The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

Question:  Can Luangphor give advice about Asalha Puja on how it can inspire us to practice and what is the significance of Asalha Puja?

Than Ajahn:  Asalha Puja is the day when the Buddha gave his first sermon, so it was the day when the Dhamma became known to the world. 

This is similar to the rising of the sun. 

Before that, there was no sunlight. We were all living in the dark and we could not see anything clearly but once there is a sun, we can see everything.

It is the same way with the Dhamma teaching. Once the Lord Buddha gave his teaching, which is the Four Noble Truths, he gave the light to the world. 

Before the sermon, we didn’t know that our suffering is caused by our desire and we didn’t know how to get rid of our suffering, but now he told us the way to get rid of our suffering, that is by practising dāna, sīla and bhāvanā.

Once we have developed dāna, sīla and bhāvanā, we will have the strength to get rid of our cravings and once there are no cravings then there will be no suffering in the mind. So, this is basically the significance of Asadha Puja day: to commemorate the day the Buddha gave his first sermon to the world. Once he finished this sermon, one of the five ascetics who listened to the sermon became enlightened. 

He became a Sotāpanna because he could understand that his suffering was due to his attachment to living things. 

He didn’t want them to die and he would become sad when they died. So, if he wants to be free from sadness, he has to accept that everything will die and nobody can stop it from death. Once he accepts the truth about death, the truth of dissolution and impermanence, then he can get rid of his desire for things to be permanent, and when there is no desire for permanence, there is no suffering.

Khao phansa is the day the Lord Buddha told monks to stay in one place for three months because it is a planting season. In the old days, monks would travel on foot and tend to cross the field and this hurt the farmer’s plants in the field, so the farmers came and complained to the Lord Buddha and asked why the monks didn’t stay in one place during the rainy season. How come they kept travelling back and forth and walking across the field and destroyed the crop that they planted? So, the Lord Buddha said that from now on during the rainy season, the planting season, monks should stay in one place for three months. This is the reason why monks have to stay in one place for three months; monks don’t hurt the farmers. This is also to give monks the opportunity to stay with a teacher to study and practice.

“Dhamma in English, Jul 14, 2016.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g