The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

15 September 2023

Question:  Does it mean that if our mind still has atta, then we continue to be reborn again?

Than Ajahn:  When you have atta, you still have desire. You have to mediate to really see it. If you don’t meditate, it will be like telling blind persons what the colour of red or green is. 

They will never understand it.

If you were blind, when someone tells you how the colour green is or how the colour red is, you wouldn’t know the difference. But if you are not blind, you can see what someone who is not blind sees. 

Right now, your mind is blind. You have to open up your mind by meditating. When you meditate, you start to see everything that the Buddha said and taught.

By just sitting here and thinking about it, it is like the five blind men story. These five blind men told others what an elephant looked like by feeling the different parts of the elephant. 

One blind man touched the body and said that an elephant is like a wall.

The next blind man caught the tail and said that the elephant is like a rope. Another one touched the tusk and said that an elephant is like a spear.

They are all correct but they are not telling the complete picture of an elephant. To see a complete picture, you have to meditate.

So, keep reading my books and go meditate. When you meditate, you will find all the answers in your meditation.

“Dhamma in English, Jun 12, 2016.”

*****

The first step along the Buddhist path is pariyatti, gaining theoretical knowledge by studying the Buddha’s discourses. 

The second step is paṭipadā, to practice the Dhamma we have learnt. 

The third step is pativedha (fruition), to achieve a level of enlightenment at which point we will know for ourselves the way of practice that leads to further levels of enlightenment.

Once we have become enlightened, we may proceed to the fourth step of spreading the Buddha’s teachings to those who are still ignorant.

This is the path that we Buddhists have inherited, which has been passed down from its inception up until today. 

Buddhism must be passed on through theoretical study, practice, and fruition. If we have only completed the first step, it would not be right to begin to teach, because we would not be able pass on the correct technique of practice. If we have only studied and not yet practiced, we still do not know the truth or see clearly.

If we use this theoretical knowledge to teach others, we will be half-blind and forced to guess, because we’ll know only some aspects of the whole truth. 

It is like the proverb of a group of blind men describing an elephant while feeling only a part of the whole. Each man knows only the part of the body that he touches. The one who touches the side of the elephant claims that the elephant is like a wall. Another who touches the trunk asserts that it is like a snake. The third one touches its tail and claims that it is like a rope. The fourth one who touches its tusks describes an elephant as like a spear. Each is correct from their own perspective, but not entirely right either, which leads to useless arguments.

Those who only study the Dhamma but don’t practice it will always debate the true nature of the teachings.”

“Mountain Dhamma, Apr 7, 2013.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com

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