Abhayagiri Talks

Using metaphors of surfing and monastery water maintenance, Ajahn Ñaniko reflects on how in practice, as in life, we learn by trial and error until we discover the simple combination of mindfulness and effort. This talk was offered on April 6, 2016 at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery.

Encouraging the community to continue pursuing practice with enthusiasm after three months in retreat, Ajahn Pasanno reminds us that the true nature of mind is radiant and peaceful. While the perception may be that the moods and objects of mind are what are real and permanent, the goal of training is to clear away these obstructions to uncover the true mind waiting to be accessed beneath. This talk was offered on April 2, 2016 at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery.

After a brief chanting ceremony of mutual requesting of forgiveness, Ajahn Pasanno reminds the community that while the Winter Retreat is now ended, the training continues. But although the practice is of great importance, the teachings of the Buddha are not so complicated that we can't realize their rewards. This talk was offered on March 30, 2016 at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery.

As the sangha prepares to reenter world of day-to-day interactions after three months of retreat, Ajahn Jotipālo offers a reflection on the Sangaha Sutta – the Buddha's teaching on the four grounds of fellowship. These qualities – generosity, kind speech, beneficial help, and consistency – will go a long way toward creating a skillful working community, whether one is a monastic or a lay person. This talk was offered on March 26, 2016 at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery.

Ajahn Ñaniko encourages us to keep nibbana in mind – first with a chance for us to sit and literally imagine being enlightened; then with a teaching on the three aspects of mental cultivation and the seven factors of awakening. This talk was offered on March 22, 2016 at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery.

Reflecting on sutta MN 13, The Greater Discourse on the Mass of Suffering, Ajahn Pasanno contemplates how the sense bases and the aggregates have many pleasures to offer us but also many dangers, and that ultimately our path is one of escape from both. This talk was offered on March 19, 2016 at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery.

Responding to comments on his reference to a story about Ajahn Chah in his previous talk, Ajahn Jotipālo reads the full story, from an as yet unpublished biography of the Thai master. The story, an encounter between Ajahn Chah and a teacher he had sought out to aid with difficulties in his meditation, leads Ajahn Jotipālo to reflect on the value of making a practice of asking questions of our minds. This talk was offered on March 15, 2016 at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery.

Ajahn Pasanno reminds us that dukkha is not personal – it is a universal condition. So we can delight in the practice, if we understand that we are on a path of transforming dukkha into wisdom, compassion, and peace. This talk was offered on March 12, 2016 at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery.

The difference between pursuing a path of sense pleasure and pursuing the path of Dhamma is an irreconcilable one, Ajahn Ñaniko tells us. He then recounts the story of the young bodhisatta's encounters with the four heavenly messengers that led him to relinquish the world of comforts and possessions for a homeless life in nature, and shares tales and teachings on the wisdom of nature and the nature of wisdom. This talk was offered on March 7, 2016 at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery.

In the midst of a late-winter deluge, Ajahn Pasanno reflects on the ways we feed our hindrances and defilements, and encourages us to investigate what it is that nourishes mindfulness and release. This talk was offered on March 5, 2016 at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery.