The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.
22 February 2023
Question: I just came back from Thailand. I tried to stay in a monastery but it was very tough. I think I was very use to the comfort of Singapore. I got an infection and had to go to Bangkok and eventually back to Singapore. Taking care of the body to a certain extent is necessary but you said that people look for things, they buy shoes, they buy clothes, it is never enough. I just don’t know the kind of balance that is required.
Phra Ajahn: Well just ask yourself if it is necessary to have them or not. Can you live without them? If you can live without them, then you shouldn’t have them. Just have only the essentials of what you really need.
Anything more than that, if you don’t need it then don’t buy it. Give your money to charity.
You get better results from spending money on charity than spending it on yourself. Because by spending it on yourself it is never enough.
You’ll have to spend more and more. If you spend on charity, you’ll stop spending very quickly (Phra Ajahn laughs).
Student: Ajahn, I didn’t really do a lot of dāna this time in Thailand.
Suddenly I still had a lot of mental burden. I was staying there for free and eating the food the monks ate.
And suddenly I had this mental burden and then an infection wouldn’t go away for a long time because I think I was fighting a lot in the mind. I thought that I just want to do merits there, I just want to practice there, but then the infection got worse so I changed mind again and said I give up and go back to Singapore. Is it because of this mental stress that is causing the conflict in myself and is making me unable to stay in the temple?
Phra Ajahn: It is probably because your mind is still being driven by your cravings. So you cannot stay put. You have to do something, go somewhere.
This restlessness is what causes you to not be able to stay in a monastery.
So when you stay in a monastery you have to use mindfulness to stop your thoughts.
Because if you can stop your thoughts then you can stop your craving. Then your mind can become calm and content. And happy. That’s the purpose of going to the monastery. To meditate. To practice mindfulness. And if you don’t do this then you defeat the purpose of going to the monastery. It’s useless. If you don’t practice then your mind will be restless and irritated.
Student: I think I practiced a little bit more when I was there because there was nothing much to do. But the tension was definitely there. But I remembered Ajahn’s teaching: once you wake up, just chant Buddho and use mindfulness. When I came back, I didn’t practice more. But I thought: now I am in a comfortable environment, once I wake up I need to start my mindfulness.
Phra Ajahn: That’s because you are still attached to your comfort. So when you are living in discomfort you don’t have the mind or the energy to do the practice. Because you’re worried about the discomfort around you more, so it disturbs you. So in order to practice you have to teach yourself to adapt to the discomfort because usually places of discomfort are more conducive for your meditation than places of comfort.
Because places of comfort can make you lazy.
Make you complacent. Not alert. But if you live in a place with discomfort, then this discomfort will constantly stir up your mindfulness.
You have to be mindful in order to be able to live in discomfort. That’s why we go to places of discomfort to use it as a means of pushing our mindfulness practice. Okay?
Student: I am very afraid to go again.
When I came back the infection was getting better and I got a ticket to go back to Thailand again to practice.
But I was so afraid. May be it is as Phra Ajahn suggested, that it was the attachment and restlessness. I actually missed the flight as I was so afraid. What should I do next time?
Phra Ajahn: Well you should practice at home first by reducing the amount of comfort in your home. Instead of turning the air conditioner on, may be leave it off. Instead of sleeping on the bed, sleep on the floor. Instead of eating three meals a day, eat only once a day. And practice this at home first. Get yourself more used to the discomfort. Then when you go to a monastery then you’ll find that it’s like home (laughs). Make your home a monastery before you go to the monastery. Then you wouldn’t need to adapt or adjust. But if you live at home and then go to the monastery, there is a big difference. There is a big gap for you to adjust, which makes it hard to do and disrupts your concentration, disrupts your mindfulness practice.
So, make your home like a monastery first.
Student: I am very afraid of the geckos Ajahn!
Phra Ajahn: Well, don’t use light in your home, use candles or flashlights when you are at home so that you are used to the dark.
Geckos only come out in the dark, so if it’s dark in your home, your mind might start thinking that there might be geckos around.
But you should use reason.
You’re bigger than a gecko. They cannot hurt you - you can hurt it. So, where’s your sense of reason - what can they do to you?
Student: A mouse can enter an elephant’s ear.
Phra Ajahn: mmm hmm… but you don’t have an ear as big as an elephant. Anyway, you should contemplate and use wisdom.
It Compare yourself to the gecko and see who is bigger, who is stronger. You or the gecko? (Both laugh)
Student: Thank you Ajahn.
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Question: What does Ajahn mean by free ordination [for 2 of Ajahn’s students]?
Than Ajahn: Normally they have to buy the 8 requisites like bowl and robes. It’s the tradition for Thai people to buy these requisites. You shouldn’t expect the monastery to provide for you because you don’t want to put a burden on the monastery. You want to make it a merit.
You don’t want to rob the monastery or the temple.
[Everyone laughs] Most foreigners thought that the monastery is supposed to provide everything for them. They don’t have to do anything.
Most foreigners don’t do any dāna.
They thought everything is free in the temple.
For Thai people, it’s the other way around.
They will go to the temple to donate to support the monastery. But foreigners think that everything is free for them so they don’t do any dāna at all.
This is one of the problems that causes the unwelcoming attitude from the Thais to the foreigners. Because most foreigners don’t do any dāna and they expect that somehow somebody would sponsor them.
This is a little bit out of the topic of meditation practices. I hope you don’t mind. But maybe this is something that you don’t know.
Student: Yeah, this is really something that we don’t know. And it’s good to know.
Than Ajahn: This is something that people are afraid to talk about but I am not afraid. If you are telling the truth, why should you be afraid, right?
But sometimes there is this thing called ‘political correctness,’ you are not supposed to say something like this.
Student: For me, I think it’s good to know.
“Dhamma in English, Jul 19, 2022.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
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