Ajahn Chah Quotes

Quotes about:

• Anything which is troubling you, anything which is irritating you, THAT is your teacher.

  Ajahn Chah

  Teacher, Irritating

  218 Copy quote

• If you let go a little you will have a little happiness. If you let go a lot you will have a lot of happiness. If you let go completely you will be free.

  Ajahn Chah

  Inspirational, Happiness, Letting Go

  228 Copy quote

• If you want a chicken to be a duck, and a duck to be a chicken, you will suffer.

  Ajahn Chah

  Ducks, Suffering, Want

  170 Copy quote

• 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.

  Ajahn Chah

  Beautiful, Running, Two

  115 Copy quote

• Happiness and suffering do not depend on being poor or rich, they depend on having the right or wrong understanding in our mind.

  Ajahn Chah

  Understanding, Mind, Suffering

  184 Copy quote

• One day some people came to the master and asked: How can you be happy in a world of such impermanence, where you cannot protect your loved ones from harm, illness or death? The master held up a glass and said: Someone gave me this glass; It holds my water admirably and it glistens in the sunlight. I touch it and it rings! One day the wind may blow it off the shelf, or my elbow may knock it from the table. I know this glass is already broken, so I enjoy it - incredibly.

  Ajahn Chah

  Philosophy, Blow, Wind

  203 Copy quote

• Where does peace arise? Peace arises whenever we let something go.

  Ajahn Chah

  Doe, Arise

  56 Copy quote

• Try to be mindful, and let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become still in any surroundings, like a clear forest pool. All kinds of wonderful, rare animals will come to drink at the pool, and you will clearly see the nature of all things. You will see many strange and wonderful things come and go, but you will be still. This is the happiness of the Buddha.

  Ajahn Chah

  Animal, Mind, Trying

  187 Copy quote

• A woman wanted to know how to deal with anger. I asked when anger arose whose anger it was. She said it was hers. Well, if it really was her anger, then she should be able to tell it to go away, shouldnt she? But it really isn't hers to command. Holding on to anger as a personal possession will cause suffering. If anger really belonged to us, it would have to obey us. If it doesn't obey us, that means it's only a deception. Don't fall for it. Whenever the mind is happy or sad, don't fall for it. Its all a deception.

  Ajahn Chah

  Fall, Mean, Mind

  192 Copy quote

• Do not try to become anything. Do not make yourself into anything. Do not be a meditator. Do not become enlightened. When you sit, let it be. What you walk, let it be. Grasp at nothing. Resist nothing.

  Ajahn Chah

  Buddhist, Trying, Enlightened

  138 Copy quote

• Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher. Where you experience suffering, you can also find freedom from suffering. Trying to run away from suffering is actually to run toward it.

  Ajahn Chah

  Running, Teacher, Suffering

  159 Copy quote

• Things are simply the way they are. They don't give us suffering. Like a thorn: Does a sharp thorn give us suffering? No. It's simply a thorn. It doesn't give suffering to anybody. If
  we step on it, we suffer immediately.
  Why do we suffer? Because we
  stepped on it. So the suffering comes from us.

  Ajahn Chah

  Giving, Suffering, Doe

  161 Copy quote

• 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. This is the nature of the mind. We must find our own practice and persevere.

  Ajahn Chah

  Practice, Peaceful, Mind

  29 Copy quote

• The forest is peaceful, why aren’t you? You hold on to things causing your confusion. Let nature teach you. Hear the bird’s song then let go. If you know nature, you’ll know truth. If you know truth, you’ll know nature.

  Ajahn Chah

  Letting Go, Song, Confusion

  57 Copy quote

• Do everything with a mind that lets go. Do not expect praise or reward.

  Ajahn Chah

  Letting Go, Generosity, Expectations

  29 Copy quote

• The serene and peaceful mind is the true epitome of human achievement.

  Ajahn Chah

  Achievement, Peaceful, Mind

  39 Copy quote

• There are people who are born and die and never once are aware of their breath going in and out of their body. That's how far away they live from themselves

  Ajahn Chah

  People, Body, Far Away

  115 Copy quote

• If it isn't good, let it die. If it doesn't die, make it good.

  Ajahn Chah

  Inspiring, Mindfulness, Dharma

  29 Copy quote

• We have limited time in our life, therefore we should try to teach ourselves, not to teach others. We should conquer ourselves, rather than conquer others. Whether coming or going, standing, sitting or lying down, our mind should be focused in this way. If we practise like this and develop mindfulness continuously, wisdom arises quickly and this is a fast way of practice.

  Ajahn Chah

  Lying, Practice, Mind

  112 Copy quote

• If your mind is happy then you are happy anywhere you go.
  When wisdom awakens within you, you will see Truth wherever you look.
  Truth is all there is.
  It's like when you learned how to read, you can then read anywhere you go.

  Ajahn Chah

  Meditation, Mind, Looks

  90 Copy quote

• We practice to learn how to let go, not how to increase our holding on to things. Enlightenment appears when you stop wanting anything.

  Ajahn Chah

  Letting Go, Practice, Enlightenment

  73 Copy quote

• One man watches a river flow by. If he does not wish it to flow, to change ceaselessly in accord with its nature, he will suffer great pain. Another man understands that nature of the river is to change constantly, regardless of his likes and dislikes, and therefore he does not suffer. To know existence as this flow, empty of lasting pleasure, void of self, is to find that which is stable and free of suffering, to find true peace in the world.

  Ajahn Chah

  Pain, Men, Self

  126 Copy quote

• Just go into the room, sit in the centre of the room, open the doors and windows, and see who comes to visit.
  You will witness all kinds of scenes and actors, all kinds of temptations and stories, everything imaginable.
  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.

  Ajahn Chah

  Jobs, Doors, Visits You

  77 Copy quote

• Don't think that only sitting with the eyes closed is practice. If you do think this way, then quickly change your thinking. Steady practice is keeping mindful in every posture, whether sitting, walking, standing or lying down. When coming out of sitting, don't think that you're coming out of meditation, but that you are only changing postures. If you reflect in this way, you will have peace. Wherever you are, you will have this attitude of practice with you constantly. You will have a steady awareness within yourself.

  Ajahn Chah

  Attitude, Lying, Eye

  29 Copy quote

• 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. The meditator simply knows them, they don't enter his mind. That is, he has no clinging. He is simply the experiencer.

  Ajahn Chah

  Running, Evil, Mind

  Achaan Chah, Ajahn Chah (2006). “A Taste of Freedom: Selected Dhamma Talks”, p.48, Buddhist Publication Society

  100 Copy quote

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