American Monk

Monks walking up the monastery road near the library 2014.

Copyright notice.. picture by Kim Traynor cc-by-sa Note: This post is not for everyone.

Robin Hutton cc-nc-sa https://www.flickr.com/photos/robinhutton/35838229270 What to do when someone “gives” anger?

Accused of Being Psychic A brief video describing this story has been added to this post below.

Very few people from the West know about what the monks use for their bath towels and their bathing soap.

Pa-Auk Bowl Blackening Foundry (not a political picture) We have seen many Facebook selfies of politically active monks with their bowls turned upside down.

Title Page In America, the Rote Method of learning is belittled as “learning like a parrot” and rarely or never taught in the Western school systems.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amerikanische_Gro%C3%9Fschabe_1.webp Today I saved an upside down cockroach in my bathroom.

I took a small poll among seasoned Buddhists to see who could list all eight factors of The Noble Eightfold Path in English from memory and not many did so well.

My near-empty tube of Meswak next to the new one At Pa-Auk, we get different items throughout the year.

Irrawaddi River, Bagan, 2015 There seems to be quite a bit of confusion about what the Abhidhamma is all about.

Various items for Kaṭhina It is quite common in Myanmar to offer robes at the end of the Rainy Season (vassa) in a ceremony called Kaṭhina.

Artistic digital recreation of Migalaṇḍika (an ascetic who looked like a monk) The Monastery Murder Massacre that happened in Vesālī during the time of The Buddha is not well known among lay people.

Burmese Pāḷi I have made a list of the most basic Pāḷi terms which will help you in your Theravāda Buddhist Readings and listening to Dhamma Talks.

Only In The West, Only In Asia Different Cultures, Different Views Many Westerners don’t understand or appreciate the old Buddhist texts or teachings.

Injection on Western resident monk Pa-Auk finally vaccinated 2000 of its residents across its branch monasteries with a privately sponsored SinoPharm vaccine.

cc WTC 9/11, 2001 wikimedia Attribution: Robert J.

cc0 picture https://pxhere.com/en/photo/489726 There is not much written in English explaining why bhikkhuni ordinations are rejected by the Theravāda Community of Monks.

Einstein formula on blackboard see this [link for attributio](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Einstein_formula_on_blackboard_20190401.webp" >}}n The Mass–energy equivalence is one of the most famous physics equations known to the general populatio…

Myanmar Pali Script (credit at bottom link.. cc-sa-attrib) There are many different Pāḷi chants to learn, yet I wanted to list the absolute basic chants that one should learn.

NOTE: Tipitaka Pāḷi Reader is the new Pāḷi Reading app.

15 Main Image Close Up, at the Mahabodhi Temple, cc-atrib-sa https://www.photodharma.net/India/Bodhgaya-Mahabodhi/Bodhgaya-Mahabodhi.htm Sometimes it is difficult to find free Buddha pictures.

Recently, I got a nice message from a monk friend telling me he was taking vassa (3 month Rainy Season Retreat) on July 23rd (the Full Moon Day) and wishing me a happy vassa before he goes offline for three months.

Did the Buddha do intermittent fasting?

Recently, I had a serious medical problem that had the potential to be extremely serious.

cc0 picture Recently, there have been some instances in the news of monks who have been accused of rape or consensual sex.

If you go to a Theravada Buddhist forest monastery in Asia, you are likely to find a full skeleton or parts of a skeleton somewhere where it can be viewed easily.

Recently, I have been getting a few messages wishing me safety and wellbeing with the current news floating around the world about events in Myanmar.

India 2011 Can Buddhist Monks Pray For The Old And Sick?

I’ve been looking forward to the Myanmar Internet being cut off, but it does not seem to be happening.

One of my earliest photos with messy robes My original ordination certificate Exactly twenty years ago today (February 7, 2001), I followed through with my decision to ordain with lifelong intentions.

Pa-Auk Main Gate (cc-by-sa) Pa-Auk Forest Monastery and Pa-Auk Sayadaw share the same names.

This past year has been very fruitful for AmericanMonk.org.

That is me going for alms on Aalona Street Kilauea.

What qualities make up the real Buddha Statues?

In 1993, I visited China with five lucky School of Technology students at my University.

In 2014, I came in contact with yogi Brahm at the Mawlamyine Branch of The Pa-Auk Forest Monastery during a 10-day fast with Venerable Mokkhita.

Of course I’m happy!

Does Ajahn Brahm Jhāna Have a Nimitta?

These days, the lockdowns are in full swing.

Today I turned fifty years of age.

Chinese congee Photo By Daiju Azuma - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?

A venerable tending the fire for cooking dye Here are pictures about the natural dyeing process.

I remember when I was living in Kaua’i in a tent propped up in the corner of my friend Uncle Gene Taylor’s property.

It occured to me that people don’t know one type of Buddhist monk from the other and a post was needed to explain this.

A friend of mine once told me his story about how he had a knife in his hand and was raging with anger.

Today, as I was washing my bowl, I saw a local Myanmar monk with a swastika tattoo on his arm.

While I have said quite a lot to inspire people about life as a monk around the world.

A kuṭi is a small hut or lodging that a monk lives in and it is one of the basic four requisites: Robes, Food, Lodging, & Medicine.

This video is an instruction on how to practice loving-kindness meditation.