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Ajahn Amaro, Abbot of Amaravati Monastery UK
Dhamma Talk: Monday 13th Nov. 2017
‘Struggling or Straightforward?
How a well-trained mind can make life very simple
amid the modern world’s complexities‘
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Overview:
Ajahn Amaro is the abbot of Amaravati monastery, north of London. He is well known as a skilled public speaker, and for his many contributions to dharma and meditation.
- Monday 13th November [Note, we will NOT be holding our regular Monday meditation at Ekkamai on this day]
- 6:30-8:30pm @ Rojana Center, Asoke
- free of charge, in English, no reservation or registration required
- refreshments of tea/coffee etc.. are offered on arrival
- homemade bagels, desserts etc.. will be on sale via our local bagel shop
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1. Quivering, wavering,
hard to guard,
to hold in check: this mind.
The sage makes it straight —
like a fletcher,
the shaft of an arrow.
2. Like a fish
pulled from its home in the water
& thrown on land:
this mind flips & flaps about
to escape Mara’s sway.
3. Hard to hold down, nimble,
alighting wherever it likes: the mind.
Its taming is good-The mind well-tamed
brings ease.
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4. So hard to see,
so very, very subtle,
alighting wherever it likes:
the mind.
The wise should guard it.
The mind protected
brings ease.
5. Wandering far, going alone,
bodiless,
lying in a cave: the mind.
Those who restrain it:
from Mara’s bonds
they’ll be freed.”
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Ajahn Amaro:
| Born in England in 1956, Ven. Amaro Bhikkhu received a BSc. in Psychology and Physiology from the University of London. Spiritual searching led him to Thailand, where he went to Wat Pah Nanachat, a Forest Tradition monastery established for Western disciples of Thai meditation master Ajahn Chah, who ordained him as a bhikkhu in 1979. Soon afterwards he returned to England and joined Ajahn Sumedho at the newly established Chithurst Monastery. He resided for many years at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, making trips to California every year during the 1990s.
In June 1996 he established Abhayagiri Monastery in Redwood Valley, California, where he was co-Abbot with Ajahn Pasanno until 2010. He then returned to Amaravati to become Abbot of this large monastic community. Ajahn Amaro has written a number of books, including an account of an 830-mile trek from Chithurst to Harnham Vihara called Tudong – the Long Road North, republished in the expanded book Silent Rain. His other publications include Small Boat, Great Mountain (2003), Rain on the Nile (2009) and The Island – An Anthology of the Buddha’s Teachings on Nibbana(2009) co-written with Ajahn Pasanno, a guide to meditation called Finding the Missing Peace and other works dealing with various aspects of Buddhism. |
Getting there:
Please follow the map. It is VERY precise. It is easy to find: there are only one or two turns depending on which direction you are coming from. It is an 11 minute walk from Asoke BTS and even closer to Sukhumvit MRT
Go down Sukhumvit 23 to the first four way intersection. Turn right, and then turn right again at the end of the road.
Or just ask the motorcycles inside Sukhumvit 23 – they know the way. Tell them ‘Rojana’
Or if you need more definite pointers:
A few tips:
- Don’t ask locals or taxi drivers the way – they will not know the Rojana Centre, and will send you somewhere else instead. They will all know Sukhumvit 23, so go there and find your own way.
- Follow the map – plenty of landmarks are shown and it it extremely precise!
- In Thai the centre is known as Rojanatam
- Quite a few other foreigners will be heading there at the same time.
Here is the Google Map link, if you prefer this method
Here are the GPS coordinates if you prefer : 13.739356, 100.564748
The little Bangkok Sangha:
Video Channel for the group is here