Celibacy, Easy or Frightening? 

This dhamma talk is very helpful to me, I am practicing celibacy since 5 years ago to reduce sensual desires. Thank you Ajahn 🙏☸️

For one who delights in sensuality, celibacy is frightening, a prison, a deprivation. For the one who has seen the dangers of sensuality and the cause by which it binds, then skilfully cutting through and attaining a pleasure not of the flesh or something higher they go freely in the world: unbound.

The story of the old nun somewhat inaccurate and is from the commentaries. Her verses appear in Therigatha 5.8 - Soṇātherīgāthā: Then the other Bhikkhunis Left me alone in the convent. They had given me instructions To boil a cauldron of water. Having fetched the water I poured it into the cauldron. I put the cauldron on the stove and sat, Then my mind became composed. I saw the aggregates as impermanent, I saw them as suffering and not self. Having expelled all cankers from my heart, Right there I attained Arahanthship.” Commentarial addition: "She practised meditation with urgency, often passing the entire night in sitting and walking meditation. So as not to disturb others, she started to meditate in the lower hall at night in the dark by guiding herself with the pillars. Before long her determination and effort resulted in Sona attaining Arahanthship." ____________________________________ If you wish to support the monks of the Hillside Hermitage Sangha and this channel you are very welcome to do so via: www.hillsidehermitage.org/support-us ____________________________________ AUDIO FILES AND TRANSCRIPTS OF OUR RU-vid DHAMMA TALKS t.me/HillsideHermitage ____________________________________ MORE TEACHINGS: www.hillsidehermitage.org/teachings

Verses of the Elder Bhikkhunīs Chapter of the Fives Verses of the Elder Soṇā “I gave birth to ten children from this same body.Then when I was old and feeble, I approached a bhikkhunī. She taught me the Dhamma:the aggregates, elements, and sense domains. After I listened to her Dhamma, I cut off my hair and went forth. From training with her, my divine eye was purified.I know my past lives, where I dwelt previously. Cultivating the signlessness with a well-collected and elevated mind. Released from the in between, cooled by non-assumption. The five aggregatess are fully understood, they remain with roots destroyed. What does it matter that I am decrepit? There is now no coming back to any state of being.” The Elder Soṇā

I'm married and celibate, completely, 8 years, no problem, I just accepted the way it is, nature. At first I had thoughts of I was dying or missing out on life etc etc so you need to go through a grieving as its the human experience, nature, now awareness of it comes then I see mind thinking I need to do something about it, the Vedana, then I smile and let go. Its bhava tanha, desire to become.

It’s easy. Especially when you’ve been practicing this for years. And it’s especially easy when you did not have much physical activity when you were not on this journey. I also feel if you are not celibate or just getting into the journey, do not look for someone who has been on this journey for years.

🙏

When it comes to abandoning comforts that one is attached to, is there a way to draw a line? Keeping in mind that what constitutes an attachment (apart from things outlined by precepts of course) can only be known through self-honesty and not through a blanket standard for all people, there are things that one knows would cause mental/existential rather than purely bodily discomfort to go without, i.e. one is attached to them, and yet they would provide an only relative rather than indispensable practical benefit, unlike eating. A random example would be having a dwelling that is well sheltered from the elements, while knowing that one would be emotionally bothered by the lack of such protection. Would one be in some way slowing down one's practice and making a compromise by not renouncing such dependencies, having discerned that they are genuinely there, rather than just blindly adopting an external standard of what "must be done by a serious practitioner"? Where would the line be, if there is any?

Where is Timmy boy? He doing good? 🙏🏻🙇

Dear sir, thank you for the instruction as we continue to follow them. I have a quick question, when I am in a secluded area, the thought that I am missing out on the opportunity of sexuality and opportunity of money and success, those are also the symptoms of not wanting pain?

Thank you, Venerable Sirs

Good video

Theruwansaranai Bhante, this question is not directly related to the content of the video, I hope you dont mind 😀 Bhante, in response to one of my previous questions on what is meant by sense restraint, you explained it as clarity in regards to your intentions, and not of acting out on lustful intentions to go after sense objects. However, in the suttas it seems that sense restraint is usually described as (using the eye as an example), " HAVING SEEN a form with the eye, a bhikkhu does not grasp its signs and features." This seems to imply non grasping AFTER having interacted with a sense object, rather than restraining and forseeing at the mental level of intentions, BEFORE going after a sense object? Thank you bhante !

Thank you so much for the wisdom. One thing I would like to recommend - the AI Generated Video thumbnails are quite creepy looking. if you are using DALL-E to generate them, perhaps another service may be better, like Midjourney or similar - they look a lot friendlier:) Many thanks

sinhala subtitles daganna vidiyak nadda

Dear Ajhan Can you please describe your vision on what Buddha's revealing of 'BAWA'? My understanding is that feeling of a being is BAWA. If one can live without feeling a being, that is BAWA NIRODHA Nirwana. Until that total freedom we still can guide our lives towards Nirwana. Please discuss, thank you.

Theruwansaranai Bhante! Bhante you mentioned "dont give rise to thoughts of ill will and harm". I've been wondering this for a while, especially with starting to try and sit down and endure what ever is present in my experience: Could there be two categories of thought; namely, thought that arises on its own and thoughts you purposely give rise to? There seem to be some thoughts that come at you even if you dont necessarily want to think them, and then there are thoughts I actively think. If so, Would there be a difference of responsibility in regards to these two kinds? If i remember correctly, in a certain video in which someone is troubled by thoughts, you advised them to endure it (since you only want to get away from the pain of a thought through trying to stop thinking), whereas in a comment where someone mentions continuosly being just drowned in and dragged around by their thoughts while trying to endure, you advise them that it is ok to walk back and forth to reduce it (if I remember correctly). I was wondering if that is bc of a difference of attitude in regards to intentional versus non intentional thought? Thank you bhante

Honestly, F celibacy. Women are miraculous.