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[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 6, pp. 117-123. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Suttas: MN 113.21; MN 137.19-20; AN 4.24.
Richard Gombrich, ‘Metaphor, Allegory, Satire,’ in How Buddhism Began: The Conditioned Genesis of the Early Teachings, pp. 86-7.
Hsin Hsin Ming, the verses of the Third Ch’an Patriarch.
Atulo, collected teachings of Ajahn Dune compiled by Ajahn Bodhinandamuni (no full English translation).
AN 3.40 in The Magic of the Mind by Bhikkhu Ñāṇananda pp. 49 & 52.
4. “How does atammayatā relate to Ajahn Chah’s simile about oil and water, the mind and the mind objects being separate?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Non-identification] [Ajahn Chah] [Similes ] [Nature of mind]
Quote: “Inside is Dhamma, outside is Dhamma, everything is Dhamma.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Dhamma]
Quote: “All symbols and similes are partially relevant. All analogies are partial.” — Ajahn Amaro. [Symbolism/metaphor]
5. Recollections of Ajahn Dune by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Dune] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Amaro] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Wat Burapha]
Quote: “The noise that comes from the town is just minding its own business. Why do you go out and bother it?” — Ajahn Dune. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Contact] [Equanimity]
6. “I’m super perplexed and baffled with defining or understanding the term suchness or thusness. Are you able to communicate what it actually means?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Suchness ] // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Language] [Knowing itself] [Aggregates] [Unconditioned] [Dhamma] [Recollection/Dhamma]
Quotes: “It’s like this.” “Reality is unimaginable.” — Ajahn Sumedho. [Direct experience]
Sutta: MN 72.20, quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 172.
[Session] Readings by Ajahn Amaro:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 6, pp. 123-124:
Sutta: MN 18.16-19.
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 7, pp. 125-126:
Sutta: AN 3.128.
1. “I’ve heard saññā interpreted as perception/memory. Is memory included in saññā?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro, Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Perception] [Memory] // [Mindfulness]
Reference: Uncommon Wisdom: The Life and Teachings of Ajahn Paññāvaḍḍho by Ajahn Dick Sīlaratano, p. 199.
3. “When the mind rests in awareness and it’s not going out, it feels very natural. It knows that this is the place to be, but still over and over again, no matter how clearly it sees this pure quality and peaceful quality, it still goes out to thoughts. The mind keeps going out. It keeps grabbing, it keeps identifying, even though it knows this is dukkha.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Knowing itself] [Clinging] [Suffering] [Long-term practice] // [Noting] [Mindfulness of mind] [Idealism] [Discernment] [Food] [Feeling] [Birth]
Quote: “It’s just that much.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah]
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]
7. Comment by Tan Cittasaṃvaro: A stock phrase associated with stream entry is ‘independent of the teaching.’ It seems that although they are independent, [stream enterers] can still benefit from guidance. [Stream entry] [Self-reliance] [Hearing the true Dhamma]
Sutta: AN 3.128.
Response by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Faith] [Doubt] [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Sumedho]
Sutta: MN 74.14: Sāriputta’s awakening. [Great disciples]
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 7, pp. 126-132. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Stephen Collins, Selfless Persons, pp. 43-45.
Suttas: MN 64.9-16, AN 9.36; Iti 51; AN 9.37; SN 48.57; AN 10.58; AN 8.73; MN 49.23; MN 1.25.
1. Reflection: The contrast between the vipassanūpakkilesa (defilements of insight) and the vipassanāñāṇa (insight knowledges). [Insight meditation] [Defilements of insight] [Knowledge and vision] // [Perception of light] [Characteristics of existence]
2. “Do you have any suggestions on how to strengthen our ability for non conceptual investigation?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation] // [Present moment awareness] [Artistic expression] [Mindfulness of mind]
3. “Would you say that way of reflecting using non conceptual thought is more effective or more penetrative than using verbalisation?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Insight meditation] [Directed thought and evaluation] // [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Jāgaro] [Culture/West]
Reference: “What is Contemplation?”, Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 475.
6. “The space where everything arises and ceases, where it is not arising and ceasing—it is just knowing. That is how I experience the still point. … When I turn the mind towards that, I sometimes feel like something is wrong because there is a sense of trying to keep it there. There is a sense of wanting to fixate on it. … So I wonder whether Ajahn or Luang Por have any helpful way of how we should hold turning towards it in a way that is the middle way.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Spaciousness] [Knowing itself] [Clinging] [Middle Path] // [Non-identification] [Similes] [Becoming]
Reference: Silence by John Cage. [Artistic expression]
[Session] Readings by Ajahn Amaro:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 8, pp. 133-137:
Bhikkhu Bodhi, Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, Note 513.
Sutta: DN 11.81-5.
Sutta: MN 49.26.
3. “What about different definitions of the mind? Sometimes the Pāli is citta …” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Heart/mind] [Pāli] // [Nature of mind] [Sense bases] [Liberation] [Translation]
Sutta: SN 22.59 Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta: Their hearts (citta) were liberated ... (Chanting book translation).
4. “We often speak of the mind, and we associate it with the mental mind, and we often feel that it’s in the area of the head. Then, when we feel the heart, we often feel like it’s in the area of the heart chakra. I see that in meditation, we can actually expand our field of awareness, maybe to the whole body or even more. Are there different approaches or degrees to this? How does it relate to consciousness?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Heart/mind] [Nature of mind] [Spaciousness] [Consciousness] // [Translation] [Language] [Hinduism] [Emotion] [Mindfulness of mind] [Body/form]
5. Comment: In the first Dhammapada verse, mano seems to be used not as a sense gate but sort of a leading part of consciousness. [Heart/mind] [Sense bases] [Consciousness]
Response by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Thai Forest Tradition] [Recollection] [Language] [Conventions]
Sutta: SN 1.25: The Buddha’s use of ‘I’ as conventional language.
6. “Did the Buddha use viññāṇa to describe the mind as the sixth sense gate sometimes?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Consciousness] [Heart/mind] [Sense bases]
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 8, pp. 137-140. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Dependent Origination by P. A. Payutto, pp. 118-120.
Concept and Reality by Bhikkhu Ñāṇananda p. 63.
2. “Are [the links of Dependent Origination] from the perspective of the mind or is it also from the perspective of the jhānas where you have the cessation of appearances altogether? Or is it strictly on the level of volition?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Dependent origination] [Jhāna] [Cessation] [Volition] // [Nature of mind] [Appropriate attention] [Conditionality]
3. Recollection: Abhayagiri’s contact with Gomde California. Recounted by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Abhayagiri] [Gomde California] [Vajrayāna] [Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche]
6. “You mentioned [existentialism/eternalism] and nihilism as familiar Western philosophical ideas. I understand that Buddhism’s approach is not one or the other. How do other Western philosophical ideas like solipsism or materialism sit?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Philosophy ] [Middle Path] // [God] [Humor] [Views] [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Teaching Dhamma]
Sutta: SN 22.86: “I teach suffering and the end of suffering.”
Comment: Philosophy usually tries to create a philosophy from which you pull down how to live your life, but the Buddha is the other way around.
Sutta: DN 1: Sixty-two wrong views.
7. “It is, friend, in just this fathom-high carcass endowed with perception and mind that I make known the world, the origin of the world, the cessation of the world, and the way leading to the cessation of the world.” — SN 2.26.5 [Bhikkhu Bodhi translation]. [Nature of the cosmos ] [Four Noble Truths]
Quote: “This pithy utterance of the Buddha may well be the most profound proposition in the history of human thought.” — Bhikkhu Bodhi’s footnote to the above passage. [Bhikkhu Bodhi] [Philosophy]
Sutta: SN 35.116: The world in the Noble One’s discipline.
[Session] Readings by Ajahn Amaro:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 8, pp. 141-142:
Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, pp. 90-91.
Sutta: Snp 4.11 (Venerable H. Saddhatissa translation).
2. “Could you clarify what you said about the mind and objects of awareness and how freedom from attachments is possible?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Nature of mind] [Knowing itself] [Liberation] // [Non-identification] [Insight meditation] [Ajahn Mun]
Simile: Oil and water. — Ajahn Chah. [Similes] [Ajahn Chah]
Follow-up: “I like flowers, but I need to stop buying flowers. How can this help?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Clinging] [Feeling] [Volitional formations]
3. Story: Ajahn Amaro’s insight his first day at Wat Pah Nanachat: “I didn’t get the pineapple and nothing is missing!” Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Amaro ] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Desire] [Eating after noon] [Impermanence] [Insight meditation] // [Liberation]
Quote: “Desire is a liar.” [Craving]
Ajahn Pasanno recollects Ajahn Amaro’s arrival at Wat Pah Nanachat.
4. Question about associating with and clinging to wholesome and conducive environments. Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Skillful qualities] [Clinging] [Spiritual friendship] // [Suffering] [Knowing itself] [Discernment] [Amaravati] [Ajahn Chah]
Quote: “If you seek for security in what is insecure, you are bound to suffer.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Impermanence]
Quote: “Wanting what’s good without stop. That’s a disease of the mind.” — Ajahn Mun, Ballad of Liberation from the Khandhas. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Mun] [Craving]
Quote: “Live simply; be natural.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Simplicity]
Story: A sincere practitioner’s family complains about his way of being mindful. Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Mindfulness] [Everyday life] [Pace of life]
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 8, pp. 143-146. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Suttas: AN 11.9; AN 10.6; MN 10.34-35, DN 22.12.
Atulo, collected teachings of Ajahn Dune compiled by Ajahn Bodhinandamuni (no full English translation).
1. Comment: The separation between the mind and the sense/mind objects can be helpfully contemplated at multiple levels of acuity. Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Nature of mind] [Knowing itself] [Sense bases] // [Nibbāna] [Ajahn Chah]
Sutta: AN 11.9.
Reference: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, pp. 90-91.
Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Perception] [Etymology]
Quote: “The Five Khandhas exist, but they aren’t real. The Dhamma is real, but it doesn’t exist.” — Ajahn Paññāvaḍḍho. [Ajahn Paññāvaḍḍho] [Aggregates] [Dhamma]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
Quote: “Bright, loud, and mobile is the false; subtle and indistinct is the true.” — Master Hsuan Hua to Ajahn Amaro in a dream. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Master Hsuan Hua] [Ajahn Amaro] [Dreams] [Truth]
5. Ajahn Pasanno translates and reflects upon, “Etaṁ santaṁ, etaṁ paṇītaṁ ...” as found in AN 10.6. [Recollection/Peace] // [Ajahn Pasanno]
9. Comment: Practicing the Four Brahmavihāras is a relation practice that is very powerful in letting go of the self. [Divine Abidings] [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment]
Response by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Emotion] [Ajahn Vajiro]
Reference: Abundant, Exalted, Immeasurable by Ajahn Pasanno.
10. “If you are constantly around someone who engages you with prolonged and agitated discussion, how do you handle that?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Idle chatter] // [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Admonishment/feedback]
Sutta: MN 2: Sabbāsava Sutta.
Quote: “Never give feedback to your fellow samaṇas before the meal.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Monastic life]
Quote: “We can be completely mindful of taking initiative. Our capacity to act is part of the way things are.” — Ajahn Amaro. [Right Action ] [Discernment] [Right Mindfulness] [Buddha/Biography]
[Session] Readings by Ajahn Amaro:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 8, pp. 146-150:
Ajahn Chah, (anecdotal).
Atulo, collected teachings of Ajahn Dune compiled by Ajahn Bodhinandamuni (no full English translation).
Suttas: MN 49.25; SN 12.38; SN 22.53.
Suttas: MN 49.11-31; MN 140.21-22.
1. Teaching from the commentaries: Only the Buddha overcomes all personality tendencies. Contributed by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Buddha] [Personality] [Commentaries] // [Arahant] [Great disciples]
3. “When you are talking about Dependent Origination and craving, I thought that all of that had ceased for an arahant.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Dependent origination] [Craving] [Arahant] [Cessation] // [Feeling] [Unskillful qualities] [Ignorance] [Māra]
Suttas: SN 4.6; SN 4.20: The Buddha’s encounters with Māra. [Buddha/Biography]
Sutta: MN 50: Mahā Mogallāna rebukes Māra. [Great disciples]
Sutta: SN 10.3: Sūciloma. [Non-human beings]
5. Story: Ajahn Chah explains the many lines on his palm: “Yeah, I’ve had a lot of suffering. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to teach you.” [Ajahn Chah] [Suffering] [Teaching Dhamma] // [Ajahn Viradhammo]
7. “What is the difference between unsupported and unsupportive [consciousness]?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Unestablished consciousness] // [Direct experience] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Self-identity view] [Appropriate attention]
Reference: The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 133.
Quote: “We say the mind is empty, but it’s actually full of wisdom.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Chah] [Emptiness] [Discernment]
Reference: Wisdom Develops Samādhi by Ajahn Mahā Boowa
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 8, pp. 151-154. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Suttas: MN 22.36; SN 12.64; Snp 752-3; MN 62.17; SN 4.19.
1. “What is the Pāli term that [the Buddha] uses for volitional formations [in SN 12.64]?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Pāli] [Volitional formations] // [Volition] [Nutriment]
3. Reflections by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno about the Dhamma and Vinaya aspects of dependence. [Dhamma] [Vinaya] [Dependence] // [Middle Path] [Four Noble Truths]
Sutta: Snp 752-753: “There is danger in dependence.” [Clinging]
Quote: “The Dhamma is all about letting go, and the Vinaya is all about holding on. When you figure out how these work together, you’ll be fine.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Relinquishment]
4. “In [MN 62], the Buddha goes through the elements. Here (MN 62.17) it says that space is not established anywhere. Do you remember what he said for earth and water?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Elements] // [Equanimity]
6. Recollection: Ajahn Chah’s advice for establishing mindfulness in the midst of strong emotions. Recounted by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Mindfulness] [Emotion] // [Ajahn Amaro] [Food] [Suffering] [Conditionality] [Equanimity] [Mindfulness of body] [Greed]
Story: Ajahn Chah eats 37 mangoes.
7. “How does pīti relate to the fulfillment of desire?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Rapture ] [Benefit/gratification] [Happiness] // [Unification] [Jhāna] [Craving] [Relinquishment] [Addiction]
1. Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 8, pp. 154-156. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
The Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra, Ch 1.
Vajra Sūtra, Ch 10, “The Adornment of Pure Lands.”
3. “Is there a difference between citta and poo roo?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Heart/mind ] [Knowing itself] [Nature of mind] // [Thai] [Language] [Proliferation] [Dhamma] [Buddha] [Ajahn Amaro] [Dhamma books]
Quote: “If there’s anything left, just throw it to the dogs.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Chah] [Relinquishment]
5. Reading from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 9, pp. 157-158. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Straight from the Heart by Ajahn Mahā Boowa, p. 228
[Session] Readings by Ajahn Amaro:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 9, pp. 158-165:
Suttas: Ud 8.1; Ud 8.3, Iti 43; Ud 8.4; Milindapañha 324; Milindapañha 327-328; SN 1.1.
The Magic of the Mind by Bhikkhu Ñāṇananda, pp. 58-60.
Ācariya Nāgārjuna, Mūlamadyamaka-kārika, Ch 25.
Ajahn Chah, personal letter to Ajahn Sumedho.
“What is Contemplation?”, Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, pp. 475-479.
Sutta: Ud 1.10: Bāhiya, quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 65.
1. Background of “What is Contemplation?” [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Jāgaro] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
3. “For good or right contemplation, do you need some amount of samādhi so that it won’t proliferate in thinking?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Discernment] [Concentration] [Proliferation] // [Thai Forest Tradition]
4. “Are mindfulness of mind and contemplating a subject such as impermanence two different approaches?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of mind] [Recollection] // [Ajahn Chah] [Language] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Appropriate attention] [Lawfulness]
Reference: “What is Contemplation?”, Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, pp. 475-479.
Quote: “Your best contemplation is quite thoughtless.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Tranquility]
Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Yoniso manasikāra is a way of paying attention to the process of experience. [Pāli] [Characteristics of existence]
6. “Can you explain what Ajahn Mahā Boowa means by ‘the essence of a level of being’ in Straight from the Heart by Ajahn Mahā Boowa, p. 228, quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 158?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Becoming] // [Clinging] [Birth] [Fetters] [Restlessness and worry] [Conceit] [Knowing itself]
7. Comment: The translation of the Nibbāna Sutta (Ud 8.3) in The Island renders paññāyati as ‘discerned;’ the Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 49 translates it as ‘possible.’ Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Discernment] [Translation] [Chanting]
Response by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno.
Quote: “If you can’t go forward, if you can’t go backwards, if you can’t stand still, where do you go?” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Koan]
Sutta: Ud 8.1.
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 15, pp. 270-274:
Suttas: SN 1.1; MN 112.4, .6, .8 & .10; AN 10.7.
“The Four Noble Truths,” p. 333 in Food for the Heart (Wisdom Publications) by Ajahn Chah (commercial).
1. Story: A Tibetan monk expresses appreciation for Ajahn Chah’s 1979 visit to Manjurshri Institute. [Manjushri Institute] [Ajahn Chah] [Gratitude] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Tudong]
2. Comment by Ajahn Kaccāna: It’s wonderful to hear Ajahn Chah’s brutal honesty about what it’s like being a teacher. [Ajahn Chah] [Teaching Dhamma]
Reference: Food for the Heart (Wisdom Publications) by Ajahn Chah (commercial) p. 333.
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
3. “When I heard that Ajahn Amaro spent two years [not lying down], I was very impressed. But thinking about how Luang Por Sumedho watched Ajahn Amaro do this for two years and then saying, ‘Ah, finally you’re stopping!’ Why do you let people make their own experience?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Amaro] [Sitter's practice] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Teaching Dhamma]
4. Reflections by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno comparing the diversity of expression in the Six Sets of Six (MN 148) to the Mahāgosiṅga Sutta (MN 32). [Great disciples] [Buddha/Biography] // [Determination]
Sutta: SN 14.15: Students gravitate towards the personality of the teacher. [Personality]
5. Comment: [This discussion of ‘Nibbāna is the cessation of becoming’ (AN 10.7)] reminds me of the last testament of a well-known teacher: ‘Rest in purity and evenness and do something for the benefit of others.’ [Nibbāna] [Equanimity] [Compassion]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Simplicity]
Reading: “The Safest Way to Dwell,” Gifts He Left Behind by Ajahn Dune, p. 102. [Ajahn Dune]
Quote: “As for me, I dwell with knowing. ... Knowing is the normality of mind that’s empty, bright, pure, that has stopped fabricating, stopped searching, stopped all mental motions—having nothing, not attached to anything at all.” [Knowing itself] [Cessation]
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 15, pp. 274-277:
Suttas: AN 8.30; SN 2.5; AN 3.83; SN 52.9; MN 123.22; MN 122.4, .6 & .7.
Sutta: MN 123: Wonderful and Marvelous.
1. Reflection: The result of the training is that one is freed form greed, hatred, and delusion. [Vinaya] [Unwholesome Roots] // [Unskillful qualities] [Liberation] [Virtue]
2. “When Ajahn Chah reached full liberation, did he wait two years just to be sure?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Chah] [Liberation] // [Delusion] [Doubt]
Simile from Ajahn Chah: “To me that’s just the chattering of the birds.” Related by Ajahn Amaro. [Similes]
Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: People get infatuated and enthralled by attainment. [Craving] [Meditation/Results] [Relinquishment]
Quote: “[Ajahn Chah’s] duty was to try to teach people Dhamma, as opposed to being something for anybody.” — Ajahn Pasanno. [Teaching Dhamma] [Becoming]
3. “You talked about the end of striving, the end of straining, the end of forcing just now. Yesterday you were talking about standing on one side and neither straining nor moving back. It seems to be a bit of a paradox. Do we strain now and stop when we get there?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Right Effort] [Energy] // [Middle Path] [Learning] [Aspects of Understanding]
Sutta: MN 39: Don’t be content with wholesome states.
Sutta: AN 2.5: The qualities that allowed the Buddha to realize full Awakening.
4. “How did the Buddha deal with this issue of people becoming enlightened contemporaneous with him and getting a little bit crazy? His contemporaries also had siddhis [psychic powers] and practices? How did he distinguish between Buddhist and non-Buddhist attainments?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Buddha/Biography] [Liberation] [Delusion] [Psychic powers] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment] [Becoming]
Sutta: AN 6.48: A proper declaration of full knowledge does not include a sense of me and mine.
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1.38: Rules for wanderers of other sects wanting to become bhikkhus.
5. “I was trying to imagine what it would be like to look into the world through the eyes of an arahant. Something like looking through The Matrix or looking at people as children ...” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Arahant]
Quote: “What is the mind of an arahant like?”—“Only compassion.” — Ajahn Mahā Boowa. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Compassion]
Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Ajahn Chah’s form of compassion could be pretty demanding sometimes. [Ajahn Chah] [Fierce/direct teaching] [Patience] [Humor]
Reflection by Ajahn Kaccāna: From the perspective of an arahant, what drives the entire world is feeble (MN 112.6). [Aggregates] [Dispassion]
6. Story: A woman has a dream that she will give birth to an old monk and keeps the precepts easily during her pregnancy. [Dreams] [Birth] [Rebirth] [Five Precepts]
7. “Ajahn Amaro is invited to give a two-mintue Dhamma talk at 10 Downing Streen on Visākha Pūjā.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Amaro] [Teaching Dhamma] [Politics and society] [Festival days] // [Christianity]
Sutta: MN 123: Wonderful and Marvelous.
10. Recollections of Ajahn Paññānanda’s quality of internal seclusion. [Ajahn Paññānanda ] [Seclusion] [Emptiness] // [Western Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Teaching Dhamma] [Dhamma recordings] [Media] [Self-identity view]
11. Comment: I’m struck that very often in the sutras, the Buddha himself does not speak. A question arises, someone else answers it, and at the end he just says, ‘Yes, that’s how it is.’ [Sutta] [Buddha/Biography] [Questions] [Seclusion]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Personality] [Concentration]
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 12, pp. 198-203:
Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu, Heartwood from the Bodhi Tree, pp. 51-2.
Suttas: SN 35.85; SN 41.7; DN 16.2.25.
Commentary: Visuddhimagga 21.70 (Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 686).
1. Story: Ajahn Buddhadāsa gives up formal studies and returns to the forest and the suttas. [Ajahn Buddhadāsa ] [Learning] [Commentaries] [Sutta] // [Spiritual traditions] [Geography/Thailand]
2. “The other characteristics like impermanence, dukkha, anattā—are these considered to be the third quenching elements?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Characteristics of existence] [Cessation] // [Not-self] [Emptiness] [Ajahn Buddhadāsa]
Reference: Heartwood of the Bodhi Tree by Ajahn Buddhadasā, quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, pp. 198-199.
Sutta: SN 35.85: “The world is empty.” Quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 200.
3. “The connection between tathatā and suññatā—would you like to expound a bit more?” [Suchness] [Emptiness ] // [Proliferation] [Relinquishment] [Pāli] [Conventions] [Aggregates] [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Characteristics of existence] [Self-identity view]
Quote: “It’s just that much.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah]
Sutta: MN 72.20: “... unfathomable like the great ocean.” [Buddha]
Sutta: Ud 8.3: “There is the unborn, the unoriginated, the uncreated, the unformed.” (Chanting Book Translation).
Reference: The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard.
4. Comment: When I’ve heard the phrase ‘abiding in emptiness’ used, it hasn’t been a reification; it has been exactly what the sutta (SN 35.85) says, abiding in a place that’s empty of self. [Emptiness] [Not-self]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Theravāda]
6. Story: Ajahn Pasanno comes across handwritten notes about Ajahn Chah’s teachings in the library at Wat Pleng. Told by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Phleng Vipassanā]
Quote: “What is the essence of the Buddha’s teachings?”—“Is this a big piece of wood or a small piece of wood?” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Perception] [Conventions] [Desire]
Sutta: SN 41.7: “Passion is a maker of measurement.”
7. Reflections by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno on the Buddha’s experience of chronic pain in DN 16.2.25. [Buddha/Biography] [Pain] // [Suffering] [Equanimity]
Suttas: DN 33; MN 53; AN 10.67-68: The Buddha stretches his back.
8. “Could you explain again how anicca is related to signlessness? (Visuddhimagga 21.70; Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 686; The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 203)” [Impermanence ] [Nimitta] // [Proliferation] [Conventions]
9. “It’s interesting that the Buddha usually speaks of wholesome qualities in the negative, like non-greed, non-hatred, non-delusion. Even the precepts are phrased in the negative. Could you say that’s pointing towards emptiness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Skillful qualities] [Precepts] [Emptiness] // [Western psychology] [Language] [Teaching Dhamma]
10. “Of these three pairs (impermanence and signlessness; unsatisfactoriness and desirelessness; selflessness and emptiness; Visuddhimagga 21.70, quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 686), is it skillful to direct the mind towards one or will one appear naturally?” [Characteristics of existence] [Insight meditation] [Directed thought and evaluation]
Quote: “An insight into one will be an insight into all three.”
11. “I’m curious about the timeline when the Buddha established the Five Precepts for householders.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Buddha/Biography] [Five Precepts] [Lay life] // [Vinaya]
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 2.1: The Buddha establishes the Uposatha observance for the Saṅgha. [Lunar observance days] [Saṅgha]
Sutta: AN 8.41: Observing the Eight Precepts on Uposatha days. [Eight Precepts]
Sutta: AN 8.39: The eight streams of merit. [Merit] [Three Refuges] [Generosity]
Follow-up: “Did the ritual of requesting the Five Precepts originate in the time of the Buddha?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Ceremony/ritual] [Culture/Thailand] [Tipiṭaka]
12. “The eight training precepts that some monastic traditions ask you to take as a lay person when you are reading suttas or attending Dhamma classes—do different Theravāda forms include this?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Lay life] [Precepts] [Bhante Gunaratana] // [Culture/Sri Lanka] [Culture/Thailand] [Right Speech]
1. “What distinguished Ajahn Chah from other meditation teachers?” [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah] // [Meditation/Techniques] [Right View] [Monastic life]
Follow-up: “Did this inspire the way you teach?” [Ajahn Pasanno]
2. “How did Ajahn Chah react to students who had studied in other Buddhist traditions?” [Teaching Dhamma] [Spiritual traditions] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Master Hsu Yun] [Hua tou] [Zen] [Right Effort]
3. “It is said that each monk who know Ajahn Chah well would describe him in a different way when asked. How would you describe him?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] // [Personality] [Personal presence] [Compassion]
Quote: “You never quite knew which Ajahn Chah you were going to get, which always kept you on your toes. And if you weren’t on your toes, it wouldn’t take long before he would call you on it.” [Teaching Dhamma] [Clear comprehension]
4. “What advice would you give to future abbots and teachers of Wat Pah Pong branch monasteries so that the communities maintain the most important characteristics of Ajahn Chah’s style of leadership?” [Abbot] [Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Saṅgha] [Leadership ] [Ajahn Chah] // [Dhamma] [Vinaya] [Chanting] [Translation]
Sutta: DN 16.6: Dhamma-Vinaya is your leader.
Quote: “Ajahn Chah was conservative, but he wasn’t fundamentalist.” [Monastic life]
Story: The Dalai Lama asks the Abhayagiri monks to chant the Maṅgala Sutta (Snp 2.4, Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 46) in Pāli. [Dalai Lama] [Pāli]
Story: Ajahn Chah was one of the first forest monks to ban smoking in the monastery. [Smoking] [Lunar observance days]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah was unique in consulting with senior monks and laypeople when making decisions. [Saṅgha decision making]
5. “The word toramon is sometimes associated with Ajahn Chah’s style of training. Could he be ‘intentionally cruel?’” [Ajahn Chah] [Fierce/direct teaching ] // [Ascetic practices] [Teaching Dhamma] [Trust] [Compassion] [Saṃsāra] [Habits]
Quote: “Ajahn Chah was always willing to put obstructions in front of your desires, views and opinions, and habits, which was incredibly compassionate as well as courageous.” [Craving] [Views] [Courage] [Culture/West]
Story: Ajahn Chah lets a restless junior monk go tudong with devious stipulations. [Sequence of training] [Restlessness and worry] [Tudong]
6. “There are a few stories about Ajahn Chah having psychic powers, particularly reading minds. Did you ever observe anything of that sort with Ajahn Chah? What was Ajahn Chah’s position on such things?” [Psychic powers] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] // [Nature of mind]
Story: Ajahn Chah describes the supernatural beings at Wat Pah Pong to a close lay follower, then refuses to talk about other realms with a group from Bangkok. [Wat Pah Pong] [Non-human beings] [Teaching Dhamma]
7. “Were there any particular themes in Ajahn Chah’s teachings that regularly came up?” [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah ] // [Virtue] [Right View] [Relinquishment] [Knowing itself]
8. “Many of Ajahn Chah’s direct disciples have become revered teachers themselves. Would you say the harsher conditions and more rigorous practices of the early days of Wat Pah Pong played a necessary role in their training and development or was it mostly due to Ajahn Chah being such a masterful teacher?” [Ajahn Chah lineage] [Ascetic practices] [Wat Pah Pong] [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah] // [Humility] [Ajahn Mun] [Mae Chee]
Quote: “There’s this nostalgia for the good old days. ... To me it’s a fallacy or a fantasy.” [Suffering] [Poverty]
Quote: “To be able to lay a foundation that was carried on is really exceptional.” [Saṅgha] [Leadership]
9. “Can you speak about the connection Ajahn Chah had with Luang Por Tongrat and Luang Por Tongrat in general?” [Ajahn Tongrat ] [Ajahn Chah] // [Thai sects] [Ajahn Mun] [Monastic routine] [Almsround]
Reference: Ajahn Utane’s biography of Ajahn Tongrat. Ajahn Mudito translated this into Portuguese in 2019, and there is a machine translation from the Portuguese.
Quote: “Oh, Chah, you’ve come.” — Ajahn Tongrat’s first words to Ajahn Chah.
Story: Ajahn Tongrat makes a racket under Ajahn Mun’s kuti in order to provoke a Dhamma talk. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Fierce/direct teaching]
Story: Ajahn Tongrat dies in the Dhamma seat. [Death]
10. “What would Ajahn Chah say if he visited our Western monasteries today in 2025? Would he recommend any changes?” [Western Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Ajahn Chah] // [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [History]
Quote: “Be careful about getting too comfortable.” [Heedlessness]
Suttas: SN 17: Be cautious about gain, honor, and fame. [Worldly Conditions] [Fierce/direct teaching]
11. “Could you tell us your very first encounter with Luang Por Chah? How did it happen? What did he say to you? What impression did you have then?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] // [Temporary ordination] [Wat Pah Pong] [Culture/Natural environment] [Ajahn Sumedho]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno is impressed by handwritten notes about Ajahn Chah’s teaching by a visitor to Wat Pah Pong. [Wat Phleng Vipassanā]
Quote: “If you want to stay here, you have to stay at least five years.” — Ajahn Chah.
Quote: “The place itself [Wat Pah Pong] was a reflection of Ajahn Chah.” [Lay life] [Lunar observance days]
Story: The branch monasteries and lay community gather for Māgha Pūjā. [Festival days] [Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Community]
1. Reflection: Ajahn Chah inspired people to be willing to commit to practice and training. [Monastic life/Motivation] [Determination] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Fourfold Assembly] [Relinquishment]
2. Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno writes to his parents that he will stay with Ajahn Chah for five years because he wants to pick up Ajahn Chah’s peace and unshakeability. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Sequence of training] [Equanimity] [Ajahn Chah]
3. “When Luang Por Chah’s physical condition deteriorated and he was no longer physically active, how did the Saṅgha and lay community react to it? And how did you feel about it? How did the Saṅgha manage to organize new leadership? Any challenges, confusions, or conflicts?” [Sickness] [Saṅgha] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Leadership] [Ajahn Chah] [Conflict] // [Impermanence] [Saṅgha decision making] [Grief] [Wat Pah Pong] [Ajahn Liem]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah told the Saṅgha that his illness was incurable and they would have to look after him. [Health care ]
I did my grieving when Ajahn Chah was still alive and sick. Recollection by Ajahn Pasanno. [Death]
Recollection: Caring for Ajahn Chah as a community. [Health care ] [Mae Chee] [Communal harmony]
Recollection: Preparing for Ajahn Chah’s funeral. [Funerals] [Building projects] [Ajahn Chah Stupa]
Quote: “His example was always one of giving himself to what was of benefit to the Dhamma, to the Vinaya, to others. There was so little personal agenda and personal preferences ever shown.” [Generosity]
4. Story: A group of military generals ask Ajahn Chah to bless some medallions. [Ajahn Chah] [Amulets] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Food] [Saṅgha decision making] [Relics] [Ajahn Chah Stupa] [Funerals]
5. “What do you treasure most among what you/we have inherited from Luang Por Chah?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah]
Quote: “He had given himself completely, and he had reaped the fruits completely.” [Relinquishment] [Liberation]
6. “What were the criteria for founding new branch monasteries at Ajahn Chah’s time?” [Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Saṅgha decision making] [Ajahn Chah] // [Wat Keuan] [Environment] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Ajahn Anek] [Wat Pah Sai Ngam] [Faith] [Wat Phu Din Dang]
7. “How did Luang Por Chah cultivate his wisdom (satipañña)? How did he generate his energy (viriya)?” [Discernment] [Energy] [Ajahn Chah] // [Doubt] [Teaching Dhamma]
Quote: “He was always curious to reflect, to investigate, to experiment, to try out things and to see what worked and what didn’t work.” [Personality] [Appropriate attention]
8. “How did Luang Por Chah relate to the lay community around him and tailor the Dhamma to their own circumstances?” [Lay life] [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Lunar observance days] [Building projects] [Cultural context] [Stories]
Story: Ajahn Chah’s talkative older brother helps with their mother’s funeral. [Family] [Funerals]
9. “Is there a story about when Ajahn Chah wanted to give feedback to a senior monk and he waited 20-30 years?” [Admonishment/feedback] [Ajahn Chah] // [Culture/Thailand]
10. “Were there any memories from the period of training with Ajahn Chah that really stand out in your mind? In what ways did you find it difficult?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno skips morning pūjā to meditate diligently at his kuti. Ajahn Chah calls him lazy. [Monastic routine]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno sits vigil at a cremation and makes a bathing cloth from the cloth used to wrap a corpse. [Funerals ] [Robes ] [Wat Pah Pong] [Recollection/Death]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno joins the Wat Pah Pong Saṅgha, exchanges his requisites, and excitedly attends his first Pāṭimokkha at Wat Pah Pong. Ajahn Chah keeps the monks sitting until 3 am. [Vinaya] [Requisites] [Not handling money] [Pāṭimokkha] [Compassion] [Relinquishment]
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