Wat Nong Pah Pong

Wat Nong Pah Pong (Short: Wat Pah Pong, Thai: วัดหนองป่าพง) is the main monastery of the late Thai Forest Tradition meditation master, the Venerable Ajahn Chah. The monastery sits in Ubon Ratchathani Province, in the district of (Amphoe) Warin Chamrap. An excerpt from the [http://www.watnongpahpong.org/indexe.php Wat's website] :

Wat Nong Pah Pong is a Buddhist forest monastery located in the province of Ubon Rachathani, in the North-East of Thailand. It was established by Venerable Ajahn Chah Subhaddo in 1954 so that monks, nuns and laypeople would have a place to study and practice the Teachings of the Buddha under Ajahn Chah's guidance. It aims at helping practitioners realize the end of suffering, and in its teachings focuses on methods such as being content with little, letting go, and putting forth right effort, so that students might attain the Path and the Fruit of practice, and realize Nibbana. It teaches and guides its monks and novices to acquire good habits of body and mind through following and practicing the Dhamma and Vinaya (Buddhist Teachings and Monastic Discipline). This will help cultivate deep internal realizations and lead to a strengthening of the presence of the Teachings of the Buddha in the world, benefitting current and future generations of both Thai and international practitioners.

International Branch Monasteries

In 1975, one of Ajahn Chah's first Western disciples, the Venerable Ajahn Sumedho, opened what was to be the first in a long line of branch monasteries (currently around 140 branches) of Wat Pah Pong specifically geared for the growing interests in traditional Buddhist practices among Westerners. That monastery, Wat Pah Nanachat, along with a growing list of monasteries opened in recent years around the world, are introducing the heart of the Buddhist teachings to what was previously something of an inaccessible audience to the Thai Forest masters.

Following is an incomplete list of International branch monasteries of Wat Nong Pah Pong, sorted alphabetically by country:

*Australia
**Bodhinyana Monastery(See the [http://www.bswa.org/ Homepage] ) in Perth
**Bodhivana Monastery in Victoria
** [http://www.dhammasara.org.au/ Dhammasara Nuns' monastery] in Western Australia (Associated Monastery)
**Vimokkharam Forest Hermitage (P.O. Box 152, Kallista VIC 3791) (Associated Monastery)
*Canada
** [http://www.arrowriver.ca/ Arrow River Forest Hermitage] in Thunder Bay, Ontario (Associated Monastery)
** [http://www.birken.ca/ Birken Forest Monastery] in Knutsford, BC (Associated Monastery)
** [http://www.tisarana.ca/ Tisarana Buddhist Monastery] in Perth, Ontario
*France
**Bodhinyanarama Monastery (No.6, Chemin de Boucharin 07300 Tournon)

*Italy
**Santacittarama (See the [http://www.santacittarama.org/ Homepage] ) in Rieti

*New Zealand
** [http://www.bodhinyanarama.net.nz Bodhinyanarama Forest Monastery] in Wellington
** [http://www.vimutti.org.nz Vimutti Forest Monastery] in Bombay (Associated Monastery)

*Switzerland
** [http://www.dhammapala.org Kloster Dhammapala] in Kandersteg
*Thailand
**Wat Pah Nanachat in Ubon Rachathani

*United Kingdom
** [http://www.amaravati.org Amaravati Buddhist Monastery] in Hertfordshire
** [http://www.ratanagiri.org.uk Aruna Ratanagiri Buddhist Monastery] in Northumberland
** [http://www.cittaviveka.org Chithurst Buddhist Monastery] in Hampshire
** [http://www.foresthermitage.org.uk The Forest Hermitage] in Warwickshire
** [http://www.forestsangha.org/com/devon.htm Hartridge Buddhist Monastery] in Devon

*United States of America
** [http://www.abhayagiri.org Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery] in Redwood Valley, California

ources

* [http://www.watnongpahpong.org/ Official homepage] (Thai)
* [http://www.watnongpahpong.org/indexe.php Official homepage] (English index)
*The [http://www.forestsangha.org/com/watnong.htm Forest Sangha]
* [http://forestwisdom.blogspot.com/2007/10/review-wat-nong-pah-pong-wat-pah.html Forest Wisdom]
*Freely available [http://what-buddha-taught.net/ publications and translations] of Ajahn Chah