Venerable Father

Available until now only in limited editions Venerable Father has become an underground classic among Buddhists especially those practicing the Thai tradition. It details the joys and struggles of Paul Breiters years with Ajahn Chah who was perhaps Thailand¿s best-known and most-loved Buddhist master. Breiter describes Ajahn Chah as a figure who is at once human yet extraordinary an orthodox yet unconventional teacher whose remarkable skill patience and compassion in training disciples flowed naturally from his deep and joyous realization of the truth. Breiter also explains quite vividly the life of a Westerner in a Thai forest monastery and the unique spiritual lessons to be learned there. PAUL BREITER ordained in the Theravada Buddhist tradition in Thailand in 1970 and soon thereafter met Ajahn Chah. He became one of Ajahn Chahs favorite disciples and his translator and stayed with him until disrobing in 1977. Since then he has maintained close ties to Ajahn Chahs lineage while studying Zen and Tibetan Buddhism and he has continued to translate Ajahn Chahs teachings which appear in Still Forest Pool: The Insight Meditation of Achaan Chaa (with Jack Kornfield) and Being Dharma: The Essence of the Buddha¿s Teachings.