31-y.o. techie chooses a monk's life

Why a 31-year old Singaporean techie chose the monk's life

(Handful of Leaves) Oct. 14, 2025: Handful of Leaves Podcast. Rich in Buddhist Singapore, from dating girls to reading about Elon Musk to thinking about politics, he was in search of meaning in his early 20s. All that changed when he read about the Buddha and his monastic followers.

Handful of Leaves had the awesome opportunity to speak with novice Samanera/Anagarika Phra Ryan before he took full ordination. Here’s his story of becoming a Buddhist monk at the prime of his career in Singapore's tech industry.

This is also how young only son Ryan, with family members of a different religious faith, arrived at this path of Buddhist monasticism. #BuddhistWisdom #MindfulLiving #FaithAndPractice

ABOUT: Halfway through his university studies, Ryan embarked on a spiritual journey into the deeper meaning of life and found himself drawn towards Buddhism. It was during a silent retreat in the Australian bush at a Theravada monastery, which marked the beginning of an eight-year journey into monkhood. This is his story.

• 📄 Transcript: bit.ly/hol-phra-ryan

⏱ TIMESTAMPS

• (00:00) – First week as a Buddhist novice (monk-to-be): nervous then relief
• (01:30) – Meeting Ajahn Dhammasiha and first retreats
• (03:00) – Life as an anagarika and his family’s reaction
• (05:00) – Growing up privileged and searching for meaning
• (07:05) – Parents’ and friends’ response to his ordination
• (09:10) – Luang Por’s [Senior Monk's] teaching: life without mindfulness is crazy
• (10:00) – Goal of practice: freeing the mind from clinging/attachment
• (11:15) – Wearing the robe [Banner of the Arahants] and facing “imposter syndrome”
• (12:09) – Choosing Wat Marp Jan [Monastery] under Luang Por [Ven.] Anan

Special thanks to Handful of Leaves' sponsors: Buddhist Youth Network, Lim Soon Kiat, Alvin Chan, Tan Key Seng, Soh Hwee Hoon, Geraldine Tay, Venerable You Guang, Wilson Ng, Diga, Joyce, Tan Jia Yee, Joanne, Suñña, Shuo Mei, Arif, Bernice, Wee Teck, Andrew Yam, Kan Rong Hui, Wei Li Quek, Shirley Shen, Ezra, Joanne Chan, Hsien Li Siaw, Gillian Ang, Wang Shiow Mei, Ong Chye Chye, Melvin, Yoke Kuen, Nai Kai Lee, Amelia Toh, Hannah Law, Shin Hui Chong, Dennis Lee

• 🙏 Become a sponsor: handfulofleaves.life/support

🎬 Editor: Hong Jiayi. ✍️ Transcribers: Cheryl Cheah, Tan Si Jing, Bernice Bay. 🎨 Visuals and Sound: Anton Thorne, Tan Pei Shan, Ang You Shan.

• 📱 Get connected: Ajahn Dhammasiha: @dhammatalksatdhammagiri8724
• Wat Pah Nanachat: watpahnanachat.org
• Wat Marp Jan: @ajahnanan
• Telegram: bit.ly/hol-telegram
• Instagram: bit.ly/hol-instagram-podcast
• Facebook: bit.ly/hol-facebook-podcast
• Spotify: spoti.fi/3w2jfQ1
• Handful of Leaves, Oct. 14, 2025; Pat Macpherson and Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Five good places to practice in Asia (Go)

Avalokiteshvara, Dambulla, Ceylon

We love traveling to Asia in search of enlightenment, Eastern philosophy, and peace. For centuries, even from the time of Prince Siddhartha (the future Buddha), people have traveled East to Asian locales in search of transcendent wisdom.

That wisdom still exists there but as always is hard to find. There are dangerous places along the way, like trolls under bridges to sacred places.  And there are sacred places.

Pa Auk Forest Monastery, Burma

Pa-Auk: A Meditator's Experience

The best is Pa Auk Forest Monastery in Burma (called Myanmar by the dictatorship), protected by the country's ongoing turmoil:

Myanmar Civil War (2021-present), Rohingya Muslim oppression by Burman Buddhist majority, Aung Sung Suu Kyi's house arrests, Chinese aid, Asia's Hitler Than Shwe and his horribly named SLORC ("State Law and Order Restoration Council"), the Saffron Revolution, poverty, police state corruption by generals and strongmen following Than Shwe...

There really is a place of authentic Buddhist practice with enlightened ones.

This British nun found Pa Auk Temple

the birthplace of George Orwell that inspired him to write British colonial classics like Nineteen Eighty-Four (which could have been written about the modern British settler colonial project known as the USA), Burmese Days, and short stories like Shooting an Elephant. There's no need for a Westerner to get caught up in the intrigue like beautiful actress Patricia Arquette in Beyond Rangoon...even though we want to see and help and be involved.

This Czech monk found the light in Pa Auk

Decades of trouble created a reserve for Buddhism to be practiced, as impossible as that may sound, like the great ecosystem and protected sanctuary that resulted from South and North Korea's DMZ. Internecine war in the Demilitarized Zone keeps people out and nature in, making it thrive with nature. How else could one explain a shaft of light in darkness? Danger keeps most away, but sincere seekers find paradise.

Knowing 'n Seeing (Ven. Pa Auk)

Goenka Art of Living retreat, Pan-Asia

Private practice in a cell closet cubicle

Everyone who goes to Asia for a good while ends up on a free 10-day Goenka mindfulness retreat (dhamma.org). But that can now be done here in the West. They are worldwide, and they play tape recordings of teacher S.N. Goenka giving the instructions (in a Transylvanian accent that no one but us seems to have noticed or commented on). Earplugs are good rather than being interrupted by echoes of his Burmese Buddhist teacher U Ba Khin's words for one interpretation of vipassana (Buddhist insight meditation) among many.

Shaolin Temple, China

Quiet contemplation or international showing off?

There may not be much Buddhist instruction in the sense of learning the Dharma or even Taoism at the Shaolin Temple nowadays, but there is a lot of kung fu and physical training to ready the body if one should ever take up meditation in earnest like Bodhidharma did.

Start preparing now. Here are some poses.

But why would anybody when there's training, fighting, and defending to do? And there are international competitions and traveling demonstration tours. It's a citadel of Chinese monasticism and history. So who has time for the practice everyone is ostensibly defending? The communist regime and its capitalist motives want more "martial" (war) and less meditative serenity because the only thing worse than a Mahayana monk or nun without a serious meditation practice is one who is not out there chopping wood (with the barehanded karate chops) and carrying water (in buckets on a pole over the shoulders), striving in the way of Zen's nonstriving with and koans and sesshins catnaps.

Wat Pah Nanachat, Northeast Thailand (Isan)

Roshi, Ajahn Sumedho, George Sharp, Ajahn Chah, Ajahn Khemadhammo, Hampstead Vihara, UK

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Ajahn Chah: wisdom so powerful, it's simple.

There is a famous forest temple near the Golden Triangle, where Laotians, Cambodians, and Thais meet to do business and internationally traffic drugs. It is more famous for quiet meditation and arduous mindfulness in the tradition of Ajahn Chah (and Jack Kornfield, Ajahn Sumedho, Ajahn Brahm, and a whole line of Western teachers trained by the Theravada meditation master of the Thai Forest Tradition).

Fo Guang Shan, Taiwan (PRC)

Fo Guang Shan Monastery Worldwide Web (fgs.org.tw) might be a nice international place to visit for the practice of devotion Amitabha and Kwan Yin worship, light on Buddhist theory and heavy on ritual practices and repentance, very catholic and at the core leaning to a distinction few other than Alan Watts seems to mention: There are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there's still time to change the road you're on," Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin sings in "Stairway to Heaven." And in Buddhism those two paths would be called jiriki and tariki. This is at the core of practice -- what to practice? Self-powered or other-powered? Effort or devotion? Theravada (the teachings of the historical Buddha) or Mahayana (the teachings of many "Cosmic Buddhas")?

Japan in particular went heavy for the other-powered way, where a divine or higher power does the striving. But China followed suit to make worship of deities like Amitabha and Guanyin the top priorities for temples and lay devotees. Since no one can save oneself, we need to be saved. It's the Christian way, too, the point of Catholicism -- worldwide takeover of faith, devotion, intercessionary prayer, and anything to take the responsibility off of me for my own salvation (liberation, awakening, realization, enlightenment). It makes sense, but it is not what the historical Buddha taught.

We certainly need help (of a Buddha/Teacher, Dharma/Teaching, and Noble Sangha/Successfully Taught), but we must do it (practice) ourselves because we ourselves are responsible for ourselves. That's not the path of devotion.

We worship the Goddess Guanyin

What makes Hinduism, Catholicism, Christianity, Islam, and Pure Land (Mahayana) Buddhism so promising, inviting, and easy? It's DEVOTION over everything else. It's a popularity contest with whatever resonates, promising to do it for you if you'll only commit to worship. In this Dark Age (Kali Yuga), that's all we can seem to hope for from people is craving and faith, lust and praying for forgiveness, desire and guilt. So these will only grow stronger, as in the Nichiren Buddhist movement to pray one mantra over and over (like Hindu japa mantra-repetition practice) to get all your wishes, The Secret style. Here's the "secret" recitation: Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō. Just don't ask what it translates as because you may be disappointed.

• Eds., Wisdom Quarterly, August 2024

Our Real Home: On Dying (Ajahn Chah)

Our Real Home: A Talk to an Aging Lay Disciple Approaching Death

Ajahn Chah (translated from the Thai by The Sangha at Wat Pah Nanachat © 1994)

Ajahn Chah was regarded as an arahant.

Now determine in your mind to listen with respect to the Dhamma. During the time that I am speaking, be as attentive to my words as if it were the Lord Buddha himself sitting in front of you.

Close your eyes and make yourself comfortable, compose your mind and make it one-pointed. Humbly allow the Triple Gem [Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha] of wisdom, truth, and purity to abide in your heart as a way of showing respect to the Fully Enlightened One.

Today I have brought nothing material of any substance to offer you, only Dhamma, the teachings of the Lord Buddha. Listen well. You should understand that even the Buddha himself, with his great store of accumulated virtue, could not avoid physical death.

When he reached old age, he relinquished his body and let go of its heavy burden. Now you too must learn to be satisfied with the many years you've already depended on your body.

You should feel that it's enough.

You can compare it to household utensils you've had for a long time — your cups, saucers, plates, and so on. When you first had them, they were clean and shining, but now after using them for so long, they're starting to wear out.

Some are already broken, some have disappeared and those that are left are deteriorating; they have no stable form, and it's their nature to be like that. Your body is the same way — it's been continually changing right from the day you were born, through childhood and youth, until now it's reached old age. You must accept that.

The Buddha said that conditions (sankharas), whether they are internal conditions, bodily conditions, or external conditions, are not-self, their nature is to change. Contemplate this truth until you see it clearly.

This very lump of flesh that lies here in decline is saccadhamma, the truth. The truth of this body is saccadhamma, and it is the unchanging teaching of the Buddha. The Buddha taught us to look at the body, to contemplate it, and come to terms with its nature.

We must be able to be at peace with the body, whatever state it is in. The Buddha taught that we should ensure that it's only the body that is locked up in jail and not let the mind be imprisoned along with it.

Now as your body begins to run down and deteriorate with age, don't resist that, but don't let your mind deteriorate with it. Keep the mind separate.

Give energy to the mind by realizing the truth of the way things are. The Lord Buddha taught that this is the nature of the body, it can't be any other way: having been born it gets old and sick and then it dies. This is a great truth you are presently encountering. Look at the body with wisdom and realize it. More

Treasure trove beneath 1,300-y-o Buddha

 

The Buddha reclining into final nirvana (Unsplash/Sam Szuchan)

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Digging crew surprised to find ‘treasure trove’ beneath 1,300-year-old reclining Buddha statue in Thailand

พระพุทธไสยาสวัดพระเชตุพน (Wat Pho)

The discovery of treasure troves always makes for interesting stories. One such incident comes from Thailand, where workers found a massive collection of gold, silver, and bronze while digging a drainage system, states Popular Mechanics.

The workers were digging four feet below the famous reclining Buddha statue in the Wat Thammachak Sema Ram Temple complex in Northeastern Thailand when they came across the mind-blowing collection.

• Wat Pho, Bangkok's giant reclining Buddha

The community was stunned that the Buddha statue they had been venerating for years was lying on such a valuable treasure. 

The crew spotted the treasure inside a container. In total, the collection had 33 ancient ornaments, made from gold, silver, and bronze, according to Thailand’s Fine Arts Department. There were several kinds of jewelry pieces inside the container, ranging from rings, earrings, to hoops.

Researchers believe that the ornaments were 1,300 years old, based on their designs. The style of the found jewelry was very similar to what was popular in the Dvaravati period, which lasted from the 6th to the 11th century in Thailand.

Researchers think that the collection could be offerings to the Buddha Shakyamuni, as the temple was massively popular during the Dvaravati period, according to Interesting Engineering.

The work on the jewelry pieces is clearly indicative of the exceptional artistic talent within the community back then. Similar collections have been spotted in places like Phu Khao Thong in Ranong Province and Tha Chana in Surat Thani.

This implies that in the past, there was an extensive network of cultural exchange throughout the Southeast Asian country. More

• Somdatta Maity, Front Page Detectives via MSN.com, May 16, 2025; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Mindful Way: Theravada Ajahn Chah

The Mindful Way | documentary on Theravada Buddhism | Ajahn Chah

(Dhamma Source) This BBC documentary, made in 1977, shows the daily life in the main Theravada Buddhist monastery of Ajahn Chah (ajahnchah.org), Wat Pah Pong, in Ubon Rachathani, Northeast Thailand (Isan).

Ajahn Chah was Ven. Chah Subhaddo (Thai ชา สุภัทโท), occasionally with the honorific titles Luang Por and Phra. He is also known by his honorific name "Phra Bodhiñāṇathera" (Thai พระโพธิญาณเถร [1], Chao Khun Bodhinyana Thera [2]). He was an enlightened Buddhist monk (June 17, 1918–January 16, 1992 [3]) famous for effectively being able to teach Westerners.

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  Why is this man happy?

  To state that he was "enlightened" is to say he was a "noble one" (ariyan), which is to say he experienced a "change of lineage" from "ordinary uninstructed worldling" to enlightened one by attaining any of the various stages of awakening from stream entry to arhatship. (We normally say there are four stages, but there are more according to the Path to Freedom (Vimuttimagga), which distinguishes various kinds of stream enterers). In the case of Ajahn Chah, he is presumed to have been an arahant, which means "fully enlightened." This, sadly, is said of monks just for being wise, or longstanding members of the Monastic Sangha, or has good moral behavior, or out of respect for one's teacher, or misunderstanding what enlightenment (bodhi) literally means and implies. The term should not be thrown around lightly because it is very rare; the opposite mistake is also made of never using it as if it no longer existed in the world, which it does. The belief that it doesn't exist is considered wrong view (miccha ditthi), though logic dictates that one day that will be true and there will be no more arhats in the world (but maybe still some stream enterers) so long as the Dharma is still in the world.

He was an influential teacher of the Buddha Dhamma (Buddhist Doctrine or Dharma) 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 (and the popular practice of vipassana or "insight meditation" rooted in systematic mindfulness practice from the Maha Satipatthana Sutta) in the West.

Beginning in 1979 with the founding of Cittaviveka (commonly known as Chithurst Buddhist Monastery) [4] 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. Read more about Theravada Buddhism on Dhammasource.com. Rights owned or controlled by The Open University.

• Ajahn Chah, The Mindful Way, via Dhamma Source, July 26, 2021; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Perfections: Ajahn Nando (Clear Mountain)

Clear Mountain Monastery, Aug. 5, 2023; Amber Larson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Building pāramī | Western Buddhist monk Ajahn Nando

(Clear Mountain Monastery) Clear Mountain Monastery Podcast In this session Ven. Nando teaches about the concept of the spiritual "perfections" (pāramī). Often spoken about as ten qualities, pāramī represents a strength of heart that can be developed through practice on and beyond the cushion.

ABOUT: Ajahn Nando was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. At the age of 21 he travelled to Thailand to stay at the International Meditation Center, Wat Pah Nanachat. He took full monastic ordination at the age of 22. During his monastic life he has had the opportunity to live with several renowned Thai Forest Tradition monks, including Ajahn Anan, Luang Por Piak, and Luang Por Bun-Deet.

To join via Zoom on Saturdays, visit Clear Mountain Monastery's website and click on the link for the Saturday Morning Meditation, Teaching, and Coffee Social (clearmountainmonastery.org). Welcome!

• To participate in Saturday chanting, use this PDF: cdn.amaravati.org/wp-content... 
• Tune in with fellow practitioners every Wednesday evening from 6:00-6:45 pm or Saturday mornings from 9:30 am-11:00 am for a Dhamma talk and Q&A with Ajahn Kovilo or Ajahn Nisabho.
• Saturday mornings begin with a 30-minute meditation.
• Wednesday evening Q&A sessions are followed by a discussion on Zoom from 6:45-7:30 pm.
• See clearmountainmonastery.org or visit linktr.ee/clear_mountain_monastery... for details. 

In the forest of meditation (video)

True Little Monk (short video documentary, July 21 2018); TEXT by Ajahn Chah (ajahnchah.org) via Ven. Sujato and Ellie Askew, edited by Dhr. Seven, Wisdom Quarterly

Here is a rare documentary about Ajahn Chah's Thai meditation center for Westerners, the "International Forest Monastery" (Wat Pah Nanachat) in Ubon Ratchathani, Northeast Thailand from True Little Monk: The Wisdom Training Program for Novices.

There are two kinds of suffering....become free.

Westerners are generally in a hurry. So they experience greater extremes of happiness and suffering. The fact that they have much defilement (kilesā) can be a source of wisdom later on.

To live the lay life and practice Dharma (Pali Dhamma), one must be in the world but must rise and remain above it. Virtue (sīla), which begins with the basic Five Precepts, is the all-important parent of all good things.

It is for removing all wrong from the mind/heart, removing that which causes agitation and distress. When these basic things are gone, the heart/mind will always be in a state of serene mental coherence (samādhi).

At first, the basic thing is to make virtue really firm. Practice formal meditation when there is the opportunity. Sometimes it will be good, sometimes not. Don’t worry about it, just continue.

If doubts arise, just realize that they, like everything else in the mind, are impermanent.

From this base, mental coherence (samādhi) will come, but not yet wisdom. One must watch the mind at work -- see like and dislike arising from sense contact [with the pleasant and unpleasant things], and not attach to or reject them.

Let’s not be anxious for results or sudden progress. An infant first crawls then learns to walk then to run.

When one is fully grown and able to run, one can travel half way around the world to Thailand [to practice in forest meditation centers like Wat Pah Nanachat].

A Western monk explains the Path (video)

Ajahn Nyanadhammo via True Little Monk; Ellie Askew, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Ajahn Chah's student on kindness

Buddhist Teachings (collectively referred to as the Dhamma, or "what is true for everyone in the world") deal with noble focus and good thinking in kind and positive ways, first toward oneself then eventually toward all beings. Here Ajahn ("Teacher") Nyanadhammo talks about how to be kind and compassionate to all living beings and the benefits of doing so.

ABOUT: Ven. Nyanadhammo was born in 1955 in Australia, where he studied biology in college. His contact with the Dharma came from reading a Buddhist book, which eventually inspired him to travel to Thailand to receive his novice ordination in 1978 at Wat Bowon Niwet Wiharn in Bangkok. Full ordination as a monk followed in 1979 at the age of 24, under Ven. Ajahn Chah at Wat Pah Pong in Ubon Ratchathani. In 2002, he became abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat, the Western branch monastery with an international community of English-speaking monks. In 2007, he became abbot of Wat Ratanawan, where he currently resides (bubsoc.org).

"Food for the Heart (Collected Teachings)"

Abhayagiri Monastic Foundation, Audible; Dhr. Seven, Ellie Askew (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Foreword by Jack Kornfield. Introduction by Ajahn Amaro. Only from Audible.

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Food for the Heart: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah

Why do we practice? We practice to let go.

Renowned for the simplicity and beauty of his teaching of Buddhism, Ajahn Chah was Thailand's best-known Theravada meditation teacher.

His charisma and wisdom influenced many American and European seekers of enlightenment, and they helped shape the American vipassana (insight meditation) community.

This collection brings together for the first time Ajahn Chah's most powerful teachings, including those on meditation, liberation from suffering, calming the mind, enlightenment, and the "living Dharma."

Most of these talks have previously been available only in limited, private editions. Therefore, the publication of Food for the Heart represents a momentous occasion: the hugely increased accessibility of this Buddhist master's words and wisdom.

Western Buddhist teachers such as Jack Kornfield, Ram Dass, Trudy Goodman, Goenka, and British monks Ajahn Brahm, Ajahn Amaro, and Ajahn Sumedho have extolled Ven. Chah's teachings for years, and now listeners can experience them directly in this release. More + AUDIO SAMPLE

When it's time to die and you're next (audio)

Ajahn Jayasaro, "Our Real Home: A Talk to an Aging Lay Disciple Approaching Death" by Ajahn Chah, Sangha at Wat Pah Nanachat (trans.), 1983dukkha, Ellie Askew, Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah (2012), a complete collection of talks translated into English, recorded by Abbot Ajahn Amaro, Amaravati, England.

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This body is hurtling toward destruction.

Now determine in your mind to listen with respect to the Dhamma (the Dharma, the Buddha's Teaching). During the time that I am speaking, be as attentive to my words as if it were the Buddha himself sitting in front of you.

Close your eyes and make yourself comfortable, compose your mind, and make it one-pointed. Humbly allow the Triple Gem of wisdom, truth, and purity to abide in your heart as a way of showing respect to the Fully Enlightened One.

"We practice to learn letting go." - Ajahn Chah

Today I have brought nothing material of any substance to offer you, only Dhamma, the teachings of the Buddha. Listen well. You should understand that even the Buddha himself, with his great store of accumulated virtue [good karma], could not avoid physical death.

When he reached old age he relinquished his body and let go of its heavy burden. Now you, too, must learn to be satisfied with the many years you've already depended on your body. You should feel that it's enough.

You can compare it to household utensils you've had for a long time — your cups, saucers, plates, and so on. When you first had them they were clean and shining, but now after using them for so long, they're starting to wear out. Some are already broken, some have disappeared, and those that are left are deteriorating. They have no stable form, and it's their nature to be like that.

Your body is the same way: It's been continually changing right from the day you were born, through childhood and youth, until now it's reached old age. You must accept that. The Buddha said that conditions (sankharas), whether they are internal conditions, bodily conditions, or external conditions, are not-self (impersonal), their nature is to change. Contemplate this truth until you see it clearly.

One day, black and blue, this body is a log.

This very lump of flesh that lies here in decline is sacca-dhamma, the truth. The truth of this body is sacca-dhamma, and it is the unchanging teaching of the Buddha. The Buddha taught us to look at the body, to contemplate it and come to terms with its nature.

We must be able to be at peace with the body, whatever state it is in. The Buddha taught that we should ensure that it's only the body that is locked up in jail and not let the mind be imprisoned along with it.

Now as your body begins to run down and deteriorate with age, don't resist that, but don't let your mind deteriorate with it. Keep the mind separate. Give energy to the mind by realizing the truth of the way things are.

The Buddha taught that this is the nature of the body. It can't be any other way: Having been born, it gets old and sick, and then it dies. This is a great truth you are presently encountering. Look at the body with wisdom and realize it.

Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, England

Even if your house is flooded or burnt to the ground, whatever the danger that threatens it, let it concern only the house. If there's a flood, don't let it flood your mind. If there's a fire, don't let it burn your heart. Let it be merely the house, which is external to you, that is flooded and burnt. Allow the mind to let go of attachments.

The time is ripe. You've been alive a long time. More

Mindfulness in the toilet, Part #2 (cartoon)

B&B; Dhr. Seven, Jason, Ellie, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly

Mindfulness means awareness of all one is doing or experiencing in the present.

Enlightened advice

"We practice to learn letting go." - Ajahn Chah

There is a funny story told about the enlightened Thai Buddhist Meditation Master Ajahn Chah (ajahnchah.org). It seems there was once a young Western monk who was stressed and dissatisfied with the monastic life. He had left a very beautiful girlfriend back home, and he missed her. His erotic thoughts about her pestered him and often ruined his meditation.

Hi, Jason! Want to come to the museum with us?

Such intrusive thoughts left him agitated, dejected, confused, and filled with great sensual longing and misgivings about having abandoned the worldly life to live the left-home life in the beautiful and peaceful Thai forest.

One day while standing with another monk on the road in Isan, a car pulled up. It was Ajahn Chah's driver, and the great master was in the front seat. He motioned them, asking if they would like a ride back to Wat Pah Nanachat, the international Buddhist meditation center. They were about to jump in. But the young Western monk did not feel worthy. He hesitated. His friend convinced him that it was all right.

Wat Pah Nanachat ("International Forest Monastery") for Westerners, Northeast Thailand

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Ask the meditation master. He knows everything.

In the car Ajahn Chah sensed something was not right with the white monk, only a year into his training. He asked if it was by any chance a girl? The young monk was shocked that the great master might understand such things as tug at a young man's fancy and cleave painfully to his heart.

Ajahn Chah asked if it was possible for the young monk to perhaps contact the girl. It was, but what was the use? Ajahn Chah suggested that it might help his meditation greatly if he requested her to send him something, a reminder of herself and all that he left behind.

Love letter and lock of hair (NA)

The young monk's eyes widened. He was very interested and in awe of Ajahn Chah's liberal mindedness. But what would I do with the token she sent me? Monks aren't allowed to have anything but the five requisites and maybe some books.

Well, Ajahn Chah suggested, you could put it in a bottle with a cork, maybe wear it around your neck? And then that way every time you felt great longing for her, at night when you really missed her and what you had had with her, you could uncork it and take a little whiff.

The monk was ecstatic at the possibility and honored at the special exemption he was being offered by their great master. He said, you mean like a lock of her hair or a perfumed love letter or used stockings? No, Ajahn Chah, explained:

Sure, I can send you something.

I was thinking you ask her for some of her _ _ _ _ and keep that in the bottle. That way every time you miss her, you take the slightest whiff, and I don't think you'll miss her much anymore. You'll be filled with revulsion. And it should do wonders for your meditation and letting go.

The young monk pursed his lips and smiled. He should have known better than to think he could get away with some alluring reminder of the cramped home-bound life he left behind. His meditation improved dramatically just calling to mind the great master's advice, and there was not even any need to contact his ex.

My ex? He wants something? I'll send that S.O.B. a reminder of me he'll never forget!