Thai Forest Dhamma

in the tradition of Lungphu Mun Bhuridatto

and his western disciples

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Talks from Ajahn Martin

This website now contains all of Ajahn Martin's recorded talks in English and German (a few in Thai and in French).

Most of the talks were given to laypeople at Baan Taad Forest Monastery who wished to receive instruction on Dhamma and meditation.
Most of the newer talks (from 2013 onwards) were given to newly ordained western monks. The talks are preserved exactly as they were originally given – they have not been cut or corrected. For that reason, they should not be transcribed or translated into another form without Ajahn Martin's written consent.

If you have any questions about the content of the talks, please send an email to th.forest.dhamma@protonmail.com.

Back to All Talks

Date Title Description Album Duration
6-12-13 The 3 most difficult things to obtain
Dhamma Talk 24.15
4-12-13 (2)How Ajahn Martin came to practice
Dhamma Talk 19.42
4-12-13 (1)Finding the purpose in one's life, 5 precepts
Dhamma Talk 45.32
21-11-13 How to practice back home
Dhamma Talk 58.2
20-11-13 Just observe, don't try to understand
Dhamma Talk 52.27
19-11-13 dukkha, 5 khandhas and samadhi
Cycle of life and death: no end unless we choose the path taught by the Lord Buddha; Dukkha: boredom is dukkha, why do we grab our cellphone or watch TV?; Suicide: you go to hell for that, not the way to evade dukkha, you're still reborn; Exposition of the 4 Noble Truths; Citta: “the one who knows”, our true self that doesn't arise or cease; Body: we place so much importance on it but at the end, it dies; Happiness: with samadhi, it doesn't cost any money, just stay on Buddho; Premonition and dreams; Fear of death: the more you do good, the less you're afraid to die because the citta knows where it is going.
Dhamma Talk 38.14
9-11-13 The body is not us- anicca, dukkha anatta
Dhamma Talk 51.35
8-11-13 Dukkha and the 4 Noble Truths
Purpose of coming to a monastery: finding the true and complete happiness that the world cannot give. No need to buy or have this or that, just focus on one point and the mind is happy and complete; Dukkha – the first Noble Truth: why do we go shopping, eating, sleeping? All because of dukkha, a feeling of discomfort. Same for changing one's hairstyle, cloths etc.; Desire, cause of Dukkha – the second Noble Truth: wanting this or that, to become this or not to become that, that creates dukkha. The path to the end of Dukkha – the fourth Noble Truth: Sila(morality) / Samadhi(concentration) / Panna(wisdom) but before need to develop 3 vertues generosity/respect/gratitude; Kamma: it's the kamma that creates this body (healthy/unhealthy, beautiful/ugly etc.); Cycle of life and death: do you want to relive this life again? Is that so much fun? Ask yourself!
Dhamma Talk 40.09
26-10-13 The training of a Bhikkhu in the first 5 years
Talk given to monks. Kathina: after this period, time to go back to practice; Heart: dislikes and likes arise in our heart, not because of the environment; Kamma: this world is perfect but we don't see it because our views/opinions/desires are not in line with how the world is; Simile of the taming of the wild elephant: stick your attention to the breath/Buddho like you tie a rope to a pole to tame a wild elephant; 5 years dependence for a new bhikkhu: he should stay with the same teacher, like a child under constant surveillance, now the Kammathana tradition is almost extinguished, most of the monks don't follow the tradition anymore, “incomplete monks” according to Luangta. “Even after 15 years of monkhoot, I asked permission to Luangta to leave”
Dhamma Talk 38.23
7-10-13 We don't see dukkha!
Sati: the power of sati is to make things clear, it is the eye opener; Dukkha: not only pain and suffering but also boredom, discomfort, unease, restlessness... and we have a lot of it everyday; Fear and being afraid to loose one's possessions; Dukkha of actions: why do we eat/drink/wash/move? Mostly because of dukkha, but we don't see it, we're just caught up in our thoughts. Dukkha is our motivation to keep moving forward; Evening reflection: important tool to detect what is going wrong everyday.
Dhamma Talk 56.46
3-10-13 Remember why you practice
Talk given to monks. Practice: Luangta said clearly that it is walking and sitting meditation; having sati while walking around is good but it's not like practice; 14 to 16 hours of daily practice to make things going on; Why practising: find your own goal/motivation like getting rid of dukkha, not being reborn or entering the stream etc.; The 10 fetters uprooted through the path (sotappana up to arahant); Samadhi: you need the joy/calm/peace of samadhi to keep your motivation and to have a resting place.
Dhamma Talk 1.20.41
28-09-13 Body contemplation - dealing with fear
Talk given to monks. Samadhi: “this happiness is there all the time but we fail to look at it”, “drink it until you're full”; Pain investigation: observe it objectively, see it changing, track and follow it until seeing where it comes from and realizing that the body and the pain are 2 different things; Body contemplation: put it in front of you, part by part, investigate the hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, skin or any other organ to see the real nature of the body; Investigation of bodily and painful feelings; Investigation of the senses: what is it that you've not already seen/heard etc.?; Dealing with greed/anger: investigate properly the desired/hated object and greed/anger will subside, they cannot stand without an object; Personal experiences of Ajahn Martin re-experiencing his previous deaths.
Dhamma Talk 1.01.51
20-09-13 Without anchor it's not meditation
Talk given to monks. Eating once a day: advice to get used to it; Dukkha: it doesn't arise from a situation but because of our views of how the things should be; Getting out of the cycle of birth and death: do you want to do this again? Having the same experiences as this life in the next one? Basis of practice: we need a basis (I.e our meditation object), like a boat needs an anchor to see how things move around; Sati: like putting on glasses, stronger and stronger until it becomes like a magnifying loop; body contemplation: at the beginning, we need to have a base, a visual picture in our mind of one part of the body.
Dhamma Talk 1.20.32
10-09-13 Put up a fight against the kilesas
Talk given to monks. Dhutanga: they bring greed & anger, make the kilesas appear more clearly, only use them when ready. “The kilesas want to make us break, to leave the monkshood”; Calm: sticking the citta to the breath or the buddho makes us completely calm; Sati: if not enough sati, you can use the noting method. “Don't look down on other people, we are as bad as them”; Greed/anger: learn to deal with them, see them as anatta, then investigate the feeling, why do we do this to ourselves? Kilesas: if you give them a little finger, they take the whole hand! Moment to moment: do it step by step like running a marathon, don't look at the time or the future.
Dhamma Talk 41.34
29-08-13 Noting, sati and effort
Talk given to monks. Noting: you see all the moments where you were inattentive; Sati: when you see your intention before speaking, your sati is good; Luangta and Wat Pa Baan Taad: a forest university, not suitable for everyone, need to be able to practice independently; Body movement: when you have sati on all your bodily movements (eating, walking, washing, drinking etc.), you realize it's all the same, how it's boring!; Present moment: act with an open mind, don't rely on your memories “it's really a joy to live in the present moment, everything is fresh”; Dukkha: use it as your engine for the practice.
Dhamma Talk 55.37
25-08-13 Persistent effort required
Talk given to monks. Effort: Luangta put his life at stake for 3 days without letting anything else than “Buddho” in his mind. From then on, his citta never deteriorated. If we don't give in and stay on the parikamma, the citta will have to get calm; Sati: note all your actions (even verbally) to increase your sati; Control: in the west, we are “control freaks”, but we shouldn't try to control the breath or the “Buddho”; Symbols: we live in the world of symbols but don't understand a thing... we have forgotten the real experience; Kilesas: if a friend lies to us 3 times, we don't believe him any more, but we still believe the kilesas.
Dhamma Talk 1.04.56
22-08-13 Methods for improving sati
Talk given to monks. Frugality: a kammathana monk should be frugal (with food, cloth etc.); Sati: without sati, you're like a blind man. See every bodily action, every thought and question them if they are beneficial or not. To improve sati, you can note all your actions. Letting go: the moment the heart sees the dukkha of something, it's ready to let go but we never look inside in the heart.
Dhamma Talk 35.55
8-07-13 Learn independence, don't rely constantly on someone
Talk given to monks. Loathsomeness of the body keeps out raga-tanha (sexual craving). Kor wat/duties of the monk: quickly, quietly and with sati. Talking too much disturbs our practice. Sati is awareness not mindfulness. Be more aware! Figure out your mistakes for yourself to develop your sati and panna. The kilesas don't like us to stick on one object (Buddho or the breath), but we need this point of reference. “What is a bad mood?” Investigate it, break it down and it disappears. “My meditation is good... who tells you this?”. Each Arahant did the same thing: sila, samadhi and panna.
Dhamma Talk 32.4
1-07-13 Learn everything like a new born baby
Talk given to monks. Being a new monk, accepting comments/remarks/advice gratefully, always doing things the same way, training of a bhikkhu is like taming a wild elephant, handling dukkha vedana/painful feeling in the body. 5 khandhas, anicca/dukkha/anatta, respect/generosity/gratitude liaking in westeners, "compared to Thais, we are 2nd class people", learn by trial and error, being disheartened or being "a wise crack" are both terminal illnesses for the practice, forget about pride and nationality, respect is highly valued in heaven, Buddha's prophecies.
Dhamma Talk 49.22
23-06-13 The heart free of views is the only thing that can know
Talk given to monks. Wrong views/assumptions/interpretations/conclusions vs. knowingness of the heart. Law of kamma, "be able to observe with an open mind". serving others, avuso/bhante hierarchy to get rid of the ego, defense mecanism of the kilesas to protect the ego, sila, being grateful. Questions: overcoming sleepiness, 100% interest is 100% sati, how to know/track down your intentions, "kilesas don't understand a thing!"
Dhamma Talk 53.44
16-06-13 Why did we become monks? To overcome dukkha
Talk given to monks. Why become a monk? sati (awareness) is different from mindfluness, appana samadhi / one-pointedness: space & time collapse. Body investigation, pain investigation, death investigation, "be more perceptive, think less about yourself", KBC (Kilesa Broadcasting Company) => get rid of this constant commentator in your head.
Dhamma Talk 38.56
17-01-13 Dukkha, panna and the five khandhas
Dhamma Talk 40.41
13-01-13 Metta Practice
Instruction on how to practice loving kindness
Guided Meditation 32.25
6-01-13 Dukkha, the first Noble Truth
Dhamma Talk 55.57