Ajahn Chah

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox religious biography Template:Thai Forest Tradition Ajahn Chah (17 June 1918Template:Snd16 January 1992) was a Thai Buddhist monk. He was an influential teacher of the Buddhadhamma and a founder of two major monasteries in the Thai Forest Tradition.

Respected and loved in his own country as a man of great wisdom, he was also instrumental in establishing Theravada Buddhism in the West. Beginning in 1979 with the founding of Cittaviveka (commonly known as Chithurst Buddhist Monastery)<ref>Website of Chithurst Buddhist Monastery</ref> in the United Kingdom, the Forest Tradition of Ajahn Chah has spread throughout Europe, the United States and the British Commonwealth. The dhamma talks of Ajahn Chah have been recorded, transcribed and translated into several languages.

More than one million people, including the Thai royal family, attended Ajahn Chah's funeral in January 1993<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> held a year after his death due to the "hundreds of thousands of people expected to attend".<ref name="fsn"/> He left behind a legacy of dhamma talks, students, and monasteries.

Name

Ajahn Chah (Template:Langx) was also commonly known as Luang Por Chah (Template:Langx). His birth name was Chah Chuangchot (Template:Langx),<ref name=stillness>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp his Dhamma name was Subhaddo (Template:Langx),Template:R and his monastic title was Phra Bodhiñāṇathera (Template:Langx).Template:R<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life and ordination

Ajahn Chah was born on 17 June 1918 near Ubon Ratchathani in the Isan region of northeast Thailand. His family were subsistence farmers. As is traditional, Ajahn Chah entered the monastery as a novice (sāmaṇera) at the age of nine, where, during a three-year stay, he learned to read and write.

According to the 2017 biography Stillness Flowing<ref name=stillness/> and other sources, Ajahn Chah took novice vows again in March 1931 under the name Samanera Cha Chuangchot. His preceptor was Phra Khru Wichit Thammaphani (Phuang), then abbot of Wat Maniwanaram, Ubon Ratchathani. As a novice, he studied Buddhist scriptures and diligently performed monastic duties, including chanting, observing precepts, and following the Dhamma curriculum for samaneras. After three years, he disrobed to assist his family on the farm due to economic necessity, like many in the agrarian Northeast, but remained committed to reordaining at age 20.

On 26 April 1939 at 1:55 p.m., with his parents' permission, he was ordained as a monk (bhikkhu) at Wat Ko Nai in Tambon That, Amphoe Warin Chamrap, Ubon Ratchathani. His preceptor was Phra Khru Inthasarakun, with Phra Khru Wirun Sutthakan as the kammavācācariya and Phra Athi Sorn as the anusāvanācariya. He was given the monastic name Subhaddo (meaning “well-going”).

Bhikkhu Cha Subhaddo remained at Wat Kon Ok for two years, where he pursued advanced Dhamma studies and passed the third level of the Dhamma examinations, studying both independently and under monastic teachers.

In 1946, following the death of his father, Ajahn Chah left the settled monastic life and chose to live as a wandering ascetic monk in the Thai Forest Tradition. He walked across Thailand, practicing meditation and studying under various renowned teachers, including Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta, a leading figure in the Forest Tradition.

He spent time living in forests, caves, and cremation grounds, developing insight through contemplation of impermanence and death. A website devoted to Ajahn Chah describes this period: Template:Blockquote

Thai forest tradition

File:Statue of Luang Poh Chah Subhaddo, Thai Human Imagery Museum (2).jpg
A wax statue of Ajahn Chah at Thai Human Imagery Museum, Nakhon Pathom.

During the early part of the twentieth century Theravada Buddhism underwent a revival in Thailand under the leadership of teachers whose intentions were to raise the standards of Buddhist practise throughout the country. One of these teachers was Ajahn Mun. Ajahn Chah continued Ajahn Mun's high standards of practice when he became a teacher.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The monks of this tradition keep very strictly what they believe to be the original monastic rule laid down by the Buddha known as the vinaya. The early major schisms in the Buddhist sangha were largely due to disagreements over which set of training rules should be applied. Some adopted a more flexible set, whereas others adopted a more strict one, both sides believing to follow the rules as the Buddha had framed them. The Theravada tradition is the heir to the latter view. An example of the strictness of the discipline might be the rule regarding eating: they uphold the rule to only eat between dawn and noon. In the Thai Forest Tradition, monks and nuns go further and observe the 'one eaters practice', whereby they only eat one meal during the morning. This special practice is one of the thirteen dhutanga, optional ascetic practices permitted by the Buddha that are used on an occasional or regular basis to deepen meditation practice and promote contentment with subsistence. Other examples of these practices are sleeping outside under a tree, or dwelling in secluded forests or graveyards.

Monasteries founded

After years of wandering, Ajahn Chah decided to plant roots in an uninhabited grove near his birthplace. In 1954, Wat Nong Pah Pong monastery was established, where Ajahn Chah could teach his simple, practice-based form of meditation. He attracted a wide variety of disciples, which included, in 1966, the first Westerner, Venerable Ajahn Sumedho.<ref name="bio">Template:Cite web</ref> Wat Nong Pah Pong <ref>Template:Cite web</ref> includes over 250 branches throughout Thailand, as well as over 15 associated monasteries and ten lay practice centers around the world.<ref name="bio"/>

In 1975, Wat Pah Nanachat (International Forest Monastery) was founded with Ajahn Sumedho as the abbot. Wat Pah Nanachat was the first monastery in Thailand specifically geared towards training English-speaking Westerners in the monastic Vinaya, as well as the first run by a Westerner.

In 1977, Ajahn Chah and Ajahn Sumedho were invited to visit the United Kingdom by the English Sangha Trust who wanted to form a residential sangha.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 1979 saw the founding of Cittaviveka (commonly known as Chithurst Buddhist Monastery due to its location in the small hamlet of Chithurst) with Ajahn Sumedho as its head. Several of Ajahn Chah's Western students have since established monasteries throughout the world.

Later life

By the early 1980s, Ajahn Chah's health was in decline due to diabetes. He was taken to Bangkok for surgery to relieve paralysis caused by the diabetes, but it was to little effect. Ajahn Chah used his ill health as a teaching point, emphasizing that it was "a living example of the impermanence of all things...(and) reminded people to endeavor to find a true refuge within themselves, since he would not be able to teach for very much longer".<ref name="bio"/> Ajahn Chah would remain bedridden and ultimately unable to speak for ten years, until his death on 16 January 1992, at the age of 73.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="fsn">Template:Cite web</ref>

Described Miracles

It is said that on the day Luang Pu first entered the cemetery, a child had died in the village and was to be buried. When he walked to the grave, Luang Pu looked down and reportedly saw a vision of a boy being born clearly within it.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The next morning, he asked the layman whether the buried child had been a boy or a girl. The layman confirmed that it was a boy.

Thai Dhamma Heirs

Notable Western students

Bibliography

Published by Buddhist Publication Society

References

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Teachings

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