Ajahn Chandako Dhamma

11/30/2024

Meditation Advice for Anxiety
https://youtu.be/g2jtpwVmdBo
At this time, many people are experiencing anxiety and facing uncertainty. We know meditation is good for us, but how exactly does mindfulness of breathing help? In this video Ajahn Chandako explains how a more nuanced approach to our meditation leads to mental health, serenity and freedom from anxiety. He shows how anxiety can be wisely replaced with loving-kindness.
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11/25/2024

Facing Doubt in Life
https://youtu.be/JJlAgcOggzA
In this video trailer, Ajahn Chandako discusses how to understand and face doubt in our lives and Buddhist practice. Doubting about what we don't know can be uncomfortable and even paralyzing. In truth, there is very little that we can be sure of in life. The future is uncertain. Our memories are only somewhat reliable. Even our perceptions in the present are clouded through filters of delusion. In this video, Ajahn discusses how to approach the uncertainty and unreliability of life.
We may have doubts about how to meditate properly or what the Buddha actually taught, so Ajahn describes the many forms of Buddhist practice that can help to bring balance and clarity. Ajahn teaches us how doubt can be overcome first through awareness of what is happening here and now, and how doubt can be transformed into insight.
Insight into the ultimate instability of the world can bring up anxiety, but there is a wise fear that recognizes that if we base our happiness on that which is unreliable, this will eventually lead to disappointment. This insight into the nature of reality then motivates us to seek happiness that is truly reliable and truly stable, a refuge in the Dhamma, the way things are.
To watch the full video and have access to other exclusive material, subscribe to become a member of the Redwood Hermitage.
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🙏 Donations 🙏
Ajahn and the Redwood Hermitage rely on donations (dana) to make the teachings available for everyone to practice the Buddha's Dhamma. If you would like to support this, please consider making a donation:
https://redwoodhermitage.org/support

11/13/2024

Cultivating Gratitude
https://youtu.be/nZ-EJ8LDUtY
In this video, Ajahn discusses how to overcome feeling depressed, hopeless or burdened through systematically reflecting on the wonderful things and people that we have in our lives, all the things that are going well. No matter what is happening in our lives and in society, we can train our perceptions in a way that leads to happiness and contentment, and then gratitude begins to arise naturally.
Donations
Ajahn and the Redwood Hermitage rely on donations (dana) to make the teachings and retreat space available for everyone to practice the Buddha's Dhamma. If you would like to support this, please consider making a donation:
https://redwoodhermitage.org/support
Membership
To have access to new material and teachings specifically for members, you can become a member of the Redwood Hermitage:
www.patreon.com/c/kingscreekhermitage/membership

09/29/2024

The Road from the Monastery (trailer)
https://youtu.be/UUhFOwnRsQQ
In this zoom talk to the Buddhist group associated with the college where Ajahn James went to school, Ajahn discusses his journey from being a Buddhist monk for 33 years to his current life in the mainstream of society. He discusses why he disrobed, his doubts and reflections, and how he has integrated the lessons he learned as a reclusive monk into a mainstream lifestyle.

Ajahn discusses Buddhist community dynamics and conflicts within a spiritual community. He speaks to why monks and nuns disrobe and how disrobing can affect the wider community. He speaks openly about his personal experiences, including his reflections on bringing the Dhamma into romantic relationships: how and to what degree is it possible to bring the principles of non-attachment and freedom from craving into a relationship without experiencing suffering while still allowing one's heart to love?

This is a short introduction to the full video. To access the full 1 hour video, join Ajahn James as a member on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/kingscreekhermitage.

08/19/2024

Here is an old article from an ex-monk friend of Ajahn’s:

A Buddhist Monk's Life: Visiting Ajahn Chandako
by Dr. Dan Kalish

Spent all day Monday, November 5th, with Ajahn Chandako an old friend from my monastic days, who, unlike me, never left the Sangha and is now a 23-year monk in the Thai Forest Monastic tradition. For those unfamiliar with the ins and outs of Buddhist monk life, about a hundred years ago, a group of Thai monks revived a 2,500 year old tradition and rekindled the forest monasteries in North-East Thailand. One of these monks, Ajahn Chah, was particularly popular with foreign monks and trained them in this discipline.

Forest monks went back to the roots of Buddhism and studied and practiced as the Buddha himself did, following as closely as possible the ancient traditions. They are the ‘Navy Seals’ of monastics. They undergo considerable mental and physical hardship, and their training is intense--to the point that most people would drop out. They push the strong to their limits through the many years of training. There was a period about twenty years ago when this first generation of forest monks created a huge shift in consciousness in Thailand, and a large number of fully enlightened monks emerged from this fertile period. Now, a second generation of forest monks follows, and Ajahn Chandako is in that group. He and I lived at a monastery in Southern Thailand together. I lasted about 18 months, but 25 years later he's still in the mix, being a great example of what one can do to change the world for the better.

Our day together started with a meal and from there we met with a group of Buddhist nuns and ended up in a shop in the Haight Ashbury area of San Francisco, surrounded by a wonderful group of monk-friendly folks who came to support the monastery building project Ajahn is doing in New Zealand, where he is abbot of Vimutti monastery. He's transformed the landscape of this land, planting over 10,000 (yes, 10,000!) trees and creating a forest where there was none. It's an inspiration to me to see what is possible with a life well lived and how much suffering we can alleviate through adhering to a strict spiritual path focusing on forgiveness and working for the greater good and abandoning our personal needs as the sole driving force in our lives.

07/24/2024

New Talk from Ajahn James
https://youtu.be/nicn7mY5zBc
In this talk, Ajahn recounts times during his monastic and post monastic life when he was faced with situations that challenged his peace of mind, and he gives advice on various Buddhist tools he used in order to overcome these problems with wise solutions. The stories range from irritating monks to encountering tigers to post-monk relationships.
To listen to the entire talk, become a member of Ajahn James' Redwood Hermitage.
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07/17/2024

Three Ways to Deal with Problems, Part 7 and final installment
The vanishing Point of Non-Self
Ajahn Chandako

Each of these meditations is designed to lead to the point where there is merely the knowing and the known, to the insight of non-self (anatta). Mindfulness of breathing culminates in relinquishing identification, simply knowing the breath and the part of the mind that is watching it. Similarly, when analytical contemplation achieves depth, what remains is just the knowing and the known: wisdom understands the perfection of the impersonal law of cause and effect functioning within every thought, word and action. Whatever we experience, whether it’s pleasant, unpleasant, exciting or infuriating, there is awareness of knowing and the known. Through whatever means insight into non-self is developed, the obstacles created by our attachment to who we think we are begin to dissolve. Situations simply arise naturally according to causes and conditions, and even referring to them as ‘problems’ complicates life unnecessarily. When we think of them as ‘my’ problems, that increasingly ties the mind in knots. There is simply the knowing and the known. Perceiving reality in this clear and direct way, is there any situation in life that we could not face with balance and equanimity?

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07/08/2024

Three Ways to Deal with Problems, Part 6
Clear and Powerful Mindfulness
Ajahn Chandako

Mindfulness attempts to know things just as they are, without adding layers of interpretation on top of them. A thought is just a thought, rather than my thought. An opinion is just an opinion, not my opinion. Our perceptions of other people or of ourselves are simply perceptions—not necessarily the truth. Likewise, an unpleasant physical sensation is just a sensation arising naturally from causes, essentially no better or worse than a pleasant one for developing mindfulness. Painful emotional feelings are also just that, arising from causes, a natural result of the workings of kamma. This mental function of knowing is itself neutral, but it can quickly be colored by attraction, aversion, judgment and identification. When we do notice that we are identifying with feelings or thoughts, then we can simply acknowledge the identification without compounding the issue further. Responding to the mind in this way leads to understanding and undermines blind reactivity. No matter what it is that we are seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, thinking or emoting, it can be used as a means for developing continuity of mindfulness. This then gives our wisdom the opportunity to understand what is presently occurring and respond appropriately.

These three types of meditation are by no means mutually exclusive. They overlap and intertwine with mutual support. Although it is useful to have one main type of meditation that is gradually mastered, other supporting techniques can be incorporated to create a well-rounded approach. For example, the calm that results from mindfulness of breathing naturally leads to seeing things more clearly, and when analytical contemplation is then practiced with a calm and clear mind, the insights go far deeper. Insightful contemplation, meanwhile, leads to greater understanding and letting go of grasping. This brings tranquility, and paying attention to the breath then becomes increasingly feasible and pleasant. So no matter which approach is adopted, the result is peace.......(to be continued)

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06/26/2024

Three Ways to Deal with Problems, Part 5 Awareness Itself
Ajahn Chandako

A third approach to dealing with issues is to simply know what is presently occurring at the sense doors and be aware of the part of the mind which is knowing it. The mind which is aware of our external and internal environment can be taken as an object of awareness in and of itself. It’s like mentally taking a step back and looking at the awareness that is watching, hearing, sensing and knowing. It means to notice the awareness itself.

We can practice, for example, with seeing. Seeing is merely seeing: the natural result of a functioning eye, light, an external object and being conscious. No matter what we are looking at, seeing is merely seeing. Try placing half of your attention on being aware that you are seeing, and only half the attention on the object that is being seen. The same can be done with hearing. Whatever sound is within our field of awareness, place the attention on the awareness of hearing more than the actual sound itself. Is this awareness impartial? Is it tainted by a desire to grasp the pleasant or a wish to get rid of the unpleasant? What is the experience of awareness that acknowledges what is present, just as it is? This practice becomes increasingly interesting and powerful when we apply it to the mind. Thoughts, memories and emotions are also the natural effects of a functioning brain and consciousness. Just as we can focus more on seeing rather than on what we are seeing, we can notice the awareness of a mental state rather than being drawn into the state itself......(to be continued)

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06/16/2024

Three Ways to Deal with Problems, Part 4
Ajahn Chandako

Intelligent contemplation can clarify the real issue. The problem is not another person or external situation, but our own grasping, fear or insecurity—and this is our responsibility to deal with.

Recognizing this can be both frustrating and a relief. It is far easier to blame others. It’s humbling to have to admit our own part in it. It can be painful to realize that our responsibility is not to change somebody else, but to transform our own deluded perceptions. At the same time, it is empowering to see that this is within our ability and that no matter what situation we find ourselves in, this is where we can find some freedom and peace.

This type of investigative inquiry makes use of the conventions of I, me and mine (‘my’ anger, ‘my’ fear), but at the same time understands that these are merely conventional ways of speaking or thinking. Strongly identifying with feelings and memories will reinforce the underlying cause for unwise emotional reactions. In actual fact, there is simply anger arising from causes, associated with memories, compounded with excessive identification, which fuels projected perceptions.....(to be continued)

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Members will have access to new and previously unreleased teachings and personal access to Ajahn as a spiritual guide.

06/06/2024

Three Ways to Deal with Problems, Part 3
Ajahn Chandako

Some people find that their minds won’t settle down enough to even begin to have some continuity of awareness with their breathing. So another way of approaching issues that rob our hearts of peace is to directly investigate the thoughts and feelings that manifest on the surface of the mind. If we are suffering, if we are angry, if we are fearful or tense, then we must be holding onto something. What is it? Ask yourself, for example, why are you angry? The initial response may attribute the reason to another person or situation. ‘I’m angry because of what he did or what she said.’ But don’t stop there. Challenge that superficial understanding. ‘And why does that make me angry?’ Even if you don’t get an immediate response, just drop the question into your mind and watch. When an answer does arise, then keep investigating, ‘And where is that coming from? What’s causing that?’ See if you can trace the frustration back to its source.

When you can pin down and be fully conscious of the underlying reason for your anger, this can radically transform your understanding of the situation. It may become clear that your over-reactions stem from a particular fear. Or you might find that the reason for your anger is so petty that you just laugh it off. Or you may realize that the causes of your dissatisfaction are not unique to you alone but are inherit in all human existence—that it’s just about coming into this world with a body and a deluded mind—not about some personal flaw or unfair treatment from others.

At the very least, intelligent contemplation can clarify the real issue. The problem is not another person or external situation, but our own grasping, fear or insecurity—and this is our responsibility to deal with.....(to be continued)

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Members will have access to new and previously unreleased teachings and personal access to Ajahn as a spiritual guide.

05/26/2024

Three Ways to Deal with Problems, Part 2
Ajahn Chandako

Although the instructions for mindfulness of breathing are generally simple and straightforward, mastery can take a lifetime (or longer) and lead to full enlightenment. Even if we can’t fully see the process at work or verbalize many of the specific effects, this exercise can address deeply held, or ‘subconscious’ issues in a way that the intellect cannot. As we breathe, we might be aware of tensions or release of tension in various parts of the body and mind; or we might be aware of general mental feelings of anxiety, sadness or joy being present without clearly knowing what their cause is.

With the mindfulness of breathing approach, it is not actually necessary, and often may be impossible, to know the exact causes of the feelings and emotions that manifest on the surface of our awareness. However, the meditator’s job is simply to pay close attention to this process, approaching each breath with curiosity, without expecting it to be a particular way, appreciating its uniqueness, while acknowledging and accepting whatever mental states arise in the process. When obstacles or tensions seem to block or distract our attention, this may be an indication that mental defilements are being challenged below the surface. Especially at these times it’s important that our effort remains relaxed and persistent. Check to make sure that the knowing of the breath is not tainted by desires for, or wanting to get rid of, something. After a while we may simply notice that we feel lighter, as if a burden has been set down, although we may not know exactly what. This gradually builds confidence that mindfulness of breathing is able to work through deeply held attachments and insecurities, laying a foundation of stable peace and increasingly profound insights.

Some people, however, find that their minds won’t settle down enough to even begin to have some continuity of awareness with their breathing......(to be continued)

Become a member of Ajahn James' Redwood Hermitage:
https://www.patreon.com/kingscreekhermitage/membership
Members will have access to new and previously unreleased teachings and personal access to Ajahn James as a spiritual guide.