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Livestream recordings in May and June 2021

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02 June 2021

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Questions

Ajahn recounts his recent travels to Ubon.

1 -  with ongoing covid related challenges, when there is anxiety, fear and worry, contentious differing opinions, anger and resentment from people around us as well, how to keep the mind bright? Especially as the situation seems to drag on and on. On one level I have more time at home to practice, but the mind is not happy when I sit. 

23 May 2021

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Is sotapanna an impossible dream or not? - with Q&A

Online talkto the Buddhist Fellowship Singapore

1 – Is it possible to attain stream winning without any jhana or nimitta experiences?

2 – Just now you mentioned that some attain stream entry on their death bed, is that through some factors ? What if they don’t practice?

3 - How do we attain stream winning when we are so busy in our day jobs?

4 - Can you explain the difference between parami and merit? Is it possible for one’s parami to decrease?

5 – Why do some people attain psychic powers but are unable to attain sotapanna?

6 - Can people from other religions who meditate attain stream winning?

7 - In today’s world are there many stream enterers?

8 - Is it better to attain stream entry than to follow the Bodhisattva path?

9 – Saints like Mother Theresa – are they enlightened?

10 – Since it takes so long to get to stream winning, should we just enjoy our lives? Any advice we can give friends who constantly tell themselves that achieving stream winning is not for them in this life?

11 – How extensive is kamma and its results? If all kamma comes from intention, do innocent acts like pressing a lift button generate kamma?

12 - Can a stream enterer switch to a Bodhisattva path in later lives?

19 May 2021

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Questions

1 - I especially liked the meditation on 'Contemplating Death, Dying and Impermanent, Not Self Nature of the Human Body (2009/2015). What is its practical value in our daily life?
How often we should practise it?
​I have heard that the Buddha advised Venerable Ananda and others we should contemplate death with every in breath and with every out breath.

2 - I have finally established calm and stillness in my meditations over a certain period of time where thoughts are on the “back burner”. Then I came across the following that Ajahn Anan wrote in the booklet Sotipattimagga translated by Ajahn Kalyano: “We may experience a calm so deep and profound that it seems to open up the truth, but the Buddha explained that this is just the vipassanupakilesa arising. This is an obstacle to the practise and will create difficulties in the development of vipassana”. I have heard other teachers talking about this “blind track” as well. How can I know if the calm and stillness I experience is the “right” one? 

3 -  Can rapture be experienced outside meditation practice?

​4 - Ajahn, we meditated for a bit before you joined this evening and a very beautiful chant was playing. I meditated on the sound instead of the breath and it was a very pleasant meditation. Can I meditate to chants or would the pleasant sound actually be a hindrance of sensual pleasure?

05 May 2021

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Questions

1 - I have found the teachings of Emptiness and non-self contradictory to the belief in various deities and Bodhisattvas. Yes, we are all empty of a permanent, unchanging self, yet we exist in form as a "consciousness-continuum", and in the same way, deities and Bodhisattvas have their own "continuum" in their forms. This I think also relates to the idea of "form is emptiness, emptiness is form". Is this the right understanding?

2 - How do we let go of our attachment to our deceased relatives and friends, especially when we loved them very much.

3 - How can one deal with anxiety, depression and low body self-esteem? 

4 - In meditation I start counting 1-2-3 breathing in and then 3-2-1 breathing out repeatedly. After a while the mind is quiet and the counting seems to disappear for a 'brief moment'. Then the mind comes back and I start to count again. Is this the correct way? And can I know if in 'that brief moment' is the mind gathered and not interested in outside objects or did I actually doze off (hindrance - sloth and torpor)?

5 - On a few occasions during my meditation, I have had spasms throughout the body. I just ignored them and continued to watch the breadth but the sensation came intermittently 2-3 times. What was this?

6 - How can one tame the mind during meditation? I try to do 30 mins but my thoughts run. Will it help if I extend the time so that the mind has time to run and then calm down to enter proper meditation? 

Virtual gatherings with Ajahn Achalo

Watch and listen to more livestream recordings of all virtual gatherings with Ajahn along with full details on all topics discussed and the questions answered month by month since the beginning of the pandemic.

Return to the monthly listings