The teachings of Ajahn Suchart.
8th June, 2022
“Once you have wisdom, you correct that misunderstanding.”
Question: “After attaining enlightenment, is there a guarantee that one will never fall into defilement again?”
Than Ajahn: “Yes, because you know – you know what defilements are. Before enlightenment you don’t know what defilements are. You think the defilements are not the defilements, so you keep going back to the defilements. But once you’re enlightened, you know what the defilements are and you never go back to them anymore.”
Q&A, Nov 14, 2017.
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Question: “Is a liberated citta can ever be tainted again?”
Than Ajahn: “No.”
Question: “Why?”
Than Ajahn: “The reason that the mind being tainted is due to its delusion, its misunderstanding. Once you have wisdom, you correct that misunderstanding. Like the understanding that the world is not flat. In the past, everybody thought that the world was flat, so people were afraid of going over the horizon because they’re afraid of falling off the earth.
But when it’s proved that the world is not flat, the world is round, nobody is afraid of going beyond the edge of the world. So, this is the same thing with a liberated mind.
Our delusion makes us think that our desires are the cause of our happiness. For example, you think that you have to have a desire to buy a camera, and when you get the camera you feel happy. But the Buddha said, ‘Your desire is the cause of your suffering, your mental pain’. It is because when you desire for something, you cannot remain content or at ease. You have to go and buy that camera before you can feel content and happy. If you cannot buy the camera, you’ll feel disappointed. You become sad.
So, now the Buddha has proved that our mental pain arises from our desire. If we can stop our desire and never do whatever our desire asks us to do, then we will not have any mental pain.”
Dhamma for the Asking, Feb 3, 2017.
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
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