Zen
Spiritual traditions / Mahāyāna / Zen 
23 excerpts, 2:12:06 total duration



Ānāpānasati: Mindfulness of In-and-Out Breathing, Session 8 – Jan. 11, 2005

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1. Meditation instruction: Be present with the physical experience of the breath. Bring a sense of ease into the body. Ground awareness in the body. Offered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Mindfulness of body]

Quote: Keeping the breath in mind is like getting the spoon into the mouth and the mouth onto the spoon. — Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo. [Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo] [Similes]

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Story: “The body understands!” [Direct experience] [Zen] [Koan] [Ajahn Pasanno]

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Body and mind are not separate things. [Body/form] [Heart/mind] [Aggregates ] [Dependent origination] [Consciousness]

Water similes for the mind with and without hindrances. (SN 46.55) [Hindrances] [Sensual desire] [Ill-will] [Sloth and torpor] [Restlessness and worry] [Doubt]

Sutta: DN 2.98: “These are shoals of fish...”

Quote: “You can get a lot of wisdom from walking meditation.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Posture/Walking] [Discernment]


Ānāpānasati: Mindfulness of In-and-Out Breathing, Session 19 – Jan. 22, 2005

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1. Story: A Zen student complains that the breath is boring. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Zen] [Mindfulness of breathing]


Thanksgiving Retreat 2011, Session 5 – Nov. 23, 2010

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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 Suddhaso 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 Buddhadasa, 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 — Ajahn Yatiko.


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

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6. Story: They ask the Zen master what would it say if they wrote the biography of his life? “One mistake after another.” Told by Rik Center. [Zen] [Learning] [Humility] [Gradual Teaching]


Thanksgiving Retreat 2012, Session 1 – Nov. 17, 2010

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11. “The mind can be a trickster. Can the body be a trickster too?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Heart/mind] [Delusion] [Body/form] // [Unattractiveness] [Elements] [Proliferation] [Mindfulness of body]

Story: “Body understands!” [Zen] [Koan]


Readings from The Island, Session 10 – Jan. 20, 2025

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3. “When Luang Por Sumedho talks about resting in awareness in which everything is included, is this connected to the subject part [of non-duality] or is this neither there nor in between (Ud 1.10)?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Knowing itself] [Non-identification] [Equanimity] [Advaita Vedanta] // [Buddhist identity] [Not-self] [Language] [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Unestablished consciousness] [Brahma gods]

Recollection: When Ajahn Amaro first arrived at Wat Pah Nanachat, a monk recommended Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. [Ajahn Amaro] [Zen]


Readings from The Island, Session 37 – Mar. 3, 2025

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5. “It seems there are so many things to comment on it is kind of overwhelming. How to deal with that?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Noting] // [Mindfulness of body] [Present moment awareness]

Story: “The body understands!” Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Zen] [Koan]