❖ In commemoration of Venerable Ajahn Chah's 100th Birth Anniversary ❖

Dhamma talk with Q&A session (#11) offered by Venerable Ajahn Amaro, abbot of Wat Amaravati in England, a monastery in the Thai forest tradition of Ajahn Chah
https://www.amaravati.org

'Who Was Ajahn Chah?'
21st June, 2018 (18.00 - 19.30)
Meditation Hall
Buddhadāsa Indapañño Archives, Bangkok

For other teachings by Ven. Ajahn Amaro, please visit:
https://www.amaravati.org/speakers/aj...
https://www.abhayagiri.org/talks/teac...
http://www.bia.or.th/en/index.php/tea...

About Ven. Ajahn Amaro:
Born in England in 1956, Ven. Amaro Bhikkhu received a BSc. in Psychology and Physiology from the University of London. Spiritual searching led him to Thailand, where he went to Wat Pah Nanachat, a Forest Tradition monastery established for Western disciples of Thai meditation master Ajahn Chah, who ordained him as a bhikkhu in 1979. Soon afterwards he returned to England and joined Ajahn Sumedho at the newly established Chithurst Monastery. He resided for many years at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, making trips to California every year during the 1990s.

In June 1996 he established Abhayagiri Monastery in Redwood Valley, California, where he was co-Abbot with Ajahn Pasanno until 2010. He then returned to Amaravati to become Abbot of this large monastic community.

Ajahn Amaro has written a number of books, including an account of an 830-mile trek from Chithurst to Harnham Vihara called 'Tudong: The Long Road North,' republished in the expanded book 'Silent Rain.' His other publications include 'Small Boat, Great Mountain' (2003), 'Rain on the Nile' (2009) and 'The Island: An Anthology of the Buddha's Teachings on Nibbana' (2009) co-written with Ajahn Pasanno, a guide to meditation called 'Finding the Missing Peace' and other works dealing with various aspects of Buddhism.

In December 2015, along with Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Amaro was honoured by the King Rama IX of Thailand with the ecclesiastical title ‘Chao Khun.’ Together with this honour he was given the name ‘Videsabuddhiguna.’

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"Ajahn Chah was very strict and orthodox as a monk -- he followed a very tight schedule, he was very strict with the Vinaya discipline. They used to say in Ubon that three months in Nong Pah Pong Temple is like ten years in any other monastery. Luang Por Chah was proud of the fact that the food at Nong Pah Pong was the worst food in the world -- in those days that was absolutely true, I have personal experience over there.

It was tough living there, and he was very disciplined but yet when you are with him you realize that this is the happiest man in the world. This is a man who has no limits, no boundaries but yet he has all these rules and he has no time to himself. He has people visiting all day, every day. How is that this person with so many responsibilities, so many rules, such a tight schedule and discipline, how come he is totally free?

What arose in my heart as a novice was that whatever I had to do to get to become like that, I'll do it."