“Maintain your mindfulness at all times—sitting, walking, standing, and lying down. You can chant while walking if you like to avoid thinking about other things.”

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

24 April 2024

“Maintain your mindfulness at all times—sitting, walking, standing, and lying down. You can chant while walking if you like to avoid thinking about other things.”

Listening to a Dhamma talk from someone who is wise, skilful, and interesting can be useful. If you listen to someone who doesn’t make sense, you’ll get bored. 

The person who gives a talk plays a part when it comes to listening to the Dhamma. If the talk is logical, relevant, and practical, it can be very useful. If it is full of technical and formal terms, then it won’t make much sense. It was much easier for me to understand what’s written in English, that is, without formality.

For instance, whether it was the Buddha or a beggar, the word ‘to eat’ would be used for both. I got confused by the technical and formal terms that I had never learnt. If you’re familiar with the English language, it is easier to read Dhamma books in English.

When I first began practising, I was reciting the English translation of ‘the Great Discourse on the Establishing of Mindfulness’ (Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta). I could memorise the whole sutta. 

When I sat in meditation, I would start off by reciting the sutta. When I first began to practise sitting meditation, I couldn’t really become focussed, so I had to rely on reciting the sutta in English. 

It took me about forty minutes. I just kept reciting while sitting in meditation–– contemplating the body and reflecting on feelings (vedanā) in English—until I could memorise it. It also gave rise to wisdom in me—making me aware of all the works that need to be done. 

So the recitation just became my meditation subject, instead of reciting ‘Buddho’ or watching the breath.

Chanting is also a form of meditation. When you use chanting as a meditation technique, you don’t need to put your hands together or sit with your legs together. 

You can sit cross-legged—in the lotus position—just as when you’re meditating and start chanting. Just carry on chanting and make sure you’re mindful of it. 

You can start with ‘Namo tassa’ to revere to the Buddha and then chant whichever discourse (sutta) you can. 

Keep chanting for a while and then you’ll be able to sit in meditation for a long period of time.

If you recite ‘Buddho’ and keep getting distracted, you’ll start to feel aches and pain everywhere. But if you chant continuously for a little while, you won’t feel much pain because your mind is focussed on chanting and not paying attention to bodily sensations. 

When you finish chanting after half an hour or forty minutes, you’ll feel light and that’s when you carry on watching your breathing. Your mind will stay focussed by watching your in-breath and out-breath. 

Once it is with the breathing, your mind will gradually calm down and become more and more still. Just stay with that sense of stillness until your mind withdraws from it. 

When withdrawn, you can get up and do other things.

You have to be mindful when you’re getting up. Before getting up, make sure you’re aware of your action. 

Carry on cultivating mindfulness and practising the Establishing of Mindfulness (Satipaṭṭhāna)—being aware of the four bodily postures, for instance. When it is time to come back to sitting, just continue to sit in meditation. 

Maintain your mindfulness at all times—sitting, walking, standing, and lying down. You can chant while walking if you like to avoid thinking about other things. You can chant in all of the four postures if you like.

By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Youtube: Dhamma in English

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