INTRODUCTION


  The Ven. Acariya Maha Boowa (Bhikkhu Nanasampanno) accepted an
  invitation to go to England in June 1974 together with two other
  Bhikkhus, Ven. Pannavaddho and Ven. Abhiceto, originally from the U.K.
  and Canada respectively. All three had the good fortune to be able to
  stay at the Dhammapadipa Vihara in Haverstock Hill which was run by
  the English Sangha Trust. [*] It was there that Acariya Maha Boowa
  gave the talks recorded in this book, the only exception to this being
  the discussion on 13th June in the morning at Cambridge, when the
  Bhikkhus went to receive food at Mr. Benedic Wint's house.

        [*] The Vihara in Haverstock Hill Road is now no longer there.
            The property was disposed of when the Sangha moved to
            Chithurst in Sussex.


  The talks given by Acariya Maha Boowa were tape recorded, but the
  questions and answers were mostly taken down in shorthand by M.R.
  Sermsri Kasemsri. It is mainly due to her efforts, not only in taking
  down the questions and answers, but also in subsequently transcribing
  all the talks and her shorthand notes and typing out the manuscript,
  that the Thai book was produced from which this translation was made.

  Translation from Thai into English does not normally present any
  special problems. But in the case of this book the origin of it was
  the spoken word, and in addition the subject matter is Dhamma which
  involves many concepts and technicalities for which English has a
  rather poor vocabulary and often a lack of the necessary fundamental
  concepts.

  The teachings of Buddhism may in fact be compared to a technical
  subject such as chemistry or electronics in that many technical terms
  and phrases are necessary, and also special concepts and ways of
  thinking are needed in order to understand and appreciate the
  reasoning and truth of Buddhism.

  When it comes to a question of whether to translate a technical word
  (nearly always from the Pali language into English, the reasoning that
  has been used is approximately as follows: If a word in Pali (or Thai)
  has a well-known and accurate equivalent in English, then the English
  word is used (e.g., Sati -- Mindfulness; Panna -- Wisdom). But if there
  is no well-known or accurate equivalent or if the use of an English
  word leads to more confusion or misunderstanding than the original
  Pali word then the Pali word is used (e.g., Samadhi, Jhana).

  I must apologise to those people who are not familiar with Pali terms
  and who find difficulty in reading a book such as this which has many
  Pali terms, but I feel sure that it is far better for readers to not
  understand rather than to misunderstand. In any case, following on
  this introduction is a short list of those Pali words which occur
  frequently in the book, together with a brief assessment of their
  meaning so that the reader who is not familiar with those words can
  have a ready reference. There is also a more complete glossary at the
  end of the book.

  I should like to thank all those who have helped to produce this book,
  including M.R. Sermsri Kasemsri for her work on the original book in
  Thai; Mr. Michael Shameklis for his help in translation of the first
  thirty or so pages; Tan Suchard (Bhikkhu Abhijato) for helping to
  correct many many translation mistakes, and to Tan Chris (Bhikkhu
  Cittobhaso) for typing out the manuscript.

                                Bhikkhu Pannavaddho
                                Wat Pah Ban Tard
                                Udorn Thani
                                Thailand



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                  Brief list of words that are usually
                     left untranslated in the text


  1. Citta     The heart (in the emotional sense, but not the physical
               heart), the "one who knows" (but often knows wrongly).
               The nearest English equivalent is the word "mind," except
               that "mind" is usually understood as being the thinking,
               reasoning apparatus located in the head, which is too
               narrow a meaning for the word "Citta".

  2. Dhamma    (i) the ultimate meaning is that basis which is behind
               all phenomena and is thus the truth. It is unchanging and
               is thus not knowable by that which is impermanent.
               (ii) in the sense of Buddha Dhamma, meaning those
               practices and ways of behaviour that conforms to Dhamma
               and lead one towards Dhamma.

  3. Dukkha    Discontent, Dissatisfaction, Suffering, Pain, Anguish.
               Dukkha is a very broad and general term covering all
               those things that are unpleasant, irritating and
               disturbing.

  4. Kilesas   Those defiling states arising from greed, hate, and
               delusion which constantly tend to lead us against Dhamma.

  5. Nibbana   That state of the Citta in which all the Kilesas and
               Dukkha have been eradicated.

  6. Samadhi   Absorption of the mind when concentrating one pointedly
               on an object. It has many levels and few people know more
               than the initial stages of it.

  7. Tan Acharn   Tan is a Thai word meaning Venerable. Acharn is also
               Thai and derived from Acariya -- teacher.

  8. Vimutti   Freedom, Liberation, in the sense of freedom from the
               Kilesas, Dukkha, and attachment to the mundane relative
               world (Sammuti).


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