Dhamma-Vinaya Patipadā Podcast

In this Dhamma talk, Bhante Joe reflects on how a person’s sense of identity is quietly built around the body and the attention given to both the body and the external world. He explains that the body functions as a hidden condition behind attraction and aversion, behind hopes and fears, and behind many assumptions about who we are now and who we will be in the future. Drawing on practical example...

In this interview, I had the opportunity to sit down with Venerable Jeffrey. Venerable Jeffrey has been a undertaken the traditional monastic wandering in life California since 2022. We discussed his reflections on the practice of wandering: its practical demands, the way it may be undertaken in daily life, and how it can support meditation and the higher aim of release. For those interested in le...

Stream Entry and the Five Precepts | Ritual, Merit, and Ungrasped Virtue In this Dhamma talk, Bhante Joe responds to two related questions from a meditation course: whether formally undertaking the five precepts through ritual creates a different kind of merit than keeping them inwardly and sincerely, and what it means when the virtue of a stream-enterer is described as “ungrasped.” Drawing on exa...

In this Dhamma talk, Bhante Joe begins with an unusual story about giving a talk in Sinhala through ChatGPT translation, then uses that experience as a doorway into a deeper reflection on how the mind interprets the world. He explores how perception, memory, fear, and proliferation can cause reality to become “lost in translation,” and how Buddhist practice trains us to see more clearly. Centering...

DESCRIPTION In this practical Dhamma talk, Bhante Joe responds to a common meditation problem: when concentration feels weak, how do you stay with “perception” (saññā) topics—like impermanence, not-self (anattā), asubha, and mindfulness of death—without drifting into random thinking or restlessness? He explains how the mind naturally builds a “reality” around what it wants by moving through past,...

In this Dhamma talk, Bhante Joe explores how Buddhist practice can stay strong in a world shaped by smartphones, social media, and AI. He begins by questioning the common idea that “older = purer,” pointing out that while the Buddha’s time was ideal because the Buddha was present, the path itself isn’t about clinging to ancient tools—it’s about training bodily, verbal, and mental action. From ther...

In this Dhamma talk, Bhante Joe responds to a thoughtful question about breath meditation: if the breath feels uncomfortable, should we adjust it—or “just observe”? Using early Buddhist framing, he explains how both strategies can be skillful at different times: sometimes we counter a defilement through deliberate fabrication, and sometimes we overcome it through steady, equanimous observation. Th...

In this Q&A, Bhante Joe answers practical questions: what’s the goal of walking meditation? How can it be done? What object should you use? He clarifies that walking is not a separate “technique,” but a posture for continuing your main meditation theme—whether that’s breath, a mantra like “Buddho,” or a perception-based contemplation. Drawing on the Thai Forest Tradition, he explains how to set up...

In this lively Vinaya conversation, Bhante Joe interviews Venerables Suddhāso, Suñño, and Soma on a topic most Buddhists rarely hear about—but many will find fascinating once they do: the “small robe” option in Theravāda and what the Vinaya actually says about robe dimensions (cīvara). Together they explore why modern robes often became much larger over the centuries, how “standard” robe culture c...

In this New Year Dhamma talk, Bhante Joe reflects on goal-setting in Buddhism and why the Buddha’s training revolves around a clear aim: Nibbāna, the end of suffering. He explains how effective spiritual goals rely on balancing two vital capacities—the rational faculty (breaking a large aim into realistic, workable steps) and the intuitive faculty (recognizing opportunities and obstacles as kamma...

This Dhamma talk discusses the importance of using the Buddha's teachings for the practical purpose of ending suffering, rather than ontological knowledge about the world. It also discusses how the teaching on not self is not meant to lead to a state where one 'realizes' no self, but to a state where the mind is untouched by the world.

In this talk, Bhante Joe reflects on “de-meshing with the world”: how the world praises outward expansion—more roles, more projects, more involvement—while the Dhamma points in the opposite direction, toward inward contraction and release. Using the idea of papañca (proliferation), he explains how the mind rushes out, mixes with things, and then suffers when those entanglements shift. The talk cla...

Ajahn Nissarano is the abbot of Newbury Buddhist Monastery. He trained at Bodhinyana monastery for almost ten years setting out to stay in Thailand and later Sri Lanka. He spent 13 years in Sri Lanka, eight of which were in a solitary cave. For more information on Ajahn Nissarano's teachings, Newbury Buddhist Monastery, and the Sanctuary of Stillness Retreat Centre, see https://www.bsv.net.au/.

A Dhamma discussion based on the question (paraphrased) 'We've talked about how ease is important in practice, is there a role for more rigorous practices?'

This talk discusses how inspiration is a skill. It discusses strategies for making the mind inspired and for using inspiration well when it arises. *Note: this talk was given as a backup for our regular monthly meditation session for North America. For more information about our monthly events, see our Luna calendar... https://luma.com/user/dhammavinayap

A Dhamma discussion based on the question (paraphrased...) Hey, Bhante... what I find sometimes with myself is this: I’ll sit down, and then there’s this resentment or anger from something during the day. Someone said something wrong to me or whatever, right? So I’ll be trying to look for the root or the background of that. Do I think that I don’t count? Or that my opinion doesn’t matter? So I’m a...

This talk examines the lives of the Buddha's lay noble disciples in ancient and modern times to see what lessons their lives can hold for practitioners today. It also examines the Buddha's specific advice to laypeople in the Pali Canon that can act as a checklist for lay practice.

An interview with Ajahn Kovilo of Clear Mountain Monastery. Links Website www.clearmountainmonastery.org The Wellbeing Cascade: https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/2024/06/11/the-wellbeing-cascade/ Thus You Should Train Yourselves https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/2024/06/11/thus-should-you-train-yourselves/

This talk discusses how the Buddha defines the self as a process. We can create selves that are based on increasingly refined levels of happiness, until we don't need to create a self at all.

Dhamma discussion based on the question... '..sort of following the connection from last week, the comments you made about observing cause and effect and especially observing causes of happiness today. I was wondering if you could clarify the difference between the latter two types of happiness that you mentioned. So, happiness from stillness and that from absence. Could you speak a little bit mor...

An ovāda and Dhamma discussion based on developing an increasing sensitivity to different types of happiness as a means to progress on one's path.

This ovāda discusses the importance of keeping in mind the purpose for which we meditate and evaluating our success or failure against that purpose

A simple guided breath meditation suitable for beginners

A Dhamma discussion based on the question... "Bhante, I have some questions regarding discernment. First, is the only type of discernment which leads to the destruction of defilements and cutting fetters, insight into the three characteristics? Secondly, are we supposed to A) actively produce discernment in meditation, or B) are we cultivating our minds in a way that will cause discernment to aris...

This ovāda discusses the Buddha's statement that the in and out breath is a body among bodies.