What the Buddha Never Taught: A Behind the Robes Account of Life in a Thai Forest Monastery

But I wish he'd bit his tongue a little more and observed without quite so much judgment. The book would have been better for it. Aug 27, Alice rated it really liked it Shelves: Rather, he shows how running away to a monastery causes one to realize that running away from yourself never works.

Rather than making him more spiritual and selfless, it results in petty annoyances with the other residents monks and not-quite-monks and endless navel gazing. Maybe for those who grow up in a society with a strong monastic tradition it's different, but for a westerner going to Thailand, it's a form of exoticism and self-centerdness. But, it was very interesting and worth the read. Oct 26, Lidija rated it liked it.

The forest monastery wat is built under the system of one of the greatest and most revered Thai monks, Ajan Chah, who has also contributed to the spread of Theravada Buddhism in the West. The book is written in a simple, readable style, interlaced with many dialogues, humor and occasional sarcasm. The book mostly focu 'What the Buddha Never Taught' is an entertaining diary of a young Canadian who, in his mid-twenties, spends a month in the Theravada Buddhist monastery Pah Nanachat in Thailand.

Tim is concerned with the excessive focus on often obsolete rules, discipline, and hierarchy at the expense of a solid and regular meditation practice. He also believes that the long list of rules prescribed for monks and novices are often conveniently bent using shortcuts and loopholes. He often criticizes the system, provokes other monks verbally, and questions the moral stands, motives and decisions of some of the members of the Sangha monk community. The book is fresh and interesting from the perspective of an unpretentious storytelling.

It depicts quite well the atmosphere and the daily dynamics such as the struggle with the boredom, heat, the daily chores: The book is based on the experience of a young man who seems a bit of a backpacker and a bit of an adolescent idealist who wishes to explore the spiritual heritage of the East, but always in small doses a moth in a monastery in Ladakh, another month in a monastery in Thailand.

The meditative experiences and insights the he develops are limited, often naive and used as a justification for his decision to leave the wat after a month. Enjoyable account of an extended visit to Wat Panachat, Thailand, and the dynamics, dilemmas, and disappointments of monastery life. The aloofness of senior sangha, the hypocrisy - as the writer sees it - of rules that can subtly be bent but never broken, and the rather distasteful living death of Ajahn Chah in his last days, are explored head on.

The back stories of bhikkhus, the uncomfortable compromises in the name of community harmony, and some of the rituals are portrayed sympathetically. A Enjoyable account of an extended visit to Wat Panachat, Thailand, and the dynamics, dilemmas, and disappointments of monastery life. As the thinly disguised Ajahn Passano says: Jan 20, Ben Payne rated it really liked it. The story of the author's stay in a Thai forest monastery. It's an interesting insight into day to day life in a a Thai buddhist monastery. The author is not a one-eyed buddhist convert; he provides a balanced, at times critical, view of the place he stayed, and captures both the peace and stillness, on the one hand, and the ritual and tradition on the other.

The latter receive a lot of the book's more critical passages, though he does a good job of portraying both sides. Overall a really enjoya The story of the author's stay in a Thai forest monastery. Overall a really enjoyable read. This book was both inspiring and mind opening.

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I came into the book not knowing too much about Theravada Buddhism, but this book really brought a realistic life to the social practices and philosophical ideologies of Thailand Buddhist monks. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the many setbacks that Tim went through on his journey of enlightenment and discovering the intricacies of meditation. There were a few people that I truly fell in love with while reading this book even though the monks would sa This book was both inspiring and mind opening.

There were a few people that I truly fell in love with while reading this book even though the monks would say this type of attachment was only suffering. One of those people was Novice Monk Ruk, whose love and peace could be felt through the pages of the book, along with the gentleness and understanding of Tan Bodhipalo.

The first is that I could not seem to get a handle on the passage of time throughout the book. There were moments when I had though that a few weeks had passed, but later discovered that it was only a day or two. The second and main reason has to do with the Postscript of this book. It really ruined it for me - it felt more like a way of selling the author's newer books and did not add anything to the story that I had invested so much time and love towards. Overall a great read, and I would recommend it for anyone who is beginning to look at the world of meditation and the practices of Theravada Buddhism.

Nov 21, Juergen rated it really liked it. Written in a bit of halting style, but a good memoir of the author's time as an ordained layman in one of Thai "Forest Master" Ajahn Chah's farang foreigner monasteries. Anyone who has ever considered running away to meditate in the seclusion of a foreign cloister would be well served by reading this book. The anecdotes, encounters and ruminations of the author and his few close compadres ultimately reveal that the inspiration and reality of one's awakening can only come from within and are th Written in a bit of halting style, but a good memoir of the author's time as an ordained layman in one of Thai "Forest Master" Ajahn Chah's farang foreigner monasteries.

The anecdotes, encounters and ruminations of the author and his few close compadres ultimately reveal that the inspiration and reality of one's awakening can only come from within and are therefore never far away. Feb 08, Linda Tuplin rated it really liked it. I found this an engaging and easy to read account of time spent in a Thai Buddhist monastery by a western Christian. For me it highlighted how wise religious teaching, when surrounded by structures set out to preserve individual interpretations can lead to perversions of the teachings and often to hypocrisy and strivings for power.

The downfall of most organized religions, in my experience and opinion. It deserves five stars. It isn't particularly funny or exciting but there were just a lot of times where I had to set the book aside and think, really think, about what I had just read. I gained so much perspective on death, complacency, my attachments, obedience, hypocrisy.

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I didn't find this humorous - and I heard it was supposed to be. But it was interesting and kept my attention. This felt rather timeless, not like it was more than 20 years old. He recounts his experiences as a novice practitioner of the Thai forest monastery tradition with insight and honesty.

His candor is refreshing, especially given the mind numbing prose that characterizes so many books about Buddhism. If you like candid books about Buddhist practice, you have to read this one. A semi interesting account of a month spend in a monastery. The author seemed to lack an understanding of Theravada Buddhism.

His struggle to use the discipline of the monastery to his advantage was interesting. This book has been around for a long time, but its message is still pertinent, especially for newcomers to Buddhist thought and practice. Tim Ward describes his visit to a Thai jungle monastery in an engaging manner. Ward focuses on the excesses of hierarchy, regulations, and austerity -- none of which are central to the Buddha's basic teachings. Ward relates his first-hand experiences with serenity and doubt, with temptation and laughter, and with suffering and insight.

In many ways, it is an ideal book for readers who are just beginning their explorations of Buddhism, seasoned travelers will revel in it as well. This is a sweet book of self discovery on a path that many Westerners have taken over the past forty years using Asian ideas and practices to come to terms with an inner world they find uncomfortable. Ajaan Cha is the lineage head of the many monasteries Sumedho has help found in England, America, Australia, and elsewhere around the world.

By the time Tim arrived in Ajaan Cha had been disabled by water on the brain for more than five years. Tim's tale of the monastery is revealing of the outer flaws of monastic life and his own struggle to come to terms with them. Monks influenced by Ajaan Cha and his students often promote monastic life as the answer to life's problems.

The world Tim reveals is all too human.

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There are personalities, there is blind submission to Thai culture which treats monks almost as magical persons. Laypersons earn merit for themselves in this life and future lives by feeding and serving the monks, and the monks rationalize what they know to be a way too simple understanding of Buddhism because it maintains their lifestyle. Tim befriends another novice with whom he can talk about all these contradictions. The friend leaves and, although apparently not there much longer, Tim becomes really angry about what he feels are compromises.

The anger is palpable and the reader senses how out of proportion it is to the inconsistencies in monastic life. The book is redeemed and Tim begins to understand what he has been missing when the very monks he dumps his anger on respond to him with authentic compassion. Their monastic life has imbued in them both a love and equanimity so they are not at all hooked by what they recognize as clearly Tim's discontents whatever the actual problems of Thai monasteries may be.

This is an engaging book. There are wonderful descriptions of the discomforts engendered by mosquitoes, ants, scorpions, and snakes of a countryside which had once been wild and was giving way to civilization. The dialogue between Tim and his friend, his taunting of others in the monastery, his easy explanation of Buddhist ideas make for interesting reading. The book flows nicely and, as reader, I looked forward to what challenge would come next for Tim. These days Buddhism is presented as a cure all touted on the covers of popular magazines.

The Dalai Lama has become a hero.

While Buddhism can offer some people relief from their problems, it has a long diverse history as a religion with all kinds of awkwardnesses not revealed by its promoters. It is refreshing to get a look into one man's experience in a monastery. It has many familiar ordinary human failures along with redeeming qualities. And of course, other people in other monastic settings have had quite different experiences. I think this is an important book to read for both Buddhist practitioners and people for whom Buddhism has been placed on a pedestal.

Buddha's Way Through Darwin's World. Everyone can be a fundamentalist. This "problem" is not limited to Christians, however much we Buddhists would like to think so.

What the Buddha Never Taught : Tim Ward :

Tim Ward shows how Theravada Buddhism, with its stress on the "perfect Dhamma" and hundreds of rules, can be corrupted in practice. Not surprising; monks are people, too. Not surprising, of course, but you never hear about it. So, they take a layperson with them into the jungle, and say, "Get rid of this", pointing at weeds or whatever needs to be cleared. This is not consistent with the spirit of the rules, but it follows the letter of the rules.

Thus the problems of literalism raise their head. Tim Ward is a gentle, well meaning traveller who does all Buddhists a favor by showing that Buddhism can fall victim to the problems of all religions.

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