The Craft of the Heart

The Craft of the Heart by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo gives the full range of his teachings on the practice of the Buddha?s craft, from the observance of the five precepts to the attainment of total liberation. Even though the chapters are designed for different readers at different stages the reader is advised to read, not judgmentally, but judiciously?taking whatever is useful for his or her own practice, and leaving the rest for others. The structure of the book, with its two overlapping parts, is explained by the fact that the two parts were originally written and published separately, Part II appearing in 1936 as The Training of the Heart, and Part I the following year as Precepts for Laypeople. In 1939 Ajaan Lee revised and expanded both parts, putting them together as self-sufficient but complementary halves of a single volume. Later, in the early 1950?s, he revised the book once more.