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
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
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