The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.
11 January 2024
Q: I’ve just been down with situation and I’m very thankful for your teaching. The key thing is mindfulness. It solves problems again and again. The moment I forget to use it, that’s the time I suffer. It’s a beautiful teaching and I appreciate the simplicity of it.
I’m still going through difficult time which I will survive.
Than Ajahn: I’ll give you one reminder. This might solve all your problems: just think that when you came to this world, you didn’t bring anything with you; and when you leave this world, you won’t take anything with you either. Look at the starting point and the ending point of life. Then you get the right perspective.
Then there is nothing for you to worry about because whatever you worry about, you won’t take it with you anyway. And nobody takes anything with him anyway when he dies.
Everybody leaves everything he has here when he goes. And everybody has to go one day sooner or later.
Think like this then you can become less attach to things and people.
It’s like when you go to the casino. When you stop playing, you don’t take the chip with you, right? You exchange the chip for money. So you don't take anything with you when you leave this world. You give it away as dāna (charity) then you’ll take the merit from that charity with you. Okay? You might not understand this yet.
Q: I understand it. I’m lucky that I have the Dhamma and I have to make the most with the time that I am left with by practising.
Than Ajahn: Okay. Try to put all your effort into the practice as much as possible especially mindfulness, all the time from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep. Don't be without mindfulness.
“Dhamma in English, Apr 4, 2023.”
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Q: I’ve been noticing when things disturb my equanimity, it’s usually because I have an opinion about something that happens so I’m trying to develop mindfulness to be more acceptance.
Than Ajahn: Yes, it’s your desire and cravings that cause you to lose your equanimity.
When you see something you don’t like, you want to change it. So you have to teach your mind that everything happens. It’s the law of nature. Sometimes we can’t stop it.
Sometimes things can be good and sometimes things can be bad. This is the way how things work.
Anicca. Not always good, not always bad—sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes neither good nor bad.
But we always want something to be good so when things don’t work out that way, we lose our calm.
Q: Quite often I find that it's because I don't like something but really it doesn't matter.
That feeling is the cause of the suffering, isn't it? whereas if we just accept it then we don’t suffer.
Than Ajahn: That’s right. Accept it with equanimity. Don’t react.
“Dhamma in English, Feb 28, 2023.”
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Q: I’ve been meditating for a decade but I get to a halt now and I need some guidance from you. I just lost my son and two years ago my husband passed away. I get to the point that I have no desire or attachment to this world, I just feel numb.
Than Ajahn: I think your mind isn’t yet calm to really accept this truth of impermanence.
Deep down inside there's probably some longing or yearning for things because you haven't yet truly seen that everything is impermanent. Everything is subjected to dissolution or disappearance. And your mind isn’t yet calm enough to make you feel good or happy. This can be the result of [the non-acceptance of] thinking of the impermanence so it doesn’t give you the sense of peace. So I think you should try to do some mindfulness meditation first to calm your mind. Once your mind is calm, when you look at the impermanent of things your mind will not feel sad, you’ll actually become wiser. You will become less attached to things.
You have to practice more mindfulness meditation to get the mind into real equanimity where the mind has contentment/happiness for being alone and for not having to rely on anything to make you happy.
Right now you are still being pulled between the wisdom that everything is impermanent and the desire for things to make you happy. You have no other replacement for your happiness. If you can meditate, you’ll find the replacement for your happiness then you can really let go of everything. You know that you don’t need them. You don’t have to rely on them to keep you happy.
Right now you should stop thinking if you can. This is the problem. Thinking leads you to attachment, leads you to needing somebody or something to hold on to.
So you have to practice mindfulness to stop thinking. Meditate to make your mind becomes calm then you'll become independent of everything. Once you're calm, once you have jhāna, you’ll feel that you don’t need to have anything to make you happy.
Q: In deep sleep, I feel blissful but the moment I am awake, here we go again, all these thoughts and attachment towards everything. The mind is grasping on it.
Than Ajahn: All these grasping and desiring come from your thinking. If you can stop thinking, you’ll forget about everything then there’s nothing for you to go after. Try to use a mantra or chanting, and meditate to stop your mind completely for a while then you’ll find peace and happiness. And when you come out of your meditation, you can look at things in a different light, and say, ‘Hey, I don't need these things! I don't need these people. I can be alone by myself and still be happy.’
Mindfulness and meditation are very important practice to get your mind into jhāna, to equanimity. Once you have equanimity, your mind has contentment, it has no desire, it doesn’t grasp on anything.
The problem is not the body, the problem is the mind.
The thing that causes the mind to have problems is your craving, your desire for things or people. This is what we have to deal with: to stop the kilesa, by using mindfulness and wisdom. I hope you feel better. I hope that you maintain your mindfulness practice.
Try to stop thinking as much as possible.
Think only things that you have to think. Those that you don’t have to think about, don’t think.
“Dhamma in English, Dec 27, 2022.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g
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