There are two kinds of suffering. There is the suffering you run away from, which follows you everywhere. And there is the suffering you face directly, and so become free.
AJAHN CHAHWhen we conquer ourselves, then everything will be conquered: oneself, others, and all the sense objects as well, coming in by way of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body — it will all get conquered like this.
More Ajahn Chah Quotes
-
-
Anything which is troubling you, anything which is irritating you, THAT is your teacher.
AJAHN CHAH -
To 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.’
AJAHN CHAH -
You should think about your own death 3 times per day at the very least.
AJAHN CHAH -
If it shouldn’t happen, it wouldn’t happen.
AJAHN CHAH -
A madman and an arahant both smile, but the arahant knows why while the madman doesn’t.
AJAHN CHAH -
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?
AJAHN CHAH -
People go through life blindly, ignoring death like revellers at a party feasting on fine foods. They ignore that later they will have to go to the toilet, so they do not bother to find out where there is one.
AJAHN CHAH -
Happiness and suffering do not depend on being poor or rich, they depend on having the right or wrong understanding in our mind.
AJAHN CHAH -
Do not be a bodhisattva, do not be an arahant, do not be anything at all. If you are a bodhisattva, you will suffer, if you are an arahant, you will suffer, if you are anything at all, you will suffer.
AJAHN CHAH -
Where does peace arise? Peace arises whenever we let something go.
AJAHN CHAH -
Things are simply the way they are. They don’t give us suffering. Like a thorn: Does a sharp thorn give us suffering?
AJAHN CHAH -
Where does rain come from? It comes from all the dirty water that evaporates from the earth, like urine and the water you throw out after washing your feet.
AJAHN CHAH -
The Dhamma has to sink deeply into the mind so that whatever we do, the mind has always goodness within it. All the ways of making merit are aiming at this. Goodness lies in the right view that is established in the mind.
AJAHN CHAH -
Meditation is like a single log of wood. Insight and investigation are one end of the log; calm and concentration are the other end. If you lift up the whole log, both sides come up at once. Which is concentration and which is insight? Just this mind.
AJAHN CHAH -
We will come to understand that everything in the world is our teacher.
AJAHN CHAH






