The Teachings of Ajahn Lee

The Teachings of Ajahn Lee

When the Buddha was still a lay person, he tried to track down the source of true happiness. 

He asked himself, “Does happiness come from being wealthy?” But when he looked at wealth, he saw that it had its drawbacks. 

So he turned to learning, but learning also had its drawbacks. He turned to power, but he saw that power involved killing and war. 

So he contemplated things back and forth like this, asking himself what he could do to find true happiness. 

Finally he realized that happiness comes from pain, pain comes from happiness. The world has to keep spinning around like this. 

And when something spins around, it has to have an axle—otherwise, how could it spin? 

So when there’s something that spins, there also has to be something that doesn’t spin. He kept contemplating this until he found the source of all spinning and not spinning, which lies right here in the heart.

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From The Skill of Release: Teachings of Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo, translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu. 

https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/SkillOfRelease/Section0015.html

Photo: Wat Thep Phithak Punnaram (Luang Phaw Khaw), Pak Chong district, Nakhorn Ratchasima province. Built by General Pong Punnakan in remembrance of Ajaan Lee's teachings.