Ajahn Chah Quotes

Quotes about:

• 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

  239 Copy quote

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

  Ajahn Chah

  Teacher, Irritating

  224 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

  123 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

  180 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

  214 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

  196 Copy quote

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

  Ajahn Chah

  Doe, Arise

  63 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

  192 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

  198 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

  141 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

  163 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

  60 Copy quote

• When sitting in meditation, say, "That's not my business!" with every thought that comes by.

  Ajahn Chah

  Inspirational, Spiritual, Buddhist

  65 Copy quote

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

  Ajahn Chah

  Achievement, Peaceful, Mind

  43 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

  166 Copy quote

• A good practice is to ask yourself very sincerely, 'Why was I born?' Ask yourself this question in the morning, in the afternoon, and at night…every day.

  Ajahn Chah

  Morning, Night, Practice

  33 Copy quote

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

  Ajahn Chah

  Inspiring, Mindfulness, Dharma

  34 Copy quote

• I am like a tree in a forest. Birds come to the tree, they sit on its branches and eat its fruits. 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.

  Ajahn Chah

  Sweet, Views, Bird

  51 Copy quote

• If you see certainty in that which is uncertain, you are bound to suffer

  Ajahn Chah

  Suffering, Uncertain, Certainty

  47 Copy quote

• Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache: You won't be able to find it. But when your heart is ready, peace will come looking for you.

  Ajahn Chah

  Peace, Heart, Turtles

  85 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

  119 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

  34 Copy quote

• You are your own teacher. Looking for teachers can’t solve your own doubts. Investigate yourself to find the truth - inside, not outside. Knowing yourself is most important.

  Ajahn Chah

  Teacher, Knowing, Doubt

  56 Copy quote

• When we sit in meditation and hear a sound, we think, 'Oh, that sound's bothering me.' If we see it like this, we suffer. But if we investigate a little deeper, we see that the sound is simply sound. If we understand like this, then there's nothing more to it. We leave it be. The sound is just sound, why should you go and grab it? You see that actually it was you who went out and disturbed the sound.

  Ajahn Chah

  Thinking, Meditation, Suffering

  113 Copy quote

• Some people are afraid of generosity. They feel they will be taken advantage of or oppressed. In cultivating generosity, we are only oppressing our greed and attachment. This allows our true nature to come out and become lighter and freer.

  Ajahn Chah

  Nature, Taken, Attachment

  44 Copy quote

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