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4. “How has work with prisoners affected Ajahn Khemadhammo?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Ajahn Khemadhammo] [Prisons] // [Determination] [Service] [Truth]
5. “Where does Ajahn Khemadhammo live?” [Ajahn Khemadhammo] // [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support]
1. “Is Ajahn Sumedho saying that art is always coming from a place of ego?” [Artistic expression] [Self-identity view] // [Doubt]
Quote: “How do we respond to doubt? ...out of fear, out of worry? How do we try to make things certain and sure? That’s what we have to figure out.” [Fear] [Impermanence]
2. Comment about the arising of self even in abstract thought. Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Proliferation] [Self-identity view]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Cause of Suffering]
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. Discussion about evaluating the results of practice. [Meditation/Results] [Right Effort] // [Faith] [Investigation of states] [Self-identity view] [Not-self]
Comment: I notice that I have preconceptions about the way I evaluate my practice.
Response: Ajahn Pasanno distinguishes between investigation and evaluation.
The very pattern, “What will make me good enough?” is suffering. Comment by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Habits] [Cause of Suffering]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
Story: Aversion towards the nada sound and the importance of having a teacher. Told by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Teachers] [Ajahn Jotipālo] [Sound of silence] [Aversion] [Insight Meditation Society] [Ajahn Amaro]
1. “Ajahn Pasanno, did you have a chance to spend much time with Ajahn Paññavaddho?” [Ajahn Paññāvaḍḍho] [Ajahn Pasanno]
2. “Can you say anything about the “voice of dhamma” Ajahn Paññāvaḍḍho describes [in the reading “Self”] versus the voice we hear inside our head? is it like the voice of conscience?” [Dhamma] [Conscience and prudence] // [Knowing itself]
1. “Can you provide guidance on the contemplation of conceiving, and name and form?” [Conceit] [Aggregates] [Proliferation] // [Suffering] [Nature of mind] [Advertizing] [Impermanence] [Relinquishment] [Non-identification] [Four Noble Truths]
Sutta: Ud 3.10: “For however one conceives it, it is always other than that.”
Quote: “The mind is a liar and a cheat.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [False speech]
Reference: Ajahn Buddhadāsa’s Nine Eyes, The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 116. [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Characteristics of existence]
Sutta: Ud 1.10 Bāhiya Sutta: “In the seen there is only the seen...” [Sense bases] [Perception]
Quote: “You can hurt yourself even with really good tools.” [Meditation/Techniques] [Right Effort]
2. “Can you restate Luang Por Dune’s rendering of the Four Noble Truths?” [Ajahn Dune] [Four Noble Truths] // [Thai]
3. “What does the phrase “beyond good and evil” mean in reference to the mind of an arahant?” [Arahant] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] // [Thai]
Quote: “Above cause, beyond effect. Above good, beyond evil. Above merit, beyond demerit.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Conditionality] [Merit]
1. “Do the Thai Forest masters emphasize hair, teeth, nails, and skin in their body contemplation because those are more obvious to cultivate?” [Thai Forest Tradition] [Mindfulness of body] [Unattractiveness] // [Ordination]
2. “Do you contemplate the body before you contemplate mind?” [Thai Forest Tradition] [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of mind] // [Culture/West] [Nature of mind] [Sense bases] [Aggregates]
Follow-up: “Do you need to let go of the body before you can go deep into the mind?”
3. “When you are sick, the body is not happy, so it is not that easy to meditate, right?” [Sickness] [Happiness] [Meditation]
5. Story: Ajahn Kalyano instructs monks to memorize the organs while watching an autopsy. Told by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Ajahn Kalyāṇo] [Unattractiveness] [Mindfulness of body] // [Aversion]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Disenchantment] [Dispassion] [Skillful qualities]
1. “I’m half expecting the earth to shake.” Comment by Ajahn Ñāṇiko after the reading of “Five Piles of Bricks.”
Response by Ajahn Pasanno: All five of the Buddha’s first disciples were liberated when listening to the Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta (SN 22.59; Chanting Book translation). [Buddha/Biography] [Liberation] [Aggregates] [Not-self]
2. ““Is Ajahn Ṭhānissaro the first voice in a couple thousand years to propose that the khandas may not be a self, or is he drawing from another tradition?”” [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Commentaries] [Aggregates] [History] // [Buddha]
3. “Could you talk about practicing with intention?” [Volition ] // [Pāli] [Ajahn Chah] [Precepts]
Follow-up: “Is volition the same as becoming or an aspect of becoming?” [Becoming]
4. “How shall we listen to the Dhamma talks [read during Winter Retreat]?” [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Learning] // [Volition]
5. “In trying to create separation between self and the khandas, are there other tools that can help around the act of becoming?” [Aggregates] [Self-identity view] [Becoming] // [Knowing itself] [Volition] [Tranquility] [Investigation of states]
6. The Buddha taught not-self by encouraging his disciples to ask these questions. [Teaching Dhamma] [Not-self] [Questions] [Philosophy]
Sutta: SN 22.59 Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta questionnaire (Chanting Book translation).
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Skillful qualities] [Ajahn Chah]
1. “Why is trying to conquer pain a disaster?” [Pain] // [Self-identity view] [Craving not to become] [Suffering]
2. “At what point in the Forest Tradition do you use a “warrior strategy” to conquer pain, defilements?” [Unwholesome Roots] [Pain] [Thai Forest Tradition] // [Determination] [Self-identity view] [Spaciousness] [Right Effort]
Comment: The Krooba Ajahns can get intense and fiery, but what they are actually doing is making their minds calm and then contemplating and understanding pain and defilements. [Fierce/direct teaching] [Tranquility] [Discernment]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/West] [Abuse/violence] [Culture/Thailand]
Story: A gung-ho five vassa monk tears down the spirit house in a southern Thai fishing village. [Superstition] [Rains retreat] [Ajahn Chah]
3. “Ajahn Sumedho talks about Ajahn Chah making him miserable, testing him. Was that your experience when you were practicing with Ajahn Chah?” [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Mentoring] [Ajahn Pasanno]
4. “When dealing with pain, could you give examples of the questions you would ask yourself?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Pain] [Questions] [Investigation of states] // [Visualization] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Elements]
1. “In working with the breath, when I try to spread well-being throughout the body, it seems to diminish. How do I discern whether to maintain this feeling or go back to the more intense feeling?” [Rapture] // [Concentration] [Volition]
2. “Does insight arise from deeper concentration or can it also arise from different things?” [Concentration] [Insight meditation] // [Tranquility]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno experiences insight on a bus in Bangkok. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Contact]
1. “How much reading is appropriate?” [Learning] // [Culture/West] [Investigation of states] [Suffering] [Unwholesome Roots]
Quote: “If you have to read anything, read your heart.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Heart/mind]
1. “Can I respond to my thoughts in ways that I think are useful?” [Directed thought and evaluation] [Self-identity view] // [Right Effort] [Cause of Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Knowing itself]
Reference: “Identity” in The Sound of Silence by Ajahn Sumedho (Anthology volume 4 or commercial).
Appreciation for Ajahn Sumedho’s image of the wheel. [Similes]
Sutta: MN 24: The purpose of Buddhist practice. [Liberation]
1. Comment about the meaning of sañña as memory. [Perception] [Memory]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pāli]
1. Comments on skillful happiness and the need for patient endurance. [Skillful qualities] [Happiness] [Patience]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Discernment] [Faith]
2. “Regarding internal happiness, is part of our problem that we don’t have enough means to access it?” [Happiness] [Gladdening the mind] // [Culture/West] [Learning] [Faith]
5. “Do people confuse the definitions of ego and self?” [Western psychology ] [Self-identity view] // [Four Noble Truths]
Story: An applicant to Wat Pah Nanachat writes a letter avoiding all personal pronouns.
2. “Contemplating the decline of Vesali, how can we distinguish saṃvega from sadness that has no purpose?” [History/Indian Buddhism] [Spiritual urgency] [Depression] // [Principles of non-decline] [Naturalness]
Reference: “The Deathless Drum,” Chapter 9 of Rude Awakenings by Ajahn Sucitto and Nick Scott.
Sutta: AN 7.21: Seven principles of non-decline.
Comments by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Pesalo about Buddhism relying upon principles rather than geographic location. [Dhamma] [Geography/India] [Visiting holy sites]
2. “What is the balance between sorting out feelings internally and expressing feelings externally, not repressing them?” [Emotion ] [Western psychology] [Community] // [Goodwill] [Compassion] [Discernment] [Learning]
3. Comment: Avoidance strategies can be both external and internal. [Pain] [Western psychology] [Meditation]
Responses by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Spiritual bypass] [Hindrances]
1. “The way Ajahn Paññavaddho describes citta sounds like a soul. Can you discuss?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Kondannyo Bhikkhu and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Ajahn Paññāvaḍḍho] [Heart/mind] [Doctrine-of-self clinging] // [Language] [Unconditioned] [Buddha] [Faith] [Direct experience] [Nibbāna] [Four Noble Truths] [Similes]
Sutta: Ud 8.3: Nibbāna Sutta (Chanting Book translation).
3. “If, in meditation, one sees thought at the point it arises, is it the sense consciousness that sees that or the pure citta?” [Directed thought and evaluation] [Sense bases] [Consciousness] [Heart/mind] // [Knowing itself]
4. “How was “atta” defined in the Buddha’s time?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Doctrine-of-self clinging] [Culture/India] // [Happiness] [Rebirth]
Reference: Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta (Chanting Book translation).
5. Comment by Ajahn Kaccāna: The Thai Forest Tradition is looking for something that really works. [Thai Forest Tradition] [Attachment to precepts and practices]
Quote: “If you find something you think is a diamond, smash it with a hammer and see if it’s really a diamond.” — Ajahn Lee. [Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Direct experience]
3. “Could you say something about the problem of swinging back and forth with restraint practices?” [Sense restraint] [Determination] // [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Learning] [Becoming] [Self-identity view] [Eightfold Path] [Discernment]
Follow-up: “I remember you saying something similar in respect to sīla.” [Virtue] [Attachment to precepts and practices]
4. “Would you speak on skillful and unskillful ways to approach restraint?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Kondannyo Bhikkhu. [Sense restraint] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] // [Self-identity view] [Vinaya] [Monastic life] [Culture/Natural environment] [Spiritual friendship] [Continuity of mindfulness]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno gets frustrated with meditation and starts sweeping. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Meditation] [Generosity] [Cleanliness]
Story: Paul Breiter did not consider Abhayagiri cushy. Told by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Paul Breiter] [Abhayagiri]
Comment: When you see the danger in investing outside, you don’t need a straightjacket. [Disenchantment]
5. “How are contact and viññāṇa nutriment?” [Contact] [Consciousness] [Nutriment ] // [Feeling] [Aggregates] [Becoming]
Sutta: SN 12.63: Son’s Flesh.
6. “Regarding the Honeyball Sutta (MN 18), is withdrawal of external contact, e.g. eye contact, enough?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Kaccāna and Kondannyo Bhikkhu. [Perception] [Contact] [Proliferation] [Sense restraint] // [Translation]
Reference: Concept and Reality in Early Buddhist Thought by Bhikkhu Ñāṇananda.
1. “How much did you have to adapt Ajahn Chah’s training for your own practice?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] [Monastic life] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Generosity] [Mindfulness] [Discernment]
Quote: “Ajahn Chah didn’t have a template.” [Meditation/Techniques]
2. “Did Ajahn Chah have a common statement about his own core practice?” [Mindfulness of breathing] [Ajahn Chah] [Meditation/Techniques] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Teaching Dhamma]
Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta.
Story: Ajahn Piak reports that Ajahn Chah reaches jhāna quickly. [Ajahn Piak] [Psychic powers] [Jhāna]
4. “Why did you leave Wat Pah Pong to practice on your own?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Pong] [Seclusion] // [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Keuan] [Wat Tam Saeng Pet]
7. “Did you stay at Wat Pah Nanachat from then on?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Tudong]
8. “Were you on tudong for a year?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Tudong] // [Seclusion] [Dtao Dum] [Ajahn Chah]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno takes a restless novice on tudong. [Novices] [Food]
1. “Did Ajahn Sumedho have a period when he was more influenced by Zen teachings?” [Ajahn Sumedho] [Zen] // [Dhamma books] [Master Hsu Yun]
Reference: Ch’an and Zen Teachings by Charles Luk (commercial).
Reference: Word of the Buddha by Venerable Ñāṇatiloka.
Reference: The Four Noble Truths by Ajahn Sumedho.
1. “Does Abhayagiri have a Korwat Manual?” [Abhayagiri] [Protocols] [Wat Pah Nanachat] // [Vinaya] [Learning]
2. “Can you talk about the bowl washing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Abhayagiri] [Almsbowl] [Cleanliness] [Protocols] // [Animal]
3. “Ajahn Sucitto [in ‘Awareness: Nameless and Stopped’] described how dealing with the difficulties of jungle monastery life in Thailand developed the practice. How do you apply the same principles in well-supported monasteries?” [Thai Forest Tradition] [Lay life] [Culture/Natural environment] [Poverty] [Gain and loss] // [Truth]
5. “Does name and form cease or not arise?” [Aggregates] [Cessation] // [Language] [Proliferation]
Sutta: DN 11.85.10: Kevaṭṭasutta.
6. “Is there a precise definition of the saṅkhāra of delusion?” [Volitional formations] [Delusion] // [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering]
3. “Did you go to his cremation?” [Ajahn Paññāvaḍḍho] [Funerals] [Ajahn Pasanno] // [Humility]
2. “Is sleepiness not dullness? Is there a separation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Sloth and torpor] // [Translation] [Concentration]
1. “Is it possible for a monastic to look after their parents while still practicing the vinaya?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Monastic life] [Vinaya] [Parents] // [Ajahn Viradhammo] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Liem] [Ajahn Dtun] [Ajahn Jayasaro]
Story: Two burka-clad women stare at Ajahn Jayasaro in Kuwait. [Robes] [Conventions]
3. “How can I change my motivation around trying to get my Buddhist parents to adopt the correct Right View?” [Right View] [Right Intention] [Parents] // [Compassion] [Patience]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah taught in a way that made you think that you figured it out yourself. [Ajahn Chah] [Teaching Dhamma] [Self-reliance]
Ajahn Ñāṇiko quotes the Dtao Te Ching regarding leadership. [Taoism] [Leadership]
1. Question about neutral feeling and awareness. [Feeling] [Neutral feeling] [Delusion] [Mindfulness] // [Unwholesome Roots]
Sutta: MN 44.22: Discussion of the three kinds of feeling.
2. “In what ways is neutral feeling delusion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Kondannyo Bhikkhu, Ajahn Jotipālo and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Neutral feeling] [Delusion] // [Proliferation] [Self-identity view]
Reference: My Stoke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor (commercial).
3. “What does a delusion type of person look like?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Tan Jāgaro and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Delusion] // [Doubt] [Views]
Story: An anagārika with endless questions. Told by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Postulants] [Ajahn Amaro] [Questions]
1. “What are your thoughts about developing wholesome qualities when there are so many things that mask them?” [Skillful qualities] [Delusion] [Equanimity] [Contentment] // [Spiritual bypass] [Sloth and torpor] [Goodwill] [Conflict] [Discernment] [Suffering]
Reference: Working with the Five Hindrances by Ajahn Tiradhammo, p. 27.
Sutta: AN 4.28: Noble Lineages. [Requisites] [Judgementalism]
1. “How does your relic puja work for you?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Relics] [Pūjā] [Prayer] [Devotional practice ] // [Respect] [Chanting]
Reference: “Great Chant of Universal Blessings,” Bhikkhu Manual, p. 135.
3. “Did you find any particular holy sites especially affecting?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Visiting holy sites ] // [Tranquility]
Reference: SN 56.11: Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Chanting Book translation)
4. “Is it still safe to go on pilgrimage on foot in India?” [Culture/India] [Tudong] [Crime] // [Lodging]
5. “Did you get sick [during your pilgrimage in India]?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Culture/India] [Tudong] [Sickness] // [Food] [Almsround]
6. “How did you find Ajahn Jayasaro again [in India]?” [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Jayasaro] [Visiting holy sites] // [Tudong] [Lodging] [Ajahn Koon (Chiang Rai)] [Ajahn Chai] [Ajahn Chah] [Culture/India]
1. “Could you comment on the issue of feeling that there need to be certain conditions in place for me to practice?” [Meditation] [Conditionality] // [Ajahn Chah] [Mindfulness] [Discernment] [Continuity of mindfulness]
Quote: “You can go off to the forest and be happy on your own or you can stay here and I can teach you how to be happy all the time.” — Ajahn Chah to Ajahn BahnKow. [Ajahn BahnKow] [Happiness] [Seclusion] [Everyday life]
3. “Is divided consciousness the same as divided awareness?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Kondannyo Bhikkhu. [Consciousness] // [Pāli] [Proliferation] [Concentration] [Sense bases] [Ignorance]
Story: A man born blind gains sight. Told by Ajahn Jotipālo. [Contact]
Quote: “Viññana is to be understood and pañña is to be developed.” — MN 43.6. [Discernment] [Kamma]
1. “What does “sabbe saṅkhārā dukkhā“ mean in relation to the first Noble Truth?” [Suffering] [Volitional formations] [Noble Truth of Suffering ] // [Self-pity]
Quote: “Sumedho loves to suffer.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fierce/direct teaching] [Compassion]
1. “Could you talk about how to integrate interaction and physical seclusion to develop citta viveka - mental seclusion?” [Seclusion ] [Community] // [Concentration] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Relinquishment] [Happiness] [Contact] [Proliferation]
Quote: “Cittaviveka is essentially sāmadhi.”
2. “What is the difference between upadhi viveka and citta viveka?” [Seclusion ] [Concentration] [Discernment] // [Relinquishment] [Aggregates] [Characteristics of existence]
Quote: “Upadi viveka is more transportable. You can carry it with you.”
Sutta: SN 22.22: The Burden (Chanting Book translation).
3. “How is Dzogchen similar to the Thai Forest Tradition?” [Ajahn Amaro] [Vajrayāna] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Emptiness]
Ajahn Pasanno describes the context of the Small Boat, Great Mountain retreat. [Spirit Rock] [Tsoknyi Rinpoche] [Theravāda]
Reference: Small Boat, Great Mountain by Ajahn Amaro.
4. “What is the value of assigning a monk to do chores rather than sitting practice?” [Ajahn Chah] [Work] [Meditation] [Sutta] // [Concentration]
Reference: Small Boat, Great Mountain by Ajahn Amaro.
5. Discussion about keeping the continuity of practice within engagement and daily life. [Everyday life] [Continuity of mindfulness] // [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Kinaree]
Story: Ajahn Chah sews a robe obsessively. [Robes] [Craving]
Follow-up: “Were Ajahn Mahā Boowa’s teachings less focused on daily life?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Pesalo. [Ajahn Mun] [Cleanliness] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Determination] [Ardency] [Personality]
Story: Ajahn Mun teases Ajahn Mahā Boowa for being like an old boxer.
Comment: You can read the suttas, but you don’t really get a feel for what the Buddha’s teachings are until you study and practice the Vinaya. [Sutta] [Vinaya] [Protocols] [Communal harmony] [Requisites]
6. “What is right effort? What is the right level, kind of effort so that mindfulness comes more easily?” [Right Effort ] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Ardency] [Long-term practice] // [Aids to Awakening]
Quote: “You look at the definition of Right Effort, and it’s not about what you do, but it’s about the quality of the mind.” [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities]
7. “How important is contentment and joy in the object you pick up [in meditation].” [Right Effort] [Contentment] [Happiness] // [Discernment] [Meditation/Techniques]
8. “What factor leads into Right Effort? How does inspiration relate to Right Effort?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Right Effort] [Faith] // [Factors of Awakening] [Investigation of states] [Energy] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Disenchantment]
Reference: MN 95.16 Caṅkī Sutta.
Comment about maintaining continuity of mindfulness of breathing. Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Continuity of mindfulness] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Tranquility]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Desire] [Contentment] [Happiness]
1. Question about views on whether the cause of suffering is desire or clinging to desire. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Craving] [Clinging] [Cause of Suffering] // [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Idealism] [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering]
Reference: Salutation to the Triple Gem: “Rūpūpādānakkhandho...”
Follow-up: “Is the greater suffering the reaction to pain?” [Pain] [Feeling] [Aversion]
Quote: “All these different teachings and expressions of teachings....We don’t have to make them mesh, but try to figure out what they are pointing to.” [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Recollection/Dhamma]
2. “Do others who have been to India share Ajahn Sumedho’s feeling that everything belongs?” [Culture/India] [Ajahn Sumedho] // [Devotional practice] [Commentaries] [Spiritual search]
Comment by Jeed Chaiboonruang: A French director makes a 7-hour film trying to figure out what India is and then gives up. [Media]
Other reflections about India by Ajahn Pesalo and Ajahn Ñāṇiko.
1. “What is a good question to pose to yourself to investigate perception?” [Perception] [Questions] // [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro]
3. “Is there a way to stabilize the perception of impermanence?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Perception] [Impermanence] // [Cessation] [Relinquishment] [Suffering]
Sutta: SN 12.15: Kaccānagotta.
1. “You mentioned suttas about meditation and practical life issues. Are there any other general categories of suttas?” [Sutta] [Human]
2. “How do these particular teachings (AN 5.48: Situations) fit with kamma?” [Kamma] [Sickness] [Sutta] [Human] // [Lawfulness] [Characteristics of existence]
3. Comment: I appreciate that AN 5.48 includes devas and Māra. Contributed by Rik Center. [Deva] [Māra] [Realms of existence] [Sutta] [Human]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
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]
5. “In this sutta (AN 5.48), there’s the assumption that everyone has enemies. It’s making me a little paranoid.” [Fear] [Sutta] [Human] // [Judgementalism]
6. “With development (bhavana), is one able to shape the course of sickness or heal oneself to a degree?” [Meditation] [Sickness] [Healing] // [Happiness] [Medicinal requisites]
7. Comment: I’ve been reflecting on how AN 5.48 applies to environmental and collective well-being–engaging without the expectation that actions will have a certain result. [Environment] [Politics and society] [Sutta] [Human]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [History/Thai Buddhism]
8. Comment: I find it difficult to find the line between what you can change and what you can’t. [Politics and society] [Everyday life] [Equanimity]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Clear comprehension] [Delusion]
9. Comment: Michael Olds translates sutta as ‘magical spell.’ The format, repetition, and structure of the suttas has a certain potency. When I read the suttas after meditating, it’s completely different. [Sutta] [Psychic powers] [Meditation]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Buddha] [Teaching Dhamma]
2. Comment: When I practice and share Dhamma as a lay person, others complain when I make mistakes. [Lay life] [Virtue] [Buddhist identity]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
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]
5. “This year my whole family got lice. How do we respond to this skillfully?” [Lay life] [Family] [Killing] [Animal] // [Human] [Patience]
8. “Is the list of Seven Treasures sequential?” [Treasures] // [Stream entry] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Conditionality] [Eightfold Path]
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.
10. “What is a good balance between listening to Dhamma and practicing more deeply? How long should one keep one’s practices, and when to expand or shrink them?” [Hearing the true Dhamma ] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma ] [Determination ] [Dhamma online] // [Four Noble Truths] [Direct experience] [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma books] [Mindfulness of mind] [Learning]
11. Comment: I listen to the Abhayagiri Dhamma talks, focusing more on the timbre of the voice rather than trying to get an intellectual grasp of what was said. That projects me into a dimension of well-being. [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Abhayagiri] [Happiness] [Learning]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Tranquility]
12. Comments by Rik Center about ongoing Dhamma practice and coming back to the heart. [Long-term practice] [Suffering] [Cessation of Suffering] [Ill-will] [Forgiveness] [Mindfulness of mind]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Merit]
Quote: “We’re making choices all the time anyway; we may as well choose to be happy.” [Volitional formations] [Happiness]
13. “When you’re living on the precepts, how do I relate to (for example) a friend who tells me about an affair they are having?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Jotipālo. [Precepts] [Spiritual friendship] [Sexual misconduct] // [Skillful qualities] [Admonishment/feedback] [Discernment] [Right Speech] [Vinaya] [Abhayagiri]
Quote: “Don’t admonish your fellow monks before the meal.” — Ajahn Chah. Quoted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Monastic life] [Food] [Eating after noon]
14. “Could you comment on the tendency to use one aspect of the teaching to bypass another?” [Spiritual bypass] // [Four Noble Truths] [Recollection/Dhamma] [Relinquishment]
Quote: “With some things, letting go means you’re willing to commit to hard work, and other times you’re willing to put down what is burdensome.” [Ardency]
15. “AN 5.38 says, ‘Not by sorrow can even the slightest good come.’ How does this work with the natural process of grieving?” [Grief] [Skillful qualities] // [Cultural context] [Family] [Ajahn Chah] [Death] [Characteristics of existence]
16. “Part of the sense of loss and sorrow is the joys that have created attachment. How to approach this?” [Grief] [Happiness] [Clinging] // [Naturalness] [Human] [Spaciousness]
Sutta: Thag 1062: Mahākassapa delights in nature. [Great disciples] [Culture/Natural environment]