Ajahn Chah Dhamma Heritage Centre, Bangkok

The Ajahn Chah Dhamma Heritage Centre (Thai: ศูนย์เผยแผ่มรดกธรรมพระโพธิญาณเถร) is the Bangkok office of the committee that looks after Ajahn Chah’s written and recorded teachings. It stands off Ramindra Road in Bang Khen district.

According to the Ajahn Chah Memorial site, the abbot of Wat Nong Pah Pong set the committee up on behalf of the monks of Wat Nong Pah Pong and its branch monasteries. The aim was to stop the teachings being distorted through careless reproduction. The centre opened on 7 February 2002. It collects and keeps original manuscripts, tapes, CDs and videos of his teaching, hands out his books to interested people, and checks that new recordings and publications are accurate. The same committee issues rules for the whole inheritance, including a ban on medals and similar objects bearing his likeness, and limits on statues of him.

The centre also holds a practice day on the first Saturday of each month. The published programme runs from the morning alms round, through an offering of food to the monks and a Dhamma talk, to afternoon walking and sitting meditation, a question-and-answer session and evening chanting with a final talk. The programme and site are in Thai.

This is not a retreat centre and it does not replace a stay at a forest monastery. Foreign visitors who want to meet the tradition in person are better served by Wat Pah Nanachat, which teaches in English, or by Wat Nong Pah Pong itself, both in Ubon Ratchathani. The centre is useful as a Bangkok source for Ajahn Chah’s books and as a way to join a Thai lay practice day.