The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

18 November 2024

Question:  When we come out of meditation and we like to share the merit with our parents who has passed away, is it possible or not possible?

Than Ajahn: Well, it was never mentioned by the Buddha. He only mentioned giving dāna and giving to charity, and then you can dedicate that merit to the departed. But regarding dedicating the merit from the result of your meditation for the departed, he didn’t mention it. But you can try. There is nothing to stop you from doing it.

Layperson: But you know that sometimes the king and people go to some temples to chant, pay respect and give merits to kings who had passed away. So, it’s not impossible, right?

Than Ajahn: Well, it’s not possible and it’s not impossible because the Buddha didn’t say either way. 

He only said to dedicate the merit to the dead by giving dāna, by giving offerings to monks and once you’ve done that, then you have merit, so you can dedicate this merit to the people who died.

Layperson: And if they haven’t died, can we give it to them or not?

Than Ajahn: No.

Layperson: And we cannot give it from the meditation.

Than Ajahn: No, you cannot because if I can give it to you, then you don’t have to meditate, right?

Layperson: But sometimes we want to share.

Than Ajahn: I know. I think if it’s possible, the Buddha would have mentioned it. The merit that you can give is the merit that you do by charity. Maybe it’s because it’s the thing people can do readily, right away because most people won’t be able to meditate any way. 

So, maybe you can if you can meditate and you can have this serenity, and you dedicate this serenity. But for the people, whether they are waiting for it and can accept it or not, it depends. It’s because nothing can stop you from dedicating whatever you have.

Layperson: No, I heard in your dhamma talk that some people asked if someone they know died, what could they do? You said truthfully, ‘Well, if they didn’t practice throughout their lives, what can you do? You just let them go. Some are auspicious. They have their own kamma.”

Than Ajahn: Yes, it’s the law of kamma, ‘Whosoever does any good or evil kamma, will receive the result of that kamma.’

Layperson: The foreigners say, ‘What goes around, comes around,’ the same thing.

Than Ajahn: Yes, the same thing. You reap what you sow.

“Dhamma in English, Aug 4th, 2017.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

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The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

14 November 2024

Q: As we come close to the year end, is there any reflection that we should work on?

Than Ajahn:  You reflect that this is anicca. 

Time is running out for you. You have less time to live, less time to practice so better hurry up

Student:  Oh okay, that's a very wise reflection because people usually will reflect that this is a festive period, let’s celebrate.

Than Ajahn:  The Buddha said that as you see the days and the years gone by you should ask yourself, ‘What am I doing now? Am I meditating? Am I practicing the noble eightfold path? Or am I going after money and wealth and so forth?’ 

Student:  Okay. So that's the correct reflection we should have.

Than Ajahn:  That's right. So if you go in the wrong direction, you should take a U-turn. If you go after money then you should U-turn back to go after dāna (generosity) instead. If you’re going on holiday, you should instead go to the monastery to meditate. Make a U-turn. If you know that you are going in the wrong direction then you should take a U-turn so that you can go to the right direction.

You should remind yourself not just at the end of the year. You should remind yourself at the end of every day: ‘Today has gone by, what have I done? Am I going in the right direction or not?’ You should review it every day. Because one year is too long, it might be too late. There might be no next year, who knows? So constantly ask yourself, ‘What am I doing now? Am I going after sensual pleasure or am I going after meditation pleasure?’

Buddha asked his assistant to reflect on death in every breath. Every time he takes a breath he should think, ‘Every time I breathe in, if I don’t breathe out, I die. 

Every time I breathe out, if I don’t breathe in, I die.’ 

This will then stir you to go in the right direction. A year is too long, too far away and by then you forget what to do. Besides, who knows if we are going to live for another year or not, right? 

People say that Buddhist teaching is very pessimistic, only thinking about death. But we use death as a tool to fix our problems which is our suffering or our stress.

“Dhamma in English, Dec 19, 2023.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

Self Reliance

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

3 November 2024

Self Reliance.

The Buddha teaches that kamma separates human from animal. It also makes human different from one another. There are tall, short, intelligent, stupid, diligent, lazy, good and bad people. It’s because our past kamma are not the same. In our past lives, if we did good kamma, were diligent and wise, liked to study, liked to listen to the Dhamma, we would possess these qualities in our present existence. If in our past lives, we were lazy, hated to go to work, liked to live off others, hated to go to school, didn’t pay attention to the teachers, and didn’t learn anything new in order to become wiser, we would be like that in this life. Our differences are mostly due to our past kamma. 

We can’t change the past, but we can change the present. If we are lazy we can train ourselves to become diligent. We can use diligence to overcome laziness. If we are ignorant, we should study hard and associate ourselves with the wise and learned, who are more knowledgeable and wiser. They can teach us, and we can learn from them. 

Don’t hang around with the foolish and ignorant. If we do we wouldn’t learn anything from them. It would be a waste of time. We should instead stick with the good and the wise, who regularly go to the temples to make merits by giving to charity and keep the moral precepts. 

They could influence us to do good. 

We can’t change the past, but we can change the present. We can start anew. When we have done a lot of good kamma today, then good consequences will appear in the future. 

Our lives will be better tomorrow, next month, next year and next life because we are living a virtuous life today. 

The Buddha says that we are not all equal and have our differences. Even siblings are different. Some are bright, some are not, some are stupid, some are diligent, some are lazy, some are good, and some are bad. The Buddha divides them into three groups namely, those who are brighter and more virtuous than their parents; those who are the same; and those who are worse. 

Parents with brighter and smarter offspring are considered blessed and lucky. They hardly need to be taught because they are able to learn by themselves or have already acquired lots of knowledge from their past lives, like the Buddha for example. He belongs to the smarter and brighter kind. His father couldn’t teach him anything that he didn’t already know. He even knew more than all of his teachers. 

Parents who have offspring who are worse than they are have to be patient in teaching them about good and bad, right and wrong. If they can afford it, they should provide their children with quality education. If they study hard, they might one day become brighter and smarter than their parents. On the other hand, if they don’t like to go to school, to study hard and be good students, but like to go out and have fun, to drink and gamble, parents shouldn’t lose sleep over them, but should consider that their children are not themselves and vice versa. 

The Dhamma teaches that all beings are created by their own kamma. Whatever kamma they have committed, good or bad, they themselves would reap the consequences. Although they may be your sons and daughters, they are only so physically, but not spiritually or mentally. 

Their spirit or mind has their past kamma as their real parents. Parents shouldn’t therefore lose sleep over their children’s failures if they have done their best to raise them to be good and smart. If they insist on going down the road of moral deprivation, then it’s not your fault but the consequence of their past kamma. In this regard it can’t be helped, as the Buddha points out: Attãhi attano nãtho, we are our own refuge. 

Therefore, if we wish to live a happy and prosperous existence, and avoid all the trials and tribulations of life, we should keep a close watch on our physical, verbal and mental kamma. Make sure that they are going in the skilful and meritorious direction. If we don’t know what they are then we should learn from someone who knows, like all the well-learned and well-known ajahns. Go to them and learn from them. Then we will know how to live a happy and prosperous life. 

If we are going down the wrong path, we must resist it with all our might. For example, if we like to go out and drink, to gamble, to cheat, to lie, to steal, to kill animals like hunting and fishing, then we must put a stop to all of them. If we have friends who like doing these things, we should avoid them. 

Don’t socialize with them because they would only drag us down. 

We should therefore consider attãhi attano nãtho; we are our own refuge as our guiding principle and put our physical, verbal and mental kamma into good use in order for us to subsequently reap their good consequences.

“Sensual Pleasures are Painful.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

 27 October 2024

Q: What does หมากน้อยสันโดษ (mâak nói săn-dòht) mean?

Than Ajahn:  mâak nói means wanting little. 

Small is beautiful. Săn-dòht means to be content or happy with whatever you get whether it is many or little. Be thankful for getting it. Less is more. Small is beautiful. 

Because it doesn’t require much to have little. If you want to have more things, you have to work harder to get it. If you don’t want as much, you don’t have to work as hard to get it, so it releases the stress on your mind. If you want lots of things, then you have to work hard to get it. If you don’t want that much things then you don’t have to work that hard to get it. And if you are just happy with whatever you get then you don’t have any worries because you are just happy with anything or nothing. 

“Dhamma in English, Jun 1, 2024.”

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Q:  In one of your teachings, you mentioned that the more you have, the more suffering you will be. Can you help enlighten me on this?

Than Ajahn:  If you have one house, then you only have one house to worry about. If you have two houses, then you doubled the worry. It also depends on how strong your attachment is. The cause of your suffering is based on your attachment. The stronger your attachment to things is then the stronger your suffering will be. If you are not attached to anything then you don’t have any suffering. The reason why you have more is because you have attachment so you want more. When you have more, then you have more suffering. If you have less attachment, then you have less suffering. 

Q: We do need a house to live so how much is enough? Does it depend on the individual?

Than Ajahn:  Yes, it depends on the individual. The Buddha tells the monks to not have a house, just live in the forest instead. 

You can decide for yourself. There are a wide range of accommodation you can chose from. The least expensive one will give you the least suffering. The most expensive one will give you more suffering because you have to pay more for it. 

“Dhamma in English, Jun 5, 2024.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

13 October 2024

Q: The Buddha’s teaching is akaliko (timeless), but how come Buddhism will disappear after 5000 years?

Than Ajahn:  Because nobody takes it up, that’s all. It’s still there. The next Buddha will bring it up again. It’s still there but no one study and practice the Buddha’s teaching so it will disappear from people’s mind. Then we have to wait for the new Buddha to discover it again. 

The Four Noble Truths are always there. Like the law of gravity, it is always there. It’s waiting for somebody to discover it. Can you say that the law of gravity changes? No, it doesn’t change, right? It’s always there but whether people know it or not, that can change. 

There will be a new Buddha who will discover the Four Noble Truths and teach the people. 

So there is a new person who will discover the Four Noble Truths after they disappear. 

Like our Buddha, when he practiced, there were no Four Noble Truths taught by anybody so nobody knew anything about the Four Noble Truths. He also didn’t know about the Four Noble Truths but he wanted to get rid of his suffering so he investigated it and found them. The Four Noble Truths are in our heart, but we just don’t see them, that’s all. 

When you have stress, is that the Noble Truth or not? 

When you cry, that’s the first Noble Truth, right? But you don’t investigate it, ‘Why am I crying? Why should I cry?’ 

Because you want your money back, or you want your husband back. He went for somebody else so you cried. 

If you don’t see the cause of your crying which is your craving, so you cry.

These are the Noble Truths happening all the time in people’s mind. But they don’t see them as such. When you are sad, that’s the first Noble Truth. When you hear bad news, you are sad. What’s the cause of your sadness? You don’t want to hear bad news, you want to hear good news. So the Four Noble Truths are always there but nobody sees them. Even the Buddha, before he became enlightened, he had them inside himself but he didn’t see them. 

The delusion is so great so you don’t see them. 

When you feel sad, you blame on somebody else. [For example] You blame on your husband. He is the one who makes you sad. 

But it’s not him leaving you that makes you sad, it’s your desire for him not to leave you that makes you sad. So if you change your mindset, ‘Okay, he could leave me, I don’t care,’ then you won’t be sad, right? 

See, the Noble Truths are always there. 

People don’t see them. It takes one person, once in a long time, to see these Truths then he can teach other people to see them. As soon as the Buddha saw the Four Noble Truths, he then taught the 5 ascetics then they could also see them. After he taught the Four Noble Truths in the First Discourse, one of the ascetics became enlightened. ‘Yes, I can see the Four Noble Truths now. It’s in myself, in my mind, working all the time. But I just don’t see them. When I feel sad, instead of killing my craving, I go kill other people who make me sad.’ Then he had to keep killing other people because there would be more people that made him sad again. But if he killed the defilement once and for all, then he would never be sad anymore. 

This is what we want to do: to stop the second Noble Truth from happening. If it happens – which is the craving – we want to eliminate it or stop it by using the practice of meditation and wisdom to see that everything is beyond our control. People die or people leave us, we can’t stop them when that happened. The only thing that we can do is just to accept it. If we can accept it then we won’t become sad. 

- - -

Q:  How to solve sadness?

Than Ajahn:  Sadness comes from your desire. You want something and you don’t get what you want then it makes you sad. So somehow you have to stop this desire for things to be the way you want them to be. 

And you can do this by meditating, by stopping your thoughts. Once you stop thinking then you forget about what you want, then your sadness will temporarily disappear. But it doesn’t disappear permanently.  As soon as you think about it again then you become sad again. 

If you want to get rid of your sadness permanently then you have to accept that things just happen the way they are because they are not under your control. They don’t respond to your desire. They are anattā. 

You have to use mindfulness to stop it first. Stop thinking. Stop thinking. 

Q:  Last night I was very sad. 

Than Ajahn:  Well, what you should do is to accept the sadness itself. Don’t try to get rid of it if you can’t get rid of it. Accept the sadness. Just be sad and be happy with the sadness instead. Your problem is you don’t want to be sad which cause you to have more sadness. 

And you don’t know how to get rid of it then it makes you even more sad. So the best way if you don’t know how to get rid of your sadness is to accept it. ‘Okay, let’s be sad and be happy with it.’ 

If you can accept the sadness then you don’t have to watch your breath anymore. Once you accept it then you can become happy. If you could let go of it completely then there’d be no sadness left in the mind and you’ll feel light and easy and happy. 

Q:  Is this phenomenon due to my past kamma?

Than Ajahn:  Don’t worry about past kamma. 

Worry about how to deal with your problem now. The best way is to embrace it if you can’t get rid of it. Accept it. 

If you can’t get rid of your sadness then try to live with it. If you can accept sadness, then you won’t be so sad. 

The problem is when you are so sad, you can’t accept your sadness. If you can meditate, then you can temporarily stop your sadness. But if you can’t meditate and you can’t get rid of your sadness, then just try to accept your sadness. Or be grateful that you are still alive. 

“Dhamma in English, April 30, 2024.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart

24 September 2024

The third spiritual power is mindfulness or sati. If we want quick results from our practice we need mindfulness. We must always be mindful of what we do because mindfulness controls the mind.

The mind is like an automobile and mindfulness its driver. If the driver has no mindfulness like when he is drunk, he would not be able to drive safely. He would probably unknowingly run through a red light at an intersection. 

Without mindfulness we will not be able to stop our mind when we want to. Without mindfulness to rein it in we could go mad and do things that normal people dare not do. We could go berserk and eventually be incarcerated in a mental asylum because we have lost touch with reality. We have lost our mindfulness or sati.

 Mindfulness is therefore essential in the performance of meritorious and skilful actions such as giving to charity, maintaining the precepts or sitting in meditation.

Having mindfulness to control the mind is like tying a monkey to a tree. If it were not put on a leash it would go everywhere causing a lot of troubles. On the other hand, if it’s tied to a tree, it couldn’t go far. At first it might struggle to free itself. After a while, it would get tired and stop struggling. It is subdued. 

Similarly, we can use mindfulness to control our mind. When we get angry or become greedy, if we have mindfulness, we would be able to stop our anger and greed. 

Mindfulness is therefore extremely essential and useful. 

When we lose our mindfulness, we would be like cars without brakes. We would misbehave and cause a lot of troubles for ourselves. People wouldn’t respect or admire us but get sick of us. They would think that we are insane because we would do or say whatever we like without giving consideration to what is right or proper. We are driven by our whims and fancies. People wouldn’t like to be associated with us. 

It’s therefore imperative for us to have mindfulness if we want to excel and become a good and respectable citizen. Having mindfulness means we must always be mindful of our actions. We must be mindful of what we do or say. Our mind must always be in the present, here and now, not drifting away to some other place. If it does, we wouldn’t be aware of what we are doing. 

For example, if our mind is thinking about something else while we cut meat or vegetables, we might cut our fingers instead. 

This is because we have no mindfulness. If we do we would know all the time what we are doing. Without mindfulness, we wouldn’t be able to thread the needle because our mind is drifting here and there. But when we have mindfulness to control the mind, we would be able to do it easily.

Mindfulness is a very valuable tool that should be earnestly developed. One way to do this is to mentally recite ‘buddho’. ‘Buddho, buddho’ at all times. 

Whatever we do, just think of ‘buddho’. Concentrate on it. 

Do not let the monkey or our mind run away. 

Tie it to a tree. That tree is buddho. 

If we could restrain our mind, it would eventually calm down and realize samādhi or concentration, not wandering here and there but stay put, here and now, like this glass of water that was placed here. It is still here and not going anywhere. Similarly, if we use mindfulness to control our mind, we would be able to concentrate and remain still. Once that happens, we can accomplish many things. 

“Sensual Pleasures Are Painful”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

22 September 2024

Question:  Why some cultivators, like Devadatta, who could attain jhāna, were capable of extreme evil acts?

Than Ajahn:  Attaining jhāna doesn’t stop you from doing bad or evil actions because your bad or evil actions come from your delusion (moha). 

Your delusion can make you think that what you do is right. 

Like Devadatta, he thought that the Buddha was old, so the Buddha should be replaced by someone younger like him. Devadatta thought that he had a good thought. 

He thought that he would help the Sangha by becoming the leader of the Sangha. But this was delusional because he himself hadn’t become enlightened yet. He wasn’t an arahant. So, how could he become the leader of the Sangha? It was also his desire to be big, to be the leader, which was a defilement. 

But he didn’t see this because he didn’t have the wisdom. He only had jhāna. 

Jhāna doesn’t distinguish between the delusion and the truth. Jhāna cannot distinguish truth from delusion. You need to have wisdom in order to be able to distinguish truth from delusion. So, you have to be very careful especially when you’ve got the psychic power like the Devadatta. You might think that you are supreme. 

But in reality, psychic power is useless as far as using it as the weapon to eliminate the defilements. You need to develop vipassanā. 

You need to see aniccaṁ, dukkhaṁ, anattā. 

You have to be very careful when you have achieved jhāna or any type of samādhi. You have to know that your delusion is still strong. 

You always have to watch your cravings. You have to curb or suppress your cravings. You have to try to eliminate them because they are your enemies. They will cause you a lot of dukkha. They will only lead you to the wrong direction. 

- - -

Question:  How could Devadatta be angry at the Buddha, and had so much hatred towards the Buddha?

Than Ajahn:  Because Devadatta had no equanimity. He had no wisdom. And when he wasn’t mindful, he could be overwhelmed by his defilements. 

- - -

Question:  Why was Devadatta opposing the Buddha?

Than Ajahn:  Because he was jealous of the Buddha. They were cousins. Once Devadatta had gotten psychic power, he thought he was more superior to the Buddha. 

Hence, he didn’t want to be the number two. He wanted to be the number one. 

- - -

Question:  It’s scary to see that one’s anger and defilements could be so strong even when one has such high cultivation.

Than Ajahn:  Your anger and defilements arise from the delusion, the desire to make yourself great, to make yourself better than other people. So, you have to be very careful about your desire to be somebody or something. 

You should know it right away that this is a defilement. 

With Dhamma, you don’t want to be anything. You are contented to be yourself. 

You’re happy inside so you don’t need anything from the outside to make you happy. 

You don’t need to be big. You don’t need to be rich. 

- - -

Question: If we are not enlightened, are we subjected ourselves to become the evil persons and how can we prevent this?

Than Ajahn: The Buddha said that we have to learn to be humble, to consider ourselves to be nobody. We stop our delusion from thinking great things about ourselves. 

Because when we are not enlightened, no matter what we have or what we become, even when we become presidents or the kings, we are still nothing compare to the enlightened persons. We are still subjected to dukkha. And we are still subjected to the round of rebirth. 

So, try to be humble. Think of yourself as a servant, or as someone who comes from the lowest level of society. Don’t think of yourself as being important because thinking of yourself as an important person is delusional. In reality, there is no self in the first place. 

We are just the spiritual beings with the capability to know, to perceive and to feel. 

That’s all we are. We are the same. We are spiritual beings. 

So, our true role is to be aware, to know, to feel and to not react to anything. Our role is to keep our minds calm and content. Once the mind becomes calm and content, then it doesn’t need to be anything.

Dhamma in English, Aug 25, 2020.

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

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