Four Noble Truths

　　by Ajahn Chah

　　[This talk was given at the Manjushri Institute at Cumbria, U.K., in 1977]

　　Today I have been invited by the abbot to give you a teaching, so I ask you all to sit quietly and compose your minds. Due to the language barrier we must make use of a translator, so if you do not pay proper attention you may not understand.

　　My stay here has been very pleasant. Both the Master and you, his followers, have been very kind, all friendly and smiling, as befits those who are practicing the true Dhamma. Your property, too, is very inspiring, but so big! I admire your dedication in renovating it to establish a place for practicing the Dhamma.

　　Having been a teacher for many years now, I”ve been through my share of difficulties. At present there are altogether about forty branch monasteries [7] of my monastery, Wat Nong Ba Pong, but even these days I have followers who are hard to teach. Some know but don”t bother to practice, some don”t know and don”t try to find out. I don”t know what to do with them. Why do human beings have minds like this

　　 Being ignorant is not so good, but even when I tell them, they still don”t listen. I don”t know what more I can do. People are so full of doubts in their practice, they”re always doubting. They all want to go to nibbana, but they don”t want to walk the path. It”s baffling. When I tell them to meditate they”re afraid, or if not afraid then just plain sleepy. Mostly they like to do the things I don”t teach. When I met the Venerable Abbot here I asked him what his followers were like. He said they”re the same. This is the pain of being a teacher.

　　The teaching I will present to you today is a way to solve problems in the present moment, in this present life. Some people say that they have so much work to do they have no time to practice the Dhamma. "What can we do

　　" they ask. I ask them, "Don”t you breathe while you”re working

　　" "Yes, of course we breathe!" "So how come you have time to breathe when you”re so busy

　　" They don”t know what to answer. "If you simply have sati while working you will have plenty of time to practice."

　　Practicing meditation is just like breathing. While working we breathe, while sleeping we breathe, while sitting down we breathe... Why do we have time to breathe

　　 Because we see the importance of the breath, we can always find time to breathe. In the same way, if we see the importance of meditation practice we will find the time to practice.

　　Have any of you ever suffered

　　 ... have you ever been happy

　　... Right here is the truth, this is where you must practice the Dhamma. Who is it who is happy

　　 The mind is happy. who suffers

　　 The mind suffers. Wherever these things arise, that”s where they cease. Have you experienced happiness

　　 ... Have you experienced suffering

　　 ... this is our problem. If we know suffering, [8] the cause of suffering, the end of suffering and the way leading to the end of suffering we can solve the problem.

　　There are two kinds of suffering: ordinary suffering and the extraordinary kind. Ordinary suffering is the suffering which is the inherent nature of conditions: standing is suffering, sitting is suffering, lying down is suffering. This is the suffering that is inherent in all conditioned phenomena. Even the Buddha experienced these things, he experienced comfort and pain, but he recognized them as conditions in nature. He knew how to overcome these ordinary, natural feelings of comfort and pain through understanding their true nature. Because he understood this "natural suffering" those feelings didn”t upset him.

　　The important kind of suffering is the second kind, the suffering that creeps in from the outside, the "extraordinary suffering." If we are sick we may have to get an injection from the doctor. When the n…

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