150 Quotes by Ajahn Chah

If we see everything as uncertain, then their I value fades away.

If we see suffering then we don’t have suffering.

The mind of one who practises doesn’t run away anywhere, it stays right there. Good, evil, happiness and unhappiness, right and wrong arise, and he knows them all. The meditator simply knows them, they don’t enter his mind. That is, he has no clinging. He is simply the experiencer.

How does the Dhamma teach the proper way of life? It shows us how to live. It has many ways of showing it – on rocks or trees or just in front of you. It is a teaching but not in words. So still the mind, the heart, and learn to watch. You’ll find the whole Dhamma revealing itself here and now. At what other time and place are you going to look?

Read yourself, not books. Truth isn’t outside, that’s only memory, not wisdom. Memory without wisdom is like an empty thermos bottle – if you don’t fill it, it’s useless.

When we practice only when we’re feeling good, how are we going to get anywhere like that?

Anyone can build a house of wood and bricks, but the Buddha taught us that sort of home is not our real home. It’s a home in the world and it follows the ways of the world. Our real home is inner peace.

A madman and an arahant both smile, but the arahant knows why while the madman doesn’t.

Of course, there are dozens of meditation techniques, but it all comes down to this – just let it all be.