10. “Is it possible to get enlightened living in a Muslim country where there are no monasteries?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Liberation] // [Dhamma online] [Association with people of integrity]
Quote: “You mean there are no good people in America?” — Ajahn Chah to Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Culture/West] [Virtue]
8. “Can you offer practical advice for working with hindrances and cultivating sīla without taking it personally, that is, trying to perfect the personality?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Hindrances] [Virtue] [Self-identity view] // [Dhamma] [Relinquishment]
Quote: “Kae nun lae (Thai) – It’s just this much.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Suchness]
3. “When one is caught in depression or negativity, how can one brighten or uplift the mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Depression ] [Gladdening the mind] // [Generosity] [Virtue] [Idealism]
3. Ajahn Chah emphasized the importance of sīla during his second trip to the West. [Culture/West] [Virtue] [Ajahn Chah] // [Communal harmony]
Quote: “Teaching Buddhism without sīla is like sending someone out in the open sea in a leaky boat.” — Ajahn Chah. [Virtue] [Similes]
Simile: A millipede’s many legs all work together in harmony. [Virtue]
6. Recollection: Ajahn Chah taught that the precepts are a mirror for the mind to understand the intention behind actions of body, speech, and mind. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Precepts] [Virtue] [Volition] [Ajahn Chah]
8. “Mindfulness and meditation practices of the Eightfold Path have gained tremendous popularity in modern times. Can you please elaborate on how the ethics-related practices (Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood) contribute towards the end of suffering?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eightfold Path ] [Virtue] [Cessation of Suffering] // [Generosity] [Conscience and prudence] [Respect] [Language] [Pāli]
5. “I work as a psychotherapist and it seems to be useful to have a more or less stable self, a more or less stable ego, to be able to transcend the ego.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Western psychology ] [Self-identity view] [Liberation] // [Mark Epstein] [Virtue] [Happiness] [Conditionality] [Language] [Ajahn Chah] [Conventions]
Reference: “The Wisdom of the Ego” in Head and Heart Together by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro.
Sutta: SN 1.25: “Skillful, knowing the world’s parlance, he uses such terms as mere expressions.”
4. “My perception of Theravāda is that it’s a lot about striving but then Advaita Vedanta and Luang Por Sumedho talk about acceptance of what is right now. It doesn’t have the same morality. How do you reconcile these two things?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Theravāda] [Right Effort] [Advaita Vedanta] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Virtue] // [Self-identity view] [Suffering] [Eightfold Path]
8. “Did you say, ‘Nibbāna is the source of all virtue?’” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Nibbāna] [Virtue] // [Ven. Nāgasena]
Sutta: Milindapañha 320: “Nibbāna, once realized, is the source of the beauty of the virtues of all living beings.” Quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 38.
Follow-up: “Can you reflect on this? It doesn’t quite fit with the Unconditioned, unformed, no footing …” [Unconditioned]
Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Arahant] [Virtue]
Sutta: AN 9.7-8: What an arahant can’t do.
Sutta: AN 3.7: Uposatha Sutta.
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Compassion]
2. “If the Unconditioned is above distinctions of right and wrong, how do you reconcile this with the fact that we live in a moralistic society? If you are not enlightened, how do you live with the truth of the Unconditioned?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Unconditioned] [Virtue] // [Conventions] [Dhamma] [Vinaya] [Buddha] [Ven. Ananda Maitreya] [Clinging] [Suffering] [Recollection/Buddha]
Reference: “Still, Flowing Water” in Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 373.
Reference: Time & Timelessness by the Amaravati Saṅgha.
Reference: T. S. Eliot, The Dry Salvages.
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1: The story of the Buddha’s enlightenment.
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 4: Recollection of the Buddha: vijjācaraṇa-sampanno.
7. “What are the benefits of observing the Eight Precepts in relation to just the Five Precepts?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Eight Precepts ] [Five Precepts] // [Renunciation] [Virtue] [Simplicity]
5. “Is having a virtuous life an integral part of having a sense of purpose and living with Right Livelihood?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Virtue] [Purpose/meaning] [Right Livelihood]
1. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: The result of the training is that one is freed from greed, hatred, and delusion. [Vinaya] [Unwholesome Roots] // [Unskillful qualities] [Liberation] [Virtue]
1. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: When Ajahn Chah went to America, he emphasized the importance of sīla. [Ajahn Chah] [Culture/West] [Virtue] // [Insight Meditation Society]
Story: Jack Kornfield asks Ajahn Chah what he thinks about Buddhist teachings coming to the West. Ajahn Chah replies, “I haven’t seen any Buddhism yet.” Told by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Jack Kornfield]
Story: Ajahn Chah discerns that Jack Kornfield isn’t accurately translating his teachings about sīla. Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Joseph Kappel] [Translation] [Virtue]
Reflections by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno about SN 20.7 and poetic and literary expressions of Dhamma. [Teaching Dhamma] [Verses] [Great disciples] [Isan]
Sutta: SN 8: Vaṅgīsasaṃyutta.
3. “Is it possible to repeat the preparatory stages [before the Buddha teaches the Four Noble Truths] (Mahāvagga 1.7.5)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gradual Teaching ] [Four Noble Truths] // [Generosity] [Virtue] [Deva] [Kamma] [Drawbacks] [Sensual desire] [Renunciation] [Happiness] [Teaching Dhamma]
Story: A gangster visits Ajahn Chah and begins to keep the precepts. [Crime] [Ajahn Chah] [Killing] [Five Precepts] [Stealing]
9. “Because a sotāpanna is supposed to have finished sakkāyadiṭṭhi, does that mean that if they do any actions which involve [unskillful qualities], they don’t carry any kamma?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Stream entry] [Self-identity view] [Unskillful qualities] [Kamma] [Volition] // [Habits] [Personality] [Virtue]
Sutta: SN 14.15: Caṅkama Sutta.
7. “Were there any particular themes in Ajahn Chah’s teachings that regularly came up?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah ] // [Virtue] [Right View] [Relinquishment] [Knowing itself]
6. “There are suttas where people talk about honoring their parents. Are there examples of people who had very unskillful parents or childhood PTSD and brought these questions to the Buddha?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Western psychology] [Sutta] [Parents] [Abuse/violence] // [Culture/India] [Saṅgha] [Virtue]
Sutta: Ud 5.3: Suppabuddha the Leper. [Gradual Teaching] [Stream entry]
12. “When someone opens up about issues or something difficult they are dealing with, when should one just listen and when should one say something that might help?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Listening ] [Right Speech] [Compassion] // [Spiritual friendship] [Trust] [Virtue] [Goodwill] [Admonishment/feedback] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abbot] [Ajahn Chah]
3. Story: Explaining Buddhist practice to my Catholic mother. Told by Sakula. [Christianity ] [Parents] // [Killing] [Virtue]
Quote: “You make a much better Christian as a Buddhist than you ever did as a Catholic.”
3. Recollection: Ajahn Chah would go to a village and ask, “Are there any people here?” Recounted by Ajahn Jundee. Translated by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Ajahn Chah] // [Virtue] [Similes]
1. “What is the benefit of having more monks in the world?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] // [Virtue] [Saṅgha] [Vinaya] [Culture/West] [Seclusion]
Reference: Recollection of the Saṅgha (Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 7). [Recollection/Saṅgha]
7. “Many people think monastic life is a training in meditation. You mentioned Ajahn Chah’s approach to training was trying to inculcate virtue and Right View. How do you teach these to others?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Virtue] [Right View] [Teaching Dhamma] [Monastic life] // [Happiness] [Contentment] [Gratitude] [Self-identity view] [Idealism] [Spaciousness] [Relinquishment]