The Buddha has said that you have to help yourself first before you help other people.”

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

12 November 2025

The Buddha has said that you have to help yourself first before you help other people.”

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Question (M) :  I’m here now for almost one and a half year. Sooner or later, I will have to go back to the Netherland where I’ve lived for most of my life.

I’m too old to get into the working system. 

So, I’m looking for an opportunity to coach people such as the elderly, and going to the direction of meditation. 

I have the feeling that I can reach to people. 

Sometimes I’m practicing, sometimes I am not practising, but my heart is with meditation. I need the directions and the vision from someone like you to guide me whether I am on the right course.

Than Ajahn : Well, if you look at the example of the Buddha, his first priority is to teach himself until he became fully enlightened, until he finished his job. 

Once he had finished his job, then he started helping other people. In Buddhism, this is usually the priority. 

The Buddha has said that you have to help yourself first before you help other people. 

If you think that you are happy with yourself, that you don’t need to help yourself anymore, and you have spare time to help other people, you can do that. 

However, this will stop you to progress to the final destination if you haven’t reached it yet. Because as soon as you start helping other people, you’ll lose the time that you need to send yourself to the final destination.

Layperson (M) :  I understand. It’s more of the willingness to organize things and to have contact with the teachers here in Thailand who may want to visit my country. It’s in that direction because I have much more years to cross before the pension system in Holland takes place. Till then, I have to look for the opportunity.

Than Ajahn : Ok, I hope I’ve answered the question you asked. If you still have to do whatever you have to do, then you have to do it.

Layperson (M) :  Yes, but my enlightenment is not for this life.

Than Ajahn : Yes, you take the Bodhisattva path – helping others before helping yourself. 

You have to develop compassion first before you can relinquish and go live in isolation and help yourself. So, it might take a long time. 

Layperson (M) :  Yes, that’s what I mean.

Than Ajahn : If you follow the Buddha’s path, right now you might finish it in 7 days, 7 months, or 7 years. It’s your choice. 

Layperson (M) :  Ok, thank you.

Youtube: “Dhamma in English, Nov 9, 2018.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

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“New Year”

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

8 November 2025

“New Year”

In this New Year, if we want our lives to be better than before, we must make more merit, give up more sins, and purify our hearts more than before. Because these are the reasons that will increase happiness, increase prosperity, reduce suffering, and reduce decay. 

This is the matter of our lives. If we want to gain more happiness and prosperity, we must diligently make more merit, give up more sins, and purify our hearts more. Because this is the only way that will bring us happiness and prosperity. There is no other way. 

No one can chant or blow on us happiness and prosperity. Even the Lord Buddha cannot chant or blow on us to be prosperous and happy, or to attain the path and nirvana by chanting and blowing on it. 

The Lord Buddha can only show us the path that will lead us to the path and nirvana, lead us to happiness and prosperity, and lead us to the end of suffering and rebirth. The Lord Buddha can only do this, but it is the most wonderful thing. Because no one knows the path that will lead us to the end of all suffering. 

There is only the Lord Buddha. If the Lord Buddha did not come to enlighten us and teach us this truth, We will never reach the end of all suffering in the cycle of birth and death. Therefore, the teachings of the Lord Buddha are truly miraculous teachings that can enable beings who are lost in the cycle of birth and death to escape and find true and lasting happiness. 

Whoever hears the teachings of the Lord Buddha and puts them into practice with sincerity, diligence, perseverance, and determination, will certainly sooner or later achieve the results of this practice.

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

31 October 2025

Q:  When we die, we can’t take our money with us, but we can take our dāna with us.

Than Ajahn:  Yes, the happiness from giving (dāna) will stick with your mind, it will go with your mind. 

The happiness stays in the mind. 

It can produce result when the body dies then this happiness will support your mind to go to heaven. It makes your mind heavenly because you have good feeling or happiness going with you. 

Q: What if I’ve forgotten all the dāna I’ve done?

Than Ajahn:  It doesn't matter. It's contained in your mind automatically. You don't have to remember it because it keeps your mind happy already. You don’t have to remember your good or bad kamma. Once you do it, it produces the result right away. It makes your mind happier or sadder depending on what kamma you did. A sad mind goes to hell, a happy mind goes to heaven. After you consumed this happiness in heaven or sadness in hell, the kamma will expire and you will have to come back and be reborn as a human again. And then you will do more good or bad kamma again. 

Q:  Is human mind neutral?

Than Ajahn:  Human mind is like a depository for good or bad karma, for happiness or sadness (dukkha). It’s like the Fort Knox – the US kept their gold in the Fort Knox.

Q: Our mind can also take in garbage, right?

Than Ajahn:  That’s right. If you think bad, you’re creating garbage in your mind. If you think good, you’re creating good things in your mind. And these things can affect your well-being or ill-being, affect your mental health. 

Q: Is mental health more superior than physical health?

Than Ajahn:  Mental health lasts longer. It doesn’t expire with the death of the body. It continues to affect your mind either happy or sad. When you don’t have the body to give you good feeling then you need the good kamma that you’ve done when you were alive to give you the good feeling. 

Q:  Preparation for death.

Than Ajahn:  It’s like getting ready to travel. 

When you die, you move on to the next world so you have to prepare your suitcases, your Visa, exchange your money, bring your credit card with you. If you don't, then you go like a refugee. This is what dāna is. 

Dāna is the wealth you can take with you - the money, the credit card. Without it you'll be like a refugee, they won't let you enter the country, they let you stay at the border and stay in the refugee camp.

Q:  If dāna is like credit card, how about those people who are meditators?

Than Ajahn:  Meditators go to a higher realm, they go to the realm with more happiness. 

The result is still like giving dāna, but with more happiness. 

When they come back to become human, they don’t bring anything with them except the way to get more jhāna. They will be practising meditation whichever way they used to do. They will come back and continue to do it again because that’s the way it makes them happy. 

If you are happy giving dāna, when you come back to become human, you will continue to give dāna. If you are happy doing meditation, when you come back, you will continue to meditate. So that’s why some people ordain and some people don’t ordain. Some people give dāna, some people meditate. It becomes a habit. If you used to drink a certain type of drink, you’ll always come back and order it again, right? If you like Coke, you’ll always order Coke, you never order other drink. 

Some people keep changing because it’s their habit, they have the habit of wanting to keep changing. That’s why people are different because people have different preferences. 

“Dhamma in English, Dec 12, 2023.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

30 October 2025

Q: I’ve found recently a few times when I intensify the practice a little bit, like keep the 8 precepts on the weekend, on a Saturday, on a Sunday for example, toward the end of that sometimes I get a lot of anger arising. It doesn’t come out, speak or act because I am on my own but I get some quite angry thoughts coming up.

Tan Ajahn: Because when you keep the 8 precepts you are putting pressure on your mind, on your defilements. 

So it causes you to react negatively because the mind or the defilements want to be freed from restraint. 

But once you start to put restraints on them they start to react negatively. But that’s normal, don’t pay attention. 

It’s just the normal reaction of the defilements. This is something you will have to go through. 

So one way to reduce this is to maintain more mindfulness. Think less. Have mindfulness to hang onto something and then these thoughts will not bother you or will come up less often. It’s because you don’t increase your mindfulness, you keep the same level of mindfulness but you are putting more pressure on your defilements so they are reacting. So it means when you are keeping the 8 precepts you need to be more mindful. 

Practice more mindfulness.

“Dhamma in English, Jun 11, 2024.”

- - - - -

Q: Why do I find that the sensual desires tend to be more pronounced during meditation retreat compare to my normal days?

Than Ajahn:  It’s because your sensual desire is being curbed more when you’re in a retreat. You cannot let your eyes, ears, nose, and tongue see and hear things as they normally do because you have to meditate, so the desire can become stronger. It’s like a pressure cooker, when the steam inside the pressure cooker has no exit, the steam keeps on building up and it becomes very strong. 

When you are not in meditation retreat, you can see, hear and do anything you like, whenever you like, so the sensual pleasure has some outlet to release its pressure and you don’t feel the pressure. When you go for a retreat, you are closing the pressure releaser. It then builds up inside your mind and it becomes stronger. The only way to deal with this is by using mindfulness and meditation. When you have mindfulness or when you meditate, you stop your mind from creating cravings and desires, then the pressure will subside and disappear temporarily. But as soon as you come out of your meditation, if you are not mindful, you start creating more cravings and desires again.

“Dhamma in English, Nov 9, 2018.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

6 November 2025

Q:  Is it correct that kilesas are part of the citta and the Dhamma is also part of the citta? 

Than Ajahn:  Well, they all come from the citta. They are inside the citta. They are in your mind. Your defilement is part of your habits – the habit to greed, to hate, and the delusion of not knowing that it can cause you suffering. You think that it’s giving you pleasure, but instead it is giving you suffering. 

When you crave for something, if you get it, you feel good. But you don’t think about the opposite result, how do you feel if you don’t get it? You’ll feel bad, you’ll feel angry, disappointed or sad because you can’t get what you want. Our delusion causes us to only look at the good side of craving or greed so we don’t look at the other side of it. What happens if you can’t get what you crave for or you lose the things you have? 

You get something and sooner or later you’re going to lose it because everything is anicca (impermanent). 

This is what we call ‘wisdom’.

Wisdom is Dhamma. Usually it has to be taught to us. 

We don’t have wisdom within us so we need somebody like the Buddha to come and say that everything that we crave for can give us disappointment or sadness because everything that we get, sooner or later, we will lose it or it will change. It doesn’t remain the same all the time so it doesn’t give us happiness or pleasure all the time. It can turn into poison instead of giving us pleasure. So this is what we don’t see. 

Our delusion prevents us from seeing anicca, dukkha, anattā so we go after things. In the pursuit of getting thing, you have to work hard to get it. This is already dukkha. After you got it, you can lose it and when you lose it then you become sad, and you go look for another thing again for replacement and it’s the same thing happens - the replacement is also impermanent. 

When you cannot remain without anything, you are like a drug addict. You have to have the sensual pleasure to feed you all the time. 

You need to see, to hear, to smell and taste and touch things all the time. Without them you feel empty, you feel unfulfilled. But these things cannot fulfil your mind. They cause you to have more cravings because they are like drugs. You take them and then you want more of them and when you cannot get them, you suffer. So the defilement is in the mind. 

Usually we have defilements. We lack Dhamma. We lack the wisdom of the Buddha until we are fortunate to come across his teachings and start to study and follow his teachings. Then we have something to counter measure or to go against the defilements (kilesas). He gave us the tools, the noble eightfold path, to counter the defilements. 

The noble eightfold path can be condensed into 3 parts: the practice of morality, meditation and wisdom (vipassanā). If we keep practising these 3 practices, we will have the ability to get rid of our defilements and consequently, get rid of our suffering that the defilements create for us. 

Don't try to study the mechanic of things. Try to study the ‘how to do it.’ It’s like driving a car. Just learn how to drive the car. Don’t worry about the mechanic of the car like what RPM should the car drive at, what cylinder is in the car, or what horsepower is it and so forth. You don’t have to know all these things. 

All you have to know is how to drive the car safely to take you home or to take you to places where you want to go. 

Our goal is the complete eradication of our suffering. In order to get there we need to practice morality (sīla), meditation (samādhi) and wisdom (paññā). In Pāli, we call these the triple training.  

Sometimes we study too much about the mechanic or the composition of things. We forget the things we have to do. People spend years studying Buddhism and they never practise the triple training. Or if they practise, they practise partially. Like monks, they practise morality but sometimes they spend too much time on the scholastic side of Buddhism, they forget the practice of meditation and wisdom.

“Dhamma in English, May 28, 2024.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g