The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.
25th September, 2022
“You cannot just do samādhi alone because you will not gain any insight or vipassanā. However, if you only do investigation, then your investigation will not turn into insight.”
You should spend most of your time in these two particular areas: samādhi and paññā. You have to do both alternatively. First of all you have to calm your mind. Once it becomes calm and rested, let it stay rested for as long as possible. After it withdraws from that rested state, bring the mind to think about impermanence and the 32 parts of the body.
Keep on doing this again and again until it becomes second nature to your mind so that every time you look at the body you will not only look at the skin, but through it as well.
This is to see other parts of the body that are hidden under the skin. The only way to be able to do this is to continually keep thinking about it all the time.
When you are tired from the contemplation and the mind is becoming restless, you should stop thinking and return to samādhi.
Concentrate your mind and rest your mind.
When your thinking starts wandering to other subjects, you should know that you are not with the Dhamma, which means your mind needs to rest. So you should stop all your thinking and instead practise samādhi.
Calm your mind and let it rest. After it has rested and is coming out of calm, you will be ready to be taught again, to think in the ways of Dhamma. This is what you have to do back and forth, back and forth, until you eventually understand the nature of the body.
It's impermanent, repulsive and not beautiful.
Until you have no desire for this body or any other bodies. Then you will know that the problems with your body are over, and you won't have to worry about the body anymore.
You then have to move up to the next stage.
You have to study feelings, such as painful feelings, to understand that they are natural and part of nature. They come and go like the rain and wind. You cannot force them to go away when they happen to be there. All you can do is to understand them for what they are and leave them alone. If you can do that, you will move higher and higher, but this has to be done alternating between samādhi and investigation (paññā).
You cannot just do samādhi alone because you will not gain any insight or vipassanā.
However, if you only do investigation, then your investigation will not turn into insight because your mind is agitated. You will think too much — not in accordance with the truth — but in accordance with your imagination.
So, when you know that the mind starts to become agitated and to think outside the boundary of the mind, you should know that it is time to rest your mind. Therefore, you should go back and forth between samādhi and paññā.
By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto
Youtube: Dhamma in English
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