Friends of Clear Mountain Monastery

06/10/2026

In this three-way talk, Ajahn Kovilo, Ajahn Nisabho, and Maechee Paññasiri speak about the Three Characteristics/Perceptions (tilakkhaṇa):
Ajahn Kovilo on Dukkhatā - Pain/Suffering/Unsatisfactoriness
Maechee Paññāsiri on Anattatā - Not-Self
Ajahn Nisabho on Aniccatā - Impermanence

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

In this three-way talk, Ajahn Kovilo, Ajahn Nisabho, and Maechee Pa...

06/09/2026

Conceit and Humility in Buddhism

Ajahn Nisabho talks about the contrast between conceit and humility.

This is an excerpt from Ajahn Nisabho's Dhamma talk "The Wingspan of Humility: Anattā Embodied & the Joy of Being Small".
You can listen to or watch the full talk on Spotify or YouTube.

For further Dhamma teachings, please visit clearmountainmonastery.org

06/08/2026

It has been a joy to have Maechee Pannasiri and Anagarika Khema with the Clear Mountain community! 🙏🌻

06/05/2026

The joy from peak experiences...already here? - Loch Kelly

What if peak experiences simply allow us to connect with unconditional peace that is already here... if we dare to look?

The full conversation is on our Youtube or Spotify.

06/04/2026

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.

In this talk, Maechee Paññasiri, visiting from Thailand, speaks abo...

06/04/2026

In this session, Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho interview Paul Harrison, the George Edwin Burnell Professor of Religious Studies at Stanford University.

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!

06/02/2026

Greetings, Clear Mountaineers! With spring, we look towards the next phase of creating the monastery, complete with numerous upcoming events! Apart from the previously-announced teachings (see newsletter below), we also have motioned towards the monastery’s next phase in the new Land Development Page (https://www.friendsofclearmountain.org/land-development/), and begun connecting community members interested in moving near the monastery through a “Want to Move Near the Monastery? (Networking & Support)" WhatsApp Group (https://chat.whatsapp.com/K875ku5q2Ml00UJ5AxhUyM) and quarterly Zoom session (first is 6-7 pm PT Mon. July 6; https://www.clearmountain.org/events/want-to-move-near-the-monastery-networking-support-quarterly-zoom-session/).

See these updates, and all upcoming events (including our Sat. June 20th Almsgiving Ceremony with 16 monastics scheduled to join!), in the new newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/clearmountainmonastery/july2025-10988365

06/02/2026

Venerable Khemaka and the Scent of Self

Ajahn Nisabho talks about how we construct a sense of self, from the following three proliferations: "this is mine", "I am this", "this is myself", and tells the story of Venerable Khemaka who still felt he had a scent of self.

This is an excerpt from Ajahn Nisabho's Dhamma talk "The Wingspan of Humility: Anattā Embodied & the Joy of Being Small".
You can listen to or watch the full talk on Spotify or YouTube.

For further Dhamma teachings, please visit clearmountainmonastery.org

06/01/2026

Ajahn Achalo on what to do when things don't go our way, on renunciation, and on how living with less trains the mind to put down what it clings to.

05/31/2026

MN 17 – Jungle Thickets

The Buddha offers a practical question:

"Is this place helping me grow in the Dhamma?"

In MN 17, he teaches that we shouldn't choose where we practice based on comfort, convenience, status, or material support. Instead, we should honestly examine:

Does mindfulness grow here?
Does concentration deepen here?
Does wisdom develop here?

If the answer is no, the Buddha says it may be time to move on.

And if the answer is yes, we should value that environment—even when it's challenging or uncomfortable.

The real question isn't where the best place to practice is.

The real question is:

"What conditions help me wake up?"