INTRODUCTION One of the most notable features of Venerable Ajahn Chah's teaching was the e

                                        
                                        
                                        
                            INTRODUCTION
                                        
 
 One of the most notable features of Venerable Ajahn Chah's teaching 
 was the emphasis he gave to the Sangha, the monastic order, and its 
 use as a vehicle for Dhamma practice. This is not to deny his unique 
 gift for teaching lay people, which enabled him to communicate 
 brilliantly with people from all walks of life, be they simple 
 farmers or University professors. But the results he obtained with 
 teaching and creating solid Sangha communities are plainly visible 
 in the many monasteries which grew up around him, both within 
 Thailand and, later, in England, Australia, Europe and elsewhere. 
 Ajahn Chah foresaw the necessity of establishing the Sangha in the 
 West if long-term results were to be realized.
 
    This book is a collection of talks he gave to the monastic 
 communities in Thailand. They are exhortations given to the 
 communities of //bhikkhus//, or Buddhist monks, at his own 
 monastery, Wat Ba Pong, and some of its branches. This fact should 
 be born in mind by the lay reader. These talks are not intended to, 
 and indeed cannot, serve as an introduction to Buddhism and 
 meditation practice. They are monastic teachings, addressed 
 primarily to the lifestyle and problems particular to that 
 situation. A knowledge of the basics of Buddhism on the part of the 
 listener was assumed. Many of the talks will thus seem strange and 
 even daunting to the lay reader, with their emphasis on conformity 
 and renunciation.
 
    For the lay reader, then, it is essential to bear in mind the 
 environment within which these talks were given --  the rugged, 
 austere, poverty-stricken North-East corner of Thailand, birth place 
 of most of Thailand's great meditation teachers and almost its 
 entire forest monastic tradition. The people of the North-East are 
 honed by this environment to a rugged simplicity and gentle patience 
 which make them ideal candidates for the forest monk's lifestyle. 
 Within this environment, in small halls dimly lit by paraffin lamps, 
 surrounded by the assembly of monks, Ajahn Chah gave his teachings.
 
    Exhortations by the master occurred typically at the end of the 
 fortnightly recitation of the Patimokkha, the monks' code of 
 discipline. Their content would be decided by the current situation 
 --  slackness in the practice, confusion about the rules, or just 
 plain "unenlightenment". In a lifestyle characterized by simplicity 
 and contentment with little, complacency is an ongoing tendency, so 
 that talks for arousing diligent effort were a regular occurrence.
    
    The talks themselves are spontaneous reflections and exhortations 
 rather than systematic teachings as most Westerners would know them. 
 The listener was required to give full attention in the present 
 moment and to reflect back on his own practice accordingly, rather 
 than to memorize the teachings by rote or analyze them in terms of 
 logic. In this way he could become aware of his own shortcomings and 
 learn how to best put into effect the skillful means offered by the 
 teacher.
    
    Although meant primarily for a monastic resident --  be one a 
 monk, nun or novice --  the interested lay reader will no doubt 
 obtain many insights into Buddhist practice from this book. At the 
 very least there are the numerous anecdotes of the Venerable Ajahn's 
 own practice which abound throughout the book; these can be read 
 simply as biographical material or as instruction for mind training.
    
    From the contents of this book, it will be seen that the training 
 of the mind is not, as many believe, simply a matter of sitting with 
 the eyes closed or perfecting a meditation technique, but is, as 
 Ajahn Chah would say, a great renunciation.
 
 
                                       The translator
 
 
                           * * * * * * * *