Ajahn Liem] [Happiness] [Suffering] [Dispassion]
18. “What are skillful views and opinions? And what are the indicators of a Dhammic conversation/dialogue?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Views] [Right View] [Right Speech] // [Conflict] [Suffering]
7. Comment: The mind is quite tricky. When I notice conflict arise or aversion to another and respond emotionally, I look to the Dhamma and practice and see where to let go, offer compassion and kindness to what is happening, and try to see the moment as impermanent and we will all die. Then the mind and body settle a bit, and I begin to think, ‘Why can’t the other person do this before they become so dramatic? I’m trying, why can’t they?’ And suddenly I’m tense and the mind comes back again to making a me. It tricks me into this loop, so I have to keep catching it. Māra keeps finding ways in, yet I keep practicing with faith. [Nature of mind] [Proliferation] [Aversion]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] [Self-reliance]
Quote: “The quickest way to enlightenment is to look directly at the mind, point your finger, and say ‘Liar!’” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Liberation] [Delusion]
Quote: “Why can’t these ducks be more like chickens?” — Ajahn Chah. [Judgementalism] [Similes] [Human]
8. “I have greatly appreciated the teachings on non-proliferation, especially Ajahn Karunadhammo’s answer to last night’s question regarding the underlying feeling that is often present and driving a particular proliferation. I live with an autoimmune disease which currently requires frequent adjustments to my medications.... It is quite a conundrum to care for this body and track the various symptoms, all of which I find unpleasant, and yet not to proliferate on what needs to happen next. Going to the body in my practice, while useful, is not reliably calming, and sometimes seems to add fuel to the fire. This retreat I have been practicing with Right View and Right Understanding by repeating key phrases from the daily talks and have experienced what feels like a very deep insight at times. Do you have any words of guidance for when I go off retreat on working with this human body and this all-too-human mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Proliferation] [Feeling] [Sickness] [Pain] [Mindfulness of body] [Right View] [Right Intention] // [Suffering] [Ajahn Chah] [Restlessness and worry] [Gladdening the mind]
Sutta: SN 36.6: Shot by two arrows. [Suffering]
Simile from Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 159: Being injected with poison. [Suffering] [Similes]
Quote: “It can still be uncomfortable, but it doesn’t have to be complicated.”
13. “When I asked a Thai friend what her kammaṭṭhāna was, she said, ‘pong waa,’ then added, ‘deng wa.’ Can you explain?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Techniques] [Thai] // [Emptiness] [Liberation] [Not-self] [Concentration] [Impermanence] [Suffering]
3. “What is the antidote to the mind’s tendency to overestimate [and] overinterpret one’s experiences?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Results] // [Suffering]
2. “Can one use the subtle sensations of comfort and discomfort that accompany in and out breathing as a basis for insight? If so, how much thinking/nudging the mind is useful versus simple observation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Mindfulness of feeling ] [Insight meditation] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Impermanence] [Not-self] [Suffering] [Right Effort]
17. Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo: It’s not easy giving up the things we’re used to in order to follow the path. [Renunciation] [Eightfold Path] [Clinging] [Happiness] [Right Livelihood]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] [Commerce/economics]
1. “You spoke about recognizing that when the mind goes off into busyness that there’s not just that particular quality. Could you talk more about this?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Tranquility] [Proliferation] // [Appropriate attention] [Impermanence] [Knowing itself] [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Chah] [Clinging] [Suffering]
8. “How do you decrease the times an obsessive thought arises in the mind? The more I try to let it go and come back to my body, the more it arises and proliferates. If I do the opposite and turn attention to it, it does the same thing. What is obsession anyways?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Proliferation ] [Restlessness and worry] // [Self-identity view] [Suffering] [Relinquishment]
9. “I’ve been sitting on this question for the past few days. It has to do with dispassion, shedding, simplifying and being easily satisfied on the one end of the spectrum and being engaged and active in the world, even taking an unpopular stand, on the other end. How can one practice shedding internally but still be responsive and engaged regarding the suffering from environmental and social issues? It seems that would complicate things, but that is where my heart is drawn.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Dispassion] [Simplicity] [Contentment] [Politics and society ] [Environment] // [Suffering]
Quote: “When there is displassion and shedding, a clarity arises in the mind, when can then more easily be applied to something that is useful or beneficial without complicating things.” [Clear comprehension] [Compassion]
Quote: “Do you think there’s any hope for saving all the forests in Thailand?”—“I don’t think there’s hope that it’s going to make a huge impact right now. I’m just planting the seeds for the future, and maybe something will change. It’s not an option not to do it.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Culture/Thailand]
10. “Could you please explain again the differences between sañña, saṅkāra, and viññana? I’m still not getting it.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Perception] [Volitional formations] [Consciousness] // [Memory] [Sense bases] [Dependent origination ] [Conditionality] [Suffering]
Quote: “All the details of the process of dependent origination....It’s like falling out of a tree. As you go down, you’re not really counting branches. You just know that when you hit the bottom, it’s going to hurt.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Suffering]
2. “What do you think about the idea of secular Buddhism? Earlier you spoke about bhāvanā versus meditation, that meditation is not a useful translation [of bhāvanā]. Do you think secular Buddhism is useful or not?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Secular Buddhism] [Meditation] // [Human] [Suffering] [Cultural context] [Buddhist identity] [Culture/West] [Education]
Quote: “Anything is useful if it’s picking up the actual teachings of the Buddha and applying [them] in a skillful way.” [Eightfold Path] [Skillful qualities]
6. “I find I do need some pleasures even though they don’t last, things like fine arts and being in nature. I’m curious, how did you manage as a monk in your early years at Ajahn Chah’s monastery where there’s almost no pleasure....How did you manage to keep going over the years until the present?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sensual desire] [Artistic expression] [Culture/Natural environment] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Ajahn Chah] [Food] [Entertainment and adornment] [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Happiness ] [Simplicity ] [Association with people of integrity] [Empathetic joy] [Human] [Hindrances] [Jhāna] [Virtue] [Discernment]
Quote: “One of the extraordinary perks of being a monk is that everyone tries to be good around you.”
Sutta: MN 36.32: “Why am I afraid of that happiness?” [Buddha/Biography] [Ascetic practices] [Suffering] [Skillful qualities] [Eightfold Path]
Quote: “As a monk, I can look back on forty years of living in a way where I don’t have to feel remorseful or regret anything.”
2. “You said in the chanting, ‘I am the heir to my kamma.’ Gam in Thai is what we cultivate in body, speech and mind. In the Thai concept, we also have jao gam nai ren. Can Ajahn help me sort this out?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Kamma] [Culture/Thailand] [Nature of the cosmos] // [Suffering] [Health care] [Birth]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 55: Five Recollections
Follow-up: “My mother is dying at age 88. She had a plane accident 20 years ago and has been completely immobile....In Thai we say, jao gam nai ren must have been chasing after her.” [Family] [Sickness] [Death]
5. “When is it useful to determine to stick with a single practice, even when it doesn’t seem to work, instead of exploring other options?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/General advice] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Pain] // [Suffering] [Right Effort] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Mindfulness of mind] [Discernment] [Direct experience] [Self-identity view]
1. “I am curious about ways to know if one is lying to oneself and what to do?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Truth] [Delusion] // [Suffering] [Discernment] [Bases of Success]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah said the fastest way to enlightenment is to look directly at the mind, point your finger, and say “Liar!” [Ajahn Chah] [Liberation] [Proliferation]
15. “When the habit pattern of defilement is so strong, and even with the mind seeing the suffering, still the mind says, “I’m not going to give that up,” do you have any suggestions for softening that, for working with that?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Habits] [Unwholesome Roots] [Clinging]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno: “No, just keep suffering.” [Suffering]
11. “Ajahn Chah distinguished between the peaceful mind and the mind that has appeased the kilesas. But when the kilesas are present, is it useful to be peaceful about them?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Concentration] [Unwholesome Roots] [Tranquility] // [Suffering] [Delusion]
4. “Could you say more about the positive causal process that is the opposite of paticcasamuppada?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Dependent origination] [Conditionality] [Mindfulness] // [Skillful qualities] [Right Mindfulness] [Factors of Awakening]
Sutta: SN 12.23 Upanisa: Dukkha is a cause for faith. [Suffering] [Faith]
Sutta: AN 10.61 Avijjā: The Five Hindrances are a cause for ignorance. [Hindrances] [Ignorance]
2. “The citta is sometimes defined as pure awareness, and it being in the fourth khanda, but it sounds like here [Ajahn Wanchai] is talking about the activity of awareness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Heart/mind] [Ajahn Wanchai] [Knowing itself] [Volitional formations] // [Rebirth]
Quote: “There is that which is beyond birth and death. And then you start asking, ‘Well, what is it and how is it? How should it be?’ It’s just the same as in the Sabbāsava Sutta (MN 2.7)...As soon as you get into conceiving, you’ve already started the process of dukkha.” [Unconditioned ] [Proliferation] [Conceit] [Suffering]
Follow-up: “So is it better to hear what he said and let it go when I notice awareness that’s good, but I don’t have to make anything out of it?”
Quote: “The investigation is not a conceiving. The best investigation is when the mind is exceedingly still and not conceiving, not creating concepts.” [Discernment] [Concentration]
Follow-up: “So is it a realizing, not a conceiving?” [Knowledge and vision] [Suffering]
3. “If you keep chipping away at a theme of contemplation, you keep doing it, doing it, and nothing is changing in your experience, at some stage you feel this isn’t working, do you just have to move on and try something else? Is it the case that you just have to try them all? No-one can tell you which is going to work for you?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Depression] [Recollection] // [Patience] [Spiritual friendship]
Story: Ajahn Wanchai has a spinal injury and is in chronic pain but doesn’t refer to himself. Told by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Ajahn Wanchai] [Suffering] [Sickness] [Pain] [Conceit]
5. “In my desire to get to the “heart of it” I find part of my mind really wants this, but another part of my mind is not going along with the program. How do I keep myself on the Path?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Desire] [Simplicity] [Volition] // [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Impermanence] [Cessation] [Upasikā Kee Nanayon]
Follow-up: “The experience of arising and disbanding isn’t yet practical for me. I need something more operational.” [Tranquility]
Simile: Making a fire flare up or die down (SN 46.53). — Ajahn Pasanno. [Factors of Awakening] [Energy] [Mindfulness]
21. “Can you dedicate merit to someone who is approaching death?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Merit ] [Death]
Story: Ajahn Paññānanda speaks out against superstition but tells the story of a shipwrecked sailor who benefited from dedication of merit. [Ajahn Paññānanda] [Superstition] [Suffering]
11. “How is there clinging to personality?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Clinging] [Personality] [Self-identity view] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Suffering] [Great disciples]
Sutta: The Buddha to Ānanda: “When did Anuruddha ever take an interest in Saṅgha issues?” – AN 4.243: Schism [Saṅgha decision making]
19. “How do you not objectify this awareness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Knowing itself] [Mindfulness] [Proliferation] // [Four Noble Truths] [Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Investigation of states]
Quote: “If you objectify awareness, you’re going to suffer.” [Nature of mind] [Suffering]
Quote: “These Four Noble Truths are not an endpoint, they are something that you’re internalizing and using in your meditation practice and in your daily life.” [Meditation] [Everyday life]
21. “Is the peaceful mind your home?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Nature of mind] [Tranquility] // [Proliferation] [Suffering]
13. “I am still very attached to my husband and children. I don’t want to relinquish the intimacy I share with my husband. I will suffer when they are gone. How do I reconcile this practice of relinquishment with the reality that I am a wife, mother and householder? With love.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gratitude] [Family ] [Lay life] [Relinquishment ] // [Spaciousness] [Suffering] [Clinging] [Cause of Suffering] [Communal harmony]
Quote: “Relinquishment is a skillful acknowledgement of the areas where we do create suffering.” [Suffering]
Story: Visākhā, the stream enterer who raised 20 children. [Great disciples] [Stream entry] [Culture/India]
Quote: “Families that grow up with strong spiritual models are an incredible blessing.” [Mentoring]
10. “Thank you so very much for your very compassionate, clear, and useful teachings. Can you please talk a little bit about dependent origination so that we may put an end to the causes of suffering? Thank you again for your compassionate teachings and humor. We appreciate you and the rest of the Sangha!” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gratitude] [Dependent origination] [Cessation of Suffering] // [Conditionality] [Suffering] [Cause of Suffering]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno writes a term paper on dependent origination at university. [Ajahn Pasanno]
Quote: “When you’re falling down from a tree, you don’t have to count the branches. You just have to know that when you hit the bottom, it’s going to hurt.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Suffering]
7. “Ajahn Ñāniko and Tan Kassapo: ‘Why be a monk?’ Sadhu, sadhu, sadhu.” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko and Ajahn Kassapo. [Monastic life/Motivation] // [Suffering]
1. “Does AN 4.94 undercut the whole debate about whether to practice insight meditation or samādhi first?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation ] [Calming meditation ] // [Views] [Buddha] [Suffering] [Human]
Quote: “Just work with what you’ve got and try to free the mind. It’s pretty straightforward.” [Liberation]
2. “Are people experiencing jhāna in different ways?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Jhāna ] // [Views] [Ajahn Chah] [Tranquility] [Self-identity view] [Suffering] [Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo]
1. “Could you explain the simile of the embers in regards to sensuality?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Similes] [Pain] [Sensual desire] // [Concentration] [Liberation]
Sutta: SN 36.6: The Dart. An undeveloped person knows no escape from dukkha other than sensual pleasure. [Suffering]
5. Comment: The question that occured to me was “If I take this as myself, where does it lead me?” [Discernment] [Not-self]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] [Self-identity view]
6. “I’ve heard the teaching that if you watch your kilesas in samādhi, they tend to subside. Sometimes you watch your sakkāya-diṭṭhi and it’s not going away. What to do?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Unskillful qualities] [Mindfulness] [Concentration] [Cessation] [Not-self] [Self-identity view] // [Impermanence] [Suffering]
7. “Why go through all the trouble to teach us how to not have a self and then refuse to tell us there is no self?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Teaching Dhamma] [Middle Path] [Not-self] // [Relinquishment] [Suffering] [Questions] [Aggregates] [Sense bases]
12. “The Buddha asks us to look at the things we identify with as self and notice they are not who we are. But if there’s nothing else but those things, there is no self, right?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha] [Middle Path] [Not-self ] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Learning] [Liberation] [Suffering]
Follow-up: “Isn’t there then an implication that there is something else that could be self?” [Views]
16. “The fear that arises upon the realization that there’s nothing there is so strong that it takes away from the awareness being able to stay with it. Any suggestions?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fear] [Knowledge and vision] [Not-self] // [Recollection] [Goodwill] [Gladdening the mind] [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Learning] [Faith]
10. “Any advice for cures for burnout? I’m in a helping profession and feel depleted and exhausted. I need help getting the balance between giving and receiving.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Depression] [Work] [Health] [Generosity] [Compassion ] // [Culture/West] [Idealism] [Commentaries] [Selfishness]
Quote: “Compassion in the English language means ‘to suffer with.’ If you end up suffering with too much, you end up burnt out.” [Language] [Suffering]
Quote: “Don’t think you’re a ten-wheeled dump truck when all you are is a wheelbarrow.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah]
Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 291: Classical cultivation of goodwill and compassion, first to yourself. [Goodwill]
Quote: “Our ability to be with others and to help and to give is dependent on our being kind and compassionate to ourselves.” [Spiritual friendship] [Self-reliance]
3. “A lot of my life has been based on guilt, punishment, achievement, feeling driven, and perfectionism. Recently I experienced the reverse of this. Perfectionism is mixed up with wholesome desire. Could you respond?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Judgementalism] [Perfectionism] [Desire] [Contentment] // [Discernment] [Self-identity view] [Human]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno can’t translate the question ‘How do I work with guilt?’ into Thai. [Ajahn Paññānanda] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Language] [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand] [Suffering]
17. “What is the right point to drop or ignore the desire to identify with the Buddhist identity?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Relinquishment] [Desire] [Self-identity view] [Buddhist identity] // [Suffering] [Perfectionism] [Clear comprehension] [Conventions] [Ajahn Chah] [Right Effort]
19. Comment by Ajahn Ñāṇiko: I keep coming back to true principle–what are we doing it all for? [Dhamma] [Killing] [Right Intention] [Buddhist identity]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Attachment to precepts and practices] [Suffering] [Happiness] [Skillful qualities]
4. “Before the Buddha practiced the ascetic way, he already learned the seventh and eighth levels of jhāna. Why didn’t that lead to his awakening?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha/Biography] [Formless attainments] [Liberation] [Jhāna] // [Right Concentration] [Right View] [Suffering] [Middle Path] [Characteristics of existence]
16. “How are you satisfied and/or dissatisfied with students?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Teaching Dhamma] // [Blame and praise]
Quote: “Whatever expectations I have are my expectations.” [Suffering]
20. “Last night you spoke about balancing tranquility of mind with investigation or a theme for contemplation. Can you clarify how this can be accomplished without getting into the usual mind states of planning, associating, etc.?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Tranquility] [Investigation of states ] [Recollection ] [Proliferation] // [Impermanence] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Discernment] [Recollection/Death] [Visualization] [Divine Abidings]
Mistaken assumption: “I think, therefore I suffer. If I didn’t think, then I wouldn’t suffer.” [Suffering]
Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 104: Forty subjects of meditation.
1. “In working with the Four Noble Truths, to understand suffering, does the Buddha mean knowing for instance the pain in your heart, the stress around your eyes, or does he also mean to see with insight its karmic effect on yourself and others?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Four Noble Truths] [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Kamma] // [Suffering] [Pāli] [Happiness]
5. “Competitiveness feels so pervasive here in America. What are your thoughts for working with it or healing it?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Competitiveness ] [Culture/West] // [Suffering] [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment] [History/America] [Proliferation]
Reflection: The nine bases of conceit. [Conceit]
7. “The Middle Way – It is not 50% becoming and 50% annihilation, right? What is it the middle of?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Middle Path ] // [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering]
12. “Can you please explain the asavas?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Outflows ] // [Rebirth] [Suffering] [Translation]
21. “I have attended many deaths and that last breath appears to be really difficult to relinquish. Does this training really help? I have trouble relinquishing the small aches and pains in my body.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Death] [Relinquishment] [Long-term practice] [Pain]
Quote: “The holding on is way more painful than the relinquishing.” [Clinging] [Suffering]
1. “Can you provide guidance on the contemplation of conceiving, and name and form?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Conceit] [Aggregates] [Proliferation] // [Suffering] [Nature of mind] [Advertizing] [Impermanence] [Relinquishment] [Non-identification] [Four Noble Truths]
Sutta: Ud 3.10: “For however one conceives it, it is always other than that.”
Quote: “The mind is a liar and a cheat.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [False speech]
Reference: Ajahn Buddhadāsa’s Nine Eyes, The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 116. [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Characteristics of existence]
Sutta: Ud 1.10 Bāhiya Sutta: “In the seen there is only the seen...” [Sense bases] [Perception]
Quote: “You can hurt yourself even with really good tools.” [Meditation/Techniques] [Right Effort]
1. “Why is trying to conquer pain a disaster?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pain] // [Self-identity view] [Craving not to become] [Suffering]
1. “How much reading is appropriate?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Learning] // [Culture/West] [Investigation of states] [Suffering] [Unwholesome Roots]
Quote: “If you have to read anything, read your heart.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Heart/mind]
6. “Is there a precise definition of the saṅkhāra of delusion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volitional formations] [Delusion] // [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering]
1. “What are your thoughts about developing wholesome qualities when there are so many things that mask them?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Skillful qualities] [Delusion] [Equanimity] [Contentment] // [Spiritual bypass] [Sloth and torpor] [Goodwill] [Conflict] [Discernment] [Suffering]
Reference: Working with the Five Hindrances by Ajahn Tiradhammo, p. 27.
Sutta: AN 4.28: Noble Lineages. [Requisites] [Judgementalism]
1. Question about views on whether the cause of suffering is desire or clinging to desire. Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Craving] [Clinging] [Cause of Suffering] // [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Idealism] [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering]
Reference: Salutation to the Triple Gem: “Rūpūpādānakkhandho...”
Follow-up: “Is the greater suffering the reaction to pain?” [Pain] [Suffering] [Feeling] [Aversion]
Quote: “All these different teachings and expressions of teachings....We don’t have to make them mesh, but try to figure out what they are pointing to.” [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Recollection/Dhamma]
3. “Is there a way to stabilize the perception of impermanence?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Perception] [Impermanence] // [Cessation] [Relinquishment] [Suffering]
Sutta: SN 12.15: Kaccānagotta.
11. “It seems I can quiet my mind easier in the midst of noise. It’s been one continuous monkey mind. Please help.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Calming meditation] [Proliferation] [Restlessness and worry] // [Tranquility] [Culture/Natural environment] [Suffering] [Investigation of states]
Story: Spending the Vassa at quiet Poo Jum Gom [Poo Jum Gom] [Geography/Thailand]
Quote: “I’ve got nobody to blame anymore.” — A junior monk.