The teachings of Ajahn Suchart.
11th December, 2022
Student: We always make planning for our lives, like planning on how to study, how to get a job, how to have a home and comfortable life. How do we make planning for our spiritual life?
Than Ajahn: Well, you have to think that one day you are going to be without your body. Right? When you have no [physical] body, you have to rely on your good kamma, so you have to prepare for your spiritual life in the spiritual world. In the spiritual world, you use spiritual money. The spiritual money is created by your good kamma. Your spiritual debt is created by your bad kamma.
That’s why all the Buddhas said, ‘Don’t do any bad kamma; do only good kamma,’ so when you die and live in the spiritual world, you have spiritual money to buy food and clothing, to pay rent, and to buy everything else. If you do bad kamma, you will have to live like a hungry ghost, you’ll have no money to buy things for yourself.
So, do the three things that the Buddha told us to do: avoid doing bad kamma, do only good kamma, and if you can, purify your mind with meditation. This is the way to prepare for your spiritual existence.
Student: So the spiritual money is totally different from our money, and we have to think of the spiritual money differently.
Than Ajahn: Good kamma. Do good kamma like give to charity, being nice to people, helping other people, doing things for other people. By doing good kamma, you are creating spiritual money. If you hurt other people, you are creating spiritual debt.
And if you don’t want to return to this saṁsāra, you have to purify your mind by vipassanā bhāvanā and samatha bhāvanā. Get it?
Student: Yes. So Than Ajahn, when we keep accumulating this goodness, does it mean that we will eventually be able to renounce or do we have to make plan to be renounced?
Than Ajahn: Well, all the physical possessions are worthless when you die, right? You cannot use them in the spiritual world. So you want to spend all your time accumulating spiritual wealth instead. For your physical wealth, you just want to have enough for your present existence which is the four requisites of life: food, shelter, clothing, and medicine—that’s all you need for physical existence. Don’t spend too much time buying things to satisfy your cravings because it doesn’t do any good for you. It’s best to have nothing, because you can’t take anything with you.
Student: If do the opposite, does it mean that we’re stupid?
Than Ajahn: Delusional, let’s put it that way. Avijjā paccayā saṅkhārā. Your delusion or your ignorance will push your mind to accumulate things for your defilements, for your craving. This will not benefit your mind at all. It benefits the defilements, it makes the defilements happy, but it doesn’t generate any spiritual wealth. There is no contentment, no equanimity. You are always hungry, looking for more and more.
Then, you can become a hungry ghost after you die.
But if you give to charity or do work for other people, you get contentment, you get happiness, and you get fulfilment. So it’s better to spend your time doing things for other people if you don’t have anything else to do for yourself.
If you have enough money for your existence, then you should spend time doing charity work like Bill Gates. Bill Gates has so much money now and he is not working anymore, right? He is spending all his time doing charity work. He is accumulating a lot of spiritual wealth. He is smart. So look at Bill Gates, one of the richest man in the world, he is now spending all his time doing charity work. He has enough physical wealth, but he doesn’t have any spiritual wealth, so he is now accumulating a lot of spiritual wealth.
So, this is what you should do. Try to spend less time, less money on your physical existence. Just have enough to get by. This is good enough. Then, you can have the spare time, the spare money to build your spiritual wealth.
Give away your physical wealth, and you’ll get spiritual wealth in return. That’s basically what it is. Understand?
Student: Yes, thank you, Ajahn.
Than Ajahn: But if you don’t have any wealth, then you just use your physical energy, like doing volunteer work, doing things without getting any payment in return. This is also building spiritual wealth.
This is for people who don’t have any money to give away. You can be a volunteer working in a Soup Kitchen somewhere. Just do charity work. You don’t have to spend money if you don’t have money. Use your physical possession, your energy and time, for the benefit of other people. Then, you will have some spiritual wealth with you when you go away. Because you cannot take your material possession with you when you die.
You can live simply. You don’t have to live expensively, right? Why do you have to spend so much money to live expensively? Reduce your living expenses, then you don’t have to work to pay for your expensive lifestyle. Then you will have time to do more charity work, do things for other people. And you’ll also have time to do meditation to cut down your rebirths. Your meditation practice will help reduce the number of rebirths.
“Dhamma in English, Jul 5, 2022.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g
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