The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.
4 July 2024
Question: I often have déjà vu.
Sometimes, I know what is going to happen. At night when I lie down, my spirit leaves the body and I can see my body clearly.
Sometimes, I enjoyed it but sometimes, I was afraid that I couldn’t get back inside my body. I don’t know what happens to me. Any advice from you?
Than Ajahn: Oh, this is a special ability, the ability of the mind to be able to see something beyond your body, but it isn’t important whether you have this ability or not. If you have this ability and can learn from it, then it can be helpful. If you can reinforce your belief—that your mind or your spirit is different from your body, that your body is temporary and eventually it will die but your mind doesn’t die with your body—then it can be beneficial for you.
Your mind will continue on, good or bad, depending on your good or bad kamma. So, if you can use this ability to reinforce your belief in the teachings of the Buddha, then it can be beneficial for you. You can truly understand the law of kamma. You will understand the teachings of the Buddha that the mind matters more than everything else. Everything that you do today will have some effect on your mind because your mind doesn’t die with your body.
So, if you want to have good effect on your mind, then you should do good kamma; if you don’t want to have any bad effect on your mind, then you should avoid or stop doing bad kamma: this is something that is important.
By simply seeing or knowing that you have special ability, it’s just like people who saw that airplane could fly. In the past, people couldn’t fly so we thought flying would make us great, but actually, it doesn’t affect us much.
It just makes you get to another place faster, but otherwise, there is nothing great about it. It doesn’t change your life, your happiness or your sorrow. But if you can truly understand the law of kamma, to see the one who receives the effect of the law of kamma, then it can change your life. It can make your life better. It can make you happy and less sad. If you believe in the law of kamma, then you will be producing good things for your mind and prevent from producing bad things for your mind.
Question: A few months ago when I was in Japan, I went out and took some photos at night. When I checked the photos, one of them have an image like a whirlpool which I think it’s not a good energy. Can you please give me some advice?
Than Ajahn: It was just another visual experience that you happened to see. It doesn’t change your life in anyway, so don’t pay too much attention to it. If it makes you become a millionaire, then I think you should pay attention to it, but if it doesn’t change anything, then you just disregard it. It had happened and it was already gone. There’s no need to pay any special attention to it. Just acknowledge that it was something unusual.
That’s all.
“Dhamma in English, Jun 7, 2019.”
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Question: Some people said that my daughter has a sixth sense. How to guide her so that she keeps on track with Buddhism?
Than Ajahn: Well, if she has a sixth sense, you just consider that she has a special gift.
You don’t have to worry about it. What you need to guide her is the way to the path of charity, morality and meditation: this is the main path of Buddhism. Having any extrasensory perception is considered to be an additional gift that she can use it or she doesn’t have to use it, so you don’t have to worry about that.
Teach her to be charitable, to be generous; teach her to not hurt other people i.e. not killing, not stealing, not lying; you can teach her to do chanting first because this is the easier way to do meditation, ‘Namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammā-sambuddhassa’.
“Dhamma in English, Aug 31, 2021.”
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Question: During my recent retreat, after about a week into the retreat, unusual things started to happen, for example, being aware that something was going to happen in the future, and that event happened later that day or the next day. This happened a few times. I tried not to give any significance to it and saw it as a side effect of my practice, it’s just like a heightened awareness. Is this the right way to view it?
Than Ajahn: Yes, you shouldn’t be sucked into it. Just be an observer—you are just collecting the data so that you can judge your capability whether it’s always true or not, that every time when you thought of something, then the event would happen. You are like someone who is collecting the data on the activity of your mind to see how accurate the prophecy is. You can probably be a prophet.
But, you shouldn’t use it to be your main goal because becoming a prophet doesn’t help you getting rid of your defilement. Like you’ve said, it’s just a side effect or a bonus. That’s why it is said that some people might gain psychic power from the practice, but you shouldn’t be deceived to think that they are helpful in eliminating your defilement. So try to avoid them or not to foster them in anyway.
Just try to get back into calm, into samādhi, into upekkhā, as much as possible.
Layperson: This prophecy happened 3 or 4 times and they turned out to be absolutely correct. I get what you are advising. Although I find it very surprising and interesting but I realized that it wasn’t contributing very important to the practice. So, I just observed it and let it go. In normal life, this doesn’t happen very much.
Than Ajahn: Like you’ve said it, you have to have a certain level of calm mind then your awareness might be heightened. So, just know that you have a special capability which you might be able to use it someday, for the worldly advantage, not a supramundane advantage because it doesn’t stop you from going around the cycle of rebirth. It might help you in the short run, such as if you know your house is going to collapse, so you’d better stay away from the house during that time.
Layperson: Nothing is that serious.
Than Ajahn: Who knows?
Layperson: I’d be careful.
Than Ajahn: It’s like the saying goes, ‘Foresight is better than hindsight’. So, for people who don’t have a teacher, they might think that what they experienced might be something marvelous, that they should foster it so they can use it.
They think in the worldly terms, that they can help other people and in the end, they turn to become fortune tellers rather than become noble disciples. They become soothsayers.
In the West, there are some psychics where people would go to them for advice like if they lost their loved ones. The soothsayers might be able to tell them. But there are no soothsayers you could go to in order to get rid of your defilements or to stop the round of rebirth.
So be careful. You shouldn’t become involved in it and use this psychic power as your main objective. Always look for the way to the cessation of dukkha, by the elimination of your defilements as your main objective.
“Dhamma in English, Sep 7, 2021.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g
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