This photo-journal records a pilgrimage made in Sri Lanka in November of 2019. I had been invited numerous times to visit this ancient seedbed of Theravāda Buddhism but, prior to this present occasion, had always declined the offers. Thee reason for this was not a disinterest in the country, with its ancient Buddhist traditions and numerous holy places, rather it was that, if I was going to go, I wanted to go quietly as a pilgrim and not on a teaching tour or part of a bustling group of devotees. Sometimes I wondered if I was being too fussy or narrow on this score but, in retrospect, I am very glad to have waited for forty years to make the journey.

To honour the auspicious occasion of the 80th birthday of Luang Por Liem Ṭhitadhammo (Phra Thepvajiranyan), a faithful group of disciples has arranged to print his biography. Luang Por Liem is a senior Buddhist monk presently ordained for 60 years in the Thai Forest Tradition of the late Ven. Ajahn Chah (or “Luang Pu Chah”) of Wat Nong Pah Pong in Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand. This book covers the prominent chapters of Luang Por Liem’s life, beginning from his roots as a simple farmer in Northeast Thailand, to his quest for deeper knowledge and understanding of the Buddha’s teachings as a monk, his life in accordance with the monastic discipline, his meditation practice, the search for the guidance of a teacher, and finally his joining Wat Nong Pah Pong as a disciple of Luang Pu Chah. Presently Luang Por Liem serves as the abbot of Wat Nong Pah Pong himself, and teaches Dhamma all over the world. He has become a living example for countless people.

The content of this book is based on Luang Por Liem’s own accounts and the memories of his disciples — monks and laypeople — who have had the opportunity to meet him in all kinds of situations and circumstances in various places and countries.

Since 2018, a group of monks and laypeople have taken on the task of collecting the material, compiling and editing it, and from time to time going to see Luang Por directly for confirmation of some of the unclear details. If there are any inaccuracies remaining, we would like to apologise, and hope that they won’t prevent the reader from getting a good picture of Luang Por’s ways of training as a Buddhist monk, his meditation practice, and his approach in teaching. For the main passages, we have been able to provide an English version of the respective texts. Some of it is more of a summary than a direct translation, and not all chapters have been included in the English material.

May this compilation of episodes from the life of a great Buddhist monk and teacher be of great benefit to all. May we all take his quiet example to heart and practice diligently within the situations of our own lives.

Lasst uns die Idee der Konzentration, oder samādhi, betrachten. Wenn du diese vier kleinen Silben hörst, Kon-zen-tra-tion, was bedeuten sie für dich? Möglicherweise brauchst du ein paar Augenblicke, um das in Worte zu fassen, aber du spürst vielleicht sofort, wie eine bestimmte Art von Energien die Oberhand zu gewinnen beginnt. Du hast wahrscheinlich das Gefühl, dass du etwas tust und dich anstrengst, um es richtig zu machen. Das ist der übliche Ansatz. Wir reißen uns zusammen, spannen uns an und machen uns an die Arbeit. Das ist ein hartes Training, sozusagen ein „Konzentrationscamp“. Bloß nicht schlappmachen! Mit dieser Einstellung kurbeln wir unsere Kontrollmechanismen an, die Pflichtmechanismen, die Arbeitsmechanismen und die „Mach-es-richtig“- Mechanismen. Und schon ist der Stress da. Eine Spannungsfalte beginnt sich über deine Stirn zu legen.

Nun mögen solche Haltungen und Taktiken eine Zeit lang funktionieren – doch schon nach wenigen Tagen fangen wir an, müde zu werden. Irgendetwas in uns spannt sich an, während gleichzeitig etwas anderes in uns wahrscheinlich sagt: „Ach, was soll‘s!“ Wir wollen ein bisschen Freude erleben, also halten wir nach legitimen Möglichkeiten Ausschau, um „die Praxis“ zu umgehen. Unser Herz braucht Nahrung, und wenn wir unser Glück und unsere Leichtigkeit nicht in der Dhamma-Praxis erfahren, dann werden wir sie uns woanders holen. Wir lesen etwas, essen etwas oder machen einen Spaziergang, um uns zu entspannen. Was aber, wenn samādhi eine Wohltat wäre, gar mit dem angenehmen Gefühl einherginge, sich „zu Hause“ zu fühlen? Was, wenn es bei samādhi darum ginge, sich in einem geeinten Zustand einzurichten? Schließlich wird es in den Schriften als „Sammlung“ definiert.* Und so wie der Buddha es darstellte, ist samādhi Herzensnahrung, und seine unmittelbare Ursache ist Wohlbefinden – das Wohlbefinden, das aus dem Loslassen von Stress entsteht.

…Comencé a leerlo, y muy pronto me di cuenta: «Bueno, bueno, bueno…es una novela budista. Y escrita por un oscuro académico danés». Era “Kāmanīta, el Peregrino”, al que ahora —unos diez años después— siento como un viejo, viejo amigo.

​Mientras comencé a leer, pasajes familiares aparecían de pronto en las páginas: caracteres y declaraciones bien conocidas; incidentes famosos y favoritos de las escrituras budistas que habían sido entrelazados juntos y arreglados de otra manera, hilados en una tela de hermosos tonos y textura. Me zambullí y me disolví dentro de la historia, retomándola durante cada momento libre de los días y las noches que siguieron, y convenciéndome mientras tanto que la meditación de absorción en un objeto puede ser muy provechosa, cuando uno la hace con plena atención…

​Cuando llegué a la última página del libro y finalmente lo dejé, se produjo un resplandor profundo en mi corazón y la convicción de que este no era solo un gran cuento, sino que tenía también lo más esencial de las enseñanzas budistas entretejidas a su través. Pensé: «No debería ser solo una mera curiosidad del inglés de la época de Byron o de la historia budista; debería estar allí afuera para que el mundo lo vea, al menos para aquellos interesados».

Ajahn Amaro, extracto del prefacio de la edición de 1999.

Over the last few years I have led residential retreats specifically on the theme of dependent origination on at least five occasions – at Amaravati in the U.K., in Mae Rim, Thailand, and with Le Refuge, at Monastère de Ségriès, in the south of France. Various aspects of this rich, essential theme of Buddhist teaching have been focused upon in these different situations, according to the interests and needs of the various communities. The booklet entitled ‘Just One More…’ – Appreciative Joy: Jealousy, Selfish Desire and the Buddha’s Teaching on the Cycles of Addiction was based on the material from one of these events, a ten-day retreat held at Amaravati in July 2013. Most of the material gathered in this present book was presented at a retreat in Provence, in April 2018; the remainder is from the Mae Rim retreats of 2016-18.

The subject of dependent origination is intrinsically rich and varied, subtle and multi-dimensional, as the Buddha expressed in this notable exchange with his disciple and attendant Ven. Ānanda:

Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was living among the Kurus, near a town of theirs named Kammāsadhamma. There Ven. Ānanda approached the Blessed One and, on arrival, having bowed down to the Blessed One, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One: ‘It’s wonderful, venerable sir, it’s marvellous, how profound this dependent origination is, and how profound its appearance, and yet to me it appears as clear as clear can be.’ ‘Do not say that, Ānanda! Do not say that! This dependent origination is profound and it appears profound. It is through not understanding and not penetrating this Dhamma that this generation has become like a tangled ball of string, matted like a bird’s nest, tangled like coarse grass and is unable to pass beyond the cycles of rebirth, beyond the planes of deprivation, woe and bad destinations.’ (D 15.1)

There have already been many erudite and wise explorations of the subject published in English, such as Dependent Origination – The Buddha’s Law of Conditionality by Ven. P.A. Payutto; the collection of five chapters on the theme in Ajahn Sumedho’s book The Way It Is; Ajahn Buddhadāsa’s book Under the Bodhi Tree: Buddha’s Original Vision of Dependent Co-arising, as well as many others. The intention of this present volume, whilst acknowledging the already great storehouse of perspectives available, is to focus upon practical means of understanding and applying the principles of dependent origination in order to support the freeing of the heart from addictive and destructive cycles of attitude and behaviour. In particular the emphasis will be on the exit points from this ‘Wheel of Becoming’ (bhavacakka) this cyclical process where the mind feels itself to be imprisoned in a habitual round of promise, gratification and disappointment.