Paul Breiter

In 1969, Paul Breiter was among the throngs of disaffected youth who traveled to the exotic East, seeking to escape the cultural and spiritual upheavals at home. He traveled first to India, thinking that indulging the senses would be his means of finding God. Instead, he found himself at a monastery in Thailand, taking the precepts of a Buddhist monk. He would spend the next seven years in robes, not indulging the senses, but depriving them. One Monk, Many Masters: The Wanderings of a Simple Buddhist Traveler is an account of Breiter’s life as a monk and his ongoing search for enlightenment after leaving the monastic robes. Breiter’s spiritual wanderings weave through the Theravada, Zen, and Tibetan Buddhist traditions under such great teachers as Ajahn Chah, Ajahn Sumedho, Kobun Chino, Lama Gonpo, and the 16th Karmapa. "Breiter relates his journey with self-effacing modesty. His knack for unadorned observation takes the reader on a worthwhile trek through modern Buddhism as journeyed by a Western layman turned monk and back again." —Sakula Mary Reinard, Spiritual Director, Portland Friends of the Dhamma "Breiter’s experience with [Buddhist] teachers, expressed in this book with honesty and insight, is a pleasure to read. The Dharma emerges throughout his memories as a sincere gift, and a teaching for all who are fortunate to read it." –Angie (Zuiko Enji) Boissevain

The Wanderings of a Simple Buddhist Monk

One Monk, Many Masters

Ajahn Chah

Chah (Achaan.)

Wolf Haas' Detective Brenner series has become wildly popular around the world for a reason: They're timely, edgy stories told in a wry, quirky voice that's often hilarious, and with a protagonist it's hard not to love. In this episode, Brenner-forced out of the police force-tries to get away from detective work by taking a job as the personal chauffeur for two-year-old Helena, the daughter of a Munich construction giant and a Viennese abortion doctor. One day, while Brenner's attention is turned to picking out a chocolate bar for Helena at a gas station, Helena gets snatched from the car. Abruptly out of a job, Brenner decides to investigate her disappearance on his own. With both parents in the public eye, there's no scarcity of leads-the father's latest development project has spurred public protest, and the mother's clinic has been targeted by the zealous leader of an anti-abortion group. Brenner and God is told with a dark humor that leaves no character, including Brenner, unscathed. Haas tells the story of a fallible hero who can be indecisive and world-weary, baffled and disillusioned by what he finds, but who presses forward nonetheless out of a stubborn sense of decency-a two-year-old is kidnapped, so you find her, because that's just what you do.

The Essence of the Buddha's Teachings

Being Dharma

Available until now only in limited editions, "Venerable Father" has become an underground classic among Buddhists, especially those practicing the Thai tradition. It details the joys and struggles of Paul Breiter's years with Ajahn Chah, who was perhaps Thailand's best-known and most-loved Buddhist master. Breiter describes Ajahn Chah as a figure who is at once human yet extraordinary, an orthodox yet unconventional teacher whose remarkable skill, patience, and compassion in training disciples flowed naturally from his deep and joyous realization of the truth. Breiter also explains, quite vividly, the life of a Westerner in a Thai forest monastery and the unique spiritual lessons to be learned there. PAUL BREITER ordained in the Theravada Buddhist tradition in Thailand in 1970 and soon thereafter met Ajahn Chah. He became one of Ajahn Chah's favorite disciples and his translator, and stayed with him until disrobing in 1977. Since then, he has maintained close ties to Ajahn Chah's lineage while studying Zen and Tibetan Buddhism, and he has continued to translate Ajahn Chah's teachings, which appear in "Still Forest Pool: The Insight Meditation of Achaan Chaa" (with Jack Kornfield) and "Being Dharma: The Essence of the Buddha's Teachings."

Paul Breiter

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