Wisdom of the Masters
Ajahn Maha Boowa

Theravada · 1913–2011

Ajahn Maha Boowa

Thai forest tradition · student of Ajahn Mun · Citta · the knowing heart

A fearless forest master who drew the line between the mind that comes and goes and the one that knows.

The essence of the teaching: There is citta – the knowing essence of the heart, and there is vinnana – conditioned, shifting consciousness. Liberation comes when you recognize the original purity of the citta, unstained by kamma and by judgment.

Theravada → Mindfulness 2 ep. in the corpus

Transmission

Ajahn Maha Boowa spoke without concession and without comfort. The citta – the knowing heart – shines, and within that radiance hides the subtlest danger: avijja, root ignorance, the very thing that turns the wheel of birth and death. Do not mistake the radiance for the end of the path. Go deeper with attention, toward the knowing itself. When the last trace burns away, what remains is that which is not born and does not die – pure knowing, free of every condition. This is not reached by thought. It is laid bare when wisdom scours the heart clean.

The full transmission — for members of the School. Here is its essence and its taste.

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