“The goal is to prevent the mind from thinking aimlessly.”

“The goal is to prevent the mind from thinking aimlessly.”

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Monk: We have two teachers who gave us meditation instructions. One of them told us that when we do walking meditation, we don’t have to be bothered about the feeling when the foot touches the floor or about noticing if it is left foot or right foot that is moving. Instead, we just concentrated on the mantra ‘Buddho’.

The other teacher said that we should be aware of the foot touching the floor, we should be aware of which foot is moving. Some of my fellow monks are confused with regards to these two methods, could we ask some clarity about these two points from Luangphor?

Than Ajahn:  Actually both methods are okay. It depends on individual preferences, that’s all. You can use ‘Buddho’ while you are walking. The goal is the same, which is to prevent the mind from thinking aimlessly.

When the mind has to recite ‘Buddho’ or when it has to watch the feet walking, then it cannot think aimlessly. That’s the whole purpose, that is, to stop the mind from thinking aimlessly. So whichever method you want to use, it is okay.

You can even use body contemplation, then you are developing both mindfulness and wisdom at the same time. In practice, there are many different methods. We have 40 kammaṭṭhāna, 40 ways of developing mindfulness and samādhi. So, it is up to you to use whichever way you like, which will produce the result that you want.

“Singapore via skype, Aug 9, 2015.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com

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