The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.
28 March 2024
Question: During my meditation, there was an internal voice that tells me what to do. Do I have to listen to this voice or ignore it? For example, this voice tells me, ‘Don’t think of your family. Bring back your focus to your nostrils.’ I don’t know what to do with this voice.
Than Ajahn: Just ignore it because you can become distracted by it and then you start conversing with your voice. Instead of meditating, you’re not meditating.
So, once you start focusing on your meditation object, keep focusing on that object. If anything comes up, just ignore it, don’t pay attention to it. If you’re watching your breath, just keep watching your breath.
If you’re reciting Buddho, just keep reciting Buddho.
Question: This voice brings me back to my meditation.
When I think of something, this voice would say, ‘Eh, what are you doing? Go back to your nostrils.’
Than Ajahn: Well, that’s what you want to do. You want to watch your breath.
Question: Yes, I want to watch the breath but I don’t know why I’ve got this voice that was telling me that.
Than Ajahn: You don’t have to know why. You don’t have to listen to it as long as you keep watching your breath. If you’re not watching your breath and your voice tells you to watch your breath, then you come back and watch your breath. However, if you keep listening to your voice, what if your voice tells you to go think about your family? What will you do? So, it’s better not to pay attention to it because it can distract you. If it’s profitable, it’s ok. If it keeps reminding you to come back to your breath, it’s okay.
And that’s the only thing that you can listen to.
Layperson: Yeah, it’s profitable. It gave me good advice.
Than Ajahn: Giving you good advice is not good either, because it means that you’re not meditating, you’re listening to the advice. Then, your mind can never enter into jhāna or samādhi.
Layperson: So, I don’t have to listen to this voice.
Than Ajahn: No, just keep going back to your breath.
Only listen to it when it tells you to come back to your breath. If it tells you about other things, don’t listen to it. It’s like taking a ride in a car. If you want to go from here to Bangkok, you have to stay in your car. If halfway through the trip, somebody on the roadside waves at you and says, ‘Come on, have a cup of coffee,’ what do you do? Do you stop and have a cup of coffee with him? If you start talking with him, you’ll forget about going to Bangkok, then you don’t get to reach Bangkok. If you want to get to Bangkok, you just ignore everybody who is trying to distract you.
It’s the same way with meditation. If you want your mind to become calm, you have to ignore all the distraction that happen in your mind; sometimes, it can become bright; sometimes, some feelings might arise, some thoughts might arise. Just ignore them. Don’t pay attention to them.
Question: What about the sensation when I see that bright light?
Than Ajahn: Just ignore it.
Question: Do I have to focus on it?
Than Ajahn: No. If you do, then you’ll be distracted because you’re changing your object of focus from your breath to the light. This kind of light arises because of you focusing on your breath, so once you change your focus to the light, the light will disappear, then you have nothing to focus on. So, keep focusing on your breath regardless of what happens. Don’t be distracted. The mind will try to distract you to prevent you from becoming calm.
“Dhamma in English, Mar 15, 2019.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
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