Translator's Preface ix
Part One: Right View
1. Understanding Mind 3
2. Understanding Phenomena 6
3. That's About Right 9
4. Seeing Things Through: Ajahn Chah's Practice 11
5. Buddhas and Bodhisattvas 13
6. Seeing Things as They Really Are 15
7. That's Good Too: Ajahn Chah's View 22
8. The Buddha's Inspiration 24
9. Keep Some Perspective 26
10. The Buddha's Search 27
Part Two: Annica: Impermanence
11. Bringing the Mind under Our Control 33
12. A Lot of Defilements: Ajahn Chah at Play 35
13. It's Not Permanent, It's Not Sure 37
14. A Fish Story 43
15. A Perplexed Meditator Meets the Buddha 49
Part Three: Dukkha: Unsatisfactoriness
16. Understanding Dukkha 55
17. Shaking Up the Students: Ajahn Chah's Methods 64
18. Birth and Becoming 65
19. Evanescence 68
20. Cold Comfort: Ajahn Chah's Monks Face Illness and Death 72
21. The Buddha Didn't Die 74
22. Birth, Death, and Enlightenment: Ajahn Chah and the Bodhi Tree 76
Part Four: Anatta: Not-Self
23. Practice Like the Four Elements 81
24. Ignorance: Ajahn Chah Holds Up a Mirror 85
25. Not Us, Not Ours 86
26. Don't Be a Buddha 92
27. My Tooth, My Pillow, My Coconut 97
Part Five: Points in Meditation
28. Tranquility and Insight 101
29. Sill Water Flows, Flowing Water is Still 104
30. Making It Real 106
31. Serious Students: Ajahn Chah on Intensive Meditation 108
32. Meditation Instructions: Questions and Answers 110
33. What Is It: Ajahn Chah's Meditation 120
34. Don't Get Drunk on Tranquility 121
35. Keep At It 124
36. High Ideals and Daily Frustrations: A Young Monk with Ajahn Chah 126
Part Six: Completing the Path
37. Making an End of Problems 131
38. Seeking a Teacher: Ajahn Chah and a Would-Be Student 141
39. A Wise Crab 142
40. Some Final Advice 144
Translator's Acknowledgments 151
Glossary 153
Resources 159
About the Translator 163
