English translations by Ajahn Dhammavidu of talks by Ajahn
Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu, with one original essay by Ajahn Dhammavidu. Read online, or
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Mindfulness of Breathing and Dependent Origination — 8 talks
By Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu, translated by Dhammavidu · given 1980 · translated 2020 (edited 2021) · ≈ 56,000 words
A series of eight talks in which Ajahn Buddhadāsa joins the two great pillars of his teaching: ānāpānasati, the sixteen-step practice of mindfulness with breathing, and paṭiccasamuppāda, dependent origination — the moment-to-moment arising of suffering. He begins with the obstacles that keep us from real Dhamma, gives a clear overview of dependent origination, and shows how the breath practice is used to see and stop that process, all the way to attaining the Dhamma.
The sixteen steps of mindfulness of breathing
By Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu, translated by Dhammavidu · given date unknown · translated 2015 · ≈ 8,000 words
A concentrated, practical exposition of ānāpānasati as it appears in the Pali in sixteen steps, grouped in four tetrads — body, feeling, mind, and Dhamma (impermanence). Buddhadāsa explains each step, the 'tricks' for calming the breath (following, guarding, and creating the nimitta), and how the practice leads through samādhi to letting go. A companion to the standalone Ānāpānasati audio recording.
The Buddhist Law of Nature — 8 talks
By Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu, translated by Dhammavidu · given July–October 1982 · translated 2012 · ≈ 53,000 words
Eight talks on idappaccayatā — 'the law of conditionality,' which Buddhadāsa calls the very heart of Buddhism and the Buddhist 'God': the impersonal law of nature by which everything arises, persists, and ceases. The series moves through the void mind, living in the present, birth, God, nibbāna, saṃsāra, and the relationship of the world and the Dhamma.
Twelve talks on developing life through the mind
By Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu, translated by Dhammavidu · given July–October 1983 · translated 2016 · ≈ 91,000 words
Buddhadāsa intended this set of twelve talks as a single, complete 'little book' for the general study and practice of Dhamma, gathering what is usually scattered across many publications. It moves step by step from the basic nature of human life, through the cultivation and results of mental development, to seeing everything as merely elements, and studying saṅkhāra and visaṅkhāra — the conditioned and the unconditioned.
Buddhism for those meeting it for the first time
By Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu, translated by Dhammavidu · given 1961 · translated 2022 · ≈ 73,000 words
A long, foundational lecture presenting Buddhism from the ground up for people who have never really understood it — including, Buddhadāsa says, many lifelong Buddhists who remain 'strangers' to their own religion. Its heart is the illusion of 'me' and 'mine': how clinging manufactures a self, how this produces all suffering, and how kamma and rebirth are commonly misunderstood.
By Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu, translated by Dhammavidu · given c.1980 · ≈ 7,000 words
A clear teaching on the pañcakhandha, the five aggregates — form, feeling, perception, mental formation, and consciousness — that make up body and mind. Buddhadāsa shows that these five are enough: there is no need for a sixth thing called 'self.' When ignorance clings to the aggregates they become the 'clinging aggregates' and 'me' and 'mine' — and dukkha — arise.
From the series on ‘important things we tend to overlook’
By Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu, translated by Dhammavidu · given 22 May 1979 · ≈ 6,000 words
The fifth in Buddhadāsa's Visākha Pūjā series on the important things we overlook. He argues that loving others — genuine mettā and karuṇā reaching beyond family and friends — is the heart of every religion and the real escape from 'the prison of selfishness.' It is the way out of greed, anger, and delusion, and the only true remedy for the conflicts of the world.
Dhammakāmayatā
By Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu, translated by Dhammavidu · given 9 June 1979 · ≈ 5,000 words
The ninth talk in the Visākha Pūjā series on things we overlook. Buddhadāsa explores dhammakāmayatā — a genuine 'hunger for Dhamma' on the three levels of study, practice, and realization — and traces it to a natural instinct for the good present in all living things. In a world engineered for endless sensual stimulation, he asks why this hunger has all but disappeared.
From the series on ‘important things we tend to overlook’
By Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu, translated by Dhammavidu · given 14 April 1982 · ≈ 5,000 words
The second talk in the Visākha Pūjā series. Against the common belief that the age of the future Buddha Metteyya lies tens of thousands of years away, Buddhadāsa insists it is 'right at the tip of our nose' — available here and now to anyone who realizes the Dhamma. He compares the Metteyya tradition across religions and points to its living meaning in the present.
On the amata, the deathless
By Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu, translated by Dhammavidu · given 10 August 1959 · ≈ 2,000 words
A short, penetrating essay on the fear of death and the deathless (amata). Buddhadāsa distinguishes fearlessness born of wrong view from the true deathless that comes with seeing suññatā — voidness. Where there is no 'self' there is no birth, and where there is no birth there is no death. Drawn from a Thai volume of his Dhamma teaching on death.
The five hindrances to meditation — an essay by Dhammavidu
By Dhammavidu · ≈ 2,000 words
A practical guide written by Ajahn Dhammavidu himself, drawing on his years of teaching. He describes the five nīvarana — the wandering mind, dullness and drowsiness, doubt, sensual desire, and ill-will — shows how they grow out of our stimulation-seeking way of life, and gives concrete 'antidote' techniques for each, in the framework of Buddhadāsa's ānāpānasati.