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
Youtube: Dhamma in English
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g
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