[...] 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.

La actitud completa de Luang Por hacia la vida era tal que me motivaba para querer entrenarme y vivir como un bhikkhu. Para mí, él era el ejemplo viviente del resultado de la meditación budista en la tradición tailandesa del bosque. Luang Por me inspiraba. Al vivir cerca de él y llegar a confiar en él —escuchándolo, mientras comenzaba a comprender el lenguaje— descubrí el talento que tenía para dar las charlas sobre el Dhamma y sus reflexiones. Yo apreciaba la forma en que él siempre tenía tiempo para los monjes y las monjas, y la comunidad laica.

Hoy en día, hay interés en todo el mundo por las enseñanzas de Luang Por Chah. Esto no ocurría cuando lo encontré por primera vez, hace más de cincuenta años. En aquellos tiempos, era apenas conocido fuera de la provincia de Ubon. Hoy, su fama se extendió mundialmente. Aunque hace treinta y un año que falleció, sus enseñanzas son tan efectivas que continúan resonando. Luang Por siempre enfatizaba la importancia de la práctica. Señalaba la forma en que cada uno de nosotros puede aplicar las enseñanzas del Buda en nuestras vidas y hacerlas funcionar.

Quiero expresar mi gratitud a Ajahn Jayasaro por escribir esta biografía de Luang Por Chah, y hacer disponible esta publicación. Yo sé que será apreciada por muchísima gente. Me da alegría pensar que toda la gente en todo el mundo, al leer este libro, comenzará a apreciar las enseñanzas de Luang Por Chah.

(Del Prólogo de Ajahn Sumedho)

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.

ES UN HECHO NATURAL que el futuro es intrínsecamente incierto. No sabemos qué va a pasar en nuestra práctica. Puede que surjan grandes desafíos y dificultades extremas – quizá algún tipo de enfermedad o lesión, un obstáculo o reto al que nunca habías tenido que enfrentarte. Todo esto puede hacer emerger la sensación de que la situación te supera. O bien puede ocurrir que tu práctica se despliegue suavemente. Puede que te lo pases genial teniendo profundas y gozosas comprensiones. Pero no importa lo que pase, las proyecciones y anticipaciones que la mente produce no es lo importante – lo importante es saber justo ahora, aquí, en este momento, que “Esto es una anticipación. Esto es una expectativa. Esto es la mente que trata de rellenar el hueco que deja lo desconocido al aplicarle una imagen que le es familiar”. La mente se llena de esperanza, miedo, creencia o proyección – y esa proyección está sucediendo aquí y ahora. Es algo que ahora podemos saber directa, plena y completamente sin ningún tipo de encubrimiento. Podemos prestar atención al hecho de que la mente está creando expectativas, anhelos o miedos. Al llevar la atención a lo que se está presentando, a lo que realmente está surgiendo ahora, justo en ese instante estamos consiguiendo el principal propósito (y también el principal método) de la meditación.

This little collection was never intended as a ‘collection of teachings.’ It came about in response to a request and a suggestion. The request was from Sarah Wallis who wanted to sponsor a publication in celebration of her sixtieth birthday, and to mark thirty years of the Banbury Buddhist Group. The suggestion, also from Sarah, was to gather together the reflections that had been individually prepared for the twice-yearly editions of our Milntuim Hermitage Newsletter.

It was a surprise to find that there are twenty of these – and even more of a surprise to find that the reflections are all quite different. Every time I wrote a reflection, my intention was to offer encouragement for practice with the prevailing conditions; it seemed to me that it was always the same Dhamma1 practice that I pointed to. However, what I had failed to appreciate was that the actual conditions were different each time!

So, after an initial hesitation, I asked some of my monastic and lay friends to read what was there. Ajahn Sucitto, Ajahn Munindo and Ajahn Sundarā all offered encouraging and helpful feedback, as did several kind lay friends. Members of the Lotus Volunteer Group gathered the material in one place, and Mariah O’Neill gave it a thorough edit. Eleonora Monti has helped to prepare the text for publication. Nicholas Halliday offered his expertise in preparing the practical and artistic elements, patiently to-ing and fro-ing with proof-readers until it was ‘just about right’ enough.

May it serve as an encouragement to attune to the Dhamma, the Timeless, as we navigate the uncharted waters of the times to come.

Ajahn Candasirī (from the Foreword)

"I thought I would begin by offering a few reflections about equanimity or upekkhā. This is one of the most significant psychological, emotional qualities talked about in the Buddhist tradition. However, because we commonly translate the word upekkhā in English as ‘equanimity’, it can easily be overlooked or seen as something a bit insignificant, not so practical or even heartwarming, as the word ‘equanimity’ in English can easily mean ‘indifference’, not really caring – it can be taken to be a switched-off, disconnected and somewhat numb attitude towards things."

Based on a talk given at Amaravati – 26-4-2020

"While I was studying at Budapest in 2005, I remember looking for books which could help me get a useful perspective on my confused experiences. There was no lack of explanation and advice, but they were missing a concrete direction: ‘Interesting ideas, but what do I do and how?’ I believe that good instruction should enable one to do more than before, shed light on the ‘what’ and ‘how’, and even on the ‘why’. The first book which gave me a tangible foothold was Ajahn Sumedho’s short book, The Four Noble Truths. It provided an introduction to a practical method of investigation with examples of Ajahn Sumedho’s own struggles. Later, when I was staying at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in England, I read his other book Mindfulness: the Path to the Deathless and found it illuminating as well. I mention these books here because certain topics are covered in more detail there, and if you are reading this book, they might also be helpful. Here, I collect advice and teachings that I wish I had read, or someone had told me sooner, during the years since those early books. The right answer remains obscured until we learn how to ask the right question." (excerpt from the introduction)

While researching the Pali Canon for my previous book, Working with the Five Hindrances, I occasionally came across an intriguingly cryptic phrase: ‘I-making, mine-making and the underlying disposition to conceit’ (ahaṅkāra-mamaṅkāra-mānānusaya). This phrase was intriguing because it suggests a completely new perspective to the universal inquiry into self and selflessness, and provides a glimpse into the unique realization which the Buddha was awakened. He designated this realization with the Pali term ‘anattā’, which is usually translated as ‘non-self’, ‘not-self’ or ‘no-self’. While the translation is literally correct, it unfortunately fails to convey the correct meaning of what the Buddha is saying. The Buddha did not deny self. What he denied was that self has any permanent, imperishable essence. The Buddha realized that self is essentially a constantly changing process, artificially created through the interaction of craving and ignorance. And, since it is ‘made-up’ by activities which we have some influence over, craving and ignorance can also be ‘unmade’ so that the deleterious effects of grasping self as permanent can come to cessation.