Ajahn Chah

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Ajahn Chah and Ajahn Sumedho

Ajahn Chah ( Thai : พระ อาจารย์ ชา , RTGS : Phra Achan Cha, pronunciation: [pʰráʔ aːt͡ɕaːn t͡ɕʰaː] ; also Cha Suphattho or Chah Subhaddo ( ชา สุภ ทฺ โท ); officially: Phra Phothiyan Thera or Bodhiñāṇa Thera ( พระ โพธิญาณ เถร ); * June 17, 1918 near Ubon Ratchathani , Thailand ; † January 16, 1992 in Amphoe Warin Chamrap , Ubon Ratchathani Province ) was a theravada - Buddhist monk of the Thai Kammatthana - forest monk tradition . From the 1970s, his reputation for being an excellent teacher for Western Theravada monks grew steadily. This led to the founding of a number of monasteries in Europe, the USA, Australia and New Zealand that refer to him.

Life

After completing basic schooling, he lived as a novice for the next three years before returning to his parents' farm to help with the work that came up there. At the age of twenty, he decided to resume monastic life and received Upasampada (the Bhikkhu ordination) on April 26, 1939 . Ajahn Chah's early monastic life followed a traditional pattern of studying Buddhist teaching and the Pali scriptural language . In his fifth year as a monk, his father fell seriously ill and died soon afterwards - an event that brought the evanescence and value of human life to mind. This caused him to contemplate more deeply on the real meaning of life. Although he had studied and acquired some skill in the Pali, he seemed no closer to real understanding of the end of suffering. A deep feeling of being “disenchanted” with general goals in life led him to abandon his traditional studies and finally, in 1946, to embark on a pilgrimage as a wandering monk.

He walked about 400 kilometers to central Thailand , slept in the woods on his way and ate the alms food that he received from the Buddhist residents in the nearby villages during the morning pindabat (almsgiving). In a monastery that practiced the Vinaya (Buddhist religious rule) particularly carefully, he was told of Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta , an extremely respected meditation master of his time. Eager to meet such a realized teacher, Ajahn Chah returned to the northeast to see Ajahn Mun.

At this point, Ajahn Chah was grappling with a persistent spiritual problem. He had studied the scriptures in all their aspects such as virtue, concentration, and wisdom ( Sila , Samadhi, and Panna ). But still it seemed puzzling to him how all these facets could really be put into practice. Ajahn Mun explained to him that, although the Buddha's teachings are extensive indeed, they are very simple in their hearts. "When one has awakened mindfulness in oneself, and through it one has recognized that everything only arises and disappears in our mind - exactly then one has reached the true core of the practice." This illuminating and direct training should be a core experience for Ajahn Chah, which he would often refer to over and over again in his own teachings. It was now clear to him what to do.

For the next seven years Ajahn Chah practiced in the manner of the renouncing forest monks, wandering from here to there, looking for quiet and secluded places to immerse oneself in the practice of meditation. He lived in jungle areas with tigers and cobras - an ideal environment to contemplate on death and the basic meaning of life. On one of these occasions he meditated at night in one of those cremation places where the Thais traditionally cremate their deceased loved ones. The emerging extreme fear of this place at night, of wild animals and death itself, he challenged and finally overcame it.

Establishment of the Wat Pa Phong monastery

In 1954 he was invited back to his home village. He set up camp in a malaria-infected forest called "Pa Phong". Despite the harshness of this defenseless environment and the scarce nourishment, more and more students gathered around him, who were drawn to his growing reputation. The forest monastery that arose around him was called " Wat Pa Phong ". In the same way, other branch monasteries were to be established across Thailand soon.

In 1967 an American monk came to Wat Pa Phong. Robert Jackman (with the religious name Sumedho ) had just completed his first rainy season retreat (the " Vassa " - a three-month period of retreat during the rainy season ) in a monastery on the Lao border. Although his efforts had been fruitful, Sumedho realized that he needed a teacher who could train him in all aspects of monastic life. By chance, one of Ajahn Chah's students had visited the monastery where Sumedho was living at the time - he could even speak a little English. So after Sumedho heard from Ajahn Chah, he traveled with the Thai monk to Wat Pa Phong full of interest. Ajahn Chah took this new student in, but insisted that this Westerner would not receive any special allowances. He ate the same simple alms food as the other Thai monks. The training there was strict and extremely demanding. Ajahn Chah often pushed his monks to their limits to check their endurance so that they would develop patience and equanimity. Sometimes he would initiate long and seemingly pointless work projects to frustrate their attachment to calm and stillness. The main emphasis was always on the strict adherence to the Vinaya .

Soon more westerners came to Wat Pa Phong. When Sumedho was a bhikkhu of five, Ajahn Chah found him competent enough to teach himself. So it happened that Sumedho and a handful of Western bhikkhus pitched their camp in a forest near Wat Pa Phong during the hot season in 1975 to burn the protective glaze on alms bowls. The residents of the nearby village of Bung Wai found out about this and asked the monks to stay in this forest near them permanently. Ajahn Chah agreed, and so Wat Pah Nanachat ("International Forest Monastery") was founded. Sumedho became the first abbot of this forest monastery, in which western forest monks were to be taught in English.

Foundation of the Cittaviveka monastery near London

1977 Ajahn Chah was with Ajahn Sumedho to United Kingdom from the local English Sangha Trust invited - a lay community, which for the purpose of establishing a Theravada - Sangha was formed in England. Ajahn Chah was very impressed with the sincere appreciation of Buddhist teachings in the West. With the help of Ajahn Khemadhammo and two other Western monks, he left Ajahn Sumedho in London to teach the Dharma there. In 1979 Ajahn Chah returned to Great Britain when his students were just beginning to build the Buddhist monastery in Chithurst, Sussex - Cittaviveka . He then traveled to the USA and Canada, where he had been invited to teach.

After this trip, Ajahn Chah's health gradually declined due to the effects of his diabetes. He now used his deteriorating condition, the weakened body, as a teaching method for his students and the Buddhist population - he himself now became a living example of the impermanence ( anicca ) of all things.

He constantly urged his students to find refuge in themselves, as soon he would no longer be able to teach them. In 1981 he was operated on in Bangkok, but this did little to improve his condition. Within a few months he lost the ability to speak and move until he was completely paralyzed and bedridden. From then on he was carefully and lovingly cared for by his disciples, who now gratefully paid him their respects after having patiently and compassionately taught the Dharma for many years. Ajahn Chah died ten years later, in 1992. Over a million people attended the funeral ceremony, which lasted several days, including the Thai royal family. The elaborate pyre for cremation cost the equivalent of 680,000 US dollars .

Today there are four branch monasteries of Wat Pa Phong in England, of which Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, located 50 km north of London, is the largest. In the course of the last few years, further monasteries have emerged in the west: Dharmapala in Switzerland, Santacittarama in Italy, Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in California, Aruna Ratanagiri (Harnham Buddhist Monastery) in the north of England, Bodhinyanarama in New Zealand - to name the most important.

Well-known western students

Works

See also

literature

  • Jack Kornfield: Living Buddhist Masters. Unity Press, Santa Cruz 1977, ISBN 0-913300-03-9

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Louis building immersed: Where Ascetics Get Comfort and Recluse's Go Public. Museums for Buddhist Saints in Thailand. In: Pilgrims, Patrons, and Place. Localizing Sanctity in Asian Religions. UBC Press, Toronto 2003, pp. 108-123, at p. 117.
personal data
SURNAME Chah, Ajahn
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ajahn Cha Suphattho; Chah Subhaddo; Phra Photiyan Thera; Bodhiñāṇa Thera; Bodhinyana Thera
BRIEF DESCRIPTION buddhist monk
DATE OF BIRTH June 17, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH Ubon Ratchathani (Province)
DATE OF DEATH January 16, 1992
Place of death Warin Chamrap Amphoe , Ubon Ratchathani Province