If you want a chicken to be a duck, and a duck to be a chicken, you will suffer. Ajahn Chah More Quotes by Ajahn Chah More Quotes From Ajahn Chah Anything which is troubling you, anything which is irritating you, THAT is your teacher. Ajahn Chah irritating teacher If you let go a little you will have a little happiness. If you let go a lot you will have a lot of happiness. If you let go completely you will be free. Ajahn Chah letting-go happiness inspirational One day some people came to the master and asked: How can you be happy in a world of such impermanence, where you cannot protect your loved ones from harm, illness or death? The master held up a glass and said: Someone gave me this glass; It holds my water admirably and it glistens in the sunlight. I touch it and it rings! One day the wind may blow it off the shelf, or my elbow may knock it from the table. I know this glass is already broken, so I enjoy it - incredibly. Ajahn Chah blow wind philosophy Try to be mindful, and let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become still in any surroundings, like a clear forest pool. All kinds of wonderful, rare animals will come to drink at the pool, and you will clearly see the nature of all things. You will see many strange and wonderful things come and go, but you will be still. This is the happiness of the Buddha. Ajahn Chah mind animal trying A woman wanted to know how to deal with anger. I asked when anger arose whose anger it was. She said it was hers. Well, if it really was her anger, then she should be able to tell it to go away, shouldnt she? But it really isn't hers to command. Holding on to anger as a personal possession will cause suffering. If anger really belonged to us, it would have to obey us. If it doesn't obey us, that means it's only a deception. Don't fall for it. Whenever the mind is happy or sad, don't fall for it. Its all a deception. Ajahn Chah mind mean fall Happiness and suffering do not depend on being poor or rich, they depend on having the right or wrong understanding in our mind. Ajahn Chah understanding suffering mind One man watches a river flow by. If he does not wish it to flow, to change ceaselessly in accord with its nature, he will suffer great pain. Another man understands that nature of the river is to change constantly, regardless of his likes and dislikes, and therefore he does not suffer. To know existence as this flow, empty of lasting pleasure, void of self, is to find that which is stable and free of suffering, to find true peace in the world. Ajahn Chah pain self men Things are simply the way they are. They don't give us suffering. Like a thorn: Does a sharp thorn give us suffering? No. It's simply a thorn. It doesn't give suffering to anybody. If Ajahn Chah suffering doe giving To observe and watch one's own mind is something really interesting. The untrained mind will run and follow its old habit patterns. Because it has not been trained and taught, it will get lost in all kinds of stories and issues. Therefore we have to train our mind. The meditation practice in Buddhism is all about training one's own mind. Ajahn Chah meditation-practice buddhism running There are two kinds of suffering. There is the suffering you run away from, which follows you everywhere. And there is the suffering you face directly, and so become free. Ajahn Chah running beautiful two Peace is within oneself to be found in the same place as agitation and suffering. It is not found in a forest or on a hilltop, nor is it given by a teacher. Where you experience suffering, you can also find freedom from suffering. Trying to run away from suffering is actually to run toward it. Ajahn Chah suffering running teacher Wisdom is in yourself, just like a sweet ripe mango is already in a young green one. Ajahn Chah green young sweet People go through life blindly, ignoring death like revellers at a party feasting on fine foods. They ignore that later they will have to go to the toilet, so they do not bother to find out where there is one. When nature finally calls, they have no idea where to go and are in a mess. Ajahn Chah party people ideas Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache: You won't be able to find it. But when your heart is ready, peace will come looking for you. Ajahn Chah turtles heart peace We practice to learn how to let go, not how to increase our holding on to things. Enlightenment appears when you stop wanting anything. Ajahn Chah enlightenment practice letting-go Do not try to become anything. Do not make yourself into anything. Do not be a meditator. Do not become enlightened. When you sit, let it be. What you walk, let it be. Grasp at nothing. Resist nothing. Ajahn Chah enlightened buddhist trying Learn to see that it is not things that bother us, that we go out to bother them. See the world as a mirror. It is all a reflection of the mind. When you know this, you can grow in every moment, and every experience reveals truth and brings understanding. Ajahn Chah understanding mirrors reflection All religions are like different cars all moving in the same direction. People who don't see it have no light in their hearts. Ajahn Chah light heart moving There are people who are born and die and never once are aware of their breath going in and out of their body. That's how far away they live from themselves Ajahn Chah far-away body people Remember you dont meditate to get anything, but to get rid of things. We do it, not with desire, but with letting go. If you want anything, you wont find it. Ajahn Chah remembers-you remember-you letting-go
