Stillness Flowing The Life and Teachings of Ajahn Chah

by Ajahn Jayasaro

Genres: Buddhism, Religion

828 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

After joining Ajahn Sumedho's community as an anagārika in 1978 he travelled to Thailand to ordain at Wat Nong Pah Pong in 1979.He received full ordination by Ajahn Chah in 1980 and was abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat from 1997 to 2002.

Jayasāro has been involved in educating Thai people about the ivory trade. In 2018, Jayasāro authored a biography of Ajahn Chah entitled Stillness Flowing.

In 2019, Jayasāro was honoured with a royal title from Thailand's King Vajiralongkorn (Rama X).

On 9 March 2020, Jayasāro was granted Thai citizenship by royal decree.

He currently lives alone in a one monk monastery in Thailand.

Reviews

[Sher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading if you are interested in Theravada Buddhism and more specifically the Thai Forest tradition. This magnificent volume is an intellectual, spiritual, and cultural biography/history of a revered teacher in this tradition. The 800 plus page story covers Ajahn Chah as a young man in Thailand and his practice, and then moves on to cover the story of his founding a prominent Thai Forest Monastery. _Stillness Flowing_ covers Ajahn Chah's teaching methods, and finally the influx of Western interest in his teachings which leads to monasteries being started in Britain and eventually the United States. An interesting comparison between Thai teaching methods and Western methods based on the needs of very different students. Thai culture as it relates to Buddhism is covered in depth. The book is filled with wisdom and pieces from Chah's teachings that impact the reader far beyond the historical information. An admirable, impressive, well researched and well written work about the Thai Forest Tradition.

[pee-bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a brilliant collection of a number of talks from Ajahn Chah. Since it's a collection of somewhat casual conversations, as well as the translation, it reads in an interesting way.

I stopped reading it for a while, I think it wasn't needed as much when I stopped, but I picked it back up and I'm realizing my regressions. It has made me reconsider my state; I think I might be doing more poorly than I thought. Lots of work to be done as always

[Olivier Goetgeluck · Rating 4 out of 5]

You have to understand that all your mood are lies. There's nothing true to them at all.

[Sami · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with all of ajahn chah's talks, pure gold.

[Sai Krishna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This will become one of my go to books to get back on the path, if I feel down. These talks remind me where to focus, surely if I read again, I will find some new insights.