The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.
6th July, 2022“This is just the way the world is. The world is blind. The best thing you can do for yourself is to consider yourself as being fortunate because you have come across the teachings of the Buddha.”
Question: I am very confused with human nature with regards to the terrorist attack at Manchester, UK. I find it difficult to share love to people who did this type of attack. Can you advise please?
Than Ajahn: I know it is difficult to love people who hate you. So if you cannot love them, at least you should not hate them, you should remain neutral, remain upekkha,. This means you accept that this event was something that you cannot prevent or avoid. But you don’t have to make it worse by hating them back.
If people hate you, you don’t have to hate them back. You accept their hatred because this is human nature – humans who still have defilements, who are still deluded and have no Dhamma in them. They have no understanding of the true nature of themselves. So this is normal, this is just the way the world is. The world is blind, and this is the reason why people end up fighting and hating each other.
But if we can open our blind eyes, we will be able to live together in peace, because we don’t have to compete to get the same things. Right now we are competing to get the same kind of happiness, the happiness which rely on materials from the earth like oil or all other natural resources. These are the materials that we are competing for, and therefore end up fighting each other.
When we fight, we get angry with each other and we hate each other.
If we come across the teachings of the Buddha, he will tell you that we can live together in peace because we don’t have to compete for the same things.
We can have happiness without competing against each other.
We can find real happiness within ourselves, inside our minds. All we have to do is to stop the mind from craving or desiring for things. If we can stop our desires, we don’t have to compete with anyone. We can be happier than when we have all the things that we desire for.
This knowledge is something nearly impossible for most human beings to realise, because most people don’t have the opportunity to come across the teachings of the Buddha. So most people continue to live in blindness forever because they continue chasing things outside of themselves, like chasing after money, chasing after materials on this earth, and they end up fighting against each other, hurting each other, hating each other.
The best thing you can do for yourself is to consider yourself as being fortunate because you have come across the teachings of the Buddha which teach you to look for happiness within yourself. So you don’t have to compete with other people for money or for other material things in this world and then you won’t hate anybody. You probably can also help others by spreading the teachings of the Buddha.
If anyone can understand and follow the teachings of the Buddha, he can find happiness within himself even though there might be a lot of terrible events happening around him because his mind is protected by the happiness found within himself. He will also understand why these events are happening and understand that there is nothing he can do about it. The only way he can help to alleviate or eliminate the bad feelings of those people who hate each other is to educate them with Dhamma knowledge, telling these people that they don’t have to look for happiness outside themselves, that they can just stay at home and meditate, and they will be safe, and they don’t have to go anywhere.
If you look for things outside of yourself, you have to compete with other people and you will end up fighting against each other, hating each other, doing terrible acts towards each other. So this is how the way the world is – the world is blind.
People don’t know how to find the real happiness, the happiness that don’t require people to fight or kill each other for. So I hope you understand.
By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto
Youtube: Dhamma in English
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