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.
When you walk, let it be.
Grasp at nothing.
Resist nothing.
If you haven't wept deeply, you haven't begun to meditate.
- Ajahn Chah
Reflection/poem by Ajahn Chah
Reflection/poem by Ajahn Chah
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ผ๐๐๐น๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฑ๐ผ๐
๐ญ๐ฒ๐ป ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐ธ (์ค๋; ๅงไพถ) & ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ผ๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ.
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Re: Reflection/poem by Ajahn Chah
Thank you for that. It is very good advice.KwanSeum wrote: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.
When you walk, let it be.
Grasp at nothing.
Resist nothing.
If you haven't wept deeply, you haven't begun to meditate.
- Ajahn Chah
Abandon the urge to direct and control, pay no regard to how others view your 'self' and to abandon that 'self' and float on the waves of consciousness.
It could have been advice from a Zen master, or my own Gelugpa guru. The core remains.
A very wise nun once told me that she started all her meditations by advising everyone that the world could do without them for the next hour, that they must release all thoughts of 'doing' and simply 'be'. I witnessed the effect on some beginners as they released that burden - magical.
As a beginner I saw a woman crying uncontrollably and wondered if she was deranged or
Do advanced practitioners need such advice? Oh yes, as they are also prone to 'seek' and attempt to 'gain' or 'reveal' through effort, where that very effort mitigates against that revelation of that which 'is'. Release from that 'searching' mind may bring tears of joy and tears of compassion for other beings.
Left
Re: Reflection/poem by Ajahn Chah
I like Ajahn Chah but this is not really a poem. It's short extracts, devoid of context, from, I believe, at least three different talks, most of which you can probably find on http://www.ajahnchah.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Here is a discussion of the last line:
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.ph ... t=0#p98837" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Mike
Here is a discussion of the last line:
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.ph ... t=0#p98837" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Sanghamitta wrote:I was present when Luang Por Chah said this...and on that occasion it was quite clear that the tears he was responding to were to tears of despair and frustration as a result of the questioner feeling that their meditation was fruitless and painful., but as has been pointed out that was in response to a particular person. On other occasions he might have been addressing a different emotional cause.bodom wrote:"If you haven't cried deeply a number of times, your meditation hasn't really begun." - Ajahn Chah
Mike
Re: Reflection/poem by Ajahn Chah
What makes you think it's out of context and not written as a single piece of writing?mikenz66 wrote:I like Ajahn Chah but this is not really a poem. It's short extracts, devoid of context, from, I believe, at least three different talks, most of which you can probably find on http://www.ajahnchah.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐ผ๐๐๐น๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ฑ๐ผ๐
๐ญ๐ฒ๐ป ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐ธ (์ค๋; ๅงไพถ) & ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ต๐ถ๐น๐ผ๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ.
Re: Reflection/poem by Ajahn Chah
Ajahn Chah is very important to me. He is the irrefutable proof that you don't have to be a member of my particular organization to really, really know what's what. I suppose he has passed on now?
Sergeant Schultz knew everything there was to know.
Re: Reflection/poem by Ajahn Chah
I already explained that it appears that those are quotes translated from three separate talks (Ajahn Chah didn't speak any English). If you check the reputable Ajahan Chah sources such as http://ajahnchah.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (which I referenced above) it should be easy enough to find them, though since they are translations they may vary a little.KwanSeum wrote:What makes you think it's out of context and not written as a single piece of writing?mikenz66 wrote:I like Ajahn Chah but this is not really a poem. It's short extracts, devoid of context, from, I believe, at least three different talks, most of which you can probably find on http://www.ajahnchah.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
As I attempted to demonstrate with my other link, Ajahn Chahs' words are very context-dependent. He said himself that he would tell apparently contradictory things to different people because that was what would set them straight. So I'm very suspcicious of reading anything into his statements unless I know the context of the talk or the conversation.
Mike
Re: Reflection/poem by Ajahn Chah
In 1992. He was in a coma for some time before that.catmoon wrote:Ajahn Chah is very important to me. He is the irrefutable proof that you don't have to be a member of my particular organization to really, really know what's what. I suppose he has passed on now?
http://ajahnchah.org/book/About_Ajahn_Chah.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Mike