What actually is your refuge?
Phra Ajahn Baen Dhanākaro(1928 -2020) Excerpt from talks given on 3rd November, 1998 Translated by Thiracitto Bhikkhu (slightly edited)...
top of page
Quotes & Stories
This is a collection of short translated quotes that are worth reading and reflecting on, or stories of Ajaans that I have translated or relate from my own recollection.
Search
Jan 28, 20221 min read
The Greatest Waste
“Time that has passed and gone without us having done anything useful or beneficial for ourselves, in a life in which we have been born...
Jan 28, 20221 min read
Nothing Compares
“Of difficult things, nothing compares to the difficulty of restoration. In withdrawing things, nothing compares to the difficulty of...
Jan 28, 20221 min read
The solution lies in the problem
“Suffering is constantly in our hearts... What is suffering? – We, here, are what suffering is. What are we? – This heart, here, is what...
Jan 28, 202215 min read
Spiritual Friendship
Tan Chao Khun Upālī Guṇūpamājahn and Luang Pu Mun Bhūridatto had been true friends for a long time, helping each other along successive...
Jan 28, 20221 min read
Knowing and Mindfulness
“The citta is the one that naturally knows. It is only mere knowing – that is, knowing sensation, knowing conceptualising, knowing...
Jan 28, 20222 min read
The Special Blessings of Dogs
During the middle phase of Luang Pu Mun's teaching career, Luang Pu Dteu Acaladhammo was his closest and most trusted disciple. A close...
Jan 28, 20221 min read
The Importance of Virtue
“Keeping the eight-fold virtue: if we have full faith in it, then we won't see it as anything difficult. And this eight-fold virtue –...
Jan 28, 20223 min read
A Heart of Gratitude
Luang Pu Suwan Suciṇṇo was a first-generation disciple of Luang Pu Mun Bhūridatto and Luang Pu Sao Kantasīlo. He was born in Khaw...
Jan 28, 20222 min read
Luang Pu Mun's world
During one early period when Luang Pu Mun Bhūridatto was living in Udon Thani, he was living alone in a very simple bamboo hut in the...
Jan 28, 20225 min read
Luang Pu Kinaree
Recollections From Ajahn Chah – translated by Mudito Bhikkhu (slightly edited) “Staying with Luang Pu Kinaree was not like staying with...
Jan 28, 20221 min read
Battling Defilement
“Ajahn Tongrat, who was one of my teachers, once wanted to disrobe. He wouldn't listen to anybody, he just wanted to disrobe. He then...
Jan 28, 20223 min read
A Turning Point – part 2
Some time after his views had just started to change about ‘forest monks’, Somdet Phra Mahā Wirawong embarked on one of his periodic...
Jan 28, 20224 min read
A Turning Point - part 1
Nowadays, it seems inconceivable that Luang Pu Sao and Luang Pu Mun were once considered pariahs by the Thai Saṅgha, but that was indeed...
Jan 28, 20221 min read
The Novice Who Could Remember his Past Life
At Luang Pu Mun Bhūridatta's funeral in 1950, one of Luang Pu Mun's great disciples met a teenaged novice who could remember his previous...
Jan 28, 20222 min read
Luang Pu Tongrat Testing Out his Disciples
There were many occasions when Luang Pu Tongrat Kantasīlo would check out a disciple to see if he was still heedless. For instance, Luang...
Jan 28, 20224 min read
Noble Beings and Common People
There is one interesting anomaly in the Buddha's praise of Venerable Mahā Kassapa as foremost in 'dhuta-guṇa', or ascetic virtues. Of the...
Jan 28, 20221 min read
The Substance of Mindfulness
“Enduring patience — this is the substance of mindfulness. If we don’t have enduring patience, mindfulness cannot arise. This enduring...
Jan 28, 20221 min read
The Power of Practise
“Teachings – words – however much, can't compare with practising to see for oneself. Listening to someone else speak, all you can get...
Jan 28, 20225 min read
Love Her Truly, Love Her All
An excerpt from the Autobiography of Luang Pu Juan Kulajeṭṭho (1920-80) – translated by Thiracitto Bhikkhu (slightly edited) As a layman...
Jan 28, 20225 min read
Luang Por Chob Ṭhānasamo: A Witness to an Extraordinary Event
Ācariya Mun Bhūridatto attains to the Dhamma-element – translated by Thiracitto Bhikkhu When Venerable Luang Por Chob Ṭhānasamo and...
bottom of page