You should think about your own death 3 times per day at the very least.
AJAHN CHAHDo not try to become anything. Do not make yourself into anything. Do not be a meditator. Do not become enlightened.
More Ajahn Chah Quotes
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Isn’t it wonderful how the sky can take that dirty water and change it into pure, clean water? Your mind can do the same with your defilements if you let it.
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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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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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If you reflect in this way, you will have peace. Wherever you are, you will have this attitude of practice with you constantly.
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If you let go completely you will have complete peace.
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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.
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I know this glass is already broken, so I enjoy it – incredibly.
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But when I know that the glass is already broken, every minute with it is precious.
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We say that to ‘give up all evil and to develop the good’ is the heart of the Buddha’s teaching.
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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.
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Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache: You won’t be able to find it. But when your heart is ready, peace will come looking for you.
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To observe and watch one’s own mind is something really interesting. The untrained mind will run and follow its old habit patterns. Because it has not been trained and taught, it will get lost in all kinds of stories and issues.
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Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering.
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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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Just know what is happening in your mind – not happy or sad about it, not attached. If you suffer see it, know it, and be empty. It’s like a letter – you have to open it before you can know what’s in it.
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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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If it isn’t good, let it die. If it doesn’t die, make it good.
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Then we don’t have to celebrate it or let anybody know about it, simply let the mind have firm confidence in the goodness and keep going like this.
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Your only job is to stay in your seat. You will see it all arise and pass, and out of this, wisdom and understanding will come.
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You are your own teacher. Looking for teachers can’t solve your own doubts.
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You will have a steady awareness within yourself.
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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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Trying to run away from suffering is actually to run toward it.
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The Dhamma is revealing itself in every moment, but only when the mind is quiet can we understand what it is saying, for the Dhamma teaches without words.
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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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If it shouldn’t happen, it wouldn’t happen.
AJAHN CHAH