Abhayagiri Talks

Ajahn Jotipalo reflects on how the recent fire in Redwood Valley brought connection and cohesion within the Sangha and within the larger region of Ukiah as people responded with compassion and generosity. This talk was offered on October 29, 2017 at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery.

Once a year, the junior members of the Abhayagiri community offer Dhamma reflections. [0:00] Upāsikā Debbie: A Deep Gratitude [12:35] Tan Pesalo: Using the Brahmavihāras to Move Beyond Our Conditioning [23:20] Tan Suddhiko: Honesty in Our Intentions [31:20] Sāmaṇera Guṇavīro: Investigating Pain, Pleasure, and What Lies Beneath [1:03:15] Anagārika Ryan: Supportive Friendships, Patient Endurance, Doing the Practice [1:11:07] Tan Suhajjo: Tough Mettā and the Gratification, the Danger, and the Escape of Unskillful Mental States [1:33:30] Ajahn Kassapo: Keep Practicing, There is a Benefit [1:35:50] Tan Sudhīro: How the Monastic Training Exposes our Weaknesses and Allows Us to Overcome Them [1:41:23] Tan Jāgaro: Accepting Experience As It Is

Once a year, the junior members of the Abhayagiri community offer Dhamma reflections. [0:00] Upāsikā Beth: Offerings into the Void and Practice When Things Get Rough [17:50] Anagārika Gary: Overcoming the Self and Preferences as an Anagārika [28:30] Sāmaṇera Tissaro: Letting Go of Our Stories and Being with our Discomfort [46:55] Tan Sampanno: The Ethical Direction of the Buddha’s Teaching

Ajahn Sek reflects on his life as a monk. He describes how several of his initial teachers disrobed and the effect it had on his growth in Dhamma. He describes how he found Wat Pah Pong, and what he learned in the process of being an upatakh for Luang Por Liem. This Dhamma talk was offered on October 5, 2017 at Abhayagiri Buddhist monastery.

Ajahn Siripanyo offers a Dhamma talk on the nature of reality and how our values and perceptions create the reality we experience in the world. He reflects how to be “The Fool on the Hill,” understanding and aligning with the nature of the world without the need to insert ourselves. He goes on to describe how this alignment leads us towards establishing a stability within ourselves which goes beyond the agitation in the world and towards service of a lasting peace. It ends with questions and answers about the community since the evacuation. This Dhamma talk was offered on October 10, 2017 at Yoga Mendocino.

Ajahn Siripanyo describes the allure of sense pleasure in which beings are burned by the fever of sensuality, but because of their distorted faculties they experience some alleviation of discomfort in the present. But the Buddha’s teaching in the Magandiya Sutta, (MN75) explains that sensual pleasure is initially painful and inherently unsatisfactory. Renouncing sensuality is difficult, but if we develop many right intentions of non cruelty, non ill will and renunciation, the power of will in our practice will lead us to the goal. This talk was offered at Abhayagiri Monastery on October 8, 2017.

Ajahn Jayanto reflects on the importance of using this moment, right now, to see things as they are. What is our experience right now, in the body and in the mind? Investigating the five khandas: form, feeling, perception, mental fabrication and consciousness helps us to experience things without the personal story. Even in times of great uncertainty or danger such as the recent fire, we can still practice in this way. This talk was offered on October 19, 2017 at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery.

Ajahn Karunadhammo reflects on the recent fire and the sets of laws, niyamas: geological laws, biological laws, psychological laws, the law of kamma, and the law of Dhamma. We have only a modicum of control over conditions in our lives. Our stable refuge is realizing the truth of the way things are that takes us beyond samsara. Seeing impermanence, suffering, and non self in all conditions is our way to freedom. The fire reminds us there is no time to waste. This talk was offered on October 22, 2017 at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery.

Ajahn Siripanyo offers reflections on how to integrate practice with work without fixating on the result. He discusses how we can use a spirit of generosity to cultivate brightness in the mind and training our hearts. Finally, he describes how we can use work and the practice to help us to come out of the roots of suffering. He further takes questions on how to work without conflict and the relationship to the uncertainty regarding the status of the monastery after the evacuation from Redwood Valley. This talk was offered at the Dharma Realm Buddhist University at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas on October 13th, 2017.

Luang Por Pasanno offers a reflection on what we use as a refuge and which can offer us true safety. He offers reflection on the nature of knowing and self-awareness and their role in guiding us towards awakening. He discusses the urgency with which Master Hua and Ajahn Chah urged people to awaken. He discusses that refuges being present for the way things are is the only stable refuge in uncertain world. He reflects that this presence can offer both a solid anchor and a natural radiance of the mind. This Dhamma talk was offered at the Sudhana Center of The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas on October 14th, 2017.