Just like dripping water can penetrate stone,
patience and persistence can break through anything
no matter how great the difficulty. ~Master Cheng Yen
Meditation master Toum Vachana in Cambodia.
Meditation master Toum Vachana in Cambodia.
by Ajahn Chah
Seekers of goodness who have gathered here please listen in peace. Listening to the Dhamma in peace means to listen with a one-pointed mind, paying attention to what you hear and then letting go. Listening to the Dhamma is of great benefit. While listening to the Dhamma we are encouraged to firmly establish both body and mind in samadhi, because it is one kind of dhamma practice. In the time of the Buddha people listened to Dhamma talks intently, with a mind aspiring to real understanding, and some actually realized the Dhamma while listening.
This place is well suited to meditation practice. Having stayed here a couple of nights I can see that it is an important place. On the external level it is already peaceful, all that remains is the internal level, your hearts and minds. So I ask all of you to make an effort to pay attention.
Why have you gathered here to practice meditation? It’s because your hearts and minds do not understand what should be understood. In other words, you don’t truly know how things are, or what is what. You don’t know what is wrong and what is right, what it is that brings you suffering and causes you to doubt. So first you have to make yourselves calm. The reason that you have come here to develop calm and restraint is that your hearts and minds are not at ease. Your minds are not calm, not restrained. They are swayed by doubting and agitation. This is why you have come here today and are now listening to the Dhamma.
I would like you to concentrate and listen carefully to what I say, and I ask permission to speak frankly because that’s how I am. Please understand that even if I do speak in a forceful manner, I am doing so out of good will. I ask your forgiveness if there is anything I say that upsets you, because the customs of Thailand and those of the West are not the same. Actually, speaking a little forcefully can be good because it helps to stir people up who might otherwise be sleepy or drowsy, and rather than rousing themselves to hear the Dhamma allow themselves to drift instead into complacency and as a result never understand anything. Continue reading
RFA photo
Don’t think that only sitting with the eyes closed is practice. If you do think this way, then quickly change your thinking. Steady practice is keeping mindful in every posture, whether sitting, walking, standing or lying down.
When coming out of sitting, don’t think that you’re coming out of meditation, but that you are only changing postures.
If you reflect in this way, you will have peace. Wherever you are, you will have this attitude of practice with you constantly. You will have a steady awareness within yourself.
The heart of the path is quite easy. There’s no need to explain anything at length. Let go of like and dislike and let things be. That’s all that I do in my own practice. ~Ajahn Chah
Buddhist prayer ធម៌នមស្ការ and taking eight precepts by His Holiness Vajirapanno Huot Tat. His Holiness Vajirapanno Huot Tat is the last Supreme Buddhist Patriarch of Cambodia before the 1975 take over by communist Cambodian forces. He is the best friend of the late and renowned H.H. the Great Dr. Jotannano Chuon Nath. Audio courtesy Ven. Pannapadipo Sophal Pat
Whatever precious jewel there is in the heavenly worlds, there is nothing comparable to one who is Awakened. ~Buddha, Sutta Nipata
Ceasing to do evil, Cultivating the good, Purifying the heart: This is the teaching of the Buddhas. ~The Buddha
RFA photo
Meditation students in master Toum Vachana’s class
Meditation Master Toum Vachana with Khmer children
Great compassion makes a peaceful heart. A peaceful heart makes a peaceful person. A peaceful person makes a peaceful family. A peaceful family makes a peaceful community. A peaceful community makes a peaceful nation. A peaceful nation makes a peaceful world. ― Maha Ghosananda
