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61 events, 414 sessions, 3055 excerpts, 173:01:15 total duration
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Ajahn Chah
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Ajahn Pasanno
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[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 3, pp. 61-63. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Sutta: SN 12.20; SN 12.41; AN 10.92.
1. “On the night of the Buddha’s enlightenment, he used the perception of Dependent Origination to penetrate the truth into the Five Khandhas...?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Buddha/Biography] [Dependent origination]
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1.1: The Buddha contemplates Dependent Origination under different trees.
2. “Dependent co-origination is referred to as Dhamma. The unoriginated and unconditioned is also Dhamma. Could you explain?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Dependent origination] [Dhamma] [Unconditioned] // [Cessation] [Conventions]
Sutta: MN 28.22: One who sees Dependent Origination sees the Dhamma.
3. “How do you tell the difference between genuine insight and conceptual fabrication?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Insight meditation] [Proliferation] // [Cessation of Suffering] [Spiritual friendship] [Suffering] [Lawfulness] [Doubt] [Stream entry] [Self-reliance]
Follow-up: “The fact that it can’t be verified intuitively makes me uncomfortable. I can see how that would lead to delusion of falsity.” [Delusion]
Story: Ajahn Sumedho asks Ajahn Chah whether he [Ajahn Sumedho] is a stream enterer. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Chah]
4. “If someone disrobed but held the five or eight precepts, would the attain at least sotapanna?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Disrobing ] [Stream entry] // [Arahant] [Culture/West] [Buddha] [Monastic life/Motivation]
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 3, pp. 64-67. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Suttas: MN 43.11; Ud 1.10; Iti 94.
Master Hsüan Hua, Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma Jewel Platform Sūtra, with Commentary, p. 149.
Śhūrangama Sūtra 1.169.
1. “Ajahn Geoff often says that non-duality is not part of the Buddha’s teachings because it refers to unity rather than complete trancendance. In your experience, do most teachings on non-duality refer to an allness or something more compatible with the Buddha’s teachings?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Right View] [Unconditioned] [Advaita Vedanta] // [Equanimity] [Non-identification] [Knowing itself] [Language] [Culture/West] [Culture/India]
Sutta: MN 137.17: Equanimity based on diversity, etc.
Sutta: MN 1.25: They are attached to the All.
Quote: “One of my pet peeves is when people say, ‘I really love non-duality.’” — Eric McCord.
2. “What about the cow that killed the arahant Bahiya (Ud 1.10)?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Animal] [Kamma] [Rebirth] // [Human] [Volition]
3. “When Luang Por Sumedho talks about resting in awareness in which everything is included, is this connected to the subject part [of non-duality] or is this neither there nor in between (Ud 1.10)?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Knowing itself] [Non-identification] [Equanimity] [Advaita Vedanta] // [Buddhist identity] [Not-self] [Language] [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Unestablished consciousness] [Brahma gods]
Recollection: When Ajahn Amaro first arrived at Wat Pah Nanachat, a monk recommended Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind. [Ajahn Amaro] [Zen]
4. “My perception of Theravāda is that it’s a lot about striving but then Advaita Vedanta and Luang Por Sumedho talk about acceptance of what is right now. It doesn’t have the same morality. How do you reconcile these two things?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Theravāda] [Right Effort] [Advaita Vedanta] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Virtue] // [Self-identity view] [Suffering] [Eightfold Path]
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 4, pp. 68-70. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Sutta: Ud 3.10.
Ven. P.A. Payutto, Dependent Origination, pp. 14-5.
1. Reflection by Ajahn Amaro: Addiction to becoming is the core source of suffering. [Addiction ] [Becoming] [Cause of Suffering]
Reference: The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, pp. 68-69.
2. “Did the Buddha get any violent reaction from attacking Hinduism’s central tenet of the atman?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Buddha/Biography] [Hinduism] [Not-self] // [Addiction]
Sutta: MN 75.5: Māgandiya Sutta, “Wrecker of being.”
Sutta: MN 26.19: The Buddha hesitates to teach.
3. Reflections by Ajahn Amaro on the career of the Bodhisattva. [Bodhisattva ] // [Compassion] [Perfections] [Tipiṭaka] [Mahāyāna] [History/Early Buddhism]
Sutta: MN 26.19: The Buddha hesitates to teach.
4. “I’ve heard that to become a Buddha one must ask the blessing of an existing Buddha. Is this true?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Previous Buddhas] [Buddha] [Bodhisattva] // [Determination]
Story: The Brahmin Sumedha vows to become a Buddha (found in the Buddhavaṃsa and Jātaka tales).
Follow-up: “This makes it even more surprising that the Buddha doubted to fulfill his role (MN 26.19).” Aswered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Buddha/Biography] [Doubt] [Brahma gods] [Teaching Dhamma] [Addiction]
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 124: Dhamma talk request.
5. “Is there any reference in the Pāli Canon to Maitreya, the next Buddha’s aspiration being made to the Buddha Gotama?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Tipiṭaka] [Metteyya Bodhisatva] [Buddha/Biography]
Sutta: DN 26.25: The Pāli Nikaya’s only reference to Metteyya Bodhisattva.
Āgama: MĀ 66: Two aspirants make vows to the Buddha Gotama.
6. “Does the Buddha require faith in order to complete the path?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Faith ] // [Self-identity view] [Faculties] [Courage] [Trust] [Recollection/Buddha]
7. “According to the Buddha, is the maximum spiritual potential found in the human realm?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro, Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Human ] // [Stages of awakening]
Follow-up: “How do you integrate this with daily life?” [Everyday life] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] [Buddha/Biography] [Liberation] [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Culture/West]
Comment: I work with human potential in children and their families....It’s so segregated...in the educational system there is no spiritual element. [Children] [Education ]
Response by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Western psychology] [Learning] [City of Ten Thousand Buddhas]
Reference: Beyond, p. 441 in Happily Ever After by Ajahn Amaro.
8. “Did you say, ‘Nibbāna is the source of all virtue?’” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Nibbāna] [Virtue] // [Ven. Nāgasena]
Quote: “Nibbāna, once realized, is the source of the beauty of the virtues of all living beings.” — Milindapañha 320, quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 38..
Follow-up: “Can you reflect on this? It doesn’t quite fit with the Unconditioned, unformed, no footing....” [Unconditioned]
Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Arahant]
Sutta: AN 9.7-8: What an arahant can’t do.
Sutta: AN 3.7: Uposatha Sutta.
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Compassion]
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 4, pp. 70-76. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Ven. P.A. Payutto, Dependent Origination, pp. 14-5.
H.H. the Dalai Lama, The Four Noble Truths, pp. 53-57.
Suttas: MN 52.4-14, AN 11.16; SN 22.81; MN 140.20-22.
1. “Do I understand correctly from P. A. Payutto (quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 69-71) that the impermanence aspect precedes the interdependence aspect of selflessness?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [P. A. Payutto] [Impermanence] [Not-self] // [Characteristics of existence]
2. Reading: Reading from Just One More by Ajahn Amaro, p. 16 quoting The House at Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne. Read by Ajahn Amaro. [Winnie-the-Pooh] [Sensual desire] [Becoming] [Craving]
3. “What is the earliest source that mentions the three kinds of dukkha?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Suffering] // [Tipiṭaka]
Sutta: SN 45.165.
4. “When you talked about the little girl crying, was she really crying because she was miserable?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Suffering] [Happiness]
Story: A little girl cries because she got what she wanted. [Desire]
5. “In one of the first readings [Session 2, question 2 and Session 3, question 3] you mentioned momentary Nibbāna. How do jhānas relate to momentary Nibbāna?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Nibbāna] [Jhāna] // [Clinging] [Ajahn Chah] [Liberation]
Sutta: MN 113.21: Don’t be content with jhāna.
Sutta: MN 26.15-16: Āḷāra Kālāma and Uddaka Rāmaputta.
6. “What would you say is the importance of experiencing the four immaterial jhānas? Is there the possibility of investigation in these states?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Formless attainments] [Insight meditation] // [Thai Forest Tradition] [Jhāna] [Impermanence] [Aggregates]
[Session] Reading from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 4, pp. 80-82. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Ajahn Chah, ‘Toward the Unconditioned,’ in Food for the Heart, pp. 385-9 and Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, pp. 383-400.
Note: The recording of the January 25 reading (The Island pp. 77-80) was lost.
1. “A question about physical pain. Sometimes it feels like I can deal with a certain level of pain, but every now and again there’s a level of pain that is too intense. Is there a technique for being okay with whatever level of pain?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Pain] // [Aversion] [Fear] [Goodwill] [Tranquility] [Buddha/Biography]
Sutta: SN 36.6: The Arrow.
Suttas: MN 53.5, AN 10.67, SN 35.243: Examples of the Buddha stretching his back.
Comment: In Viet Nam, native peasants needed less morphine than Americans paying for health care. [Health care]
Responses by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Attitude] [Sickness]
2. “If the Unconditioned is above distinctions of right and wrong, how do you reconcile this with the fact that we live in a moralistic society? If you are not enlightened, how do you live with the truth of the Unconditioned?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Unconditioned] [Virtue] // [Conventions] [Dhamma] [Vinaya] [Buddha] [Ven. Ananda Maitreya] [Clinging] [Suffering] [Recollection/Buddha]
Reference: “Still, Flowing Water” in Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 373.
Reference: Time & Timelessness.
Reference: T. S. Elliot, The Dry Salvages.
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1: The story of the Buddha’s enlightenment.
Reference: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 4: Recollection of the Buddha: vijjācaraṇa-sampanno.
3. Story: Ajahn Mahā Boowa argues with Ajahn Mun, then can’t access higher states of concentration. Told by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Mahā Boowa ] [Ajahn Mun] [Concentration] // [Conceit] [Insight meditation]
Story: Mae Chee Kaew insisted that meditation connected with [supernatural] beings was the right way; Ajahn Mahā Boowa threw her out. Told by Ajahn Sundarā. [Mae Chee Kaew] [Non-human beings] [Fierce/direct teaching]
4. “One of the descriptions I’ve heard associated with stream entry is turning over or correcting something that was wrong....” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Stream entry] [Similes] // [Sutta]
Suttas: DN 10, MN 100, SN 7.22, AN 8.11, and many others end with: “...as if he were to place upright what was overturned....”
Follow-up: “Is there a description for the unfettering from sensual desire and ill-will?” [Non-return]
Responses by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Kaccāna. [Brahma gods]
Sutta: AN 7.55: Chip from a heated metal bowl.
5. “Is there any other language that can describe things correctly? For example, mathematics or physics?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Language] [Unconditioned ] [Science] // [Suchness]
Sutta: Ud 3.10: “Whatever you conceive it to be, it is ever other than that.”
Reference: “Suchness and the Square Root of Minus One,” Happily Ever After by Ajahn Amaro, p. 507.
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 4, pp. 82-86. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Ajahn Chah, ‘Toward the Unconditioned,’ in Food for the Heart, pp. 385-91 and Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, pp. 383-400.
Ajahn Chah, ‘Convention and Liberation,’ in Food for the Heart, p. 307 and Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, pp. 21-27.
1. “When was the idea of merit [being like a celestial currency] incorporated into Buddhism?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Sundarā. [Merit] [History/Early Buddhism] // [Generosity] [Happiness]
Sutta: Iti 22: “Don’t belittle merit.”
Sutta: AN 7.52: Degrees of meritorious offerings.
2. “As the ten fetters start to be cut, can you expect to not get so lost in feelings and thoughts? Does the time you get lost reduce?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Fetters] [Heedlessness] // [Stream entry] [Realms of existence] [Non-return] [Sensual desire] [Ill-will] [Once return] [Fame and disrepute] [Conceit] [Blame and praise] [Craving for material existence] [Craving for immaterial existence]
Reference: Śhūrangama Sūtra, Fifty Skandha Demon States.
3. “I heard somewhere that the Buddha regretted giving the teaching on the Ten Fetters. Is this true?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Fetters] [Buddha/Biography] // [Great disciples] [Rebirth] [Realms of existence]
Sutta: AN 9.12 Sariputta asks the Buddha whether anyone still subject to rebirth is safe from the lower realms.
Sutta: MN 39: Don’t be content with virtue, etc.
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 5, pp. 87-92. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Nyaṇatiloka Bhikkhu, Buddhist Dictionary, p. 106.
Suttas: MN 140.31; Dhp 21; AN 6.49; SN 22.49; SN 1.20; Nid 80.226; MN 144.9; SN 22.59 (also at Mahāvagga 1.6).
1. “For those who accept only the three-lifetime interpretation of Dependent Origination, how do they interpret the arising of contact and feeling?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Dependent origination] [Rebirth] [Contact] [Feeling] // [P. A. Payutto] [Tipiṭaka] [Commentaries] [Ajahn Buddhadāsa]
Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, pp. 533-608: Dependent Origination.
Sutta: MN 140.31: “The sage at peace is not born, does not age, and does not die.”
Quote: I don’t deny that the Buddha speaks about past life and present life and future life, but in most circumstances that’s irrelevant. “Ajahn Buddhadāsa” — answering a sincere inquiry about rebirth..
2. Comments by Ajahn Sundarā and Ajahn Amaro about Ajahn Sumedho’s deepmphasis of rebirth in teachings about Dependent Origination. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Rebirth] [Dependent origination] // [Bhikkhu Bodhi] [Ajahn Buddhadāsa]
3. “Does the Buddha speak about karma in relation to the family we find ourselves in?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Tipiṭaka] [Kamma] [Family] // [Jātaka Tales] [Great disciples] [Rebirth] [Buddha/Biography] [Previous Buddhas] [Ajahn Sumedho]
Sutta: MN 81 Ghaṭīkāra Sutta
Story: An eight-year-old girl remembers being her grandmother’s mother.
4. “I’ve been pondering Ajahn Chah’s phrase, ‘Right but not true; true but not right.’ I’ve never been able to figure our ‘Right but not true....’” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Ajahn Chah] [Truth] // [Clear comprehension]
Quote: “You are right in fact but wrong in Dhamma.” — Ajahn Chah. [Dhamma]
Story: Ajahn Sumedho reports Ajahn Buddhadāsa’s different approach to Vinaya to Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Buddhadāsa] [Vinaya]
Story: Ajahn Sumedho criticizes an outspoken monk’s loud speech at Paṭimokkha. The monk leaves Wat Pah Pong soon after. [Harsh speech] [Admonishment/feedback]
5. Three kinds of selfing. Teaching by Ajahn Amaro. [Self-identity view] [Not-self] // [Commentaries] [Insight meditation] [Relinquishment]
Sutta: SN 22.59 Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta (Chanting book translation).
[Session] Readings by Ajahn Amaro:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 5, pp. 92-96 and 108-109:
Suttas: MN 102.23-4; AN 3.32; Ud 6.6; MN 2.7-8; SN 44.10; SN 22.15.
Sutta: Snp 5.14: Udaya’s Questions.
1. Comments by Ajahn Amaro, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo, Ajahn Kaccāna and Ajahn Pasanno about the designations for the Five Hindrances and insight in Snp 5.14. [Hindrances] [Insight meditation] // [Doubt] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Proliferation] [Not-self] [Great disciples]
Sutta: AN 3.33, quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 93.
2. “Does Ajahn Chah’s phrase, ‘Right in fact but wrong in Dhamma,’ imply that there is an objective world of facts and then a world above that which is Dhamma?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Truth] [Dhamma] // [Etymology] [Conventions] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Harsh speech]
Note: This phrase was discussed during the previous session.
Stories about the Buddha’s disciples who had killed people. [Great disciples] [Killing]
Suttas: MN 86: Aṅgulimāla Sutta; the story of Kuṇḍalakesī (Commentary to Dhp 102-103, Dhamma Verses Commentary translated by E. W. Burlingame and Ānandajoti Bhikkhu, p. 500).
Recollection: The lay disciple Pansak would sometimes show up drunk after work and spend the night under Ajahn Chah’s kuti. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Lay supporters] [Intoxicants]
Story: The monk Por Suey had been a hit man hired to kill Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah lineage] [Crime] [Wat Pah Nanachat]
3. Comment: The Scottish philosopher David Hume expressed his understanding of the nature of self similar to a Buddhist understanding. [Philosophy] [Not-self] // [Sense bases] [Perception]
Reference: David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature.
4. Comment by Ajahn Kaccāna: MN 2.8 leaves out ‘I perceive not-self with not-self’ from its list of speculative view. My assumption is that this view is incorrect as well. [Views] [Self-identity view]
Response by Ajahn Amaro.
5. Discussion about possible connections between Western philosopy and Buddhism. [Philosophy] [History] [Spiritual traditions]
[Session] Readings by Ajahn Amaro:
The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 5, pp. 96-101:
“No-self or Not-self” in Noble Strategy by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro.
Suttas: MN 1.3-194 (abridged); Ud 4.1 (also at AN 9.3); Ud 2.1.
David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, Section 6.
1. Discussion about why the bhikkhus did not approve of the Buddha’s teachings in the Mūlapariyāya Sutta (MN 1). [Teaching Dhamma] [Blame and praise] // [Culture/India] [Tipiṭaka] [Right View] [Hinduism]
2. “I didn’t understand what was meant by inferences [in “No-self or Not-self” by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro].” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Teaching Dhamma] [Hearing the true Dhamma] [Suffering]
3. Comment by Ajahn Pasanno: Anattā is a middle-way word between atthā and niratthā. [Pāli] [Etymology] [Middle Path] // [Right View]
4. “How does [the preceding discussion of insight meditation] differ from sakkāyādiṭṭhi?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Self-identity view] [Insight meditation] // [Pāli] [Etymology] [Not-self]
5. “Is no-self in the observer? ...I find myself noticing the observer, and then I find myself noticing that I’m noticing, and then I get in a tangle.” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Not-self] [Perception] [Proliferation] // [Humor]
6. “Could sakkāyadiṭṭhi also mean viewing someone else as having a self?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Self-identity view]
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 5, pp. 101-105. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Suttas: Ud 3.10; Iti 58; MN 22.37; MN 22.20; AN 6.101.
Ajahn Sucitto, The Dawn of the Dhamma, p. 97.
Ajahn Chah, ‘No Abiding,’ in Food for the Heart, p. 316 and Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 33.
1. “When we immerse and lose ourselves in a book or movie, is this the craving or thirst for non-being?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Craving not to become ] // [Kamma] [Volition] [Restlessness and worry]
Sutta: AN 6.63.33: Kamma is intention.
2. “I’ve been noticing during meditation that my mind goes a lot into planning. Can you consider this bhavataṇha?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Becoming] [Proliferation] // [Volition] [Discernment] [Ajahn Amaro] [Habits] [Amaravati] [Building projects] [Suffering]
3. Quote: “Oh, what joy to know that there is no happiness in the world!” — Caption beneath a painting of a dancing monk at Suan Mokh Monastery. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Happiness] [Artistic expression] [Wat Suan Mokkh] // [Ajahn Buddhadāsa]
4. “You mentioned that the Vedic tradition describes reaching the Atman as pure consciousness, awake, and blissful. How is that different from what Luang Por Sumedho always describes pure consciousness, awake, and blissful as the ultimate state?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Hinduism] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Unestablished consciousness] // [Language]
5. Story: The parents of a four-year-old wish their child to attain Nibbāna in this life. Told by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Parents] [Nibbāna] [Desire]
Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Happiness]
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 5, pp. 105-109. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Suttas: MN 75.12; MN 74.2-5; MN 102.12; Iti 49; SN 12.15, SN 22.90.
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1.6 (also at SN 22.59).
1. Comment: This reading about the bliss of Nibbāna (The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 105; MN 75.12) reminds me of the monk who had previously been a king who went about saying ‘Oh, what bliss!’ [Nibbāna] [Happiness] [Great disciples] [Royalty]
Sutta: Ud 2.10.
Response by Ajahn Amaro.
2. “You could have a reasonable intention to stop a habit or stop seeing someone. By telling yourself, ‘I want to stop,’ you identify with the object. But you can go round and round and round thinking about it....” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Spiritual friendship] [Volition] [Self-identity view] [Proliferation] // [Right Effort] [Mindfulness] [Discernment] [Attitude] [Becoming]
Sutta: Snp 2.4: Maṅgala Sutta.
Simile: Stinging nettles and dead nettles together in the same hedgerow. [Similes]
Quote: “I am an unenlightened person who has to do something now to become enlightened in the future.” — a paradigm based on self-view pointed out by Ajahn Sumedho. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Liberation]
Follow-up: “The only arbiter [of whether intention is based on self-view or wisdom] is your own experience....” [Self-reliance]
Response. [Teaching Dhamma]
Sutta: AN 9.3 Meghiya Sutta.
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities]
3. “I don’t have any clear memory of past lives, and I’m happy not to overly speculate about that. But some monks suggested that you need to take on the doctrine of rebirth as part of Right View. Do you have any thoughts about this?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Rebirth ] [Right View] // [Self-reliance] [Ajahn Amaro] [Four Noble Truths] [Ajahn Chah] [Becoming]
Sutta: MN 117.6: Definition of Right View.
Quote: “You don’t have to believe in past lives or future lives in order to be a practicing Buddhist, do you?” — The Dalai Lama. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Dalai Lama] [Buddhist identity]
Story: Ajahn Chah describes the supernatural beings who live at Wat Pah Pong to two sincere Dhamma practitioners, then refuses to answer inquiries about this topic by a group from Bangkok. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Non-human beings] [Wat Pah Pong]
4. “Is it correct that name-and-form and consciousness can’t be separated, contact and feeling can’t be separated, and the same for becoming and birth? Is it correct that those links can’t be interrupted?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Dependent origination] // [Tipiṭaka] [Conditionality] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Direct experience]
Sutta: DN 15: Mahānidāna Sutta.
Reference: “Hetu paccayo...,” Funeral Chanting in Amaravati Chanting Book Volume 2, p. 66.
Sutta: MN 43.9: Feeling, perception, and consciousness are conjoined.
[Session] Readings from The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, Chapter 5, pp. 109-112. Read by Ajahn Amaro:
Ācariya Nāgārjuna, Mūlamadhyamaka-kārikā, Ch.15.
Spiritual Autobiography, Ajahn Chah.
1. Comment: When you were reading from the passage from Ācariya Nāgārguna’s Mūlamadhyamaka-kārikā (quoted in The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, p. 109), it struck me that the use of the word essence is equivalent to the way the Buddha uses the word self. [Acariya Nāgārguna] [Language] [Self-identity view] // [Mahāyāna] [Philosophy]
Sutta: SN 5.10: The Bhikkhunī Vajirā.
2. “I’m wondering if there is an evolutionary explanation for Nibbāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro. [Science] [Nibbāna] // [Suffering] [Human] [Environment] [Killing]
3. “I have never come to the bottom of this self or not self, and I come to the point where I just give up. Should I worry?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view ] [Not-self] // [Present moment awareness] [Proliferation] [Insight meditation] [Knowing itself] [Relinquishment]
Reflection by Ajahn Amaro: This which knows the person is not a person. [Personality]
Follow-up: “This goes strongly against what we experience outside of Amaravati; in work life there is very strong identity. To find a balance is very challenging.”
Response by Ajahn Pasanno: “Identification is the glue that holds suffering together.” [Suffering] [Non-identification]
Quote: “When were you ever made any the less by dying?” — Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī. Quoted by Ajahn Amaro. [Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī] [Death] [Right View]
4. “What is the meaning of dukkha?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Suffering ] // [Etymology]
5. “Is meditation mainly the process of just focusing on your breath and watching it?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Meditation] // [Mindfulness of breathing] [Meditation/Techniques]
1. “What distinguished Ajahn Chah from other meditation teachers?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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 (SN 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?’” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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 by Ajahn Pasanno: 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. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
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. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Amulets] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Food] [Saṅgha decision making] [Relics] [Funerals]
5. “What do you treasure most among what you/we have inherited from Luang Por Chah?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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)?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]
1. Background of the Amaravati Sunday Talks. [Amaravati] [Teaching Dhamma] // [Rains retreat] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah]
2. Recollection: Ajahn Chah was a memorable person; his influence has spread around the world. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah lineage] [Ajahn Chah] // [Faith] [Ajahn Sumedho]
3. Recollection: My introduction to Ajahn Chah. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] // [Temporary ordination] [Travel] [Wat Phleng Vipassanā] [Forest versus city monks]
4. Recollection: Ajahn Chah’s community in 1975. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah lineage] [Ajahn Chah] // [Wat Pah Pong ] [Western Ajahn Chah lineage] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Isan] [Personal presence]
5. Recollection: Ajahn Chah taught by example, but put the focus on the monastic training and community. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] [Ajahn Chah] // [Humility]
Quote: “He was unique in his ability to draw people in without it having to be about him.” [Personal presence ] [Personality]
6. Recollection: Why I stayed with Ajahn Chah. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Determination] [Ajahn Chah] // [Family] [Sequence of training] [Equanimity] [Personal presence]
7. Recollection: He was always willing to push us beyond what we thought we could do. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Fierce/direct teaching] [Ajahn Chah] // [Intuition]
Quote: “I hope you’re not afraid of suffering....If you’re afraid of suffering, you’re not going to grow in wisdom here.” — Ajahn Chah to Jack Kornfield. [Jack Kornfield] [Fear] [Suffering] [Discernment]
Quote: “If you want to stay here, you have to stay at least five years.” — Ajahn Chah to Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Sequence of training] [Determination]
Story: Ajahn Chah asks the young Ajahn Pasanno to become abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Abbot] [Sickness]
8. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Amaravati and other monasteries are offshoots of Ajahn Chah’s gift of monastic training where people can continue to practice. [Monastic life] [Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Ajahn Chah]
9. Recollection: Ajahn Pasanno’s first lunar observance night at Wat Pah Pong. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Pong] [Lunar observance days] [Ajahn Chah] // [Monastic life] [Pace of life] [Patience]
Quote: “You learn as you go. You expand your ability to go beyond the limitations you set for yourself.” [Learning]
Quote: “The more you resist and complain in your mind, the more you suffer.” [Aversion] [Suffering] [Habits]
10. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Ajahn Chah used the Vinaya rules as a basis to train in mindfulness and clear comprehension. [Vinaya] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Ajahn Chah] // [Volition] [Perception of a samaṇa] [Protocols ] [Sense restraint] [Beauty] [Faith]
Story: Ajahn Chah demonstrates how to put down a yahm (monk’s shoulder bag). [Requisites] [Ajahn Sumedho]
Vinaya: Mahāvagga 1.23: Sariputta gains faith from Venerable Assiji’s demeanor. [Great disciples]
11. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno on Ajahn Chah’s ability to illustrate Dhamma. [Teaching Dhamma] [Similes] [Ajahn Chah]
Simile: Suffering is like continually tightening a bolt. [Suffering]
12. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Ajahn Chah’s compassion and empathy. [Compassion] [Ajahn Chah]
Quote: “I’ve been like that.” — Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Munindo] [Suffering]
13. Recollection: Ajahn Chah enjoyed teasing people and playing with words. Recounted by Ajahn Pasanno. [Humor] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Gavesako] [Ajahn Amaro] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Compassion]
Stories: The Squirrel Story and the Donkey Story. [Kittisaro] [Monastic life] [Patience]
Note: Kittisaro tells these stories himself here.
14. Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: His leadership and his teaching came from his example. [Leadership] [Teaching Dhamma] [Ajahn Chah] // [Lunar observance days] [Devotion to wakefulness]
Recollection: Ajahn Chah sits until midnight despite having malaria. [Sickness] [Posture/Sitting] [Sitter's practice]
15. “When you first arrived at Ajahn Chah’s monastery, how did you communicate with him?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Language] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Sumedho] [Translation] [Paul Breiter] [Thai] [Isan]
Story: Venerable Varapañño could recite the Pāṭimokkha perfectly. [Pāṭimokkha]
16. “Can you tell us more about Ajahn Chah’s background?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] // [Wat Pah Pong] [Geography/Thailand] [Education] [Novices] [Ordination] [Ajahn Sao] [Forest versus city monks] [Death] [Ajahn Mun] [Thai sects]
Story: Six-year-old Chah plays at being a monk. [Monastic life]
17. “Can you speak about Luang Por Chah’s opinion about Thai superstitions and amulets?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/Thailand] [Superstition] [Amulets] [Ajahn Chah] // [Humor] [Ghost] [Generosity]
Story: A young supporter drafted into the military asks Ajahn Chah for protection. [Buddha images]
18. “What gave you the inspiration and strength of spirit to want to dedicate yourself to follow the way?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Faith] [Determination] // [Suffering] [Spiritual search] [Culture/Thailand] [Travel] [Meditation/Results]
19. “In the draft of your biography, it says that growing up you felt you didn’t fit in with normal society. When you came to a Buddhist country and the monastery, did it feel like home?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand] [Monastic life] // [Purpose/meaning]
20. “Nowadays we have so much information about Dhamma, whereas when you began, you talked about following an example. How much did being in the presence of someone like Ajahn Chah mean? Could we now overlook this since we have so much information?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Dhamma online] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Mentoring] [Personal presence] [Ajahn Chah] // [Amaravati] [Aspects of Understanding]
21. “How did your becoming a monk go down with your family, and how did that affect you?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Monastic life] [Family] // [Ajahn Jayasaro]
22. “People say that Westerners are much more individualistic than Asians. Do you think Ajahn Chah was good at understanding the Western way of thinking?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Culture/West] [Culture/Asia] [Ajahn Chah]
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