Walking the world
- Tác giả: Ajahn Sundara
- Chuyên mục: Pháp hành
- Trạng thái: Còn trong thư viện
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Mô tả sách
Walking the world
Author: Ajahn Sundara
The chapters in this wonderful book are edited transcriptions of talks given by Ajahn Sundara between 2003 and 2011. Many of these talks and teachings were given at Insight Meditaion Center of the Mid-Penisula in Redwood California. Some were from public talks and retreats held at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in the United Kingdom. It Can Be Very Simple is taken from an interview given to The Insight Journal of the Barre Center for Buddhist Sudies. Our Nature is from a talk given at Seattle Insight Meditation Society.
Ajahn Sundara is ordained in the Thai Forest Tradition. In this tradition, Dhamma talks are delivered in an impromptu manner – they are not scripted, or prepared in advance. Often, Ajahns don’t even know what subject they will discuss until they are seated in front of their listeners and begin to speak. So the chapters in this book flow very directly from Ajahn Sundara’s heart. These are spontaneous epressions arising from her experience of living in the Buddha’s teachings.
In the late 1970s, Ajahn Sundara first came into contact with the Dhamma when she had the opportunity of attending talks and retreats led by Ajahn Sumedho. Although his teaching and way of life as a Buddhist monk resonated deeply with her, she did not initially form any intention of becoming a nun. Then, one day she was having a chat with Ajahn Sumedho, talking about all the great challenges of the world. Ajahn Sumedho said to her, “Yes, and it’s a matter of knowing where the worlds is, isn’t it?”
That simple statement hit her “like a lightning bolt!” She says, “I suddenly realised that I was making my world, and I was free to lead my life as I wanted!” In that instant she knew that she had come home.
In a way, this book is an extension of that moment; it is Ajahn Sundara’s encouragement to”know where the world is.” The Buddha teaches that the world is to be found “in this fathom-long body”. Suffering and the cause of suffering, liberartion and the path leading to liberation, are all to be found right here – in this mind, in this body. Ajahn Sundara exhorts us to have the courage to really look at ourselves “as we are”. If we see fear, anger, greed, lust, shame, or any “uncomfortable” states, that’s not a sign that our practice has gone wrong – seeing these states IS the practice. The Buddha taught us to look deeply at these things and know them for what they are. In these talks, Ajahn Sundara reassures us that this is the path of the Buddha, and it is a path worth walking for it leads to great joy, unshakable peace, and liberation. peace, and liberation.
Adam Long
