The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.
5 March 2023
Monk: How do I establish my mind in samādhi, Than Ajahn khrub?
Than Ajahn: Mindfulness. From the time you get up, you use something to stop your mind from thinking.
You can concentrate on watching your body from the very first movement after you’ve woken up, from lying down to sitting up, standing, walking to brushing your teeth, washing your face, whatever you do.
Just stay with the body at every step. Try not to think of the past or the future.
Monk: Does Than Ajahn mean that this is for the samatha practice?
Than Ajahn: Yeah, you need samatha first before you can go to the next level, the level of investigation.
First, samādhi and then paññā. You need samādhi as the stepping stone toward your development of wisdom. Because if your mind is not calm, the mind will be distracted by your defilements. The defilements will pull your mind to go think about something else, rather than thinking about the Three Characteristics of Existence, the Four Noble Truths or the asubha. You need a neutral mind to do the investigation.
So, first you have to neutralize your mind by entering into samādhi. Samādhi is the neutral state of mind.
In samādhi, you won’t have any love, hate, delusion or fear.
Monk: Maybe it’s easier for Than Ajahn to enter into samādhi than for many other monks nowadays. If someone uses wisdom even before he attains some samādhi, is it okay?
Than Ajahn: I know that there is always the risk of being distracted by people who don’t know the truth and tell you what you should do, so it’s better to stick to the masters if you can. Listen to the teaching of the masters such as Ajahn Chah, Luangta Mahā Boowa, Ajahn Mun or the Buddha himself. Don’t listen to other people. You can listen to other people, but you don’t have to believe them.
Monk: Can one use wisdom develops samādhi?
Than Ajahn: That’s only for special occasions. It’s when you cannot use mindfulness to force your mind into calm, then you have to investigate the object that distracts your mind and let your mind detach from it. When you see that the object that distract your mind as aniccaṁ, dukkhaṁ, anattā, then you can detach yourself from it. Like when you try to meditate and you’re worried about building a monastery, and then you’d say, ‘What is a monastery? It’s just something I build, and one day, I’m going to lose it anyway, so why lose my time over it?’
Something like that. When you finally get the sense of what’s right and what’s wrong, then you can stop that distraction, and then you can come back and focus on your breath or on your mantra. This is wisdom develops samādhi.
Normally, when you cannot concentrate on your breath or your mantra, it’s because you keep thinking about some other people or things, hence, you have to use wisdom which is the Three Characteristics on them. The people or things that you worry about, sooner or later, they are going to die anyway because they are impermanent. When you get this realization, you’d say, ‘Why should I worry about them now? I cannot do anything anyway. I’m here and they’re there.
My job right now is to meditate.’ Then, you stop worrying about them and come back and meditate.
Monk: I notice this body is impermanent as well.
Than Ajahn: Everything in this world is like that. Whatever things that you worry about, you should look at them as being impermanent, then your worry will disappear because sooner or later, you’re gonna lose them, so why worry about them? Worry more about making your mind calm because when your mind is calm, it will make you happy. You can transcend everything once your mind becomes calm. A calm mind will transcend all the problems of this world. All the travails of this world will not bother the mind once the mind becomes calm.
Monk: I tend to be quite happy when I’m on a retreat.
Than Ajahn: Yeah, but you keep forgetting it. You keep worrying about getting the monastery running.
Anyway, this is just something for you to think about. Whatever you do, you have to decide for yourself.
Monk: So, what Than Ajahn recommends is to do mindfulness of the body the moment we wake up in the morning.
Than Ajahn: Mindfulness with whatever you do. If you are standing, just know that you’re standing. If you’re walking, just know you’re walking. You don’t have to analyze the body. Just use the body as an anchor.
Monk: Direct the awareness to the body movement.
Than Ajahn: Not directing awareness, but just know what you do. If you’re washing your face, just know that you are washing your face, don’t go think about other things. Don’t think. Don’t analyze the body.
Don’t analyze the feelings of the body or anything like that. Just watch. Just be mindful. Just know. This way will stop you from thinking.
Monk: For a formal session, would Than Ajahn recommend ānāpānasati?
Than Ajahn: Yes, if you like ānāpānasati. If you like using a mantra, you can use it also. If your mind is restless, sometimes using a mantra will reduce your restlessness. Use the mantra until your mind can become calm enough, then you can use ānāpānasati. Sometimes, your mind is already calm, so you don’t need to use a mantra, you can just watch and focus on your breath.
So, it depends on your state of mind at the time when you meditate.
Monk: I heard Than Ajahn’s teaching on the Brahma-vihāra: mettā, karuṇā, muditā, upekkhā.
Than Ajahn: Yeah, Brahma-vihāra is what you’ll have when your mind becomes calm. They will arise when you have a calm mind. When your mind becomes calm, these 4 qualities will arise naturally. When you enter into the 4th jhāna, you’ll have upekkhā, and then mettā, karuṇā will be evident in your mind.
When you’re happy, then you don’t want to hurt nobody, right? You want to help people. You want to help those who are in need. And you will feel happy toward other people’s success.
Monk: I’m wondering if we should develop them before we reach the 4th jhana.
Than Ajahn: No, you can’t. You have to use mindfulness to get into the 4th jhāna, otherwise, the brahma-vihāra will be just a fake development, not the real brahma-vihāra. You can pretend that you have mettā, but this is not real mettā. If somebody steps on your feet, you might get angry at the person. But if you have real mettā, you won’t get angry no matter what people do or say to you.
“Dhamma in English, Jun 23, 2019.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g
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