Venerable Father: A Life with Ajahn Chah [Paperback]

Paul Breiter (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1931044813 | ISBN-13: 978-1931044813 | Publication Date: September 15, 2004 | Edition: Special

Available until now only in limited editions, "Venerable Father" has become an underground classic among Buddhists, especially those practicing the Thai tradition. It details the joys and struggles of Paul Breiter's years with Ajahn Chah, who was perhaps Thailand¿s best-known and most-loved Buddhist master. Breiter describes Ajahn Chah as a figure who is at once human yet extraordinary, an orthodox yet unconventional teacher whose remarkable skill, patience, and compassion in training disciples flowed naturally from his deep and joyous realization of the truth. Breiter also explains, quite vividly, the life of a Westerner in a Thai forest monastery and the unique spiritual lessons to be learned there. PAUL BREITER ordained in the Theravada Buddhist tradition in Thailand in 1970 and soon thereafter met Ajahn Chah. He became one of Ajahn Chah's favorite disciples and his translator, and stayed with him until disrobing in 1977. Since then, he has maintained close ties to Ajahn Chah's lineage while studying Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, and he has continued to translate Ajahn Chah's teachings, which appear in "Still Forest Pool: The Insight Meditation of Achaan Chaa" (with Jack Kornfield) and "Being Dharma: The Essence of the Buddha¿s Teachings".

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Paul has produced a real treasure. Many here felt that they got the message of Ajahn Chah’s presence." -- - Ajahn Amaro, Amaravati Buddhist Monastery

"We are obliged to Paul Breiter for giving us A Still Forest Pool. This book will be a useful companion." -- - The Middle Way

From the Inside Flap

"Paul has produced a real treasure. Many here felt that they got the message of Ajahn Chah’s presence for the first time." - Ajahn Amaro, Amaravati Buddhist Monastery

"We are already obliged to Paul Breiter, along with Jack Kornfield, for giving us A Still Forest Pool. This book will be a useful companion." - The Middle Way

"Paul’s depictions of life at Wat Pah Pong in the early seventies were delightful and helped us develop a sense of the origins of many of the modes of practices and training that are carried on today. Also, Paul’s sense of humor and numerous experiences with Ajahn Chah’s fierce training were greatly enjoyed." - Fearless Mountain, Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery newsletter

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Paraview Special Editions; Special edition (September 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931044813
• ISBN-13: 978-1931044813
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #316,416 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A moving tribute -- and a guide to life as it might be lived, November 29, 2004

By 

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

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Venerable Father: A Life with Ajahn Chah (Paperback)

I've bought and read both Being Dharma and Still Forest Pool, and enjoyed them very much. But Venerable Father is far superior to them in giving this soft American a real idea of what it was like studying under and living with Ajahn Chah. I both envy Paul Breiter for his experience, and am really glad it was him rather than me going through it! :)

But seriously, this humble yet assured voice resonates throughout the book. Yes, it is the skill and compassion of Luang Por that is responsible for the quality of much of the book, but truly Breiter's frank evaluations of his experiences during and after life as a forest monk makes this much different from other, more traditional memoirs that I have read. I'm not saying that he's enlightened with a capital E, but during the course of the book the training (when fully followed, as Ajahn Chah taught) seems to automatically make the monks into more awake, more compassionate, less suffering people. The importance of even trivial-sounding Vinaya rules becomes apparent, and thus Chah's way is illuminated.

The sections of the book after he disrobes are even better. You can take the monk out of the forest (and his robes), but you can't take the forest out of the monk. These chapters were poignant and in some cases very funny indeed. Ajahn Chah's total intuitive understandng, and effortlessly devastating criticism, of Mahayana double-talk was especially amusing. For instance, to the Mahayana claim that we don't need to do anything to improve because our nature is originally perfect, when he says that's like saying if you put sh*t on a silver platter, you don't need to clean it before eating from it because the platter was originally clean! But all the time he is understanding totally how Mahayana, for all its linguistic troubles and even theological difficulties, is as dedicated to the path of freedom and compassion in its own very different way as is the Forest School.

This book is a gift. It gives us the feeling of sitting at Luang Por's feet -- the wonder and the horror of it, a highly (even totally) awakened master teaching each student to match his or her understanding, and a mischievous old man pushing his monks to the very edge of sanity, or a little beyond. I know I wouldn't want him tugging on my robes and laughing while I was trying to give a first Dhamma talk in Thai, but it would have been amazing to know and love this man. Venerable Father is as close as any of us will come to Ajahn Chah, and we have Paul Breiter to thank for it. I'm incredibly inspired to ordain, even more than before. Scared, too, of course, but living under the Vinaya sounds like a pure and productive way to live.

If you want to read Luang Por's words and get even more inspired, buy and read Being Dharma and Still Forest Pool, too!

NOTE: Be sure to buy this book in the Paraview edition. There are other, unauthorized reprints out there, and this is a beautiful volume.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buddhism: could it be Love?, January 26, 2005

By 

becca titus (missoula, MT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Venerable Father: A Life with Ajahn Chah (Paperback)

Venerable Father, I didn't want to put it down A 1970's true story of a western monk in Thailand monasteries, living the monk's life while living with and under the guidance of the very well respected Ajahn Chah. Entertaining and sometimes very funny, or other times almost painful is the image as you read, the story tells of the monk's real day and night life, the rules of practice, the daily and seasonal routines of practice, the tasks of maintaining the place, the meals, the living arrangements, and all the walking they do. Then there are the joys, hardships, issues, occurances and problems. It's interesting to find out how the monastic community tends to lay visitors and newly ordained monks, offering the teachings to one and all, even to children who are sent by their parents. It's a lot of work for the monks and Ajahns, often at it very late at night only to rise at three a.m. to do their own practice. But then in turn you read of lay people showing great reverence, bringing dona, meals, cloth, and caring for a monk outside the monastery grounds, when he goes out for alms, or into town to see a doctor for instance. He tells of other mundane life instances you don't generally get to read about. You really get a sence of, and then wonderment of how they do it. A deep appreciation grows.

A major aspect of the book is directed at Paul's path of Buddhism, through the wisdom and sometimes harsh guidance of Ajahn Chah. A monk is faced with many hardships and questions, and the enlightened Ajahn Chah's direction and answers were not often what Paul expected or wanted, but there was always so much love, friendship and faith in this joyous Ajahn's wisdom grew. Although sometimes confused and horrorstricken, Paul followed the Ajahn's teachings and ultimately he received lessons of profound insight, and peace. You get close to this often playful character, Lang Por, get a glimps of how he lived the Theravada tradition, was surely an enlightened being, had the wisdom, and was able to touch, teach and guide, so Buddhism has spread around the world. What a great teacher this man was, a true gift to us all, and so is Paul Breiter's book. it's a five star read. You need it in your library.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Venerable Father: A Life with Ajahn Chah, November 11, 2004

By 

Y.N. Wildman "Old Hippie" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Venerable Father: A Life with Ajahn Chah (Paperback)

I found Paul Breiter's "Venerable Father" poignant and compelling, both as a reminder of what it was like to come of age in those years of the 1970s and as a happy experience of the great friendship two persons can share.

First, the honest searching of a privileged generation for authenticity in life has largely been forgotten, or washed away in commercialism and popular culture. But Breiter's memoir is like turning a page back to the good and the bad of those times, but mostly to the energy and naivete.

Second, and relevant to all readers, is the insight into human friendship the book offers; albeit on an unconventional level more often pigeonholed as student-pupil or master-disciple.

In this case, the book is about basic human love, something that transcends Buddhism or any particular sect or religion. Obviously, Ajahn Chah saw something of himself in Breiter, perhaps a kindred humility and humor embodied in a younger person from a vastly different superficial world. And Breiter found a kindred spirit in the venerable father, but one who had learned and traveled his own way, and who saw the value in this young wayfarer.

Watching their relationship unfold, and with it Breiter's own inner evolution, proved immensely involving as a story. It was also spiritual on a gut level - and without any didacticism or heavy-handedness; certainly what Ajahn Chah embodied and the best testament one friend could offer to another.