Monk Chat II: Empty Cloud Monastery Q&A (live)

Western nun (samaneri) Ayya Soma, Buddhist Insights, Empty Cloud Monastery; Wisdom Quarterly

• Geetha Gnana​: Ayya, are there bhikkhuni (Buddhist nun) monasteries [nunneries] in the US?
• Robin Hill​ (about the schedule)
• Mark Saron: So what do you do in your practice when you see suffering but there is nothing one can do or it's not appropriate?
• Alissa Pinck: ​How can someone find a spiritual teacher?
• Geetha Gnana​: Do you take turns cooking during the winter months?
• Eleonore Constant: ​I don't understand. What's wrong with music? I find music therapy very helpful. Music also helps me stop the stream of thoughts, stay present, and feel better. This seems pretty positive & beneficial, no?
• ShadowOfLabel: ​Hi
• ShadowOfLabel​: I do the breaths when gaming
• ShadowOfLabel​: Never say never!!!!
• Eleonore Constant​: When I focus on the breath, it calms my mind and body. But it’s hard to stay focused for very long...
• Geetha Gnana: ​Ayya, are venerables allowed to leave the monastic life to care for one sick parent and then return after?
• Mark Saron: ​@
• Eleonore Constant: Continued concentration on the breath leads to samadhi and possibly the 1st jhana [meditative absorption] but not necessarily enlightenment  [bodhi] in my understanding
• Eleonore Constant: ​Sorry yes I guess the question was too generic... What about if someone tells a lie to X, should we tell X that that someone lied to him/her?
• Geetha Gnana: ​If one has a very sick family member that one is looking after, can s/he practice within the lay life due to the circumstances?
• Eleonore Constant: ​It’s hard to know when to do something when we witness someone’s wrongdoings.
• Elaine Saunders​: Question from my daughter, please: Is it my grandfather's karma that has him imprisoned in a 5 x 7 room in a nursing home afflicted by Covid?
• Eleonore Constant: ​@
• Mary Byrnes: Thanks a lot!! 🙂
• Andre​: Hello venerable
• Eleonore Constant: Oops I meant @Mark Saron !!! not @Mark Saron !
• Robin Hill: ​What kinds of things are good to do for a person or animal who has died? Are there particular chants or other practices?
• Jens Hess: ​Can you relate your definition of kalyāṇa-mitta [a "noble friend"]? I ask because recently I heard a person state a person could only be a "spiritual friend" if he/she is a follower of Theravada Buddhist teaching.
• Jens Hess​: I felt this was a limiting definition, I always felt it is anyone, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian who acts in wholesome way which supports our own wholesome actions and practice.
• Andre: Today I listened to an audiobook, and they said sometimes when the monk in the forest would be overcome with fear in the forest and to overcome his fear he would open his mosquito net
• Secretspyrecords: Hi Venerable
• Andre: ​and use all the methods they could to overcome his fear until he overcame or conquered his fear. Have you practiced similarly or can you apply this type of tactic to your practice in the suburbs
• Geetha Gnana​: Yes Ayya Thank you for the list of monasteries. Yes in the Mahayana tradition there are so many female monasteries. One is also beside our home...
• Mark Saron: ​Others suffering and inappropriate like a parent in a store using harsh words or actions on a child
• Alissa Pinck: ​Thank you
• Geetha Gnana: ​That is wonderful that the lay followers get the opportunity to cook and bring food 🙏🙏🙏