Dhammagiri Buddhist Podcasts

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 un...

Listen to Part 01 on Apple/iTunes Listen to Part 01 on Spotify 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 morn...

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...

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/id153453983...

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 realize...

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/id153453983...

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...

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 disci...

There is heaps of happiness for us to enjoy in our Dhamma practice. The discourses of the Buddha are full of specific terms for different flavours of happines, some of which can be experienced already in the beginning stages of our meditative cultivation. Ajahn Dhammasiha encourages us to mindfully identify the different forms of happiness as they arise in our heart, and then to deliberately...

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/dha...

Today, one of the visitors is a professor who is an expert on Shakespeare. He and Ajahn Dhammasiha engage in an interesting discussion about art, beauty and it's relationship to Dhamma practice as a Buddhist monk. Can a Buddhist monk still enjoy beauty, or would that conflict with the aim of abandoning all attachments? Does art always celebrates beauty, and present the world as something good and...

Ajahn Dhammasiha offers some reflections on the three characteristics of all conditioned phenomena, versus the three characteristics of the Unconditioned . 3 Qualities of all conditioned phenomena (sankhata-lakkhaṇāni): Coming into existence can be discerned Passing away can be discerned Change while persisting can be discerned 3 Qualities of the Unconditioned (asankhata-lakkhaṇāni): No coming int...

Ajahn Dhammasiha shares the story of Angulimāla, the most infamous mass murderer ('terrorist') in the time of the Buddha. He had already killed 999 persons, and was wearing their thumb bones as a kind of macabre necklace, when the Buddha visited the forest that was his main haunt. Once he had noticed the Buddha, Angulimāla rushed after him, trying to catch up. However, the Buddha used his supreme...

In this Guided Meditation , Ajahn Dhammasiha leads us to contemplate the forth foundation of mindfulness (4th Satipaṭṭhāna) in breath meditation (ānāpāṇasati): We breathe in and out contemplating & observing impermanence (anicca) not sure, not certain, unreliable We breathe in and out contemplating 'fading away' (virāga): both the fading away of external objects like sounds and thoughts, and a...

Ajahn Dhammasiha responds to a question: "Is renunciation or non-attachment the better practice?" Ajahn explains that both terms are often used largely synonymous, and that therefore it's not so much a question of 'either-or'. Both practices are concerned with 'letting go'. But it's also possible to understand these two terms with different nuances of meaning. On the one hand, one can 'renounce' s...

It's good to remind ourselves regularly of the final purpose of all our Dhamma practice. Whether it's offering dana, or keeping precepts, developing sense restraint, or watching the breath in formal meditation - in the end all of this should lead to letting go . It's outright impossible to fix all problems in the external world, all issues with our own bodies, and all our relationships and interac...

🔸️Intro (Ajahn Dhammasiha, MC) 🔸️Requesting Triple Refuge & 5 Precepts (Dr Mallik & Vijitha) 🔸️Taking Refuge in Buddha, Dhamma & Sangha  (Conducted by Ajahn Dta Candavaṃso) 🔸️Committing to the 5 Precepts (Conducted by Ajahn Dta Candavaṃso) 🔸️Recitation of Paṃsukūla Sangha-dāna (Dr Mallik & Vijitha) 🔸️Offering of Robes & Forest Cloth to Sangha (All Sangha & Laity)...

Our Robe Offering Ceremony took place amidst torrential downpours, severe weather warnings and major flooding. Defying floods and storms, some 150 Dhamma practitioners still came out to Dhammagiri, determined not to miss this special opportunity for making merit, and to listen to teachings from our visiting senior monk Luang Por Kalyano. Listening to the rain pouring down, and the frogs croaking,...

At our Robe Offering Ceremony at Dhammagiri, Ajahn Saeng leads our Sangha of eight monks in the recitation of Paritta. Paritta are teachings of the Buddha with particular auspicious or protective content, which are chanted by the Buddhist monks at special occasions. The 8 monks chanting are, in order of seniority: Luang Por Kalyano, abbot of Buddha Bodhivana Monastery, Warburton near Melbourne Aja...

There are 7 conditions to make the teaching of the Buddha last a long time. At the same time, they support our own individual meditative development: Reverence and deference to the Buddha Reverence and deference to the Dhamma Reverence and deference to the Sangha Reverence and deference to the training Reverence and deference to Samādhī Reverence and deference to Diligence Reverence and deference...

On occasion of Pavāraṇā Full Moon, Ajahn Dhammasiha talks about the meaning and purpose of the 'Invitation Ceremony' ('pavāraṇā') the monks have to do at the end of the rains retreat.    All members of the sangha that have spent the retreat together invite each other for admonishment in case that any unsuitable behaviour has been seen, heard or suspected by their fellow monks. Although n...

Ajahn Dhammasiha talks about Luang Por Kalyano's 60th birthday, and shares that he's really looking forward to having a senior monk visiting that he can bow to.  Contrary to attitudes common nowadays, having something to respect, and to express that in an external gesture, is actually very uplifting for our mind.   A member in the audience asks if bowing is still of benefit if one doesn'...

Mettā, Loving Kindness, is the intention of unconditional good will to all living beings, without distinction or discrimination, without expectations or demands. Simply wishing well to absolutely everyone.  It includes all humans, whatever nationality or race or ethnic background. But it also includes animals, cute koalas just as much as ugly cane toads. It includes non-human, invisible being...

Ajahn Dhammasiha leads an introduction to Mettā Meditation, 'Loving Kindness'. Mettā is the intention of unconditional good will to all beings, without distinction, without expectations, without conditions, same to absolutely everyone. To start off, we choose one being that we like a lot, where we find it really easy to wish them well. That could even be an animal (in case we feel grumpy t...

Ajahn Dhammasiha presents the story of Ven Mahākassapa's first encounter with the Buddha. [Saṃyutta Nikāya / Connected Discourses, 16. 'Kassapasamyutta', #11]  While walking along the road from Rājagaha to Nālanda, Ven Mahakassapa sees the Buddha sitting under a tree close to the road. Although he has never seen him before, and doesn't know about his teaching, he still recognizes him immediat...