4. Reflection: The common root of renunciation and compassion is the relationship to suffering. [Renunciation] [Compassion] [Suffering]
Reading: “The Balanced Way” by Bhikkhu Bodhi on accesstoinsight.org.
2. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 40-41: Ajahn Chah’s father’s dying request [Parents] [Death] [Monastic life/Motivation] [Ajahn Chah] // [Culture/Thailand] [Meditation]
4. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 582: “Out of Compassion” [Compassion] [Ajahn Chah] // [Gratitude] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Teaching Dhamma] [Family]
6. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 588-591: “Observance Day” [Lunar observance days] [Ajahn Chah] // [Abhayagiri] [Eight Precepts]
9. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 612-614 “Faith in the Triple Gem” [Faith] [Three Refuges] [Ajahn Chah] // [Buddha] [Dhamma] [Truth] [Teaching Dhamma] [Lay life] [Recollection/Dhamma]
Simile: Digging a well — Ajahn Chah. [Right Effort] [Liberation]
2. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 427 “Work is Dhamma Practice” [Ajahn Chah] [Work ] [Eightfold Path] // [Everyday life] [Aversion]
5. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 533-535 “A Snake in the House” [Ajahn Chah] [Similes] // [Relinquishment] [Cessation] [Saṃsāra] [Nibbāna]
6. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 646-647 “Por Buapah” [Ajahn Chah] // [Death] [Grief] [Personal presence]
Story: Por Buapah did the cement work for the original shine at Wat Pah Nanachat and the bell tower at Wat Pah Pong. [Stupas/monuments] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Wat Pah Pong]
7. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 647-648 “Por Am” [Ajahn Chah] // [Right Livelihood] [Views] [Intoxicants]
Story: Ajahn Chah teaches Por Am herbal medicine so he can avoid killing animals. [Culture/Thailand] [Food] [Precepts] [Medicinal requisites] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Health care] [Lunar observance days]
Quote: “It’s not possible to defeat the Dhamma, you know, and that’s why you fainted.” — Ajahn Chah to Por Am. [Dhamma]
9. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 654-655 “Scientists and Academics” [Ajahn Chah] [Science] [Education]
10. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 662-664 “Por Puang” [Ajahn Chah] // [Temporary ordination] [Wat Pah Pong] [Generosity] [Recollection/Death] [Sickness] [Death] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support] [Three Refuges]
13. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 682 “Dhamma Practice” [Ajahn Chah] [Dhamma] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] // [Characteristics of existence]
3. Reading from Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, pp. 19-20: The culture of Northeast Thailand. [Culture/Thailand ] [Geography/Thailand]
13. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, pp. 93-97: Ajahn Chah trains his mind while making a bowl lid. [Work] [Meditation] [Almsbowl] [Ajahn Chah]
14. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, pp. 97-98: “Teachings from a Barking Deer.” [Tudong] [Sickness] [Discernment] [Ajahn Chah]
8. Reflection: Ajahn Chah encouraged a mature faith in the Three Refuges. [Three Refuges ] [Faith] [Ajahn Chah] // [Buddha] [Dhamma] [Superstition]
Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, pp. 612-614.
Sutta: SN 22.87: “Whoever sees the Buddha sees the Dhamma.”
10. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, pp. 678-680. [Heedlessness] [Similes] [Lay life] [Ajahn Chah]
3. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, pp. 325-326: “The Single Chair.” [Meditation] [Mindfulness]
4. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, pp. 326-327: Ajahn Chah’s teachings about meditation posture. [Posture/Sitting] [Ajahn Chah]
6. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, pp. 373-374: Ajahn Chah’s approach to jhāna. [Jhāna] [Right Concentration] [Ajahn Chah] // [Wrong concentration]
A sense of ease and the quality of knowing is what takes one to places of insight. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno. [Happiness] [Knowing itself] [Insight meditation]
7. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, pp. 370-373: Ajahn Chah’s perspective on samatha and vipassanā. [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Ajahn Chah]
19. Reading: Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, pp. 375-379: “Beyond the Monkey.” [Disenchantment] [Characteristics of existence] [Liberation] [Ajahn Chah]
The quality of disenchantment is bright and radiant. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno. [Translation] [Etymology]
Sutta: AN 11.1: Causal chain from delight to disenchantment. [Happiness] [Conditionality]
5. Reading: Ajahn Mun answers Ajahn Chah’s questions about Vinaya. [Ajahn Mun] [Vinaya] [Ajahn Chah] // [Commentaries] [Conscience and prudence] [Simplicity] [Mindfulness]
Reference: “Understanding Vinaya,” Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, pp. 533-534.
The meaning of hiri-otappa. [Translation] [Respect]
3. Similes from Ajahn Chah: The natural state of the mind is like clear water or a still leaf. [Ajahn Chah] [Nature of mind] [Similes] // [Contact] [Feeling] [Moods of the mind] [Knowing itself]
Reference: “A Gift of Dhamma,” Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 226.
[Session] Readings:
Ajahn Pasanno’s preface to The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, pp. 8-9.
Sutta: MN 26.1-21: Ariyapariyesanā Sutta.
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 13, pp. 224-225:
Suttas: AN 4.179; AN 10.60.11; AN 1.494.
Sutta: MN 26.22-42: Ariyapariyesanā Sutta.
7. Recollecting the peace of Nibbāna. [Recollection/Peace] [Nibbāna] // [Cessation] [Dispassion] [Pāli] [Tranquility]
Reading: The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 225.
Suttas: AN 10.60.11; AN 1.494.
[Session] Readings:
Suttas: Ud 5.5; AN 3.55; MN 26.19; Iti 54 & 55; MN 107.3-11; MN 73.14.
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 13, pp. 230-233:
Suttas: MN 29.7; MN 24.10; AN 3.101; MN 70.13, .22 & .23.
Sutta: AN 3.102: Nimitta.
Sutta: MN 70: Kīṭāgiri Sutta.
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 13, pp. 233-235:
Sutta: MN 70: Kīṭāgiri Sutta.
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 13, pp. 235.
Sutta: MN 117.
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 13, pp. 235-239:
Suttas: AN 10.2; MN 118.15; SN 56.11.2; SN 51.20.
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 13, pp. 239-246:
Suttas: Snp 1106-7 & 1111; Snp 1098; AN 1.182; SN 12.15; Iti 49; SN 12.48; SN 12.18; SN 12.67.
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 14, pp. 247-248:
Suttas: MN 10.2; Snp 1086-7.
Sutta: MN 10: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta.
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 14, pp. 248-251:
Suttas: SN 48.54; SN 48.45; AN 7.61; SN 35.80; MN 11.17.
Ajahn Chah, Food for the Heart, p. 241-2.
Sutta: AN 7.61: Nodding.
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 14, pp. 251-252:
Sutta: MN 11: Cūḷasīhanāda Sutta
Sutta: MN 75: Māgaṇḍiya Sutta
[Session] Readings:
Sutta: MN 75: Māgaṇḍiya Sutta.
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 14, pp. 252-253.
Sutta: MN 57: Kukkuravatika Sutta.
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 14, pp. 253-256:
Suttas: SN 22.80; MN 11.6-7; MN 74.6-8; MN 63.7-8.
Sutta: MN 74: Dīghanakha Sutta.
Sutta: MN 63: Cūḷamāluṅkya Sutta.
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 14, pp. 256-258:
Suttas: Snp 800-3; MN 2.7-8; MN 109.15-18.
Sutta: MN 2: Sabbāsava Sutta.
Sutta: MN 109: Mahāpuṇṇama Sutta.
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 14, pp. 258-265:
Suttas: SN 35.82; SN 35.116; MN 8.3; SN 4.16; SN 35.90; SN 35.248; Snp 954; MN 72.15; SN 12.51; MN 138.3; Snp 839; Snp 794-5; Snp 812-13; Snp 537; Dhp 421; Dhp 348.
A Still Forest Pool by Ajahn Chah (commercial) p. 73.
SN 35.248: Yavakalāpī.
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 15, pp. 266-270:
Suttas: SN 51.15; MN 106.10-15; MN 1.50.
AN 9.36: Jhāna Sutta.
[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).
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.
[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).
[Session] Reading from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 12, pp. 203-207:
Sutta: MN 121.
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 12, pp. 207-212:
Suttas: SN 20.7; SN 55.53; SN 22.95; Dhp 46; Dhp 170.
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 11, pp. 191:
Sutta: Snp 1118-9.
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 15, pp. 277-278:
Suttas: AN 4.96 & .99; SN 43.1.
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 16, pp. 279-281:
Suttas: SN 56.35; SN 45.179; SN 45.180.
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1.7.5.
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 16, pp. 281-286:
Suttas: MN 118.9-12; SN 55.52; DN 18.1; SN 55.5; AN 4.240; Iti 76; SN 55.21.
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 16, pp. 286-288:
Suttas: DN 3.2.21-22; SN 45.55; MN 2.9-11; SN 22.122.
Sutta: SN 22.122: Virtuous.
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 16, pp. 289-291:
Suttas: SN 12.67; AN 5.260; MN 6.2-3 & .11; DN 2.101-2.
Suttas: AN 6.98-101; SN 17.5.
5. “Could you repeat the five types of stinginess (AN 5.260)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Greed ] // [Family] [Corruption] [Lodging] [Gain and loss] [Fame and disrepute] [Teaching Dhamma]
Story: Ajahn Mahā Prasert gets sent to Nebraska. [Ajahn Mahā Prasert] [Jealousy]
Suttas: SN 17: Connected Discourses on Gain, Honor, and Fame.
Reading: SN 17.5: The Dung Beetle. [Humor] [Similes]
Reflections on the kammic effects of King Ajātasattu killing his father (DN 2.101). [Kamma] [Killing] [Parents] [Stream entry]
Vinaya: Khandhaka 21.1.3: The First Council occurred at Rājagha, King Ajātasattu’s capital city.
[Session] Readings: [Stream entry]
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 16, pp. 280-281 and pp. 292-293:
Sutta: AN 3.85.
Sutta: MN 34: Shorter Discourse on the Cowherd.
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1.23-24; read from The Life of the Buddha According to the Pāli Canon by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli (pdf unavailable) Chapter 5.
Sutta: MN 74: Dīghanakha Sutta; read from The Life of the Buddha According to the Pāli Canon by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli (pdf unavailable) Chapter 5.
1. “Can you explain more about the difference between faith followers and Dhamma followers?” [Stages of awakening] [Faith] [Discernment] [Stream entry] // [Culture/West] [Relinquishment]
Reading: Bhikkhu Bodhi’s footnote 369 to MN 34.10.
4. “What were the follow-on stories of how Sāriputta and Moggallāna attained arahantship?” [Great disciples] [Arahant] [Stream entry]
Reading: MN 74: Sāriputta fans the Buddha. [Upatakh]
Sutta: AN 7.61: The Buddha instructs the dozing Moggallāna.
Reading: MN 37: Nothing is worth adhering to. [Clinging]
[Session] Readings: [Stream entry]
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 16, pp. 293:
Sutta: SN 12.68.
Reading: AN 6.97: Benefits of stream entry.
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 17, pp. 294-296:
Suttas: DN 5.29-30; MN 56.18; SN 12.70.
Sutta: SN 12.70: Susīma.
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 17, pp. 296-299:
Suttas: SN 45.9; SN 56.51; SN 12.27; SN 12.49; SN 22.109.
Sutta: SN 56.51: A Fingernail.
Sutta: SN 12.27: With ignorance as condition…
[Session] Readings:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 17, pp. 299-301:
Suttas: SN 25.1; SN 48.3; AN 7.62.
Sutta: AN 7.66: Seven Suns.
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 18, pp. 302:
Sutta: MN 44: Cūḷavedalla Sutta.
[Session] Readings: AN 7.48.10: Saññā Sutta; SN 35.82: Loka; Ud 4.1: Meghiya; AN 1.136: Uppādā Sutta; SN 15.20: Mount Vepulla. [Impermanence]