Clear Mountain Monastery Project

In this talk, Bhante Rahula, visiting from Paññabhumi Monastery in Jalisco, Mexico, speaks about joy as an essential spiritual tool which we may access by appreciating all the good we've done. To pause now, and appreciate the great care that's gone into finding Clear Mountain a home, can serves a cause for great wellbeing, and a happiness that outlasts the world. Sadhu! Visit bhanterahula.com or https://dhamma-pb.org/en to learn more.

Bio

Bhante Rāhula, born in Mexico, has spent the last 22 years in Asia in various periods, where he has practiced and studied the Dhamma.He was ordained in Myanmar by Sayadaw Dr. Nandamālābhivaṃsa, who is his preceptor. Since 2004 he has received meditation guidance from Sayadaw U Tejaniya. For 6 years, Bhante studied Suttas and Abhidhamma with Sayadaw Dr. Ukkamsacara in Macau. In 2019, he completed a course on Buddhist scriptures from Harvard University. He underwent monastic Vinaya training for 2 years in Sasanarakkha Buddhist Sanctuary in Malaysia under the guidance of Ven. Ariyadhammika, where he also led retreats and Dhamma activities for the local community. Currently, Bhante is constructing the Mexican Buddhist Center (Paññābhūmi) to introduce and propagate the Buddha’s teaching in South America. He is also actively involved in diverse programs to aid parts of the society in overcoming drug addiction and alcoholism, as well as supporting educational campaigns for children and teens to prevent such problem in this region. Visit bhanterahula.com or https://dhamma-pb.org/en to learn more.

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Tune in with fellow practitioners for Clear Mountain’s weekly online and hybrid events!

- Wednesday Evening Teaching & Discussion (6:00 – 7:30 pm PT, YouTube then Zoom)

- Saturday Morning Meditation, Teaching, & Coffee Social (9:30 - 11 am PT, Online & In-Person)

- Sunday Evening “Mission Majjhima!” Sutta Teaching & Discussion (5:00 - 6 pm PT, Online)

See https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/ or visit https://linktr.ee/clear_mountain_monastery for details. Welcome!

In this session, Ayya Sudhamma, abbess of Charlotte Buddhist Vihara (https://www.charlottebuddhistvihara.org/), joins Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho for a conversation. Read her renderings of the Therigatha at: https://therigatha.org/

Ayya's biography:

Venerable Sudhammā is one of a handful of Theravada Mahātherīs born in the West. After receiving her initial monastic training under the renowned teacher Bhante Gunaratana of the Bhavana Society, West Virginia, Ayyā Sudhammā has since gone on to become a beloved Buddhist teacher and pioneer of Buddhism in America. She was the first Western women to become fully ordained in Sri Lanka, she co-founded the North American Bhikkhuni Association, and hosted the first-ever Theravada Bhikkhuni Sangha proceeding in the USA. In 2013 Ayya founded the Charlotte Buddhist Vihara in her hometown of Charlotte, NC, where she continues to offer regular Dhamma programs.

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The link to the 7:00-7:45 pm Zoom session following the livestream may be found on the event listing at https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/events/wednesday/.

Tune in with fellow practitioners for Clear Mountain’s weekly online and hybrid events!

- Wednesday Evening Teaching & Discussion (6:00 - 7:45 pm PT, YouTube then Zoom)

- Saturday Morning Meditation, Teaching, & Coffee Social (9:30 - 11:00 am PT, Online & In-Person)

- Sunday Evening “Mission Majjhima!” Sutta Teaching & Discussion (5:00 - 6:00 pm PT, Online)

See https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/ or visit https://linktr.ee/clear_mountain_monastery for details. Welcome!

In this session, Ajahn Kovilo discusses various skilful means—specifically ones related to a felt sense of spaciousness—for relating to the 5 hindrances of:

00:00 Introduction to unbounded mind vs little mind

08:12 (1) sensual desire

11:45 (2) ill-will

17:21 (3) sloth and torpor

20:35 (4) restlessness and worry

24:50 (5) doubt

An overarching relationship is drawn between:

(a) the Buddha's comparison of a vast, lakelike mind with a constricted, confined, salty mind (https://suttacentral.net/an3.100/en/sujato) and

(b) the Buddha's comparison of the mind afflicted with the five hindrances to various types of unclean water (https://suttacentral.net/an5.193/en/sujato).

Tune in with fellow practitioners for Clear Mountain’s weekly online and hybrid events!

- Wednesday Evening Teaching & Discussion (6:00 – 7:30 pm PT, YouTube then Zoom)

- Saturday Morning Meditation, Teaching, & Coffee Social (9:30 - 11 am PT, Online & In-Person)

- Sunday Evening “Mission Majjhima!” Sutta Teaching & Discussion (5:00 - 6 pm PT, Online)

See https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/ or visit https://linktr.ee/clear_mountain_monastery for details. Welcome!

This is PART TWO of Clear Mountain's interview with Bhante Sujāto, co-founder of SuttaCentral.net and abbot of Lokanta Vihara. Watch PART ONE here: https://youtu.be/dJvntE6aw-s

00:00:00 Introduction & Textual Curiosity Across Buddhist Genres

00:16:51 Comparative Studies of the Creation of the Bhikkhuni Order

00:24:59 The Trojan Horse Simile of Picking and Choosing & How to Hold Varrying Views

00:31:51 The Buddha, Bodhisattva, and Arahant Awakenings

00:38:18 The Buddha as Distinct From Arahants?

00:41:08 Maintaining Inter-Tradition Epistemological Humility?

00:47:00 A Buddhist Perspective on Artificial Intelligence - "Start Generating"

01:01:22 What Mendicant Would Grace the Gosinga Sal Tree Grove?

Bhante Sujāto's Biography:

Born in Perth in 1966, Bhante Sujato left a career as a musician to become a Buddhist monk at Wat Nanachat in 1994. Some years later, he returned to Perth to study with Ajahn Brahm at Bodhinyana Monastery, before going on to found Santi Forest Monastery in New South Wales in 2003. In 2005 he, together with Rod Bucknell and John Kelly, founded SuttaCentral which has become the unchallenged juggernaut of Early Buddhist Textual Study. In 2015, seeing the need for a complete, accurate, plain English translation of the Pali texts available entirely for free, he undertook the task, spending nearly three years in isolation and completing the four main Nikāyas in 2018, and the early books of the Khuddaka Nikāya by 2021. In 2019, Bhante Sujato moved to Sydney to establish Lokanta Vihara (the Monastery at the End of the World) to explore what it means to follow the Buddha’s teachings in an era of climate change, globalised consumerism, and political turmoil.

Tune in with fellow practitioners for Clear Mountain’s weekly online and hybrid events!

Wednesday Evening Teaching & Discussion (6:00 – 7:30 pm PT, YouTube then Zoom)

Saturday Morning Meditation, Teaching, & Coffee Social (9:30 - 11 am PT, Online & In-Person)

Sunday Evening “Mission Majjhima!” Sutta Teaching & Discussion (5:00 - 6 pm PT, Online)

See https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/ or visit https://linktr.ee/clear_mountain_mona... for details. Welcome!

In this talk, Ajahn Nisabho speaks about the definitions of "dukkha", and the importance of understanding its various meanings in order to practice skillfully towards its ending. To truly embody the directive of the First Noble Truth is to initiate the alchemy of release.

Chapters

00:00 - Understanding Dukkha (Translations & Etymology)

02:11 - The Malunkyaputta Sutta & Leaves in the Hand

04:33 - The Four Noble Truths as a Path of Practice

10:10 - The Two Types of Dukkha: Characteristics vs. Clinging

16:44 - Suka, Dukkha, and Nibbāna

19:50 - Turning Towards Suffering with Gratitude & Khanti

31:02 - Pain Meditation as a Direct Practice

33:45 - Rumi Poem: Fire and Water

36:17 - Q&A Session

Tune in with fellow practitioners for Clear Mountain’s weekly online and hybrid events!

- Wednesday Evening Teaching & Discussion (6:00 – 7:30 pm PT, YouTube then Zoom)

- Saturday Morning Meditation, Teaching, & Coffee Social (9:30 - 11 am PT, Online & In-Person)

- Sunday Evening “Mission Majjhima!” Sutta Teaching & Discussion (5:00 - 6 pm PT, Online)

See https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/ or visit https://linktr.ee/clear_mountain_monastery for details. Welcome!