Clear Mountain Monastery Project

In this three-way talk, Ajahn Kovilo, Ajahn Nisabho, and Maechee Paññasiri speak about the Three Characteristics/Perceptions (tilakkhaṇa), or perceptions:

00:00:00 Introduction & Ajahn Kovilo on Dukkhatā - Pain/Suffering/Unsatisfactoriness

00:11:58 Maechee Paññāsiri on Anattatā - Not-Self

00:27:51 Ajahn Nisabho on Aniccatā - Impermanence

00:43:14 Questions and Answers

By contemplating these skillfully, one can bring the heart to full liberation. The talk also features a surprising number of references to mayonnaise.

Maechee Paññāsirī's Biography:

Sister Maechee Panyasiri is a Chinese-born, Thai forest nun in the tradition of Ven. Ajahn Chah.

Born in 1967 and grew up in Shanghai, China, Sister has worked many years as a writer/creative director, a teacher of yoga, pranayama and meditation, as well as travelling the world, with a deep spiritual pursuit which she was born with. Finally this lifelong inner quest tuned her into the path of Dhamma. In 2018 She became a student of Ven. Ajahn Jayasāro and started the training in various forest monasteries in Thailand as a eight precept Upāsikā.

In 2020 she became a Maechee with Ven. Ajahn Jayasāro as her preceptor and was instructed to go on almsround and not to receive or use money. Sister Maechee Paññāsirī currently remains in a nuns’ hermitage near the Khao Yai mountain in Thailand.

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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, Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho interview Paul Harrison, professor of religious studies at Stanford University (https://religiousstudies.stanford.edu/people/paul-harrison).

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:23 Balancing academic scholarship and personal spiritual practice

00:04:09 Exploring the spiritual dimension of studying Buddhist texts

00:05:55 How early Mahayana Buddhism emerged

00:08:56 The timeline and setting where Mahayana began to diverge

00:12:54 Explanation of the Lokaksema Corpus and early ascetic Mahayana traditions

00:15:21 The cultural motivations and societal forces that drove the Mahayana movement

00:18:11 Why early texts lack questions about attaining full Buddhahood

00:21:29 The tension between historical scholarly development and traditional faith views

00:25:11 Blind spots in the Theravada and linguistic distances from Pali

00:30:59 The validity of an early Buddhist text conceit vs radical doctrinal differences with Mahayana texts

00:34:48 The implications of written transmission versus oral recitation, and what the Gandhari scrolls reveal about it

00:38:00 Do modern scholars actively practice text memorization?

00:45:59 The historical evidence for ancient Greek and Persian cross-cultural influences on early Buddhism

00:49:57 The polemical framing of Sariputta and the sectarian put-downs of the Shravakas in texts like the Vimalakirti Sutra

00:54:06 The most fascinating current realms of research in Buddhist academia

00:56:13 The key historical and doctrinal insights gained from the Gandhari scrolls

00:57:28 The utility and drawbacks of using AI for translating sacred Buddhist texts

Biography of Paul Harrison:

Paul Harrison is the George Edwin Burnell Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University. Educated in his native New Zealand and in Australia, he specializes in Buddhist literature and history, especially that of the Mahāyāna, and in the study of Buddhist manuscripts in Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan. He has edited and translated a number of Buddhist texts, including the Pratyutpannabuddhasaṃmukhāvasthitasamādhisūtra, the Vajracchedikā, and (with Luis Gómez) the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, and is also one of the editors of the series “Buddhist Manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection.”

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 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 talk, Maechee Paññasiri, visiting from Thailand, speaks about the urgency and profundity of the path of practice, and how the mundane moments of life, such as washing a robe, can catalyze the deepest insights. By purifying our sila (virtue) and relying on spiritual friends, we can see what stains remain in the heart and devote ourselves to their purification. When we understand the truth of mortality, only one task remains: that of Awakening.

Maechee Paññāsirī's Biography:

Sister Maechee Panyasiri is a Chinese-born, Thai forest nun in the tradition of Ven. Ajahn Chah.

Born in 1967 and grew up in Shanghai, China, Sister has worked many years as a writer/creative director, a teacher of yoga, pranayama and meditation, as well as travelling the world, with a deep spiritual pursuit which she was born with. Finally this lifelong inner quest tuned her into the path of Dhamma. In 2018 She became a student of Ven. Ajahn Jayasāro and started the training in various forest monasteries in Thailand as a eight precept Upāsikā.

In 2020 she became a Maechee with Ven. Ajahn Jayasāro as her preceptor and was instructed to go on almsround and not to receive or use money. Sister Maechee Paññāsirī currently remains in a nuns’ hermitage near the Khao Yai mountain in Thailand.

----

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, Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho speak with Ajahn Achalo, abbot and founder of Ānandagiri Monastery in Pechabun, Thailand (https://www.peacebeyondsuffering.org/)

00:00:00 Welcome and introduction of Ajahn Achalo

00:01:27 Connection with the local village and global uncertainty

00:07:53 Advice for navigating dark or distressing times

00:08:36 Internal practices for holding the heart in a good space

00:13:06 Correlation between renunciation and letting go of hindrances

00:16:43 Contemplating the law of karma during difficult periods

00:19:38 Skillful means for brightening an anxious or upset mind

00:23:52 Concept and relationship to shared group karma

00:28:43 Dealing with the general trajectory of a degenerating world

00:35:45 Daily devotional acts and determinations

00:40:40 Invocations of deities and devas in practice

00:48:55 Planning for rebirth and suitable environments

01:01:00 Personal experiences and the reality of subtle realms

Ajahn Achalo's Biography:

Ajahn Achalo was born in Brisbane Australia in 1972. He developed a keen interest in meditation at the age of twenty and a year later left for Thailand to study Buddhism more intently.  After a two year period practising in various centres and monasteries, in 1996 Ajahn Achalo ordained as a Theravada Bhikkhu under Ajahn Liem at Wat Nong Pah Pong, the monastery founded by venerable Ajahn Chah. Although most of his training has taken place in Thailand, Ajahn Achalo has also lived in several international Forest Monasteries in the Ajahn Chah lineage.  During his years of training, he has received personal guidance from many remarkable teachers, among them, Ajahn Sumedho, Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Jayasaro and Ajahn Kalyano. For most of his Bhikkhu life, he has considered Tan Ajahn Anan, abbot of Wat Marp Jan, to be his principal mentor. In addition, he has found the Dalai Lama's instructions and example to be of tremendous value. Ajahn Achalo is the founder and abbot of Anandagiri Forest Monastery in Pechabun, Thialand. Much of his time - several thousand hours - has been spent meditating at Bodhgaya (where the Buddha was Enlightened).

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 Niyyānika explores how we can discover true inner security and cultivate a 'smiling heart' of endless kindness, even when navigating an overwhelming and messy world. Grounding in the Maṅgala Sutta, they challenge us to move beyond the illusion of perfectly guaranteed external 'safe spaces' and instead build brave communities where we can hold our vulnerabilities, challenges, and identities with wisdom and curiosity.

Ayya Niyyanika's Biography:

Ayya Niyyānika grew up on Whidbey Island, Washington, and worked as an ontology consultant in Minnesota before entering monastic life. They began their formal training in 2014 at Dhammadharini Monastery in California, where they received full bhikkhunī higher ordination on December 3, 2017. After subsequent training at Aloka Vihara Forest Monastery and a period of independent travel through Asia and the West, they co-founded Passaddhi Vihara (www.passaddhivihara.org) in Olympia, Washington, in May 2024 alongside Ayyā Suvijjānā. Ayya Niyyānika focuses their practice on embodiment and open kindness, integrating early Buddhist teachings and monastic discipline into modern, lived experience.

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!