“Please take the Buddha's teachings as the essence, because they are the real flesh and blood of the Buddha. The real Buddha is the Dhamma.”

“Please take the Buddha's teachings as the essence, because they are the real flesh and blood of the Buddha. The real Buddha is the Dhamma.”

If you know how to meditate and practise properly, you will realise that it’s not necessary to go to see your teacher very often. You only have to do so once in a while. Especially these days, you have so many recorded Dhamma talks and books. You barely need to see your teacher because their essence is in their Dhamma discourse, not in their physical presence. But you are deluded to become attached to their physical appearance. For instance, when you arrive at the temple, you rush to take a picture of them for worshipping; even though they teach you that their essence lies in their Dhamma.

The Buddha said: ‘Whoever sees the Dhamma, sees me.’ The Buddha never allowed anyone to sculpt his image during his lifetime. He only emphasised on his teaching of the Dhamma: ‘Dhamma-Vinaya will be your teacher in place of Tathāgata from here on out. Whoever sees the Dhamma, sees me.’

Please take the Buddha's teachings as the essence, because they are the real flesh and blood of the Buddha. The physical body is only an outer shell; it is like clothing that covers the body. The real Buddha is the Dhamma. Therefore, you should take the Dhamma as your teacher.

Keep studying and listening to the Dhamma. There are so many Dhamma talks from various teachers. Have you ever listened to them? You should listen to them on a regular basis. After listening, you should then meditate if you are able to. It doesn’t matter how much you can do it in a day. Just practise as much as you can. You don’t have to meditate only at home. You can also do it at your office. When you have some spare time, you can close your office door and then calm your mind even for just half an hour. It will be worth something.

Keep your mind focussed on the Dhamma and meditation practice—only these two things. Keep listening to and thinking about the Dhamma. Think in skilful ways and then try to calm your mind—alternate between the two. If you do this, you will keep making progress.

You should also try to cut back on social activities, such as weddings, parties, and so on. You should just forego these social events if they are not really necessary to attend because they will waste your time. They will make you regress. After you’ve come back from a party, you will not be able to practise and calm your mind. It will take several days to make your mind calm again. You should cut down on, or cut off, watching movies and television programmes and listening to music. It is necessary to give them up. You need to let go of the bad habits and cultivate good ones instead. You need to work on these two things simultaneously.

By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com
Youtube: Dhamma in English
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g