Dhamma Blog - Thai Forest tradition, Tudong, Vipassana , Kammatthana, Four Sathipatana practise

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  • “Experience”
    Further to our discussions of modernism and so on, here’s a classic example of post-modern academic thought on Buddhism, Robert H. Sharf’s “Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience.” While I think his major thesis is overblown, there’s no doubt he makes many interesting and pertinent observations about how modern Theravada meditation has […]
  • Fundamentalism
    We’ve had a few comments on fundamentalism, so I thought it would be useful to start a thread on it, kicking off with a few of my thoughts. I think fundamentalism is best understood as a dysfunctional post-modernism – which probably requires a bit of explanation. Fundamentalism is not a genuine following of the earliest forms [...] […]
  • My Experiences with Ignorance and Poverty and How our Effort Can Make a Change
    Here’s a very moving piece by a Buddhist nun on her experiences with violence against women. I hope we can all try to be more aware of these terrible problems and do what we can to overcome them. When I was a child, sometimes our neighbor came to take shelter in our house. She often came [...] […]
  • The Burden of Denial
    Here’s an insightful piece on some of the broader issues that have been brought up by the bhikkhuni ordination. It’s by Thanissara, who was one of the original siladhara and now is a Dhamma teacher. In spite of my great debt of gratitude and respect for many monastic elders within the Western forest community I cannot agree [...] […]
  • Darryl’s funeral
    For all Darryl’s friends out there, his funeral is set at: Monday the 1st of February at 2pm, Prince Henry Chapel, 50 Pine Ave, Little Bay. To get to the chapel in Little Bay, head south on Anzac Parade, past the Maroubra turnoff. Turn left into Pine Avenue (at the 2nd newly constructed roundabout — part [...] […]

  • Thought for Mon, 08 Feb 2010
    Realization is a matter of becoming conscious of that which is already realized. - Ask the Awakened by Wei Wu Wei... […]
  • Thought for Sun, 07 Feb 2010
    A man should first direct himself in the way he should go. Only then should he instruct others. - Buddha ... […]
  • Thought for Sat, 06 Feb 2010
    Humility, metaphysically, implies the absence of any entity to be either 'proud' or 'humble'. "The Tenth Man" by Wei Wu Wei... […]
  • Thought for Fri, 05 Feb 2010
    All such notions as causation, succession, atoms, primary elements...are all figments of the imagination and manifestations of the mind. -Buddha... […]
  • Thought for Thu, 04 Feb 2010
    Until a radical change takes place and we wipe out all nationalities, all ideologies, all religious divisions, and establish a global relationship - psychologically first, inwardly before organizing the outer - we shall go on with wars. - J. Krishnamurti... […]

Ajarn Chah Dhamma Quotes

Dhamma in a Nutshell – The Great sayings of Ajarn Chah Supatto (Wat Nong Pha Pong, Ubon Ratchathani).

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Simple and to the point are the famous sayings of Ajarn ChahAjarn Chah is perhaps the Greatest Master Monk of the 20th Century that Thailand has seen (as far as true Dhamma practise in the Path of the Arahants goes). In spite of the fact that he could not speak English, he managed to capture the hearts of a massive number of Western followers who came to his temple in The Empoverished North East province of Ubon in Thailand, many ordaining into the Sangha as Samaneras and Bhikkhus. This led to many branches of Wat Nong Pha Pong being established in the Western World, and his legacy has stretched accross all the Major Continents of the World.

He was able to communicate his Dhamma through using short and simple “Zen-Koan-like” questions and statements which led one to see directly for oneself what one had to do in order to practise the Dhamma correctly. This made what is perhaps the hardest aspect of the Dhamma student’s practise much easier; The method of application necessary to enable a manifest practise in one’s daily life – a dhamma that is practised constantly in each and every waking moment. How to awaken the Dhamma in one’s heart? His answers were always more inclined to let you know what not to do rather than what to do.. the secret of “letting go” –  when asked about aquiring peace through meditation, he would answer “meditation is not about getting something – it is more about letting go, not clinging to anything.. meditation is more about getting rid of things than aquiring things (which burden us).” If you need a simple answer to a difficult question, then Ask Ajarn Chah……

Ajahn Chah

The many wise sayings will be published sporadically as blog posts with my added comments under the “Ajahn Chah Speaks” category, as well as under the subcategory they belong to (e.g. “Karma”, “meditation” “Suffering” etc)

But here are a few tasters for you to see how the Master Ajarn Chah managed to take some of the Dhamma’s most difficult concepts and make them simple to grasp;

“Strengthening the Mind is not done by making it move around as is done to strengthen the body, but by bringing the mind to a halt, bringing it to rest”

“The Dhamma is not far away. It’s right here with us. The Dhamma isn’t about Angels in the sky or anything like that. It’s simply about us; about what we are doing right now. Observe yourself. Sometimes there is Happiness, sometimes Suffering, sometimes Comfort, sometimes Pain….. This is Dhamma. Do You see it? To Know the Dhamma, you have to learn to Watch, Observe and Read your Experiences” (as they are happening).

“A good practise is to ask yourself very sincerely ‘why was I born?’ Ask yourself this question in the morning, in the afternoon and at night.. every day.”

“Why are we born? We are born so that we will not have to be born again.”

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