Venerable Ajaan Khao Biography

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is an outstanding and distinguished figurein contemporary Thai Buddhism. He is

well-known and respected by people from all

walks of life for his impeccable wisdom and

brilliant expository skills. Because he

himself is truly a spiritual warrior, he is the

ideal person to record for posterity Ajaan

Khaos path of practice and his teachings.He is one of Ajaan Muns most

exceptionally gifted disciples; he is also one

of the dhutanga traditions truly masterful

spokesmen. His no-nonsense, resolute

character, his extraordinary charisma and

his rhetorical skills have established him as

Ajaan Muns natural successor.


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Venerable AjaanKhao Analayo


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The Gift of Dhamma Excels All Other Gifts

The Lord Buddha


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Venerable AjaanKhao Analayo

A True Spiritual Warrior

A M h B


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Venerable Ajaan Khao Analayo

All commercial rights reserved.

2006 by Ajaan Mah Boowa asampanno

Dhamma should not be sold like goods in the market place. Permission to reproduce thispublication in any way or ree distribution, as a git o Dhamma, is hereby granted and

no urther permission need be obtained. Reproduction in any way or commercial gain is

strictly prohibited.

Author: Ajaan Mah Boowa asampanno

Translator: Ajaan Pavaho

A Forest Dhamma Publication / December 2006


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Contents

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18

24

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61

75

Buddha PujaStepping Forth

Entering the Dhutanga Path

A Special Affinity for Elephants

Ajaan Muns Ascetic PathDhamma Principles in the Heart

The Dhamma Remedy

Locked in Spiritual Combat

Dhamma Puja

Th C l l C


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151166

173

186

Pure Moral VirtuesBenefiting the World

The Burden of the Khandhas

The Great Kilesa Family

epilogue

Appendix

notes

glossAry

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This printing is respectfully dedicated to

Ajaan Pavaho, who passed away on

August 18, 2004 before his translation of Ajaan

Khaos biography could be published. May his seless

devotion to spreading the true Dhamma be an

inspiration to all who read this book.


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Path One

Buddha Puja


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Stepping Forth

enerable Ajaan Khao Anlayo was born in the Yearo the Rat on Sunday December 28, 1888. His natal

village was Baan Bo Chaneng, located in the Nong Kaew sub-district o Amnat Charern district in the province o UbonRatchathani. His athers name was Phua and his mothers

Rort, and their surname was Khoratha. Khao Khoratha wasthe ourth o seven children.

Khao Khoratha was a armer by proession. Working hard,he prospered and made riends easily. By nature, he was honest

and upright, always displaying a warm-hearted, generous atti-tude toward amily and riends. Everyone loved and admiredhim. Because o this he had many acquaintances, who were all

V


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children together. He lived the lie o a lay person or manyyears, supporting his amily ollowing the customs o the world.It seems, however, that the relationship with his wie was not asmooth and happy one, due to the act that his wie was nevercontent to remain aithul to her husband. She had a tendency

to take advantage o his trusting nature adulterous behaviourthat became a poison damaging the heart o her partner, as wellas the wealth and stability o their amily. An unaithul spouseis like a destructive parasite which so damages the relationship

that husband and wie can no longer remain together.In Ajaan Khaos case, however, one is tempted to speculate

that his marital situation turned out to be a great boon or him,the ruition o some avourable kamma. For had he not been soemotionally traumatized, he may never have considered sacri-

cing everything to ordain as a Buddhist monk. In any event,it seems almost certain that he began seriously considering lieas a monk because o his wies indelity; and that he nallydecided to ordain or precisely this reason.

When a wie or a husband has a lover or a wie has manylovers and a husband has many mistresses the nger o blamepoints directly at rgatah, the kilesa o sexual craving. Never


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Path One Buddha Puja

greatest treasure. A harmonious, trusting relationship betweenhusband and wie is the essential wealth o any amily. Thepeace and happiness o the amily depends on their being ableto live in mutual trust and harmony and on their not goingthe way omahicchata; that is, husbands and wives whose illicit

lovers consume all their time and interest.Rgatah, the delement o sexual craving, is comparable

to a kitchen re both are necessary to establishing and main-taining a successul amily. Marriage is necessarily a sexual

partnership, while a kitchen re is indispensable or preparingthe amilys ood. Just as heat and electricity are commonrequisites o human lie, so too is rgataha undamental as-pect o human relations, and the driving orce behind mosthuman behaviour. I both are used careully, with proper cir-

cumspection, they can suciently ull peoples basic needs inlie. But i people carelessly ail to keep these two res undercontrol, they can certainly cause a confagration that destroyseverything in its path. For this reason, the wise have always

taught human beings who live under the infuence o the reso greed, hatred and delusion to think in terms o Dhamma.Dhamma is like cool water that quenches res in the heart,


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seeing his wies blatant indelity that he could hardly controlhimsel. Fortunately, he had sucient inherent virtue to realisejust in time that:

I I kill her, she will suer enormous pain, regardless othe act that she is guilty and knows shes guilty. Ater all, even

an insect bite can be unbearably painul, how much more sothe intense pain o death. So I must restrain mysel and care-ully consider the consequences beore its too late. Why am Iso eager to commit such a heinous crime? It is despicable be-

haviour that all good people abhor and all wise men stronglydenounce. What benet can I possibly gain rom killing her?All Ill gain is a heavy penalty o intense suering boundingback to burn me. Am I the only man who has an unaith-ul wie? Hasnt everyone in the world, including the Buddha,

hisArahant disciples and respectedAjaans, encountered simi-lar hellish situations in their lives? Am I really the only one? Imust consider quickly and make the right decision! Otherwise,Ill so damage mysel that Ill have no virtue let capable o

leading me to a good rebirth in the uture.My reaction to circumstances like this shall become

the yardstick by which I measure how clever or how stupid I


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unable to constrain mysel now, how will I ever be able to livea lie o virtue? By succumbing to the power o a sexual cravingthat knows no bounds, my wie has abused my trust in her.Should I now abuse her by sel-righteously succumbing to thepower o anger? I I take my revenge by killing both my wie and

her lover, which o us would be more despicable? According tothe Buddhas teaching, I would be committing such a gravekamma that no amount o love and compassion could absolveme or save me rom a certain descent into the agonies o hell.

Am I going to put my trust in the anger that is engulng myheart at this moment, or will I put my aith in the Dhammao the Lord Buddha a teaching that has always eectivelydiminished the pain and suering o living beings. Considerquickly and make the right decision; otherwise, the malevo-

lent power o the kilesas will overtake the Dhamma and totallydestroy me.

Ajaan Khao said that it was incredibly strange and amazing

how at the moment that this warning thought arose, it was asi a revered ajaan was sitting right in ront o him calming hisemotions. His heart, which had been like a blazing re ready to


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same mind and body. This caused him to refect back on thetight bind he had ound himsel in, and on how he had almostdestroyed himsel unwittingly by succumbing to the power oanger. He then refected on how he should properly conducthimsel so as not to become contaminated by the same kinds

o evil, destructive thoughts in the uture, abhorrent thoughtsthat appalled and disgusted him.

Previous to this incident, Ajaan Khao had thought onlyabout how to ull his worldly ambitions. Ater his wies in-

delity inspired him to think about Dhamma, most o histhinking was ocused in that direction, which in turn lead tohis resolution to be ordained as a monk. He nally realised theharmulness o the lay persons lie where his hopes and dreamswere more likely to meet with disappointment than they were

ullment. In the end, he was so severely hurt that he couldhardly bear it. Placing his entire aith in Dhamma, he decidedto ordain and practice the way o the Buddha to the utmosto his strength and ability. Once he had inormed his amily

and riends o his decision, he entered the local monastery asa white-robed upsika with the intention o becoming a monkas soon as possible.


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AjAAn KhAos ordinAtion took place at Wat Bodhi Srimonastery on May 2, 1919. Phra Khru Phuttisak was hisupajjhya and Ajaan Bunjan was his kammavcariya. He stayedat Wat Bodhi Sri studying the principles o Dhamma andVinaya or six years. During his stay there, he observed that the

conduct o his teachers and his ellow monks was erratic. Theywere oten neglectul in their observance o monastic disciplineand unreliable in their practice o meditation. What he sawwas contrary to his own pure intentions to ordain solely or the

realization oMagga and Phala. Ater considering the matterover and over very careully, he decided to leave the relativesecurity o the monastery to pursue the wandering liestyle o adhutanga monk. He then made his decision known to the abbotand his amily and riends.

Entering the Dhutanga Path

Beore leaving his village to practise Kammahna, AjaanKhao received nothing but discouragement rom practically


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going the way oKammahna; that in this age there are noDhutanga Kammahna Bhikkhus, except or those who sellmagic yantras, mantras, lockets which have magic properties,magic potions or infuencing others, ways o making peopleimpervious to bullets and knives, knowledge o auspicious

times and astrology. They assured him that as ar as ndingDhutanga Kammahna Bhikkhus who actually practise theway oDhutanga, there were none let nowadays. So he mustnot waste his time and tire himsel to no purpose, or to get to

a state o ease and happiness in that way was impossible.These were some o the many obstacles which blocked thepath o those who wanted to practise the way o the Dhutangasin those days. But Venerable Ajaan Khao was not prepared tolisten to any o them, although he did not object or argue with

them or it would not have been useul to either side. But deepwithin himsel he considered that:

These people are not the owners o the Buddhist religion,they are not the owners o the Path, Fruition andNibbna, nor

have they any power to make anyone else go mad, so why shouldI believe what they say. I have aith only in the Lord Buddha,in the Dhamma and in the Sangha o Svaka Arahants as


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can without considering anything else. I must search or truethings which accord with the basic principles o Dhamma thathave been handed down to us. I must strive in this way until Ireach the absolute limit o my strength and ability. I I shouldchance to die in the process, then I willingly give my lie and

entrust mysel to the supreme Dhamma.As he prepared to set out on his dhutanga wanderings,

all his ellow Bhikkhus and many lay people gathered in themonastery to see him o. Just beore he let he spoke truthully

rom his heart to those who had tried to stop him so as to leaveno doubt about his intentions, saying:When I have gone rom here, unless I can teach mysel

to attain the ultimate level ocitta and Dhamma I shall not re-turn to show my ace amongst you again. I am ready to die or

the sake o realising the true nature o Dhamma with clarityand insight, but not or anything else. Please remember whatI have said, just in case I have the right characteristics thatenable me to return and meet you again. The only likelihood

o my meeting you again will be i I realise the true nature oDhamma with clarity and absolute certainty.He said this at a time when many people were gathered


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telling them: See here, the diamond radiance in this heart,cant you see it? Are you all stupid enough to disparage me,saying that I will go mad by delving into strange things? Myheart is not in the same sphere as all o yours, such that you cangather it up into your clan to die worthlessly in the way a dog

dies. I am not prepared to die in the way that all o you wouldlead me towards death right now, or I intend to die in the waythat the Lord Buddha taught us by not leaving any seed obecoming remaining whatsoever. I have already died in your

way so many countless times that it is impossible to tell in howmany cemeteries I have ended my days. But although I may notbe able to know this with my own higher knowing aculty, Ihave aith in the Lord Buddha and his teaching, or his higherknowing aculty was supreme and unequalled.

As soon as he was ready, he said arewell and took his leave oall the Bhikkhus and learned people and walked away througha large crowd o lay ollowers. He then set out or That Phanom1

on oot through thick orests and jungles, ollowing paths wornby people and bualo carts; or in those days there were noroads, not even the roughest dirt roads, but only oot paths.


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Mun and study the way o practice with him. Ajaan Khaoknew o Ajaan Muns peerless reputation and was determinedto seek him out. He had heard that Ajaan Mun and AjaanSao were staying at Tha Bor in Nong Khai province, so romThat Phanom he set out walking to Nong Khai, a distance o

some 270 miles. Wandering by stages, he reached Nong Khaiin several months and went to see Ajaan Mun. He related:

I was only able to spend a short time training with himbeore he went away and disappeared into silence. Then I elt

a sense o hopelessness or a while because I had no teacher toteach and guide me. Several years later I heard that VenerableAjaan Mun had gone to stay and practise the way in theChiang Mai area, so I set out to ollow him by wandering inthe DhutangaKammahna way, going along the bank o the

Mekong River until I reached the province o Chiang Mai.Then I wandered about in the various districts o Chiang Maiwith peace and happiness.

The places where Ajaan Khao stayed and practised were

deep in the orests and hills and ar away rom any villages. Atthat time, Venerable Ajaan Mun was also wandering about inthe same area, but it was not easy to nd him because he always


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district o Chiang Mai province. Ajaan Mun preerred to livealone, so Ajaan Khao and Ajaan Waen camped in the moun-tains nearby and came oten to get instructions rom him.When the vassa period approached, he insisted that AjaanKhao and Ajaan Waen nd another monastery to spend the

retreat because the villagers supporting Ajaan Muns retreatwere poor and could not aord to support many monks.

Ajaan Khao said that he always tried to stay close byVenerable Ajaan Mun so that he could go to see him and learn

rom him when it was necessary. Whenever he approachedAjaan Mun to seek his advice about an aspect o Dhamma, histeacher always had compassion or him and taught him to theutmost o his ability without holding back or hiding anything but he would never let anybody stay with him. Still, Ajaan

Khao said that he was quite content that Ajaan Mun had com-passion or him and taught him at those times when it wasnecessary to go and ask him questions. Once he had cleared uphis problems, he paid his respects and let Ajaan Mun to live

alone, putting into practise what he had learnt. In this manner,he travelled back and orth quite oten.Ater living like this or several years, Venerable Ajaan


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about to leap into the sky so strong was his happiness andcontentment in the Dhamma that arose in his heart. No longerwas there any unease or sadness due to his practice being upand down sometimes progressing and sometimes declining as happened when he was staying in other places. From day

to day his heart steadily progressed, both in samdhi and inwisdom, and he became engrossed in striving day and nightwithout ever becoming satiated.

A Special Affinity for Elephants

Once Ajaan Khao was wandering dhutanga in the Chiang Mai

mountains with Ajaan Mun and Ajaan Mah Thong Sak. Asthey reached a narrow gap in the path leading up the moun-tain, they chanced upon a large, solitary elephant whose ownerhad released it and then wandered o some place. All theycould see there was a gigantic elephant with huge six-oot tuskssearching or ood quite a earsome sight. They conerredamong themselves about how to proceed. This was the only


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Big brother elephant, we wish to speak with you.Clearly hearing this, the elephant suddenly swung aroundto ace the monks. It stood stock-still, its ears ully extended.

Big brother elephant, we wish to speak with you. You areso very big and strong. We are just a group o monks, so weak

and so very rightened o you, big brother. We would like towalk past where you are standing. Would big brother pleasemove over a bit so that we have room to pass by? I you keepstanding there, it really rightens us, so we dont dare walk

past.As soon as he nished speaking, the elephant immediatelyturned to the side and thrust its tusks into the middle o aclump o bamboo, signalling its intention to let them pass un-harmed. Seeing it acing the clump o bamboo, Ajaan Mun

told the others that they could continue on as it would notbother them now. The two monks invited Ajaan Mun to walkbetween them, with Ajaan Khao walking in ront and AjaanMah Thong Sak ollowing behind. They walked past in single

le only six eet rom the elephants rear end, without incident.But as they were walking away, by chance the hook on AjaanMah Thong Saks umbrella got tangled in some bamboo just a


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that this elephant was a very endearing animal. Seeing thatthey were all saely past, Ajaan Khao turned to the elephant.Hey, big brother, weve all passed by now. Please relax and

eat in peace.As soon as he nished speaking, the sound o crunching,

breaking bamboo lled the air.Later the monks praised this intelligent elephant, agreeing

it was an animal that inspired aection and sympathy. Theonly aculty it lacked was the ability to speak. Ajaan Mah

Thong Sak was truly amazed how Ajaan Khao was able tospeak with the elephant as though it was just another humanbeing: Big brother, your little brothers are rightened and darenot pass. Please make way so that we can go by without earingbig brother. As soon as it received that bit o fattery, it was so

pleased that it immediately prepared to make way or them.

onAnotheroccAsion, Venerable Ajaan Khao was spending

the vassa period together with another Bhikkhu. Late onenight when it was very quiet, he was sitting in meditation in asmall hut. That night a large elephant, whose owner had let it


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orth. Meanwhile, Ajaan Khao sat repeating the parikammaBuddho, putting everything he had into it. Not having any-thing else to rely upon, he entrusted his heart and lie to thegenuine Buddho.

The large elephant continued to stand there quietly or

about two hours, as i it was waiting to catch him when hemoved, ready to tear him to pieces. Once in a while he heardits breath sning him rom outside the mosquito net. Whenit nally moved, it drew back, walked to the western end o

his hut and reached into a basket o sour tamarinds, which laypeople had brought Ajaan Khao to clean the lid o his bowl,then started to eat them, making a loud, crunching noise as ithey were delicious.

Ajaan Khao thought, Those tamarinds or cleaning my

bowl lid are going to be cleaned out. Soon there will be nonelet or sure. I the owner o this big belly nishes them o andcannot nd any more, it is sure to come into my hut and ndme and tear me to bits. So Id better go out and speak to it and

tell it some things that it should know. This animal knows thelanguage o people quite well since it has lived with people ora long time. When I speak to it, it will be more likely to listen


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Big brother, your small brother would like to say a ewwords to you, please listen to what I have to say to you now.As soon as the elephant heard the sound o his voice, it

went completely still and quiet without making a move. ThenAjaan Khao spoke to it in a mild, persuasive manner, saying:

Big brother, you have been brought up by people who havelooked ater you at their homes until you have now become ul-ly domesticated. You are thus ully aware o the ways o people,including the language that they speak, which they have used

to teach you or many years. You know all these things verywell; in act, you know them even better than some people do.So, big brother, you should also know the customs and laws opeople, and you should not just do anything that you eel likedoing as it suits your ancy. When you act in ways that are con-

trary to the ways o human beings, you can easily upset people.Then they may harm you, or, depending on what you do, theymay even kill you. People are ar more intelligent than all otheranimals in the world. All animals ear people more than any

other species. You, big brother, are in subjection to people, soyou should respect their ways, or human beings are more in-telligent than you are. I youre even a little bit stubborn or


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consume anything which causes intoxication or drunkenness,such as alcoholic liquors. To do so is wrong and evil.You must keep these precepts, or i you dont you can

all into hell when you die. There you will have to put up withgreat suering or long periods o time perhaps or aeons

beore you reach the end o the kamma that led you to helland you can rise out o it. But even ater getting ree rom hell,there will still be some remainder o your evil kamma whichwill lead you to lie ater lie as a ghost, a demon or an ani-

mal. In those births you will still suer the results o the evilkamma you made. Only then will you be able to take birth asa human being a birth very dicult to attain because o thebad kamma which oppresses you and holds you down.

So big brother, you must remember well what I have said

and practice what I have taught you. Then you will get ree romlie as an animal and be born as a human being or a Devatinyour next lie or sure. That is all I have to teach you now. Ihope that big brother will be glad to do these things. Now you

may go nd a place to rest or something to eat as you wish.Your younger brother will now go and practise his meditation.He will share some o his virtue with you and spread out mett


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earthquake while it drew back, turned around and went o. Itwalked away in a deliberate, thoughtul manner, as i it trulyunderstood everything it had heard.

Thinking about this incident I cannot help eeling a loto sympathy or one whose body was that o an animal, but

whose heart was that o a human being, able to appreciate theteaching on good and evil that it received without being ob-stinate or arrogant, as one might expect rom such a large andstrong animal. In act, it was very mild-mannered and appeared

to appreciate the moral teaching throughout and as soon asAjaan Khao told it to go, it immediately turned around andwent away. While listening to his teaching, it listened so at-tentively that it almost stopped breathing, just like those wholisten to a Dhamma talk given by Bhikkhus should with ull

respect or Dhamma.Ajaan Khao was amazing as well. He was so skilled in his

speech and his choice o words that even human beings wouldhave been enraptured and carried away by his talk, much

less an animal like an elephant. He used the most sweet andhoneyed language with such skill that it would be rare to ndanyone else who could do this, and equally rare to listen to it.


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while listening to the enchanting words o the teaching, whichare always desirable and o which one can never have enough,because they are things that are greatly valued by the heart.

Venerable Ajaan Khao continued to fatter the big ele-phant or quite a long time, until it became ascinated and

mesmerised by the sweet, gentle words which resonated deepinside or example:

Big brother, you are very strong, whereas I am small andmy strength cannot compare with yours so I eel araid o

you.Such fattery being one o the most powerul ways o en-chantment, he talked like this until the great elephant wentinto a trance while standing there, oblivious to everythingelse. It would even have been glad to disgorge the sour tama-

rinds that it had swallowed, to put them back in the basket orits charming little brother, without keeping even the taste othem. For this act was a disgrace to the dignity o an intelli-gent and noble elephant a walking store o virtue. Once its

belly was ull o Ajaan Khaos teachings, it went o to nd oodand never again came to bother him throughout the rest o thevassa period. Its quite remarkable that the heart o an animal


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the lay supporters to make up three paths or walking cakama.The rst one he used or paying homage (pj) to the LordBuddha, the second to the Dhamma and the third to the SvakaSangha o the Lord. He walked cakama on these three paths atdierent times o the day according to a xed schedule which he

kept to quite strictly. As soon as he had nished his meal in themorning, he walked cakama on the rst path paying homageto the Buddha, and continued walking until about midday. Attwo oclock in the aternoon, he started walking on the path

dedicated to the Dhamma and continued walking until 4 p.m.,when it was time to sweep the grounds and bathe. When hehad nished doing all his duties, he started to walk cakama onthe path reserved or paying homage to the Sangha. He conti-nued walking until 10 or 11 p.m., ater which he rested, sitting

in meditation or a while beore lying down to sleep. As soonas he woke up he would begin his samdhi meditation practiceagain. This lasted until dawn, when he walked cakama untilit was time or him to go onpiapta.

Some nights he would sit in meditation practice the wholenight, not getting up rom his seat until dawn. Normally whenhe sat in samdhi meditation, his heart was very bright ater


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brought him a calm and happiness so subtle and gentle that itwas quite indescribable. There were no supporting conditions(rammaa), however subtle, present in the citta. This meansthat the elements o existence (loka dhtu) disappeared simul-taneously with the disappearance o the supporting conditions.

This state remained until the citta withdrew rom it, ater whichthe supporting conditions that are the usual companions o thecitta gradually returned, bit by bit. Aterwards he would con-tinue working at his practice in the normal way.

When thecitta

has integrated and gone down into a stateo calm, it may remain in that state or several hours, but thereis no eeling o it being a long time such as it might normallyappear to be. This must surely be the state o eka citta, ekadhamma 3 just within the heart alone, without there being any-

thing else to orm a duality. Only when withdrawing rom thatstate is it possible to know that the citta integrated into a stateo calm and remained there or so long, or so many hours. Onthose nights when his meditation practice went smoothly and

attained calm easily, even i he sat the whole night through, itseemed like he had only been sitting or two or three hours.There were simply no hindrances to oppress him.


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It was at night and Ajaan Khao was walking cakama whenhe heard the sound o an elephant crashing through the junglebreaking branches and making a lot o noise. It was rushingtowards him, getting closer every minute, and there was notime or him to run away rom it. Then he remembered how

orest elephants are usually araid o re. So he quickly let thecakama path and went to get all his remaining candles romthe place where he was staying. He then stuck them into theground all along the sides o his cakama path and lit themas ast as he could. To any person who saw it, this would be abeautiul, peaceul sight, but it is hard to say how an elephant willreact to it. By the time he had nished setting up the candles,the elephant was almost upon him, giving him no possible wayo escape. All he could do was to set up a true resolve (sacca

adhihna) that the supernatural power o the Lord Buddha,the Dhamma and the Sangha might come to help and protecthim, a servant o the Lord Buddha, against this huge elephant.By that time the elephant had arrived. Stopping about two

meters away rom him at one side o his cakama path, it stoodthere without moving, its ears spread out. It was clearly visiblein the candle light, its huge body appearing as large as a hill.


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araid that his citta might slip rom Buddho, which was hisbest reuge at that time. Buddho and the citta then becameone and the same thing until the heart lost all ear and thereremained just knowing and the repetition o Buddho whichwere blended into one.

Meanwhile, the elephant just stood there like a mountain,looking at him without dgeting or moving, its ears spreadwide as i to indicate that it was not ready to accept any riendlyadvances. This accorded with the manner in which it chargedtowards Ajaan Khao when it rst approached him, comingstraight or him without hesitating. It acted as though it in-tended to crush him to death but when it reached him it juststood there like a lieless dummy.

As soon as the citta and Buddho went inward and came

together, becoming one and the same thing, Ajaan Khao lostall ear. In act, he elt positively bold and daring, condentthat he could have walked right up to the elephant withoutthe least eeling o ear. Having thought about it, he realised

that to walk right up to such a wild jungle animal would be anact o carelessness based on conceit, which he shouldnt do. Sohe kept on earlessly walking cakama in competition with the

h ddh


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This was the rst time that Venerable Ajaan Khao sawor himsel the extraordinary power o the citta and Buddho.He was aced with a critical situation without any way to es-cape or hide, so there was no alternative but to ace up to itusing these methods i he died it would be only because there

was no way to avoid it. This experience made him ully con-dent that no matter what happened, i the citta and Buddhobecame intimately blended together in a natural way, nothingcould possibly do any harm to him. He said that he becameabsolutely convinced o this and has remained so ever since.

It was also very strange how the elephant, instead o be-coming wild and violent when it reached him, just stood therequite calmly, its ears spread wide as it watched him walking inmeditation without getting tired o it. Once it had seen enough,

it drew back, turned round and went on its way searching orood in a manner that showed its stomach had lost all its ormeraggression.

One cannot help but eel more sympathy or this elephant

than or the previous one, which was a domesticated animalthat knew the language o people quite well. But this elephanthad been a wild animal living in the orest since birth and


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V bl Aj Kh A l


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der and vanish until they have all gone without leaving anytrace or seed that could grow again.

For mysel, I have a rather coarse and rough character,so I tend to have condence in the strict discipline and roughmethods that enable me to counteract those gross natural

tendencies within me called the kilesas. Like that time whenthe large elephant came walking up to me while I was walkingcakama. That was a time when I clearly saw the kilesas as wellas the Dhamma o the Lord Buddha within my heart. Normally,the heart which is dominated by the kilesas is very dicult todiscipline and train. Sometimes, those who set out to destroytheir kilesas end up dying beore they succeed in doing so. Thatis because o the mean tenacity o the savas4 which have beeneeding on our hearts or many ages. But as soon as I got to the

point where there was no escape when that great elephantcame to help me the most stubborn kilesas, the ones whichhad been so clever at resisting my eorts, all went into hiding though where they went I dont know. Then it became easyto instruct the heart. When I ordered the heart to remain xedto an aspect o Dhamma, it immediately agreed and did so. Itwas as i oil had been put in the machinery so that there was

P th O B ddh P j


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has always asserted control over my heart. As soon as the earthat was oppressing and deceiving my heart disappeared eventhough it may not have disappeared entirely I saw quite clearlyat that moment how baneul a thing it is. Ater that, wheneverear arose, as it did at times, I knew that what I experienced

then was enough to remind me that: This ear is not my riend,but an enemy who has come in the guise o a riend. It couldno longer make my heart have condence in it as beore. I re-solved that throughout my lie o striving or Dhamma I willendeavour to drive it out every time it arises, until the essentialnature o this enemy posing as a riend has entirely disappearedrom my heart. Only then can I relax and be happy and ree oall kinds o concerns and anxieties.

It seems to me that i we take reuge in Dhamma, take

real interest in Dhamma, love and attend closely to Dhammaand practise it truly in the way that the Buddha proclaimed itto us with complete certainty and truemett, then the realisa-tion o Dhamma at its various levels will no longer be beyondour reach. Certainly we will be able to experience Dhammanaturally, in the same way that they realised it at the time othe Lord Buddha.



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constantly examine and test ourselves against the standard oDhamma or the purpose o attaining whatever we have set ourhearts on, we will at least succeed in attaining that purpose toour satisaction, so long as our mindulness and wisdom arestrong enough. Whether in the time o the Lord Buddha or in

our present age, the kilesas must be corrected and got rid o bymeans o Dhamma. Its comparable to diseases that have beenprevalent in all ages they can all be cured by using the rightremedy. I have had aith in this or a long time, and the longerI go on practising, the deeper it becomes buried in my heart,until nothing can remove it.

Ajaan Muns Ascetic Path

Ajaan Khao always vividly remembered the words thatVenerable Ajaan Mun spoke when they stayed together, orthey had penetrated deep into his heart. His unshakeable aith

in Ajaan Mun grew deeper and deeper until it became onewith his heart. Ajaan Mun taught him the true way o practice



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is useless. Even i you were to spend the rest o your lie doingso, you would never come across them as they truly are. Evenater dying and being reborn many times, you would still comeacross only kilesas that have arisen rom the heart, and expe-rience the discontent and suering that comes rom them. By

searching or Dhamma in the heart, you will gradually start tond it. It will then increase steadily, depending on the intensitywith which you strive or it. Time and place are merely condi-tions which can promote or suppress the kilesas and Dhamma,causing them to develop or deteriorate accordingly.

Thus, or instance, orms and sounds are conditions whichpromote the kilesas that are already in the heart, causing themto develop and increase. On the other hand, going to practisemeditation in the hills and orests is done or the purpose o

promoting the Dhamma that dwells in the heart, causing it togreatly increase.

The real kilesas and Dhamma are within the heart,whereas the conditions that increase or suppress them are to beound everywhere, both internally and externally. That is whythe ajaans teach their ollowers to avoid enticing things whichare disturbing to the heart, things that tend to make those



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method or one who is ordained and hopes to attain reedomrom dukkha in his heart. This ollows the basic principles o theDhamma that the Lord Buddha ormulated or his ollowers a-ter he saw clearly or himsel what things were dangers to theirpurpose. By staying at times in ordinary places and at other

times in unusual and lonely places, your attitude towards theplace where you are staying is always changing, so you dontbecome too complacent. But when you stay a long time in oneplace, the citta becomes overly amiliar with that place. Thosewho are refective and watchul o themselves will know im-mediately when this happens, so they will quickly change andmove to another place so as to nd the right conditions toprevent themselves rom relaxing to the point o carelessness.Complacency gives the kilesas an opportunity to muster their

strength and thus bring about your ruin without you beingaware o what is happening. But when you correct the situationright away, without being careless or indierent to it, the kilesasare not likely to have any chance to build up enough strengthto ruin the citta and the Dhamma within it. You are then ableto move orward without deteriorating.

Those who train themselves to recognize what is danger-



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j

rid o them using unrelenting mindulness, wisdom, aith andeort.

I your mindulness is strong, then any place which instilsear in the citta becomes a charnel ground or the cremation oall the kilesas by means o the ascetic Dhamma5, that is, eort

that has mindulness and wisdom as the means o burning thekilesas to destruction. Thejhnas,samdhi,pa(wisdom) andvimutti (liberation), will all be absolutely clear to the heart inthat place where you practise in the right way. Whether its thekilesas losing their power, or the kilesas dying away steadily, orthe kilesas being entirely eliminated, it will happen in the heart,aided by a place which is well suited to someone who striveswith zeal in everything in all ways. Other than the heart, thereis no other place where all the kilesas arise and cease. This one

must keep in mind and take to heart: The place where Dhammathrives is where the kilesas will decline and die away entirely. What

we callthe place, those who practise the way should always know,is in the heart alone and nowhere else.

Thereore, you should struggle to cut the kilesas to piecesand destroy them without ear or avour on the battleeld which is the heart while depending on a suitable environ-



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j y

my own ollowers, I have never seen this mass odukkha any-where but in the heart. Nor have I ever seen any unimaginablystrange or truly wonderul things in any other place except theheart, which is the abode o Dhamma, and all the kilesas aswell. It is Dukkha and Samudaya, which also exist in the heart

of each one of us, that exercise such great power over everythingin the three worlds. For they are able to completely block the way

which leads to the Path, Fruition and Nibbna. Considering themeans, or tools, or digging out and clearing away dukkha andits cause so that the Path, Fruition andNibbna may be clearlyrevealed, nothing in the three worlds is able to accomplish thisbetter than Nirodha6 and Magga, which also exist within thesame heart. Just these Four Noble Truths tell the whole story.

You must not long or other times, places or people, or

this is a danger that wastes a lot o time and slows your devel-opment without being o any value at all. Thinking like this,rather than thinking about the kilesas and Dhamma within your heart, contradicts the purpose and aim o the GreatTeacher the Lord Buddha who bestowed his Dhammateaching on the world a teaching which is correct and suit-able in all respects at all times.



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o Dhamma to see in which direction the truth lies. One suchquestion he asked was:

At the time o the Lord Buddha, according to his biogra-phy and other writings, large numbers o people attained thePath, Fruition andNibbna, and quickly as well. Far more peo-

ple attained then than nowadays, or ew people manage to getthere now. Also, those who do attain nowadays seem to do somuch slower.

Venerable Ajaan Mun immediately asked him: Howdo you know that there are hardly any who attain the Path,Fruition andNibbna nowadays, and that those who do, do somuch more slowly?

Ajaan Khao replied: Well, I have never heard o peopleattainingNibbna like they used to in those days. According

to what is written in the old books, many attained Nibbnasimultaneously each time the Lord Buddha gave them a talkon Dhamma, and many others did so soon aterward whenthey went out to practise the way on their own. It seems thatthey attained very quickly and easily, making it a joy to readabout their attainments. But nowadays, people strive until theyalmost die without seeing the type o results which one eels



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derstanding and their basic temperaments, which vary greatlywith dierent types o people.

Ajaan Khao answered, saying: Yes, they did vary quiteconsiderably, and they certainly did not all attain quickly andeasily. There were those who practised with diculty, some o

whom attained slowly and some quickly. But I still eel that itwas very dierent rom the situation nowadays, even thoughpeople diered in the same way then as they do now.

Venerable Ajaan Mun then explained: This dierencecomes rom the teachers and how correctly and precisely theycan lead the way. There is also a great discrepancy betweenthe power o the virtuous characteristics (vsan) o the LordBuddha and the Svakas who ollowed the Buddha and that opeople today the dierence is almost beyond comparison. In

addition, the interest that people have in Dhamma nowadays isso dierent rom the time o the Lord Buddha. Even the char-acteristics o people that are derived rom their background inthis lie are very dierent today rom what they were back then.So when there are all these dierences, its hardly possible thatthe results will be the same.

But there is no need or us to talk about other people


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they can bore a hole through a mountain using a small auger

and they are very anxious to do this within the time o asingle day. It is so ludicrous that those who really do strive withsharp wisdom just laugh at it. We should consider the mannero striving o those who were Sons o the Skya the Svaka

disciples o the Buddha himsel to see how they acted. Thencompare that with our own striving, which is like someonegoing to the shore just to smack the sea with his hand itsenough to make one disheartened seeing that his desire orNibbna extends only to getting his hands wet! Think abouthow the kilesas are like an ocean and the eorts we make arelike the water on our hands how ar apart are they? Peoplein this age o just wetting their hands in the ocean make littlein the way o eort, yet their intention is to get ree rom the

realm osasra. When this does not happen as they expect itto, they nd some excuse to blame the religion, or the time, orthe place and the people o this or that age. They are not in theleast ashamed o the way they display their own incompetenceand stupidity, which causes those ajaans who are truly wise andskilled to eel disheartened and to laugh wryly, saying that thereis no way in which they can do anything about such people.



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place and the people at the time o the Lord Buddha, while at

the same time criticising the teaching, the age, the place andpeople nowadays were the words o praise and blame o anincompetent ool who puts obstructions in his own path untilhe cannot nd a way to crawl out to saety. It was the ques-

tion o someone who is incompetent, the question o someonewho puts thorns in his own path to obstruct himsel. It wasnot a question designed to clear the way o obstacles so thatyou can move orward condently with an interest in reeingyoursel rom the kilesas by means o the Svkkhta Dhamma the well-taught Dhamma which is the middle way thatwas given impartially to all those beings in the world who haveenough interest to practise the way rightly.

I you only had the mindulness and wisdom to shed

all these things rom yoursel, you would be worthy o someadmiration. Its like various kinds o diseases which people get:i people take the right remedy to make them eel better, thenthe cure is likely to be eective. But i they are not interestedin looking ater themselves and treating the disease, it willprobably get worse and could even become dangerous exceptor minor complaints such as the common cold or minor skin



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who has condence in his own ability to pass beyond the realm

osasra; as someone who has aith in the ability o the LordBuddha and his religious Teaching, aith that he penetratedDhamma with his intuitive ability and then spread it abroad asthe Ssana dhamma in a proper manner. For his Teaching was a

Dhamma o Salvation (Niyynika dhamma), truly able to leadbeings to reedom.

So dont blame and criticise yoursel, saying that yourkilesas are so thick that you can only learn Dhamma slowly,while at the same time having no interest in curing them.Dont blame the Lord Buddha, saying that he did not ormu-late and teach Dhamma in a way that was equally suitable orhis own time and or all other ages. Dont blame the Dhamma,saying that it is incapable, or not penetrating enough, to cure

the kilesas o beings in this modern age in the way it did at thetime o the Lord Buddha.

I am not denying the act that the strength o peopleskilesas is dierent rom what it used to be, and I agree thatpeople at the time o the Lord Buddha had ar less o themthan people do nowadays. The mode o teaching was also verydierent rom what it is today, as were the teachers, who were



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Those who listened to this Dhamma were intent on the

truth. They ully committed themselves to it. So the situationwas entirely suitable or both teacher and pupil. And so theresults came stage by stage. Being sel-evident, they ullledthe expectations o those people who were looking or truth.

Because o that, they encountered no problems which couldinterere with their development. It was or this reason thatin those days many people attained Magga and Phala eachtime the Great Teacher or his Svaka disciples gave Dhammateachings whereas nowadays hardly anybody can attain. Its

as though somehow people are no longer people and Dhammais no longer Dhamma, so no results come rom the practice.But in act, people are people and Dhamma is Dhamma, asthey always were. But people are not interested in Dhamma

now, so the Dhamma that enters them does not reach theheart. As a result, people remain just people and Dhamma re-mains just Dhamma, which is not likely to be o much use inbringing about the nal attainment. Even i a large numbero people listened to an exposition o the whole Ti-piaka, itwould be merely like pouring water on a dogs back the dogimmediately shakes it all o until there is none let. In a simi-



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aster than a dog can shake water o its back? I youll only

refect back and consider your own aults and ailings, someDhamma may nd a place to seep into your heart and remainthere. Then it wont simply fow through it like water fowingdown a channel without any reservoir to store it which is how

you are at present.The nature o peoples kilesas at the time o the Lord

Buddha was a matter o their own virtue and merit, a act whichshould not aect us or make diculties or us nowadays. Peopletoday have their own kilesas o various kinds which create trou-

ble or them until there is hardly anywhere in the world wherethey can live normally. I people dont have enough interest incuring their kilesas so that they gain some reedom rom there with which they burn each other by always criticizing

one another, then it wont matter at all what age they live in.The same holds true or those who have no interest in directingtheir criticisms towards themselves towards the one who iscreating the re to burn himsel and cause all sorts o trou-ble to others now in the present. Turning criticism towardsyoursel is a way o exorcising the res o lust, hate and delusion at least to the extent o nding a way to gain some degree


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him the hammer to hit me. Maybe I should have asked more

normal and less infammatory questions so that I could listento Dhamma that was more sweet and soothing.

Generally speaking, it was as Ajaan Khao said: when Venerable

Ajaan Mun was asked questions that were not in any waystrange or unusual, he simply answered in a normal way. Eventhough it was still Dhamma, his way o speaking was smoothand normal so it made no lasting impression on ones heart.But when asked a strange, unusual question, he became quite

animated, and the import o the Dhamma which he broughtorth was truly satisying as was already described in theBiography o Venerable Ajaan Mun.

In truth, Ajaan Mun had no doubts about Ajaan Khaos

views, although the way he scolded him made it appear asthough he was doubtul. It was merely the way o a skilledajaan teaching Dhamma. He oten changed his attitude andhis style o teaching in order to arouse those who were lis-tening, making them ponder his teachings in a way that they

would remember or a long time. Otherwise, they might remaincomplacent, clinging to their own stupidity with no interest



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and catch the heart to make it excited, concerned and a bit

rightened. Their hearts then tended to go to sleep internallywhen there was no method capable o making their mindsactive and thoughtul. Then those kilesas that were waiting totake over were likely to nd an opportunity to escape and go

about distracting their attention and causing trouble, becausethe method o teaching was not equal to the ability o thekilesas.

But when they received an unusual orm o teaching romVenerable Ajaan Mun as when he was asked a question that

warranted such a way o teaching their mindulness andwisdom were stirred up and became brighter and sharper. So,although Ajaan Khao was partly right and partly wrong inasking Venerable Ajaan Mun questions, they were Dhamma

questions rom which he could expect to gain a lot o value inthe same way he had oten done in the past.

Dhamma Principles in the Heart



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have Ajaan Mun give him the opportunity to join him or a

vassa period. This made him so happy that he increased hisstriving greatly until he was hardly taking any sleep at all sometimes spending the whole night striving at his medita-tion practice. Then one night his citta became ully integrated,

dropping down into a state o calm where it had a completerest or some time beore withdrawing to normal conscious-ness. He was lled with wonder at the brightness o his heart,which went beyond anything he had ever experienced beore.It caused him to become completely absorbed in Dhamma until

the light o dawn appeared. That night he did not sleep at all.In the morning he got up at the usual time and went about hisduties, helping to clean and arrange things at Ajaan Muns hutand taking his bowl, robes and other things to the place where

he ate ood in the sl.When Ajaan Mun came rom the place where he did his

meditation practice, it seemed that he watched Ajaan Khaounusually closely. Ajaan Khao himsel noticed this and eltvery sel-conscious, araid that he may have done something

wrong. Ater a short while Venerable Ajaan asked him:How is your meditation practice going now? Last night



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Where was the Dhamma beore this that you could not

see it? You have now seen Dhamma. From now on, you mustalways know that Dhamma is in the heart. In the uture youmust maintain well the level o your citta and the level o youreorts in meditation. You must not let them deteriorate. This

is the ground7

o the citta, the ground o the Dhamma, theground o your aith in Dhamma and the ground o the Path,Fruition andNibbna all o them are just there. You must becondent and resolute in your striving i you want to transcenddukkha. You have got to make the eort just there, in the heart.

You can be absolutely certain that nowhere else but just thisone place you can get ree rom dukkha.

You must not grope around blindly in your practice, oryou are no longer blind so there is no need to do so. Last night

I sent the fow o my citta out to look at you and I saw your cittabrightly illuminating everything around you. Throughout thenight, every time I sent my citta out to look it was the sameway. I did not get any sleep last night either. Part o the time Ispent in samdhibhvan, part o the time I was receiving Deva

guests and part o the time I was sending out my citta to seehow you were getting on. It went on like this until dawn with-



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more araid o Ajaan Mun, and much more careul where he

was concerned. Even prior to that, he was quite sure that AjaanMun could know the minds and hearts o people as he wished.But that day he experienced it or himsel, which made himthat much more certain. So he became very araid o him in a

way thats hard to describe.From that day on, he was able to rmly x the state o hisheart and develop it steadily, more and more, bit by bit, with-out any decline or backsliding at all. Ajaan Mun used to goadhim quite requently. Any sign o sel-indulgence and he would

be scolded immediately. Ajaan Mun tended to become erceand scold him much more quickly than beore. His requentexhortations and reminders were actually methods o helpingAjaan Khao to look ater his citta and to maintain his level o

Dhamma, or they made him more araid o backsliding in hismeditation.

From that time on, he continued to spend the vassa periodwith Ajaan Mun each year. Ater each vassa, he went out wan-dering in order to practise the way in places where he ound

it to be suitable or striving. Ajaan Mun would also go owandering, but in a dierent direction so as to be on his own.



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they became one and the same with the heart. Whatever his

bodily posture or activity, he maintained his eort with mind-ulness and wisdom present at all times. His heart was bold andcourageous. It had lost all ear o those things which arouseand maintain the thoughts and emotional states (rammaa)

that used to be his enemies. He was also certain o the pathleading to reedom rom dukkhahe had no doubts about iteven though he had yet to actually attain complete reedom.

The Dhamma Remedy

When Venerable Ajaan Khao became ill while he was livingin the orests and hills, he was never much concerned aboutnding medicines to cure himsel. He tended to rely upon theDhamma remedy much more than any other method, or itwas eective both or the body and or the citta at the sametime. He would grasp the problem, x his attention on it and

refect upon it or a long time much longer than normal.Many times he managed to overcome evers by this type o



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told him that whenever his own heart had gained unusually

great strength, it nearly always came during times o severesickness and pain. The more painul the sickness was, themore easily mindulness and wisdom spun round and roundthe body, quickly going to each and every aspect o the illness

as it happened. There was no need or him to compel himselto look into the body at that time. He had no interest at all inwhether he got better or not. His only concern was to striveto know the truth o all the painul eelings as they arose andswooped down on him at that time, using the mindulness

and wisdom that he had developed to expertise by continuoustraining.

Sometimes Venerable Ajaan Mun went to talk with AjaanKhao when he had a ever. He tried to make him think by

asking a pointed question, saying:Have you ever thought how in your past lives you experi-enced pain and suering much more acute than this, just priorto the time you died? Even ordinary people in the world whohave learnt nothing o Dhamma can put up with the suering

o an ordinary ever. Some o them even retain good mindul-ness and seemly behaviour better than many Bhikkhus. They



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I once saw a sick lay man whose children asked me to

visit him as he was beyond hope o recovery. They said thattheir ather wanted to meet me and pay his last respects tome, giving him something to keep in mind and to raise up hisheart when he came to the time o his death. When I arrived

at the house, no sooner had their ather seen me walking up tothe place where he was lying down, than he managed some-how to quickly sit up by himsel, his ace beaming and happy.He managed this in spite o his illness and in spite o the actthat normally he could not sit up without assistance. Actually,

at that moment, all symptoms o his illness had disappeared,though there were enough indications let to show that hewas quite seriously ill. He bowed down and paid homage withcheerulness and joy in his heart, his manners and general

behaviour being seemly and beautiul which startled andperplexed everyone else in his home. They all wondered: Howcould he get up by himsel? Normally, to move a little bit toa new position while lying prostrate we have to help him allthe way with great care, earing that otherwise he may be hurt

or perhaps die right then. But as soon as he saw you coming,Venerable Ajaan, he got up like a new person not like one



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many Kammahna Bhikkhus act like this, people will criticise

the way o Buddhism. The way oKammahna will all apartbecause none o the Bhikkhus can put up with diculties sincethey are all too weak and fabby. Their Kammahna is alsoweak and fabby, so they are just waiting on the chopping block

or the kilesas to come and chop them up and make a salado them. The Lord Buddha did not proclaim the teaching omindulness and wisdom or lazy, weak and fabby people whomerely look at their sickness without thinking, searching andinvestigating in terms o Dhamma. The death o such a weak

and lazy person would be o no consequence in act its nomore worthy than the death o a rat.

Dont bring the attitude o a pig waiting casually on thechopping block into the Ssana and the circle oKammahna

Bhikkhus. It makes me eel ashamed in the ace o those laypeople who are more worthy than such Bhikkhus. I even eelashamed in the ace o the rats that die peaceully because theyare better than Bhikkhus who become weak and lazy whenthey have a ever, and then die without any mindulness and

wisdom to look ater themselves. You should try doing someinvestigation to see whether the Dhamma truths such as the


h I l l h l h d b


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within me. I saw clearly the place where it arose and estab-

lished itsel, along with its dying away and ceasing, by means otrue mindulness and wisdom. The citta that knows the TruthoDukkha becomes calm and peaceul. It does not go aboutlooking or something to change its state; instead, being one

and single, it remains rmly within the truth. There is nothingin the citta to cause trouble or unseemly actions; nor can any-thing alse enter to cause doubt or uncertainty. At that point,painul eelings either cease completely or, even i they remain,they are quite unable to overwhelm the citta. The citta and

the pain are both true, each in its own sphere8. This is wherethe Dhamma Truths become the highest truths. You must stayocused in the citta as you thoroughly investigate everything.Mindulness and wisdom become active because you investi-

gate, not because youre too lazy to make use o the very toolsthat are capable o countering the kilesas.Here is a simile to help you understand: I you take a stone

and throw it at someones head, it can cause injury, or maybeeven kill him. But you can also make valuable use o that stone

or sharpening knives, or other purposes. Accordingly, a ooluses a stone to do damage, whereas a clever person uses it or


B l i d l d i d i h i h


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But we can also use mindulness and wisdom in the right

way in our livelihood, by using them in such things as buildingwork, or carpentry, or writing, or the various kinds o repairwork in which we are skilled. Or we may use them to cure ourkilesas and tah which x us rmly to the wheel osasra

and lead us to endless rounds o birth and death until theyhave all been removed rom the heart. Then we become puri-ed and reach the state o reedom, Nibbna. It may happentoday, or this month, or this year, or in this lietime; or it is notbeyond the ability o human beings to attain this, as we can

see rom the example o those clever people who have done sorom the time o the Lord Buddha up to the present day.

Wisdom brings endless benets to those who have enoughinterest and incentive to use contemplative thought without

xing any bounds or limits to it. Mindulness and wisdom havenever deceived people by leading them into a state o despairwith no way out. So we need not be araid that well developtoo much mindulness and wisdom, or that they will turn usinto someone who is good at breaking up and destroying what-

ever Dhamma we have within us. We need not ear that anabundance o mindulness and wisdom will hinder our chances


th h t th t h l b th ithi i dl


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the heart that has always been there within you since endless

ages past. This Dhamma that I am teaching to you comesentirely rom the Dhamma that I have experienced directly asa result o investigating it thoroughly. It is not based on guess-work like scratching without being able to locate the itch

or what I teach comes rom what I have known and experi-enced with certainty.Those who want to get ree rom dukkha, yet are araid

o the dukkha that arises within them and so reuse to inves-tigate it, will never be able to get ree rom dukkha. The way

to Nibbna depends on the Truth o Dukkha and the Causeo Dukkha as the means o going orward on the Path. TheLord Buddha and every one of the Svaka Arahants attained

the fullment of the Path, Fruition and Nibbna by means of the

Four Noble Truths. Not one o them ailed to pass completelythrough these Noble Truths.At this time some o these Noble Truths are quite clearly

and openly displaying their true nature within your body andmind. You must investigate these truths, using mindulness

and wisdom to get to really know them clearly. You must not sitback and merely gaze at them or you will become an invalid in


part o the body and mind they dier in that they avoid doing


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part o the body and mind, they dier in that they avoid doing

any investigation which would lead them to understand themin a dierent way. This is because their position as lay peopleaords them less o an opportunity to pursue these practices.

But the Dhutanga Kammahna Bhikkhu is a special case,

or he is ully prepared to progress steadily towards realisingthe truth which is apparent within him all the time. I you havethe blood o a warrior who is truly worthy o the name givenby the Great Teacher SkyaputtaBuddhajinorasa (Son o theSkya, the Victorious Buddha) you must try to investigate so

as to realise the truth clearly.Right now the truth about painul eeling is announcing

its presence within your body and mind in a clear and unmis-takable manner. Dont let the opportunity presented to you

by this pain pass by uselessly. Instead, I want you to extractthe truth rom that painul eeling and bring it up or mind-ulness and wisdom to analyse. Then mark it well, so that itmakes an indelible impression on your heart. From then on,it will act as an example to show that you have now gained

a clear understanding o this rst o the our Truths that theLord Buddha proclaimed throughout his teaching, namely, the


your body Instead you will take pride and satisaction rom


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your body. Instead, you will take pride and satisaction rom

what you have realised in a calm, steady manner. You will notdisplay any outward symptoms, restlessly moving and changingabout as the ever gets worse. This is whats meant by learningDhamma or the Truth. The wisest people have all learnt it in

this way. They do not wishully imagine the types o eelingsthey would like to have thinking how they would preer thisor that kind o eeling according to their desires all o whichmerely accumulates the Cause o Dukkha, thus making it in-crease and grow much stronger.

You must take this teaching to heart and remember it well.You must continue investigating to nd the meaning of Dhamma,

which is the Truth that is within yourself. This knowledge is wellwithin each and every persons capability. I am merely the one

who teaches the way to do it. Whether the pupil is earlessand valiant, or weak and fabby, depends entirely on the per-son who does the investigation no one else has a say in thatat all. Well now! Its time or you to live up to your teachersexpectations. Dont just lie there like a oot-wiping rag, letting

the kilesas come to stomp all over you and beat you out fat.This would be disastrous and bring nothing but trouble in the


structed me I began to the best o my ability to examine and


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structed me. I began to the best o my ability to examine and

unravel the problem o the painul eelings I was experiencingthen, without exhibiting any orm o weakness at all.

While doing the investigation o pain ater Ajaan Munlet, it elt as i he were still sitting there with me, watching me

and waiting to help show me how to do it the whole time. Morethan that, the eeling o his presence gave me strength o heartto increase my ght with painul eeling.

While doing the investigation, I tried to separate dukkhaout rom the khandhas. In other words, the body and all its

parts I put into one heap (khandha); sa(memory), whichstands by to dene or determine, thereby deceiving us, I dividedinto a second heap; sankhra, which is thinking and imagining,I put into a third heap; and the citta I put separately into a

special category. Then I investigated, I compared, I looked orcauses and results rom the arising and ceasing o the chaoticjumble o pain that was racking my body. But I did not thinkabout whether the pain would die away and I would survive, orwhether it would get worse and I would die, or I was absolutely

determined to get to know the truth o all these things.In particular, I wanted to nd out what in act the Truth


no other alternative, no way out. I there was any way to avoid


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no other alternative, no way out. I there was any way to avoid

it, they would escape to the other end o the world i necessaryto get away rom it all because o the ear o death.

Ater Ajaan Mun let, I thought to mysel: I am alsoone o these sentient beings who are timid and rightened o

dukkha, so what should I do about the dukkha Im now ex-periencing in order that I may be bold and earless, with thetruth as my witness. Well! I must contend with dukkha by usingmindulness and wisdom to ollow the methods taught by theGreat Teacher, and my own teacher as well. A short time ago,

Venerable Ajaan Mun kindly taught me in a way that wentstraight to my heart, leaving no room or doubt. He taught thatI should ght using mindulness and wisdom to separate andanalyse these khandhas, examining to see them quite clearly.

Right now, what khandha is this painul eeling? Can it be thebody, or memory, or thought and imagination, or consciousness,or the citta? I it cannot be any o those, then why do I makeout that the painul eeling is me that I am in pain that painis truly mine? Am I really this painul eeling, or what? I must

nd out the truth o this today. So, i the pain does not stop,and I have not come to know this painul eeling quite clearly


the investigation had thoroughly and completely penetrated every


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the investigation had thoroughly and completely penetrated every

aspect of the khandhas, the painful feelings died away immediately.From then on, an unshakeable faith in the validity of the Noble

Truths arose in me, based upon the Truth of Dukkha. I then knew

the truth of it without any doubt or uncertainty.

From that day orward, whenever I got a ever, or any othersickness, my heart was able to be victorious by practising theway o mindulness and wisdom never again was I weak andspineless in the ace o pain. Instead, my heart gained strengthin times o pain and sickness, which are times o serious concern

maybe even matters o lie and death. The Dhamma whichI, like most ordinary peoplenot aced with a critical situation,had never taken very seriously, then displayed the truth orme to see clearly as I thoroughly investigated painul eeling.

The pain then ceased, and the heart became concentrated andwent down and reached the base o samdhi. All doubts andproblems with regard to the body and mind then ceased whilethey went quiescent. This lasted until the citta withdrew romthat state, which took several hours. Whatever else needed to

be investigated would be dealt with in the uture with earlessregard or the Truth which had already been seen.


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VenerAble AjAAn KhAo invariably preerred to cure evers


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y p

and illnesses by using the Dhamma remedy. At one time hewas staying in a hilly part o Sakon Nakhon province whichat that time was inested with malaria. One day ater he hadnished eating his ood, he immediately began to eel everish

and shivery. He wrapped himsel in several blankets to keepwarm, but to no avail. He looked about or a warm place butit was hopeless, so he gave up trying to treat the problem byexternal means. He decided, instead, to treat it internally bymeans o Dhamma, which he had already done successully

in the past. He told the other Bhikkhus who were with himto go away and leave him alone. They were to wait until theysaw that he had opened the door o his hut beore coming tosee him again. Ater all the Bhikkhus had gone, he began to

meditate by investigating painul eelings in the same way ashe had done beore. He started about 9 oclock in the morningand went on until 3 oclock in the aternoon beore he was -nally successul. The ever died away and he was cured. At thesame time, his citta became concentrated and dropped down

until it reached its natural level, where it rested or about twohours. Finally, at about 6 oclock in the evening, he let the




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While Ajaan Khao was spending the vassa at Wat Pa BanPoang, Sun Maha Pon district in Chiang Mai province, heaccelerated his eorts in meditation round the clock in every

posture and activity, much more so than in his previous vassaperiods. In previous years he had worked very hard as well,but this vassa he made a special eort beyond what he haddone beore. He did this by maintaining his eorts in the threepostures o standing, walking and sitting, without lying downat all. I he slept at all, he did so in the sitting position he usedwhen doing samdhibhvan, and only then when his body andmind had reached the limit o their ability to go without sleep which was a time when his mindulness was at a low ebb.

But he reused to let himsel give up working so as to lie downand sleep, as he used to when he indulged in the orth postureo lying down. This was because he clearly saw good results inboth samdhi and wisdom. He saw how his heart was more inti-mately calm and his wisdom was more subtle, penetrating andprocient than when he was striving in the way he had been

i i b Thi hi i hi


ull length like a snake together with his aith, eort, mind-


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ulness, samdhi and wisdom.So he determined that those kilesas which drag the Bhikkhu

down onto the sleeping mat must put up with asting (Bhikkhumeat is tasty or the kilesas) and emaciation or those three

months o thevassa

period. Then those ve Dhamma-resultswould get a chance to walk along the path o the Lord Buddha.Practising in that way, he could sense imminent victory comingrom his struggle to ght in all three postures, as though hewere on the verge o attaining Dhamma in each posture. This

added increased enthusiasm to his eorts. His body and heartbecame light and buoyant due to the various kinds o Dhammahe developed, and his striving became easier as it shited backand orth ghting against the kilesas. He was not concerned

about the diculties he aced in ghting the kilesas, which herealised deep in his heart were his enemies.

onenightwhilehewAssittingin samdhibhvan, his citta

dropped down into a subtle state o calm and reached theground o samdhi. It remained there resting or a long time


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We should never pride ourselves on being really clever


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and skilled when the citta is merely at the level osamdhi, orcalmness. Although the citta is calm, it is still subject to theseductive temptations o the kilesas, which cause it to becomeaddicted to samdhi and so lose all interest in investigating withwisdom which is the way to extract the kilesas and get rid othem rom the heart.

When the time comes that wisdom moves out to do thework o conronting and ghting the various kilesas, it steadilysucceeds in deeating them, rarely nding that it is at a loss,

not knowing what to do. We steadily get to know the variousalluring enticements o the kilesas how they appear so harmo-niously beautiul and melodious that we become overwhelmedby their lingering appeal. This is why all beings in the world

never tire o the various enticements used by the kilesas. Thisdespite the act that they tempt beings over and over againto love, and to hate, and to be so angry or greedy as to causebeings great diculty because they have to put up with so muchsuering and torment. However many hundreds, or thousands,

or millions o times people do this, still they are never ed upor satiated with it; nor do they see the harmulness o these


striking at them in many dierent ways so as to beat up and


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kill o more and more o them. This kind o eort is in noway at a loss, because it is not lulled into a drunken stuporby the kilesas. It does not look on them as riends and alliesand so submit to them in lie and death, as was the case be-ore the Dhamma weapons o mindulness and wisdom werepowerul enough to overwhelm them. At the stage that AjaanKhao had reached, all o his Dhamma weapons were becomingvery powerul as they shone orth brightly. They really enjoyeddigging up the kilesas, pulling them out and tearing them to

pieces quite ruthlessly.It seems that the rmness o his intention to gain that

realm where there is reedom rom dukkha steadily gainedstrength until his striving reached a point o urgency where

the practice was a matter o lie and death. Whatever was goodwould remain, whatever was bad must be destroyed withoutany regrets. Birth and death are barbs and thorns which thekilesas always stab into the heart, where they have been theruling power or countless ages. But they were longer allowed

to have any power to rule, or rom then on it was to be thesupremely excellent pure Dhamma which alone had power to


to stay near a orest village in Chiang Mai province where a


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small hut had been built. In the past, DhutangaKammahnaBhikkhus had stayed there to work at their practice, but now itwas abandoned. It was a very peaceul and quiet place, ar awayrom the village, so he stayed there to develop his practice.

One day it started raining heavily in the middle o the day,so he could not go out to walk cakama. He closed the door,the windows and the wall10, and he sat in bhvanon the fooro the hut, which was raised well above the ground.

While he was sitting doing meditation, it seemed to him

that a red-hot burning pipe had been stuck into his butt. Itstopped or awhile and then came up again. So he turned toinvestigate what it was all about. As soon as his citta turnedto ocus on the cause o the hot pipe which was burning him,

he realised that the re was actually the heat o sexual desireappearing rom beneath his hut. He knew that it did not comerom his own heart. He checked his investigation thoroughlyand conrmed that it was in act the re o rgatahcomingrom underneath his hut, or in his own citta there was abso-

lutely no sign orgatahat all.The whole time he was engaged in investigating this re,


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stood the reasons behind his suering. Only then was he able

to be victorious and gain condence in his ability.


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to be victorious and gain condence in his ability.That vassa was extremely dicult. Because he suered

malarial ever throughout the whole retreat period, he wasrequired to push himsel to the limit, both physically and men-tally. The physical pain was excruciating; while in his heart

he was striving relentlessly to ollow the ever and the painuleelings.

Ater the end o the vassa, his ever gradually subsided andwent away. He then let and went wandering in solitude, going

rom place to place as it suited his inclinations without attach-ment to anything except only his eorts in meditation. It wasthen the season when the rice was harvested.

One evening ater he swept the ground around his hut, hewent o to take a bath. As he was walking along, he saw howthe rice growing in the elds was golden yellow and almostripe. This immediately made him think and question:

This rice has sprouted and grown because there is a seedwhich caused it to grow. The heart that endlessly leads one to

birth and death must also have something that acts as a seedwithin it in the same way the rice plants have. I that seed in

Path Two Dhamma Puja

continuing throughout the night, he went on relentlessly inves-

tigating the relationship between avijjand the citta.At dawn,b l h h d bl b k


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tigating the relationship between jj and the . ,just as it was beginning to get light, his wisdom was able to break

through to a nal conclusion. Avijj then fell away from the citta

without any remainder. The contemplation of the rice stopped at

the point where the rice was ripe never to sprout again. His inves-

tigation into the citta also stopped as soon as avijj ceased, after

which the citta became ripe in the same way as the rice became

ripe. At that point it was clearly evident to him that the citta had

stopped creating any more births in the various realms of existence.

What remained or him to admire to his complete satisaction,as he sat in his hut in the midst o the mountains, was the com-plete and utter purity o the citta.

At the moment the citta passed beyond the tangledjungles o the round o kilesas (kilesa-vaa), wonder andamazement arose in him as he sat alone at dawn. Then thesun began to shine brightly in the sky, while his heart beganto get brighter and brighter as it let the realm oavijjand

went towards the wonder o Dhamma where it reachedvimutti reedom as the sun rose above the mountains. It


wonderul throughout although, in act, all these things were

simply there in accordance with their own nature as usual.Whil lki i hi h ll d i h


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p yWhile walking on piapta, his heart was lled with

Dhamma. When he looked at the local orest people who hadlooked ater him, it seemed almost as i they were all divinebeings. He refected on all the assistance they had so graciously

given him, and he elt that it would be impossible to describethe extent o their virtue. Mettand compassion arose in himor those heavenly orest people. He could not help but spreadout themettin his citta as a dedication to them as he passed

by them along the route, which he did until he reached thevicinity o the hut where he stayed, which was a place o suchhappiness.

While he

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Venerable Ajaan Khao Biography

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