Preface T
his is a collection of some of the sayings given by Luang Phaw Dhammajayo (the Most Venerable Dhammajayo Bhikkhu) in the period 1988-2000. It must be said that this book is one of the first examples of his work to appear in English. The book’s content predates his current fame as a daily face on the Buddhist satellite channel, DMC The original manuscript was published in Thai under the name Kong Kwan in the year 2000. In this translation, the selected sayings have been grouped under six headings – aim in life, the importance of Dhammakaya, reasons to meditate, meditation technique, maintaining meditation in everyday life and elements of Buddhist lifestyle – and the esoteric sayings have been omitted. Although Luang Phaw Dhammajayo’s teachings are firmly rooted in Buddhist culture, he makes use of several specialist terms which have been left unexplained in the text but for which readers are referred to a glossary of selected vocabularies to be found at the end of the book. Most of the teachings were given in the course of meditation instruction and therefore cover topics relating meditation to life. Although relatively rare, the sayings are timeless in the knowhow they offer to the meditator. Thus, this book can be read cover to cover – or if you are feeling down at heart or too lazy to meditate, a page can be read at random to cheer yourself up. Although this book is attractive and collectable, its prose eloquent; it can do little to improve your life unless its content is put into practice. So – happy reading, earnest practice and may all who have the chance to browse these pages attain inner happiness for themselves with ease!
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