Food for the Heart: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah- Review.

 

Dean Paradiso's Reviews > Food for the Heart: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah

Food for the Heart: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah
by 

Ajahn Chah,

 

Jack Kornfield (Goodreads Author) (Foreword),

 

Ajahn Amaro (Introduction)

Dean Paradiso's review

Dec 13, 2023  ·  edit

it was amazing

bookshelves: eastern-philosophy, buddhism, meditation, non-fiction

I enjoyed going through this book/audiobook. The audiobook was read out by Malcolm Smith and done in a relevant fashion. Some of the things I liked about this compilation were the variety of teachings, approaches, and ways in which Ajahn Chah expressed his approach. He made use of stories and colourful anecdotes that really highlighted the points that he was making about practice and how to approach the teachings of the Thai Forest tradition (Theravada) in general. Ajahn Chah's approach relies less on the suttas and commentaries, and more on practical advice and guidance that has been handed down in the Thai Forest tradition. Most of these talks were meant for monastics, novice monks and those who were serious about the practice of early Buddhism and seclusion. As such, they do require some background knowledge in the basic framework of the eightfold path, the Four Noble Truths, and the overall aims of early Buddhism. That said, beginners, can indeed gain much advice and insight into how to approach the path from a high level, and even some low level details related to sitting practice, walking practice and the importance of conduct (sila). AC uses the 3 groups of sila, samadhi and panna as his overall framework, rather than focusing on each of the eight steps in the Eightfold Path.

This compilation could be listened to multiple times, and one would gain something new out of it after each listening, since we approach the practice and teachings each time at a different stage in our development, and there might be some small piece of advice that could prove to be really useful at the time. I also appreciate that this compilation is one of the very few authorised compilations of Ajahn Chah's talks and teachings, and it serves a special place in preserving the approach taken in the Thai Forest monastic tradition of Buddhism.