A Heart Released

Much has been written about the life of Phra Ajaan Mun Bhūridatta Thera (1870-1949), the founder of the Thai Forest Tradition, but very little was recorded of his teachings during his lifetime. (Most of his teachings he left in the form of people: the students whose lives were profoundly shaped by the experience of living and practicing meditation under his guidance.)

The first piece translated here, A Heart Released (Muttodaya), is a record of passages from his sermons, made during the years 1944-45 by two monks who were staying under his guidance. The second, The Ever-present Truth, is drawn from notes of Ajaan Mun’s sermons taken by two of his students during the last two years of his life, covering a wide range of topics, including some standard accounts of the Buddha’s life. And the third, the poem The Ballad of Liberation from the Khandhas, was found after his death among the few papers he left behind.