Forest Path - Amaravati Buddhist Monastery

learning forest dhamma 149
jumping around, ducks low behind some tall grass and shrubs, then
shoots clear out of sight. It had been only three or four metres from
my dtieng.
Finding Resolve in the Forest
The proverbial forest bhikkhu story revolves around the encounter
with a tiger. As the fiercest predator to be found in the wild, this
large flesh-eating character unquestionably rules the jungles of
Southeast Asia. Tigers notoriously reek with the smell of death on
their breath, usually strong from a recent kill. Yet interestingly, in
recent recorded Thai history, although there are countless documented
instances of forest bhikkhus meeting up with tigers, there is
not one single known case of any forest monk being killed by one of
these beings. I had just met up with a relative of one of these regal
beasts, (later I discovered the animal I saw was probably a Golden
Asian Cat, not a properly striped full-grown Bengal Tiger), and fortunately
I did not become the first victim on the list.
Now, a year later, as I sit at the foot of a giant tree at a new spot in the
same Tao Dam forest recollecting this encounter, I contemplate why
fear did not arise. Why do I feel so at home in this seemingly wild
and uncontrollable environment? Practising in the forest in accordance
with a forest monastic tradition dating back to the time of the
Buddha, I get a gut sense of the authenticity of this form of training,
although it is a far cry from my upbringing and education in
America. As a forest monk there is a bare-bones honesty and naked
simplicity to the daily life. Everything is a teacher. Every moment is
geared toward Awakening. Ajan Cha points the way.
“Whether a tree, a mountain or an animal, it’s all Dhamma,
everything is Dhamma. Where is this Dhamma? Speaking
simply, that which is not Dhamma doesn’t exist. Dhamma is
Nature. This is called the Sacca Dhamma, the True Dhamma. If
one sees Nature, one sees Dhamma; if one sees Dhamma, one
sees Nature. Seeing Nature, one knows the Dhamma.”
And elsewhere:
“Where is the Buddha? We may think the Buddha has been
and gone, but the Buddha is the Dhamma, the Truth of the way