The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.
14 April 2025
Q: My brother has a vision that someone will harm me in the next few months. He warns me to stay away from that person. As it is something that is going to happen in the future, can it be changed and what should I do because I don’t have that kind of vision that my brother has?
Than Ajahn: Well, this is something that you have to accept. “Whatever Will Be, Will Be.”
Something will happen regardless of what you do. The way to deal with the future is to be calm and be accepting then your mind will not be affected. You can be happy regardless of whatever happens. But if you are choosy, you want to have this kind of future and not kind of future, when you don’t get the kind of future you want then you can be unhappy. So the way to deal with the future is to teach your mind that whatever happens, happens.
They are beyond your control but you can deal with them if you can keep your mind calm. Then you mind can be undisturbed by whatever happens in the future.
Q: If a female cannot find a suitable place to practice at a monastery, can she attain nibbāna if she lives in a peaceful house, gives dāna, practises the 8-precept and meditates at home?
Than Ajahn: Yes, it’s not the location alone that determines your success in your practice. What you need to have is the cause for your success which is the practice of charity, morality and meditation.
Q: What clothing should I wear while practising the 8-precepts as a lay person but not staying in a monastery? Can I wear colorful clothing to work while keeping the 8-precepts?
Than Ajahn: Yes, it doesn’t matter what clothing you wear, it’s the precepts that you keep that matters. In Thailand, people tend to identify the 8-precepters with white clothing so when people keep the 8-precepts, they usually put on white clothing but it’s not necessary, you can put on colorful clothing [if you are not staying in the monastery].
However, if you put on colorful clothing, it can be a sign that you are not keeping the 8-precepts because one of the precepts in the 8-precepts is to stop putting on nice clothing. You don’t want to have happiness from putting on nice clothing. You just want to use clothing for the protection of the body.
Q: What is the best way to hold a funeral or send off the deceased?
Than Ajahn: Just burn, cremate or bury it.
That is usually the normal way.
Q: Is living less involved with society and in isolation a practical method to follow as a lay person?
Than Ajahn: Well, as a lay person, you still have to have involvement with other people.
If you want to live in isolation, that’s because you want to release your mind from the attachment to things and to people that can make you unhappy. So it’s a matter of choice - what you want to do. If you want to get rid of your sadness, loneliness, unhappiness or suffering, then you have to develop the meditation practice. You would be successful if you live alone because if you live with other people, they can become distraction to your practice. So it’s up to you, up to what you want. If you still want to live with people, then you have to stay with people. But if you want to get rid of all your mental or emotional bad feelings, then you have to meditate. And to meditate successfully, you need a quiet environment to be alone. No distraction.
Q: When I see someone caught a fish using fishing rod, I feel very sad towards the fish which is struggling to live, and I feel very angry towards the person who caught the fish. How should I react seeing this type of cruelty? Is it due to the fish own kamma?
Than Ajahn: You should look at the other side of the picture. The man who catches the fish will become the fish and the fish will become the man who is catching the fish, then you won’t feel bad because they will cancel each other out. The man who catches fishes will eventually become a fish and the fish will then become a man who will catch the fish.
Q: What kamma will the person get for committing this type of cruelty killing?
Than Ajahn: He will get the same thing as he gives to others. You take back what you give.
You give money, you get money back. You give cruelty, you get cruelty back.
Q: Is it due to my bad kamma that I get extremely sensitive when seeing this type of cruelty because my husband seems to display no sign of anger when he sees it?
Than Ajahn: It’s just your perception of things which might be different from other people. This is how you react to things through your knowledge and perception of things which you can change if you want to.
You can change your reactions. If you have mindfulness, you can control your reactions.
And if you have wisdom, if you understand the Law of Kamma, then you won’t have such reaction. Then you will say ‘It’s just a matter of kamma’. The fish is paying its own kamma.
Maybe in the past it was the fish that was fishing this man and now this man is fishing this fish. So it just goes on like that. If you can see it like this then you won’t feel disturbed by what you see or by the cruelty of people toward other people or animals.
Q: What motivates an enlightened person to teach the Dhamma? Is it pure compassion?
Than Ajahn: Well, the Buddha taught the Dhamma out of compassion. It also depends on the enlightened person whether he has the ability to teach or not because teaching ability is not a part of enlightenment.
Teaching ability is part of the nature of that person.
Some people can elucidate, can explain things and make other people understand the teachings; and some people don’t have that ability. So an enlightened person might teach or might not teach depending on his ability to teach and also depending on the students who come for his teachings. If he cannot teach then usually there won’t be students who come to see him. But if he can teach then he will attract students to come and learn from him. But basically, he teaches out of compassion because he does not get anything in return by teaching.
He has already had all that he needs or wants so teaching is not for any gain; it’s out of compassion. He sees that he was once in the same state as the people are in now, and he could help them to make a difference, so out of compassion, he teaches the Dhamma to other people.
Q: Is pure compassion the right way to live in this world?
Than Ajahn: You have to be enlightened before you can have pure compassion, otherwise your compassion will still be a delusional compassion.
Q: In our 10-day vipassanā courses in India taught by Goenka, we were taught to do a 3-day ānāpānasati, then jumped to 4 days vipassanā practice. On our last day, the teacher asked us to practise vipassanā when we go back home. You teach us to develop sati first, samādhi then vipassanā. Why do Goenka course focus more on vipassanā?
Than Ajahn: Well, Goenka wants to give you a complete course but in reality you don’t do this in 7 days’ time. Sometimes it takes years before you can develop samādhi. The course was just a course to give you a glimpse of what you should do. In reality, you still have to go through the steps. First you have to develop mindfulness and be able to sit and enter into jhāna and be really proficient in your jhāna practice before you can move up to vipassanā level. When they give you a course, they want to give you a sort of example of what you should be doing. In reality, you have to look where you are and what you can do now before you can move to the next step.
Q: How many minutes does one need to meditate per day to get the real benefits from the practice? Is 30 minutes sufficient to see any real benefits or get any results?
Phra Ajahn: It’s not the length of time that determines the benefit. The thing that determines the benefit is the result of your practice. If you can calm the mind, then you will reap the benefit right away. And the longer you stay reaping the benefit, the more benefit you’ll get. So it’s not the length of time alone is the factor.
You can sit for many minutes or even many hours and yet you’re not reaping any benefit, you haven’t achieved the result i.e. making the mind calm and still and happy. So it’s not the length of time alone that determines the benefit, it’s the result that determines the benefit. If you can sit down, even just in 5 minutes, your mind can become calm and happy. This is better than sitting for half an hour but the mind is not calm or happy.
“Dhamma in English, Sep 3, 2019.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g
