Ajahn Chah Remembrance Day Pt 3 | "Timeless teachings through his life" by Ajahn Siripunyyo

Venerable Ajahn Chah Subhaddo (Chao Khun Bodhinyana Thera) alternatively spelled Achaan Chah, occasionally with honorific titles Luang Por and Phra; (17 June 1918 - 16 January 1992) was an influential teacher of the Buddhadharma and a founder of two major monasteries in the Thai Forest Tradition.

Ajahn Chah was born near Ubon Ratchathani in the Isan region of northeast Thailand. his family were subsistence farmers. As in tradition, Ajahn Chah entered the monastery at age nine as a novice, where he learned to read and write during his three year stay. He left the monastery to help his family on the farm, but later returned to monastic life on April 26, 1939 seeking ordination as a Theravadan monk (or bhikku). According to the book "Food for the Heart: The Collected Writings of Ajahn Chah", he chose to leave the monastic life in 1946 and became a wandering ascetic after the death of his father. He walked across Thailand, taking teachings at various monasteries. Among his teachers at this time was Ajahn Mun, a renown meditation master in the Forest Tradition. Ajahn Chah lived in caves and forests while learning from the meditation monks of the Forest Tradition. A website devoted to Ajahn Chah eloquently describes this period of his life.

For the next seven years, Ajahn Chah practiced in the style of an ascetic monk in the austere Forest Tradition, spending his time in the forests, caves and cremation grounds, ideal places for meditation practice. He wandered through the country side in quest of quiet and secluded places for delveloping meditation. He lived in tiger and cobra infested jungles, using reflections on death to penetrate the true meaning of life. On one occasion he practiced in a cremation ground, to challenge and eventurally overcome his fear of death. Then, as he sat cold and drenched in rainstorm, he faced the utter desolation and loneliness of a homeless monk.

This set of videos in this playlist are from the "Refuge in the Triple Gem: Ajahn Chah Remembrance Day 2010" DVD, sponsored for free distribution by generous supporters in Malaysia with gratitude and respect for the Forest Sangha - Vassa 2010.

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