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A young monk shares his early experiences.

jlljll Veteran
edited September 2011 in Buddhism Basics

Comments

  • CloudCloud Veteran
    edited September 2011
    Appreciate the posting, @jll. Didn't even realize it was a disciple of the Thai Forest Tradition at first. I can't recall ever disagreeing with Ajahn Chah's teachings, even if I've never understood them as clearly as he meant them. I'd also highly recommend anyone interested in these teachings to visit http://www.ajahnchah.org.

    From the first part, I like the question "why do you assume he [sick/aged Ajahn Chah] is suffering?". I can't recall how many people I've talked to on forums that view dukkha in such a way that they can't believe in "enlightenment", they don't think there is release from suffering. They don't see it as an artifact of the mind, but as being inescapable. I don't think that they can imagine they would ever come to embrace aging, sickness and death and all else that arises; to put away all aversion to a natural process, escaping suffering by accepting fully the nature of mind and all phenomena (their nature, our nature, all nature).

    From the second part, "his teachings come all the way from the Buddha's time, but he was able to bring them to life in the present moment and then transmit them."
    Also Chah's "not sure" mentality, that nothing is sure, nothing is stable. Perception is impermanent; all conditioned phenomena are impermanent. Nothing is certain!
    Ajahn Siripanno says "we're actually trained to cultivate views, and then hold onto them like mad... and it's very challenging to let go of them", and that we should always ask ourselves if we're sure, if we could be wrong (this, I think, is our greatest roadblock... deconstructing our views/beliefs and seeing what is really there).

    In part three he quotes of the Buddha, "One who sees the Dhamma, sees me. One who sees me, sees the Dhamma." I've heard this also as "One who sees the Dhamma, sees Dependent Origination [and so on]." Dependent Origination is really what we've come to know as Cause and Effect, and is well-rendered (IMO) as "Conditionality" in Buddhism. It describes how all phenomena arise and fall based on conditions, and it has a specific application to how suffering arises in the mind. It applies to all phenomena.
  • tmottestmottes Veteran
    @jill thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed listening to the perspectives he had.
  • jlljll Veteran
    i just realised that he is the son of one of the richest man in asia.
    reminds me of how buddha left his palace. truly inspiring.
    http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/4/24/nation/11164115&sec=nation
  • jlljll Veteran
    GEORGE TOWN: Billionaire T. Ananda Krishnan took time off from his busy schedule to meet up with his Buddhist monk son Ven Ajahn Siripanyo, who is at a meditation retreat in Penang Hill here.

    Clad in T-shirt and jeans, the 74-year-old tycoon was spotted arriving at the foot of the popular tourist attraction in a BMW with several bodyguards at about 9am yesterday.

    He was whisked off to an undisclosed location deep inside the forest in Penang Hill, where his son was having a retreat with 60 others.
    Hot news: This picture showing the front page of ‘Kwong Wah Yit Poh’ which highlighted the meeting of Ananda Krishnan and his son.

    It is learnt that Ven Siripanyo is his only son from a previous marriage.

    Local Chinese daily Kwong Wah Yit Poh highlighted the meeting of Malaysia's second richest man with his son on the front page of its street edition.
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