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