Ajahn Chah QUOTES

21 " If we see everything as uncertain, then their I value fades away. "

22 " Just try to keep your mind in the present. Whatever arises in the mind, just watch it and let go of it. Don't even wish to be rid of thoughts. Then the mind will return to its natural state. No discriminating between good and bad, hot and cold, fast and slow. No me and no you, no self at all—just what there is. When you walk there is no need to do anything special. Simply walk and see what is there. No need to cling to isolation or seclusion. Wherever you are, know yourself by being natural and watching. If doubts arise, watch them come and go. It's very simple. Hold on to nothing. It's as though you are walking down a road. Periodically you will run into obstacles. When you meet defilements, just see them and overcome them by letting them go. Don't think about the obstacles you've already passed; don't worry about those you have not yet seen. Stick to the present. Don't be concerned about the length of the road or the destination. Everything is changing. Whatever you pass, don't cling to it. Eventually the mind will reach its natural balance where practice is automatic. All things will come and go of themselves. "

― Ajahn Chah , A Still Forest Pool: The Insight Meditation of Achaan Chah

23 " These days people don't search for the Truth. People study simply in order to find knowledge necessary to make a living, raise families and look after themselves, that's all. To them, being smart is more important than being wise! "

― Ajahn Chah

24 " We can see the mind as a lotus. Some lotuses are still stuck in the mud, some have climbed above the mud but are still underwater, some have reached the surface, while others are open in the sun, stain-free. Which lotus do you choose to be? If you find yourself below the surface, watch out for the bites of fishes and turtles. "

― Ajahn Chah , A Still Forest Pool: The Insight Meditation of Achaan Chah

25 " With mindfulness you can see the real owner of things. Do you think this is your world, your body? It is the world's world, the body's body. If you tell it, Don't get old, does the body listen? Does your stomach ask permission to get sick? We only rent this house; why not find out who really owns it? "

― Ajahn Chah , A Still Forest Pool: The Insight Meditation of Achaan Chah

26 " We can compare practice to a bottle of medicine a doctor leaves for his patient. On the bottle are written detailed instructions on how to take the medicine, but no matter how many hundred times the patient may read the directions, he is bound to die if that is all he does. He will gain no benefit from the medicine. And before he dies, he may complain bitterly that the doctor wasn’t any good, that the medicine didn’t cure him. He will think that the doctor was a fake or that the medicine was worthless, yet he had only spent his time examining the bottle and reading the instructions. He hadn’t followed the advice of the doctor and taken the medicine. However, if the patient had actually followed the doctor’s advice and taken the medicine regularly as prescribed, he would have recovered. Doctors prescribe medicine to eliminate diseases from the body. The Teachings of the Buddha are prescribed to cure diseases of the mind and to bring it back to its natural healthy state. So the Buddha can be considered to be a doctor who prescribes cures for the illnesses of the mind which are found in each one of us without exception. When you see these illnesses of the mind, does it not make sense to look to the Dhamma as support, as medicine to cure your illnesses? "

― Ajahn Chah

27 " I know this glass is already broken, so I enjoy it incredibly. "

― Ajahn Chah

28 " Even though some of you may experience some peace when you sit in meditation, don’t be in a hurry to congratulate yourselves. Likewise, if there is some confusion, don’t blame yourselves. If things seem to be good, don’t delight in them, and if they’re not good don’t be averse to them. Just look at it all, look at what you have. Just look, don’t bother judging. If it’s good, don’t hold
fast to it; if it’s bad, don’t cling to it. Good and bad can both bite, so don’t hold fast to them. "

― Ajahn Chah , Food for the Heart: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah

29 " 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. "

― Ajahn Chah

30 " Only when the mind sees for itself, can it uproot and
relinquish attachment. "

― Ajahn Chah , A Tree in a Forest. A Collection of Ajahn Chah's Similes

31 " Do not try to become anything. Do not make yourself into anything. Do not be a meditator. Do not become enlightened. When you sit, let it be. What you walk, let it be. Grasp at nothing. Resist nothing. Ajahn Chah "

― Ajahn Chah

32 " Of course, there are dozens of meditation techniques, but it all comes down to this - just let it all be. "

― Ajahn Chah

33 " Wherever the mind has a lot of attachment, we will experience intense suffering, intense grief, intense difficulty right there. The place we experience the most problems is the place we have the most attraction, longing and concern. Please try to resolve this.

Now, while you still have life and breath, keep on looking at it and reading it until you are able to ‘translate’ it and solve the problem. "

― Ajahn Chah

34 " Anyone can build a house of wood and bricks, but the Buddha taught us that sort of home is not our real home. It's a home in the world and it follows the ways of the world. Our real home is inner peace. "

― Ajahn Chah

35 " When we practice only when we're feeling good, how are we going to get anywhere like that? "

― Ajahn Chah

36 " Someone commented: "I can observe desire and aversion in my mind, but it's hard to observe delusion."
Ajahn Chah replied: " You're riding on a horse and asking where the horse is? "

― Ajahn Chah

37 " Love and hate are both suffering, because of desire. Wanting is suffering, wanting not to have is suffering. Even if you get what you want, it's still suffering because once you've got it, you then live in the fear of losing it. How are you going to live happily with fear? "

― Ajahn Chah

38 " There's only one book worth reading: the mind "

― Ajahn Chah

39 " It’s all Dhamma if we have mindfulness. When we see the animals that run away from danger, we see that they are just like us. They flee from suffering and run towards happiness. They also have fear. They fear for their lives just as we do. When we see according to truth, we see that all animals and human beings are no different. We are all mutual companions of birth, old age, sickness, and death. "

― Ajahn Chah , No Ajahn Chah: Reflections

40 " Only one book is worth reading: the heart. "

― Ajahn Chah , No Ajahn Chah: Reflections

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