The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.
4 December 2023
“If you think, ‘I can die anytime', then you’ll have no worry.”
Layperson: “Do you ever think about yourself, what will happen in 5 years’ time or 10 years’ time?”
Than Ajahn: “Yes, I know I will die. I think of it all the time, every day. May be it’s not in 5 years’ time, maybe I’ll die tomorrow. I don’t think what’s going to happen in 5 years’ time, I look at it moment to moment. If I stop breathing, I could be dead in the next moment. As soon as I stop breathing, I die.
Thinking like this makes me think that life is very short. It makes life easy. I don’t have to worry about anything because I can stop breathing any time. Once I stop breathing, then there is nothing I have to do.
The Buddha taught us to think about ‘Stop breathing.’ He said, ‘Just think of it every moment. When you breathe out and you don’t breathe in, you’ll die. When you breathe in and you don’t breathe out, you’ll die.’
The Buddha taught us to think about ‘Stop breathing.’ He said, ‘Just think of it every moment. When you breathe out and you don’t breathe in, you’ll die. When you breathe in and you don’t breathe out, you’ll die.’
So, keep thinking like this. This is all you want to know about the future. There’s nothing more that you need to know.
If you know more than that, it only cause you worry, anxiety, restlessness and agitation. But if you think, ‘I can die anytime,’ then you’ll have no worry. You will not cling to anything. You wouldn’t want to have anything. You know you might not get it if you die before you have it. It’s better just to be happy here and now. Once you’re happy here and now, then you don’t have to worry about tomorrow.”
From “Dhamma in English to laypeople from Italy, Feb 8, 2018.”
If you know more than that, it only cause you worry, anxiety, restlessness and agitation. But if you think, ‘I can die anytime,’ then you’ll have no worry. You will not cling to anything. You wouldn’t want to have anything. You know you might not get it if you die before you have it. It’s better just to be happy here and now. Once you’re happy here and now, then you don’t have to worry about tomorrow.”
From “Dhamma in English to laypeople from Italy, Feb 8, 2018.”
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