Ajahn Chah: What is the Way of Practice?

Ajahn Chah (ajahnchah.org) via Ven. Sujato, Ellie Askew; Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

The Buddha's path-of-practice or patipada leads to nirvana, the end of all suffering.

 

Walk this patipada/path.

Practice is also paṭipadā. What is paṭipadā? It is the way of practice: persistently, evenly, consistently. Don’t practice like Old Reverend Peh. One Rains Retreat he determined to stop talking.

He stopped talking all right, but then he started writing notes. "Tomorrow please toast me some rice." He wanted to eat toasted rice! He stopped talking but ended up writing so many notes that he was even more scattered than before.

One minute he’d write one thing, the next another. What a farce! I don’t know why he bothered determining not to talk. He didn’t know what the way of practice was.

Actually our practice is to be content with little, to just be natural. Don’t worry whether you feel lazy or diligent. Don’t even say "I’m diligent" or "I’m lazy."

Most people practice only when they feel diligent. If they feel lazy, they don’t bother. This is how people usually are.

But meditators/monastics shouldn’t think like that. If you are diligent, you practice. When you are lazy, you still practice!

Don’t bother with other things. Cut them off. Throw them out. Train yourself. Practice consistently, whether by day or night, this year, next year, whatever the time.

Don’t pay attention to thoughts of diligence or laziness. Don’t worry whether it’s hot or cold, Just do it. This is called sammā paṭipadā -- "right practice."