“Just focus on only one word, ‘Buddho’, while meditating. There is no need to doubt to waste your time.”

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

31 March 2024

“Just focus on only one word, ‘Buddho’, while meditating. There is no need to doubt to waste your time.”

Those who seek peace of mind need to avoid sensual pleasures; they’ll be able to calm their minds more easily during mediation. You have to be strong because sensory desire (kāma-chanda) is one of the five hindrances (pañcanıvāraṇani)—mental factors that hinder progress in meditation. They act as barriers that obstruct your mind from entering a mental state of calm.

Aside from sensory desire, there is also the hindering factor of doubt (vicikicchā). When you meditate, a doubt will arise making you question: the effectiveness of the technique of reciting ‘Buddho’ or the existence of the Buddha, his teachings, and his noble disciples. 

You question if meditation will really calm your mind. 

These doubts will make you hesitant and distracted during your meditation. It will hamper your focus, determination, and conviction and prevent you from making progress.

When there is doubt, you’ll need to listen to those with experience to guarantee the result—encouraging you to keep on reciting ‘Buddho’ and ensuring the wonderful result. 

Hearing it from someone who is respectable and trustworthy will help eliminate your doubts.

Just focus on only one word, ‘Buddho’, while meditating. There is no need to doubt to waste your time. 

Use mindfulness to keep you focussed and soon enough, the word ‘Buddho’ will get you through the five hindrances and into the state of mental calm.

When it comes to sloth-torpor (thına-middha), you’ll need to regulate your eating and food intake. Don’t overconsume. Or go to scary places to keep you alert and awake, such as cemeteries or the wilderness.

Staying at monasteries is to train yourself to live rough and minimally. 

When I stayed at Wat Pa Baan Taad, I just made do with whatever they provided, in terms of food and living arrangements. When there was spare time, I helped out with communal chores—cleaning toilets, sweeping, etc. These activities are often shunned by people with ambition. But you’re here to go against the grain of your mental defilements.

The defilements often push you to strive for wealth and prestige. But you’re here to train yourself to be poor and without any social ranking—to make yourself like a rag that can be used by anyone and for anything. You have to be able to clean toilets, wash dishes and spittoons, and do anything as long as it isn’t immoral or doesn’t trouble anyone.

By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Youtube: Dhamma in English

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