Ajahn Pasanno

Monastic

Ajahn Pasanno took ordination in Thailand in 1974 with Venerable Phra Khru Ñāṇasirivatana as preceptor. During his first year as a monk he was taken by his teacher to meet Ajahn Chah, with whom he asked to be allowed to stay and train. One of the early residents of Wat Pah Nanachat, Ajahn Pasanno became its abbot in his ninth year. During his incumbency, Wat Pah Nanachat developed considerably, both in physical size and reputation. Spending 24 years living in Thailand, Ajahn Pasanno became a well-known and highly respected monk and Dhamma teacher. He moved to California on New Year’s Eve of 1997 to share the abbotship of Abhayagiri with Ajahn Amaro. In 2010 Ajahn Amaro accepted an invitation to serve as abbot of Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in England, leaving Ajahn Pasanno to serve as sole abbot of Abhayagiri for the next eight years. In spring of 2018, Ajahn Pasanno stepped back from the role of abbot, leaving the monastery for a year-long retreat abroad. After returning from his sabbatical, Ajahn Pasanno now serves as an anchor of wisdom and guidance for the community.

Ajahn Pasanno
Loving-kindness can’t be separated from the Dhamma or anything else. Those qualities of letting go, non-contention: that’s where loving-kindness arises. When we let go of our moods, obsessions, worries, and fears—what’s left? Loving-kindness.
 
Ajahn Pasanno, Abundant, Exalted, Immeasurable

Dharma Library

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Picks from the Library

Talks

July 2, 2016 | 62 min.

The Anxiety of Impermanence and the Impermanence of Anxiety

Ajahn Pasanno

When we expect something that is impossible, and try to make something the way we think it should be rather than the way it is, we’re not making a problem of existence, we’re not making a problem of reality—we’re making a problem out of the inevitable. The world is like this. Human mind is like this. Existence is like this. We don’t need to add anxiety, fear, worry, or attachment and control. It’s just like this. It’s a really simple perspective that is really liberating. And it takes practice.

Talks

June 22, 2013 | 8 min.

Explanation & Anumodanā Chant

Ajahn Pasanno

One of the fundamental standards of being a monastic is to rely on the generosity of others. The meal offering is a very concrete manifestation of that. There’s all these tables back there, full of food, but it’s actually your food. As monks, we’re not allowed to go pick it up and eat it—to graze alone—until it’s been formally offered. This makes for an interesting lifestyle. And it’s wonderful, being completely dependent on people’s goodness. So we get to have physical food, but it’s also really partaking of people’s goodness.

Talks

August 4, 2012 | 48 min.

Noticing the Natural World

Ajahn Pasanno

In order for nature to have an effect on us, we have to be mindful, and then whatever circumstance we’re in can be a source of insight or reflection. Even if it’s something very difficult, we can still use it as a means of mindfully applying attention, and draw those experiences into the heart. There’s a senior Thai monk who defined mindfulness as “that function of nature that takes the experiences of the senses and draws them into the heart.” It’s natural, but we do have to draw experiences into the heart to really absorb them and reflect on them. And that requires attentiveness to the world around us.

Talks

May 1, 2011 | 61 min.

Stories of the Tudong Monks, part 1 of 3

Ajahn Pasanno
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