Bruce Evans

BRUCE EVANS is a translator, editor, and Theravada Buddhist practitioner. He took bhikkhu ordination under Ajahn Chah in the 1970s and lived for seventeen years as a monk in Thailand. From 1985 to 1992, he served as abbot of a remote monastery on the Thailand-Laos border. He lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Bhikkhu P. A. Payutto

BHIKKHU P. A. PAYUTTO (SOMDET PHRA BUDDHAGHOSACARIYA) is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the Pali canon and Theravada Buddhism. He entered monastic life at the age of thirteen and has since authored more than four hundred books and booklets. He has taught widely at universities in Thailand and the United States and has received numerous honors and awards, including the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education. He is the abbot of Wat Nyanavesakavan, a temple outside Bangkok, Thailand.

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These days we know a lot about the many forms of “world Buddhism. ” But we seem to know far too little about Thailand’s monastic tradition—which seems rigorous, austere, and at times even forbidding. In Voices of Siam, Bruce Evans presents fresh and appealing translations of the thoughts and ideas of six Thai masters, bringing them to life as engaging individuals. This shows us the humanism, diversity, dynamism, and even the lighter side of Siamese Buddhism.

Evans has engaged with this tradition for nearly fifty years, and he opens his selection with recollections of his life with Ajahn Chah, one of the greatest forest masters. He follows this with a translation of the Girimānanda Sutta, from a Thai version of a text that is popular with the forest communities. Evans translates from the inside, from the heart, to open new insights into the practice of the Buddha’s Dhamma. Voices of Siam is a welcome step towards understanding the rich living heritage of the great world religion founded by Gotama Buddha.

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Former longtime monk Bruce Evans presents a sampling of the leading lights in Thailand’s vast firmament of meditation masters, learned scholar-meditators, and realized adepts. These teachers are part of a tradition of making Buddhist teaching and practice accessible—a tradition that has long permeated and shaped Thai society in ways that can't be overstated.

There is something here for everybody, from clear expositions of classical Buddhist doctrine to practical advice on working with the neuroses specific to our age of rampant consumerism and technological frenzy. This volume opens a window onto a way to peace and happiness that has proven its worth and effectiveness for over 2,500 years.

"From Bruce Evans’s engagingly vivid account of his experiences as a young monk with Ajahn Chah, to a new translation of a Thai version of the Girimānanda Sutta, to contributions from Ajahn Buddhadāsa, Bhikkhu Payutto, and, unusually, a laywoman, Upāsikā Kee Nanayon, this anthology opens windows on Thai Buddhist traditions, their meditative life, and their practices. It introduces the interpretative wisdom and surprising humor that often characterize Thai Dhamma teachers. As Evans points out, the different “flavors” of the different teachers represented show us how different they all are in character and tone. All, however, bear the unmistakable stamp of a simple and direct approach to Buddhist practice. This accessible book offers a richly humane introduction to Thai Buddhism and its meditative understandings." —Sarah Shaw, author of Breathing Mindfulness and The Art of Listening