Ajahn Chah Quotes

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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

210 Copy quote
Anything which is troubling you, anything which is irritating you, THAT is your teacher.

Ajahn Chah

Teacher, Irritating

187 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

186 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

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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

177 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

176 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

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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

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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

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To observe and watch one's own mind is something really interesting. The untrained mind will run and follow its old habit patterns. Because it has not been trained and taught, it will get lost in all kinds of stories and issues. Therefore we have to train our mind. The meditation practice in Buddhism is all about training one's own mind.

Ajahn Chah

Running, Buddhism, Meditation Practice

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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

154 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

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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

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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

73 Copy quote
Wisdom is in yourself, just like a sweet ripe mango is already in a young green one.

Ajahn Chah

Sweet, Green, Young

30 Copy quote
When the heart truly understands, it lets go of everything.

Ajahn Chah

Letting Go, Heart

Various, Louis van Loon, Lily de Silva, Webu Sayadaw, Susan Elbaum Jootla (2011). “Collected Bodhi Leaves Volume IV: Numbers 91 to 121”, p.245, Buddhist Publication Society

44 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

70 Copy quote
You should think about your own death 3 times per day at the very least.

Ajahn Chah

Thinking, Should

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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

100 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

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

Ajahn Chah

Inspirational, Spiritual, Buddhist

56 Copy quote
Letting go a little brings a little peace. Letting go a lot brings a lot of peace. Letting go completely brings complete peace.

Ajahn Chah

Letting Go, Littles

100 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

97 Copy quote
Remember you dont meditate to get anything, but to get rid of things. We do it, not with desire, but with letting go. If you want anything, you wont find it.

Ajahn Chah

Letting Go, Remember You, Remembers You

54 Copy quote
The Dhamma is revealing itself in every moment, but only when the mind is quiet can we understand what it is saying, for the Dhamma teaches without words.

Ajahn Chah

Mind, Quiet, Moments

30 Copy quote

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Born: June 17, 1918
Died: January 16, 1992
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