Venerable Ajahn Jia

About Ajahn Jia (1916–2004)

Ajahn Jia (Cundo) was born on 6 June 1916 in Laem Sing district, Chanthaburi province, in eastern Thailand, the fourth of nine children. He was ordained as a monk on 11 July 1937 at Wat Chanthanaraam in Chanthaburi, with Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo as his ordination teacher, and received the name Cundo. He is also known as Ajaan Jiak Cundo, Luang Pu Jia and Luang Por Jia. In Thai his name is written หลวงปู่เจี๊ยะ จุนโท.

He later became a long-time disciple of Ajahn Mun Bhūridatta, following him as a wandering forest monk and helping to care for him in his final years. He also attended Luang Pu Sao. He was a contemporary of Ajahn Maha Boowa, and served as abbot of several monasteries, including Wat Paa Bhūridatta Patipataaram. After a severe stroke in 2001 his health declined, and he died on 23 August 2004, at the age of 88. His life story is told in his autobiography, published in English as Gold Wrapped in Rags.

He was known for a blunt, serious and unconventional manner, which some found rough. Ajahn Maha Boowa described him as very meticulous inside while loud outside, and called him gold wrapped in a rag, the rag being his coarse exterior.

On this site

This site holds a small selection of his teachings, mostly selected sections with one short teaching. Meditation and wisdom are the main themes, together with Nibbāna, non-self and virtue. They include his first-person account of practising in the forests of northern Chanthaburi in 1949, when a vast, still awareness arose and his contemplation of the body continued by itself; Ajahn Mun's advice on working with visions (nimitta) in meditation; a reflection that outward personality is not a measure of inner spiritual worth; and the reminder that Nibbāna is always possible.