The sound is just sound, why should you go and grab it? You see that actually it was you who went out and disturbed the sound.
AJAHN CHAHTo define Buddhism without a lot of words and phrases, we can simply say, ‘Don’t cling or hold on to anything. Harmonize with actuality, with things as they are.’
More Ajahn Chah Quotes
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In practice, some come to see easily, some with difficulty. But whatever the case, never mind.
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Why do we suffer? Because we stepped on it. So the suffering comes from us.
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The mind of one who practises doesn’t run away anywhere, it stays right there. Good, evil, happiness and unhappiness, right and wrong arise, and he knows them all.
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It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher. Where you experience suffering, you can also find freedom from suffering.
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Read yourself, not books. Truth isn’t outside, that’s only memory, not wisdom. Memory without wisdom is like an empty thermos bottle – if you don’t fill it, it’s useless.
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You are your own teacher. Looking for teachers can’t solve your own doubts.
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Practicing meditation is just like breathing. While working we breathe, while sleeping we breathe, while sitting down we breathe…
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But when I know that the glass is already broken, every minute with it is precious.
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You should know both the universal and the personal, the realm of forms and the freedom to not cling to them.
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The Dhamma has to be found by looking into your own heart and seeing that which is true and that which is not, that which is balanced and that which is not balanced.
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Only one book is worth reading: the heart.
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Of course there are dozens of meditation techniques, but it all comes down to this – just let it all be. Step over here where it is cool, out of the battle. Why not give it a try?
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All religions are like different cars all moving in the same direction. People who don’t see it have no light in their hearts.
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All kinds of wonderful, rare animals will come to drink at the pool, and you will clearly see the nature of all things.
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Well, if it really was her anger, then she should be able to tell it to go away, shouldnt she? But it really isn’t hers to command.
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The forms of the world have their place, but in another way, there is nothing there. To be free, we need to respect both of these truths.
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I am like a tree in a forest. Birds come to the tree, they sit on its branches and eat its fruits.
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We see that the sound is simply sound. If we understand like this, then there’s nothing more to it. We leave it be.
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You should think about your own death 3 times per day at the very least.
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Wisdom is in yourself, just like a sweet ripe mango is already in a young green one.
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Do everything with a mind that lets go. Do not expect praise or reward.
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Mental activity is like a deadly poisonous cobra. If we don’t interfere with a cobra, how poisonous it may be, it simply goes its own away.
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If it shouldn’t happen, it wouldn’t happen.
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Just go into the room, sit in the centre of the room, open the doors and windows, and see who comes to visit.
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Where does peace arise? Peace arises whenever we let something go.
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If we practise like this and develop mindfulness continuously, wisdom arises quickly and this is a fast way of practice.
AJAHN CHAH