The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart
10th July, 2022
“Samādhi is a resting state of the mind while paññā is its working mode.”
“To observe your mind in order to develop your mindfulness, you need to be aware of your thoughts, be they positive or negative.
You need to stop those negative thoughts. If you're not reciting 'Buddho', then you're being unmindful. For those who use 'Buddho' as their meditation subject, you'll be reciting it from the moment you awake until you fall asleep if you're truly mindful. If you're not reciting, then it is clear that you've lost track of your mindfulness.
If your meditation subject is the thirty-two parts of the body, then you have to constantly be contemplating your hair, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, tendons, bones, etc. In the beginning you should set your awareness on your body because it is much easier than to set it on your mind. The body is coarser than the mind—something that is observable with just plain eyes.
You have to engage your mind to your body—your mind is constantly present with your body—and not let it wander.
Your mind shouldn't be thinking about something in Bangkok while your body is here.
Your mind is consistently aware of your body, whether you're walking, eating, or taking a bath. If you can manage that, then you're being mindful as your mind hasn't gone astray. When you put it to watch your breathing or recite 'Buddho', it would.
If you can manage to do that for about five to ten minutes, then your mind will calm down and become absorbed.
It would be beneficial if you don't let your mind get involved with the externals. If it happens to drift away, you should refocus it, reminding yourself that it is inadvisable to get distracted by other things and that your priority is to establish calmness for the mind. If you let your mind wander, it won't be calm. After your practice, you won't feel the effect of meditation or have the will to resist your defilements. As soon as you come into contact with any sensual stimuli, your defilements will be readily activated.
With a calm mind, impervious to things, you'll be able to resist your defilements. Seeing things won't immediately conjure defilements.
You'll have the time to contemplate these phenomena and their nature with your calm and undisturbed mind—to cultivate wisdom (vipassanā).
Your mental calm will weaken after developing wisdom for a while. Your contemplation won't be as effective as before due to the arising of defilements, and so you need to get back to your mental absorption.
Samādhi and paññā take turn in their workings—they support one another.
Samādhi is a resting state of the mind while paññā is its working mode.
Mental cultivation through meditation practice is just like your daily routine: leaving home to go to work in the morning, coming back home to rest in the evening, and starting all over again the next morning. When you come out of your absorption, you contemplate the three marks of existence and the five aggregates.
Once it is no longer effective, you then get into your concentration to give your mind a rest.
Your mind will automatically withdraw from samādhi when it is fully recharged; you can then start contemplating again.
Repeating this cycle consistently will hone your wisdom faculty, making it more in tune with your defilements.
You'll be able to readily detect any thoughts that aren't in line with the truth. You'll be aware of your attraction to things, longing to live forever, and aversion to sickness.
You'll be able to quell these defilements promptly, that is, your mind is able to detach itself.”
“Essential Teachings”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
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