Dhammagiri Buddhist Podcasts

Ajahn Dhammasiha points out how Luang Por Liem in his recent Dhamma talks interprets terms like 'Going Forth' ('Pabbajjā'), or 'Generosity/Giving' ('Cāga'), in a deeper, more profound sense. Usually Pabbajjā means ordination as a novice, going forth from the houselife into homelessness. But Luang Por takes it deeper by suggesting the meaning of going forth, moving away from everything unwholesome, abandoning mental defilements. Similar, he interprets 'Cāga' not just as giving something as an act of generosity, but suggests it means giving away, letting go of attachments, anger and craving. This generates a question from the audience: "What is the Result of Letting Go?" More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@dhammatalksatdhammagiri8724 Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834 .

English translation first. Full Talk in Original Thai from 18 min 00 sec. Luang Por Liem is the successor of Ajahn Chah as the abbot of Wat Nong Pah Pong, Ubon, Thailand. He is the leading senior monk of the whole international lineage of Ajahn Chah, and one of the most revered meditation masters of the Thai Forest Tradtion. This talk was recorded at the public Dhamma sharing session with Luang Por after almsoffering and shared meal at Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage. Luang Por provides us with a comprehensive teaching including many aspects of Dhamma, ranging form skilfull adaptation to new or challenging conditions in various countries, to his encouragement to make merit, protect our virtue, develop metta, contemplate the nature of our bodies, observe and recognize things as they are to correct deceptive views, and develop sati-paññā (mindfulness and wisdom) to fully cleanse our heart from all defilements, that we can reach our full potential as human beings, both for our own benefit and for the benefit of larger society. Luang Por ends his Dhamma teaching with a short blessing, with the other six monks present all joining in. An excellent translation was provided by Alex Oliver, who had been ordained as a bhikkhu for more than 10 years, serving for many years as the attendent monk ('upatag') and interpretor for Luang Por. He kindly came specially for this occasion, to help looking after Luang Por and providing very fluent and accurate ad-hoc translations. It is not easy to serve as interpretor for Luang Por Liem, as he usually speaks for a long time without interruption, in this talk actually for about 45 minutes. The interpretor has to take notes while Luang Por is speaking, and then translate the entire talk from his memory supported by the notes he has taken. As our podcast is aimed at English speaking audience, we have put the English translation first. There's just a few words in Thai at the beginning, to give everyone a feel for the original and Luang Por's voice and speaking style. However, for our Thai speaking followers, we have included the whole Thai original as well, starting from 18 min 00 sec. More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@dhammatalksatdhammagiri8724 Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834 .

English translation first. Full Talk in Original Thai from 22 min 17 sec. Luang Por Liem is the successor of Ajahn Chah as the abbot of Wat Nong Pah Pong, Ubon, Thailand. He is the leading senior monk of the whole international lineage of Ajahn Chah, and one of the most revered meditation masters of the whole Thai Forest Tradtion. Luang Por encourages us to move away from all that's evil and unwholesome, to clearly understand the disappointing nature of sensuality, and to mindfully observe liking and disliking arising and passing away, so that we can detach and let go of all that burdens our heart. This talk was recorded at the public evening session with Luang Por at Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage. An excellent translation was provided by Alex Oliver, who had been ordained as a bhikkhu for more than 10 years, serving for many years as the attendent monk ('upatag') and interpretor for Luang Por. He kindly came specially for this occasion, to help looking after Luang Por and providing very fluent and accurate ad-hoc translations. It is not easy to serve as interpretor for Luang Por Liem, as he usually speaks for a long time without interruption, in this talk actually for about 45 minutes. The interpretor has to take notes while Luang Por is speaking, and then translate the entire talk from his memory supported by the notes he has taken. As our podcast is aimed at English speaking audience, we have put the English translation first. There's just a few words in Thai at the beginning, to give everyone a feel for the original and Luang Por's voice and speaking style. However, for our Thai speaking followers, we have include the whole Thai original as well, starting from 22 min 17 sec. More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@dhammatalksatdhammagiri8724 Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834 .

On Magha Puja Full Moon, in the first year after the Buddha's supreme awakening, 1,250 of his most outstanding Arahant discpiles gathered in a spontaneous assembly around the Buddha in the Bamboo Grave Monastery at Rajagaha.  The Buddha then recited the 'Ovādapāṭimokkha' to them.  In just 16 lines of beautiful poetry, the Buddha summarized the most essential points or his teaching and the practice meditative practice leading to Nibbāna: "Abstain from any evil deed accomplish what is good and true,   And fully purify your mind -   That is what all the Buddhas teach.   Enduring patience is the best   of all ascetic practices; The best of everything at all is called Nibbāna by the sage.  If you cause harm to anyone you can't be called a genuine monk! Refrain from harming and abuse, and strictly keep the Buddha's rules;   Be moderate when taking food, and dwell alone in solitude devoted to the Higher Mind -   That is what all the Buddhas teach."  In his Dhamma Talk, Ajahn Dhammasiha particularly emphasizes the central importance of non-violence. Total harmlessness, not to intentionally cause any harm or hurt by action or speech to any being is central to our Dhamma practice.  In particular, we have to protect our precepts, with the first one on not killing the very foundation of harmlessness.  Unfortunately, this precept is being severely undermined in our modern society, even in regard to humans, in three areas:  "Euthansia" - The Buddha NEVER endorsed, encouraged or condoned the killing of humans in any way. Active euthanasia is breaking the first precept and can have severe karmic consequences  Abortion - The Buddha did consider a fetus/embryo/unborn child to be a human being, and causing an abortion is breaking the first precept with all potential severe karmic consequences War - War propaganda tries to convince us that the 'enemy' is so evil, that killing them is actually a 'good' thing. The Buddha NEVER endorsed, encouraged or condoned the killing of anyone, however 'evil'. He encouraged mettā, Loving Kindness, even to our 'enemies' (Of course, mettā doesn't mean we consent or agree with any unwholesome actions. We do oppose them and try our level best to prevent them. But not by killing, and not based on emotions of hatred)   We have to protect our mind not to get deluded in above three areas, that we can continue our unwavering commitment to harmlessness, and maintain the first precept uncompromised. More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@dhammatalksatdhammagiri8724 Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834 .

Mettā, 'Loving Kindness', is the intention of unconditional good will to all beings, without distinction or discriminatiton, without bargaining, without demanding anything back, without any expectations to be liked or thanked or reciprocated. Whether cute koalas or ugly canetoads, whether friends & family or total strangers or even enemies, we aim to wish well to absolutely everyone. Towards the end, Ajahn recommends to start our day with mettā meditation. Then go out and take on the challenge: "I dare you, show me what you've got, can you disturb my mettā in any way!" We're not expecting that everyone will be nice to us, just because we're trying to develop loving kindness throughout the day. Quite the contrary, we're willing to accept any provocation or irritation as a challenge to our mettā. We take it on and are exited to see what challenge might come, so that we've got an opportunity to maintain and strengthen our loving kindness in difficult conditions. More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@dhammatalksatdhammagiri8724 Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834 .

Ajahn Dhammasiha points out that Dhamma is not something we simply have to belief, to take on blind faith. Instead, all the teachings of the Buddha are open to investigation, and can be verified in our own experience. In fact, the Buddha himself encouraged thorough investigation of his teaching. He himself said that experiential, true knowledge is superior to faith, and he is leading us to gain this experiential knowledge. The hallmark of true sience is that it can be reproduced: Once a scientist publishes the experiments and results of his research in a scientific magazine, other scientists do not have to decide based on faith whether he's right or wrong. If they set up exactly the same experiment, and if they then get exactly the same results, they will KNOW that the proposed theory is true. The teachings of the Buddha have been verified millions of times over the last 2,500 years by the personal experience of those who have realized the stages of awakening. However, even if we're not yet at the stage in our practice where we can verify the full extend of the Buddha's insight, we can start by checking out some of the basic teachings: For instance, the Buddha claimed that good karma, like generosity, is synonymous with happiness. We can just try it out - let's do some kind, good and generous action, and then find out in personal experience what it feels like! More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@dhammatalksatdhammagiri8724 Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834 .

Ajahn Dhammasiha reminds us that walking meditation is not in any way inferior to sitting meditation. Monks have realized full awakening while walking meditation, and some have even attained Parinibbāna (Nibbāna element without remainder at the 'Death' of an Arahant) while walking. The Buddha practised walking meditation a lot, and he walked over the whole central Ganges valley throughout his life out of compassion to spread the Dhamma. We all should practise walking meditation regularly, and if we so prefer, we can use walking as the main posture for our meditation. Ajahn explains about the ideal length of the walking meditation path (20 to 25 paces), the best direction (roughly east-west), and encourages us to walk naturally, not in extreme slow motion. There are two basic options how to cultivate walking meditation, and we can choose either of them: Using the sensation of walking (e.g. feeling the feet touching the ground) as the meditation object Walking is simply a posture, like sitting, but we take any of the meditation objects the Buddha recommended and attend to it while walking. For instance 'Buddho', or Loving Kindness (Mettā), or Mindfulness of Breathing (Ānāpānasati). Our mind is quite capable to manage the walking activitiy in the background, so to speak, and to mainly focus on the meditation object at the same time. The Buddha himself mentioned five advantages of walking meditation: One gets trained in stamina and becomes able to walk long distances One gets trained in putting forth effort and to endure strenuous exertion One improves general health The food one ingests is properly digested Samādhi developed while walking does last a long time Anguttara Nikāya/Numerical Discourses, Fives, #29 More ab out Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@dhammatalksatdhammagiri8724 Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834 .

Ajahn Dhammasiha encourages us to uplift our mind to a higher level, to better connect with Luang Por Liem during his visit in three weeks time. The purer our heart, the better we will be able to tune into profound teachings and comprehend them. In Australia and many countries mobile networks are being upgraded to 5G. However, if our phone only has 4G capabilities, we won't be able to receive the super high speed of 5G. A 4G phone will only ever receive in 4G, it can't tune into the new 5G signal.  Similarly, if we wish to receive the full benefits of the teachings and presence of a visiting meditation master, we have to 'upgrade' our mind to a higher level.  How do we do that? Generating good karma ('puñña'), to brighten our mind and suffuse is with wholesome joy and happiness Observing the 5 precepts meticulously, to experience freedom from remorse ('avippaṭisāra'), clear conscience, and blameless happiness ('anavajja-sukha') Developing Samādhī ('unification of mind' / 'concentration') to free our mind from the five hindrances and increase the level of mindfulness ('sati') and awareness ('sampajaññā') Cutivating Right View ('Sammā-Diṭṭhi'), conviction in the efficacy of karma, confidence that there are beings that have freed their hearts from all defilements and fetters, and that total release, Nibbāna, can be experienced by ourselves if we follow the 8 fold noble path as expounded by the Buddha More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJINt0JJBfFm_x0FZcU9QJw Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834 ...

In this guided Meditation, Ajahn Dhammasiha leads us to recollect the community of awakened disciples of the Buddha. This meditation object was one of the moast frequently taught by the Buddha, especially to the lay community. 'Sangha' in the context of this meditation does not refer only to the monastic sangha, as the object of contemplation is all those individuals who have realized one of 4 stages of enlightenment ('phala'/'fruit'), or have their faculties matured to such an extend that they will definitely realize the corresponding stage of enlightenment in this life ('magga'/'path'). These are the 'Four Pairs of Persons', the 'Eight Kind of Individuals', whether monks, nuns, male of female lay followers. They are also known as 'Sāvaka-Sangha' (+Community of Awakened Disciples), or 'Ariya-Puggala' (= Noble Persons).  The ultimate aim of Sanghānussati is not just repetition of words in our mind, but the emotion of confidence, faith, devotion, conviction in the Sāvaka-Sangha. This emotion is associated with a wholesome joyful feeling, that we deliberately develop in our meditation until it grows into rapture and bliss. Once the rapture and bliss become powerful enough, our mind can drop the words of the mantra, and can unify in samādhi. More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJINt0JJBfFm_x0FZcU9QJw Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834 .

Ajahn Dhammasiha shares his joyful experience of meeting senior monks and monastic kalyāna mittas (spiritual friends) in various forest monasteries during his recent travels in Thailand and Malaysia. He reports from Wat Pah Nanachat, the international Forest Monastery founded by Ajahn Chah in 1975 Meeting Luang Por Liem, Ajahn Chah's successor as abbot of Wat Nong Pah Pong, currently the leading senior monk of the whole lineage of Ajahn Chah Visiting Ajahn Jundee's monastery Wat Ampawan Staying at Wat Marp Jan with Ajahn Anan Visiting Luang Por Tongdaeng at his monastery Wat Doi Phra Jao Ton Luang near Chaing Mai Two days with Ajahn Khantiko at his small hermitage Wat Doi Mongkolsathan in the mountains His one week stay at Wat Anandagiri with Ajahn Achalo And his time at SBS Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuaty in Malaysia In particular, he mentions some Dhamma advice he received from Luang Por Tongdaeng about dukkha vedana contemplation, and about repitition of the powerful mantra: "Iti pi so Bhagavā...". More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJINt0JJBfFm_x0FZcU9QJw Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834 .

Ajahn Dhammasiha shares the fascinating story related by Ajahn Amaro of meeting an old Air Marshall who organized bombing campaigns in second world war. Coming from a simple background, the retired Air Marshall told Ajahn Amaro that the only way to realize his dream of becoming a pilot in the 1930ies was by joining the Royal Air Force. He had no idea of actually fighting in a war, and was quite unaware of the political situation in Nazi Germany, and increasing signs of military confrontation in Europe. When WW2 finally came, he quickly rose through the ranks due to his organisational talents, ending up in a position responsible for planning the British stategic bombing campaign against Germany, including the devastating attack on Dresden. He related to Ajahn Amaro how after the war, he felt remorseful about the amount of death and destruction caused by the bombing, and made a point of personally visiting every German city he had planned to bomb. He finally decided to dedicate the rest of his life to the task of trying his utmost to prevent any such war ever to happen again in the future. More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJINt0JJBfFm_x0FZcU9QJw Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834 .

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: Delight in Work Delight in Chatting (including social media!) Delight in Sleep Delight in Socialising (including social media!) Lack of Sense Restraint Not knowing the Right Measure when Eating [Anguttara Nikāya/Numerical Discourses, Book of Sixes, #117 More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJINt0JJBfFm_x0FZcU9QJw Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834 .

During his stay at Sāsanārakkha Buddhist Sanctuary (SBS), Taiping, Malaysia, Ajahn Dhammasiha was kindly giving permission to make this recording of their Friday Morning Chanting. SBS has a comprehensive training program for bhikkhus (Buddhist monks). In order to cover a wide range of chants for the monks to gradually master, both morning and evening chanting move through a roster of various chants. This recording covers the Friday morning chants, in particular including the Mātikā and Vipassana-Bhūmi chants traditionally recited at funerals. Some of the chants are also done in English language. Bhante Ariyadhammika, the Sanghapariṇāyaka of SBS (leading senior monk/teacher/preceptor), personally leads the chanting. The resident sangha here chants with a very powerful deep bass voice, in fact the most bass chanting style I have encountered anywhere in Theravada monasteries so far 🗣. Even with the limitations caused by my mobile recording equipment, you will notice the deep bass if you use good round-the-ear headphones 🎧, or large loudspeakers 🔊 . (The build-in speakers in mobile phones or even tablets woun't be able to convey the bass fully - but it's still a nice morning puja to listen to 🙂 ) If your interested to learn more about the actual meaning of what is chanted, you can download the full version of the SBS Chanting Book, in Pali + English translations, as a PDF File (about 8MB) here: https://github.com/sasanarakkha/pali-english-recitations/releases/download/build_17.01.2023_06-53/SBS-Pali-English-Recitations.pdf More info on SBS and their excellent training program for monks hailing from all over the world is available here: https://sasanarakkha.org/ More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJINt0JJBfFm_x0FZcU9QJw Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834 . 

Ajahn encourages us to watch our mind all the time. Even when we meditate, we're careful not to focus exclusively on the meditation object, but to simultaneously be aware of the general state of our mind, and how our mind relates to the meditation object. When we train to do that in our formal meditation, we develop the skill to be able to also watch our mind continously while we're engaged in the activities of daily life. More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJINt0JJBfFm_x0FZcU9QJw Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834 .

More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJINt0JJBfFm_x0FZcU9QJw Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834

To counter the misleading idea that Nibbāna is simply nothing, Ajahn Dhammasiha quotes the well known passage in Udāna 8.3: "There is, monks, an unborn, unbecome, uncreated, unconditioned...". He reminds us not to forget about this final goal of all our practice, to overcome our anxiety about sickness and death by remembering the garantee of the Buddha that the deathless exists, and can be realized by us. We do not contemplate impermanence, death and suffering in order to induce a mindstate of resignation. Instead, we contemplate to free ourselves from death, pain and decay, by attaining the deathless, unconditioned element.  More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJINt0JJBfFm_x0FZcU9QJw Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834 .

More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJINt0JJBfFm_x0FZcU9QJw Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834

The Mahāsamaya Sutta (Dīgha Nikāya/Long Discourses #20) is a very famous chant. It is considered supremely auspicious, and particularly liked by all 'Devas' (Angels/Deities/Benevolent Spirits). In every Buddha's livetime, there occurs an event where the Devas of our world system, and even from several adjacent worlds, assemble to meet the Buddha and his Sangha of disciples. In the case of our Buddha Gotama, this event happened in the Great Forest near Kapilavatthu, the hometown of Buddha, where he grew up as a prince.As not all of the 500 monks present are able to see spirits, the Buddha explains which devas have arrived, and gives the names of their leaders, which class of devas they belong to, and the numbers of their retinue. It is widely believed that whenever this sutta is recited, devas feel attracted to come to listen with great joy and in large numbers. An english translation of the Mahāsamaya Sutta is available here:https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/DN/DN20.html https://www.dhammagiri.net https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJINt0JJBfFm_x0FZcU9QJw https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834

On Magha Puja, the full moon in March, 1,250 Arahant disciples spontaneously gathered around the Buddha in the Bamboo Grove Monastery in Rājagaha. The Buddha then recited the 'Ovadapāṭimokka', a concise summary of his teaching and practice leading to awakening. The second verse in this poem of only 16 lines starts with: "Khantī paramam tapo titikkhā..." Usually translated as 'Enduring patience is the supreme ascetic practice'. To emphasize the amazing power patience has in wearing away our 'kilesā' (= mental defilements of greed, hatred and delusion), Ajahn Dhammasiha here translates as 'Enduring patience is the greatest incinerator of defilements'. Whenever life is tough, difficult, rough, unfair, it's a chance for us to develop khantī, patience. And we should never underestimate how much we strengthen our character each time we patiently endure, and how much we undermine the kileasā. Ajahn Chah always emphasized the importance of 'Ot Ton' = Patient Endurance a lot in his style of training. More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@dhammatalksatdhammagiri8724 Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834 .

Auspicious recitation of Paritta ('Protective Verses & Blessings') at the inauguration of the new Uposatha Hall and Sima ('monastic boundary') at Wat Pah Nanachat, the international Forest Monastery established by Ajahn Chah in Ubon, Thailand. The event was attended by Ajahn Dhammasiha and more than 100 monks in the tradition of Ajahn Chah. Many of the most senior Western disciples were present, including abbots of many monasteries worldwide: Ajahn Kevali - Abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat (hosting the event) Luang Por Pasanno (leading the chanting) - Retired abbot of Abhayagiri, California Luang Por Tiradhammo - Retired abbot of Dhammapala, Switzerland; and Bodhinyanarama, New Zealand Ajahn Amaro - Abbot of Amaravati, England Ajahn Nyanadhammo - Abbot of Ratanawan, Thailand Ajahn Jayasaro - Abbot of Marajina Hermitage, Thailand Ajahn Vajiro - Abbot of Sumedharama, Portugal Ajahn Jutindharo - Abbot of Hartridge Monastery, England Ajahn Khemasiri - Retred abbot of Dhammapala, Switzerland Ajahn Jayanto - Abbot of Jetavana, USA, New Hampshire Ajahn Kusalo - Abbot of Bodhinyanarama, New Zealand Ajahn Dhammasiha - Abbot of Dhammagiri, Australia, Brisbane Ajahn Sukhito - Abbot of Pu Jom Gom, Thailand Ajahn Ahimsako - Abbot of Cittaviveka, England Ajahn Mudito - Abbot of Suddhavari, Brazil (... many more, and many Thai abbots...) May the numerous senior Ajahns chanting in this recording send you off into a fortunate, successful New Year 🎊; and may your Dhamma practice blossom in 2023 with their blessings 😊 More about Dhammagiri Forest Hermitage: https://www.dhammagiri.net/news Our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJINt0JJBfFm_x0FZcU9QJw Our email Newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/dhammagiri/archive Our Podcasts on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0SHWfWEGkO8OAtSWNJlqyD Our Podcasts on Apple/itunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dhammagiri-buddhist-podcasts/id1534539834 .