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
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
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