“You need to be aware that the suffering that you experience has to do with your mind and not your physical body.”

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart

28 November 2024

“You need to be aware that the suffering that you experience has to do with your mind and not your physical body.”

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Question: Is there a boundary to an awareness of suffering (dukkha)? Does dukkha, itself, have boundaries and to what extent? 

Than Ajahn: You need to be aware that the suffering that you experience has to do with your mind and not your physical body. For example, when your body is healthy with no ailments—eating and sleeping properly—and yet you still feel uneasy, that is the kind of discontentment of which you need to be aware. 

The dukkha that is in your mind entails any sense of dis-ease, worries, anxiety, and agitation.

You also need to be aware that the dukkha, which is in your mind, comes from your own craving. It is your craving for things to be in a certain way and when things don't go according to your wishes, you feel agitated and uneasy.

Such discontentment, or dukkha, needs to be addressed on a mental level. It is to see to the root cause—your craving. For instance, you shouldn't crave to fix or change someone else. 

You get upset when they don't act according to your wishes. If you want to cure your discontentment, you shouldn't try to fix or change them. Don't criticise or force them to act according to your wishes. You instead should quell your own craving: take into consideration that whoever upsets you doesn't belong to you (anatta)—not within your command nor under your control to do or act as you wish them to.

To rid yourself of your own dis-ease is to put an end to your own desires for others to be in a certain way. 

Such are the boundaries of being aware of your own suffering. It is to know that the suffering comes from your own craving and desire; it has only to do with your mind and not with your body.

Physical suffering—the sickness and pain of your body—may also be the cause of your mental agitation. 

For instance, when you're ill, your longing to get well or fear of not recovering and death are all considered 'cravings'. Your longings for your body to not suffer, to recover, and to not die all give rise to your discontentment.

You may be able to address the issue temporarily on a physical level. For example, seeing a doctor when you're ill will cure your dis-ease temporarily. But you'll get all upset again when the sickness reoccurs.

You need to address the issue in your mind if you want to cure your suffering permanently. It is to curb your mental craving of wanting your body not to get sick. You have to accept the reality: your body is always prone to illnesses and will die one day—no one can prevent the inevitable.

If you can rid yourself of your desires to not get ill or die, you'll then be permanently free from your suffering and discontent related to your health and sickness. You won't suffer no matter how often you may be subjected to illnesses—your mind won't be troubled or affected.

This is how to address the issue—to cure the craving in one's heart and mind and not the suffering of one's body. The physical suffering is rather trivial. What really matter are the dukkha in your mind and its causes: craving not to age, not to get ill, and not to die. Your ageing, illnesses (whether you recover or not), and death will not bother or matter to you in any way once you've addressed the root cause.

“Essential Teachings.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

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