Food for the Heart: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah [Paperback]

Ajahn Chah (Author), Ajahn Amaro (Introduction), Jack Kornfield (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2002

Renowned for the beauty and simplicity of his teachings, Ajahn Chah was Thailand's best-known meditation teacher. His charisma and wisdom influenced many American and European seekers, and helped shape the American Vipassana 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 dhamma''. Most of these talks have previously only been available in limited, private editions, and the publication of Food for the Heart therefore represents a momentous occasion—the hugely increased accessibility of his words and wisdom. Western teachers such as Ram Dass and Jack Kornfield have extolled Chah's teachings for years and now readers can experience them directly in this book.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Buddhism practiced and preached at the monastery at Wat Pah Pong in northeast Thailand has grown in popularity in part because of its gifted leader and speaker, the late Ajahn Chah. This compilation of talks given by Ajahn (acharya or teacher in Sanskrit) Chah extols the virtues of practice over pedantry, and makes judicious use of the technical vocabulary of Buddhism, which can be daunting to casual readers. But even without the full glossary of terms and explanatory notes, Ajahn Chah's humorous, analogy-laden narration of his tradition's Buddhist practice a practice that is basic and almost reductionistic, similar to modern Zen makes these teachings accessible to beginners and appealing to serious practitioners. More troubling is the lack of context for Ajahn Chah's talks: no dates or details are given. For instance, readers who encounter the injunction to renounce familial ties alongside a consideration of how spousal sexual relations may conform to the Four Noble Truths may be perplexed if they do not know that Ajahn Chah tailored his talks to the needs of both monastics and lay practitioners on quite separate occasions and in varying contexts. Also, there is very little introductory material about what distinguishes the Thai Forest tradition, other than a definition of tudong (forest pilgrimage and meditation) and the fact that it belongs to Theravada, the minority of the two great doctrinal divisions within Buddhism. However, this is a valuable collection of the Thai Buddhist master's thoughts.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Ajahn Chah's teachings are simple, clear, profoundly helpful. This book is a great contribution to the Dharma in the West." -- Joseph Goldstein, author of One Dharma

Product Details

• Paperback: 427 pages
• Publisher: Wisdom Publications; 1st edition (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0861713230
• ISBN-13: 978-0861713233
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #119,925 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There has never been a Buddhist book so valuable, April 8, 2003

By 

Sean Hoade (Las Vegas, Nevada USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Food for the Heart: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah (Paperback)

I read a lot of Buddhist books, and they all have value in one way or another. But never have I read a book that had ALL of the value of the other books between just one set of covers. This is that book.

Ajahn Chah of course was (and through his students still is) a marvelous teacher, with the gifts of humor and directness. Even in translation, you get a full feeling of what it must have been like to listen to this man talk. (Although, as Brahmavamso says, we laypeople get the jewels of sometimes all-night talks. Sorry, Ajahn Brahm!) This book is like having Luang Por speak directly to you, with kindness and toughness at the same time.

I "sipped" a chapter of this book a week, never wanting it to end. I have been reading it for six months now and finally finished it, and I will probably start over from the beginning and do it again. It is not overstating the point to say that this book is a gift to humanity.

Also, and this is less important but still nice, Food for the Heart is a truly handsome book. It's technically paperback, but with jacket tabs and a strong cover. The paper is thick and creamy--sorry if I'm enjoying my senses too much! :) And the typography is very pleasing. It's just a wonderful, wonderful book.

46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's like hearing him speak!, January 2, 2003

By 

M. Dillon "Just A Reviewer" (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Food for the Heart: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah (Paperback)

This collection of talks from Ajahn Chah is well done. His first book, "A Still Forest Pool" was a breath of fresh air. The 'chapters' we short, some just a few sentences long, and were filled with deep teachings. 'Food for the Heart" offers long chapters and the incredibleness that was Ajahn Chah seems to jump off the pages. These talks have been translated from Thai and whoever did the translation did such a great job that often I feel as though I am 'hearing' the teaching instead of reading it.

"If you want to know the Dhamma, where do you look? You must look within the body and the mind. You won't find it on a bookshelf. To really see the Dhamma you have to look within your own body and mind - there are only these two things. The mind is not visible to the physical eye, it must be seen with the "mind's eye." The Dhamma that is in the body must be seen in the body. And with what do we look at the body? We look at the body with the mind. You won't find the Dhamma by looking anywhere else, because both happiness and suffering arise right here. Or maybe you've seen happiness arising in the trees? Or from the rivers, or the weather? Happiness and suffering are feelings that arise in our own bodies and mind." From Food for the Heart - page 336

So direct! This is Ajahn Chah really teaching and encouraging us to practice the Dhamma. His style of teaching truly encourages me to get on the cushion, and also to practice when I'm not on the cushion. There is no 'down time.'

If you are new to Buddhism you might really enjoy his first offering, 'A Still Forest Pool' but if you have some background and are seeking a teacher who can inspire and really point the way to the Buddha's teachings, this is a wonderful book.

I hope you enjoy it!

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chah's forest path., September 28, 2002

By 

G. Merritt (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Food for the Heart: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah (Paperback)

Ajahn Chah (1919-1992) is Thailand's best-known Buddhist monk. Committed to a life of simplicity and renunciation, Chah became a monastic at age nine, and after the death of his father, he lived in Thailand's caves, forests and charnal grounds as an ascetic, wandering monk until his death at age 73. More than one million people visited Chah's monastery at the time of his funeral ceremony ten years ago (p. 36). Jack Kornfield calls Chah "the wisest man" he has ever met (p. 7).

Breiter's BEING DHARMA (2001) provided readers with a good introduction to Chah's teachings, and FOOD FOR THE HEART is a wise book for students interested in integrating a serious dharma practice into their lives. Organized into three parts, "Conduct," "Meditation," and "Wisdom," FOOD FOR THE HEART is the first definitive collection of Chah's simple, yet profound teachings about practicing "the Dhamma" continuously. Chah taught that no matter what life you live, practicing "the Dhamma" will transform your life (p. 8). "The mind is similar to a leaf;" it trembles and flutters in the winds of suffering (p. 136). Studying books without meditation practice, he says, brings no results (pp. 154; 395) to calm the mind. One who reads books without practicing is like a ladle in a pot that doesn't know the flavor of the soup (p. 396). In this book, Chah not only encourages us to read our hearts through meditation practice (p. 154), he shows us how to meditate so that we may find "the path of a peaceful sage" (p. 205) and live our lives mindfully.

G. Merritt