Ajahn Chah | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | Chah Chuangchot ชา ช่วงโชติ (1918-06-17)17 June 1918 Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand |
| Died | 16 January 1992(1992-01-16) (aged 73) Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| Order | Mahā Nikāya |
| School | Theravāda |
| Lineage | Thai Forest Tradition |
| Dharma names | Subhaddo สุภทฺโท |
| Monastic name | Phra Bodhiñāṇathera พระโพธิญาณเถร |
| Thai Forest Tradition | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ajahn Chah (17 June 1918 – 16 January 1992) was a ThaiBuddhist monk. He was an influential teacher of theBuddhadhamma and a founder of two major monasteries in theThai Forest Tradition.
Respected and loved in his own country as a man of great wisdom, he was also instrumental in establishingTheravada Buddhism in the West. Beginning in 1979 with the founding ofCittaviveka (commonly known as Chithurst Buddhist Monastery)[1] in the United Kingdom, theForest Tradition of Ajahn Chah has spread throughout Europe, the United States and theBritish Commonwealth. Thedhamma talks of Ajahn Chah have been recorded, transcribed and translated into several languages.
More than one million people, including theThai royal family, attended Ajahn Chah's funeral in January 1993[2] held a year after his death due to the "hundreds of thousands of people expected to attend".[3] He left behind a legacy of dhamma talks, students, and monasteries.
Ajahn Chah (Thai:อาจารย์ชา) was also commonly known asLuang Por Chah (Thai:หลวงพ่อชา). His birth name wasChah Chuangchot (Thai:ชา ช่วงโชติ),[4]: 21 hisDhamma name wasSubhaddo (Thai:สุภทฺโท),[4]: 38 and hismonastic title wasPhra Bodhiñāṇathera (Thai:พระโพธิญาณเถร).[4]: 184 [5]
Ajahn Chah was born on 17 June 1918 nearUbon Ratchathani in theIsan region of northeast Thailand. His family weresubsistence 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 biographyStillness Flowing[4] 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 thekammavācācariya and Phra Athi Sorn as theanusāvanācariya. 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 ThaiForest Tradition. He walked across Thailand, practicing meditation and studying under various renowned teachers, includingAjahn 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:
For the next seven years Ajahn Chah practiced in the style of an ascetic monk in the austere Forest Tradition, spending his time in forests, caves and cremation grounds. He wandered through the countryside in quest of quiet and secluded places for developing meditation. He lived in tiger and cobra infested jungles, using reflections on death to penetrate to the true meaning of life.[6]
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During the early part of the twentieth centuryTheravada 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 wasAjahn Mun. Ajahn Chah continued Ajahn Mun's high standards of practice when he became a teacher.[7]
The monks of this tradition keep very strictly what they believe to be the original monastic rule laid down by the Buddha known as thevinaya. 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 thirteendhutanga, 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.
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, VenerableAjahn Sumedho.[6] Wat Nong Pah Pong[8] includes over 250 branches throughout Thailand, as well as over 15 associated monasteries and ten lay practice centers around the world.[6]
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 monasticVinaya, 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.[9] 1979 saw the founding ofCittaviveka (commonly known as Chithurst Buddhist Monastery due to its location in the small hamlet ofChithurst) with Ajahn Sumedho as its head. Several of Ajahn Chah's Western students have since established monasteries throughout the world.
By the early 1980s, Ajahn Chah's health was in decline due todiabetes. He was taken toBangkok for surgery to relieveparalysis 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".[6] 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.[10][3]
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.[11] 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.
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