The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.
Question: Can Ajahn explain how to practice vipassanā?
Than Ajahn: Vipassanā is looking at the truth. Right now we don’t want to look at the truth which is impermanence. Everything we have is impermanent. And by virtue of its impermanence, it can cause us suffering, like when we lose something. That’s because it’s impermanent. So, if you try to teach your mind that everything that you have is impermanent, then you can change your attitude towards the things that you have. Instead of clinging, you say, “I have to let go because I know sooner or later I’m going to lose it.” If you know this ahead of time, then you prepare yourself to let go, to let the things leave you.
Question: does it mean doing it in daily life?
Than Ajahn: In everything you do. When you’re not doing samādhi, you do vipassanā. Instead of thinking, and accumulating more and more because you think that it makes you happy, you should reverse the process. Instead of wanting more and more, you want less and less because the less you have the less suffering and worry you will have.
Question: Are vipassanā and paññā the same?
Than Ajahn: It’s the same. Vipassanā or paññā (wisdom) is to see the three characteristics: everything in this world is aniccāṅ, dukkhaṅ, anattā. ‘Aniccāṅ’ means impermanent, temporary.
If it’s temporary, it will cause you suffering. And everything is ‘anattā’, you cannot control it all the time.
You might be able to control it some of the time. But there will be a point or a time when you will not be able to control it, like your body. And when you cannot control it and you still want to control it, then you have suffering. But if you accept that, “OK, I cannot control it now. Let the body be. If it gets old, let it get old. If it’s gonna be sick, let it be sick,” then, you will not have suffering when the body is beyond your control.
People suffer because they still want to control their bodies. They’re gonna die but they still don’t want to die and they try to control the bodies. That’s what causes suffering in the mind.
But if you know the truth that it’s gonna die, OK, let it go, then, you will not suffer.
Question: Do we have to practice formal meditation for vipassanā?
Than Ajahn: No, vipassanā is the knowledge that you apply when you run into trouble. When you have suffering, it means you’re not seeing the truth. You are not seeing everything is aniccā. Like your wife phones you and say, “I’m gonna leave you.” Suddenly, you feel bad. If you have vipassanā, you say, “OK, it’s impermanent. C’est la vie, que sera, sera.”
But if you do not prepare yourself, when something bad happens, you cannot accept it. You cannot remain calm. You will feel sad. You will feel terrible. So you should prepare yourself.
Practice like a boxer. Before a boxer can go up into the ring and fight, he has to train himself first.
This vipassanā has two parts: training and taking the test, taking the examination. Before you can take the examination, you have to prepare yourself first, train yourself first. Teach yourself, “I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die.” Keep reminding it to yourself.
Question: Every day, right?
Than Ajahn: Every minute! Every moment until you don’t forget, “I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die. My wife’s gonna die. My son’s gonna die. My money’s gonna be gone. Everything I have doesn’t belong to me. One day I’m gonna lose everything.” Think until it becomes second nature. Then, when these things happen, you say, “No problem. OK, I’m not losing my mind. That’s the most important thing.”
If you’re not willing to lose everything, you will lose your mind. You’ll go crazy. Right? People go crazy because they don’t want to lose anything.
Question: Do we think about the three characteristics when we are doing samatha?
Than Ajahn: You don’t think when you do samatha. Samatha is the place to rest, to regenerate your strength. Like when you sleep, you don’t want to work.
[Speaker went off due to low battery].
Than Ajahn: If you want everything to be the same, you’ll feel bad. How come it’s not the same anymore? But if you say, “OK, C’est la vie (That’s life). Que sera, sera (Whatever will be, will be),” then you can accept it.
But we don’t want to ‘que sera’, that’s the problem. We want everything to be the way we want it to be. If you have something, you want it to last forever. When it doesn’t last forever, then you feel bad. So, you have to retrain your mind to change your attitude towards life, to look at everything as temporary.
“Dhamma in English, Nov 8, 2017.”
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Question: If somebody insults us, what should we do, and how should we react?
Than Ajahn: You just let that person insult you. If you don’t expect anything from that person, then you won’t get angry. The reason you get angry is because you want that person to be nice to you, to talk nicely to you. When the person doesn’t talk nicely to you, or is insulting you, you get angry. So, it’s up to you whether you have the desire for him or her to talk nicely to you or not. If you don’t have any desire for it, then you won’t get angry. Let the person talks in any way he or she wants to talk. Besides talking, if he or she wants to hit you or kill you, you will still not be hurt if you don’t expect anything from him or her.
Layperson: So, we don’t have to react.
Than Ajahn: Right. The Buddha said that if somebody says bad things to you, just think that it is better than if the person hits you. If the person hits you, the Buddha said that you are still lucky because the person didn’t kill you. And if the person kills you, The Buddha said, ‘so what?
This is life.’ C’est la vie. Once you are born, you’re going to die anyway.
“Dhamma in English, Mar 8, 2018.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g
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