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We don’t meditate to see heaven, but to end suffering.

Ajahn Chah

The forest is peaceful, why aren’t you? You hold on to things causing your confusion. Let nature teach you.
AJAHN CHAH

Cause Confuse Confusion Go Hold Letting Peaceful Song
All kinds of wonderful, rare animals will come to drink at the pool, and you will clearly see the nature of all things.
AJAHN CHAH

Animal Clearly Drink Kind Nature Pool Thing Wonderful
Remember you dont meditate to get anything, but to get rid of things.
AJAHN CHAH

Anything Let Go Meditate Remember Rid Thing
Look at your own mind. The one who carries things thinks he’s got things, but the one who looks on sees only the heaviness. Throw away things, lose them, and find lightness.
AJAHN CHAH

Carry Got Heaven Look Mind Own Thing Think Thinking
Try to be mindful, and let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become still in any surroundings, like a clear forest pool.
AJAHN CHAH

Animal Clear Course Forest Let Mind Mindful Natural Surround Thing Trying
We protect virtue so that virtue will protect us.
AJAHN CHAH

Protect Us Virtue
When coming out of sitting, don’t think that you’re coming out of meditation, but that you are only changing postures.
AJAHN CHAH

Change Coming Meditation Out Posture Sit
Do not try to become anything. Do not make yourself into anything. Do not be a meditator. Do not become enlightened.
AJAHN CHAH

Anything Become Buddhist Enlighten Trying
Wherever we start to think that things are certain, uncertainty is lurking right there. Heedlessness is just holding things as certain. It is grasping at certainty where there is no certainty and looking for truth in things that are not true. Be careful! They are likely to bite you sometime in the future!
AJAHN CHAH

Bite Careful Future Grasp Hold Lurk Sometimes Thing Think Truth Uncertainty
No. It’s simply a thorn. It doesn’t give suffering to anybody. If we step on it, we suffer immediately.
AJAHN CHAH

Anybody Come Immediate Simply Suffering Thron
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

Blind Bother Death Feast Fine Food Idea Ignore Party People Toilet
You say that you are too busy to meditate. Do you have time to breathe? Meditation is your breath. Why do you have time to breathe but not to meditate?
AJAHN CHAH

Breathe Busy Meditation Practice Time
If we only make merit but have not stopped doing bad things, then we will never have a day of completion. It is like an overturned bowl which is left outside in the rain.
AJAHN CHAH

Bad Bowl Completion Day Doing Make Merit Outside Overturn Rain Stop Thing
Don’t fall for it. Whenever the mind is happy or sad, don’t fall for it. Its all a deception.
AJAHN CHAH

Deception Fail Fall Happy Mind Sad
The meditator simply knows them, they don’t enter his mind. That is, he has no clinging. He is simply the experiencer.
AJAHN CHAH

Cling Enter Experience Meditator Mind Simply
We say that to ‘give up all evil and to develop the good’ is the heart of the Buddha’s teaching.
AJAHN CHAH

Develop Evil Fall Give Up Heart Rain Teach
Where does peace arise? Peace arises whenever we let something go.
AJAHN CHAH

Arise Doe Peace Something
Once you understand non-self, then the burden of life is gone. You’ll be at peace with the world. When we see beyond self, we no longer cling to happiness and we can truly be happy.
AJAHN CHAH

Burden Cling Go Gone Happiness Letting Life Struggle Understand
At some point your heart will tell itself what to do.
AJAHN CHAH

Heart Inspirational Itself Motivational Point Some Tell
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

Anything Arahant Bodhisattva Suffer
If you want a chicken to be a duck, and a duck to be a chicken, you will suffer.
AJAHN CHAH

Chicken Children Duck Suffer Want
These days people don’t search for the Truth. People study simply in order to find knowledge necessary to make a living.
AJAHN CHAH

Knowledge Living Make Necessary Order People Simply Smart Study Truth Wise
Just go into the room, sit in the centre of the room, open the doors and windows, and see who comes to visit.
AJAHN CHAH

Centre Come Door Into Job Room Visit Window
Even if the water is falling right on it, it only touches the outside and not the inside. In this way the bowl will never get full.
AJAHN CHAH

Bowl Falling Full Inside never Outside Right Touch Water Way
The one who recognizes the uncertainty of phenomena is the Dharma within you.
AJAHN CHAH

Dharma Phenomena Practice Recognize Within
All that I have said up to now has merely been words. When people come to see me, I have to say something. But it is best not to speak about these matters too much.
AJAHN CHAH

All Friend Good Matter Merely Practice Regret Something Speak Word
A woman wanted to know how to deal with anger. I asked when anger arose whose anger it was. She said it was hers.
AJAHN CHAH

Anger Ask Deal Fall Mean Mind Want Woman

We don’t meditate to see heaven, but to end suffering.

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We don’t meditate to see heaven, but to end suffering.

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