Dhammagiri Buddhist Podcasts

At the Robe Offering Ceremony at Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage, Ajahn X Dhaniyo relates a powerful Buddhist simile:

A man with 4 wifes is about to die. He gets a chance to talk to his four wifes a last time, but is bitterly disappointed about how they react to his impending death; except for the fourth wife, the one he loved least and showed the least affection...

Ajahn X (Phra Suthanai Dhaniyo) has been a monk for 22 years, and has lived and trained for 16 years with Luang Por Liem at Wat Nong Pah Pong, Ajahn Chah's original monastery. Currently he resides at Bodhisaddha Monastery, Wilton near Sydney.

He visited us together with Ajahn Saalii Sujīvo specially for our robe offering ceremony, and kindly agreed to give a Dhamma talk in English for the occasion, part of which contained the simile of the four wives.

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#buddhiststory #buddhism #dhamma #4wives #death #karma

At our Robe Offering Ceremony, Tan Ajahn Uttamapanyo (Phra Yanmethi Petruang) kindly conducted the ceremony of taking refuge in Triple Gem & observance of 5 precepts for us.

Ty is leading the lay community in requesting the refuges & precepts.

The ritual is conducted in Pali, the language of the Buddha.

Requesting Triple Refuge & Five Precepts

Mayaṃ Bhante,

tisaraṇena saha

pañca-sīlāni yācāma.

Dutiyampi,

mayaṃ Bhante

tisaraṇena saha

pañca-sīlāni yācāma.

Tatiyampi,

Mayaṃ Bhante

tisaraṇena saha

pañca-sīlāni yācāma.

(English trsl., not chanted during session:

"Venerable Sir,

we request the Triple Refuge

together with the 5 precepts.

For the second time...

For the third time...")

Homage to the Buddha Recited by Monk 3x

Namo tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammāsambuddhassa!

(3x)

Homage to the Buddha Repeated by Laity 3x

Namo tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammāsambuddhassa!

(3x)

(English translation, not chanted during session:

"Homage to the Exhaulted, Noble, and perfectly enlightened one!" 3x)

Taking Refuge in Buddha, Dhamma & Sangha 3x

(recited line by line by monk, and repeated line by line by laity)

Buddhāṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.

Dhammaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.

Sanghaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.

Dutiyampi Buddhāṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.

Dutiyampi Dhammaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.

Dutiyampi Sanghaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.

Tatiyampi Buddhāṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.

Tatiyampi Dhammaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.

Tatiyampi Sanghaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.

(English translation, not chanted during session:

"I take refuge in the Buddha.

I take refuge in the Dhamma.

I take refuge in the Sangha

For the second time, I take refuge...

For the third time, I take refuge...")

Taking the 5 Precepts

(recited line by line by monk, and repeated line by line by laity)

Pāṇātipātā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi

Adinnādānā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi

Kāmesu micchācārā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi

Musāvādā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi

Surā-meraya-majja-pamādaṭṭhānā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi

(English translation, not chanted during session:

"I undertake the training to abstain from killing any living beings.

... to abstain from stealing.

... to abstain from sensual misconduct.

... to abstain from lying.

... to abstain from alcohol or any other drugs that cause intoxication and heedlessnes.")

Monk Recites Blessing:

Imāni pañca-sikkhāpadāni

sīlena sugatiṃ yanti,

sīlena bhogasampadā,

sīlena nibbutiṃ yanti -

tasmā sīlaṃ visodhaye!

(English translation, not chanted during session:

These five training steps

lead through virtue to a good rebirth,

lead through virtue to the acquisition of wealth,

lead through virtue to the extinction of suffering - therefore, may your purify your virtue!)

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#buddhistchanting #palichanting #triplerefuge #precepts #buddhistceremony #buddhistmonastery #buddhistritual

On the weekend of our Robe Offering Ceremony at Dhammagiri, we had 9 monks staying for 2 nights in the monastery.

In this recording, Tan Ajahn Uttamapanyo is leading the sangha in the recitation of blessings and anumodana for long life, strength, health, prosperity and good fortune; and to share good karma with all beings.

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#buddhistchanting #palichanting #blessing #anumodana #buddhistmonk #buddhistmonastery

Ajahn X (Phra Suthanai Dhaniyo) has been a monk for 22 years, and has lived and trained for 16 years with Luang Por Liem at Wat Nong Pah Pong, Ajahn Chah's original monastery.

Ajahn shares some of his experiences of life at Wat Pah Pong, and reflects on teaching he has received from Luang Por Liem personally.

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#buddhism #dhamma #ajahnchah #buddhistmonk #wisdom

Vipassana comes from the Pali verb 'Vipassati' = 'to see clearly'.

To practise Vipassana, we have to train ourselves to watch as a neutral, uninvolved, observer. We can't interfere or manipulate things we observe, just as a researcher can't manipulate the experiment, if he wants to really find out how reality works.

However, there are certain areas, certain features of reality the Buddha is pointing us to. They are there all the time, we don't have to create them, they are part of nature. But we overlook them constantly due to delusion, and if the Buddha points out where to direct our 'Clear Seeing' towards, then it's easier to finally recognize what has been always there, but hidden but defilements:

There's also a post in our Dhamma Reflections blog on the same subject here.

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#vipassana #insight #mindfulness #sati #dhamma #meditation

Ajahn Dhammasiha is asked about the difference between perception (Pāli: saññā) and consciousness (Pāli: viññāna), and how we can distinguish these two in our experience.

The question is important, as both are part of the 5 Groups of Clinging (pañcupādānakkhandhā), which are the five focal points of attachment and identification.

To abandon attachment, and to see through the illlusion of self, we have to carefully investigate the 5 Groups of Clinging as they arise in our present experience. And to investigate them successfully, naturally, we have to know what each of them actually are, and how they differ.

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#consciousness #perception #awareness #clinging #attachment #dhamma

Prompted by a question from the audience, Ajahn Dhammasiha shares reflections on the theme of developing Sympathetic Joy (Muditā).

Muditā is on of the four Divine Abodes (Brahma-vihāra), together with loving kindness, compassion and equanimity.

Sympathetic Joy is the quality of rejoicing and feeling happy in other beings success.

It's the very opposite of envy and jealousy.

Ajahn suggests a similar approach as in developing mettā: We imagine someone we really like anyhow, and then remember some wholesome achievement they accomplished.

Next we use a mantra like formula, like for instance:

"May you enjoy all your success!" or similar.

We continue till we can really feel the corresponding emotion.

However, we have to be careful that we only delight in wholesome success...

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#mudita #sympatheticjoy #brahmavihara #divineabidings #buddhism

In the famous discourse on the 'Foundations of Mindfulness' (Satipaṭṭhāna) the Buddha promises us that we can attain Nibbāna or Non-Returning in just 7 days, if we practise as descibed by him.

Why, then, are we still enmeshed in suffering?

Ajahn Dhammasiha describes six obstructions that we have to abandon first - otherwise we're not able to practise Satipaṭṭhāna in the way the Buddha described them:

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#mindfulness #sati #vipassana #meditation #dhamma #buddhism

Ajahn Dhammasiha responds to two closely related questions from the audience:

1.

We may experience highs and lows in our meditation practice. Sometimes it even seems like we're suddenly back to zero, almost like riding a roller coaster.

How can we make our Dhamma practice more consistant?

2.

How can we prevent unwholesome mindstates from arising?

This is actually the first of 4 factors of Right Effort (sammā-vāyāma), number six in the Noble Eightfold Path: Rather than trying to abandon unwholesome states once they have come up, it's better to 'nip them in the bud', as they say, by eliminating the conditions that potentially cause defilements to arise in the first place.

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#dhamma #buddhism #dhammatalk #dhammatalks #righteffort #sammavayama

Dependent Origination (Paṭicca Samuppāda) is one of the core teachings of the Buddha.

However, it is a teaching that the Buddha himself described as 'deep, profound, subtle, difficult to see...'.

Ajahn Dhammasiha explains how we can observe aspects of dependent origination during a common, every-day activity:

Taking food from a buffet! 🍚🍛🥄🥣

Ajahn offers reflection how we can observe the relationship of:

Sense Contact (phassa)

Craving (taṇhā)

Clinging / Grasping (upādāna)

While taking food from the buffet.

The moment we lift up some food from the buffet, and put it onto our plate, something remarkable and very powerful happens in our mind:

We now regard this food as 'mine', it has somehow become 'my food'.

However, nothing has changed in the food. It's still the same food. But once it's on our plate, something has very much changed in our mind, 'mine-making' has occurred.

We have actively done something to dramatically change our attitude to that food, by taking possession of it mentally.

This same process of mine-making we do all the time, every moment with all 5 groups of clinging (pañc'upādānakkhandhā):

However, it's more difficult to clearly see in regards to these 5 groups of clinging.

What's happening with our mind at the buffet is easier accessible to direct observation, and can get us started in investigating upādāna.

If we can carefully, mindfully observe how we're doing 'mine-making' while taking food from the buffet (or even while buying a new iPhone from the shop), we can hopefully understand how upādāna arises in our mind, and then STOP mine-making.

That would be all that's required to fully liberate ourselves:

If we stopped all mine-making, our heart would be fully released and experience Nibbāna!

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#upadana #minemaking #dependentorigination #paticcasamuppada #dhamma