“The mind also needs the four requisites like the body.”

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

11 December 2025

“The mind also needs the four requisites like the body.” 

The food requisite for the mind is charity. The clothing for the mind is keeping the precepts or morality. The home for the mind is meditation (samādhi/calm). And the medicine for the mind is wisdom. These are what the mind needs in order for the mind to be happy, healthy and content.”

But we hardly give these things to the mind. 

So the mind is constantly in a state of hunger, in a state of dissatisfaction, discontent. Even if you give the mind $100 million dollars, the mind is still discontent, dissatisfied because you give it to the wrong person. 

All the things that you do, you do it for the body not for the mind. It’s because nobody teaches you what to give to the mind unless you come to Buddhism. 

Buddhism teaches you to give the four requisites to the mind.

(i) If you want to give food to the mind, you do good things for other people like do charity;

(ii) If you want to give clothing for the mind, you keep the precepts. This is like putting on nice clothing. When you put on nice clothing, when people look at you, they will feel happy, and they want to be near you. If you are morally good, people want to be close to you because they know that you are not going to hurt them. 

This is clothing for the mind —morality; 

(iii) Housing for the mind is meditation, jhāna. 

When you get to jhāna, you know that you are in a safe place, nothing can harm you. It’s like when you stay in the house, you feel protected;

(iv) When you are sick , you use the Dhamma medicine which is wisdom—the Three Characteristics of Existence or the Four Noble Truths—to tell you why your mind is sick, why you have stress. It’s because you have cravings. So stop your cravings. Once you stop cravings then your mind has no stress then your mind is well, your mind is not sick. 

Q: Do we have to have the first three requisites before we get to the 4th one because without the first three requisites we are not able to use the medicine fully?

Than Ajahn: Well you might be able to use it partially by studying from the text or learning from the Buddha’s teachings. You can apply it to cure some sickness that is not deeply rooted. Like when you have a cut, you can use a plaster, you don’t need a surgery. But if you have cancer, then you have to go to hospital to get surgery. 

So wisdom has many levels: lower level and higher level. The wisdom that you learn here is on a lower level and you can apply it when you have lower-level stress. 

It’s like using a bandage or applying some tincture on to your wound. For wound that needs surgery [wisdom on higher level], you need to do meditation first. You need to calm the mind first before you can apply this higher type of medication. You need upekkhā.“

~ Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

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The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

28 November 2025

Q: In this age it seems a lot of people are suffering from fear, and there is a lot of fear in the world. Do you have any thoughts about how people can deal with this fear?

Tan Ajaan: Fear arises out of ignorance, the lack of right knowledge or truth. We are afraid to lose things and afraid to lose our body because we are ignorant of the truth of those things and our body. 

We don’t see the impermanent nature of things or the body. We don’t see that everything arises and ceases, with nothing remaining the same or remaining forever. 

We also don’t know who we are. This is the real problem. 

Our delusion makes us think that the body is ourselves when in fact the body is just another vehicle, like a car that we use to take us from place to place. We are the driver, but the problem is we don’t know that we are just the driver, instead, we think we are the car. 

The driver doesn’t die with the car. The mind doesn’t die with the body. 

If you meditate, you will see this. If you can enter total calm, you come to realise that there is this separate entity which is the mind. When you meditate and the mind becomes totally concentrated, you will temporarily let go of the body. The body will disappear from the mind’s perception, leaving the mind by itself. 

Then you will know that this is the mind without the body. Once you know this, you are no longer afraid of death, no longer afraid of losing anything. 

It’s the delusion that makes you think that you will lose everything when everything in the first place never belonged to you. 

Everything belongs to the earth. We have come and use the body to acquire things, but when the body has to die, you lose everything. Life is just like going to the movies. While we watch a movie there will be this and that, but when it’s over, we have got nothing. We leave the movie theatre with nothing. 

The earth is like a stage or movie screen. The mind just comes and uses the body as an instrument to experience this movie. Once the body that we used to experience the movie no longer exists, we have to leave the movie theatre, go to a different theatre, and get a new body. 

So know the truth is that we are not the body, that everything we have here does not belong to us and is only a temporary possession. 

Once you have the right attitude, the right knowledge, then you can adjust your attitude accordingly. 

You don’t own the sun, right? So you don’t get mad when the sun sets. You don’t feel bad about the sun setting, because you know the sun doesn’t belong to you. It is the same thing with the body and everything that you have here.

Your delusion makes you think that everything belongs to you, including your body, so when you lose it, you think that you are losing everything. You think that you disappear with the body, but that is not the case. 

Because when you meditate, you don’t have to use the body. Once the mind has entered calm, it separates from the body, and it actually becomes a lot happier than when having a body. The body is really a burden that you have to carry. Like an automobile it gives benefits, but it also comes with costs. 

You have to pay for it. You have to take care of it; you have to buy gas. You have to clean it; you have to fix it when it needs repairs.

“Dhamma in English, June 22, 2013.”

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.

24 November 2025

Human greed is never ending. Having just finished a meal, we already want to eat again upon hearing someone mentioning about delicious food. If we want to stop ourselves, we have to use reasons. Why do we want to eat again? We just finished eating and we are full. The food is still being digested. Wait till tomorrow if we really want to eat it. This is an example of how we use reasons to stop our craving. 

Never ending desire is what causes problems for all of us. If everyone thinks rationally, we all can live peacefully on this planet. The world has plenty of everything, more than we ever need. However, due to unrelenting greed, it feels like we never have enough. 

We think that the more we have, the happier we will be. 

This creates problems. 

Wars occur because of greed. If everyone is a Buddhist, people can live peacefully together. 

There is no need to invade other countries or to take advantage of other people. We, Buddhists, live and eat in simple ways. We do not take too much food. We are content with what we have. We eat only what our bodies’ need. We consume only what is necessary. 

Two sets of white garments are enough. We can wear them alternately. Today we wear this set. Tomorrow we wear the second set while we wash the first set. On the following day, we change again.

Monks use only three pieces of garments. 

They consist of an inner robe, an outer robe and a double-layer outer robe for use during the cold season. 

Normally, only two pieces are used. If we live according to the Buddha’s teachings, we do not need much. There is no need for closets to keep our clothing. 

However, in reality people have so many kinds of clothing for various uses, such as morning dress, daytime dress, evening dress, and nightgown. These clothes need to be cleaned and taken care of. This gives rise to all kinds of problems because we don’t think rationally, and not know how much or how many is enough for us.

If we think wisely and logically, we will live peacefully together in this world. Real happiness is within us. It is having peace of mind. 

Unfortunately, we never keep the mind under control. 

We allowed it to be dragged by the force of our kilesas that cause so much suffering and pain, pain from greed, pain from anger, and pain from delusion. 

The Buddha says our mind is aroused and agitated by what we see, hear, smell, taste and touch. When we see or hear something, we immediately want it. When we have this desire, we become restless. On the other hand, if we are rational and follow the Buddha’s teachings, we can tell our mind not to blindly want things. 

In this world, no matter how much money we have, be it in the millions or billions, we can never buy the kind of happiness, which the Buddha points out to us. That kind of happiness is inside us. We only have to make it happen. We will then be free from all kinds of problems.

We can be forever happy because when we have this kind of happiness we can keep it. It is truly our own possession. Other belongings can be stolen. They can deteriorate. Cars can be stolen. Thieves can break into our houses. 

Even our husbands and our wives will one day leave us. 

But no one can take from us the happiness that comes from having peace of mind. 

I would like you to think about this, keep it close to your heart and mind, and to strive with all of your might to achieve the real kind of happiness that arises from a peaceful mind.

“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.

23 November 2025

Question :  The beginning of all conflict starts from objectification, what does it mean?

Than Ajahn :   It means everything comes from a self. 

When there is a self, then there will be conflict with other self because each self wants to provide things for itself. So when they try to get things from the same resources, they might resort to conflicts. If there is no self, then there is no need to go seek for anything. If the mind can return to its original true state which is merely knowing, then there is no need to have any conflict with anyone because in that state you are happy. You don’t need to have anything to make yourself happy. 

But as soon as your mind is being identified by the sense of a self, then you feel that you have to get something for yourself to make yourself happy. So you have to kill this self by stop thinking about yourself, and by meditating a lot to get into jhāna—that’s when the sense of self will temporarily stopped. 

And you will discover that having no self is better than having a self.

Question :  So the only way to solve this problem is to see all things as anattā, am I right?

Than Ajahn :  Yes. You need to meditate. You have to get into jhāna—this is when you will see anattā. But you can only stay in there briefly. 

When you come out of that state, you have to use your thought to remind yourself that everything is anattā, there is no self in everything. So, no need to fight, no need to compete for resources because each of our mind is complete in itself, it doesn’t need to have anything. But the deluded mind doesn’t know this. The mind that is delusional is constantly craving for things to make it happy because it never enters into jhāna. 

So you want to train your mind to enter into jhāna to see what it is like when the mind has no craving, when the mind is not creating a self, then you will see that there is peace and happiness in that state of mind.  And when you come out of that state, you have to keep reminding yourself not to go after anything. 

Because everything you go after, sooner or later, will cause you suffering than give you happiness because everything is temporary, everything is impermanent. 

Question :  So it means that the mind that is peaceful is the mind that is in abundance, a mind that is complete on its own, it isn’t a mind that is in scarcity.

Than Ajahn :  That’s right. Because what makes the mind in scarcity is the craving. 

Once you have craving, no matter how much you have, it will never be enough. If you have $1million, you want $10 million; if you have $10 million, you want $100 million, and so forth. It keepst going. It keeps multiplying. It never feels content. Look at all the millionaires. 

Ask them if they already have enough money, they would say ‘no’, even though they know they can’t spend all the money they have in their lifetime, yet their minds are still hunger for more. 

So you have to stop your craving. 

Once you stop your craving, you have contentment. You become full. You become complete. You don’t feel you need anything. 

That’s why meditation is very important to retrain the mind. 

And what is important for mediation is mindfulness. So you have to practise mindfulness from the time you get up to the time you go to sleep. Try to stop your thoughts as much as possible. 

Question :  Now I am using the word ‘non-reactive’ which is helpful.

Than Ajahn :  You can use ‘no thinking, no thinking’ or ‘stop thinking, stop thinking’. 

Stop talking to yourself! Why are you keep talking to yourself for, all day long? Just watch. Just observe. 

“Dhamma in English, Dec 14, 2021.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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

#ajahnsuchartabhijato #jhāna #meditation #mindfulness #contentment

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

22 November 2025

Question :  Is chanting considered as rites and rituals?

Than Ajahn :  No. Chanting is the practice of developing mindfulness. 

Rites and rituals are the activities that you perform because you expect to get something out of it. Like when you are sick, and then you perform some rituals and expect that the rituals you’ve done can cure your sickness. 

Chanting in order to develop mindfulness is the practice of noble eightfold path, sammā-sati (right mindfulness). 

Question :  A group of friends from the Buddhist Society has started to chant Ratana Sutta on every Sunday, and one of them was saying that what we were doing was a kind of rites and rituals.

Than Ajahn :  It depends on what you want from your chanting. If you chant and you expect to get rich, or you want to get well from your illness, then this is rites and rituals. 

But if you chant because you want to calm your mind, then this is the practice of noble eightfold path, sammā-sati (right mindfulness). So it depends on what you expect to get from doing chanting. 

If you chant and you expect to get rich from your chanting, then this is rites and rituals because it can’t happen. 

Question :  Our Sunday meeting started last year during the pandemic and one of the Buddhist Society members suggested that we chant Ratana Sutta as a kind of protection from the pandemic. Is this considered as rites and rituals?

Than Ajahn :  When you chant, you protect your mind, you can’t protect your body. Even the Buddha couldn’t protect his body.  When his body was sick, and was going to die, he couldn’t protect it. But he could protect his mind from experiencing any suffering caused by the illness of the body. 

So, when you chant, you want to protect your mind, to make your mind have equanimity.

Question :  So, as long as our intention when we chant the Ratana Sutta is to protect our mind, it is a form of mindfulness training, it isn’t considered as rites and rituals.

Than Ajahn :  Right. It’s okay to chant if you want to develop Buddhaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi, Dhammaṁ saraṇaṁ gacchāmi (Dhamma as your refuge). This Dhamma is mindfulness (sati). 

Layperson :  Thank you, Ajahn.

“Dhamma in English, Dec 28, 2021.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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

#ajahnsuchartabhijato #chanting #ritesandrituals #mindfulness #

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

20 November 2025

Q: The first path/one of the Noble Eightfold Path is sammā-diṭṭhi (right view) Could you explain the exact meaning of sammā-diṭṭhi as described in the teachings of the Buddha? 

How crucial is it (having the right view) in the process of developing the other seven (e.g. sammā-sati, sammā-samādhi etc) factors?

A: The first factor is very important which is right view. Right view (sammā-diṭṭhi) means to know the Four Noble Truths, to see that suffering is caused by our cravings. For us to stop our cravings, we have to develop the Noble Eightfold Path. So when we have this [right view] we have the first factor of the Noble Eightfold Path which will initiate the other factors to fall into place.

If you know that your rebirth is caused by your cravings and your suffering is caused by your cravings then you have to stop your cravings. And what you should do to stop your cravings is to practise the Noble Eightfold Path’s remaining seven factors.

The second (sammā-sankappa) is to think continually of stopping your cravings, stopping your bad kamma because your bad kamma and cravings are the causes of your mental suffering. Once you have the second factor - to think of stopping your cravings - then you develop the third one which is right action and the fourth one which is right speech, then the fifth one is right livelihood, the sixth one is right exertion, the seventh is right mindfulness and the eighth is right meditation or right concentration. So once you have the first one (sammā-diṭṭhi), then the other seven will follow suit.

To have sammā-diṭṭhi according to Buddhism is to know the Four Noble Truths - to see that our suffering, our endless rebirth, aging, sickness and death are caused by our own cravings and the path to stop the suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path.

- - - - -

Q: Could you explain the concept of non -attachment in Buddhism and how it helps to lead a happy life while being faithful to social commitments? (family life, office work, education, etc)

A: Non-attachment or non-clinging means not being attached or cling to things that will be separated from you one day.

Everything is anicca - everything is temporary. So when you cling to things and when that same things have to be separated from you, you will become sad. So being non-attached means you can have things, but you have to be ready to let go of them when the time comes (such as your body). 

Your body is anicca (impermanent), one day it will have to die. If you cling and have a craving for the body to exist forever, then when the body starts to age and dies finally, you will undergo a lot of suffering. But if you know that the body is temporary and one day it will have to die, then you don’t cling or get attached to the body and when the time comes, then you will have no suffering.

When it is not yet the time for the body to go (decay and die), you can still have it, but you have it with the thought that you have to let it go when the time comes. 

That is what non-attachment is.

You can still have what you already have but you have to tell yourself that what you have now, you won’t always have them. When the time comes, if you don’t want to have any sadness or suffering, then you have to be willing to let them go. 

“Dhamma in English, Mar 26, 2023.”

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.

19 November 2025

Attention controls awareness; if the level of attention is insufficient, realizations are limited. Information perceived by the senses—a sound heard, something seen, a scent smelled, for example—triggers distracting moods and emotions. Remaining attentive to these allows for their regulation. Having a low level of attention is akin to being in a rudderless boat, drifting along with moods and emotions, whereas holding the helm allows one to steer in the desired direction. 

Awakened beings use attention like everyone else, but they are no longer deceived by the insidious effects of their moods and emotions, such as their desires or anger. 

Consequently, they act, speak, and think solely with compassion, wish to help others, rejoice in others' happiness, or remain neutral. It's similar to how a drunk driver and a sober driver both drive: the one under the influence of alcohol, or here, under the influence of their moods and emotions, does not fully control their behaviors, words, and thoughts, and sometimes does senseless things, possibly harming others. Meanwhile, the sober one is careful, acts, speaks, and thinks with clarity, contributing to the well-being of their surroundings and humanity.

Being attentive to oneself allows one to observe and thus become aware of the mechanisms of one's feelings, memories, daydreams, and sensory-derived moods and emotions. Realizing these in every moment is a treasure that anyone can enjoy. Observing something else leads nowhere, true knowledge lies within oneself. As the Buddha taught, where the world comes from and how it was created is not the question, what is important is to purify what is within oneself, to heal one's sufferings, and to put an end to the cycle of rebirths.

Ajahn Suchart Abhijato

(พระอาจารย์สุชาติ อภิชาโต)

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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