The teachings of Ajahn Lee

The teachings of Ajahn Lee

An old woman went to a monastery one day and saw that the walking meditation paths were dirty. She swept the paths clear of the dirt and rubbish, so that the monks could walk conveniently on the paths. She did it only this once, but she did it with an attitude of love, an attitude of conviction, an attitude of respect, and a pure state of mind. The dirt and rubbish had made her feel dispirited, so she swept it all away and set out water for washing the feet; as a result, her mind felt clean and refreshed.

Soon after she returned home she had a heart attack. After she died she was reborn as a deva with a large following, a palace, divine food, and all kinds of abundant wealth. Living in her palace, she began to remember her previous life and thought to herself, "If I had done lots of merit, I'd be even richer than I am now. It'd be good to go back and do good things for just a little bit longer, so that I could get even more abundant results than what I have now. Before, I had no idea that goodness would give results like this."

So she left heaven and came down to earth, prowling around in search of monks in the forest and wilderness. 

She came across one monk who was about to enter concentration, so she stood there staring at him, looking for a way to be of service. But when he saw her, he chased her away: "What kind of deva is this, trying to horn in on human beings' merit? Before, you underestimated merit, but now that you've received good results you want even more. How greedy can you get? Go away! I won't let you do anything. 

Let human beings have a chance to do good. There are lots of people who don't have any of the good things you do. Don't come horning in on their chance for goodness."

Chagrined, the deva fled back up to heaven and had to content herself with the results she already had. She had wanted to make more merit, but they wouldn't let her. Why was that? 

We human beings tend to underestimate little acts of merit, but after you die it's hard for you to make any more merit at all.

How is it hard? Your body is no longer like a human body. You can't talk with human beings at all. You can't even put food in monks' bowls. 

The best you can do is simply stand around rejoicing in the merit of others. Only human beings with good eyes can see you. Those without that kind of eye won't detect you at all. 

If you encounter those with the right mental powers, they can teach you to some extent. But if you don't encounter that kind of person when you're a deva, you have no way of developing any more goodness.

So you shouldn't underestimate the power of goodness. As long as you've got the time and the opportunity, then whenever you notice the chance to do goodness of which you're capable, you should hurry up and make the effort, trying to develop that goodness as soon as you can. If death were to come right now, what would you have left? Nothing. All you could do is wrap up the trail mix you've put aside — in other words, the goodness you've done in the past. When you remember it, that goodness will nourish your spirit, helping you reach one of the good destinations in the heavenly worlds.

If you've developed your mind in strong concentration, you'll be able to gain release from the range of worldliness and take your heart to the transcendent.

~Ajahn Lee (Wat Asokaram)