Ajahn Chah: WHY practice Buddha-Dharma?

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

Listen up. The Force be with you. Practice!

In Buddhism, the primary reason we study and practice the Buddha's Dharma (Teaching) is to find the middle way to transcend suffering and attain nirvana (peace).

Whether we study  physical or mental phenomena — this form (body) or this mind, the stream of consciousness moments (cittas) and their accompanying mental factors (cetasikas) — it is only when we make liberation from suffering our ultimate goal above everything else, that we will be practicing in the correct way, which is to say in accordance with what the historical Buddha taught.

This is because suffering [dukkha, disappointment, never being satisfied, never finding enduring fulfillment] and its causes already exist right here and right now.

• [By "study," Ajahn Chah does not mean reading more books. Stop reading books. He means get on with the practice, putting the things taught by the Buddha into play (patipada) so that they will yield their results — immediate relief now and ultimate relief in the bliss of nirvana.]