Night is falling swiftly. The forest reverberates with the undulating buzz of countless crickets and the eerie rising wail of tropical cicadas. A few stars poke dimly through the treetops. Amid the gathering darkness there is a pool of warm light, thrown from a pair of kerosene lanterns, illuminating the open area below a hut raised up on stilts. Beneath it, in the glow, a couple of dozen people a…

One of the teachings Ajahn Chah emphasized most consistently was on the theme of uncertainty—that everything is not for sure. In a monastery, for instance, it’s common for the number of visitors to increase, like today, and then decrease; they’re here for a while, then they disappear. This creates a constant sense of circumstances being uncertain, always changing. We tend to conceive of our practi…

But kamma and rebirth focus on past and future. Doesn’t the Dhamma teach us to focus totally on simply being mindful—i.e., fully present—in the present moment? The Buddha talks about the importance of focusing on the present moment only in the context of what he taught on kamma: You focus on the present because you know that there’s work to be done in training the mind in developing skillful prese…

When we’re looking for kindness, we’re usually doing the wrong thing. Kindness is only something we can give, not something we can get or have. It’s something we can always give; there’s no limitation to it. Once you know what it’s about, you don’t find the world a disappointing place because there are always opportunities to give a little bit, to venture out a little bit. The sense of self, of be…

As monastics, it’s worth keeping in mind where our focus is. It is not on worldly skills such as well-honed public speaking. The Buddha said that in former times the monks who were respected and praised were those who lived and trained in the forest and put effort into practice, but later, respect and praise went to the monks who had good speaking skills. Skills, talents, and even an ability to gi…

For me, this story [The Buddha’s Awakening] represents the awakening of a human mind to the limitations of sensory experience. Personally I can relate to this from a time when I was at university. I questioned life a lot: “What is it all about? Where is this all going to?” I used to wonder about death and started thinking: “What is the point of getting this university degree? Even if I become a fa…

Once the Buddha was staying in a forest and took up a handful of leaves. He asked the bhikkhus which they thought were more numerous, the leaves in his hand or those in the forest. When they replied that the leaves in the forest were more numerous, the Buddha responded: Even so, bhikkhus, those things I have known directly are numerous, while those I have taught are few. And why, bhikkhus, have I…

The Four Requisites are the basic possessions of an alms-mendicant: a set of robes, alms-food, shelter and medicine. A monk or nun may be offered more, but these are the basics. The training is about keeping possessions to a minimum. Based on simplicity and minimal needs, the monastic life helps you to steer away from habits of gathering, accumulation and collection of things that may seem ‘absolu…

One of the most important skills monks at Wat Pah Pong were expected to develop in the first years of their training was the ability to judge ‘the right amount’ – not too much and not too little, the optimum amount – when consuming the requisites. Reflections on wise use of the requisites were included in the morning and evening chanting sessions to provide regular reminders. Too much of anything…

In our society, we are very much conditioned to believe that our memories are really ours. We don’t generally remember the ordinary events of our lives, but we do remember the very good ones; we remember when we won a prize or had a wonderful romance. We also remember the bad things we have done or that have been done to us. Grasping occurs either when we hold on and regurgitate all our memories o…