28 excerpts, 2:45:38 total duration
2. Story: Practicing the Dhamma is to renounce this life. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Dhamma] [Relinquishment] // [Vajrayāna]
29. “Can you give us a short bio on each of you please?” [Western Ajahn Chah lineage] // [Birth] [Monastic life/Motivation]
Ajahn Yatiko is on his way to Tibet, but two Thai men in a restaurant persuade him to visit Wat Pah Pong. [Ajahn Yatiko] [Travel] [Vajrayāna] [Wat Pah Pong] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ordination] [Gratitude]
Bhante Suddhāso finds his way to Abhayagiri through Zen. [Zen] [Ajahn Chah] [Vinaya] [Theravāda] [Abhayagiri]
Ajahn Karuṇadhammo ordains at Abhayagiri after many years of lay practice. [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Lay life]
Anagārika Jordan (now Ajahn Sudhīro) learns about Buddhism in college and has just taken up anagārika training at Abhayagiri. [Postulants]
Debbie Stamp travels in Asia, hears a talk by Ajahn Buddhadāsa, spends ten months at Amaravati and Chithurst, then volunteers to help start Abhayagiri. [Debbie Stamp] [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Amaravati] [Chithurst]
Quote: “She’s the mother of our monastery.” — Ajahn Yatiko.
1. “At what point does it become unskillful to continue to reflect on one’s own good deeds?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Beth Steff. [Recollection/Virtue] [Unskillful qualities] // [Self-identity view] [Right Effort] [Recollection/Generosity] [Culture/West] [Christianity] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy]
Quote: “In Buddhism, we don’t believe in original sin. We believe in original purity.” — King Rama IX to a BBC interviewer. [King Rama IX] [Nature of mind]
Reference: The 1979 BBC interview on YouTube.
Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 104: Forty subjects of meditation.
Story: Western researchers find Tibetans who have been tortured don’t suffer post-traumatic stress. [Abuse/violence] [Vajrayāna] [Three Refuges] [Compassion]
Story: God’s finger over the “Smite” button. [God] [The Far Side]
Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo: The Dalai Lama emphasizes the effect of faith in the law of kamma. [Dalai Lama] [Kamma] [Faith]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right View]
3. “How is Dzogchen similar to the Thai Forest Tradition?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Amaro] [Vajrayāna] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Emptiness]
Ajahn Pasanno describes the context of the Small Boat, Great Mountain retreat. [Spirit Rock] [Tsoknyi Rinpoche] [Vajrayāna] [Theravāda]
Reference: Small Boat, Great Mountain by Ajahn Amaro.
5. “I recently went to a Zen gathering. My understanding is that they don’t focus on the Four Noble Truths. They try to be present in the moment and get to some sort of no-mind state. How did this arise and why is it considered Buddhism?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Zen] [Four Noble Truths] [Present moment awareness] [History/Mahāyāna Buddhism] // [Emptiness] [Buddha]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno visits a Dzogchen master who says, “Whatever teachings you hear, if they don’t fit into or fulfill the Four Noble Truths, then it’s just not Buddhism.” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Vajrayāna] [Hearing the true Dhamma]
9. “During lunch I was contemplating the four elements as I ate, and a question arose in my mind: If all things are made of only four elements, why does an orange taste, smell, and feel only like an orange and not like an apple? How can there be so much variety in food?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Food] [Elements] [Sense bases]
Story: A Zen master confronts Kalu Rinpoche with an orange. [Zen] [Vajrayāna] [Koan]
2. “Any advice for an upāsikā who is able to spend long periods on retreat but finds herself tossed around when at home?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Lay life] [Everyday life] [Meditation retreats] // [Three Refuges] [Spiritual friendship] [Online community]
Story: Ajahn Amaro advises a layman having difficulty with his Theravāda group to practice with Thubten Chodron. [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Ajahn Amaro] [Thubten Chodron] [Vajrayāna]
3. Recollection: Abhayagiri’s contact with Gomde California. Recounted by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Abhayagiri] [Gomde California] [Vajrayāna] [Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche]