Above is a photo of Ajahn Lee's passing away in 1961 at Wat Asokaram. A great teacher was lost on the year. Phra Ajahn Lee was an excellent teacher. His teachings were recording and transcribed into books by his disciples. To read his teachings online, please go to http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/lee/index.html
Note: I got the photo above while visiting Wat Asokaram. I was looking at the list of items being on sale at the floor below the shrine hall when this photo caught my eye. I was looking at it for a long time and wanted to purchase it. A white robe nun was looking after the stall- she gave me the picture.
During the initial tough periods of my life years ago when I was searching for lots of answers to the questions I had, his writings had provided me with a lot of comfort. Books like Handbook for the Relief of Suffering and Inner Strength in which I've printed out from Accesstoinsight when I start owning a computer and a printer and filed it up to be read. If you read with your heart, and not your head, you can appreciate the depth of the teachings- far surpassing a lot of commercial books that are being sold today. The truths are profound, yet told in a simple way using the language of the heart.
I've read so many self help and even psychology books since I was in my teens decades ago before I encountered the teachings of Thai Forest Tradition. Somehow, there is a lack of self of empowerment in conventional psychology and that it seemed that whatever happens in your life is due to external circumstances- your family, your genes, background, teachers, friends, media, etc etc. If one is not careful, one ended up with the 'victim' mentality and feeling helpless. It is only recent years that more and more authors start to write about self-accountability- for so long as we never look within, we can never solve our inner issues.
Still, after years of searching, I find the teachings of the forests Masters to be most effective for me personally. It can be tough- because you don't visualise things that you want or to apply positive thinking like what you read in those books.... instead, your role is to learn to let go your mind's grasp of those things.
When you let go, your heart will be free, light and it does not matter regardless of where you live, or if you have friends or money.
