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