“Don’t procrastinate.”

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

15 August 2023

“Don’t procrastinate.”

"We believe that despite having been set forthe over 2,500 years ago, the Buddha’s teachings are still proper, effective, and relevant to those who practise. His Dhamma has not at all declined over time like many other things in this world. Both objects and people are bound to gradually disintegrate over time. Any objects that have been created will eventually deteriorate after a certain period of time, as our bodies and those of animals will. Once there’s birth, there will be growth, ageing, illness, and death to follow; it is just how things are in this world.

The Buddha’s teachings are, however, different: they remain the same and constant, both in terms of causes and effects. Whoever practises accordingly will surely reap good results. Regardless of the Buddha’s enlightenment and demonstration of his teachings, Dhamma will still be Dhamma. The Buddha was just someone who did a thorough investigation until he discovered the Dhamma and then taught it to others.

Those with conviction, who put the Dhamma into practice, are bound to gain the very same result that the Buddha and his noble disciples did in the past. It is timeless—just as there were people who managed to liberate themselves during the Buddha’s time, those who follow and practise according to the Buddha’s teachings can still manage to rid themselves of sufferings today. It is not as if the Buddha had taken the Dhamma with him once he proceeded to his final liberation.

The Dhamma belongs to Buddhism; it belongs to this world. It all depends on the faith of those who have heard—how much confidence and conviction, how much effort and diligence, and how much determination and perseverance they have to practise according to the Buddha’s teachings. If they manage to practise well and properly, they will surely see a result—a decrease in sufferings in proportion to the level of their practice. Happiness will continually increase to the point where there is only contentment in one’s heart.

Those who have heard and listened to the Buddha’s teachings should put them into practice. Don’t procrastinate. Some people just keep putting off their practice despite having heard of the Buddha’s teachings: to do wholesome acts, to forego any wrongdoing, and to purify one’s mind from greed, hatred, and delusion. They keep having an excuse of awaiting a new Buddha to become enlightened. They just want to keep accumulating their perfections (pāramı) for now by making merit and giving.

They don’t want to maintain the precepts just yet, nor do they want to practise Dhamma by sitting in meditation and cultivating wisdom (vipassanā). This is because they are still not convinced that they can be liberated in this lifetime. They think that it can only happen when the next Buddha (Buddha Ariya Metteyya) has become enlightened. They would need to hear and listen to his Dhamma directly in order to liberate themselves. To think in such a way is wrong. Such a belief is based on delusion— something that arises out of weakness and attachment to worldly pleasures (kāma-sukha)—thinking that such pleasures are sublime.

In reality, those who truly know—the Buddha and his noble disciples—are fully aware that worldly pleasures are neither true nor sublime. The true happiness comes from peace and calm (santi-sukha). It is a kind of happiness that comes from practising Dhamma, sitting in meditation, and cultivating wisdom in order to forego things—to rid oneself of craving and desire and to eliminate greed, hatred, and delusion from one’s mind."

“Essential Teachings”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com

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