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.
AJAHN CHAHWhen we gain some understanding we need to chew on it again so that we see it for ourselves with certainty: paccattam.
More Ajahn Chah Quotes
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Steady practice is keeping mindful in every posture, whether sitting, walking, standing or lying down.
AJAHN CHAH -
If you are still following your likes and dislikes, you have not even begun to practise Dhamma.
AJAHN CHAH -
Raise families and look after themselves, that’s all. To them, being smart is more important than being wise!
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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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To the birds, the fruit may be sweet or sour or whatever. The birds say sweet or they say sour, but from the tree’s point of view, this is just the chattering of birds.
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The meditator simply knows them, they don’t enter his mind. That is, he has no clinging. He is simply the experiencer.
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The master held up a glass and said: Someone gave me this glass; It holds my water admirably and it glistens in the sunlight.
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If it shouldn’t happen, it wouldn’t happen.
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If you have time to be mindful, you have time to meditate.
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Know and watch your heart. It’s pure but emotions come to colour it. So let your mind be like a tightly woven net to catch emotions and feelings that come, and investigate them before you react.
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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!
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Time is our present breath.
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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.
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Do not be in a hurry or try to push your practice. If you become peaceful, then accept it,; if you don’t become peaceful, then accept that also.
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Breathing is something vital to peoples lives. If you see that Dhamma practice is vital to your life, then you will feel that breathing and practising the Dhamma are equally important.
AJAHN CHAH