“Your suffering is not due to your body but your mind.”

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

21 June 2024

 “Your suffering is not due to your body but your mind.”

We need to resort to Buddhism to make us aware that nothing belongs to us. Even our own physical bodies are not ours. One day they too will return to their original elements of earth, water, wind, and fire. In the end, your body will disintegrate into earth, water, wind, and fire. But for now, you can still make use of it in two ways: worldly and Dhamma. 

If you’re lucky enough to have come across Buddhism, then you can make use of your body in a Dhamma way— liberating your mind and ending the endless cycle of rebirth and death. If you haven’t come across Buddhism, then you’d only be able to make use of your body in a worldly way—seeking worldly pleasures through it.

The pleasures that come from material things are accompanied by suffering (dukkha). When you die, you’ll be reborn and repeat it again and again. This endless cycle will continue on until there is a sense of wisdom (paññā), either through learning from someone else or from your own reflection. In most cases, you’ll learn by listening to someone wiser.

So you’re very lucky to have come across Buddhism. Having heard these things makes you aware and reflect. Some people may become disenchanted with the worldly way and develop wisdom through their own contemplation. They eventually become enlightened. This is all due to their own thinking and problem-solving, that is, without anyone to teach them because it is not something that can be taught.

The Buddha, who wanted to liberate himself from all suffering, also didn’t have anyone to teach him. You can at best teach someone how to meditate. It will make your mind calm and happy, without any discontent during absorption (samādhi). But once you withdraw from it, your mind will start thinking about things, which eventually turn into suffering. That’s why the Buddha needed to find a way to overcome this sense of suffering.

At first, the Buddha thought that the body was the cause of the suffering, so he let go of his body by not eating, which wasn’t the right solution. Your suffering is not due to your body, but to your mind—thinking and holding fast to the idea that your body is you and belongs to you. So you have to be able to separate your mind from your body, which can be done by letting your body be and take its own course.

Do take care of your body. But let it be, should anything happen to it. This is to prepare yourself in advance that you will age, get ill, and die. But while you’re not ill, old, or dying, then you don’t need to do anything.

By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Youtube: Dhamma in English

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