Reflection/poem by Ajahn Chah

[KwanSeum]

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

[Blue Garuda]

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

Thank you for that. It is very good advice.

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.

[mikenz66]

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/

Here is a discussion of the last line:
http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.ph ... t=0#p98837

"If you haven't cried deeply a number of times, your meditation hasn't really begun." - Ajahn Chah

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.

Mike

[KwanSeum]

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/

What makes you think it's out of context and not written as a single piece of writing?

[catmoon]

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?

[mikenz66]

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/

What makes you think it's out of context and not written as a single piece of writing?

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/ (which I referenced above) it should be easy enough to find them, though since they are translations they may vary a little.

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

[mikenz66]

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?

In 1992. He was in a coma for some time before that.
http://ajahnchah.org/book/About_Ajahn_Chah.php


Mike