The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.
26 September 2025
Q: When the mind is very agitated, what is the best technique to calm down the kilesa?
Phra Ajahn: Well, the easiest but also the hardest way is to use a mantra. Simple. You just keep reciting the mantra until you stop thinking then your mind will stop being agitated. The problem is if you haven’t practiced using the mantra, you’ll find it very difficult to do it. Or maybe you despise it because you think it’s stupid, ‘How could I just keep reciting one word and achieve something so spectacular?’ It’s because you haven’t tried it before.
But if you really try using a mantra, a mantra can stop your thoughts. If you focus on the mantra, how can you think about other things, right? So you use either a mantra or if you know some chanting then keep doing the chanting. You don’t have to do it verbally, you do it mentally. Keep it inside then you can do it anywhere, any time.
So what you need to do first is to learn how to chant or learn how to use a mantra. It’s like running. If you don’t practice running before, you cannot enter the race because you run for a hundred meter and run out of breath.
But if you keep practicing running, you might be able to run a marathon eventually. Using a mantra is like that. If you don’t practice it before, when it’s the time for you to use it, you cannot use it because you won’t have the strength to recite it.
Q: Does it mean that we have to practice a mantra when we are not agitated? So when we are agitated then we can use it.
Phra Ajahn: Right. You can do a mantra all day long mentally from the time you get up to the time you go to sleep except when you have to use your thoughts for some practical reasons. Other than that, you should stop your thinking because they are all useless, they are all your imagination. You are day-dreaming. They are your wishful thinking which create agitation in the end.
So you should replace them with a mantra, any kind of mantra.
You don’t have to use ‘Budho’ if you don’t like it. If you like Jesus, you can use ‘Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.’ You can use ‘Mary, Mary’ but ‘Mary’ might not be good because you might start thinking about somebody beautiful. ‘Hale Krishna.’ People use ‘Hale Krishna, Hale Krishna.’ These are all mantras or chants to prevent your mind from thinking aimlessly or wishfully which can result in agitation and restlessness.
Q: It’s what I did yesterday night. I was agitated when I came up here and I recited a mantra and also I walked for one and a half hour and after that I started to calm down.
Phra Ajahn: That’s right. In the beginning it might take a while because your mantra is not strong enough but if you keep practicing it, eventually, you can stop your thought in a few minutes. So just keep practicing using a mantra or focusing on something to prevents you from thinking. Like when you have to stay at dangerous place, you have to focus on your steps to see whether you’re going to run into something or not. Then you cannot be daydreaming think about the past or about the future. You have to be in the present. This is what we call ‘mindfulness.’ Reciting mantra or focusing your attention on your bodily action is a form of mindfulness.
“Dhamma in English, Nov 12, 2019.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
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