The Teaching Of Ajahn Suchart.
27 February 2024
“The only way to find peace of mind, contentment and satisfaction is to stop going after these (sensual pleasure).”
Question: “I’m going through a spiritual crisis. Life in the West is very hectic. It takes me away from the main essence of life. I find it very hard to get back to my own self after the whole day of work. I don’t know what is the best way to handle this?”
Than Ajahn: “You have to pull yourself away from whatever you're doing, like reducing the amount of involvement with your work and your social contacts.
Try to have more time to be by yourself so that you can bring the mind back to its root which is peace of the mind. You have to begin the process of renunciation.
You have to accept or acknowledge that whatever you’re doing now is not the right direction to go. It brings you more chaos than peace. So, you reduce these activities, like involvement with things that you do, or involvement with people. You reduce them down to the minimum level. Then, you will have more time to be in the quiet place to calm your mind. Your mind needs a quiet surrounding, time and effort for it to be able to restrain from getting involved with things.
Right now you are addicted or attached to the sensual things to make you happy. But they can be harmful to you. They are like drugs. Once you are hooked on them, you cannot be without them. When you have them, you’re still not fully satisfied. You want more of them.
So, you have to restart. You have to go on the reverse path. You have to stop seeking happiness from these sensual things – things that you do, you see, you hear.
You have to accept or acknowledge that whatever you’re doing now is not the right direction to go. It brings you more chaos than peace. So, you reduce these activities, like involvement with things that you do, or involvement with people. You reduce them down to the minimum level. Then, you will have more time to be in the quiet place to calm your mind. Your mind needs a quiet surrounding, time and effort for it to be able to restrain from getting involved with things.
Right now you are addicted or attached to the sensual things to make you happy. But they can be harmful to you. They are like drugs. Once you are hooked on them, you cannot be without them. When you have them, you’re still not fully satisfied. You want more of them.
So, you have to restart. You have to go on the reverse path. You have to stop seeking happiness from these sensual things – things that you do, you see, you hear.
These sensual pleasure can be harmful to you because they will never satisfy you. No matter how much you have experienced them, you still want more of them.
And when you cannot get what you want, you become frustrated and unhappy. This is the cause of your frustration, your agitation, your restlessness.
You are seeking for happiness in the wrong place. The right things to do to find happiness is to be alone, to make the mind calm and peaceful. Try to restrain your mind from going after the sensual pleasures that you used to go after. You refrain from watching movies, drinking alcohol or doing things that you used to do using your senses. You reduce these activities or stop them if you can. You concentrate your effort in stopping your mind from desiring for these things.
Your mind constantly desires for sensual pleasures all the time. You want to see movies. You want to go there.
You are seeking for happiness in the wrong place. The right things to do to find happiness is to be alone, to make the mind calm and peaceful. Try to restrain your mind from going after the sensual pleasures that you used to go after. You refrain from watching movies, drinking alcohol or doing things that you used to do using your senses. You reduce these activities or stop them if you can. You concentrate your effort in stopping your mind from desiring for these things.
Your mind constantly desires for sensual pleasures all the time. You want to see movies. You want to go there.
You want to drink or eat, etc. But no matter how much you do, it will never be satisfactory. You won’t find satisfaction from these things. You cannot find contentment or peace of mind. The only way to find peace of mind, contentment and satisfaction is to stop going after these (sensual pleasure). If you can stop your mind, your mind will become peaceful and content.”
Dhamma for the Asking,
Layperson from England, Dec 15, 2017.
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com
Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g
No comments:
Post a Comment