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Ajahn Chah Quotes

Quotes by Ajahn Chah

Ajahn Chah 1918 – 1992

Was a Buddhist monk of the Thai forest tradition, respected and well loved in his own country as a man of great wisdom, it wasn’t until the arrival of the hippies of the 1960’s that the west finally got to hear of this great spiritual master.

He was born into poverty in the northeast region of Thailand, his parents were rice farmers surviving from day to day. With no real education to be had in the region the young Ajahn would start his monastic training a the age of nine. He spent three years in the monastery where he learnt to read and write. He returned to work on the land of his parents but returned to monastic life at the age of 17. He was ordained at a local monastery where he stayed and practiced meditation until 1946 when he decided to become a wandering ascetic monk, a practice called dutong.

He wandered learning from teachers of the time, by far his biggest influence was Ajahn Mun a renowned enlightened meditation master. He spent this time of his life meditating in caves and forests until finally establishing a monastery near his home town where he taught his simple meditation techniques and started to gain a large following of disciples and lay people alike.

The arrival of the first western disciple, Ajahn Sumedho saw the development of a new monastery focused purely for the western mind filled with knowledge, the first of its kind in Thailand. A few years later Ajahn Chah was invited to give talks in England where he was to form the very first monastery in the Thai forest linage, called Chittaviveka.

Ajahn Chah’s health was in decline by the early 1980’s and he was to suffer a massive stroke leaving him bedridden and unable to speak for ten years. Still in this condition he transmitted the teachings of the Buddha using his own body as evidence enough of impermanence and the importance of seeking refuge within ourselves.

Ajahn Chah’s legacy of students continues today with Ajahn Brahm, Jack Kornfield, Ajahn Summadho and Ajahn Amaro to name just a few.

To read more about this wonderful man, a full Meditation Masters article can be found by Clicking Hear

Tags Ajahn Chah, Buddhism, developing minds, inspirational advice, mindset reset, motivational quotes, personal development through mindfulness, personal growth, positive thinking, quotes to live by, sayings to live by, thought of the day, words of wisdom

quotes

The Buddha’s Quotes

The Buddha’s words of wisdom and life quotes

Buddha quotes, Buddhism, Buddhist, mindfulness meditation, deep relaxation, positivity, samsara, endless suffering, — “You will not be punished by your anger, you will be punished by your anger”

“The way is not the sky, the way is in your heart”

“Peace comes from within, do not seek it without”

Buddha quotes, words of wisdom, spirituality sayings, mindfulness meditation, deep relaxation, quotes and sayings, quote of the day, daily quotes, — You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection

Buddha quotes, words of wisdom, sayings to inspire, mindfulness meditation, motivational quotes, spirituality sayings, life hack, deep relaxation, mindfulness meditation — Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment

Buddha 563 – 483BC

Gautama Buddha lived over 2562 years ago as a monk and teacher on which Buddhism has been founded. Born a prince of the Shakya clan in modern day northern India, now Nepal. He became dissatisfied with his life and that of the human condition he left the royal palace in search of truth. After many years practicing with the Meditation masters of the time, learning yoga and other breathing techniques, he still had not discovered the truth he was seeking, leaving these old masters behind he went in search of places of tranquility and seclusion to practice deep meditation. After spending many hours sitting in a one pointed Meditative state for prolonged periods of time Gautama discovered his middle way or the “noble eightfold path” as a way to enlightenment.

For the remaining 45 years of his life the Buddha taught this path, established the Sangha and 100’s of monastery’s through-out his travels through modern day India and Nepal and in so Doing leaving behind a legacy that has endured for over a millennium.

Tags best self help advice, commit to sit, inspiration, mindfulness, mindset reset, motivation, positive thinking, quotes that inspire, sayings to live by, spiritual awakening, thought of the day, words of wisdom

loving kindness

Captain of my Soul

Invictus

By William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul.

This poem has been used by many famous people as inspiration through hard times, Nelson Mandela is said to of taken comfort and motivation from this poem on his long imprisonment on Robbin Island, South Africa.

Please share with someone you love today. After all Sharing is Caring.

Kind regards

Tags best self help advice, captain of my soul, I can change, inspirational, master of my own fate, mind matters, motivational quotes, personal development through mindfulness, sayings to live by, spiritual awakening, thought of the day, William Ernest Henley, words of wisdom

quotes

Ajahn Brahm Quotes

This is the second part of a small collection of inspirational quotes from the Buddhist meditation master Ajahn Brahm.

The first instalment can be found by clicking this sentence.

Ajahn Brahm 1951 – present

Is a British born Australian Buddhist monk from the Thai forest tradition and tutored under the auspicious Ajahn Chah. Born Peter Betts in London, England to a working class family, he was to have a normal upbringing for the time but whilst at school he showed exceptional abilities and won a scholarship to Cambridge university to study theoretical physics. It was at Cambridge university that a love affaire with Buddhism, eastern mysticism and meditation began and after graduation and a brief one year stint as a teacher he followed the hippy trail overland from England to the east finally finding his way to Thailand. At the age of 23 peter was ordained as a Buddhist monk in Bangkok.

It was a chance encounter with Ajahn Sumedho that led him to the Thai forest tradition, where he settled and under the guidance of Ajahn Chah he would stay and study for 9 years. It was Ajahn Chah who asked him to help with teaching duties in Australia and together with Ajahn Jagaro they set up Bodhinyana monastery in Perth, Western Australia. This was the first Buddhist monastery in the Thai Theravada linage in the Southern Hemisphere, and still the largest today. In 1995 Ajahn Brahm took over as Abbott of Bodhinyana Monastery which is where he still resides today.

An amazing public speaker selling out concert venues across Singapore and Malaysia, author of two excellent books and credited with translating the Vinaya, the monastic code, into the English language. His easy going nature has earn’t him a large following and his down to earth style and approach make him one of the greatest living teachers of today.

For further reading or more information on Ajahn Brahm, this external link is extremely useful, including information on mindfulness, meditation and Bodhinyana monastery.

Buddhist Society of Western Australia Click Hear

Tags Ajahn Brahm Quotes, destress, inspirational advice, Meditation Masters, mindset reset, motivational quote, motivational tools, sayings to live by, thought of the day, unwind, words and sayings, words of wisdom

quotes

Mahatma Gandhi Quotes

Words of wisdom

Mahatma Gandhi

“Where there is love there is life”

“The Earth provides enough to satisfy every mans need, but not every mans GREED”

“The future depends on what we do in the present”

“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet”

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world”

“There is more to life than increasing its speed”

“NOBODY can hurt me without my permission”

Mahatma Gandhi 1869-1948

Leader of the Indian independence movement against the British rule of the time. Most memorable for his non violence approach, leading his fellow countrymen on a 400km march to the salt pans of Dandi in protest of the British imposed salt tax. Living modestly Gandhi wore the traditional Indian dhoti which he hand spun on his charkha.

He ate simple vegetarian food and undertook long fasts as a means of both self purification and political protest. October 2nd is Gandhi’s birthday and worldwide has become the international day of non violence, in India it is also a national holiday.

A truly remarkable man.

Tags appreciation quotes, developing minds, inspiration, inspirational advice, motivation, positive thinking, quote of the day, sayings to live by, spirituality, thought of the day, words and sayings, words of wisdom

quotes

Dalai Lama Quotes

Dalai Lama words of wisdom

“In order to carry a positive action we must develop hear a positive vision”

“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves”

“My religion is very simple, my religion is kindness”

“Choose to be optimistic, it feels better”

“Silence is sometimes the best answer”

“An eye for an eye… we are all blind”

“The true hero is one who conquers his own anger and hatred”

“The root of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation”

“Let is recognise the precious nature of each day”

“An open heart is an open mind”

Dalai Lama 1935 – present

The 14th Dalai Lama, born as Tenzin Gyatso is the current spiritual leader of Tibet. Tenzin was born in the small village of Taktser in Tibet, selected from a young age as being the possible reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. After careful selection and some remarkable coincidences or fate, Tenzin was chosen as the reincarnation at the age of five. He was 15 years old when he partly took over the political duties of Tibet. During the 1950’s China progressively and violently claimed Tibet as a state of the Chinese and denounced the Dalai Lama as a spiritual leader and all who followed him. The uprising that came and the cultural cleansing preformed by the communist Chinese is one of recent history’s most tragic stories. China was swift and brutal, burning all cultural as religious artefacts, destroying temples and performing horrific acts upon monks and nuns, while the civilised world just watched. The Dalia Lama fled with his life along with a few number of government officials to India in 1959.

Dharamshala has now become residence to the refugees of Tibet and his holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. It is also the capital for the central Tibetan administration (Tibet’s government in exile) from hear the Dalai Lama gives talks and meets and greets thousands upon thousands of tourists and well wishers who have travelled vast distances just to glimpse this truly enlightened man. A true loving example of peace