Ajahn Chah Subhaddo (1918–1992) was a Thai Buddhist monk in the Thai Forest Tradition (Kammaṭṭhāna) whose students shaped Western Theravada practice.
He founded Wat Nong Pah Pong in north-east Thailand in 1954. Today it heads more than three hundred branch monasteries in Thailand and abroad, many of them founded after his death. In 1975 he established Wat Pah Nanachat, a branch monastery near Wat Nong Pah Pong, with his American student Ajahn Sumedho as its first abbot. His Western students went on to lead monasteries abroad: Wikipedia names Ajahn Sumedho as founder of Chithurst and Amaravati in England, Ajahn Pasanno as former abbot of Abhayagiri in California, Ajahn Amaro as abbot of Amaravati and Ajahn Brahm as abbot of Bodhinyana in Western Australia, while Ajahn Jayasaro, a former abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat, wrote his biography. Abhayagiri describes his teaching as simple yet profound, with an emphasis on practice in everyday life.
Abhayagiri says he placed an emphasis on community living and right view as essential to the path, within the forest tradition’s commitment to strict monastic discipline (vinaya), meditation and contemplation.
Lineage
teacher to student
Ajahn Chah
Thai Forest (Kammaṭṭhāna) · 1918 – 1992
Taught · 9
- Ajahn SumedhoThai Forest (Kammaṭṭhāna) · b. 1934
- Ajahn BrahmThai Forest (Kammaṭṭhāna) · b. 1951
- Ajahn AmaroThai Forest (Kammaṭṭhāna) · b. 1956
- Ajahn PasannoThai Forest (Kammaṭṭhāna)
- Ajahn JayasaroThai Forest (Kammaṭṭhāna) · b. 1958
- Ajahn Anan AkiñcanoThai Forest (Kammaṭṭhāna) · b. 1954
- Luang Por Liem ṬhitadhammoThai Forest (Kammaṭṭhāna) · b. 1941
- Jack KornfieldInsight meditation (Thai Forest and Burmese traditions) · b. 1945
- Ajahn Dtun ThiracittoThai Forest (Kammaṭṭhāna), Ajahn Chah lineage · b. 1955
Fellow students: also studied with Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta · 11
Talks
3
Places
7
| Place | Kind | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Ajahn Chah Dhamma Heritage Centre, BangkokMeditation Centre · Bang Khen, Bangkok | Meditation Centre | Bang Khen, Bangkok |
| Anandagiri Forest MonasteryMonastery · Phetchabun Province | Monastery | Phetchabun Province |
| Wat BoonyawadMonastery · Bo Thong, Chonburi Province | Monastery | Bo Thong, Chonburi Province |
| Wat Marp JanMonastery · Rayong, Rayong Province | Monastery | Rayong, Rayong Province |
| Wat Pa RatanawanMonastery · Wang Nam Khiao, Nakhon Ratchasima Province | Monastery | Wang Nam Khiao, Nakhon Ratchasima Province |
| Wat Pah NanachatMonastery · Warin Chamrap, Ubon Ratchathani Province | Monastery | Warin Chamrap, Ubon Ratchathani Province |
| Wat Nong Pah PongMonastery · Warin Chamrap, Ubon Ratchathani Province | Monastery | Warin Chamrap, Ubon Ratchathani Province |
Read more
Books
Food for the Heart: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah
Wisdom Publications · 2002
A Still Forest Pool
Theosophical Publishing House · 1985
Sources and verification
4
Written from published sources by the volunteer editors. Not yet reviewed by an outside advisor.
- ReferenceWikipedia: Ajahn Chah (contemplation of impermanence and death in his early practice; 1977 visit to Britain; list of Western disciples and their monasteries; bibliography incl. A Still Forest Pool, Theosophical Publishing House, 1985, and Food for the Heart, Wisdom, 2002)
- OrganisationForest Sangha (forestsangha.org): Western Ajahn Chah lineage materials
- OrganisationAbhayagiri Buddhist Monastery: Ajahn Chah (more than three hundred branch monasteries at present)
- OrganisationWat Pah Nanachat: about the monastery
Portrait by Akuppa John Wigham (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0)
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