The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee Quotes

“I wanted to collect money to help the hospital, and today—January 10, 1960—as I leave the hospital after staying here 45 days, we’ve collected 31,535 baht, which shows that even when ill, I can be of use.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“One by one I’ve been able to cut away my doubts about the Buddha’s teachings. And so, for this reason, I’m willing to devote myself to the duties of meditation until there is no more life left for me to live.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“For these reasons I’m willing to be ignorant when it comes to texts and scriptures. Some kinds of trees sleep at night and are awake during the day. Others sleep by day and are awake by night. The same is true of forest animals.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“When you sit in meditation, close only your eyes. Keep your mind bright and alert, like a tree that closes its leaves and thus doesn’t obstruct our view of the stars.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“Thinking about this, I was struck by their instincts for self-preservation, and how clever they were: They simply kept themselves quiet in a pile of fallen leaves. And so I made a comparison for myself: ‘When you’re in the wilds, then if you can keep your mind still like the baby chicks, you’re sure to be safe and to free yourself from dying.’ This was another good lesson.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“Hearing this, the thought occurred to me, ‘No one is interested in a dead person. Because I live in the forest, I should play dead. Whoever praises me or attacks me, I’ll have to be still—quiet in thought, word, and deed—if I want to survive.’ This can also be a good reminder in the way of the Dhamma: To free yourself from death, you have to play dead. This is a good lesson in maranassati, keeping death in mind.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“When he had finished telling me the story, he added, ‘That’s the way forest animals have to be. If you can’t fight, you have to play dead.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“When I thought of these words, I felt sympathy for MahaKassapa, subjecting himself to all sorts of hardships. If you were to put it in worldly terms, you could say that he was already a multimillionaire, deserving a soft bed and fine food, but instead he slept and ate on the ground, and had only coarse food to eat. Thinking of his example, I’d be ashamed to look for nothing more than creature comforts. As for MahaKassapa, he could have eaten fine food and lived in a beautiful home with no danger of his heart’s being defiled. But—and it’s not surprising—he was more concerned with benefiting those who came after.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“I was reminded of the words of MahaKassapa, who asked to be allowed to follow such ascetic practices as living in the forest, eating one meal a day (going out for alms), and wearing robes made from thrown-away rags all of his life. The Buddha questioned him: ‘You’ve already eradicated your defilements. What is there left for you to strive for?”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“Whether or not I would benefit from following them, there was one thing I was sure of: that the Buddha was not the sort of person who would hold blindly to anything, and that he would never teach anything without good reason. So even if I wasn’t totally convinced of his teachings, I should at least respect them. Or if I didn’t yet have confidence in my teacher’s ability, I owed it to him and to the traditions of the Sangha to give his teachings a try.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“Make a practice of going out for alms. Be an asker, but not a beggar. Be content with whatever you are given.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“I’ve come to consider the principles of nature: It’s a quiet place, where you can observe the influences of the environment. Wild animals, for example, sleep differently from domesticated animals. This can be a good lesson. Or take the wild rooster: Its eyes are quick, its tail feathers sparse, its wings strong, and its call short. It can run fast and fly far. What do these characteristics come from? I’ve made this a lesson for myself. Domesticated roosters and wild roosters come from the same species, but the domesticated rooster’s wings are weak, its call long, its tail feathers lush and ungainly, its behavior different from that of the wild rooster. The wild rooster is the way it is because it can’t afford to let down its guard. It always has to be on the alert because danger is ever-present in the forest. If the wild rooster went around acting like a domestic rooster, the cobras and mongooses would make a meal of it in no time. So when it eats, sleeps, opens and closes its eyes, the wild rooster has to be strong and resilient in order to stay alive.

So it is with us. If we spend all our time wallowing around in companionship, we’re like a knife or a hoe stuck down into the dirt: It’ll rust easily. But if it’s constantly sharpened on a stone or a file, rust won’t have a chance to take hold. Thus we should learn to be always on the alert. This is why I like to stay in the forest. I benefit from it and learn many lessons.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“To evade is wings; to avoid is a tail.’ This means: A tiny chick, fresh out of the egg, if it knows how to evade, won’t die. It will have a chance to grow feathers and wings, and be able to survive on its own in the future. ‘To avoid is a tail:’ This refers the tail (rudder) of a boat. If the person holding the rudder knows how to steer, he’ll be able to avoid stumps and sand bars. For the boat to avoid running aground depends on the rudder. Because this is the way I see things, I prefer living in the forest.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“As I see it, it’s better to evade than to fight. As long as I’m not superhuman, as long as my skin can’t ward off knives, bullets, and spears, I’d better not live in the centers of human society. This is why I feel it’s better to evade than to fight.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“It was a custom of the Buddha. He was born in the forest, attained awakening in the forest, and totally entered nibbana in the forest—and yet how was he at the same time able to bring his virtues right into the middle of great cities, as when he spread his religious work to include King Bimbisara of Rajagaha?”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“I feel that a monk who stays put in one monastery is like a train sitting still at HuaLampong station—and everyone knows the worth of a train sitting still. So there’s no way I could stay in one place. I’ll have to keep on the move all of my life, as long as I’m still ordained.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“After about four kilometers I spotted a hill with a spirit shrine ahead and so stopped to rest and explore the caves there. A woman came along with a child in her arms and three dead lizards slung over her shoulder, which she placed near the spot where I was resting. I thought of asking her for one of the lizards, but didn’t dare say anything.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“A person who worked for some Westerners saw us and came to spread out a mat for me to sit on. I didn’t accept the offer, so he invited Phra Palat Sri to sit on the mat, which he did. A moment later we heard thunder, even though the sky was sunny, and in that very instant a branch from a nearby tree came crashing down less than a foot from Phra Palat Sri’s head. Phra Palat Sri, his face pale, jumped up from where he had been sitting. ‘That,’ I told him, ‘is what happens to people who don’t have any self-restraint.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“I’ll give you the formula for the cure. If you hear that any of these diseases have appeared, go quickly to help.’

I asked him, ‘Can’t you tell them the cure yourself?’

‘I could,’ he said, ‘but it wouldn’t do any good. You have to make the medicine yourself...He went on to say that his name was Sañcicco Devaputta.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“As soon as I set foot in the door, I saw the woman raise her hands feebly in a wai. I didn’t give a thought to her condition, but simply sat in samadhi. Mae Fyyn said two or three words, moved herself a little, raised her hands in another wai, sat up, and then kneeled down by her pillow. ‘Get well,’ I told her. ‘Be done with your old karma.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“So I made a vow: ‘I’m going to visit friends and the spots where the Buddha once dwelled. On my last trip things still weren’t clear, so I want to go once more. If I’m really going to get to go this time, may someone come and help get my money exchanged.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“Burmese and Indians are people, just like me. Are there any people in the world who don’t know the language of people?”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“After staying a fair while in Bodhgaya, we returned to Calcutta for a short stay at the Nalanda Square Buddhist Temple. I then took my leave of all my good friends there and got on the boat at the Calcutta docks. This was March, 1940. The fumes of the coming World War were growing thick and nearing the combustion point in Germany. I saw a lot of battleships in the Indian Ocean as our boat passed by.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“A layperson came running into the train car and helped us with our things, as if he knew us well. He invited us into his car. We got in and sat down without saying a word. He took us to Schwe Dagon Pagoda, where we found a place to stay. The man—his name was Mawng Khwaen—turned out to be a very faithful supporter all during our stay in Rangoon, looking after our needs and helping us in every way.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“Finally I had to tell her that women couldn’t go with monks, and for the next few days I continued to instruct and console her. Ever since setting out from Chanthaburi—31 days altogether—I had been suffering pains in my stomach every day, but as soon as this incident occurred they vanished.

I continued teaching her until she was willing to follow my instructions. Finally she agreed to return home. So I told her, ‘Don’t worry. Whenever I can find the time, I’ll be back to see you. I’m staying right nearby, in Khlawng Kung Forest Monastery.’ Up to that point she had had no idea where I was from, but as soon as I told her this, she seemed both pleased and content. So when we had reached an understanding, I returned as usual to Chanthaburi. The pains in my stomach were gone.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“So I turned and started quizzing her. Her reasonings and explanations were pure Dhamma. It was amazing. When she finished, all the laypeople present—who had heard plenty of Dhamma in their time—raised their hands to their foreheads in respect. But I felt heavy at heart for her sake.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“If you’re shot in the mouth, it’ll come out your rear,

So there’s no one in the world you should fear.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“I had been constantly hearing the sound of guns out off the coast, and as soon as the incident occurred, I thought of bullets. Some people got up and were getting ready to chase after the bandits, so I stopped them. ‘Don’t get involved,’ I said. ‘Don’t go after them. If they’re good people, you should follow them, but if they’re bad people, don’t. Follow me instead. I’m not afraid of anything—including bullets, not to mention bricks.”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“If you don’t come back here for the next Rains Retreat, I’m going to put a curse on you, you know.’ That was Doctor Waad, the town doctor in Chokchai. So I told him, ‘What do you want, after all I’ve taught you about inconstancy?”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee

“This was the eighth day after the end of the rains (October 12). At about five in the evening, before I left for Khun Amnaad’s house, there was a peculiar incident. A swarm of more than 100 squirrels came running into the monastery and gathered on the porch of the hut belonging to one of the monks, Phra Yen. Nothing like this had ever happened since my arrival in Krathoag, so before leaving the monastery I called all the monks and novices to my quarters for a meeting. ‘There’s going to be an incident tonight, so I want you all to be on your toes. After you’ve finished the evening chanting,”
― Ajaan Lee, The Autobiography of Phra Ajaan Lee