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Abundant, Exalted, Immeasurable
Based on talks given at Ajahn Pasanno’s 2008 Metta Retreat in Cazadero, California.
202 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 29, 2023
The book was Abundant, Exalted, and Immeasurable
March 14, 2019
Paras that touched me
p144
on how Luang Por came to live with Ajahn Chah
So I left and went to Ajahn Chah's monastery in the early morning. You see monks coming back from almsrounds, winter mists in the fields. It's very ethereal. I came in as everything was quiet and composed and got the opportunity to pay respects to Ajahn chah. So I bowed and finished my bowing, and he looked at me and said, 'If you want to stay here, you have to stay at least five years.' So I felt, 'Oh, I guess it's not for me.'
I stayed a while and then went off to another monastery that was very quiet. ... The months were going by, but I just kept thinking of Ajahn Chah all the time. I thought, 'Well five years is five years. I'll go back and give myself to Ajahn Chah.' That's thirty-five years ago.
pp144-45
on changing and growing
In terms of how the holy life can help people grow and change, especially having been in robes for such a long time and been in monasteries where people come and go, one thing that is clear to me is there is no such thing as the ideal monastic or ideal practitioner. ... Some people are absolutely inspired and seem to composed, knowledgeable, and clear, and then they disappear in the middle of the night. Other people come, and, despite problem after problem and difficulty after difficulty, they stick with it and they change. That is one of the things that is consistent: if somebody stays with it, change takes place. People really do grow and change.
pp188-89
on attunement with the body
Q: Sometimes when I am concentrated, I have spontaneous body or facial movements. They maybe large or just small twitches. Can you comment on this?
A: It's reasonably common. This is when an attunement with the body is quite helpful, and loving-kindness is very good with balancing that kind of energy within the body-mind complex, allowing that to unravel and untie. Whereas trying to concentrate too strongly or forcing the mind to have mindfulness tends to exacerbate things. So mindfulness practice that is broad and body-based lets that kind of energy flow through the body-mind. Then loving-kindness has a subsidiary effect of softening, replacing and settling. These are good practices to work with.
p196
on the basic things
We look for refuges, look for things to solve our problems, for things to shore up our sense of well-being--just over there. And it it usually out of reach as well. In contrast, we can return to the things that we normally might conceive of as ordinary and realise the power of transformation that they hold: the power of the refuges, the power of the precepts, and the power of loving-kindness.
Oh a certain level, it is hackneyed and old: 'May all beings be well and happy.' You see it written everywhere in Buddhist texts, and you might even sign your emails with something like that. But recognise there is a transformative power in it: an actual commitment and understanding of how to apply it, how to work with it, how to reply on it, and how to return to it allows it to be something that nourishes the heart and nurtures your day-to-day life.
p197
on giving thanks for the retreat
So again, I would just like to express my appreciation to all of the people who have helped out. Everybody helped out in this retreat in the sense that, while you have been here, you pitched in; everybody made it happen. That is worthy of appreciation. My own perception of things, and what the organizers have told me, is that everything has gone very smoothly. That is really appreciated when we come together and practice: having a tangible example that when everybody pitches in, helps out, and harmonizes, then life goes pretty smoothly. In the human realm, that's about as good as it gets.
p144
on how Luang Por came to live with Ajahn Chah
So I left and went to Ajahn Chah's monastery in the early morning. You see monks coming back from almsrounds, winter mists in the fields. It's very ethereal. I came in as everything was quiet and composed and got the opportunity to pay respects to Ajahn chah. So I bowed and finished my bowing, and he looked at me and said, 'If you want to stay here, you have to stay at least five years.' So I felt, 'Oh, I guess it's not for me.'
I stayed a while and then went off to another monastery that was very quiet. ... The months were going by, but I just kept thinking of Ajahn Chah all the time. I thought, 'Well five years is five years. I'll go back and give myself to Ajahn Chah.' That's thirty-five years ago.
pp144-45
on changing and growing
In terms of how the holy life can help people grow and change, especially having been in robes for such a long time and been in monasteries where people come and go, one thing that is clear to me is there is no such thing as the ideal monastic or ideal practitioner. ... Some people are absolutely inspired and seem to composed, knowledgeable, and clear, and then they disappear in the middle of the night. Other people come, and, despite problem after problem and difficulty after difficulty, they stick with it and they change. That is one of the things that is consistent: if somebody stays with it, change takes place. People really do grow and change.
pp188-89
on attunement with the body
Q: Sometimes when I am concentrated, I have spontaneous body or facial movements. They maybe large or just small twitches. Can you comment on this?
A: It's reasonably common. This is when an attunement with the body is quite helpful, and loving-kindness is very good with balancing that kind of energy within the body-mind complex, allowing that to unravel and untie. Whereas trying to concentrate too strongly or forcing the mind to have mindfulness tends to exacerbate things. So mindfulness practice that is broad and body-based lets that kind of energy flow through the body-mind. Then loving-kindness has a subsidiary effect of softening, replacing and settling. These are good practices to work with.
p196
on the basic things
We look for refuges, look for things to solve our problems, for things to shore up our sense of well-being--just over there. And it it usually out of reach as well. In contrast, we can return to the things that we normally might conceive of as ordinary and realise the power of transformation that they hold: the power of the refuges, the power of the precepts, and the power of loving-kindness.
Oh a certain level, it is hackneyed and old: 'May all beings be well and happy.' You see it written everywhere in Buddhist texts, and you might even sign your emails with something like that. But recognise there is a transformative power in it: an actual commitment and understanding of how to apply it, how to work with it, how to reply on it, and how to return to it allows it to be something that nourishes the heart and nurtures your day-to-day life.
p197
on giving thanks for the retreat
So again, I would just like to express my appreciation to all of the people who have helped out. Everybody helped out in this retreat in the sense that, while you have been here, you pitched in; everybody made it happen. That is worthy of appreciation. My own perception of things, and what the organizers have told me, is that everything has gone very smoothly. That is really appreciated when we come together and practice: having a tangible example that when everybody pitches in, helps out, and harmonizes, then life goes pretty smoothly. In the human realm, that's about as good as it gets.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 27, 2025
Metta meditation in the context of a retreat
Enjoyed the question and answer at the end of each day
And how mindfulness to the body was given as a foundation
I liked the idea of skilful and unskillful action / whole som and unwholesome action and how it was exemplified in the end by suttas
More an intuitive read ~ not step by step - answered other questions I had about pleasure, joy and how experiencing them sparks concentration and happiness enough to do this work well
Not that doing the practice makes you happy, rather having happiness (creating wellbeing) makes you able to go well in mindfulness and metta meditation (inspired, safe and happy is the aim first)
Helped me in the context of other Buddhist knowledge and unsure how this would land for first timers
Lightly grazes subjects such as hindrances and aggregates ~ stirred interest to understand more
Repetition was good for the mind ~ again, it’s a retreat not a step by step as such
And would help to understand basic mindfulness first before this metta mediation (read mindfulness in plain English first)
Enjoyed the question and answer at the end of each day
And how mindfulness to the body was given as a foundation
I liked the idea of skilful and unskillful action / whole som and unwholesome action and how it was exemplified in the end by suttas
More an intuitive read ~ not step by step - answered other questions I had about pleasure, joy and how experiencing them sparks concentration and happiness enough to do this work well
Not that doing the practice makes you happy, rather having happiness (creating wellbeing) makes you able to go well in mindfulness and metta meditation (inspired, safe and happy is the aim first)
Helped me in the context of other Buddhist knowledge and unsure how this would land for first timers
Lightly grazes subjects such as hindrances and aggregates ~ stirred interest to understand more
Repetition was good for the mind ~ again, it’s a retreat not a step by step as such
And would help to understand basic mindfulness first before this metta mediation (read mindfulness in plain English first)
June 23, 2021
There are some books I study as if I had to write a thesis about them, and there are some that I just quickly read through and rather let my heart decide what intuitively resonates. Here it was the latter. Chiara picked up this book, free for distribution, in the Sumedharama monastery in Ericeira, Portugal. Following the Thai Forest Tradition, this center belongs to the Theravada school of Buddhism, which tends to be the most conservative and "lowest" of the three vehicles (Hinayana (= Theravada), Mahayana, Vajrayana). Therefore I came with some bias, but I was delighted to once again see that there are many things to learn and to nourish the heart in literally everything. Openness is wholeness. It's so beautiful.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews