The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.
1 July 2025
"Don't procrastinate"
Approaching this religion should not be to seek fame, power, or authority, not to become a manager or administrator of a temple or monastery, but to seek spiritual refuge, to seek the Dharma, not to seek fame, power, or authority, nor to seek happiness through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, or body from Buddhism, because Buddhism is where the path to Nirvana is found, where liberation is found, and freedom from the cycle of rebirth and all suffering is found. Do not give importance to anything that is not related to studying and practicing the Dharma teachings of the Lord Buddha.
Just be aware of it, and that will not lead you astray or lose focus.
Our point is to seek the Dharma and freedom from the cycle of rebirth and all suffering, so we must focus on the Dharma teachings of the Lord Buddha. Our goal is to study the Dharma teachings of the Lord Buddha and then apply the teachings with diligence, determination, and the four bases of influence that will push the practice for the path to Nirvana and the results of liberation from the cycle of rebirth and all suffering to be successful. Without the four bases of influence, the path to Nirvana cannot be reached. This is the point that should be given importance, which is to study and practice the Buddha's teachings by listening to sermons and Dhamma regularly, as we have been doing regularly for the past 7-8 years, so that it will be a light leading to liberation.
The most important teaching is the final teaching of the Buddha, which teaches that all conditioned things are impermanent, that birth, aging, illness and death are the nature of things. Therefore, we should seek the benefit of ourselves and others with diligence. This is a summary of the Buddha's teachings, that the importance lies in being diligent, not procrastinating, and having to hurry and strive to complete the tasks that need to be done before time runs out. It is like when we enter an exam room, we cannot sit and chat, we must hurry to finish the exam within the specified time. If we chat and play, we will not be able to complete the exam completely, we will not get the full score, and the results will not be as desired.
Therefore, the Buddha taught us to constantly practice mindfulness of death, that all conditioned things are impermanent, that birth, aging, illness and death are the nature of things. We should always think that once we are born, we will grow old, get sick and die. No one can guarantee when we will get sick or die. It is better to think that you may get sick or die today or tomorrow. If you think like this, you will not be careless because there is little time left. If you know that you will die today, tomorrow or in 3 months, you will not have the heart to do things as you used to do, which is to earn a living, to find wealth, property, money, gold, fame, praise, and happiness through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body. If you go to the doctor and the doctor diagnoses you with a serious illness that will make you die within 3 months, will you still have the heart to seek fame, praise, and happiness through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body?
You will not want it anymore because you know that it is not a refuge for the mind, it is only a refuge for the body. When the body will cease to function within 3 months, you will focus on the Dhamma only because the Dhamma is a refuge for the mind. There is nothing in this world that can extinguish the suffering of the mind except the Dhamma teachings of the Lord Buddha. If you know that you will die within 3 months, you will have diligence, determination and determination to create merit and virtue because it is the only thing that the mind can rely on, both while you are still alive and after you die. Therefore, you should think about death all the time. Do not think that it is something far away. Think that it is something close to you because death can come in many forms. If you do not die from old age or from illness, you will die from various disasters. If you think like this, you will have the diligence to study and practice the teachings of the Lord Buddha with full diligence. You will study and practice, walk and meditate all the time.
By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto
Youtube: Dhamma in English
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g
Phra Ajahn Suchart Aphichato
No comments:
Post a Comment