The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.
5 May 2023
Question : Ajahn said mindfulness is good for mental health, I wonder if you could say a bit more about it.
Than Ajahn : Mindfulness will make your mind to become calm. When your mind becomes calm, you get happiness, you get peace of mind, you forget about the whole world.
The world comes into your mind through your thoughts. If you don't think, then the world stays outside of your mind, and no matter what happens in the world it cannot affect your mind. But as soon as you think, you start to bring everything into your mind, and then everything will start to bother you. So you’d want to separate the mind from the world by using mindfulness such as by reciting a mantra to stop thinking.
When you don’t think, then you don’t know what’s going on in the world, right? But when you start to think, then you start to think about the war, about world famine and all sort of problems, then you become agitated, you become stressful. So you have to stop thinking.
First, you have to learn to be able to stop thinking. Once you can control your thoughts, then you can let your mind think in the right way. The right way is to think that this is the way the world is. The world is changing. It's not under anybody's control. It's affected by various causes and effects. And the way for the mind not to be disturbed by it is just by understanding it and leaving it alone. Try not to change or do anything because it's impossible. Or, you can do what you can, but that's about all that you can do. If you have to do something for somebody or yourself, then do what you can do. If it’s beyond your ability or beyond your control, then you just have to stop and accept it.
Student : I think sometimes we feel like when we're thinking about our responsibilities, it's a good thing, but it doesn't really help anybody else if we're stressed. So the calmer we are, we're more helpful to other people.
Than Ajahn : Yeah, sometimes instead of helping other people, we are hurting them because we try to force them to do what we want them to do. Even though it might be good for them, if they don’t want to do it, then you're hurting them.
Student : I think it's really interesting that you said ‘Don't do anything for anyone unless the person asks you.’
Than Ajahn : That's right. If they ask you, then it means that they want something from you. If they don't ask you, and if you impose it on them, then you are intruding into their lives, and people don't like their lives to be intruded.
Student : No. Mindfulness becomes quite a big thing in Western mental health care, but I'm not sure that we really understand it in the West.
Than Ajahn : Maybe it depends on the teacher who teaches mindfulness. The principle of mindfulness is to stop thinking, to take control of your thoughts. That's about it. Because it's your thought that's creating all sorts of stress, creating all sorts of mental health issue. It's your thought. And also the desire that comes along with your thought that is your craving or your desire/your wish for things to be in a certain way.
When things don't go according to what your wishes, then you become unhappy.
Student : Thank you very much.
“Dhamma in English, Oct 18, 2022.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g
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