Practicing in the world by AJAHN BRAHM

Practicing in the world
by AJAHN BRAHM

“If you don’t meditate for one day, it’s like not eating. Your heart feels sick, it’s got no strength, and you find yourself getting grumpy, getting angry, because you are not getting that feed of happiness. It doesn’t matter if people tell you that you are addicted to meditation. 

Great! Be addicted to peace, to happiness. Be addicted to freedom, it’s a nice thing to be addicted to.

Some people say you should not attach to these things, and they quote the simile of the raft. The Buddha said that the raft was just for crossing the river from one shore to the other, but that you should not cling onto that raft. (MN 22.13) 

You have to let go of the raft once you’ve crossed over to the other shore. But of course you should not throw the raft away in the middle of the river! That’s what a lot of people do. So attach to this raft, attach to your meditation, attach to your precepts, and attach to goodness.

Understand from this simile the importance of those peaceful states, the importance of goodness. and then you will get the pay off. Recall the moral precepts. Recall the goodness, the generosity, the kindness, and the selflessness, that you have done throughout the year. Then you will get the pay off in your meditation. The pay off is that beautiful mind. 

You understand that this beautiful mind is why we keep precepts, why we are generous, why we give, why we give of ourselves, why we forgive others, and why we forgive ourselves. 

It’s all part of Dana, all part of giving. It’s why we practise loving kindness and give people the benefit of the doubt. 

We give our happiness and share our merits with others. Why do we do this? We do that because we see that it actually makes this mind so beautiful. You feel it in daily life; you have something inside of you that you feel very, very proud of. It’s good to feel proud of goodness.”

Source: Practicing in the world

by AJAHN BRAHM

https://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebmed084.htm