Part of tag cluster Community in key topic Everyday Life Practice
3. “How is the relationship between Chithurst Monastery and the local community now? What about other branch monasteries?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Community] [Western Ajahn Chah monasteries] [Chithurst] // [Conflict] [Vinaya] [Almsround] [Goodwill] [Tudong]
1. Question about how Ajahn Chah taught to deal with people externally. Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Community] [Ajahn Chah] // [Ajahn Mun] [Virtue] [Doubt] [Monastic life] [Views]
Story: A ghost tries to align the visitors sleeping in his hall. [Culture/Thailand] [Lodging] [Ghost] [Communal harmony]
Quote: “You have to have an anchor in your own practice.” [Similes]
3. “As an abbot taking care of a community, how do you handle it when a kerfluffle comes up?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Abbot] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Community] [Conflict ] // [Patience] [Views] [Skillful qualities] [Four Noble Truths]
Follow-up: “What are the antidotes to the next two Noble Truths?”
3. “In the reading there was a lot of emphasis on solitude. Here we have a lot of time for that especially right now with our Winter Retreat, but we also have a lot of responsibilities and engagement in community. How would you recommend us balancing the two or using them to help each other?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Seclusion] [Abhayagiri] [Community] [Work] [Personality] // [Culture/Thailand] [Culture/India] [Ajahn Chah] [Unwholesome Roots] [Discernment] [Generosity] [Culture/West] [Self-identity view]
7. “During her lifetime did she have a lot of followers?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Upasikā Kee Nanayon] [Community] // [Animal]
2. “What is the balance between sorting out feelings internally and expressing feelings externally, not repressing them?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Emotion ] [Western psychology] [Community] // [Goodwill] [Compassion] [Discernment] [Learning]
1. “Could you talk about how to integrate interaction and physical seclusion to develop citta viveka - mental seclusion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Seclusion ] [Community] // [Concentration] [Continuity of mindfulness] [Relinquishment] [Happiness] [Contact] [Proliferation]
Quote: “Cittaviveka is essentially sāmadhi.”
14. “I keep mostly to myself, but morality and ethics affects the jist of my involvement in society. What should I be doing further to address social suffering?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Virtue] [Community] [Suffering] [Right Effort] [Politics and society] // [Spiritual friendship] [Goodwill]
1. “What meaningful impact do Buddhist monks have on the community?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Monastic life] [Mutual lay/Saṅgha support ] [Community] [Saṅgha] // [Culture/West] [Culture/Thailand] [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Lunar observance days] [Abhayagiri]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno’s first visit to Wat Pah Pong. [Wat Pah Pong ] [Temporary ordination] [Thai Ajahn Chah monasteries]
3. “Will practice as a group help us in solitude?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Seclusion] [Meditation/General advice] [Community] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha]
4. “How do we balance solitude and communal aspects of practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Seclusion] [Community] [Meditation/General advice] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] // [Ajahn Pasanno]
5. Comment: Some deep-seated patterns may be more visible to others than ourselves. [Community] [Outflows] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Aversion] [Self-identity view]
6. “Is there a place to point out others’ difficulties [in the practice]?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Admonishment/feedback] [Right Speech] [Community] [Monastic life] [Saṅgha] // [Ajahn Chah] [Teaching Dhamma]
6. Comment: I’m concerned about how much time people spend on computers, and I think it’s sad that people use electronic devices rather than talk with each other. [Technology] [Community]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno.
Follow-up: “Should I say anything to my son who is on his device half the time during his brief, infrequent visits?” [Children] [Right Speech]
Story: Abhayagiri’s computer policy for monks. [Abhayagiri] [Social media] [Sense restraint] [Vinaya]
3. “The pandemic has given rise to feelings of profound grief and loss in many of us. How can we best work with these emotions to cultivate well-being for ourselves and others?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Pandemic] [Grief] [Emotion] [Happiness] [Community] // [Self-identity view] [Clinging] [Commerce/economics] [Perception]
1. “You have so much community-building experience. Can you talk about what you have found challenging or effective in this? How did Ajahn Chah build community?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Community] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Ajahn Chah] // [Saṅgha] [Practicing in accordance with Dhamma] [Virtue] [Trust] [Communal harmony] [Compassion] [Culture/Thailand] [Ajahn Chah lineage] [Recollection/Saṅgha] [Sequence of training] [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Abhayagiri] [Eightfold Path] [Learning]
Sutta: MN 48: Kosambiya Sutta [Principles of Cordiality] [Goodwill] [Generosity] [Right View]
Story: Ajahn Pasanno pays respects to Ajahn Chah: “If you want to stay here, you have to stay at least five years.”
Quote: “The whole path of the Buddha is a path of learning, of education.”
4. “Our community is mostly virtual. Since we’re not together taking care of a shared environment, can you suggest other ways of building community?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Community] [Online community ] // [Dhamma discussion]
7. “Your advice to leaders in the conflicts of 2021 in terms of the leaders themselves and how they can inspire their teams and communities?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Leadership] [Conflict] [Community] // [Trust] [Generosity] [Compassion] [Listening] [Ajahn Chah]
Quote: “Leadership always comes by example.”
Quote: “[Ajahn Chah] never asked us to do something that he himself wasn’t doing.”
12. “If we don’t have a saṅgha close to where we live, should we move to a different place, or are online saṅghas good enough? Can non-Buddhist people be part of your saṅgha?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Community] [Meditation groups] [Online community] [Buddhist identity] [Spiritual friendship]
Quote: “You don’t convert people to Buddhism.” — The Dalai Lama. [Dalai Lama]
4. Comment: I’m appreciative of Zoom. It’s helpful on many levels, but I’m missing the actual physical presence. [Online community] [Pandemic] [Community]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Human] [Monasteries]
5. “I feel that a lot of people are disconnected with the reality world. They don’t have a place of social, and they withdraw themselves and go on the internet. So I think the fundamental problem is people [audio unclear] in this real world. Do you have any comments on how to connect people in the real world so there can be a replacement of social media?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Community] [Social media] [Internet] // [Dhamma online] [Pandemic] [Online community] [Abhayagiri] [Lunar observance days]
Sutta: SN 55.5: Spiritual friendship as a condition for Right View. [Spiritual friendship] [Right View] [Conditionality] [Appropriate attention]
5. “It sounds like you’re quite a community builder in various places.... When I first came here (to Chithurst), I was struck by the way the community works amazingly well. Have you seen any examples of communities of laypeople living together based on monastic principles?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Ahiṃsako, Sister Ñāṇasirī and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ajahn Pasanno] [Community ] [Saṅgha] [Lay life] // [Precepts] [Vinaya] [Portland Friends of the Dhamma] [Amaravati] [Gaia House] [Culture/Thailand] [Upasikā Kee Nanayon] [Culture/West]