Quotes of Ajan Chan

 

Ajahn Chah (1918–1992), a renowned Thai Buddhist monk and meditation teacher, emphasized simplicity, mindfulness, and wisdom in daily life. His teachings are grounded in Theravāda Buddhism and focus on cultivating inner peace through mindfulness, meditation, and understanding the nature of reality. 

"Anything which is troubling you, anything which is irritating you, THAT is your teacher." ~ Ajahn Chah

"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

"If you want a chicken to be a duck, and a duck to be a chicken, you will suffer." ~ Ajahn Chah

"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

"Where does peace arise? Peace arises whenever we let something go." ~ Ajahn Chah

"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

"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

"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

"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

"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

"Look at your own mind. The one who carries things thinks he's got things, but the one who looks on sees only the heaviness. Throw away things, lose them, and find lightness." ~ Ajahn Chah

"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

"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