Venerable ajahn chah monks of new skete
Famous hermits
Ajahn Chah (17 June – 16 January ) was a Thai Buddhist monk. He was an influential teacher of the Buddhadhamma and a founder of two major monasteries in the Thai Forest Tradition. Respected and loved in his own country as a man of great wisdom, he was also instrumental in establishing Theravada Buddhism in the West.Eremite Although his efforts had borne some fruit, Venerable Sumedho realized that he needed a teacher who could train him in all aspects of monastic life. By chance, one of Ajahn Chah’s monks, one who happened to speak a little English, visited the monastery where Venerable Sumedho was staying.
Hermit meaning Venerable Ajahn Chah is teaching. Near the back, almost at the edge of the pool of light sits a stern-faced man in his thirties. He is half turned to one side, as if his presence there is uncomfortable, tentative. He is a local hard man – a nak leng.
Anchorite Many foreigners came to learn from, and train under with Ajahn Chah. The first of these was the American-born monk, Ajahn Sumedho. In , a group of Ajahn Chah’s foreign disciples were asked by villagers not far from Ajahn Chah’s monastery to start a new branch monastery.