7. Quote: “Do you still have anger?” “Yes, but I don’t take it.” — Ajahn Dune. Quoted by Debbie Stamp. [Ajahn Dune] [Aversion] [Right Mindfulness]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Arahant]
Follow-up: “Do we know if the Buddha had anger?” [Buddha] [Tipiṭaka]
Comment: Māra came to the Buddha many times after the Buddha’s enlightenment. Contributed by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Māra] [Buddha/Biography]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Idealism] [Culture/West]
1. “How does cruelty differ from ill will?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ill-will] // [Goodwill] [Compassion] [Right Mindfulness] [Concentration] [Right Effort]
Sutta: MN 19: Dvedhavitakka Sutta, Two Kinds of Thought.
3. “What are antidotes to the strained, tired mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Sloth and torpor ] // [Directed thought and evaluation] [Skillful qualities] [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of breathing]
Sutta: MN 19: Dvedhavitakka Sutta, Two Kinds of Thought.
2. “Does the consistency of vicara correlate with samadhi?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Directed thought and evaluation ] [Concentration] // [Rapture] [Happiness] [Unification]
Sutta: MN 119: Simile of the bathman. [Similes]
2. “How does nirodha differ from arising and ceasing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Cessation] [Impermanence] [Pāli] [Translation] // [P. A. Payutto] [Dependent origination]
7. Quote: “How do I get me some of that non-grasping stuff?” — Ajahn Sucitto. Quoted by Beth Steff. [Ajahn Sucitto] [Clinging] [Self-identity view] [Humor]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
Story: “Do I look macho?” Told by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Chithurst] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo]
1. “Why does the Buddha describe perception in terms of colors but consciousness in terms of tastes?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Perception] [Consciousness] [Sense bases] // [Bhikkhu Bodhi] [Commentaries] [Ven. Analayo] [Memory] [Feeling]
Sutta: SN 22.79: Being Devoured; footnote 114 in Bhikkhu Bodhi translation.
Follow-up: “Could you say that perception is identification whereas consciousness is more refined?” [Aggregates] [Not-self] [Self-identity view] [Rebirth] [Translation] [Similes]
6. Comment comparing putting the mind towards the Deathless with Dzogchen practice. [Deathless] [Vajrayāna] [Emptiness] [Progress of insight]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spiritual bypass]
8. “Do you have to emerge from jhāna to contemplate the characteristics of the aggregates?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Jhāna] [Insight meditation] [Aggregates] // [Mindfulness] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Knowing itself]
Sutta: AN 9.36: “Jhāna.”
Quote: “Contemplation gets really good when you stop thinking.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Directed thought and evaluation]
1. Comments by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo contrasting the canonical and commentarial approaches to breath meditation. [Sutta] [Commentaries] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Pa Auk Sayadaw] [Culture/Sri Lanka] [Culture/Thailand] [Pāli] [Ajahn Pasanno]
Sutta: MN 44 identifies in-and-out breathing as the bodily fabrication/conditioner (saṅkhāra).
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]
2. “How should householders deal with sensual pleasure?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Lay life] [Sensual desire ] // [Virtue] [Happiness] [Generosity] [Skillful qualities]
Comments by Ajahn Kaccāna, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno about similes for sensual pleasures found in MN 54 and MN 75. [Similes]
3. Comment: You can use objects like renunciation and lovingkindness to work towards deep meditation. [Concentration] [Renunciation] [Goodwill]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Gladdening the mind]
3. “Is seeing metaphysical principles the same as making something into a concept?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Nature of the cosmos] [Proliferation] // [Views]
Sutta: DN 1: Brahmajāla Sutta.
4. Comments: Sariputta didn’t get distracted in fourth jhāna to develop the psychic powers. [Great disciples] [Jhāna] [Psychic powers] [Concentration]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
[Session] Readings: [Mindfulness of mind] [Divine Abidings]
Sutta: MN 10: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, The Foundations of Mindfulness.
Right Mindfulness pp. 132-133, 174-175, 137.
Sutta: SN 42.8: “The Conch Blower.”
[Session] Readings: [Goodwill] [Recollection]
Sutta: AN 11.15: “Loving Kindness.”
Sutta: AN 11.11: “Mahānāma.”
1. Commentary on AN 11.11: “Mahānāma:” Using recollection to gladden and settle the mind. [Recollection] [Recollection/Buddha] [Recollection/Dhamma] [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Recollection/Virtue] [Recollection/Devas] [Gladdening the mind] [Calming meditation]
3. “How do you respond to the cynical inner voice when you recollect your own virtue?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Ṭhitapañño. [Recollection/Virtue ] [Judgementalism] // [Ajahn Sucitto] [Habits] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Culture/West] [Humor]
[Session] Readings: [Nibbāna]
Introduction to Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha p. 31-32 (quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 40-41).
Sutta: The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 224-226, 33-34.
[Session] Readings: [Mindfulness of dhammas]
“Contemplation of Dhammas,” p. 182-183, 185, and “The Perceptual Process,” p. 222-223, 225-226 in Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization by Venerable Analayo.
Right Mindfulness pp. 142-148.
[Session] Readings: [Mindfulness of feeling] [Feeling]
“The Perceptual Process,” p. 156-159 in Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization by Venerable Analayo.
Sutta: MN 44: Cūḷavedalla Sutta, The Small Discourse Giving an Elaboration.
2. Examples of pleasures of renunciation? Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Happiness] [Renunciation] [Rapture] // [Skillful qualities]
Sutta: Ud 2.10: “Oh, what bliss!”
3. Examples of unworldly, unpleasant feelings? Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Feeling] [Suffering] [Skillful qualities] // [Sense restraint]
Sutta: MN 44: Cūḷavedalla Sutta.
4. Clarification of underlying tendencies to unworldly, pleasant feelings? Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Unwholesome Roots] [Happiness] [Feeling] // [Desire] [Craving]
6. Dhammadinnā foremost in...? [Great disciples] [Bhikkhunī] // [Teaching Dhamma]
7. Discussion about neutral feeling and delusion. Led by Beth Steff, Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Neutral feeling] [Delusion] [Suffering] // [Happiness]
8. Discussion about feeling, craving, self and kamma. Led by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Feeling] [Craving] [Self-identity view] [Kamma] // [Dependent origination]
Sutta: MN 18: Madhupiṇḍika Sutta, The Honeyball.
9. “Is the goal (Nibbāna) a thought-less state of mind?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna] [Heart/mind] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Formless attainments] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Relinquishment] [Impermanence]
“Who is the only person who doesn’t think? An arahant? A Buddha?” “No. The only person who doesn’t think is a dead person.” – Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Arahant] [Buddha] [Death]
[Session] Readings: [Feeling]
Sutta: SN 36.4: “The Bottomless Abyss.”
Sutta: SN 36.6: “The Dart.”
Sutta: MN 74: Dīghanakha Sutta, To Dıghanakha.
1. “Is the second dart the self we create around feelings?” [Self-identity view] [Feeling] // [Aversion]
2. “How is it that when one feels a pleasant feeling, one cannot feel an unpleasant or neutral feeling?” [Feeling] // [Consciousness] [Similes]
[Session] Readings: [Feeling]
Sutta: SN 36.7: Gelañña Sutta, “The Sick Ward.”
Sutta: SN 36.21: “Sivaka.”
“The End of Rebirth,” The Stillness of Being by Ajahn Viradhammo, p. 67-77.
1. Meaning of “will become cool right here?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Feeling] // [Characteristics of existence] [Knowledge and vision] [Nibbāna] [Pāli]
2. Discussion about kamma and the results of kamma. Led by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo, Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Kamma] [Conditionality] [Feeling] // [Abuse/violence] [Abhidhamma] [Ajahn Chah] [Vajrayāna] [Sickness] [Compassion] [Culture/India] [Equanimity] [Disasters] [Christianity]
Quote: “Too much Dhamma.” — Ajahn Buddhadāsa. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Buddhadāsa]
Sutta: AN 4.77 Acinteyya: “Vexation or madness.”
Story: Ajahn Chah to Ajahn Munindo: “If it wasn’t supposed to be this way, it wouldn’t have been this way.” Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Munindo] [Self-pity]
Thai saying: “That’s as far as their merit takes them.” [Culture/Thailand] [Death] [Merit] [Thai]
[Session] Readings: [Proliferation] [Perception]
Sutta: MN 18: Madhupiṇḍika Sutta, The Honeyball.
“Categorical Answers,” Skill in Questions by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro, p. 85.
Sutta: AN 8.30: “Anuruddha.”
[Session] Readings: [Proliferation] [Perception]
Sutta: MN 18: Madhupiṇḍika Sutta, The Honeyball.
“The Perceptual Process,” p. 222-223, 225-226 in Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization by Venerable Analayo.
1. Comparison of causality in MN 18 and dependent origination. [Conditionality] [Dependent origination] [Proliferation] [Perception] // [Similes] [Suffering]
2. Translation of phassapaññattiṃ paññāpessatīti (manifestation, delineation). Teaching by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo, Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Pāli] [Translation] [Proliferation] [Perception] // [Bhikkhu Bodhi] [Commentaries] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro]
3. Comment: Dependent origination is not necessarily time-based. [Dependent origination] [Conditionality] [Proliferation] [Perception]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo.
4. “Can one sense-bases that starts the proliferation process lead to different sense-bases?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Sense bases] [Conditionality] [Proliferation] [Perception] // [Feeling] [Heart/mind]
5. Examples of signs and secondary characteristics of sense objects? Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Sense bases] [Proliferation] [Perception] // [Ven. Analayo] [Sensual desire] [Conditionality] [Food] [Appropriate attention]
Sutta: Thig 14.1: Subhā.
Comment about the feedback loop of perceptions looking for reinforcing perceptions. [Views] [Clinging]
Quote: “The underlying tendency to aversion is like a search engine.” — Ajahn Sucitto. Quoted by Beth Steff. [Ajahn Sucitto] [Aversion] [Similes]
1. “You showed pictures of the statue at Bodh Gaya. It seems like the Bodhi Tree is more important. Does the statue have no historical importance?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo, Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Bodhi Tree] [Buddha images] [Visiting holy sites] // [Devotional practice] [History/Early Buddhism] [History/Indian Buddhism] [Symbolism] [Tipiṭaka]
3. “Did pilgrimage continue during the time Buddhism was dormant or nonexistent in India?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [History/Indian Buddhism] [Visiting holy sites] // [History/Mahāyāna Buddhism]
Comment: It seems like the memory would have continued in Sri Lanka. [History/Sri Lankan Buddhism]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo.
4. “What is considered pilgrimage in the modern world? Going by train or bus?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Technology] [Travel] [Visiting holy sites] // [History/Thai Buddhism] [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Generosity] [Pace of life]
7. “What is the mileage from Lumbini to Bodh Gaya?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Visiting holy sites]
Quote: “One mile in India does not equal a mile in America.” — Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Culture/India]
Reference: Rude Awakenings and Great Patient One by Ajahn Sucitto and Nick Scott.
8. “Is one of the benefits of being a monastic having to live up to people’s expectations?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Monastic life] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Robes] [Buddhist identity] // [Conventions] [Christianity] [Idealism] [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand]
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]
18. Story: A woman likes Buddhist teachings and principles, follows the precepts, and meditates, but hates when people identify with this and call themselves Buddhist. [Dhamma] [Precepts] [Meditation] [Aversion] [Buddhist identity] [Clinging] [Self-identity view]
1. “Could you clarify the difference between mindfulness and concentration?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Mindfulness] [Concentration ] // [Nature of mind] [Pāli] [Translation]
Follow-up: “You said earlier that mindfulness always comes before concentration, but based on what you just defined, I would think it would be the opposite.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno.
1. “What do you do when things like knee pain arise?” [Meditation/General advice] [Pain] [Aversion] [Hindrances] // [Compassion]
2. “Is there ever a dominant hindrance, but then in the service of that, the mind picks up other hindrances?” [Aversion] [Hindrances] // [Sensual desire] [Sloth and torpor]
3. “Sometimes I just notice that the state that is there [a hindrance] is going to go away. Isn’t that a skillful way of looking at it?” [Impermanence] [Skillful qualities] [Hindrances] // [Clear comprehension] [Habits]
Sutta: MN 20: The Removal of Distracting Thoughts [Right Effort] [Similes]
4. “If a hindrance comes up, one thing to do is to acknowledge it and observe it, but on the other hand, one can bring up its opposite. Do you do either depending on what is needed? Sometimes when I bring up the opposite, it prevents me from seeing it.” [Sloth and torpor] [Right Effort] [Hindrances]
5. “Do you have any advice for obsessive thoughts, thinking the same thing again and again?” [Proliferation] [Hindrances] // [Investigation of states] [Mindfulness of body]
8. Comment: Absorption dependent on the pleasure that comes from sense contact may not be completely wholesome. [Concentration] [Happiness] [Contact] [Sense bases] [Jhāna] [Skillful qualities]
9. “Isn’t rapture and joy a sensual pleasure?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Rapture] [Happiness] [Sense bases] [Jhāna] // [Dhamma] [Virtue] [Generosity] [Compassion] [Recollection/Virtue]
Quote: “You can actually give yourself permission to enjoy the meditation.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation]
24. “In the jhāna similes (MN 39.15), ‘He makes...’ seems very active. In dropping away things, is it a conscious dropping or an allowing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Right Concentration] [Relinquishment] [Jhāna] // [Volitional formations] [Conditionality] [Right Effort]
Quote: “Ajahn Chah emphasizes the doing within a sphere of detachment and letting go.” [Ajahn Chah]
13. “What is the difference between a fetter and a hindrance?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Fetters ] [Hindrances ] // [Pāli] [Stream entry] [Tranquility] [Attachment to precepts and practices] [Stages of awakening] [Saṃsāra]
[Session] Reading: “Apaṇṇaka Dhammas,” Don’t Hold Back by Ajahn Pasanno, pp. 71–81. [Incontrovertible practices]
1. Reflections about the apaṇṇaka dhammas. [Incontrovertible practices] // [Devotion to wakefulness] [Meditation retreats] [Energy] [Moderation in eating] [Sense restraint]
Comment: Appaṇṇaka can also be translated as ‘a safe bet.’ [Translation] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro]
1. “Should we judge the quality of our meditation only by the time we spend in focused concentration?” Answered by Ajahn Jotipālo, Ajahn Ñāṇiko, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and the Abhayagiri Saṅgha. [Ajahn Ñāṇadhammo] [Meditation/Results ] [Concentration] // [Mindfulness] [Right Effort] [Investigation of states] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Hindrances]
References: Walking Meditation by Ajahn Ñāṇadhammo; “The Five Hindrances,” from The Anthology Vol. 1 by Ajahn Sumedho, pp. 35–44.
Story: Ajahn Tate and the bhavaṅga states. Told by Ajahn Jotipālo and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Ajahn Tate] [Wrong concentration] [Ajahn Mun] [Mindfulness of body]
Story: Ajahn Khao meditates all night with no awareness. Told by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Ajahn Khao]
1. Comments about understanding metta as radical acceptance. [Goodwill]
2. “What is the relationship between truthfulness, the truth of the way things are, and metta?” [Truth] [Goodwill] // [Perfections] [Aversion]
Bhikkhu Bodhi presents the Ten Perfections in linear order. Comment by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Bhikkhu Bodhi]
Reference: A Study of the the Pāramīs by Bhikkhu Bodhi.
The perception of not-self helps us avoid denying unskillful mind states. Comment by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Not-self] [Unskillful qualities] [Self-identity view]
3. Comments about the translation of saṃvega as fear, terror, or awe. Contributed by Ajahn Ñāṇiko and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Spiritual urgency] [Translation] [Fear]
1. Comments about the Middle Way being different for different people. Contributed by Ajahn Ñāṇiko, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pesalo. [Middle Path] [Unwholesome Roots] [Idealism]
1. Appreciation for Ajahn Sucitto’s detailed descriptions of the maneuverings of the mind by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ajahn Sucitto ] [Teaching Dhamma]
Reference: Kamma and the End of Kamma by Ajahn Sucitto.
3. Ajahn Sucitto suggests cutting out habitual reaction patterns by bringing up the perception of not-self. [Ajahn Sucitto] [Right Effort] [Habits] [Not-self] [Conditionality] [Relinquishment]
Reference: Kamma and the End of Kamma by Ajahn Sucitto.
4. The habitual perceptual patterns condition what we seek out to experience. [Habits] [Perception] [Craving] // [Ignorance]
Reference: Kamma and the End of Kamma by Ajahn Sucitto.
We can see how our body and mnd are in constant flux, but we see others as fixed and solid. Comment by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Impermanence] [Views] [Community]
Story: A peaceful sīladhara no longer tells stories in her mind. Told by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Proliferation] [Equanimity]
1. Discussion about desire as natural and the reduction and eventual elimination of desire. [Desire] [Sensual desire] [Naturalness] [Craving] // [Aversion] [Cause of Suffering] [Judgementalism] [Cessation of Suffering]
Reference: “Why Come to a Monastery?” by Ajahn Candasiri in Friends on the Path by Ajahn Sundarā and Ajahn Candasirī, pp. 13-21.
The word natural carries positive connotations in English. Comment by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Language] [Culture/West]
2. “Is desire itself the problem or is clinging to and identifying with desire the problem?” [Desire] [Clinging] [Self-identity view] [Sensual desire] [Naturalness ] [Craving ] // [Feeling] [Dependent origination]
Quote: “Taṇhā is eliminate-able.” [Cessation of Suffering]
Comment about distinguishing between hunger and taṇha at meal time. [Food] [Moderation in eating]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Views]
3. Further discussion about the role of desire in practice. Led by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Desire] [Sensual desire] [Naturalness] [Craving] // [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Conditionality] [Human] [Monastic life] [Judgementalism]
Comment: If you aren’t willing to see desire as a dhamma, then you’ll never see Dhamma. [Dhamma] [Culture/West] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy]
Reference: “Why Come to a Monastery?” by Ajahn Candasiri in Friends on the Path by Ajahn Sundarā and Ajahn Candasirī, pp. 13-21.
A practitioner tells Ajahn Paññāvaḍḍho that sexual desire is natural. He replies, “So is the Dhamma.” [Ajahn Paññāvaḍḍho]
Recollection of Ajahn Karuṇadhammo’s advice to an anagārika about different approaches to dealing with lust. Recounted by Ajahn Pesalo. [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Unattractiveness] [Characteristics of existence]
1. Comment: I have to brace myself when someone is about to kill a bug. [Killing] [Judgementalism]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Conscience and prudence] [Aversion] [Admonishment/feedback] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Goodwill] [Precepts]
1. “During the development of Abhayagiri over the years, has there been a shift in how strictly some practices, activities are followed?” Answered by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Debbie Stamp. [Amaravati] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ascetic practices] [Culture/West] [Divine Abidings] [Abhayagiri] // [Ajahn Chah] [Devotion to wakefulness] [Work] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Admonishment/feedback] [Protocols] [Ajahn Amaro] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy]
Story: Can we ask for soymilk? [Food] [Simplicity]
Recollection: The effects of the gap in seniority between Ajahn Amaro and (then) Tan Karuṇadhammo. [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Sequence of training]
Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno is lighter and softer now. Recounted by Debbie Stamp. [Personal presence]
Recollection: The gung-ho early days of Chithurst and Amaravati. Recounted by Debbie Stamp. [Chithurst] [Disrobing]
Recollection: The beginning of sharing circles. Recounted by Debbie Stamp. [Sharing circles] [Culture/Thailand]
2. Comment by Ajahn Ñāṇiko: Abhayagiri works because the abbots empower members of the community to be in charge of different aspects of the monastery. [Abhayagiri] [Abbot] [Saṅgha decision making ]
Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno asks the Saṅgha before accepting invitations. [Ajahn Pasanno]
Quote: “Ajahn Pasanno is genuinely open to junior members’ opinions.” [Admonishment/feedback] [Humility]
Comment: Less admonishment in korwat is needed now at Abhayagiri because momentum has built and you can follow the group. [Protocols]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo.
3. Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno consults the group rather than dictating decisions. Recounted by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Abbot ] [Abhayagiri] [Saṅgha decision making] [Leadership]
Quote: “Sometimes it’s better to be harmonious than to be right.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Communal harmony] [Views]
Quote: “I must hurry, for there they go, and I am their leader.” — Sign above a boss’s desk. Quoted by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Humor]
5. Story: “How is it going? There are a lot of weeds growing on your walking path.” Told by Debbie Stamp. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Debbie Stamp] [Work] [Posture/Walking]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Gratitude]
3. “Could you give some guidance on when to patiently endure and when to use discernment to deal with something?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Patience ] [Discernment] // [Right Effort] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities]
Story: A fortune teller reads Ajahn Chah’s palm. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Aversion]
[Session] Reading: “Head and Heart Together” from Head and Heart Together by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro, pp. 51-60.
1. Comments on right view and skillful cause and effect regarding the brahmaviharas. [Right View] [Right Intention] [Conditionality] [Kamma] [Divine Abidings] // [Insight meditation] [Goodwill]
3. Comment: In “Selves & Not-self by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro,” Ajahn Ṭhānissaro talks about generosity and metta as wisdom practices. [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Generosity] [Goodwill] [Discernment] // [Self-identity view]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Becoming] [Not-self]
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]
2. Reflection: What we take with us. [Ageing] [Death] [Memory ] // [Gratitude] [Ajahn Karuṇadhammo] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Amaro] [Debbie Stamp] [Goodwill]
4. “In the West, we personalize every bit of suffering. Is it different in Thailand?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Culture/West ] [Suffering] [Self-identity view] [Culture/Thailand] // [Language] [Liberation]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno can’t translate guilt into Thai. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Thai] [Translation]
Quote: “That’s really suffering. Tell them not to do that.” — Ajahn Paññānanda. [Ajahn Paññānanda]
Reference: Can’t We Talk about Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast (commercial). [Ageing] [Sickness] [Parents] [Health care]
4. Comment: When I hear the word “shame,” it’s.a cousin of guilt. But in this context (AN 7.6), it seems more acceptable. [Treasures] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Conscience and prudence]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Language] [Christianity]
9. “I like the translations ‘conscience’ and ‘concern’ for hiri and otappa. Having done unskillful actions in the past that create suffering, and being aware of the tendency to personalize, how can it be over and done?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Treasures] [Conscience and prudence ] [Unskillful qualities] [Suffering] [Kamma] [Self-identity view] // [Four Noble Truths] [Divine Abidings]
Quote: “As a human being, I have the opportunity to learn from the past and move on to skillful action in the future. I don’t have to be like a dog that barfs stuff up and goes back and eats it again.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Human] [Learning] [Skillful qualities] [Similes]
Quote: “The not-self refrain, ‘This is not me, this is not mine, this is not what or who I am,’ is not an abdication of responsibility but an understanding, ‘This is the way I can put things down and move on, move past the things that are still creating suffering.’” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Not-self] [Relinquishment]
Suttas: SN 42.8 The Conch Blower; AN 3.100: A Lump of Salt.
9. “Was sati, vedana, jhana part of the religious climate current at the Buddha’s time? How revolutionary was he seen to be then? Do we know?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [History/Early Buddhism] [Buddha/Biography] [Mindfulness] [Feeling] [Jhāna] // [Four Noble Truths] [Aggregates] [Culture/India ] [Kamma] [Volition]
14. “Are devas imagery or symbolism, or are they tangible for some people? Particularly the talk around the heavenly minstrels and nagas in the water (Snp 3.11)....” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Deva ] [Symbolism] [Realms of existence] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Recollection/Devas] [Virtue] [Kamma]
1. “The last option [in MN 20] I thought was really interesting because it’s rare I hear such aggressive terms used. There’s almost a sense of violence in some of those terms. Is that just because of the interpretation? Also, is another option to get rid of the thought to get up and actively do something?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Language] [Abuse/violence] [Exercise] // [Buddha/Biography] [Similes] [Cleanliness] [Gladdening the mind]
4. “When you go into your body to feel the underlying emotion behind a thought, what happens when the bodily feeling is so uncomfortable that you really don’t want to feel it?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Mindfulness of body] [Emotion] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Suffering ] [Aversion] [Fear] // [Recollection/Buddha] [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Recollection/Virtue] [Faith]
Follow-up: “It seems really difficult to think of Dhamma or the refuges while in such a wrapped-up state. I don’t know if I could do that.” [Noble Truth of Suffering] [Visualization] [Goodwill] [Compassion]
5. Comment: I’ve discovered on this path that we can change, but sometimes we can not change, and it’s just accepting ourselves better and being more at ease in our bodies. [Eightfold Path] [Judgementalism] [Tranquility]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo.
10. “How can you connect the five methods [of MN 20] with the development of insight, which people tend to equate with just observing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] // [Investigation of states] [Characteristics of existence] [Dependent origination] [Cessation]
12. Comment by Rik Center: The language in method five [of MN 20] still catches me. If I’m pushing against a thought and beating it down, I’m actually more attached to it because of that. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Right Effort] [Abuse/violence] [Clinging]
Responses by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo.
16. Comment: My experience with method five [of MN 20] is that it works when the mind doing the crushing is compassion mind, wisdom mind. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Compassion] [Discernment] [Right Intention]
Responses by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo.
7. “Do thoughts by themselves have karmic consequences?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Kamma] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Perception] [Feeling] [Volition] [Self-identity view]
Sutta: MN 56: Upāli
Follow-up: “Is it good kamma to decide not to act on an unskillful thought?” [Skillful qualities]
Story: A person talks with Ajahn Liem, analyzing their consistently bad thoughts and obsessions. He replies, “If you see a pile of excrement, why would you want to stick your nose in it?” Told by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ajahn Liem] [Unskillful qualities] [Similes] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Culture/Thailand] [Thai Forest Tradition]
Comment: I think my problem is that my nose is already in there, and I don’t want to realize that I’m so stupid that it’s hard to get it out. [Delusion]
9. Comment: It’s so hard not to identify with the contents of the mind, to not make it me and mine. Realizing how useless so many of my thoughts are helps. [Self-identity view] [Guilt/shame/inadequacy] [Suffering] [Disenchantment] [Directed thought and evaluation]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness] [Pāli]
Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Not-self] [Humility]
17. “Abhayagiri’s daily and yearly schedule provide a good balance of individual and communal practice. How did this happen?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Abhayagiri] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Amaro] [Seclusion] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] // [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
4. Story: Learning the Paṭimokkha. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pāṭimokkha] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Chanting] // [Ajahn Chah] [Culture/India]
Responses by Ajahn Ñāṇiko, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Kaccāna.
2. “Are the dots under m and n [ṃ, ṇ] that inscrutable non-English sound that was mentioned earlier?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Chanting] [Pāli]
Follow-up: “And that has nothing to do with the pitch going down? That’s the carat mark?” [History/Western Buddhist monasticism]
4. “Can you explain the rhythm and scanning of the seventh of the Eight Precepts (Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 135)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Eight Precepts] [Entertainment and adornment] [Chanting] [Pāli]
6. Story: Ajahn Pasanno spends Vassa on the Burmese border, but can’t chant smoothly with two monks of different nationalities. Told by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Rains retreat] [Chanting] [Pāli]
9. “Are there any standards for the high and low tone marks?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Ñāṇiko and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Chanting] [Pāli] // [Thai]