Psychic powers (iddhi)
Nature of the cosmos / Nature of mind / Psychic powers 
25 excerpts, 1:47:13 total duration



Metta Retreat, Session 4 – Sep. 12, 2008

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16. “I had an experience yeserday in which I may have seen a group of beings above us, particularly above you....I don’t think I’m crazy, but I’m very interested in what the Dhamma says about otherworldly/non-material beings.” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Deva] [Goodwill] [Compassion] [Mental illness] // [Ajahn Pasanno] [Culture/Thailand] [Realms of existence] [Culture/Natural environment]

Recollection: Spirits at Wat Pah Nanachat would request Ajahn Pasanno to dedicate merit. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Funerals] [Ghost] [Merit]

Quote: “They always had to use an intermediary because I was thick, thick, thick.” [Psychic powers]

Story: Ajahn Plien declares Casa Serena free of ghosts. [Ajahn Plien] [Abhayagiri] [Rebirth]


Metta Retreat, Session 5 – Sep. 13, 2008

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13. “In your opinion, why do you think Mogallana is portrayed in the scriptures as mostly an idiot/unwise and Sariputta is portrayed as wise?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Tipiṭaka] [Great disciples] // [Psychic powers] [Saṅgha] [Conflict] [Mahāyāna] [Personality]

Quote: “But Ānanda, since when has Anuruddha been involved in disciplinary issues in the midst of the Saṅgha?” AN 4.243 [Vinaya]

Story: Moggallāna sees a yakkha clobber Sāriputta. Ud 4.4 [Non-human beings] [Psychic powers]


Our Roots in the Thai Forest Tradition, Session 11 – Jan. 20, 2014

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1. “Ajahn Chah took Ajahn Mahā Amon and Ajahn Sumedho to visit Luang Ta Mahā Boowa and Ajahn Kaew. What happened?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Ajahn Mahā Amorn] [Ajahn Sumedho] [Ajahn Khao] // [Teaching Dhamma] [Simplicity]

Story: Ajahn Chah turned on a tape recorder, but the only part of the conversation that was recorded was when Ajahn Kaew farted. [Technology] [Psychic powers]

Note: A partially similar story appears in Stillness Flowing by Ajahn Jayasaro, p. 189.


Our Roots in the Thai Forest Tradition, Session 12 – Jan. 21, 2014

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3. “Is this talk a response to the vipassanā movement in Thailand?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Calming meditation] [Insight meditation] [Culture/Thailand] [Mahasi Sayadaw] // [Study monks] [History/Thai Buddhism] [Jhāna] [Formless attainments] [Psychic powers]


The Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Session 18 – Jan. 29, 2015

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2. Outline of AN 4.41 Samādhibhāvanā: Four types of concentration. Teaching by Ajahn Pasanno. [Concentration] [Right Mindfulness] // [Psychic powers] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Liberation] [Outflows] [Perception of light] [Impermanence] [Aggregates]

Comment about the difference between the third and fourth developments of concentration. [Conditionality]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view]


2015 Thanksgiving Monastic Retreat, Session 7 – Nov. 27, 2015

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9. “Can you say more about trusting the seeds of meditation practice after Alzheimer’s/dementia kick in? What do you mean by going beyond liberation or consciousness? What do you mean by ‘many deeper layers’ are affected by the practice and the fruits of it will express naturally?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Sickness] [Consciousness] [Long-term practice] // [Happiness] [Proliferation] [Relinquishment] [Self-identity view]

Story: A monk with psychic abilities investigates Ajahn Chah’s mind after Ajahn Chah loses his mental faculties. [Ajahn Chah] [Psychic powers]

Story: Ajahn Pasanno brings the Wat Pah Nanachat community to Ajahn Chah’s nursing kuti to chant verses including Dependent Origination. [Wat Pah Nanachat] [Ajahn Pasanno] [Chanting] [Dependent origination]

Quote: “The fruits of practice arise through the simple quality of being the one who knows, taking the Buddha as refuge.” [Knowing itself] [Buddha] [Three Refuges]


Western Disciples of the Thai Forest Tradition, Session 40 – Mar. 4, 2016

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2. “Did Ajahn Chah have a common statement about his own core practice?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [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]


Readings from The Island, Session 6 – Jan. 16, 2025

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6. “I thought there was a rule that you can’t talk about your attainments. But if 1,000 people became arahants, how did anyone know?” Answered by Ajahn Amaro. [Vinaya] [Arahant] [Buddha/Biography] // [Psychic powers]


Readings from The Island, Session 7 – Jan. 17, 2025

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5. Comment: The story of Patācārā realizing the end of suffering [in Thig 112-116, The Island by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Amaro, pp. 54-55] illustrates the possibility of samādhi while going about daily activities. [Great disciples] [Liberation] [Concentration] [Monastic life]

Response by Ajahn Amaro. [Jhāna] [Buddha/Biography] [Similes] [Mahāyāna]

Vinaya: Khandhaka 21.1.5: Ānanda realizes arahantship the dawn before the First Council while just beginning to lie down. [Arahant] [Postures] [Psychic powers]