The teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

The teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

14 October 2024

Question:  Is there any actual benefit when people (the males) touch LuangPhor’s body? They believe that it can bring benefits to them. Is this true?

Than Ajahn:  It’s psychologically true but it’s not really true. It just makes you feel better when you sometimes touch a teacher’s body or have a piece of his possessions like having a piece of food from his bowl—these are all just beliefs; it makes you feel better but it’s not true. The only thing you should expect from a teacher is his teachings. 

That’s all. And even when you get his teachings, it doesn’t mean it’s enough because once you get his teachings, you have to apply his teachings in your life; you have to do what he tells you to do, like be charitable, be a moral person and meditate. If you can do these, then you will improve your life; you will become better; you’ll be happier. By getting a piece of his possession or touching him, or he touches your head, it doesn’t bring anything for you. It just gives a sense of temporary happiness. That’s all. It’s more of the emotional and psychological aspects, but it’s not the rational aspect.

“Dhamma in English, Oct 31, 2018.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart

Layperson:  Please accept our deepest sympathies on the loss of your mother.

Than Ajahn:  Thank you. My mother didn’t die. She went into another realm. She departed from her old body and she would come back with a new body. She’s actually doing some body transplanting. So, there is no need to be sad. She’s right now in a state of sleep and is dreaming. If she had made a lot of good kamma, she would have good dreams. If she had made a lot of bad kamma, she would have bad dreams.

Nobody can help her. This is the way it is. So, believe the Buddha and try to do only good kamma and stop doing bad kamma. 

Then, no matter whether you live or die, you will always be happy.

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Question:  After I learn about Theravada Buddhism, I understand that I should make offering (dana) as often as I can so that I can transfer the merits to the ancestors I have hurt in the past and so that they can be reborn in a good realm. Is this way of thinking correct?

Than Ajahn:  It depends on your ancestors. Some of them don’t need your good kamma because they had done enough good kamma on their own. But some ancestors who had not done any good kamma when they were alive, they could use the good kamma that you share with them. So, it depends on the receivers of your good kamma.

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Question:  The Chinese believes that during the seventh lunar month of Chinese Lunar calendar, the door of the Hell Gate is open and the ghosts are allowed to come to the human world to eat. The Taoists will therefore offer food at the specific location, burn incense, clothing, paper money etc. to their ancestors because they believe the ancestors will return the offerings by blessing their family, giving them safety and giving more business/more money. Is this true?

Than Ajahn:  No, it’s just a belief. What is true is the gate of heaven and hell is always open. When you do good kamma, you’re going to heaven. If you do bad kamma, you’re going to hell. There is no gate. And there is no body who is watching the gate either because there is no need to. The law of kamma is automatic. You cannot escape or run away from the law of kamma.

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Question:  In Taoism and Mahayana, people believe that if someone dies young or dies due to disasters, he will go to hell and therefore people will pray during the seventh lunar month of Chinese Lunar calendar (or the ghost month). Is this belief true?

Than Ajahn:  No, no. People are affected by their good or bad kamma, not by how they die. 

Whether they die caused by an accident, due to illnesses or by being killed have nothing to do with where they are going to be reborn or where they would go after they die. What decides where they would go after they die is their good or bad kamma.

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Question from Malaysia:  My father passed away in 2009. Yesterday I dreamt about him suffering at his current place. What should I do to help him?

Than Ajahn:  Do some dāna. Donate some money to any charity and then you can dedicate the merit, the good kamma, with him by thinking it in your mind: ‘I would like to dedicate this good kamma that I have done for the benefit of my father who passed away.’ If he is waiting for this good kamma, he can receive this good kamma.

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Question:  I was close to my father when he was still alive. I lost him in 1993. I used to see him in my dreams and he was suffering. However, after I offer alms to the Sangha, he disappeared from my dreams. 

Recently, my father came back into my dreams. But as I am living overseas now, it is not possible to offer alms to the Sangha.  What can I do to help him?

Than Ajahn:  You don’t need to offer alms only to the Saṅgha. 

You can do dāna to anybody who needs your help and then you can dedicate this good kamma or share this good kamma with your father.

So, you can donate your money to any charities, whether it’s a Christian charity or Muslim charity, it doesn’t matter, it’s the same thing, it’s still charity—it’s good kamma.

“Dhamma in English, Jan 23, 2019.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

When a monk moves in, so does an inspirational education.

When a monk moves in, so does an inspirational education.

It is not everyday a Buddhist monk from Malaysia moves into your home. But that’s exactly what happened for four days at the end of May when Bhante Sujiva appeared on my porch, suitcase in hand.

How did it happen? It began back in November when my cellphone rang with a number that I did not recognize. Like most people, I usually let those go to voicemail, but this time, I answered. On the other end, the caller asked if I was the person who taught a mindfulness class at Mercyhurst University. After agreeing to that statement, the caller identified herself as a Freda Tepfer, a local social activist and Buddhist.

“Your name was suggested to me as someone who could help me find a place for Bhante Sujiva to teach,” Tepfer said.

Unfortunately, Sujiva would arrive in Erie more than a week after Mercyhurst’s graduation. As much as I would have loved to have him speak to my class, there was no class to be had. Tepfer thanked me and asked if I could give her a call if I could think of any other places where he could speak. She was about to hang up, when she said offhandedly that she also needed a place for him to stay. His vows as a monk do not permit him to stay in the home of a single woman. I said that I had room — but would first need to run it past Katherine and Bennett, my wife and our 10-year old son.

My wife was a little apprehensive. We are a busy family, and she is not known for being quiet or reserved.

The idea of anyone in our home for four days gave her pause, but a Buddhist Monk was something entirely different.

But Bennett’s reaction was so full of excitement and awe.

Katherine knew it would be an experience we would all remember forever. And as a parent, that’s what you hope to give your child. How could we say no?

Before Sujiva arrived, we Googled him. Bhante —a term of respect for Buddhist monks in his language — had been born in Malaysia but now resided at an Italian monastery. He had published several books and helped popularize Vipassana meditation (where one focuses on one’s breath) in Western countries. Sujiva came from a large family, graduated with honors from the University of Malaysia in 1975 with a degree in agricultural science, and started studying Buddhism as a layman.

Sujiva says Buddhism’s study of the mind attracted him to becoming a monk instead of a farmer.

“This was more interesting (than farming) because it has very much to do with your own mind,” he says. “What I experienced in a short period of time at the monastery change my whole outlook on reality and experiences. I said, ‘This is interesting. I can’t stop now.’ I was still having second thoughts, ‘what happens if I don’t become a monk?’ Well, there’s always an opportunity to come back to the world.”

After graduation, Sujiva donned his monk robes and embarked on years of study in his home country. In 1996, he began teaching in Western countries, visiting America several times before meeting Tepfer in 2005 during a retreat in St. Louis. 

Tepfer later arranged for him to teach in cities where she lived before she moved to Erie.

“What was and is attractive about Bhante’s teaching is that it is consistent with established Theravada tradition, encourages a practice that is compassionate to the practitioner, and doesn’t add extraneous information that is distracting, Tepfer says. 

“Bhante is well-versed in Buddhist scripture and is himself a serious practitioner. 

He is easy to communicate with and is culturally aware.”

While she arranged for his talks in Erie, we arranged our home for his visit. Of course we had questions like “What does a monk eat?” and “Does he mind if we watch television?” We were told not to worry since he is very adaptable to what we like to eat and do. All he required was breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack, since monks do not eat dinner. 

Bhante liked cheese, tea, and, much to our surprise, coffee.

I also had a touch of guilt.

Here we were a family living in a house with more bathrooms than people and he’s a religious man who carries his possessions around in a small suitcase. 

Hopefully, by offering him housing, it would repay some of that karmic debt.

Soon after his arrival, my son’s friends from the neighborhood knocked on our door. Bennett had peaked their interest when he excitedly told them that “a Bhante” would be visiting. The boys came into the house munching Popsicles and looked at Sujiva like they expected him to shoot lasers out of his hands or float into the air. None of the group spoke as Bennett introduced Bhante. They just kept eating their treats. After a few silent moments, they left, apparently unimpressed with the small Asian monk. Bhante just laughed and returned to his snack.

During his four-day stay, I acted as Sujiva’s “karaka”, a term that means “one who makes things allowable.” It meant driving him to events and making his meals. Tepfer arranged for Sujiva’s teaching engagements. 

He spoke to groups at the Unitarian Universalist Church to a Buddhist group; the Glenwood YMCA; the Erie Food Co-op; and Lifeworks, a senior center in downtown Erie. In all, more than 90 people heard his presentations.

While he based his talks on his audience, Bhante’s message always centered on “metta,” a Buddhist term meaning lovingkindness. He stressed that loving yourself is the first step to loving others, even ones who are difficult. Bhante also lead guided meditations in which people scanned their bodies from head to toe to release tension and stress.

“After a few sessions with the different groups in the different places around Erie,” he says, “people seemed very receptive to what I said and I was impressed. They’re also very kind.”

During Sujiva’s free time, I drove him to Presque Isle. He’s interested in nature and has published poetry inspired by the outdoors. Sujiva enjoyed taking pictures of the baby ducks cavorting out by the Perry Monument.

Tepfer also invited Sujiva to walk the McBride Viaduct on East Avenue with her. She is advocating that the closed and deteriorating structure be saved, and hoped his positive energy would help her cause.

“I wanted him to be there for his energy, his understanding to bring witness to it,” Tepfer says. 

“I understand his reaction is that everything is impermanent. I also appreciate his compassion for the people who might be impacted by demolishing the viaduct.”

In the evenings, he sat with our family as we engaged in one of our guilty pleasures — watching the television show “Dancing with the Stars.” It was the final episode of the season. We felt kind of embarrassed enjoying the show with such a religious man in the room. Sujiva had never seen it before and probably won’t become a regular viewer.

“To me, it is a bit noisy, I think,” Sujiva says. “But I suppose that’s what a lot of people like and it’s very American. To me, it’s a bit too much. The jumping and the shouting and there was all these twinkling lights going on. I said, ‘Oh my goodness, what is going on?’”

Later that evening, Sujiva made us all laugh, however, when he did a quick two-step dance for us before taking the stairs to his bedroom, and asked to finish watching the episode the next day.

Our son also discovered some surprising facts about our guest. He asked him what his favorite “American thing” was and Bhante responded the rodeo while miming a rider on a bucking bull. He also enjoys American folk music as performed by John Denver and Bob Dylan, and even sang a few lines of a tune.

On the final night of his stay, we asked Sujiva to lead a family meditation. I’ve meditated for a few years but it was new for Katherine and Bennett. One could feel the peace and calm Bhante created in our living room as we focused on our breaths.

Sujiva’s brief visit didn’t attract stadium-sized crowds but it takes just one person adopting his positive, hopeful teachings to create important change.

He says he wants people to consider a more contemplative life. You don’t need to become a monk — or a Buddhist — to create a more meaningful life.

“What they say is, it’s not how long you live but how you live, which is true,” Sujiva says.

As for the Sheridan family, Bhante’s visit didn’t cause earthshaking changes. His impact was subtler; as was his way The experience did offer us a wonderful reminder that peace is accessible within ourselves, as well as the importance of unplugging and slowing down. Our son now likes tea, thanks to Bhante’s example.

We also will never watch “Dancing with the Stars” the same way again. LEL

Bhante Sujiva website: www.bhantesujiva.eu (Italian with English sections)

https://www.goerie.com/entertainmentlife/20170827/monks-visit-changes-familys-perspective?fbclid=IwAR3PqGEqcODNk0FiyhAWjF495QLPN6odKPtRnyK-SRD-gTdrc8KvGWj6Qr0

LIVE FEARLESSLY IN OUR OWN PURE LAND

LIVE FEARLESSLY IN OUR OWN PURE LAND

Once upon a time, a donkey accidentally fell into an abandoned well. The farmer thought of every possible way to rescue it. After a long while, the donkey was still wailing inside the well. Finally, the farmer decided to give up because the donkey was too old. He felt it was not worth the effort. To prevent other donkeys from falling into the well, the farmer decided to fill up the well. As a result, the farmer asked around for help, and the neighbours came to help fill the well and bury the donkey.

The people kept filling the well with soil and dirt. When the donkey realised what they were doing, it cried bitterly. 

After a while, it stopped crying, and stayed quiet. The donkey shook off every shovel of mud and dirt and stood on top of it, one step after another. 

Gradually, several hours later, the donkey reached the surface, and to everyone’s astonishment, it hurried away.

In the process of learning Buddhism, we will get caught up in affliction and confusion. 

We feel as if we are trapped in an abandoned well with dirt being poured on us. If we want to be free of our troubles and difficulties, the secret is to shake off the dirt and let go of our desires. Refrain from being greedy and jealous of other people, then we will be able to eliminate our worries, achieve the realm of the Buddha and live fearlessly in our own Pure Land.

~ Mahayana Buddhism

Sabbe Satta Bhavantu Sukhitatta.

May all beings be happy.

🙏🙏🙏

The Benefits of Living the 5 Precepts

 The Benefits of Living the 5 Precepts

"Although the Buddha praised merit making very much as generosity is important, it doesn't help one to escape from falling to a lower realm.  

Some people with a big heart and a sporty mind like to give alms, but still have not yet abandoned unwholesome deeds through body and speech. If one is still acting sinfully with one's body and words, one would not have escaped from a lower realm.

"But if we keep the 5 precepts, then it is a way for virtue to arise. The first benefit is that after death, one could be born in a good family. The second benefit is that one could be born as a human and in a good family. But if not born in a good family, one could  become an angel. Ah! Born as an angel, enjoying life in that heavenly world! But if one is not born into a good family or born as a deity, then Nirvana must be the only thing left of the three benefits. Therefore, these are the three virtues of keeping the five precepts. It shuts all lower realms' doors because we abandon all akusala kamma (unwholesome causes of action).

Abandoning unwholesome deeds that lead to the lower realms is very important. We will abandon our unwholesome kamma by keeping our bodies and our speech not to transgress that 5 precepts which is why the teachers keep speaking over and over again. Having to keep speaking of the 5 precepts is because they want the faithful devotees to have happiness and prosperity in both this life and the next.  

And it will enable the stream to Nirvana. It could make wealth happen. It could make possible to enter the stream of Nirvana. We will be a perfect human being in this life, and so on in order to be able to continue practicing goodness with our body and mind to be in virtue."

Ven. Ajahn Nyanadhammo, the Abbot of Rattanawan Monastery, Thailand

What to do when I cannot feel the breath anymore, when it becomes too delicate?

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart

What to do when I cannot feel the breath anymore, when it becomes too delicate?

Question:  What to do when I cannot feel the breath anymore, when it becomes too delicate?

Than Ajahn: Just watch the emptiness instead. Watch the mind, watch whether you’re thinking or not. If your mind starts to have any activities, you use mindfulness to stop it.

If there is no breath to watch, then concentrate on the emptiness. Just watch the mind and prevent the mind from doing any actions. If it doesn’t think, then just stay with the emptiness. Eventually, your mind will become calmer.

Don’t worry about the breath if you cannot watch or feel it anymore. The Buddha said that we just know what the breath is, whether the breath is short or long, coarse or subtle. Just know. Don’t try to manage the breath. Leave it alone. If there is no breath to watch, then just watch that there’s no breath. 

Watch your mind. By that time, you’ll be able to see the mind—see whether your mind is thinking or not thinking. When it is thinking, you can use mindfulness to stop it right away. Should there be images come up, you should not be concerned, but just don’t follow the images. Try to stay mindful. 

Then, anything that appears will disappear.

Layperson:  Sometimes my right hand moved and stayed in one certain position during meditation.

Than Ajahn:  That means you don’t have mindfulness. Your mind moved your hands but that’s not a problem. It’s a minor thing. You can ignore it.

Question:  So, do I ignore the position?

Than Ajahn:  Yeah, just concentrate on your meditation because if you pay attention to your hands, it will distract your mind. So, don’t worry about the position of your body. Once you start meditating, forget about the body. Even if the body opponent a little bit itchy here and there, just leave it alone. 

Don’t try to scratch it because the more you scratch it, the more you become involved with the body and not with your meditation.

Layperson:  Some meditators told me to move back.

Than Ajahn:  Not necessarily. If you want to move back, it’s okay, but if you keep doing it, you will be distracted. If you don’t want to be distracted, just forget about the body.

Sometimes, you might feel that you’re leaning to the left or to the right, leaning to the front or to the back. Don’t try to adjust it because when you do that, you’ll keep adjusting the position and be distracted from your meditation. Once you start meditating, just concentrate on your meditation object and disregard everything else. Even when there’s something inside the mind that comes to distract you, don’t follow it.

You might see something or hear something inside your mind. Don’t be distracted by those things. They are all distractions. They have no particular impact on your mind. 

They’re just phenomena that rise and cease.

Question: My wife asked what to do if during meditation, she saw light.

Than Ajahn:  The same thing. Just ignore it. Just concentrate on your breath or on your mantra, or whatever object you use to concentrate your mind on. Leave it alone. If you become interested in the phenomena, you will forget about your meditation, then you cannot move forward.

Your meditation is like your car. 

When you want to travel from here to your house, you have to stay in the car. If you see something beautiful outside and you get out of the car to see it when you are half way in your journey, then you are no longer moving towards your destination. You get stuck and are not going anywhere.

So, forget about everything else. Pay attention only to your meditation object.

Layperson:  Some meditators said that colour is a kasiṇa object.

Than Ajahn:  It isn’t what you want. What you want is calm.

What you want is samādhi. Kasiṇa is an object you use as a tool to get there. But you cannot use two tools at the same time—you cannot use kasiṇa and also use the breath at the same time; you have to choose one object. 

And when you start with one object of meditation, you don’t change it. If you keep changing the meditation object, you won’t go anywhere.

So, ignore everything else. Just stick to your meditation object, then your mind will eventually enter samādhi. When it enters samādhi, you use mindfulness to keep it there for as long as possible, you don’t have to do any investigation or contemplation yet. Right now, you want to establish mindfulness and samādhi to be strong first. So, you try to establish samādhi for as long as possible until you become proficient with it, until you can control your mind and stop your mind anytime, then when you come out of samādhi, you can start contemplating. Don’t contemplate when you’re in samādhi. When the mind is calm, it’s the time for the mind to rest and enjoy it. When you want to make the mind to do work, you have to wait for it to come out of samādhi first.

After the mind comes out of samādhi, then you can start directing the mind to investigate the nature of the body, for instance.

“Dhamma in English, Jan 12, 2019.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

“Nimittas (visions) are optional.”

The teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

3 June 2023

“Nimittas (visions) are optional.”

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Question: I achieve calmness and pleasure when I meditate, but there is no light nimittas.

How do I progress in my meditation from here?

Tan Ajahn: Nimittas (visions) are optional. For some, nimittas occur just as by-products of meditation. For others, there might not be any nimittas at all. 

But this is not important.

The real goals of your meditation are emptiness, peace of mind, (upekkhā), and knowing. That is all you want.

That is the fourth jhāna.

Before entering that state, some people might see, hear, or feel something. Sometimes you feel you have goose bumps; sometimes you might have tears flowing because you experience some feeling that you have never experienced before. But these things are aniccaṁ, dukkhaṁ, and anattā. Aniccaṁ means that they only happen temporarily, and they will disappear. Dukkhaṁ arises if you are attached to them, if you want them to be there all the time, and when they are not there, you will not be happy.

You don’t want to be attached to nimitta. You just want to know them for what they are.

They come and go. They are not the real thing for you. The real thing is attaining emptiness, peacefulness, calm and knowingness; these are all you want.

“Dhamma for the Asking, Dec 2, 2014”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

“You can’t stop your thoughts and do vipassana at the same time because vipassanā needs to use thinking.”

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

29 August 2023

“You can’t stop your thoughts and do vipassana at the same time because vipassanā needs to use thinking.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Question: After doing samadhi, do we use vipassanā?

Than Ajahn: Vipassanā is the next stage. It’s a long way to go. 

First, try to develop mindfulness and get samādhi.

For some people, it might take years before they can have samādhi. So, don’t worry about vipassanā. You can do vipassana when you are not sitting in samādhi and when you are able to control your thought to think of vipassanā.

But it will not be effective if you don’t have samadhi.

Vipassanā is to teach your mind the truth about everything. 

Everything is impermanent. Like your money, your family, your houses, your jobs, etc. are impermanent. 

Sooner or later, things are going to end. They end when you die or before you die. So, you have to teach your mind to be prepared for it. 

If you are ready, if you can accept it, when it happens, it won’t cause you any sadness.

But if you’re not prepared for it, when it happens, it can cause you a lot of sadness to the point where you might want to kill yourself because you don’t know what to do without any money, without any job, and without your family.  If you think ahead of time and teach your mind that everything is impermanent, you then can learn to live by yourself. And if you know how to meditate, you can live by yourself without having to have anything.

So, don’t worry about vipassanā. First, try to stop your thoughts. You can’t stop your thoughts and do vipassana at the same time because vipassanā needs to use thinking. 

If you use your thought without samadhi, sometimes you may do vipassanā for a few minutes, then soon your mind will start daydreaming and thinking in the way of defilements, thinking in the direction opposite of vipassanā. So, it’s better that you are able to control your thought first before you do vipassanā.

Question: So, first is having sati (mindfulness), then samādhi, then vipassanā.

Than Ajahn: Yes.

Youtube: “Dhamma in English, Nov 9, 2018.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

The teachings of Ajahn Sumedo.

"Sometimes insight arises at the most unexpected times. This happened to me while living at Wat Pah Pong. The Northeastern part of Thailand is not the most beautiful or desirable place in the world with its scrubby forests and flat plain; it also gets extremely hot during the hot season. 

We'd have to go out in the heat of the mid-afternoon before each of the Observance Days and sweep the leaves off the paths. There were vast areas to sweep. We would spend the whole afternoon in the hot sun, sweating and sweeping the leaves into piles with crude brooms; this was one of our duties. 

I didn't like doing this. I'd think, 'I don't want to do this. I didn't come here to sweep the leaves off the ground; I came here to get enlightened – and instead they have me sweeping leaves off the ground. Besides, it's hot and I have a fair skin; I might get skin cancer from being out here in a hot climate.' 

I was standing out there one afternoon, feeling really miserable, thinking, 'What am I doing here?  Why did I come here? Why am I staying here?' There I stood with my long crude broom and absolutely no energy, feeling sorry for myself and hating everything.

Then Ajahn Chah came up, smiled at me and said, 'Wat Pah Pong is a lot of suffering, isn't it?' and walked away. So I thought, 'Why did he say that?' and, 'Actually, you know, it's not all that bad.'  He got me to contemplate: 

Is sweeping the leaves really that unpleasant? ...  No, it's not.  It's a kind of neutral thing; you sweep the leaves, and it's neither here nor there ...  

Is sweating all that terrible?  Is it really a miserable, humiliating experience?  Is it really as bad as I'm pretending it is? ... No – sweating is all right, it's a perfectly natural thing to be doing.  And I don't have skin cancer and the people at Wat Pah Pong are very nice. The teacher is a very kind wise man.  The monks have treated me well.  The lay people come and give me food to eat, and ... What am I complaining about?' 

Reflecting upon the actual experience of being there, I thought, 'I'm all right.  People respect me, I'm treated well.  I'm being taught by pleasant people in a very pleasant country.  There's nothing really wrong with anything, except me; I'm making a problem out of it because I don't want to sweat and I don't want to sweep leaves.' Then I had a very clear insight. I suddenly perceived something in me which was always complaining and criticising, and which was preventing me from ever giving myself to anything or offering myself to any situation."

~ Ajahn Sumedho

A SPECIAL ATTITUDE ~ Ajahn Jayasaro

A SPECIAL ATTITUDE
~ Ajahn Jayasaro

[Ajahn Chah] said that listening to Dhamma talks requires a special attitude:

“Keep listening, keep listening. Don’t just believe what you hear and don’t disbelieve. Make yourself neutral. Keep listening. It will bring good results, and there’s no danger in it.

The peril lies in believing too much in what you hear, or in disbelieving. Listen and contemplate. This is what practice is about: being a listener and being one who reflects on things. As you don’t know yet whether the things you like and dislike are true or not, the Buddha said that, for the time being, you should keep listening.

If you don’t, you’ll just follow your own opinions about things, and if you do that, then you will develop wrong view, and your practice won’t advance. The wise person is one who keeps looking, contemplating, continually reflecting.

The true Dhamma is not something that can be communicated with words. You can’t appropriate someone else’s knowledge. If you take someone else’s knowledge, then you have to meditate on it. Listening to someone else and understanding what they say doesn’t mean that your defilements will come to an end. 

You have to take that understanding and then chew on it and digest it until it’s a sure thing and really your own.”

This reflection by Ajahn Chah as recounted by Ajahn Jayasaro is from the book, Stillness Flowing, (pdf) pp. 198-199.

E-book: https://forestsangha.org/teachings/books/stillness-flowing?language=English

📷 Credit & Source: https://www.abhayagiri.org/reflections

Ajahn Naeb

 Ajahn Naeb

Ajahn Naeb was born into the family of a Thai governor in a province bordering Burma. At the age of thirty-five, she began the study of Buddhist psychology and insight meditation under Ajahn Pathunta U Vilasa. Twelve years later she began teaching, establishing centers for study and meditation at many temples, and finally under royal patronage established a Buddhist Research and Mental Welfare Association at Wat Sraket in Bangkok.

Wat Sraket is an island of quiet, cool chambers and halls in the center of modern Bankgkok. A visit to Ajahn Naeb is a chance to hear clear and direct Dharma.

She may first instruct the visitors to sit comfortably and naturally, and then ask them not to move. Shortly, of course, one automatically begins to change position. “Wait, hold it. Why are you moving? Don’t move yet. “

The teachings of Ajahn Naeb point directly to the most obvious source of suffering, our own bodies, and minds. If we simply stay still and try not to move, eventually the pain increases so we must change posture. 

Almost all of our daily actions follow the same pattern. After waking, we arise and go to the bathroom to ease our bladder pain. Then we eat to ease the discomfort of hunger. Then we sit down to ease the pain of standing. then we read or talk or watch TV (or Facebook) to distract us from the pain of our turbulent mind. Then we move again to ease another discomfort.

Each movement, each action is not to bring happiness but to ease the inevitable suffering that comes from being identified with a body.

Ajahn Naeb’s way has the simple approach of looking at the cause and effect of suffering in our daily lives and actions. Clear perception of this process is the direct entry to the end of suffering and the happiness of the Buddha.

Taken from ‘Living Buddhist Masters’ by Jack Kornfield

Sharing the story of LP Thep Lok Udon and Luang Pu Doo (Related by Phra Ajahn Jayasaro)

Why tudong monks are so respected is because they are willing to put their lives on the line in search of the Dhamma. Luang Pu Doo would have died of malaria if LP Thep Lok Udon did not save him.

Sharing the story of LP Thep Lok Udon and Luang Pu Doo

Many monks who have spent time in tudong around the forests of Kachanaburi province would have given testimony about the tall dark skinned monk who would appear out of nowhere to assist them in times of need. One such monk is the late revered Vipassana teacher, LP Jarun of Wat Ampawan in Singburi, who even learnt a thing or two from him, a monk he nicknamed "LP Dam". 

Legends state that LP Thep Lok Udon has been around for hundreds of years, with some even stating that he originated from Nepal centuries ago. Luang Pu Doo also encountered LP Thep Lok Udon when he went tudong in the deep rainforests of Thailand. 

At that time, Luang Pu was close to death due to being inflicted by a virulent strain of Malaria. 

Suddenly, a large, tall and dark skinned monk approached him and offered him a traditional herbal pill to take. After taking just one of these pills, Luang Pu's fever and other symptoms subsided and he was able to carry on his journey. When Luang Pu returned to the temple, he shared his experience with his teacher, LP Klan. LP Klan told Luang Pu that he was very lucky to have met LP Thep Lok Udon, who has been helping sincere practitioners for many generations already.

(https://www.facebook.com/luangpudoo/posts/172490127616510). 

LP Waen might not have been able to survive if the devas didn't shield him from the rain when he was suffering from severe malarial fever and collapsed where he was. But today's protagonist is Ajaan Chah, who almost gave up on himself once when he was in the forest.  

Luang Phor Chah had not come across a village for a few days and he was starting to become weak from lack of food. He felt tired and light-headed, his legs were rubbery climbing uphill and his breath short. 

And then a fever struck. As he lay in the shade of a tree too exhausted to move, he took stock of the situation: little water, no sign of a village – and his body on fire.

As Luang Phor made peace with the realization that his chances of survival were low, a disturbing thought arose in his mind: suppose a hunter should discover his corpse and send news back to Ubon. How distressing and inconvenient it would be for his family to have to come such a long way to arrange a funeral. He groped in his bag for his monk’s identification booklet. If the worst came to the worst, he would burn it so that nobody would ever know who he was.

Just then, he was roused from these sombre thoughts by the sound of a barking deer echoing loudly through the forested valley below. It made him ask himself:

Do barking deer and other creatures get ill?

Yes, of course they do. They’ve got bodies just as we do.

Do they have medicines? Do they have doctors who give them injections?

No, of course not. They make do with whatever shoots and leaves they can find.

The creatures in the wild don’t have medicines, they have no doctors to look after them and yet they don’t seem to die out. The forest is full of them and their young, isn’t it?

Yes, that’s true.

These simple thoughts were enough to shake Luang Phor out of the despair that was enveloping his mind. He struggled up into a sitting position and forced himself to sip some water. He crossed his legs and started to meditate. By morning, the fever had abated and he could find the strength to continue his journey.

Cr. Related by Phra Ajaan Jayasaro

“In the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, the Lord Buddha teaches about mindfulness of the body first, then mindfulness of feelings and subsequently mindfulness of the mind.”

The teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

“In the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, the Lord Buddha teaches about mindfulness of the body first, then mindfulness of feelings and subsequently mindfulness of the mind.”

- - -

Question: Can I practice mindfulness of feelings, mind, and mental qualities directly and skip mindfulness of body?

Than Ajahn: Mindfulness is usually developed through the mantra or through the body activities because when you first start, your mindfulness is very weak. You are not able to watch your mind or your feelings because they are too subtle for the beginner. 

For beginners, it is easier to use a mantra or the body, which you can see. Sometimes when there is no feeling, where are you going to place your mindfulness? And when you have severe feelings, you cannot maintain your mindfulness anyway. When you have a painful feeling, you lose all your mindfulness because your desire to escape the pain will take over. Your desire will say, I want to get rid of this feeling. I am feeling bad. I am feeling terrible.

So, mindfulness of vedanā (feeling) and that of the mind are the second and third levels of mindfulness. The first level is the mindfulness of the body. In the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, the Lord Buddha teaches about mindfulness of the body first, then mindfulness of feelings, and subsequently mindfulness of the mind. You have to go step by step. You cannot just go up to the highest level. 

For instance, if you have strong painful feelings, can you still remain calm and peaceful? If you can, that means you have mindfulness. But when you cannot become calm and peaceful and you start to become irrational, become restless, that means you don’t have the ability to have mindfulness of your feelings yet.

“Dhamma for the Asking, Dec 2, 2014”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

The Last Teaching A talk given by Luang Por Baen of Wat Doi Dhammachedi 7 days before he passed away on 16 January 2020.

The Last Teaching
A talk given by Luang Por Baen of Wat Doi Dhammachedi 7 days  before he passed away on 16 January 2020.

 

I am not sure what benefit or purpose there is in the way we describe people in terms of ‘us’ or ‘them’. The truth is the same for everyone, even the Buddha. Everything is dukkha, including every mental formation and every physical formation. In summary, whether we say ‘us’ or ‘them’, in the end everything goes to emptiness, emptiness and emptiness. Whether one describes phenomena in terms of a person or not, or whether the breath is still going in-and-out or not, ultimately everything disappears. 

Today Mara* came to bother me and tried to cause a disturbance. We call it the Mara of the khandhas or the obstacle to us provided by the five aggregates. So I let it be just the problem of the khandhas. This kind of Mara is born from where there are no khandhas. This Mara is with us all the time. Every Buddha eradicated this Mara through the methods and established principles of Dhamma practice to reach the state of perfect peace and happiness. The proclamation of these principles and methods is called the Buddha’s dispensation or Buddhasasana.

So as your breath flows in-and-out you should have continuous mindfulness to contain your thinking and keep it bound to the Dhamma. 

Everyone has a body that is roughly one-fathom long and one hand-span wide. This is the Dhamma. Everyone has a right to use their body for that which is beneficial. One who cannot use this body to do skillful actions, only meets with harm.

Regardless of age and gender or whether one is viewed as modern or old-fashioned, if people don’t use their body properly they experience harm. 

How are they harmed? By not guarding their mind or practicing restraint, they allow their minds to follow the mental defilements. They allow the Mara of the mental defilements to pull their mind here and drag it there with the end result being that they are scorched by the fire of those defilements. As long as these defilements are unaddressed they afflict our minds and burn red hot endlessly without sparing a single person. They burn everyone, young or old, male or female, without exception. The defilements even teach young children to follow them as soon as they are old enough to learn things. 

The defilements are the most dangerous and destructive thing in society. To escape this danger the world has to focus on eradicating the Mara of the defilements. Don’t let them remain at large in the world. 

Once they are eradicated, true peace will immediately arise everywhere.

Restraint in the Dhamma

To be restrained in sila means one practices restraint in the heart. This is what is meant by one who is restrained in sila. 

Whether you visit the monastery temporarily or put on white clothes and ordain as a nun or brown robes and ordain as a monk, without restraint in the heart, there’s no sila. The colour of the cloth doesn’t cause you to have restraint in the heart. If cloth could give you sila then the cloth-weaving factory would just manufacture it for you. 

There would be no need to make the effort to keep sila or go through the difficulty of living in seclusion in the forest. 

The truth is that by training in sila we are looking after ourselves. We are not protecting ourselves with the letters of the word sila. The words describing sila in the books are just the convention of printed language. 

The letters and words we read in the books don’t know what is sila and what is not, but our citta knows whether we are restrained or not. We should recollect this quality and be mindful of it all the time.

To conclude, don’t lose your mindfulness. Establish mindfulness immediately from the time you first wake up. 

Wherever you go, whether to the bathroom, or picking up and carrying your bowl to walk on alms-round, you must establish mindfulness at each moment and with every step you take from the time you first get up in the morning. 

You won’t regret it.

Don’t spend time worrying about the degeneration of the Buddhist religion. Even if you are dressed in the robes of a monk or nun, if you are not mindful and restrained in the heart, it becomes the place where the practice of Buddhism really degenerates. 

No-one seeks out or wishes for failure.  Protecting Buddhism means protecting ourselves through keeping sila and keeping up the practice. 

By practicing the Dhamma we protect ourselves.

Don’t worry about other things that are not us or ours, you must cut them off from your mind. 

Whether you experience liking because you encounter a pleasant object, or disliking because you encounter an unpleasant object, whether your mood is pleasing or displeasing, let it all go. 

However extreme or real your moods appear, see them as like foam on water or a mirage in the sun and don’t take a strong interest in these things.

Luang Dta Maha Bua would often say that the mountain air here at Wat Doi Dhammachedi is very good. 

The later in the evening, the more refined the air becomes. 

Right now it’s not that late, so it’s not yet the time in the evening that is most comfortable or conducive to practice. But often you are already snoring by 8pm. Last night I asked you why you finished meditating so early. It was only 9pm and everyone was finished for the evening. 

When one is serious about the practice and one is full of determination, the time of the day or night is no longer important. But when one one loses one’s determination to practice the Dhamma and one becomes obsessed with the time, it’s like another kind of Mara has come to take you over. Mara controls all the elements that comprise the world. No one is greater than him in this. Only the Buddha and his awakened disciples are above Mara and he is unable to do anything to them.

Many Venerable monks have come here to stay and practice, and their efforts have contributed to making the atmosphere of this forest peaceful and secluded. If all those many monks hadn’t strived for inner peace and seclusion through putting forth effort in their practice, this place would be full of bewilderment and confusion and not suitable for cutting off the defilements and expelling Mara.

Be mindful of every mouthful of food you eat. Place the food in your mouth, chew it thoroughly and mindfully. If you were to chew a mouthful of food and then spit it out would you be able to eat it again? 

Where has this body, from the top of the head down to the soles of the feet and from the soles of the feet up to the top of the head, come from? It came from this same food which is repulsive (patikula). The body is nothing amazing or special, it’s disgusting. Remember this well: it’s just repulsive and not the place of the path and the fruit (magga-phala).

Be mindful on alms-round. 

This means to practice mindfulness from the moment when you pick up your inner and outer robe and put them on. Be mindful when picking up your bowl, when carrying your bowl and when adjusting the bowl lid. When you walk be mindful of the walking.  

Whether walking out from the monastery or returning, be mindful. This is the true meaning of pindapata or walking on alms-round. If you are doing it without mindfulness or alertness then it becomes more like a cow or a water buffalo looking for grass to eat.

Many monks have come to live here and you should all practice so that you improve the place and create an atmosphere of peace and seclusion. Do you understand? 

You have to help each other and practice so that the place has a tangible and solid sense of peace and seclusion. This is how we preserve the Buddha’s teachings and the ways of practice we have been trained in. When we live together in a large community our defilements tend to feed us everything that is enticing and delicious. I tell you, this is the way that the Buddha’s dispensation deteriorates and disappears. Buddhism disappears as a result of the unskilful actions of the ordained monks and nuns. 

Those practitioners who have taken ordination and joined the Sangha have gone forth as a result of the purified heart of those who have realised the truth before them. The Buddha’s teachings will not disappear simply due to the passing of time. They won’t disappear because five thousand years have passed, or five hundred thousand years have passed, or five million years. Don’t think of the five thousand years. Right at this moment, what percentage of the Buddha’s teachings are present in your heart. Really ask yourself. 

How firm is your conviction in and practice of the true Dhamma? 

At this time I can’t see even half a percent of the the Dhamma in people hearts and minds. There only seems to be dirt and rubbish.

Yet you’re still satisfied with Buddhism as your religion. You even want it to be the national religion! 

Why is it that we are trying to impose the religion on the population and on the whole country? Are we really going to succeed in making the country, the society and each and every person living here Buddhist while we are still unable to practice it proficiently for ourselves? Even if we succeed in making Buddhism the national religion, what benefit is in that if we don’t practice it ourselves. Buddhism is not just the written or spoken word we store in books and statutes. It means training oneself, practicing the teachings and cultivating skillful actions. This has to arise in the hearts of each individual. So don’t look for trouble and create problems through disagreeing with each other over words, views and opinions.

Help people closest to you to awaken.

The Dhamma of the Buddha, including every teaching and every utterance he made, is the Dhamma to awaken us. 

Dhamma which lulls us to sleep is the Dhamma of the defilements. Are you comfortable? Happy? Having much fun? Is it really fun living in a pile of urine, excrement and other disgusting things. Are you happy?  

I don’t really know why you were born if you simply remain this ignorant of the truth. Do you understand? 

There is no damage done talking to people directly about these things. We just talk informally amongst ourselves about these issues. 

Such talk is to help us awaken to the truth. There’s no harm discussing the truth like this and it helps to awaken our minds and make us wiser.  

Phra Bhavanavisuddhinyanathera

(Luang Por Baen Dhanakaro)

Wat Doi Dhammachedi, Sakhon Nakhon, Thailand

Translated by the Sangha of Buddha Bodhivana Monastery, Melbourne, Australia (Copyright)

Mara is a word used to describe obstacles and dangers in the practice that arise from ignorance. It can refer to an external being, or one’s own set of five aggregates, or the obstruction caused by mental defilements.

The five khandhas are the five aggregates or groups of experience which include: form, feeling, perception, thought formations and sense consciousness.

Mental defilements or kilesa mean mental states rooted in greed, hatred and delusion that afflict the mind. They ripen in suffering.

Sila means the practice of restraint and the training in moral precepts.

Citta means the mind or that which knows things.

“Everything in this world is like an addiction.”

The teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

“Everything in this world is like an addiction.”

- - -

Question:  One thing about that which seems almost, I’m not going to say that it’s impossible but the fact that we live in a society and everywhere we look, it says, ‘Look here! Buy this and you’d feel better; achieve this and you’re going to feel great; get this car; get this promotion; buy these clothes; get these shoes; wear this watch; get these make-up; get the wrinkles off your face and you’re gonna feel great; you’ll feel better if you do this; everything will be great if you do this.’ And when you get them all the time, it seems like a difficult task to stop that thought process.

Than Ajahn:  That’s right but you don’t look at the other side of it; you only look at the side when you can get those things. 

What happens when you cannot get those things? You feel depressed; you feel sad; sometimes you feel like killing yourself and sometimes you do kill yourself because you cannot get what you want. So, that’s the problem: you don’t see the other half of it. And regardless of how much you acquired, did they bring any contentment or any sense of fulfilment? No, so you keep wanting for more and more.

This is like an addiction—everything in this world is like an addiction. Once you have it, you’ve got to have it all the time. 

When you no longer have it, you’ve got to keep refilling it, getting more of it and replacing whatever you lose; you’ve got to keep replacing it and keep acquiring it. But you’re going to come to a point when you are not able to do it anymore even if you are financially well off because your body won’t be able to do what your mind wants you to do. That’s why people are thinking about committing suicide when they are old. They’d say that there’s no point to live anymore because the body can no longer support their desires.

But if you do what the Buddha said, that you have to learn how to stop your mind from acquiring and you have to meditate to calm your mind, to stop your mind from desiring for things, then your mind won’t need to use the body to do anything. The mind can be happy just to be alone and do nothing; it can be happy that way. 

Look at the Buddha, if you study his biography, he was a prince but when he looked at the future of his body, he saw that he’s going to be an old man, a sick man and he’s going to die. 

Regardless of how much wealth he had, he wasn’t going to be able to enjoy them so he wanted to find something different and then he saw a monk. He understood that the monk was looking for a different kind of happiness, the happiness that he could find within himself, the happiness that arises from his meditation practice. So, the prince gave up his wealth, gave up his princely status and went to become a monk. And eventually, he found the happiness within himself; he’s always happy and he never went back to live in the palace; he continued to live as a monk in the forest. He lived a life of simplicity: just had one meal a day, stayed under a roof to protect him from the animals, and had only one set of robes. 

And yet, he was much happier than when he was in the palace.

So, if you want to get out of whatever problem you are in, I think this is a solution for you but it is not easy, because it’s like going against your nature; your nature is to keep acquiring things. In order to be happy, you have to have money; you have to have things; you have to be able to do what you want to do. 

But there will always be roadblock on your way so sometimes, you cannot get what you want; sometimes you lose what you have which causes you sadness, anger or bad feelings. If you choose the path of the Buddha, you’ll find that you’d become peaceful and the roadblock you have to overcome is your own desires, your own nature—the nature that you used to be that is to go after things.

Doing charity means giving up your wealth—don’t depend on your money to make you happy. 

If you can stop spending money, you can stop working; when you’re not working, you’ll have time to meditate. And if you know how to meditate correctly, you will succeed and you will find peace and happiness without having to have anything. So, that’s basically what the Buddha teaches Buddhists to do: to give up wealth by practicing charity; only keep what you need to maintain your life, maintain your body. You don’t use money to buy things to make you happy because no matter how much things you buy, you can only be happy briefly and you’ll end up buying more and more things, spending more and more money. When you need to spend a lot of money, you will have to go look for money; you have to work. And if you have to work, you won’t have time to meditate. So, you have to reverse the process—instead of making money, give your money away; stop using money to make you happy and go to temple and meditate to stop your desire. Once you can stop your desire, your mind will be happy.

“Dhamma in English, Oct 31, 2018.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart

8 June 2024

Question:  I usually meditate after chanting. Is this okay?

Than Ajahn:  Chanting is the preliminary practice of mindfulness. Sometimes, when you start meditating, your mind is still thinking about other things that you’ve just done. In order to get rid of those thoughts, you use chanting to help the mind stops those thoughts. 

If you focus on your chanting, then you’ll forget about the activities that you’ve done before you meditate, you won’t be thinking about them anymore. Once you can stop those thoughts, you can continue on with watching your breath.

However, if you don’t have any thoughts when you start your meditation, then you don’t have to chant. If you can focus on your breath right away, you can skip the chanting part. So, it depends on the condition of your mind at that time, whether it is still agitated or it is not agitated. If it isn’t agitated, you can focus on your breath and start meditating right away. 

But if you find that you cannot focus on your breath because you still keep thinking about some other things, then you should do some chanting first. Chant until all the thoughts that bother your mind disappear, until you forget everything.

Then, you can start your meditation.

You can chant in the position that you do for your meditation. 

It would be better if you don’t chant it out loud.

You chant it mentally because it will be easier to calm your mind. But you can do it either way: you can chant it out loud or you can chant it inside your mind. You’ll achieve the same purpose: to stop your mind from thinking about other things.

- - - - -

Question:  I read the book which you said that we chant, ‘Buddho, Buddho, Buddho.’ Is it ok if I chant Buddho, Dhammo, Sangho?

Than Ajahn:  Yes, any kind of chant is possible. You can chant any kinds of chants you like, because sometimes you might like some chants and dislike some other chants. So, you pick the chant that you enjoy doing. 

Like chosing songs, when you sing a song, you sing the song you like, you don’t sing the song you don’t like. It’s the same with chanting.

The purpose of chanting is to get your mind away from thinking about other things and to bring your mind back to the present because your mind tends to be in the past or in the future. You think about what you did in the past or what you are going to do in the future. 

Hence, your mind cannot focus on the present moment, it cannot watch the breath. So, you have to stop your mind from thinking about the past or going to the future by doing some kinds of chants or reciting mantras.

Sometimes people find that reciting a short chant or a mantra is too repetitive and boring, so they need to chant something longer. You can read the whole sutta if you like, such as chant the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta. 

When I started, I chanted the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta because I could not focus on my breath yet, so I spent about 40 minutes chanting the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta. 

After that, my mind became calm and went back to the present, it didn’t go the past or to the future. Then, I could continue on watching my breath.

- - - - -

Question:  Could you please talk more about the mantra because I’m not familiar with the Buddho? Do I just say it in my head, Buddho, Buddho, Buddho?

Than Ajahn:  Yeah, just recite it in your head, slow or fast, however you want to do it.

This will prevent you from thinking about other things. 

Right now, your thinking creates desires or cravings.

And when you have desires or cravings, your mind becomes uncomfortable and uneasy.

But if you can prevent your mind from thinking, from desiring, then your mind will become at ease and comfortable. So, this is the purpose of a mantra or chanting: to prevent your mind from thinking and desiring. That’s all.

Layperson:  Ok. Thank you.

“Dhamma in English, Jan 12, 2019.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: 

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Following Nature by Ajahn Puth (Thaniyo) Translated by Sumano Bhikkhu

Following Nature by Ajahn Puth (Thaniyo) Translated by Sumano Bhikkhu

The activity of practising meditation includes both samatha, calm, and vipassana, insight meditation.  You have probably heard and read a great deal on meditation practice, but some of you may be wondering what's the best and most effective way to practise it.  

Some of you have come to ask me - "Luang Por, I want to practice in a way which will produce the fastest results.  Is there some skilful means which will bring fast results?  How shall I practise?" 

In answer to this I say, "There is no such thing.  Not in this world anyway". The way to produce the quickest results in practice is to resolve to practise with the utmost  persistence. We  must practise in a way which goes beyond all hesitation and all doubt so that practice is sustained.

Take for example, you go study a method of meditation from one particular teacher who teaches his disciples to observe the breathing as it occurs in the abdomen.  The student practises observing the sensation in the abdomen as it rises on the inhalation and falls on the exhalation.  So you resolve to undertake that practice.  Then you go to study with the Abbot of Wat Paknam.  There they use the mantra Samma Araham.  Then you resolve to practise in that way.  If you went to Ajahn Sao or Ajahn Mun for instruction in meditation, they would teach the mantra Bud-dho.  They instructed their disciples to practise entirely with this mantra and stick with it.

There is an important point here which needs to be clearly understood.  Which way is the straight and genuine way?  The answer is that any meditation object which you choose to work with can provided all the benefits, provided that you sit in samadhi wholeheartedly three or four times a day - and that each of those times you sit for a full hour.  Each time you sit, you sit resolutely.  From such resolute efforts benefits will automatically arise.  If the benefits are not equal to our efforts it is because we have not yet been able to cut off our worries and suspicions regarding the particular technique that we are using.  This undermines the practice.

Today you are here at Wat Pah Salawan and here the Ajahn (meditation teacher) instructs meditators to use the mantra Bud-dho.  Tomorrow you may go and listen to Dhamma talk at Wat Mahathat and their Ajahn will demonstrate the technique of observing the rising and falling of the abdomen.  The day after that you may go to Wat Paknam and they will teach Samma Araham.

After this experience your suspicions will deepen and you will ask, "How is it that all these Ajahns do not teach the same method?" If your mind falls into doubt like this, you will be unable to grasp the essence of meditation and settle on a technique.  This is an obstacle to practice.

Therefore, regardless of what technique or mantra you use, I recommend that you stay with just that one skilful means.  Further I suggest that you firmly take a hold of one of these tools of practice and resolutely get on with the work.  All of these meditation techniques are skilful means for centering the heart on one object so as to prevent it from wandering out into all kinds of distracting thoughts and feelings.  In the initial stages this is all that is required in meditation practice.

*******

Following Nature by Ajahn Puth (Thaniyo) Translated by Sumano Bhikkhu

https://www.dhammatalks.net/Books2/Ajahn_Puth_Thaniyo_Following_Nature.htm

Photo from

http://www.palungdham.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=80939

“To get the benefit of the donation, the donation has to come from the heart of each individual person.”

“To get the benefit of the donation, the donation has to come from the heart of each individual person.”

Question from Singapore: “I used to do donation for my family members without them knowing. Recently, I informed them about the donation, so that they can rejoice on those merit. If I do donation on behalf of family members where they are not aware of it, can they benefit from these donations?”

Than Ajahn:  “No. To get the benefit of the donation, the donation has to come from the heart of each individual person. 

The person himself has to have the initiation to give the gifts away. The gifts to be given away should belong to him. If it belongs to someone else, then he is not getting any merit.

So, first you have to have the initiation, the thought, ‘I want to give something or some money away.’ The money that you give away must belong to you. Then, you’ll get the merit.

If you give your money away and tell your friends that, ‘I have done some merits for you,’ your friends will not get any merits because they don’t feel anything.”

“Dhamma in English, Q&A session, May 16, 2018.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart

24 May 2024

Question:  If a person committed suicide in his previous life, would he continue to do it in this life although he doesn’t remember what he had done in the past?

Than Ajahn:  What you do isn’t based on your memory.

What you do becomes a habit.

And that habit will force upon you under the same condition.

If in your past life you killed yourself, it’s because you could not solve your problem and when you think that there were no other ways to solve the problems, you killed yourself in order to solve it. So, in this life, if you happen to have a problem that you cannot solve, you’ll do the same thing again. You will kill yourself again. Under similar circumstances, you will react the same way as you used to react. In order to stop this cycle, you should refrain from killing yourself. You have to try to find other ways to solve your problems. And the best way to solve your problem is to practice the Buddha’s teachings. 

If you can meditate and calm your mind, all your problems can be solved. Then, you don’t have to kill yourself.

- - - - -

 
Question:  If we know that a person wants to commit suicide, can we share with him the Buddha’s teachings? Because if he doesn’t know the teachings, he has no way to go and he is so lost and confused.

Than Ajahn:  If the person listens to you and follows what you say, then sure you can help him. But if he doesn’t want to listen to you, what can you do?

- - - - -

 
Layperson:  So, he will keep repeating the action.

Than Ajahn:  Yeah, until he can break out of that cycle one day. 

Maybe when he finds somebody who can talk to him and teach him a new way of solving problems. 

Maybe you can help by trying to talk to him. If he can appreciate it and wants to follow your advice, then he might be able to break out from that cycle.

There are many ways of solving the problems. A person solves problems by taking drugs, drinking, killing himself, or meditating. These are the different ways used by a person to solve problems. The best way is to meditate because there is no cost involved. He just stops his mind from thinking, stop his mind from desiring. Once the mind has no desire, there is no disappointment and no sadness, so there is no need to kill himself.

The reason why a person kills himself is because he is sad and he doesn’t know how to get rid of his sadness. Some people get rid of their sadness by drinking, taking drugs, or killing themselves. But if he finds Buddhism, he finds the way to meditate, then he can get rid of his sadness by meditation. He doesn’t need to drink. He doesn’t need to take drugs. 

He doesn’t need to kill himself. When he is not happy, he just meditates. When he meditates tes, he can become happy.

“Dhamma in English, Jan 12, 2019.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

The teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

The teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

Question:  You said that what I should strive for is peace of mind because peace of mind is the real happiness. Does that come from self-love?

Than Ajahn:  No, that comes from stopping your mind from desiring—your mind keeps desiring and this desiring keeps your mind stressful.

When you desire for something, you are anticipating, ‘Will I get what I want? When I don’t get what I want, I’ll become sad.’ But when you get what you want, you’ll just be happy for a few days or a few hours then a new desire will come up again.

These desires will keep pushing you to go after things, go after people and go after whatever there is to go after; no matter how much you have acquired or achieved, these desires will keep coming back, keep pushing you on and on. 

So, the Buddha discovered which he called ‘enlightenment.’ He discovered that the cause of his stress, unhappiness and frustration was his own desire; he found that once he could get rid of his desire, he would find peace and happiness in the mind.

And the way to do it is to practice the three steps of mental development: first is to be charitable; second is to have morality—not to hurt other people by what you do, what you say or what you think; third is to calm your mind—to stop your mind from desiring. So, these are basically what would bring happiness to you.

When you do charity, you don’t have to compete with other people; you just give what you have or what you can afford to give. And when you give, you help other people—it makes you feel happy.

If you can maintain the precepts or have morality by maintaining the 5 precepts at the minimum—which are: abstain from killing, abstain from stealing, abstain from sexual misconduct, abstain from lying, and abstain from drinking alcohol or any kind of substance that can cause you to become uncontrollable— then your action will not hurt other people; you will find that people will like you. You’ll be loved and you’ll be liked by people because your action doesn’t hurt other people.

You should learn to meditate—to calm your mind, to stop your thought. Your thought is the one that keeps creating desire. 

When you think of something, then you’d want to have that thing. But if you stop thinking temporarily, your mind will become blank and all the desires that being created by your thoughts will subside—the mind will become peaceful. And you will find happiness.
        
A peaceful mind brings happiness and contentment.

Once you have peace, contentment and happiness, you don’t need anything—you don’t have to accomplish anything; you don’t have to do anything because you know that regardless of what you do in this world, everything will eventually be destroyed due to the impermanent nature of thing. You can build anything but, in a few years, it will fall apart so it’s useless to go after anything. It’s more important to come inside and stop your mind from chasing after things. Once you stop chasing after things, you’ll feel relaxed and you’ll feel comfortable.

There is nothing you have to chase after; there is nobody you have to impress; there is nothing you have to acquire.

All you have to do is just looking after your body—that’s all you have to do as far as things outside of your mind.

You just live simply: have a meal a day, have a simple place to live, have a few sets of clothes to wear and if you’re sick, have some medicine to cure your sickness. That’s about it.

You know that no matter how well you try to look after your body, eventually, it’s going to get old, get sick and die. So, there is no need to be so uptight about looking after your body because eventually, no matter how well you look after the body, it’s going to fall apart—the body is going to die. Therefore, you have to learn to relinquish your attachment to your body and to everything that you own because sooner or later, you’re going to have to leave everything behind—Just your spirit can go along with you; your mind is the spirit. Once there is no physical body, then we call the mind, ‘a spirit.’ And according to Buddhism, if the spirit still has desires, these desires will push the mind or the spirit to be reborn again—to go acquire a new body and to restart the whole cycle again

7i“Dhamma in English, Oct 31, 2018.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495ga

Recollection of Virtue in Starting Out Small: A Collection of Talks for Beginning Meditators, by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo

Recollection of Virtue in Starting Out Small: 
A Collection of Talks for Beginning Meditators, 
by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo

One of the things that defiles the mind is gaṇa-palibodha: concern over the group. You’re entangled with the group, or with the individuals in the group. This is called gaṇa-palibodha. Your mind isn’t at peace, and when the mind isn’t at peace, it gains no happiness or ease. It’s not conducive for sitting in concentration.

The things that make concentration difficult are of two sorts:

1) We know that something is an enemy of concentration, but we can’t withstand it because the current of defilement is great. This is one reason why the mind can’t settle down.

2) We don’t know, we’re not aware, we practice in a way that’s not circumspect. This is a cause that gives rise to defilement. This sort of defilement can stand in the way of the paths and the fruitions. 

It’s a magg’āvaraṇa—an obstacle that prevents people from walking in line with the path.

The obstacles that prevent us from walking in line with the path can arise from our lack of knowledge—and they can cause harm. This is why we have to study and practice in a way that’s circumspect. And this is why we have Dhamma talks every day, so that we can do away with this lack of knowledge and give rise to knowledge in its place. In this way, we can practice correctly. The heart will tend toward stillness.

There are two areas that have to be dealt with. The first is what I mentioned just now: We know that something is an enemy, but we can’t withstand it. 

Sometimes we know, sometimes we forget, sometimes we have a lapse of mindfulness through the pressure of defilements. This is one sort of thing that can prevent the paths and fruitions.

The second area concerns the things we don’t know at all. We don’t know that they’re wrong; we don’t know when we do something wrong. This can give rise to defilement.

Most of the areas where we don’t know have to do with our precepts and virtue. When we know that something’s wrong or that it creates a disturbance in the mind—we don’t want it to happen, we’re aware, but we can’t resist it—that’s usually an affair of concentration. When our virtues are defiled, our concentration gets defiled, and that in turn becomes a magg’āvaraṇa, an obstacle to following the path and gaining results.

When this is the case, you don’t have any path to follow. And that means that you’re walking all over the place. You’re guided just by your feet and knees, which simply go wherever they like. You keep on wading through the jungle, going uphill and down, sometimes through clearings, sometimes through the bush, stepping on thorns and stumps. Sometimes you step into mud and get all splattered, like a person with no path to follow.

But still you don’t die. You can keep going and you don’t die, but it irritates people who know the path. 

It’s hard to travel with someone who doesn’t know the path. It’s like traveling together with a blind person. When you tell a blind person, “Come here, come here,” it’s hard. Even though you point with your hands, the blind person doesn’t understand. If the blind person is deaf too, that’s it. It’s really difficult. It’s really hard to travel together with the deaf and the blind. So what can you do? You don’t have to travel together. You first have to find medicine to put into their eyes so that they can at least see something. 

That’s all there is to it. And you have to cure their ears. When their eyes and ears start to recover, then you can travel together.

To cure your ears means taking an interest in instructions and criticism, the teachings that point out the path of defilement and tell you that that’s a way you shouldn’t follow. If you take an interest, then your deafness will gradually disappear, bit by bit. If you don’t take an interest, you’ll keep on being deaf.

The same with your eyes: You have to put drops in them. It’s too much to ask others to put drops in your eyes for you. You have to learn how to help yourself. How do you help yourself? You have to observe and take note of things. Whether other people explain things or not, you have to observe and take note: When they act in that way, what are they getting at? When they use this sort of behavior, what are they getting at? That’s when you can understand what’s going on. When you understand in this way, it means that you can put drops in your own eyes.

With some people, even if you use a stick to pry open their eyelids, they still won’t open. That’s when they’re impossible. But if your eyes aren’t very dark, you don’t have to look at a lot of things. You see something once, and that’s all you need. You can take it as a standard that you can keep putting into practice. You don’t need lots of examples. Otherwise, you won’t be able to set yourself up in business. If you’re not intelligent, you won’t be able to set yourself up in business at all. Think of shoemakers or tailors: They need only one example, and they can make hundreds of shoes or pieces of clothing. 

They can succeed in setting themselves up in business.

It’s the same with people of discernment. Even if you see only one example, you can take it as a warning to train yourself and to keep on practicing. When this is the case, it lightens the task of making your eyes better.

The same with cleaning out your ears: Most of us want other people to put drops in our ears, but we have to treat our own ears. The duty of the teacher is simply to give you the medicine that you then put in your ears yourself. What this means is that when you’re criticized, you don’t throw it away or shrug it off. You take it to contemplate the reason behind it. Don’t abandon your responsibility.

Wherever you go: Even when the teacher says something only once, you can put it to use for the rest of your life. That’s what it means to have good ears.

The same with good eyes: You see an example only once and you can take it as a standard by which you keep on practicing. When this is the case, you begin to recover. With some people, though, the teacher can set hundreds and thousands of examples, but they can’t master even one of them. They can’t look after themselves. They can’t depend on themselves. It’s hard for them to give rise to purity.

So if we’re not circumspect in both of these areas, our virtue gets defiled. This is called having virtue that’s not pure. Virtue that’s not pure is a magg’āvaraṇa. The results that would arise from purity of virtue can’t arise. The mind isn’t at peace; it has no concentration. When your virtue isn’t pure, practicing concentration is hard.

So now I’d like to talk about virtue so as to improve the situation, so that you’ll have knowledge and understanding. That way you can practice cleansing your virtue to make it pure. As it’s explained in the texts on the 40 topics of meditation, recollection of virtue is one of the topics for tranquility meditation. 

There are two ways of recollecting and reflecting on your virtue.

1) You recollect the purity of your virtue—this is called parisuddha-sīla.

2) You examine where your virtue isn’t pure. You take stock of where it’s lacking, or dusīla.

You have to look at both sides. If you look and see that you have some suspicions that your virtue isn’t pure, try to make up the lack and make it more pure. Don’t let yourself have any worries about your behavior or your precepts. That’s when your precepts will lead to stillness of mind—in line with the fact that recollection of virtue counts as a theme for tranquility meditation.

Only when you reflect on your virtue and your mind can come to stillness, does it count as recollection of virtue. If, when you reflect, you see that your virtue isn’t pure, how will the mind come to stillness? When you reflect on the purity of your virtue and can see it clearly, the mind lets go of the matter. It’s like taking an inventory of things in your house: This isn’t missing; that isn’t missing. When nothing’s missing, you can fall asleep easily. But if you take an inventory and find that something’s missing, you can’t get any sleep at all.

When you examine your precepts and see that they’re pure and impeccable in every way, then the mind can immediately grow calm and still. This purity leads to stillness of the heart. For this reason, don’t be heedless or careless. The training of the mind involves your manners and behavior. It involves your virtue and precepts. So don’t be heedless and careless. Don’t see virtue and the precepts as minor matters or low. 

We have to make the mind into Dhamma, and it’s hard to make it Dhamma when there’s no virtue. As long as the mind isn’t steady, it’s not Dhamma. And when the mind isn’t Dhamma, it’s defiled. Its virtue isn’t pure.

*******

From Recollection of Virtue in Starting Out Small: A Collection of Talks for Beginning Meditators, by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo

https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/StartingOutSmall/Section0034.html

The Teaching g of Ajahn Suchart

The Teaching g of Ajahn Suchart

Question:  In sitting meditation, is cross-legged the posture to meditate or is there any other positions?

Than Ajahn:  Well, sitting cross-legged is the ideal sitting position. If you can do it, it will be good for your meditation in the long term. There are two types of sitting cross-legged: half lotus and full lotus. In Thailand, we usually sit in half lotus position. Sitting cross-legged is a balanced position for the body and we can sit for a long period of time. But when you start, if you cannot sit in that position, you can sit in any position you like. You can sit on a chair or on a bed, but eventually, as you progress in your meditation, you’d want to try to sit in the lotus position because you’ll find it better for your practice. However, don’t use this (the inability to sit in lotus position) as an excuse to not do the practice.

When you start, if you cannot sit in lotus position, you can sit in any position you want.

What’s important is not the position of the body. What’s important is the mind whether you can keep it still or not, whether you can keep it away from thinking aimlessly or not.

That’s the purpose. So, the first step is to develop mindfulness because mindfulness will be the one that can stop your thoughts.

Once you can stop thinking, when you sit down, you’ll feel comfortable in whichever position you choose. If you cannot stop thinking, your mind will be desiring to go do something else and you’ll find that sitting is very uncomfortable.

So, the important thing is not the position of the body, but mindfulness—the ability to stop your thoughts. If you can stop or reduce your thoughts, when you sit, you won’t feel uneasy. The reason why you feel uneasy is because your mind wants to go do something else and you keep thinking about it. Once the mind keeps thinking about something, it wants to go and do it. But if you can stop it from thinking about anything, when you sit down, it won’t have any desire to do anything, then you can sit and be still and calm very easily.

So, when you first start, if you cannot sit in lotus position, you should just sit in any position that you find it comfortable, although after a while, this position won’t make you feel comfortable too because it’s not a balanced position like the lotus position.

If you sit in lotus position, the weight of the body is equally distributed.

“Dhamma in English, Jan 12, 2019.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g