Live from Birken: Dhamma Q&A with Ajahn Sona (10.29.2023)

Join us on Sunday as Ajahn Sona answers Dhamma questions from listeners around the world. Questions may be submitted during the live chat (opens ~3:00pm day of stream) or in advance, here: https://bit.ly/LivestreamQnA Ajahn Sona Podcast: Apple - http://bit.ly/AppleAjSona Spotify - http://bit.ly/SpotifyAjSona Podbean - http://bit.ly/PodbeanAjSona Index of Questions: 00:00 - INTRODUCTION 01:13 - BHAVANGA: Could you kindly explain what " Bhavanga" means and give an example of it. Can one become aware of it during meditation? 04:03 - EFFORT: Sometimes I feel guilty that I’m not using my time in the most perfect way. Learning an instrument, painting, writing poetry, sometimes I think “is this just a waste of my time? How do these kinds of activities align to skill in handicraft being a highest blessing? How might I enjoy these activities without guilt or suffering? 07:58 - WORLDLY PLEASURE: I hear some teachers say that Buddhists can enjoy good things. I'm having hard time reconciling it with inappropriate attention being the cause of the hindrances, with the right resolve and the renunciation parami. I'm working on deriving my pleasure from generosity, renunciation, virtue, brahmaviharas and samadhi. I don't want to misrepresent the Dhamma. Hearing we can enjoy worldly pleasures as well I wonder if I'm missing something. 14:42 - DHAMMAPADA: Please, tell about the role Dhammapada plays in the Buddhasasana theory and practice. What kind of guide is this book? 18:59 - KAMMA: My question is about kamma and vipaka. As kamma is related to intention and volitional action, how relevant is the age of a person and the ability to judge his or her actions? I.e. It happens that teenagers (age of 12 or 13) kill another teenager of the same age out of revenge. It seems to be different for an adult person, but is that really the case? 23:00 - PRECEPTS: Recently, I am trying to keep the five precepts of Buddhism, but when I am stressed, I eat a lot of food and regret it. I realized that my desire cannot be satisfied and that I have been doing useless things to satisfy it as I realized that desire is the cause of suffering, 28:58 - JHANA: Would it be correct to say that one does not know they have attained fourth jhana until they come down from fourth jhana? 31:15 - PHYSICAL BEAUTY - The skin of a young person is beautiful and attractive, but when I look at the skin of an old man, I think that what I thought was good was suffering in the end. Am I right to reflect like this? 31:48 - VIEWS OF SELF: In MN2, the Buddha says that “I have no self” and “I only perceive a self while having no self” alongside views of a self existing are both wrong views that result from attending unwisely. Doesn’t his contradict no self as a fundamental teaching of the Buddha if he is rejecting all views of a self? 37:27 - CITTA: In Buddhist texts, consciousness is described as an uninterrupted stream of cittas. I understand that cittas, considered individually, are impermanent and anatta but I can't help thinking about the stream of cittas as something permanent, uninterrupted by death and forming the root of my self. Can you help me to rectify this wrong view? 41:29 - REJECTION: How to get over feelings of worthlessness from being rejected by parents and sent to an orphanage since I was a toddler due to autism, while other siblings were shown love their whole life by my parents? 42:51 - PAST LIVES: In the Suttas Buddha Gotama often refers to the Buddhas of the past or tells stories of his encounters with them in his previous lives. In our present aeon there are three Buddhas that preceded our recent Buddha. Buddha Kakusandha, Konagamana, and Kassapa. I struggle to put them into a historical context. It seems they must have lived millions or even billions of years ago. How does this fit with our understanding of human evolution? 49:07 - INTUITION: Could you please explain what the Buddha said about capacities for intuition? 52:05 - RIGHT LIVELIHOOD: How can someone with a disability cultivate right livelihood?