Online Gatherings |
Livestream Recordings - Sept. & Oct. 2024
Gathering - 30 October 2024
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Q&A 30 October 2024
Q1: Dear Ajahn Achalo, thank you for your wisdom and teachings.
The Tibetan Buddhists speak of the 'Eight Stages of Death' is this something that is taught in the Theravada tradition and should we be practising it? Thank you. |
Q2: Dear Ajahn, when I was a kid, I had a realistic dream about my father being wrapped around by a gigantic snake and he was about to be killed and swallowed. Growing up he had always had a bad temperament and had caused a lot of pain and terror in the family due to all of the instability. Although as a family we learnt to love and forgive one another over the years. I had another disturbing and realistic dream about him doing horrible things to myself, my mother and my child, who appeared to be my sibling in my dream. I woke up having a gut feeling that this is what actually happened in our past lives. How likely was my dream projecting our past lives? Or could it have been Mara trying to disrupt and challenge the forgiveness and peace I had been experiencing in my mind? I rarely have nightmares and I’ve been meditating every day for the last 4 months. Can I assume these past kamma are resolving themselves by continuing to mediate and let go?
Q3: Dear Ajahn, I started serving as a relief teacher recently in one of the secondary schools. I realised that the students these days are using vulgar words so often that it has become an unconscious habit. It’s also scary to witness that the students are very attached to their portable devices. They are attached to games, Netflix, social media etc. Some teachers shared with me that the students habits are so deep that they feel there is nothing they can do. They advised me to just leave them alone. I am disheartened to witness this, as the school is considered one of the better schools in the neighbourhood. I cannot imagine what the other schools are like. I am attached to my two young daughters and I am very concerned about how they will be when they turn adolescent. A counsellor friend shared with me that I can contemplate the situation like this, asking… “Why do they live the life the way they live?” I am still pondering it. I attribute it to the law of Kamma, and the environment and family upbringing. Do you have any advice for me? I am aware that dhamma practice is mostly about looking within and not outward. How should I go about it? To observe it without making any judgements?
Q4: Do Devas need to take a meal? Do they too have a family in the heavenly realm, parents etc? Do they have lustful thoughts too? May I know what the lifestyle and routine is like as a deva? Having heard that 50 days in a deva realm is only a day in the human realm.
Q5: Dear Ajahn. I am trying to keep 8 precepts but not eating after afternoon is not working for me. I tried eating nuts and milk in the evening but it’s not enough. Please suggest something.
Q6: In a recent talk you mentioned that if one doesn’t have enough merit to be reborn in Tusita heaven one should aspire to be reborn as a Yama deva. My question is that isn’t it dangerous to be a Yama deva because Mara lives there and one may develop similar tendencies as him?
Q7: Dear Ajahn. May I know how to be wise? Thank you.
Q3: Dear Ajahn, I started serving as a relief teacher recently in one of the secondary schools. I realised that the students these days are using vulgar words so often that it has become an unconscious habit. It’s also scary to witness that the students are very attached to their portable devices. They are attached to games, Netflix, social media etc. Some teachers shared with me that the students habits are so deep that they feel there is nothing they can do. They advised me to just leave them alone. I am disheartened to witness this, as the school is considered one of the better schools in the neighbourhood. I cannot imagine what the other schools are like. I am attached to my two young daughters and I am very concerned about how they will be when they turn adolescent. A counsellor friend shared with me that I can contemplate the situation like this, asking… “Why do they live the life the way they live?” I am still pondering it. I attribute it to the law of Kamma, and the environment and family upbringing. Do you have any advice for me? I am aware that dhamma practice is mostly about looking within and not outward. How should I go about it? To observe it without making any judgements?
Q4: Do Devas need to take a meal? Do they too have a family in the heavenly realm, parents etc? Do they have lustful thoughts too? May I know what the lifestyle and routine is like as a deva? Having heard that 50 days in a deva realm is only a day in the human realm.
Q5: Dear Ajahn. I am trying to keep 8 precepts but not eating after afternoon is not working for me. I tried eating nuts and milk in the evening but it’s not enough. Please suggest something.
Q6: In a recent talk you mentioned that if one doesn’t have enough merit to be reborn in Tusita heaven one should aspire to be reborn as a Yama deva. My question is that isn’t it dangerous to be a Yama deva because Mara lives there and one may develop similar tendencies as him?
Q7: Dear Ajahn. May I know how to be wise? Thank you.
Gathering - 16 October 2024
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Q&A 16 October 2024
Q1 - Dear Ajahn, many thanks for all the help you have given me and others. I just wondered if you knew what the differences are between one who is liberated through concentration, one liberated through insight and one liberated both ways?
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Q2 - You have talked a bit about the rebirth process. Is it up to the mind which next birth it wants to take? I thought it was up to karma? Please clarify.
Q3 - A friend argued with me that if we are born humans in this life, then it is not possible to be reborn as an animal in the next life because the "essence" is still that of a human being. Please comment.
Q4 - Is it true that if one’s ashes are to be scattered into the sea? The deceased will feel cold? Recently, I heard some Mahayana friends say that they had heard this from one of their teachers. The recommendation was for one’s ash to be placed into an urn. Is it also true that for those who have passed on. The deceased will only know they have passed on 3 days later? I learnt this from Mahayana tradition dhamma lesson many years ago.
Q5 - I used to do chanting and reciting the names of 28 Buddhas, 88 Buddhas and 1000 Buddhas in Mahayana tradition during some significant day. May I know the difference between these Buddha from Mahayana tradition and Theravada tradition. Thank you for your guidance. With gratitude.
Q6 - Dear Ajahn, I have listened to some teachings by the late Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hahn from his book 'Living Buddha, Living Christ', I was raised as Roman Catholic, I still love the teachings of Jesus Christ, and I love the Buddhist teachings, do I need to decide who to follow or can I follow both?
Q3 - A friend argued with me that if we are born humans in this life, then it is not possible to be reborn as an animal in the next life because the "essence" is still that of a human being. Please comment.
Q4 - Is it true that if one’s ashes are to be scattered into the sea? The deceased will feel cold? Recently, I heard some Mahayana friends say that they had heard this from one of their teachers. The recommendation was for one’s ash to be placed into an urn. Is it also true that for those who have passed on. The deceased will only know they have passed on 3 days later? I learnt this from Mahayana tradition dhamma lesson many years ago.
Q5 - I used to do chanting and reciting the names of 28 Buddhas, 88 Buddhas and 1000 Buddhas in Mahayana tradition during some significant day. May I know the difference between these Buddha from Mahayana tradition and Theravada tradition. Thank you for your guidance. With gratitude.
Q6 - Dear Ajahn, I have listened to some teachings by the late Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hahn from his book 'Living Buddha, Living Christ', I was raised as Roman Catholic, I still love the teachings of Jesus Christ, and I love the Buddhist teachings, do I need to decide who to follow or can I follow both?
Gathering - 25 September 2024
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Q&A 25 September 2024
Q1. Dear Ajahn, may I please ask this potentially selfish question? I have experienced a lot of suffering in my life, and when we dedicate merit to others, I feel that I actually need the merit myself, to alleviate my own suffering. (In general, I feel I have been too generous to others in my life, and now I question whether that was the right thing to do).
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How does the dedication of merit work? Do others really benefit when we dedicate merit? Or is it just in imagination, to gladden one’s own heart?
Q2. Dear Ajahn, when you shared some stories of Buddhas in other universes and great bodhisattvas like Ksitigharba in parallel realms, with his optimism towards hell beings, I started crying deeply. I don’t know about Ksitigharba. I know about Avalokiteshvara a little bit. Can Ajahn give some comments on my emotional state of mind?
Q3. Lately I’ve been recognizing very intensely the dukkha characteristic; on such occasions I see everything as impermanent and suffering, everything as dangerous in that sense. The reality that my body and everybody else’s body is subject to old age, sickness, death and pain, that everything pleasant is subject to change becomes vividly intense. When this happens, my mind becomes overwhelmed but this recognition of dukkha also inclines my mind to letting go because it recognizes that there is absolutely no security in conditioned things. Can you give me advice on how to correctly direct my mind when such experiences happen? This recognition of dukkha is gradually becoming more and more frequent and constant.
Q4. Dear Ajahn, you mentioned Devanussati sometimes. How does one do this practice? Do we have arakha deva (Guardian devas) If so, how do we bring them to mind? Thank you.
Q5. My question, I want to become a Buddhist monk; however, there is no any monastery in my country Lebanon and in UAE where I'm currently living and working. May I kindly ask your advice or suggestion regarding this point? What shall I do? In fact, I know that the life of a Buddhist monk is a tough one as what I saw in YouTube as well, but it's really a dream to me to be a Buddhist monk supported by the collective energy of the sanga. Hence, I'm already 45 years old.
Q6. Our family (comprising 2 little children) has a practice of listening to Buddhist mantras before sleeping, as a method of calming the mind. Recently, we traveled to Perth and stayed in a hotel. My children wore Buddhist amulets around their necks during this trip. As usual, we listened to some Buddhist mantras for a very short while before turning in. The next morning, my child woke to find her Buddhist amulet missing. (She couldn't have dropped it when sleeping, as the necklace is short and needs to be wriggled over her face and onto her neck.) She (unjustly!!) got a scolding from all of us for losing the necklace. I said a short prayer to Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva for the amulet to be recovered, as I didn't want it falling into unfriendly hands. Suddenly, when we were at the train station, we discovered the Buddhist amulet back on her neck again. This was physically impossible. All of us were shocked, and we chalk up the recovery to the Bodhisattva's grace for sparing our family further anxiety. Question - do I need to seek permission from resident spirits/pretas/devas etc before playing Buddhist mantras? I'm mindful that some of them may not like Buddhism or Buddhist mantras very much!
Q2. Dear Ajahn, when you shared some stories of Buddhas in other universes and great bodhisattvas like Ksitigharba in parallel realms, with his optimism towards hell beings, I started crying deeply. I don’t know about Ksitigharba. I know about Avalokiteshvara a little bit. Can Ajahn give some comments on my emotional state of mind?
Q3. Lately I’ve been recognizing very intensely the dukkha characteristic; on such occasions I see everything as impermanent and suffering, everything as dangerous in that sense. The reality that my body and everybody else’s body is subject to old age, sickness, death and pain, that everything pleasant is subject to change becomes vividly intense. When this happens, my mind becomes overwhelmed but this recognition of dukkha also inclines my mind to letting go because it recognizes that there is absolutely no security in conditioned things. Can you give me advice on how to correctly direct my mind when such experiences happen? This recognition of dukkha is gradually becoming more and more frequent and constant.
Q4. Dear Ajahn, you mentioned Devanussati sometimes. How does one do this practice? Do we have arakha deva (Guardian devas) If so, how do we bring them to mind? Thank you.
Q5. My question, I want to become a Buddhist monk; however, there is no any monastery in my country Lebanon and in UAE where I'm currently living and working. May I kindly ask your advice or suggestion regarding this point? What shall I do? In fact, I know that the life of a Buddhist monk is a tough one as what I saw in YouTube as well, but it's really a dream to me to be a Buddhist monk supported by the collective energy of the sanga. Hence, I'm already 45 years old.
Q6. Our family (comprising 2 little children) has a practice of listening to Buddhist mantras before sleeping, as a method of calming the mind. Recently, we traveled to Perth and stayed in a hotel. My children wore Buddhist amulets around their necks during this trip. As usual, we listened to some Buddhist mantras for a very short while before turning in. The next morning, my child woke to find her Buddhist amulet missing. (She couldn't have dropped it when sleeping, as the necklace is short and needs to be wriggled over her face and onto her neck.) She (unjustly!!) got a scolding from all of us for losing the necklace. I said a short prayer to Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva for the amulet to be recovered, as I didn't want it falling into unfriendly hands. Suddenly, when we were at the train station, we discovered the Buddhist amulet back on her neck again. This was physically impossible. All of us were shocked, and we chalk up the recovery to the Bodhisattva's grace for sparing our family further anxiety. Question - do I need to seek permission from resident spirits/pretas/devas etc before playing Buddhist mantras? I'm mindful that some of them may not like Buddhism or Buddhist mantras very much!
Gathering - 11 September 2024
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Q&A 11 September 2024
Q1: Are you able to offer some advice to someone (both practical and spiritual) who has the intention to go forth but is unable to do so for a few years due to family obligations?
Q2: I realised that I can focus more while doing metta meditation. If that's the case, may I check if I should focus on doing metta meditation instead of breathing meditation? |
Q3: Dear Ajahn, Is there a level to reach through meditation where you'll be totally disconnected from the physical world around, like a complete switch off button where there is no feeling, no pain, nothing, just total disconnection? Also, I saw in YouTube a Buddhist monk where he was able to die consciously. Please may you kindly tell us in which stage of meditation is this? Is it Sama Samadhi?
Q4: Dear Ajahn Achalo. May I know where can I read up more on the history of the past seven Buddhas? I learnt it from the recent chanting on the ‘Homage to the past seven Buddhas.’ Will you be able to share a little more with us, so that I can make it a point to recollect all the Buddha instead of recollecting only the Lord Buddha, Shayamuni Buddha. Also, is Maitreya Buddha the eighth Buddha and there will be no more Buddha thereafter? Many thanks for your guidance.
Q4: Dear Ajahn Achalo. May I know where can I read up more on the history of the past seven Buddhas? I learnt it from the recent chanting on the ‘Homage to the past seven Buddhas.’ Will you be able to share a little more with us, so that I can make it a point to recollect all the Buddha instead of recollecting only the Lord Buddha, Shayamuni Buddha. Also, is Maitreya Buddha the eighth Buddha and there will be no more Buddha thereafter? Many thanks for your guidance.
Gathering - 11 September 2024
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Pilgrimage to Wutaishan, China
(Manjusri Mountain) |
