2. “This is a common scenario: I’m caught in a story of praise and blame. I notice. A voice says, ‘That was very quick. You’re getting good at this.’ I wake up again. ‘Ah, I know you Māra …’ Māra seems to co-opt every moment of awakening to feed the ego. Is there something you can suggest?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Blame and praise] [Māra] [Liberation] [Self-identity view] [Patience] // [Impermanence] [Mindfulness of dhammas] [Not-self] [Aggregates] [Dependent origination] [Knowing itself]
Quote: “It’s really hard to underestimate how important patient endurance is to the practice.”
1. “Do you have any advice on how to approach unwholesome habits that are based on hindrances?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Habits] [Unskillful qualities] [Hindrances] // [Conditionality] [Mindfulness of dhammas] [Self-identity view]
Sutta: MN 75.15: Māgaṇḍiya Sutta.
3. Comment by Ajahn Cunda about noticing restlessness even in peaceful meditation. [Restlessness and worry] [Tranquility]
Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view] [Relinquishment] [Contentment] [Patience] [Impermanence] [Dispassion] [Cessation] [Mindfulness of dhammas]
1. “Sometimes in meditation, it feels like I’m moving in waves even though my body is still. What does it mean? What should I do when it happens?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Meditation/Unusual experiences] // [Self-identity view] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Right Mindfulness] [Four Noble Truths] [Liberation] [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of dhammas] [Factors of Awakening]
Sutta: MN 10.4: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta.
2. “In the Ānāpānasati Sutta there are many steps. Is there space in these to investigate the causes and conditions for greed, anger, and delusion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Investigation of states] [Conditionality] [Unwholesome Roots] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Mindfulness of mind] [Heart/mind] [Calming meditation] [Hindrances] [Mindfulness of dhammas] [Impermanence]
Reflection by Ajahn Pasanno: Mindfulness of breathing is not a linear process. You have to work with what’s actually helpful.
5. “In the satipaṭṭhāna, would it be encouraged to observe skin as my skin, his skin, her skin—the same … So we look that they are not different in me and other people … If you contemplate and sit with feelings and emotions, anybody where it manifests it’s the same. So it becomes not my opinion and your opinion, but a field of opinions and you don’t have preference for the one you expressed … Would this be a suitable object of meditation?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Unattractiveness] [Not-self] [Feeling] [Emotion] [Views] // [Mindfulness of mind] [Mindfulness of dhammas] [Impermanence]
Sutta: MN 10.34: Mindfulness of citta; MN 10.36: Mindfulness of dhammas.
Sutta: MN 118.21: Using the breath to cultivate wisdom. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Discernment] [Insight meditation]