The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.
1st August, 2022
Question: Is it okay to place a Buddha statue in the bedroom, not for praying but just for supporting my meditation?
Than Ajahn: I think it’s better to place the Buddha inside your heart, in your mind, by reciting ‘Budho, Budho, Budho,’ then you can take the Buddha with you everywhere. As far as placing the Buddha statue, it’s a matter of tradition. Some people think it’s not good to place the Buddha statue in the bedroom in which you have sexual activities, for instance.
You don’t want the Buddha to keep watching you do something.
Usually, in a Thai house, people would have a room specifically for the Buddha statue. We call it ห้องพระ (hông phra). ‘Hông’ means room and ‘Phra’ means Buddha, so 'hông phra' is the Buddha’s room. So, if you have Buddha statues, you should have a room or a place separate from all other activities. It’s like a shrine.
The Buddha should be in a shrine, not in your bedroom, not in your bathroom. Some Westerners like to cut off the head of the Buddha statue and place it in the toilet. This is not considered appropriate. If you respect the Buddha, then you want to have a shrine for him. You should build a room like a house for the Buddha, a shrine for the Buddha statue.
But in a practical sense, you should have the Buddha in your heart, in your mind, by constantly reciting ‘Budho, Budho, Budho,’ the name of the Buddha.
So, there are two ways of having the Buddha: in a shrine in your house; or in your heart, in your mind, by keep reciting ‘Budho, Budho, Budho’ all the time.
“Dhamma in English, May 3, 2022.”
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Question: Several weeks ago, someone asked about where to place a Buddha statue, and you said to place the Buddha in your heart. This really helps me because when I lose my mindfulness, I kept telling myself, ‘Oh, Ajahn said to place the Buddha in my heart.’ So, I keep saying Budho and place the Buddha in my heart. The teaching is very meaningful and helpful for me.
Than Ajahn: Yes, that’s the goal of our practice—to have the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha inside our heart. That’s when you achieve the first level of enlightenment, the sotāpanna level, the one who has established the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha inside the heart. Then, you can use the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha (that had been established inside your heart) to continue on with the fight, to get rid of the remaining defilements until all the defilements are completely destroyed.
Once you become a sotāpanna, you don’t need Buddhism to guide you anymore because you have Buddhism inside your heart to guide you, wherever you are, in whichever realm of existence you might happen to be. You don’t need Buddhism. You don’t need the outside Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, to guide you because you have the inside Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. You have the real Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha inside your heart.
That’s why a sotāpanna has no doubt about the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha because a sotāpanna has the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha within himself or herself. So, what is there to doubt about? It’s something that he/she has already had, something that he/she can feel, can touch.
The Buddha says ‘Opanayiko,’ draw the teachings inward, into your heart. Draw mindfulness, draw wisdom, draw sīla, draw charity, into your heart.
Question: Oh, that’s what 'inward' means.
Than Ajahn: Yes, you draw the teachings inside your heart by practicing them. The more you do, the more they will stay inside your heart. The more charity you do, the more precepts you keep, the more meditation you do, then the more of these Dhamma will remain inside your heart. But if you don’t do the practice, then you will lose them eventually. So you have to keep maintaining and increasing the level of practice until you are able to keep the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha inside your heart permanently.
Layperson: Thank you, Than Ajahn.
“Dhamma in English, May 17, 2022.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g
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