The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart
“Once you have destroyed your defilements, then you can come back to do your charity work.”
Upāsikā: “How can somebody reach the stage of liberation if someone cannot live like a monk in the forest as he still must deal with worldly affairs and do social work? And in some monasteries, people do a lot of work and they said that, ‘You have to look at the citta while working,’ so they don’t practice much meditation.
What do you think about it?”
Than Ajahn: “If you don’t practice, you don’t get liberated.”
Upāsikā: “But they say, ‘while you’re working, you watch your mind’, (cittānupassanā). What do you think?”
Than Ajahn: “Yes, but that’s not enough to get rid of your defilements. The goal is to get rid of your defilements: your greed, your hatred, your delusion. If you can get rid of these defilements, no matter where you are or what you do, you can be liberated. But you usually don’t get rid of these defilements when you do all those activities.
The only way to get rid of these defilements is to stop all activities and go live alone. This way you can then destroy all these defilements in your mind. Once you have destroyed your defilements, then you can come back to do your charity work.
The Buddha did 45 years of charity work. But in his first 6 years when he was practising, he had not done any charity work. He isolated himself from the world.
This is the easiest way of getting rid of the defilements.
If you are associated with the world, then your defilements will be hard to destroy.”
“Dhamma in English, May 8-12, 2018.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
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