Ajahn Chah: A Three-Day Encounter That Changed My Life (Part 2)

(Continued)It is not that forest monks did not exist in Thailand at all, but before Ajahn Mun, they were usually scattered in small, isolated communities, with little sense of being part of a broader tradition. Such Sanghas were usually formed around a charismatic teacher and often did not last long after that teacher's death. There is no record of how many such groups were formed and dissolved over the past seven hundred years. We will never know how many enlightened people have come and gone. As the Buddha himself said, 'Like birds crossing the sky, they leave no trace.'

However, Ajahn Mun lived at the beginning of an era where information was more easily transmitted and connected. Records of his practice and teachings remain in numerous books. The excellent practice monasteries established by his disciples throughout Isan attract visitors and pilgrims from all over the country. While he is an immeasurable figure to many, he is not a person shrouded in the obscurity that the great monks of the past always were.

Thanks to the high standards maintained by the monks in his lineage and the sincerity and exceptional abilities of his most outstanding disciples, there is a level of respect for forest monks in Thailand today that has not existed since the Sukhothai period. It is no exaggeration to say that the 'Thai Forest Tradition' as we know it today was established almost entirely by Ajahn Mun alone.

Yet, for most of his life, Ajahn Mun was relatively unknown. Throughout his monastic life, he avoided fame and status like the plague.(Continued)