The teachings of Ajahn Suchart.
20th November, 2022
Question: Ajahn said that the mind is separate from the body. Do I take this as a leap of faith or is there some feeling that I can sense that the body is separate from the mind? Am I supposed to feel it or do I just take it as a fact?
Than Ajahn: You can feel it when your mind enters into jhāna. When you are in jhāna, your body will disappear from your awareness.
Question: I meditate for an hour or an hour and a half, but I’m still thinking that my mind is part of my body. Does it mean that I’m not in jhāna yet?
Than Ajahn: Not yet. When you are in jhāna, you can see that the body becomes like a piece of wood.
Layperson: I still sense the body, I don’t feel it very much but I still hear things.
Than Ajahn: You haven’t gone deep enough yet. You are beginning to enter into jhāna, so just keep practicing mindfulness. Try to concentrate on your meditation object.
Layperson: So, the body is kind of feels like wood.
Than Ajahn: Yes, when your mind becomes calm, then your body seems to be insignificant to the mind.
Layperson: Yeah, then I’m not there yet. I’ll just accept that.
Than Ajahn: You cannot imagine it.
You have to experience it. Your imagination is not good enough. You have to actually feel it, and experience it in your meditation.
Layperson: I think I’m mindful of what I’m doing. I feel good, there is no dukkha in doing mundane jobs.
Than Ajahn: That was part of the steps, part of the things you have to do before you can meditate successfully. You have to be mindful constantly, be mindful all the time, and then, you should meditate and watch your breath.
Just watch the breath, nothing else. Don’t pay attention to other things. Only pay attention to the breath.
Layperson: Yes. I’d say, ‘breathe, don’t think; breathe, don’t think.’
Than Ajahn: You’re still struggling with your mind. It doesn’t want to stay with your breath.
You have to keep pulling it towards your breath. Do it until you become absorbed with the breath, become one with the breath.
Then, your mind will start to become calm and peaceful.
Layperson: Okay, I’ll just keep doing it. I was just wondering whether the separation of mind and body is something that I just accept or is there something I’d feel when it happens.
Than Ajahn: You can take it as a leap of faith for now, it’s better than not believing in it at all. So, if there’s anything that happens to your body, you say, ‘It’s not me.’
Layperson: Yes, in a way. When the storm came, the table and chair were flying across the deck and broken, I was okay. I wasn’t scared.
Than Ajahn: The reason you were not scared is because you have mindfulness. When you have mindfulness, your mind won’t become excited.
Layperson: The wind was so strong but I was fine. Tables flew across and broken into a million pieces. And I just thought, ‘That’s okay.’ And then, it was over in five minutes.
Than Ajahn: It means you have lots of mindfulness to keep your mind calm.
So, the next step is to see what will happen if something happens to your body.
Layperson: I might have felt different.
I wasn’t worried about some of my furniture that were broken.
Than Ajahn: Well, you should treat your body like another piece of furniture. Because it is! It’s just you that think that they are not the same.
Actually, your body is just another piece of furniture. If you treat it like a piece of furniture, then you won’t be affected when anything happens to it, right?
Layperson: But the furniture doesn’t have nerves.
Than Ajahn: They are made out of the same stuffs. Furniture is made out of the four elements; our body is also made out of the four elements, they are the same things. The body is materials, it’s just like the furniture.
Furniture is made from materials. Your body is made from materials also. It’s your delusion that makes you think that your body is different from the furniture. They have different features, but in terms of the composition, they are made out of the same composition, from the four elements.
Layperson: Right. It didn’t bother me as I have enough chairs and tables.
Than Ajahn: You should also treat your body like that. You shouldn’t need your body also.
When you don’t need your body, whatever happens to it, you won’t be affected. Try not to rely on your body. Rely on your mindfulness for happiness rather than using your body for happiness. Stay with mindfulness, then you’ll be okay.
“Dhamma in English, May 24, 2022.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
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