Forest Path - Amaravati Buddhist Monastery

158 forest path
strong deterrent effect on deforestation, inhibits the hunting of
wild animals and engenders an increased appreciation and love of
nature.
As forest bhikkhus, our teachers encourage us consciously to reflect
on the value of forest, and bring to mind that our presence and
sincerity of practice is intended to be a preservation force. At Tao
Dam Ajan Jayasàro spurs us on with an analogy:
“Living in a forest threatened with extinction is like encountering
a human being, injured, or with an illness, possibly dying
on the side of the road. One doesn’t worry about the person’s
previous behaviour, inquire about their nationality or ethnicity,
wonder whether the human being is rich or poor, young or
old, famous or not. In any case, human life is sacrosanct. You
attend to the threat on the person’s life by taking them to a hospital
or doing whatever possible to try to save them. Similarly,
just as human life has intrinsic value, so does the life of the forest,
with the multitudes of life within it. Who knows, the forest
may contain a rare plant species that leads to a cure for cancer.
Or maybe not. One way or the other, a forest supports the lives
of countless beings, and if it is subject to destruction, it merits
an immediate and appropriate response towards protection
and preservation.”
The Intrinsic Power of Mind
A third major theme of the forest Dhamma practice, in many ways
the point of retreating to the forests, is to develop sati, sampaja¤¤a,
and samàdhi. Ajan Thanissàro (abbot of Wat Mettà in California)
once challenged my enthusiasm for practising at a place like Tao
Dam, perhaps sensing my enchantment with the exoticism of the
retreat setting, by remarking, “It’s a good thing as long as it helps
you with your meditation”. This echoes a relevant exhortation by
the Buddha in the Saÿyutta Nikàya of the Pàli Canon,
“Guarding oneself, one guards others;
guarding others one guards oneself.
And how does one, in guarding oneself, guard others?
By patience and forbearance
by a non-violent and harmless life,