Clear Mountain Monastery Project

In this interview, Ajahn Nisabho speaks with Amanda Knox, who was falsely convicted of murder in 2009, about her journey to find meaning in prison and forgiveness afterwards. The conversation delves into Amanda's practice of meditation, loving-kindness (metta), and advice for those struggling to forgive.

Bio

Amanda Knox is an exoneree, journalist, public speaker, author of the New York Times best-selling memoir, Waiting to Be Heard, and host of the podcast Hard Knox. Her second book, FREE: My Search for Meaning came out in 2025. Between 2007 and 2015, she spent nearly four years in an Italian prison and eight years on trial for a murder she didn’t commit. She has since become an advocate for criminal justice reform and media ethics. She sits on the advisory council for the Frederick Douglass Project for Justice, serves as an Innocence Network Ambassador and is on The Innocence Center Board of Directors. And she is the recipient of the 2024 Innocence Network Impact Award and the 2025 Catalyst of Change Award from the Washington Innocence Project. To find out more, visit https://www.amandaknox.com/.

00:00 Introduction

01:48 Amanda Knox's background and bio

03:06 What led to the Italian prison

05:22 Wishing for a meditation practice during the darkest times

05:49 The moment of conviction — an existential crisis

08:27 Accepting "this is my life"

10:14 Surviving day by day without a practice

12:44 Life after prison: who am I now?

13:32 The Vipassana retreat disaster

15:56 What brought her back to practice

18:48 Don Salo: the Catholic priest who became her lifeline

22:31 Plagued by "why" questions — and metta practice

24:50 The idea of reaching out to her prosecutor

27:28 Questioning her own motives

29:33 Showing up to give, not to get

32:16 The Four Noble Truths and turning toward suffering

35:44 Reaching out to the prosecutor

38:01 Finding common ground with the man who imprisoned her

40:59 The meeting in Perugia — arriving without attachment

41:28 Delivering her message: "I see you"

43:37 His unexpected response: "I love you"

45:25 Advice for those who can't forgive

46:52 The distinction between forgiveness and understanding

50:11 Has the forgiveness settled in the heart?

51:16 The ongoing splinter: society, not just one man

52:25 Buddhism's joyfulness in the face of darkness

53:24 The Puget Sound Zen Center and building a practice

54:30 The sangha's card after her grandfather died

56:19 Meditating as a family with young children

58:37 Closing reflections

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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 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!