The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

13 October 2024

Q: The Buddha’s teaching is akaliko (timeless), but how come Buddhism will disappear after 5000 years?

Than Ajahn:  Because nobody takes it up, that’s all. It’s still there. The next Buddha will bring it up again. It’s still there but no one study and practice the Buddha’s teaching so it will disappear from people’s mind. Then we have to wait for the new Buddha to discover it again. 

The Four Noble Truths are always there. Like the law of gravity, it is always there. It’s waiting for somebody to discover it. Can you say that the law of gravity changes? No, it doesn’t change, right? It’s always there but whether people know it or not, that can change. 

There will be a new Buddha who will discover the Four Noble Truths and teach the people. 

So there is a new person who will discover the Four Noble Truths after they disappear. 

Like our Buddha, when he practiced, there were no Four Noble Truths taught by anybody so nobody knew anything about the Four Noble Truths. He also didn’t know about the Four Noble Truths but he wanted to get rid of his suffering so he investigated it and found them. The Four Noble Truths are in our heart, but we just don’t see them, that’s all. 

When you have stress, is that the Noble Truth or not? 

When you cry, that’s the first Noble Truth, right? But you don’t investigate it, ‘Why am I crying? Why should I cry?’ 

Because you want your money back, or you want your husband back. He went for somebody else so you cried. 

If you don’t see the cause of your crying which is your craving, so you cry.

These are the Noble Truths happening all the time in people’s mind. But they don’t see them as such. When you are sad, that’s the first Noble Truth. When you hear bad news, you are sad. What’s the cause of your sadness? You don’t want to hear bad news, you want to hear good news. So the Four Noble Truths are always there but nobody sees them. Even the Buddha, before he became enlightened, he had them inside himself but he didn’t see them. 

The delusion is so great so you don’t see them. 

When you feel sad, you blame on somebody else. [For example] You blame on your husband. He is the one who makes you sad. 

But it’s not him leaving you that makes you sad, it’s your desire for him not to leave you that makes you sad. So if you change your mindset, ‘Okay, he could leave me, I don’t care,’ then you won’t be sad, right? 

See, the Noble Truths are always there. 

People don’t see them. It takes one person, once in a long time, to see these Truths then he can teach other people to see them. As soon as the Buddha saw the Four Noble Truths, he then taught the 5 ascetics then they could also see them. After he taught the Four Noble Truths in the First Discourse, one of the ascetics became enlightened. ‘Yes, I can see the Four Noble Truths now. It’s in myself, in my mind, working all the time. But I just don’t see them. When I feel sad, instead of killing my craving, I go kill other people who make me sad.’ Then he had to keep killing other people because there would be more people that made him sad again. But if he killed the defilement once and for all, then he would never be sad anymore. 

This is what we want to do: to stop the second Noble Truth from happening. If it happens – which is the craving – we want to eliminate it or stop it by using the practice of meditation and wisdom to see that everything is beyond our control. People die or people leave us, we can’t stop them when that happened. The only thing that we can do is just to accept it. If we can accept it then we won’t become sad. 

- - -

Q:  How to solve sadness?

Than Ajahn:  Sadness comes from your desire. You want something and you don’t get what you want then it makes you sad. So somehow you have to stop this desire for things to be the way you want them to be. 

And you can do this by meditating, by stopping your thoughts. Once you stop thinking then you forget about what you want, then your sadness will temporarily disappear. But it doesn’t disappear permanently.  As soon as you think about it again then you become sad again. 

If you want to get rid of your sadness permanently then you have to accept that things just happen the way they are because they are not under your control. They don’t respond to your desire. They are anattā. 

You have to use mindfulness to stop it first. Stop thinking. Stop thinking. 

Q:  Last night I was very sad. 

Than Ajahn:  Well, what you should do is to accept the sadness itself. Don’t try to get rid of it if you can’t get rid of it. Accept the sadness. Just be sad and be happy with the sadness instead. Your problem is you don’t want to be sad which cause you to have more sadness. 

And you don’t know how to get rid of it then it makes you even more sad. So the best way if you don’t know how to get rid of your sadness is to accept it. ‘Okay, let’s be sad and be happy with it.’ 

If you can accept the sadness then you don’t have to watch your breath anymore. Once you accept it then you can become happy. If you could let go of it completely then there’d be no sadness left in the mind and you’ll feel light and easy and happy. 

Q:  Is this phenomenon due to my past kamma?

Than Ajahn:  Don’t worry about past kamma. 

Worry about how to deal with your problem now. The best way is to embrace it if you can’t get rid of it. Accept it. 

If you can’t get rid of your sadness then try to live with it. If you can accept sadness, then you won’t be so sad. 

The problem is when you are so sad, you can’t accept your sadness. If you can meditate, then you can temporarily stop your sadness. But if you can’t meditate and you can’t get rid of your sadness, then just try to accept your sadness. Or be grateful that you are still alive. 

“Dhamma in English, April 30, 2024.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart

24 September 2024

The third spiritual power is mindfulness or sati. If we want quick results from our practice we need mindfulness. We must always be mindful of what we do because mindfulness controls the mind.

The mind is like an automobile and mindfulness its driver. If the driver has no mindfulness like when he is drunk, he would not be able to drive safely. He would probably unknowingly run through a red light at an intersection. 

Without mindfulness we will not be able to stop our mind when we want to. Without mindfulness to rein it in we could go mad and do things that normal people dare not do. We could go berserk and eventually be incarcerated in a mental asylum because we have lost touch with reality. We have lost our mindfulness or sati.

 Mindfulness is therefore essential in the performance of meritorious and skilful actions such as giving to charity, maintaining the precepts or sitting in meditation.

Having mindfulness to control the mind is like tying a monkey to a tree. If it were not put on a leash it would go everywhere causing a lot of troubles. On the other hand, if it’s tied to a tree, it couldn’t go far. At first it might struggle to free itself. After a while, it would get tired and stop struggling. It is subdued. 

Similarly, we can use mindfulness to control our mind. When we get angry or become greedy, if we have mindfulness, we would be able to stop our anger and greed. 

Mindfulness is therefore extremely essential and useful. 

When we lose our mindfulness, we would be like cars without brakes. We would misbehave and cause a lot of troubles for ourselves. People wouldn’t respect or admire us but get sick of us. They would think that we are insane because we would do or say whatever we like without giving consideration to what is right or proper. We are driven by our whims and fancies. People wouldn’t like to be associated with us. 

It’s therefore imperative for us to have mindfulness if we want to excel and become a good and respectable citizen. Having mindfulness means we must always be mindful of our actions. We must be mindful of what we do or say. Our mind must always be in the present, here and now, not drifting away to some other place. If it does, we wouldn’t be aware of what we are doing. 

For example, if our mind is thinking about something else while we cut meat or vegetables, we might cut our fingers instead. 

This is because we have no mindfulness. If we do we would know all the time what we are doing. Without mindfulness, we wouldn’t be able to thread the needle because our mind is drifting here and there. But when we have mindfulness to control the mind, we would be able to do it easily.

Mindfulness is a very valuable tool that should be earnestly developed. One way to do this is to mentally recite ‘buddho’. ‘Buddho, buddho’ at all times. 

Whatever we do, just think of ‘buddho’. Concentrate on it. 

Do not let the monkey or our mind run away. 

Tie it to a tree. That tree is buddho. 

If we could restrain our mind, it would eventually calm down and realize samādhi or concentration, not wandering here and there but stay put, here and now, like this glass of water that was placed here. It is still here and not going anywhere. Similarly, if we use mindfulness to control our mind, we would be able to concentrate and remain still. Once that happens, we can accomplish many things. 

“Sensual Pleasures Are Painful”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

22 September 2024

Question:  Why some cultivators, like Devadatta, who could attain jhāna, were capable of extreme evil acts?

Than Ajahn:  Attaining jhāna doesn’t stop you from doing bad or evil actions because your bad or evil actions come from your delusion (moha). 

Your delusion can make you think that what you do is right. 

Like Devadatta, he thought that the Buddha was old, so the Buddha should be replaced by someone younger like him. Devadatta thought that he had a good thought. 

He thought that he would help the Sangha by becoming the leader of the Sangha. But this was delusional because he himself hadn’t become enlightened yet. He wasn’t an arahant. So, how could he become the leader of the Sangha? It was also his desire to be big, to be the leader, which was a defilement. 

But he didn’t see this because he didn’t have the wisdom. He only had jhāna. 

Jhāna doesn’t distinguish between the delusion and the truth. Jhāna cannot distinguish truth from delusion. You need to have wisdom in order to be able to distinguish truth from delusion. So, you have to be very careful especially when you’ve got the psychic power like the Devadatta. You might think that you are supreme. 

But in reality, psychic power is useless as far as using it as the weapon to eliminate the defilements. You need to develop vipassanā. 

You need to see aniccaṁ, dukkhaṁ, anattā. 

You have to be very careful when you have achieved jhāna or any type of samādhi. You have to know that your delusion is still strong. 

You always have to watch your cravings. You have to curb or suppress your cravings. You have to try to eliminate them because they are your enemies. They will cause you a lot of dukkha. They will only lead you to the wrong direction. 

- - -

Question:  How could Devadatta be angry at the Buddha, and had so much hatred towards the Buddha?

Than Ajahn:  Because Devadatta had no equanimity. He had no wisdom. And when he wasn’t mindful, he could be overwhelmed by his defilements. 

- - -

Question:  Why was Devadatta opposing the Buddha?

Than Ajahn:  Because he was jealous of the Buddha. They were cousins. Once Devadatta had gotten psychic power, he thought he was more superior to the Buddha. 

Hence, he didn’t want to be the number two. He wanted to be the number one. 

- - -

Question:  It’s scary to see that one’s anger and defilements could be so strong even when one has such high cultivation.

Than Ajahn:  Your anger and defilements arise from the delusion, the desire to make yourself great, to make yourself better than other people. So, you have to be very careful about your desire to be somebody or something. 

You should know it right away that this is a defilement. 

With Dhamma, you don’t want to be anything. You are contented to be yourself. 

You’re happy inside so you don’t need anything from the outside to make you happy. 

You don’t need to be big. You don’t need to be rich. 

- - -

Question: If we are not enlightened, are we subjected ourselves to become the evil persons and how can we prevent this?

Than Ajahn: The Buddha said that we have to learn to be humble, to consider ourselves to be nobody. We stop our delusion from thinking great things about ourselves. 

Because when we are not enlightened, no matter what we have or what we become, even when we become presidents or the kings, we are still nothing compare to the enlightened persons. We are still subjected to dukkha. And we are still subjected to the round of rebirth. 

So, try to be humble. Think of yourself as a servant, or as someone who comes from the lowest level of society. Don’t think of yourself as being important because thinking of yourself as an important person is delusional. In reality, there is no self in the first place. 

We are just the spiritual beings with the capability to know, to perceive and to feel. 

That’s all we are. We are the same. We are spiritual beings. 

So, our true role is to be aware, to know, to feel and to not react to anything. Our role is to keep our minds calm and content. Once the mind becomes calm and content, then it doesn’t need to be anything.

Dhamma in English, Aug 25, 2020.

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: 

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#ajahnsuchartabhijato #dhamma #devadatta #jhana #meditation #psychicpowers #vipassana

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

11 September 2024

This brings us to the second of spiritual powers, exertion or viriya. If we want to achieve the lofty goal of Dhamma practice, we must be diligent and hardworking. We must come to the temple regularly to give alms, maintain the precepts or sīla, listen to Dhamma talks, and make as much merit as we possibly can. Don’t be lazy. The more we sow, the more we  will reap. If we don’t put in the effort, we will reap nothing. 

No one can do it for us, not even the Buddha or his noble disciples. They can only point us the way, instruct us on how to realize the goal. This goal is not to be materially wealthy, but spiritually wealthy. We should be rich with morality, charity, spiritual happiness and contentment. This kind of wealth can never be stolen from us, unlike the worldly possessions. Our husbands and wives can be taken away from us. 

Our children and our property can be seized. But the real wealth within ourselves can never be stolen from us by anyone. 

Meritorious actions or kusala-kamma are truly our possessions. They will protect us; make us happy and content, now and in the future. When we die, we will go to sugati or a happy destination, not to apāya-bhūmi or state of deprivation, the four lower levels of existence into which we will be reborn as a result of our past unskilful actions namely rebirth in hell, as a hungry ghost, as an angry demon, or as a common animal. 

If we could maintain all the meritorious actions such as keeping the five precepts and giving to charity, we would at the least be reborn as a human being endowed with beauty, brain and wealth, and suffered no hardship or injury because we were led by our skilful actions. 

Without these meritorious actions, we would go to a lower level of existence, to be reborn as an animal such as a cat, a bird, or a buffalo. Such is the consequence of not doing meritorious actions. This is the law of Dhamma, the truth. 

Therefore, if we want to improve ourselves, go to a happy destination or sugati, a good existence, a noble plane of existence or ariya-bhūmi, we must be diligent and persistent in doing meritorious or skilful actions. 

We must strive in maintaining our ethical and moral purity, not allowing it to slip away, and push to have more of it. For example, if we now keep the five precepts, we must not slide back but should keep more precepts, going from the five precepts to the eight, ten and eventually to the 227 precepts practiced by the monks or bhikkhu, which is a good and right thing to do. 

We must also work hard in preventing ourselves from doing more unwholesome and unskilful actions that we have already discarded. For example, in the past we used to be erratic and emotional. Now we are calm and rational. People may say bad things about us, but we don’t mind, we can forgive and forget. We can now manage our anger and keep it under control, not allowing it to reappear. 

If we still possess any other unwholesome qualities like holding grudges or being stubborn, we should also strive to eradicate them. We should be rational, rather than being greedy, hateful and delusional. What we haven’t yet discarded we ought to do. 

What we have already eliminated we must not allow to return. In other words, we must strive to cultivate good, avoid all evil, and cleanse our  mind. This is what is meant by exertion or viriya, the second spiritual power. 

Once we start coming to monastery and listening to the Dhamma talks, we start to see the benefits. We gain something that we never had before, namely Dhamma, which is unlike all other material things, such as automobiles. We can see these motor vehicles with our naked eyes, but not so with Dhamma because it is spiritual. It gradually seeps into our mind. We might not feel anything at all although we might have been coming to the temple for a long time. But Dhamma continues to slowly infiltrate. Then one day, suddenly there is calmness in our mind. We will then realize that this is what we have come to the temple for all along. 

Maybe in the future we might encounter some crisis, go through unpleasant situations such as losing our loved ones, if we have the Buddha’s teaching to reflect on, we could remain calm and peaceful, rather than being afflicted with sorrow and lamentation to the point of not being able to eat or sleep, because the Buddha has told us that parting from our loved ones is a natural occurrence. 

It happens to everyone. It is not unusual. 

There is no need to be sad or tearful. We are still alive. 

Life goes on. We should maintain our composure and not fall prey to depression. If we could do this, we would see the benefits of the Dhamma teaching. In the past we came to the temple without knowing why we came. But when we run into trouble the Dhamma teaching that we have heard before could help get us out of our predicament and ease us out of our suffering, we would then appreciate immensely the value of the Dhamma teaching, would be a lot more diligent in our practice, and would want to do more meritorious actions like giving to charity. 

Why do people give to charity or keep the training precepts? We might ask ourselves. 

It’s because it makes them feel good and help them in time of crisis. If we haven’t done it before we might not appreciate it. To find out we just have to do it. Just keep doing it until we reap the results. 

It is like planting trees. We don’t expect trees to bear fruit right away. When we plant durian or mango trees, we have to wait five to ten years for them to bear fruit. 

It’s the same with making merits, keeping the precepts or listening to Dhamma talks. It doesn’t come to fruition instantly. It takes time. What we have to do is to have faith in the Buddha’s teaching and apply it untiringly. The fruits of our labor will come in due course. 

“Sensual Pleasures Are Painful”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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

“Nibbāna is inside, not outside.”

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

10 September 2024

“Nibbāna is inside, not outside.”

Monk: Did you visit any other forest Masters?

Than Ajahn: No, once I got to Wat Pa Baan Taad, Ajahn Mahā Boowa said, ‘You  should practice. You shouldn’t go anywhere because any other places are all the same. The Masters will teach you the same thing.’ 

He didn’t want monks to go pay respect to other teachers during the vassa period. He’d go alone, by himself. He didn’t want to disturb the monks’ practice. 

He knew that once the monks went out of the monastery, the senses would start to go out through the senses door and they could start to disrupt the peace of the mind. He tried to protect us from exposing ourselves through all the bombardments of the senses, like the things you saw, the things you heard. 

Because once you went out and when you came back, you’d find it difficult to calm it down. It took a while before you could go back to the state before you went out. So, he thought of the pros and cons of going to pay respect to other teachers, and it’s not worth the cost of the disturbance to the mind.

Because he’s already a great teacher himself, so going to one great teacher to another great teacher are the same. He’s really very smart. He thought of the welfare of his students’ minds more than anything else. He tried to protect their welfare, protect their minds from being disrupted. Once you stayed there, you were expected to stay at least for the first five years. 

He wouldn’t let you go anywhere without any good reasons. And ‘reasons’ usually means family emergency, or medical emergency. If you just want to see other temples, or pay respect to other teachers, he wouldn’t let you go. It’s a waste of time. You’re distracted. 

Your defilement starts to deceive you, telling you, ‘It’s time to go out.’ But your goal is to go inside because that’s where nibbāna is. 

Nibbāna is inside, not outside. 

You only went to see teachers to tell you to go inside. 

Once you know that you have to go inside, then there’s no need to go outside. 

But you’re still going outside. You won’t find nibbāna in all these places you’re going. The only thing you find is a mirror, pointing to you back to go inside. So, when you go home, you should stay put and meditate. 

Then, you’ll find nibbāna there, in your home or in your monastery. If you still keep going outside, looking for teachers, looking for places, you’ll never find nibbāna there.

Dhamma for the Asking, Feb 6, 2017

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: 

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The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

28 August 2024

Q: Is it possible to take refuge from you?

Than Ajahn:  I cannot give you a refuge. You have to be your own refuge. I can only give you instruction on how to have a refuge. 

When we take the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha as our refuges, it means we take them as our teacher. 

That’s all. We believe in our teacher’s teachings and we don’t believe in other people’s teachings. If other people’s teachings contradict with the teachings of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, we will only follow the teachings of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha if we want to get rid of all suffering. So when you asked me questions and I answered your questions, you are already taking refuge from me automatically without having to go through the ritual, ‘Buddhaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi, Dhammaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi, Sanghaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi.’

“Dhamma in English, Apr 14, 2024.”

- - - - -

Question:  Can Ajahn elaborate on what it means by taking refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha? I also read that one should be one's own refuge. What is the difference? 

Than Ajahn:  Taking refuge in Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha means you take the Triple Gem as your teacher. 

Before you can teach yourself, you need someone to guide you because in the beginning you don’t know what you should do. So you need a teacher to tell you what to do. 

You need the Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha as your refuge, as your teacher.

Once you have learnt from the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha and knew what you are supposed to do, then you have to be your own refuge. You have to apply what you have learnt yourself because the Buddha cannot do it for you; the Sangha cannot do it for you; you have to do it yourself. So this is what it means by taking yourself as your own refuge: you have to do the practice yourself. So you need both: you need to take refuge in the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha as your teacher and you need to be your own refuge as a practitioner.

“Dhamma in English, May 5, 2017.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

22 August 2024

Q:  I reduced watching the news.

Than Ajahn:  Yes, the news is the same. You cannot change the news anyway. That’s how things happen. I think the real news that you should be watching every day is your future, that is, of ageing, sickness, and death. This is the news that will happen to everybody. So once you see this news then you don’t need to worry about other news. You know things are going to end anyway. It doesn’t matter who becomes the president or the prime minister. You know all will end up dead. 

Don’t forget the real news. The Buddha said that you should think of the ageing, sickness and death every day as much as possible. That’s the real news. All other news is fake news. And it’s important for you to be aware of this news then you will prepare your mind for it when you have to face it. 

If you have a mind that is ready to face the real news then there will be no dukkha. So this is really a more important news than any other news. 

“Dhamma in English, Mar 26, 2024.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

13 August 2014

Q:  Regarding rites and rituals, a Sotāpana still perform rites and rituals but he/she is not attached to them whilst a layperson is attached to them, is this right?

Than Ajahn:  When you do some rituals, it’s because you want to get something from doing it. Like if you're afraid of losing your job then you do some rituals and hope that those rituals might prevent you from losing your job. But a Sotāpanna knows that the problem is your attachment to having a job. You do rituals because you don’t see that having a job is impermanent. It’s not dependable. Not certain. It’s anicca. 

Having work or not having work, you can’t always control it. A Sotāpanna sees this. A Sotāpanna sees that dukkha comes from having the desire to have this work all the time and the desire not to lose it. A Sotāpanna sees the truth that a job is not always dependable. One might lose it any time, any day. So instead of having to do the rituals, a Sotāpanna prepares for the worst, prepares for losing the job and accepts the truth. Then there will be no dukkha. 

So there is no need to do any rituals if one sees the Four Noble Truths. All your stress come from your craving. 

And the things that you are attached to are impermanent, they are not reliable, not stable, not something that you can always depend on. So when you see the truth then you say, ‘Okay, I might lose it.’ 

Then you have no resistance to the truth. 

You have no craving to have it all the time and if this happens [you lose it] then you have no stress, and when you have no stress, you don’t need to do any rituals. 

People do rituals to get rid of the stress created by the uncertainty of things which they still hang on to or attached to. But a Sotāpanna sees everything as impermanent so he doesn't attach to anything. He willingly lets things go if it’s the time for it to go so there's no stress then there's no need to go do any rituals. 

Q:  So performing rituals is for people who want a false sense of security.

Than Ajahn:  Yes, it’s for them to feel good, to feel hopeful they have done something that might help to maintain or retain what they want to keep. 

Q:  People do many sorts of rituals like having the right time to get married, choosing the colour they need to wear.

Than Ajahn:  Because they want their life to be good, not to have bad things happen to them. But a Sotāpanna knows that life is both good and bad, they come and go, they change – sometimes things are good, sometimes they are bad. A Sotāpanna accepts both sides of the story. 

But for the those who are not enlightened, they only want the good side, they don't want the bad side so they want to make sure that whatever they do, they will ensure that they only have good things happening to them. So they do all kinds of rituals. When they build a new house, they have to do rituals before they go live in that new house. When they get a new car, they have to go to the monk and ask the monk to bless the car. These are rituals. 

The problem with people doing rituals is they don't see the impermanent nature of things. 

With a Sotāpanna, he sees the impermanent nature of things and he knows he cannot control them all. 

Sometime things can be good, sometimes they can be bad. A Sotāpanna sees whatever rises will come to a cessation one day sooner or later. 

Doing rituals are psychological. It makes you feel assured that things will be fine because you have done the rituals so it will guarantee your success for instance.

They never listen to the song, ‘Que Sera, Sera (Whatever will be will be).’ (laugh). It means things are not always the same, things can change anytime. 

So look at things as good and bad, up and down. This is the way things work. This is the nature of anicca, anattā. Anattā means you can’t control them, you can’t tell things to only be good and nothing bad will happen to you. You can’t do that. So you prepare to accept both sides of the story. ‘Hope for the best and expect the worst.’ So you won’t be disappointed when the worst thing happens to you because you expect it to happen. [For example] You know that this guy is going to cheat you, so when he does it, you say, ‘Okay’, you know it. 

So you don’t trust anybody which means that you don’t trust that other people will always be good to you. You always think that one day they can always turn around and stick a knife in your back. Nothing permanent. 

Nothing you can say that things will be like this all the time. Things can change anytime. 

“Dhamma in English, Mar 26, 2024.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart. 

26 July 2024

Q:  Is there a purpose in life when we have to go through many rebirths and repeat the same things over and over again?

Than Ajahn:  You have to first ask yourself why are you here in the first place. Do you know why you are here? If you don't know then there is no purpose, really.

When you go to a place, you have a purpose, right? You go to a market because you want to buy chicken or some vegetables. You go to school because you want to study. So there’s always a purpose when you do something. If you don't know why you are here for then there's no purpose for you. 

What I’m trying to get at is that if we don’t have the Buddha’s teachings, we don’t know what’s going on with ourselves. In the Buddha’s teachings, the Buddha said that our continuous rebirths are caused by our cravings, cravings for sensual gratification. 

We go after sensual objects and in order to go after sensual objects, we need to have a body. The body has sensual organs i.e. the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and the body, so we can access to the sensual objects which are the form, sound, smell, taste and tactile objects. This is why we are here today in this world. 

We exist in this sensual plane of existence because we have sensual cravings. Cravings for sensual pleasure are what brought us here. And they will keep bringing us back here because no matter how much you have access to your sensual objects you will never be satisfied, you will never be content. Your sensual cravings will never disappear. So when your body dies, the mind which comes and possesses the body will be driven by the sensual desire or sensual cravings to go get a new body. So this is the reason why we are here. 

The purpose of us being here is to satisfy our sensual cravings and these cravings will keep us coming back again and again. No matter how much you have access to, or you have become e.g. become the President, become the King, it's temporary. When your body dies, your desire to have more of it doesn’t die with the body. 

These cravings or desires will push you, push your mind to go look for a new body so you keep coming back again and again for endless time. 

You will never ever stop these rounds of rebirths until you come across the teachings of the Buddha which tell you what cause you to have rebirths. If you want to stop rebirths, you have to stop your sensual pleasure cravings. In order to stop your sensual cravings, you have to practice charity, morality and meditation. 

So it's up to you what purpose in life you want. Do you want to continue with going round and round in this cycle of rebirths? If this is what you want, then you just go after what you want to have, go after what you want to see, what you want to hear. 

But if you want to stop this round of rebirth then you have to practice charity, morality and meditation which will stop your sensual pleasure cravings. 

So the purpose is now for you to choose. 

There are two options: to continue with your rounds of rebirths or to stop your rounds of rebirths. 

In order to stop your rounds of rebirth, you have to stop your sensual cravings. In order to stop your sensual cravings, you have to practice charity, morality and meditation.

“Dhamma in English, Feb 13, 2024.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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

How can I attain sotāpanna?”

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

25 July 2024

Question from Myanmar:  “How can I attain sotāpanna?”

Than Ajahn: “You have to get rid of the fetters. There are three fetters you have to get rid of: sakkāyadiṭṭhi – wrong view of the body and the five khandhas; your doubt in the Buddha, Dhamma and the Saṅgha; and your attachment to rituals. These are the three fetters that a sotāpanna needs to eliminate. In order to do these, you need to have sīla, samādhi and paññā. 

Paññā means that you see the body, the five khandhas, as aniccaṁ, dukkhaṁ, anattā. 

Once you’ve seen this and have seen the Four Noble Truths, then you will have the eye of the Dhamma. You see the Dhamma. Those who see the Dhamma, see the Buddha. Then, you’ll have no doubt in the Buddha, Dhamma and Saṅgha. The Saṅgha is you who see the Buddha and the Dhamma. 

You’ll also see that your suffering arises from your attachment to your cravings or your desires. Performing any kinds of rituals cannot get rid of your suffering. So, once you know the cause of your suffering, which is your craving or your desire, you don’t perform any more rituals. All you need to do when you are not happy is to get rid of your cravings or your desires.”

“Dhamma in English, Q&A session, Aug 15, 2018.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: 

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The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

23 July 2024

Q:  I feel like I have so much love for the world and I really want to try to, in some way, help the world and help my friends and my family. By awakening myself, is this the best chance that I have for helping others?

Than Ajahn:  Yes. Before you can help others, you have to have the tools or the ability to help others. If you don’t have the ability to do it then your intention is useless because you can’t put it into practice. Like if you want to be a lifeguard but you don’t know how to swim then how are you going to help other people when they drown? You first have to learn how to swim then you can become a life guard and you can protect people's life on the beaches.

So it’s the same way if you want to help other people overcome their suffering, you first have to know how to do it. Overcoming your own suffering first is like learning how to swim [in the simile mentioned above]. 

You learn how to get rid of your mental suffering, your stress, your depression, your anxiety, your worry and all these negative feelings inside of you. You have to learn how to get rid of them first. Unless you know how to do it then you can help other people to do it. 

Like the Buddha, before he started teaching to the world, he first had to find the way for himself to deal with his own suffering. Once he had found a path and got rid of all his suffering then he was ready to help the world. He did it for 45 years after his 6 years on solitude and meditation. 

So you first have to develop your ability to help other people before you can help other people. Intention alone is not good enough.

Q :  So I don't have to worry about forgetting about them once I become enlightened. I’m not going to lose my love for the world by becoming enlightened.

Than Ajahn:  They’ll come to you once you’re enlightened. You don’t have to go after them. 

You'll be the super lover of the world, super Santa Clause like the Buddha. 

Look at the Buddha, he worked tirelessly teaching people every day. He taught people four times a day. In the afternoon, he taught the lay people; in the evening, he thought the monks and the bhikkhunis; late at night, he taught the devas, the spiritual beings; and early in the morning before he went on almsround, he’d send his mental mind searching for people that he could help on that particular day. So that was what the Buddha had done every day of his life for 45 years. Who else could do this without getting paid? He got only the food on almsround, that’s all he got, that’s all he needed. 

And the Buddha’s love and compassion still linger to this day. We still respect him for what he had done. We couldn't thank him enough for what he had done for the world. 

Without him, we won't be here, we would probably be in in the mental institution somewhere. Really! I'm not kidding! You could end up in a mental institution or end up killing yourself if you don’t have Buddhism to help you. That's what a lot of people do nowadays because they don't know how to overcome their suffering or their depression. 

Okay? Understood?

Don't worry about other people for now. 

Worry about your practice. Finish your work first. Once you’ve finished your work then you can help others. 

Student:  Okay, thank you so much.

“Dhamma in English, Sept 19, 2023.”

- - - - -

Monk:  Is there a role for doing generosity, as a service, in the community, maybe to create the feeling of happiness? For example, Than Ajahn Paññā liked to fix watches for his friends, which is a kind of being generous. How is this connected to development of samādhi?

Than Ajahn:  It is an alternative way, but it is not the right way because the right way is samādhi that you eventually have to achieve. 

Other things are just a means to bring your mind towards that goal eventually. 

When you do things for other people, you are in a way stopping your defilement from doing things for yourself. It is this defilement that is one of the problems which we call hindrances that prevent you from having samādhi. 

You have to be very careful because sometimes you may overdo it and you become attached to the path and forget that it is just a path, it is not the goal. The problem is sometimes you take the path to be the goal, so you are not getting anywhere. 

The path is to stop your mind from doing anything for yourself. So instead of watching TV or doing something that is harmful or not useful, you go do some work for other people. But for monks, I will discourage this. I think monks should solely concentrate on developing mindfulness. Because the Buddha said, in order to achieve the results of your practice, you need the constant development of mindfulness. You have to live alone in a secluded place, don’t socialize and don’t mingle with other people. You have to know how to be moderate in your eating. You have to constantly guard your senses. 

When you go help other people you are generally not guarding your senses. You are actually opening the gate to let your mind go out towards all the senses. So I don’t think that that is the proper way, except that if you cannot do these four things that the Buddha requires you to do, then maybe you have to go back and do this pre-requisite work first, do things for other people first. But eventually this is to lessen your desire to do things for yourself, then you can come back, be with yourself, be alone and develop mindfulness.

“Monks from Wat Pah Nanachaat, Jun 9, 2015”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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

**********

Could you please give a summary of the meaning of anattā?

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

20 July 2024

Q:  Could you please give a summary of the meaning of anattā? 

Than Ajahn:  Anattā is a word opposite of atta. Atta means self. Anattā is no self. Anattā means something natural like the wind, the rain. There is no self pushing the wind, controlling the wind or telling the wind when to blow or when not to blow. This is what it means by anattā – no one behind the activity except the condition that keep it rises. It’s scientific, that’s what it means. 

Like the rain. We get rain from the evaporation of water. There is evaporation because of the heat. So there are conditions that are pushing one condition to cause another thing to happen but there’s nobody behind these activities. 

So is the body. There is no ‘you’ or ‘me’ pushing this body. We can’t push this body. 

The body has its own course. Once it takes conception, it will grow and then it will take birth, it will come out of the womb and it will continue to grow by adding the four elements into the body. So it keeps growing and one day, it gets to the maximum growth and starts to deteriorate. It starts to countdown because the four elements that were combined lose the strength that bind them together and this causes the four elements start to separate gradually, and eventually the body ceases to exist because the four elements separated. So this is a natural phenomenon, there is no somebody pushing it or telling it what to be or what not to be. 

This is what is meant by anattā – no self, no body pushing, controlling, or telling it what to be. 

We might think that we can control the body, yes, to a certain extent, we can tell it when to eat or when not to eat, when to walk, when not to walk. But those who tell the body what to eat is not a self either, they are just thoughts. According to Buddhism, there are thinking but there are no thinkers. 

So everything is natural conditions, natural phenomena or natural processes that interact with one another and causing one to appear and the other to disappear. 

Everything is the interaction of conditions, usually, the interaction between the four elements (the earth, wind, water and fire element). In science we have four qualities of matter: solid, liquid, temperature [plasma/superheated matter], and gas. They interact with each other, that's what they are. 

Our body is like that too. Everything is like that like your house, your car. Everything is the interaction of four elements forming and then dissolving. You build something and one day, it falls apart, right? That’s the law of nature in this physical world we live in. 

In Pāli, anattā usually translated into English as no self. 

Everything is like the weather. 

Sometimes we control some of them, sometimes we can’t. Like flooding, we can make dam to prevent flooding but eventually the dam will break down and the flooding starts again. And the one who thinks that it is managing everything is not a self either. It’s just the working of the perception, memory and thinking that create new ideas, new desire and cravings. 

So no self. Everything is just the natural phenomena: mental phenomena and physical phenomena. 

Sometimes the mental phenomena interact with physical phenomena like body. 

Sometimes the body is intervened by the mental phenomena like by our thoughts and our perception. 

The term self is a concept created by the delusion of the mind. There's no self. The delusion creates the concept of a self. You’ll find that the self disappears when you stop your thoughts. 

When you meditate and get into jhāna, your perception and your thinking stop and all that is left with is just knowing. But when you come out of meditation, your perception and your thoughts start to work again and then you start to think in terms of self and no self again, think about you, me and other people and so forth. It's just thinking. It’s a concept. 

Like in ancient time, there’s this concept that The World is Flat and everybody believes that the World is Flat. 

That's just a concept. It’s just a delusion, it’s not the truth. 

The same way with the self. This is a delusional concept. But we were born with it, we have been stuck with it for a long time and it becomes second nature to us. 

Meditate and get into jhāna, then you can find the disappearance of the self temporarily. 

There is a knowing but no knower. Just knowing.

“Dhamma in English, Dec 26, 2023.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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

We are so LUCKY to live, in different forms, for 20 or 50 millions years, then a Buddha revealing the Truth or Dhamma appears, we have five Buddhas in our present earth-cycle.

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

15 June 2024

We are so LUCKY to live, in different forms, for 20 or 50 millions years, then a Buddha revealing the Truth or Dhamma appears, we have five Buddhas in our present earth-cycle.

Why so lucky ?

Because in the previous 91 earth-cycles, lasting 50 or 100 billions years each, the Buddha only found six SammasamBuddhas like Him. 

Furthermore the Dhamma is only for the ones in suitable conditions to understand It and only for the ones ready or able to understand It.

It is like winning at a lottery (where we have billions or almost uncountable possibilities to loose and only one to win) and this means that the so lucky ticket is when the true Dhamma can be heard, evaluated and understood. 

Having it now in our hands, we should not  waste it, because so rare that can be easily seen as the only possibility each of us has in a future that can hardly be quantified. 

🙏❤️🙏

---

“This is the best opportunity of your life.”

“If you are convinced that nibbāna is the best for you, you will be willing to commit yourself to the path of practice dāna, sīla and bhāvanā. But if you are not convinced yet, then you’ll be still undecided. 

You will still think ‘Should I leave my wife, my husband, my family, my wealth for nibbāna? 

Is nibbāna really that good?’ You won’t get the answer on your own. You have to seek advice from the noble ones – people who have attained to nibbāna. Then, they will tell you in no uncertain terms that nibbāna is the best for you. 

If you seek advice from teachers who haven’t yet reached nibbāna, they would not be able to tell you whether nibbāna is good or not good. Because they themselves are not sure. 

So, when you go to look for teachers, when you listen to Dhamma talks, you should look for the noble teachers – teachers who have attained to nibbāna. Then, they will speak in no uncertain terms that there is nothing in this world that is as good as nibbāna. 

And the way to get to nibbāna is to practice dāna, sīla and bhāvanā. 

So, this is what you should try to achieve, to have the inspiration in the Dhamma, and to be convinced that nibbāna is the best for you. 

The Buddha was convinced that the life as a prince was not as good as the life as a monk. 

As a prince, he still had to face a lot of problems. But once he became a monk, he could get rid of all the problems. And he found that there’s nothing like peace of mind. Peace of mind is nibbāna. When you have no desire, your mind will become peaceful and happy. 

So, you have to practice. By merely listening to Dhamma is not enough. Listening to Dhamma is just learning what you have to do. 

Once you know what you have to do, then you have to do it. Only when you do it, you will be able to achieve it. It’s easy for you to achieve it because the 

Buddha’s teachings are still around. You don’t have to do trials and search for the path yourself. 

Right now, you have the Buddha's teachings that tell you exactly what to do. If you can do it, you’ll get the result as what the Buddha has promised – you can achieve the result in 7 days or 7 months or 7 years. 

Without the teachings, you will never be able to achieve the result because you don’t know how to do it. 

So, this is the best opportunity of your life. It is an opportunity that only happen once in many, many millions years. Because every time you are born, it doesn’t mean that you will come across the teachings of the Buddha. Now you have found the teachings and therefore you should not throw it away. 

You should make use of it as best as you can.”

“Dhamma in English to laypeople from Malaysia & Singapore, May 12, 2018.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: 

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#ajahnsuchartabhijato #dhamma #nirvana #nibbana #dana #sila #bhavana #meditation

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

9 May 2024

The Buddha teaches us to contemplate that as a result of birth:

I am of the nature to age. I cannot escape from ageing.

I am of the nature to get sick and experience pain. I cannot escape from sickness and pain.

I am of the nature to die. I cannot escape from death.

All that is mine, beloved and pleasing, will become otherwise, will become separated from me. 

This is something that is worthwhile for us to remember constantly, many, many times a day. 

Otherwise this truth will not stay with us. We will then not forget and be deluded into working on anything that brings no benefit to ourselves and will instead take on worthwhile activities, such as making merit, nurturing our virtue, meditating, and listening to and practising Dhamma. 

If we do not reflect deeply, we may think that we will not experience old age, sickness, pain, and death. We will then go seeking fortune, status, fame, and pleasure through ears, nose, tongue, eyes, and body just like our current lifestyle. We will make very little effort to ne, keep the precepts, meditate, or listen to and practise Dhamma. On the contrary, when it comes to seeking fortune, status, fame, and pleasure through the ears, nose, tongue, eyes, and body, we strive the whole day and night, except when we are asleep. 

When we wake up, we are off again to seek pleasure through the ears, nose, tongue, eyes, and body. We open the refrigerator, looking for snacks, looking for drinks, or go off to the kitchen to see what else there is to eat. 

Once our stomach is full, we are off again seeking pleasure through the ears, nose, eyes, tongue, and body, seeking entertainment all night long in all sorts of places, looking for this person or that person, looking for this thing or that thing. This is seeking that is of no use to our heart. It does not bring fulfilment and contentment, but leads only to more and more mental deprivation, hunger, and craving continuously. 

When we don’t have anything to protect our mind, we will have loneliness, irritation, depression, and be easily agitated. This arouses dukkha in our mind and causes us harm. If we are only concerned with seeking fortune, status, fame, and pleasure through the ears, nose, tongue, eyes, and body when the body cannot meet our needs our mind will be stressed and tormented. 

For instance, when the physical body falls into sickness or becomes bed-ridden, it is not possible to seek pleasure through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body. 

It is not possible to seek pleasure through fortune, status, and fame. When that happens, we will be lonely and depressed. It may even lead to feeling like we want to kill ourselves because we do not know what we are still living for without the means to enjoy physical pleasure as we did before. That is because we do not know the means to find happiness within the mind. 

For if we can find happiness within our mind, when anything happens to the body, we will not be agitated because we know the way to find happiness within our mind. Even if the body is sick, painful and bed-ridden or paralyzed, we can still find happiness within the heart. We can calm the mind, develop mindfulness, and practise the repetition of Buddho, Buddho. 

If we practise Buddho continuously without thinking of this or that person, this or that issue, our mind will be clear, cool, and relaxed, leading to calm and stillness. 

There will then be bliss. 

This is happiness that does not need the body or fortune, status, and fame. This is nurturing our mind to have happiness that leads and delivers us away from dukkha. For when we are calm, we are bound to be able to see the origin of dukkha and the origin of our perpetual death and rebirth, thus leading us into deeper levels of calm and reducing our kilesas (defilements), craving, and desire. 

For when the mind is calm, defilement and craving stop working and as a result the stressed, agitated, and angry mind ceases and disappears completely as well. This is the contentment that will stop discontentment, only it is temporary. The practice of mental calm through the repetition of Buddho, Buddho is not lasting, for when the calm mental state becomes weak, the kilesas will have the power to rise up, distressing the mind. 

To overcome this, we will have to use wisdom to teach the mind to understand that kilesas are the origin that of mental distress and torment that not worth wanting. 

If we do not wish to experience mental distress, but instead to have mental peace and calm forever, we should stop and resist desire, stop and resist greed, hatred and delusion. The method to stop and resist greed, hatred, and delusion is to teach our mind that whatever we desire through the kilesas and the resultant sukha that it brings to us is not comparable to the happiness that is already within our mind. 

The pleasure acquired through desire is little, arises only once, and will be followed by discontentment. 

Craving will arise again to regain the lost pleasure, and we will want it even more. It is like someone who already has a handful who then wants a whole sack. 

Having a sack, he craves and wants the whole store. 

Already having $10,000, his greed wants $100,000, and then a million. 

Already having a million, he wants 10 million, 100 million, without any end in sight. This goes on and on. 

Our mind is agitated, seeking all of this according to our desire. 

If we want our mind to be calm, cool, and happy, and not agitated, we have to fight against desire and teach our mind not to desire. For if we desire, dukkha will follow. 

Whatever happiness gained will be minimal because it is not permanent, and we cannot control it to provide happiness for us forever. 

Whatever sukha brought to us may within a day or night change and bring dukkha (unhappiness) instead. 

For example, when the relationship with our partner first starts, our partner is agreeable to us. 

Everything is delightful, and we are happy. 

But when our partner changes, whatever brought happiness before may become disagreeable and stressful for us. When our partner changes from being nice to being mean, from being truthful to being dishonest, our mind is no longer happy and only suffers. 

Additionally, it is not within our power to stop or change our partner. If our partner chooses to be bad, we will be depressed and despair. 

This is wisdom we use to teach our mind every time it desires anything, to teach the mind not to take things whenever it is not necessary. If we really need something, take it, such as our clothing. If it is torn and not possible to be worn, buy a replacement. But know what is enough and sufficient; two or three sets is enough. The same goes for sandals and other goods. Do not want more than necessary, otherwise it is desire driven. 

If you follow your desire, it will keep on increasing until it becomes too much and overloads your house. 

Owning too many things is not what increases the happiness in our mind. 

“Dhamma for the Asking, May 11, 2013.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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

“This is what we should do as a monk.”

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

25 April 2024

“This is what we should do as a monk.”

- - -

“We also use body contemplation to get rid of our sexual desire. Whenever sexual desire is arising, we have to look at the unpleasant parts of the body, like the 32 parts of the body. If you observe the 32 parts, if you see the organs underneath the skin, then your sexual desire can be eliminated. 

So, whenever you have sexual desire you have to get rid of it, because if you don’t do it, this sexual desire will prevent you from attaining Nibbāna, and you will be stuck in the realm of rebirth. So, you have to contemplate the unpleasantness of the body. 

Look at the body when it gets sick, or when it gets old, or when it dies. It is not pleasant at all when you look at a corpse. Everybody eventually becomes a corpse. So, whenever you have sexual desire to sleep with somebody, just remind yourself that you are going to sleep with a corpse. The difference is that now the person is still breathing, that’s all. Otherwise there is no difference. 

When we die and stop breathing, the body turns into a corpse. But the body is still the same, it still has the 32 parts. This is what we have to do regarding the body. 

We have to study the nature of the body until we can get rid of our fear of losing our body. Once we see the truth of the body, and if we have samādhi, we will be able to let go of the body because we have a calm, peaceful and happy mind that can exist without relying on the body to have happiness. 

When we don’t have samādhi yet, we will not be able to let go because we have to rely on the body to acquire happiness for us. If we have samādhi, we have happiness inside the mind, then we don’t need to have the body. 

We know that when we eventually have to lose the body, we will not be sad; it will not have any impact on us in any way. 

So, we first must have samādhi before we can develop wisdom or paññā to let go of our attachment to the body. We will see that if we are attached to the body, the result will be suffering, sadness, and unhappiness. If we let go of the body, the result will be peaceful and calm. This is what we have to do. 

First, we have to develop samādhi. Once we have rested in samādhi and come out of it, we have to study the true nature of the body in order to get rid of our delusion, our attachment, and our desire towards the body, be it our own body or other people’s body. 

They are all the same, they are all aniccaṁ, dukkhaṁ, anattā. They are all asubha, not beautiful, not pleasant to see when they become sick, when they get old or die, or when you look inside under the skin. This is how we have to train the mind to look at the body. 

Once we see the body as it is, then the mind will let go of the body and the mind will not be affected in any way. There will be no sexual desire. You can live alone and be happy. You don’t have to have a partner or a wife to make you happy. Instead of having happiness from having a wife, you may end up having problems with a wife, so it is better to live alone than to live with a wife. 

If you see with wisdom, then you can leave your wife and become a monk. This is basically the first level of practice, that is to understand the nature of the body, so that we can let go of our desire towards the body. If we can do this, we will achieve the third level of attainment, called the Anāgāmī level. 

An Anāgāmī has no attachment to the body, has no desire towards the body in whichever way at all. It has no attachment, no desire for the body not to get sick, get old or die. It has no desire to have sex with anybody because he has seen the unpleasant parts of the body. 

So, this is what we should do as a monk.” 

“Singapore via skype – talks given to monks, Aug 9, 2015.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: 

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

“Teaching meditation to Westerners”

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

14 April 2024

“Teaching meditation to Westerners”

Monk1   :  Do you think when teaching meditation to Westerners, it is proper to use (the verbal or mental recitation of) Buddho or to teach something different?

Phra Ajahn :  I think you should let them decide what is suitable for them. I think most Westerners prefer ānāpānasati because it has been taught in the Mahā Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta. The Four Foundations of Mindfulness teaches mindfulness of breathing as a way to calm the mind, so I think it is generally used to teach Westerners. But there are many different meditation objects that can be used. It is up to the teacher depending on what he found to be effective or useful for him. He will then use that technique to teach other people.

But the students who take up the teaching might have to improvise or adapt to a different technique if the technique that was taught is not suitable to them because there are 40 meditation objects that could be used for calming the mind. I think if you read in the texts, they are divided into three or four different categories. However, people in Thailand are generally very devoted and close to the Buddha. The Buddha is almost like God. For them, thinking of the Buddha will help them to calm down the mind very quickly because they rely on the Buddha to help them in times of stress or suffering. 

But many people in Thailand will usually start with chanting because sometimes they find that repeating the word Buddho is still not easy for them. The mind still drifts and goes thinking about different things. 

For them to chant suttas or verses first helps to slow the mind down, and after the mind slows down, they can just use the word Buddho. So how has your meditation been going?

Monk1.  : It’s usually not… (The conversation was diverted to some other topics.)

Laywoman (F1).  : Ajahn, do you know Mr. Pompan who went to the same school as you?

Phra Ajahn.  : Yes, we were in Seventh-day Adventist School, a Christian school.

Laywoman (F1).  : So, you were Christian?

Phra Ajahn.  : No, no. We went there because they taught English, and my father wanted me to learn English. The school was run by the Seventh-day Adventist missionary and one of the requirements to be accepted into the school was to go to church every Sunday. 

So I learnt a lot about Christianity in the school, but they could never convert me. 

They asked me why, and I told them that I respected Jesus and loved his teachings, but somehow, for me to be convinced that he saved my life was something I could not see. I thought that I had to save myself rather than anybody else. 

When I read about Buddhism, I realised that this was the right religion for me because Buddhism teaches us to save ourselves. We have to save ourselves. We have to be our own refuge. Attãhi attano nãtho. So, I started to study (Buddhist) books and meditate by myself, and I realised that this was a good way to go because it helped make my mind peaceful and more secure. Before, when I was about to go to university, I thought that after I graduated, I would be very secure and happy. But it didn’t make any difference — before or after graduation — my mind was still the same, still very insecure like a roller coaster.

So, I realised that the education I had gone through was not good enough. So, I started looking for something else, like reading books, and I eventually came across books on Buddhism. I was in Thailand, living in a Buddhist country, but I had never read a Buddhist Dhamma book before or listened to a Dhamma talk because, to me, the religion in Thailand appeared to be very ritualistic. You pray, light incense and candles, and then pray for wealth or whatever you want. 

But those are only the superficial parts of Buddhism that most Thai people are exposed to. They never have the chance to get the teachings, so I never knew that Buddhism was the religion I should follow. It was only after I was given a book on Buddhism written in English, I think, by a monk in Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka there were many English monks who translated some of the texts and distributed them for free. I was given a small one. After reading it, I felt that I had found the answer to my question. So, I wrote back and asked for more books to read, and eventually I got one on the

Four Foundation of Mindfulness. So, I started practicing following those instructions, sitting using ānāpānasati, being mindful of my movement, and investigating my body, the 32 parts or the ten stages of decomposition. And I found that the more I did it, the more my mind became calm and secure. I became less and less afraid of things because I realised that this is the truth, this is what will happen. The mind isn’t afraid of the truth. In fact, the mind is helped by the truth which makes it strong and ready to face the eventuality. 

So, after practising like this for about a year, I decided to do more. The way to be able to do more and to do it all the time is to become a monk, so I became a monk.

By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto

www.facebook.com/AjahnSuchartAbhijato

By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Youtube: Dhamma in English

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The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

12 April 2024

You have to look at the big picture. And the big picture is: we are all going to get old, get sick and die. So no matter how successful our life might be we are all going to end with ageing, sickness and death. 

Once you can see the big picture then you will not worry about the small picture anymore. The small pictures are not significant as compared to the big picture. 

That's why the Buddha teaches us to contemplate on ageing, sickness and death all the time. So don’t forget the big picture. 

Sometimes you forget about the big picture and worry about the small picture which is not significant at all. You worry too much about the small picture and forget about the big picture.

You have to always have the big picture in the back of your mind so when you deal with the small picture you can say, ‘Oh, it’s not a big problem, it’s not that important.’ If you can deal with it, do it but if you can’t deal with it then leave it alone, let it be. You can’t change the big picture anyway. So do what you can do and accept what you can’t do. 

Your goal should be more concerned about dealing with the big picture. Once you can deal with ageing, sickness and death, all other problems are insignificant. If you can accept ageing, sickness and death, you can accept anything. 

You like to forget about the big picture because it doesn't make you feel good when you think about the big picture. Small picture can delude you to make you feel secure, make you feel happy so you don't like to look at the big picture. You like to look at the small picture like planning for your wedding, planning for your holiday, planning for your birthday party – these are the little pictures that you indulge in in order to forget about the big picture. 

This is a delusion – not seeing anicca, dukkha, anattā nature of life. This keeps you looking for pleasure in life while the truth is life will only give you dukkha because life is anicca, life is anattā.

If you keep looking at the big picture, you gradually will become enlightened to the truth. But if you turn your back on it and don’t look at the big picture then you will be deluded or deceived by the little picture or little happiness that you can get from little things like from your marriage, graduation, anniversaries.

All these little pictures will deceive you or will not let you see the big picture. So you always hope for something good, something better because you don’t see the big picture. If you can see the big picture then you know that there is no hope; but you don’t want to be hopeless so you don’t want to look at the big picture so you can be hopeful.

You can only do this [look at the big picture] if you have something to replace life like meditation, getting happiness from peace of mind. Then you can look at the big picture and are not worried about life because you don't really rely on it anymore, you have something better that you don’t get from life that is the spiritual things that you get from meditation, from peace of mind, from contentment. 

Once you have this [peace of mind from meditation] then you are not worried about life because you don’t rely your wellbeing on life. You don’t rely your happiness on life because you know it's not dependable, it's not reliable. You cannot rely on life for happiness and for security. 

But you can rely on your meditation to give you happiness and security.

So you should practice more mindfulness and meditation then you won't have to rely on life to give you happiness. 

“Dhamma in English, Dec 5, 2023.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

20 March 2024

Q:  How should I practice for a good death?

Than Ajahn:  For a good death you need to practice to keep your mind calm. You can do it by the method of mindfulness or the method of wisdom. The method of mindfulness is by focusing your mind on something to keep your mind away from thinking. If your mind does not think then there will be no fear, no nothing; the mind will be calm and quiet. But this is only a temporary measure. 

To get to a permanent fix, you need to use the method of wisdom – to understand the nature of the body. The body is impermanent, it’s a natural phenomenon, it doesn’t belong to you. The body is just the combination of the four elements that join together to form a body and one day it will have to separate and there is nothing anybody can do to stop it from happening.

The cause of our suffering or mental stress is our clinging to the body. We want the body to last forever. 

Due to our delusion, we don’t want it to disappear. We think that the body is us while in fact we are just the one who knows, the one who thinks which is called the mind that is connected to this body temporarily. 

So we have to understand the nature of the mind and the nature of the body. The body is not the mind and the mind is not the body. 

One day they have to separate. In order for them to be separated in a peaceful and happy way, we have to let it go, we have to let it happen. 

You need the strength of mindfulness to stop your mind from resisting this truth. Your mind still wants to cling to it. You want to keep this body for as long as possible even though it causes the mind tremendous suffering. 

So if you want to reduce the suffering, you just have to accept the eventuality of the body that the body, one day, has to return to the four elements. 

If we can see this with wisdom, see that we are not the body, and there is nothing we can do to keep the body forever then we just have to let it go. We just remain calm. Merely knowing – know that this is happening. 

Just focus on our breath until we no longer breathe then we know that the mind and the body are separated. 

That’s why we need to practice a lot of mindfulness and meditation in order to still the mind or to calm the mind, to stop the defilement from resisting the truth. 

Once we can control the defilement then we use wisdom to teach the mind to let go. We know that we have to let go because if we don’t let go, we will suffer. 

If we don’t want to suffer then we have to let go. 

So there are two levels. The first level is mindfulness. If you go to a fearful place that might cause you to be concerned about your life, you can recite a mantra, ‘Budho, Budho,’ to calm your mind down. Once your mind becomes calm then your fear disappears temporarily. You just remain calm, you are not affected by the situation.  [The next level] If you want to permanently get rid of your fear then you have to accept the truth of the body that one day the body will have to die and no one can stop it from dying. 

If you want to live in peace and die in peace then you just have to accept the dissolution of the body. 

- - - - - - 

Q:  I would like to ask for instruction to realise anicca (impermanence).

Than Ajahn:  Look at all the changes that is happening all around you. The leaves are anicca, people dying are anicca, people get sick are anicca. The Buddha saw the ageing person, the sick person and the death person and that’s why the Buddha taught us to constantly reflect on them. Once being born, we are subjected to ageing, sickness and death and to separation from the one we loved. This is something we have to constantly reflect on, not just once or twice a day but as much as possible. 

The Buddha asked his assistant (Ven. Ananda), ‘How many times you reflect on death in a day?’ and he replied, ‘Four or five times.’ The Buddha said that it’s not enough, ‘You have to reflect on death in every in and out breath.’ When you breathe in and you don’t breathe out, you die; when you breathe out and you don’t breathe in, you die. This is the way to reflect on anicca (impermanence). 

Everything is the same. Everything rises and eventually it has to cease. Nothing exists forever except the six elements (the earth, water, wind, fire, the knowing and the space element). These six elements will remain forever but they will form into something all the time. 

They will combine and form a human body or an animal body. Once having a form, it eventually has to disintegrate, it will go separate ways again - this is the work of nature. We have to understand it and we shouldn’t cling to anything because if we cling onto it, we will have stress or suffering when we lose what we cling to.

“Dhamma in English, Nov 18, 2023.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

12 October 2024

The fifth and last of the spiritual powers that will assist us in our spiritual advancement is wisdom or paññā. To have wisdom is to be wise as opposed to being ignorant. The difference between the wise and the ignorant is that ûthe ignorant become street sweepers and dish washers, while the wise get better jobs, working in air-conditioned offices, giving orders. This is because they are educated, smart and knowledgeable. 

They know what should be done and what should not be done. Those who don’t know how to type, for example, will have to wash dishes, mow the lawn, or sweep the streets instead, because this kind of work does not need a lot of knowledge or wisdom. To be able to work in a specialized field, one has to be capable and knowledgeable. 

In Buddhism however, the emphasis is on knowing about suffering or dukkha, about the four noble truths or ariya-sacca namely, suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path of practice leading to the cessation of suffering. 

Usually when we are unhappy we don’t know what causes it. But one who possesses wisdom or paññā will know right away that the mind is on fire. Right now as we sit here quite comfortably, if someone does something that bothers us, we can no longer remain calm. If we don’t have wisdom, we will not know that we are suffering. If we have wisdom acquired from regularly listening to Dhamma talks, we will know that when we feel ill at ease, we are suffering. 

Mental suffering or stress has its origin, not from the external but from within the mind itself. Its causes are the three cravings or taṇhā namely, craving for sensuality, for becoming, and for not-becoming. 

Craving for sensuality is our lust for visible objects, sounds, aromas, flavors and tactile sensations, such as beautiful clothes and other material objects. When we lust for them it would stir up restlessness right away. 

When we see advertisements on the television for some products with tantalizing offers and the telephone number to call, we would immediately make that call. 

We could not remain still because the mind has been set on fire. It’s now afflicted with suffering. 

Craving or lust for becoming is another form of suffering or stress. If we think that there is a possibility for us to become a prime minister, we would not be able to remain indifferent. We would have to go out campaigning for votes. We couldn’t just stay at home and let it all happen by itself. On the other hand, if we have no desire to become a prime minister, we could sit back and do nothing and be spared the suffering or stress that come with the race. We would be happy from our contentment.

Suffering or stress occurs in the mind. Its origin, the three cravings, also comes from the mind. If we have no craving, we wouldn’t be afflicted with suffering or stress. When we are full from a meal, we couldn’t take another bite, even if it’s our favorite dish. That’s because we don’t have any craving for food. 

But if we were hungry because we haven’t eaten for a day or two, we would devour even plain rice and a banana, let alone our favorite dish, because of our lust for food. 

When we are restless we are being consumed by stress. 

If we can stay put, we would be happy. Suffering or stress is therefore in the mind. The origin of suffering is also in the mind. Stress or suffering has to be quelled in the mind. The tool to achieve this is also in the mind namely magga or the path of practice leading to the cessation of suffering. 

What is magga? Mindfulness and wisdom or sati and paññā as mentioned before are the components of magga along with faith, exertion and samādhi. We just have to realize that our craving causes our suffering or stress. Once we do all we have to do is to give up our craving. 

For example, we are already full from a meal but still crave for more, especially when we see some tantalizing dish on an advertisement. The mind wants to run to the refrigerator to grab some more food. If we are mindful of our thoughts we could tell the mind that we have just finished eating. If we eat again, we would get fat and gain weight, the cholesterol would be higher, the blood pressure would increase, and we would die sooner. This thought would stop us and put a brake on our craving. When the craving has been eliminated, the mind would become calm and peaceful. 

In Buddhism, this is wisdom. All things in this world are impermanent and bring suffering or stress. Don’t be attached to visible objects, sounds, aromas, flavors, tactile sensations, wealth, status, praise, and sensual pleasures that we treasure so much. When we acquire wealth we feel so happy. But in the eyes of the wise they are the source of unhappiness if they are more than what is needed for our existence. When we have more than we need they become a mental liability causing restlessness and anxiety, driving us to spend and spend, and to acquire more and more, locking us in this vicious circle of acquisition and spending, never ever find peace of mind and contentment. 

Don’t ever think that wealth, status, praise, and sensual pleasures can bring true happiness, because it’s transient, it comes and goes. When we get rich, we feel happy. 

When we become poor, we are unhappy. 

When all the money is gone, there could be no greater suffering. But if we, like monks, were used to living without money, we would not suffer. Life can go on with just having enough to eat each day. 

Use your head and come to the realization that true happiness comes from contentment, no more greed, hatred, delusion, no more craving for sensuality, for becoming, and for not becoming, no more craving to become a lieutenant, a general, a director, a Miss Universe. If we want them, we would have to go after them. If we don’t, we could stay put and be truly happy. 

The origin of all sufferings or stresses is the three cravings. To get rid of them, we must use wisdom or paññā in order to make us realize that they don’t give us true happiness. 

True happiness is in the mind, the mind that has quelled all the cravings. If we possess the five spiritual powers namely, faith, exertion, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom, we would have the tools to eliminate the kilesas and vanquish suffering or stress from our mind. 

Please develop these five spiritual powers as much as you possibly can then true happiness would eventually be your possession.

“Sensual Pleasures Are Painful”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

5 March 2024

The person who has already been there can tell you exactly how to get there…. However, if you don’t become enlightened, don’t blame me immediately, instead you may have to blame yourself because you either might not have practiced correctly or you might not be practising hard enough.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Than Ajahn : Studying is the first important thing, listening to Dhamma talks especially from the masters who have attained. There is a lot of difference listening to instructions from those who truly know and those who just imagine that they know.

Lay devotee : How can you tell the difference between the two?

Than Ajahn : It is like if you are a merchant dealing with diamonds. You have to study how to judge which is genuine. 

So you have to study and ask people who know how to judge and differentiate which is genuine and which is not. 

We know because once you come here (to the right place), you already learn a lot. You know Ajahn Mun and Luangta Mahā Boowa. 

You know they are monks who really know because you have heard from other people. 

So if you don’t know then you have to study or ask for advice from those who know.

To know whether they really ‘know’, you have to practise to see whether their instructions can provide you with the result that you want. 

Then you know that they really ‘know’. 

Because if they don’t know then they would not be able to instruct you on the practice that leads to the result that you want to achieve. This is one way to prove that the one who teaches you, knows what he is talking about. You have to practise following his instructions.

After you have realized the result from following his instructions in your practice, then you know that this person really ‘knows’. 

If someone tells you how to get to a certain place, but if he has not been there before, he might not be able to tell you exactly the right direction. But if he has been there before, he can tell you exactly the right direction. 

When you listen to someone who has not been there before, you might not get to where you want to go, so you know this person doesn’t know what he is talking about.

The person who has already been there can tell you exactly how to get there and you can get there by following his instructions. Then you know that he must have been there before. This is another way to prove. 

All noble disciples of the Buddha have proven that the Buddha truly became enlightened because they used his instructions to guide themselves to become enlightened. 

Then they know that the Buddha must be truly enlightened. If he had not been truly enlightened, he would not have been able to guide them to become enlightened. 

You need to prove it through your practice then you will know that this teacher of yours ‘knows’, that he has become enlightened, because by following his instructions you can also become enlightened. 

Now it is your turn, you have already studied, now you have to practice, to see what I have said is what it should be or not. 

However, if you don’t become enlightened, don’t blame me immediately, instead you may have to blame yourself because you either might not have practiced correctly or you might not be practising hard enough.

Lay devotee : Is it through meditation?

Than Ajahn : Of course. Samatha and vipassana bhavana. That is the core of the practice with the support of dāna and sīla. 

Dāna is to give up your possessions, not just 10% but 100%. 

You give up everything so you can be free to be ordained and not to disrobe. 

If you are ordained and you disrobe, what’s the point of being ordained? It becomes a ritual instead of something practical.  

“Dhamma in English, Jun 14, 2015.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: 

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The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart. 

29 September 2024

Apart from having faith, exertion and mindfulness, we must also have concentration or samādhi. What should we concentrate on? Well, we should concentrate on doing good deeds. Normally, it is not easy for us to do this. Why? It’s because our mind tends to drift with our emotions. On days when we feel charitable and want to make a charitable contribution, we would do it. On other days when we don’t have that feeling, we wouldn’t do it. But when we have samādhi or concentration, we would be doing good deeds all the time. Refraining from doing evil would also be easy to do because the mind is now primed by samādhi to do it. 

We would then be always concentrating on refraining from doing evil and cultivating good deeds. 

To be successful in our endeavor, we must therefore have concentration or samādhi. 

It’s therefore imperative to meditate on a regular basis, at least once or twice a day. 

After we get up in the morning, wash our face and brush our teeth, we could start with some chanting. It’s a form of meditation. If we could do it for half an hour or an hour, it would help calm the mind down. The mind would stay put, not wandering around. If we don’t like chanting, we could meditate by mentally recite ‘buddho, buddho, buddho’. Do it as long as we possibly can, half an hour, an hour, or two hours. This is the way of training the mind to keep still with the aid of mindfulness. If we meditate without mindfulness, the mind will drift away. While chanting, if we also think of some other things, it means that the mind is not concentrating nor being mindful.

For example, while we chant ‘arahaṁ sammasambuddho’, etc, and also think of what we’re going to do today, it means we are not being mindful.

 We are chanting but our mind is also thinking about something else. 

This will not yield the desired result. The mind will not stay put. To keep it still, we must be only mindful of what we are chanting. If we chant ‘arahaṁ sammasambuddho’, then ‘arahaṁ sammasambuddho’ must be the only thing on our mind. Don’t let other things in. Our mind must be focused on only one thing. 

If it is, it will stay put. 

If there are two or three things on our mind, it will wobble, drifting back and forth, unable to keep still or calm down. It will become restless. This restlessness is caused by the defilement or kilesa such as love, hatred, boredom and the like. They will upset us, making us unable to do good, for example today we planned to go to the temple to make some merits, but when we saw something not to our liking it put us off and we decided then and there not to go. This could happen because our mind is not set. We have no samādhi. So we should keep on meditating. 

We can meditate all the time no matter where we are or what we do. We can do it while driving. Just don’t close your eyes. While driving, we can recite ‘buddho, buddho, buddho’ in our mind while concentrating on driving. This is also a form of meditation. 

While eating, concentrate on eating; reading, concentrate on reading; working, concentrate on working. We don’t have to wait until we can go to the temple, to a quiet place, or to sit in front of a Buddha image, in order to meditate. That will be too late. Why? 

It’s because the kilesa are always active and ever present. 

Greed and hatred can pop up anywhere, anytime. They don’t wait until they get on the stage to reveal themselves. They don’t operate that way. Whenever we see something greed or hatred can pop up right away. 

To fight them, we must use Dhamma. 

To stop them, we must use mindfulness and samādhi. 

Fighting the kilesa is a 24hrs-7days job, from the time we get up in the morning until the time we fall asleep. 

We must always be on guard, be mindful all the time of our thoughts. Is it about greed or anger? If it is, we must use mindfulness to stop them. We must remind ourselves that they are not good. They are like fire. 

When we hate, become greedy or lustful, we are setting our mind on fire. When we are not greedy or hateful, we would feel cool and at ease. Greed and anger can only be stopped by mindfulness. We must therefore strive to develop mindfulness and meditate all the time. 

When we have free time, instead of looking at comic books or fashion magazines, we should mentally recite ‘buddho, buddho, buddho’. Our mind will be cool, happy and relaxed. It will focus on doing good like meditating and developing samādhi or mental stability that will assist in our quest for the noble goal of spiritual purity. 

“Sensual Pleasures Are Painful”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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