"All suffering and unsatisfactory experience come from causes. When the causes end, the suffering ends. All dharmas, whether pleasant or unpleasant, arise from causes. Knowing the four aspects - suffering, its arising, cessation, and the path - is all we really need. No other Dharma is necessary, because everything is naturally condensed into these aspects." -pg. 11

This is a profound introduction to Ajahn Chah, a Buddhist monk from Thailand, who taught with clarity and deep understanding gained from a lifetime of practice. Truly, this clarity is the main feature of this book, though by no means does that mean this is a simple read. Chah may explain with clarity but the concepts here are often complicated and difficult to grasp. This, more than any other Buddhist text I've encountered, reveals the intellectual depth one can explore in a meditative practice.

Being Dharma is divided into six main sections and an important Introduction written by Chah: Hearing Dharma, Understanding Dharma, Practicing Dharma, Seeing Dharma, Being Dharma, and Teaching Dharma. It takes time to work through each section but eventually you catch the rhythm of his teaching and somewhere around Practicing Dharma (the longest section) his style takes off. I think that is also around where I stopped trying to swallow the whole book and began taking smaller sips. So maybe that's my deal and you won't have the same experience. Either way, after struggling a little with the density of concepts I found a way to read this in a meaningful way.

I recommend this book but not as an initial exposure to Zen Buddhism. For that, I'm quicker to recommend Zen Mind, Beginners Mind. If you have already had some exposure to zen practice I do think this book inspires a depth of study elsewhere lacking in Buddhist literature. ( )

"All suffering and unsatisfactory experience come from causes. When the causes end, the suffering ends. All dharmas, whether pleasant or unpleasant, arise from causes. Knowing the four aspects - suffering, its arising, cessation, and the path - is all we really need. No other Dharma is necessary, because everything is naturally condensed into these aspects." -pg. 11

This is a profound introduction to Ajahn Chah, a Buddhist monk from Thailand, who taught with clarity and deep understanding gained from a lifetime of practice. Truly, this clarity is the main feature of this book, though by no means does that mean this is a simple read. Chah may explain with clarity but the concepts here are often complicated and difficult to grasp. This, more than any other Buddhist text I've encountered, reveals the intellectual depth one can explore in a meditative practice.

Being Dharma is divided into six main sections and an important Introduction written by Chah: Hearing Dharma, Understanding Dharma, Practicing Dharma, Seeing Dharma, Being Dharma, and Teaching Dharma. It takes time to work through each section but eventually you catch the rhythm of his teaching and somewhere around Practicing Dharma (the longest section) his style takes off. I think that is also around where I stopped trying to swallow the whole book and began taking smaller sips. So maybe that's my deal and you won't have the same experience. Either way, after struggling a little with the density of concepts I found a way to read this in a meaningful way.

I recommend this book but not as an initial exposure to Zen Buddhism. For that, I'm quicker to recommend Zen Mind, Beginners Mind. If you have already had some exposure to zen practice I do think this book inspires a depth of study elsewhere lacking in Buddhist literature. ( )