More than Just Awareness | Ajahn Sona

Ordained for over forty years, Ajahn Amaro trained under Ven. Ajahn Sumedho in the lineage of the Thai forest master, Ven. Ajahn Chah. He helped found Abhayagiri Monastery in California and is the current abbot of Amaravati Monastery in the UK. More information and monastic teachings may be found at https://www.fourthmessenger.org.

Ordained for over forty years, Ajahn Sucitto trained under Ven. Ajahn Sumedho in the lineage of the Thai forest master, Ven. Ajahn Chah. He was part of the group that established Cittaviveka, Chithurst Forest Monastery, in England. More information and monastic teachings may be found at https://www.fourthmessenger.org.

Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi speaks on the three themes the Buddha said should be reflected upon by "one who has gone forth" in Sutta 101 of the Anguttara Nikāya. A relevant teaching for all practitioners, this talk was given at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery, California, in 2007.  An accompanying article may be found at https://www.fourthmessenger.org.

Ajahn Dick Sīlaratano reflects on his training under Luangta Maha Boowa, one of the most respected teachers of the twentieth-century Thailand. An accompanying article can be found at https://www.fourthmessenger.org.

Ven. Thubten Chodron, abbess of Sravasti Abbey in Newport, WA, went forth over forty years ago. Here she reflects on the eight "worldly winds" described by the Buddha and elaborated on by her teacher, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. More information and monastic teachings may be found at https://www.fourthmessenger.org.

Ayya Santussika, in residence at Karuna Buddhist Vihara (Compassion Monastery), spent five years as an anagarika (eight-precept nun), then ordained as a samaneri (ten-precept nun) in 2010 and as a bhikkhuni (311 rules) in 2012 at Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara in Los Angeles. More information and monastic teachings may be found at https://www.fourthmessenger.org.

A monk of over forty years, Ajahn Pasanno is the most senior ordained disciple of Ajahn Chah in the United States. He helped found Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in Redwood Valley, California, where he currently resides. More information and monastic teachings may be found at https://www.fourthmessenger.org.

Ajahn Sona is a first-wave Western Theravada ordained monk and the Abbot of Birken Forest Buddhist Monastery (‘Birken’). More information and monastic teachings may be found at https://www.fourthmessenger.org.

Few have told the story of the Buddha's life as well as Grevel Lindop in his poem, "Touching the Earth". Ajahn Jayasāro's reading of an excerpt from the epic infuses the story of the Bodhisatta's birth with faith come from of a life of practice. A PDF of the full poem can be found at https://www.fourthmessenger.org.

The Kalama Sutta is most famous for its encouragement not to place total trust in traditions and texts, but it also encourages you not to place total trust in your sense of reason and preferences. So where can you place your trust? This talk focuses on the dilemma posed by the sutta's recommendations, and the way in proposes out of the dilemma. More information and monastic teachings may be found at https://www.fourthmessenger.org.