[...] Beth Steff has been practising at the monasteries associated with the traditions of Ajahn Chah in the West now for many years. She spent six years with us at Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in California, USA. After returning to her home country of New Zealand, Beth was feeling inspired by the examples of living a life of mindfulness that she experienced in the monasteries and wanted to share that with others.

She then started compiling talks by some of the different teachers in the western branches of the Ajahn Chah monasteries. The result is this book, which hopes to convey the techniques and benefits of different perspectives of applying Buddhist practice in our day-to-day life. Hopefully, it will expand the reader’s focus to further understand and integrate the way of practice that the Buddha laid down and give people the opportunity to appreciate how this path of integrity, clarity and discernment works to free the human heart from its entanglements.

On the occasion of my 60th birthday, I received some requests from the monastic Sangha and the lay supporters of Buddha Bodhivana Monastery who wished to know more about my life and practice as a monk. In response, it seems like a good idea to commit some of my various recollections to paper before they become lost through the passage of time. This book includes some of my personal recollections and insights from my life in the robes, rather than providing lengthy explanations of the Buddha’s teachings. The language used is simple and without too much reference to many of the Pali technical terms that we use daily as we talk about the Buddha’s teachings.