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
Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube:
No comments:
Post a Comment