Question: I have a lot of worries about life like worry about work, about family. Than Ajahn: What you think about is just in your thoughts, it doesn’t reflect the reality. You should tell yourself: ‘why worry about something that you don’t know whether it is going to happen or not?’

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

5 June 2024

“To meditate is the right way of self-reliance. Once you know how to meditate, you can be happy without relying on other people or other things to make you happy.”

Question:  I have a lot of worries about life like worry about work, about family. 

Than Ajahn:  What you think about is just in your thoughts, it doesn’t reflect the reality. You should tell yourself: ‘why worry about something that you don’t know whether it is going to happen or not?’ 

If you want to think positively, you can think that one day, everything will have to come to an end anyway. 

This is the reality of life. No party lasts forever. Every party has an ending, just like every movie has an ending. But life does not have a happy ending like in the movie. Every life has a sad ending. Life is a sad ending because we don’t want life to end. However, if we can accept it and we know that this is the way it has to be, then it will not be a sad ending for us. 

You should teach your mind constantly that one day, life will have to come to an end. Every relationship whether it is work related, family or friendship related has to come to an end. What you should learn to do is to meditate. When you meditate, you will have happiness that is better than the happiness you get from your current relationships. Once you get this happiness as a replacement, you will not worry about the uncertainty of your relationships whether it is with your work, family, friends, or finances, etc. 

So you should try finding the happiness in meditation to replace the kind of happiness you have now. 

Don’t rely on happiness that you are relying right now – relying on your relationship with work, family, or your own body, because one day, all of them will have to come to an end. 

Regardless of how rich you are, one day, your life will also come to an end like everybody else. 

Everybody ends up having a sad ending, whether he is the richest man in the world, the Prime Minister, the President, all will end up having a sad ending. But you can find different kind of happiness to replace it, the kind of happiness that doesn’t come to an end at the end of your life span which is the happiness acquire from your meditation. When your mind is peaceful and calm, you will be happy. 

Once you know how to meditate, you can always maintain the happiness you acquire from it regardless of the status of the relationship with your body, your work, or your relationship with others. If those relationship will have to come to an end, it will not matter to you because you can always be happy. This is the importance of learning meditation. Do it as much as possible. 

Instead of finding happiness from watching a movie, or a sport channel or any kind of other activities, you meditate. You will get a better result. Try to do nothing, try to end your relationship right now before you die, try to stop relying on your work, your family, your money, your friends, to be happy, but be self-reliance by meditating. To meditate is the right way of self-reliance. Once you know how to meditate, you can be happy without relying on other people or other things to make you happy. 

By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Youtube: Dhamma in English

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g