Theravada · 1918–1992
Ajahn Chah
Thai forest tradition · On What Is · talks in the forest
A forest teacher who turned every small thing in life into teaching. The warmest, most grounded voice of the path.
The essence of the teaching: Peace is not a special state but the very knowing of states without choosing between them. Watch happiness and sorrow come and go, clinging to neither: the peace is in the one who knows, not in what is known.
Transmission
Ajahn Chah taught not by lectures but by the life of the forest itself. A glass that will one day break, a tree that will fall, anger that has flared up – all of it was his instruction. He would say: watch happiness and unhappiness in every posture, neither choosing nor clinging. True peace is not in stopping the waves, but in being the water the waves pass through. Let thoughts and feelings flow through the heart like water. If you let go a little – there will be a little peace. If you let go of everything – you will know peace entire.
The full transmission — for members of the School. Here is its essence and its taste.
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