For The love of The World ~ Ajahn Amaro

For The love of The World ~ Ajahn Amaro

Q: What’s wrong with feeling good when we’re praised or gain something or are thought well of? Or feeling bad when we’re criticized or lose something or are thought poorly of? Isn’t that natural and even an important part of living a happy life and improving ourselves?

A: The Buddha’s teaching on the ‘worldly winds’ is primarily about helping us notice those ways that our sense of self gets knocked around most easily. He’s pointing to those things in our life that we identify with and then create the thrill of ‘Great!’ or the despair of ‘Aaaargh!’

In our very life-affirming culture, we might think, ‘Well, what’s wrong with the thrill of having and being? 

Aren’t we supposed to embrace life?’ We love to talk in those terms. What these teachings are pointing to is not negating that way of speaking in and of itself. The Buddha’s suggesting we look at what happens when there’s a relishing – ‘I’ve got, I have, I am!’ Even though there might be something deeply satisfying in that feeling, it’s that relishing that causes suffering.

So, you might be thinking, ‘Well, I’m not very worldly. I’ve got few possessions.’ But even if there’s a relishing of the ‘Look at me, I’m not attached’ view of oneself, then there’s still an ego-attachment issue; the mind is attached to the idea of not being attached. Whether it’s to a possession or an opinion or even a problem – ‘I am the sick one, I am the flawed one’ – we suffer when that gets negated or taken away or threatened.

It’s not that holding on to things is intrinsically bad. But look what happens when those things get denied or threatened. Then we see, ‘Ah, right, I got myself addicted to this.’ When the drug of choice – the feeling of ‘I’ and ‘me’ and ‘mine’ – is no longer available and the supply gets cut off, then our reaction is ‘Aaaargh!’

How beautiful it is to be free of that addiction. How free we are when the heart is really independent and can know the quality of stillness, utterly attuned to the moving and vibrating world but never thrown off balance by that.

~ Ajahn Amaro, 

For The love of The World pp.33-34

https://forestsangha.org/teachings/books/for-the-love-of-the-world?language=English

Photo: 

http://thaiforestwisdom.org/ajahn-amaros-spiritual-journey/

Ajahn Amaro

Ajahn Amaro

Q : * What single thing most impressed you about Luang Por Chah?

      • Please give us some examples from your experiences with him.

A :  One of the most impressive things about Luang Por Chah was the way that he could display authority without being authoritarian. He was a very good leader but not someone who had to dominate people. I didn’t live with him for a long time, and maybe the very first time I had an exchange with him was in about April or May 1978, when I was an anāgārika (postulant) and Luang Por was staying with us at Wat Pah Nanachat. As an anāgārika I was the attendant to Ajahn Pabhākaro, who was the abbot of the monastery. So it was my job to get his robes and bowl ready for piṇḍapat in the morning. I never found it easy to get up early in the morning; I still don’t. Morning is not my best time – I can do it as an act of will, but I have to make the effort.

On this particular morning I woke up and saw light com- ing through the gaps between the planks of the walls. I thought, ‘Wow, the moon is really bright tonight.’ Then I looked at the clock and saw that it must have stopped, and I realized, ‘That’s not the moon; that’s the sun.’ So I leapt up, threw my clothes on and raced down the path. When I got to the back of the sāla (main hall), all the other people had already gone out for piṇḍapat, but Ajahn Pabhākaro and Luang Por, who were going out on a nearby piṇḍapat, still hadn’t left. I thought, ‘OK, I’ve still got time. Maybe they didn’t notice.’ I then realized it was twenty-five past and they were going to leave at half-past. So I got their robes, hoping they hadn’t noticed I’d arrived late and had missed the morning chanting and sitting. While I was down by Ajahn Chah’s feet tying up the bottom end of his robes, he said something in Thai which I couldn’t understand. I looked up slightly anxiously at Ajahn Pabhākaro for translation. Ajahn Chah had a big grin on his face, an incredibly friendly, loving smile. Then Ajahn Pabhākaro translated, ‘Sleep is delicious.’ That was the first time in my life when I did something wrong, but instead of being criticized or punished was met by an extraordinarily loving attitude. It was at that point that something in my heart knew Buddhism was really very different from anything I had encountered previously.

Luang Por was also very flexible. He had no respect for time. And he didn’t have any respect for logical consistency. He could change his mind or his approach in a finger-snap. A couple of years later, when Ajahn Sumedho was starting up Chithurst monastery, I was thinking of going back to England to visit my family. I got a telegram saying my father was very ill with a heart attack, so I came down from Roi-Et and then to Wat Pah Pong to pay respects to Luang Por and ask his advice. I felt I should leave for England soon, but my question was how I should go about this. My Thai was pretty poor, and on that occasion Ajahn Jāgaro was translating. I explained to Luang Por that I only had one Rains Retreat as a monk and that I was from England; my family lived quite near Chithurst and my father had just had a heart attack and was very sick, and what did Luang Por think I should do?

He spoke for about twenty minutes – it was a long speech and I didn’t really catch much of it. At the end, Ajahn Jāgaro said, ‘Well, he said four things.

‘ “Go to England and when your visit to your family is finished, go and pay your respects to Ajahn Sumedho and then come straight back to Thailand.

‘ “Go to England and stay with your family and when your business with your family is finished, go to stay with Ajahn Sumedho for a year and then after that year you should come back to Thailand.

‘ “Go to England, stay with your family, when your busi- ness with your family is finished, go stay with Ajahn Sumedho and help him out. If it gets too difficult, you can come back to Thailand if you really want to.

‘ “Go to England, when the business with the family is finished, go and stay with Ajahn Sumedho and don’t come back.”’

The whole talk was delivered with exactly the same expression. It wasn’t as if any one option was preferable. As he was speaking, each single option was an absolutely sincere piece of advice, a directive: ‘Do this. These are your instructions. Follow them to the letter!’ And he wasn’t trying to be clever. It was obvious that he was being absolutely straightforward.

Related to that was his quality of being transparent as a person. Someone once asked me to take a message to him, saying that some people had just arrived at the sāla and could he come to meet them. So I went to his kuṭī, where he was sitting on his rattan bench with his eyes closed. There was no one else around. I went up and knelt in front of him and he didn’t open his eyes. So I waited a few minutes, wondering what to do, but he still didn’t open his eyes. So I said (in Thai), ‘Excuse me, Luang Por’ and he opened his eyes. 

But it was as if there was absolutely nobody there. He wasn’t asleep; his eyes opened, but there was no expression on his face. It was completely empty. He looked at me, and I looked at him and said, ‘Luang Por, Ajahn Chu asked me to bring a message that some people have come to the sāla and would it be possible for you to come and receive them?’

Again for a moment there was no expression, just this completely spacious, empty quality on his face. 

Then out of nowhere, the personality appeared. He made some remark that I didn’t quite catch and it was as if suddenly the ‘person’ appeared; it was like watching a being coming into existence.

There was an extraordinary quality in that moment, see- ing a being putting on a mask or a costume, as if to say, ‘OK, I’ll be Ajahn Chah. I can play at being Ajahn Chah for these people.’ 

You could see that assumption of the personality, the body, all the characteristics of personhood just being taken up as if he was putting on his robe or taking up a role for the sake of emerging and contacting other people. It was very powerful, seeing that ‘something’ coming out of nothing; seeing a being appearing before your eyes.

Justifying Anything Ajahn Amaro

Justifying Anything
Ajahn Amaro  

The subject of sila, or virtuous, beautiful conduct, is a very tricky area which people often misunderstand. 

It is therefore an area where we can benefit from some guidance and instruction – some understanding about how best to conduct ourselves in the manner in which we relate both to our own life and to other people.

Often, we are attracted to the Buddha’s teaching because it cuts right to the very heart of our experience. I was certainly drawn by the ultimate and incisive nature of it – in particular, the teachings on emptiness. 

This seemed to be one of the most important aspects of the teachings – i.e., that which pertains to transcendent, ultimate reality.

In Western culture, we tend not to want to settle for second best. We want to aim for the top and we can tend towards the same kind of attitude in our approach to religious life. Why bother with the provisional teachings, the kindergarten stuff, when we can go for enlightenment just by the use of these powerful insights into selflessness and emptiness, or into the essential Buddha nature of all beings?

You come across this in different Buddhist traditions, particularly Zen Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. 

This aspect of the teachings, that all beings are Buddhas and everything is perfect just as it is, was stressed in Buddhism’s early years in the West: “We just have to awaken to the perfection that comprises everything around us. And once we have that realization we can act in whatever way pleases us. If we are all Buddhas, then we act as Buddhas and everything that a Buddha says and does is perfect.” So, the teaching was often interpreted in a way to justify any kind of activity. With the back-up of Ultimate Truth, everything is perfect. So, no matter what I do or how it looks to you, or to the police, it’s all perfect.

…

But then we tend to find that what may have been a valid insight, after a while, just becomes a memory of something that we believe we have accomplished. We take it as some kind of credit card that we can keep spending on and never pay the bill – because there’s no one there to send it to. It is just as if you received your account from Visa and returned it to them saying, “There is no one here. No one actually owns this card. Therefore here is your bill returned.” If you did this, you’d soon receive a visit from someone in a uniform!

This interpretation has been a common occurrence in the West, causing a lot of distress: people have taken some big mystical experience, or ratification by a spiritual authority (such as being named a Dharma Heir), or some approval by a teacher of great reputation, as an indication of their enlightenment. I’ve heard of people saying, “You don’t understand what I do because I’m enlightened and you are not. 

Therefore, you can’t understand the motives of my actions. You should not question what I do.”

Anything can be justified by this outlet.

This reflection by Ajahn Amaro is from the book, Rain on the Nile.

https://cdn.amaravati.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/08/Rain_on_the_Nile_Ajahn_Amaro.pdf

Ajahn Amaro

Ajahn Amaro

Yesterday I had the GREAT honour of bowing before, and touching the feet of a Noble man. 😁🙏🙏🙏 

As the highest ranking monk in the Thai Buddhist Sangha here in the U.K, the most venerable abbot of Wat Amaravatti, Ajahn Amaro, came to visit us at Wat Mahathat. 

I have trained, through awareness, to control the emotions, understanding that almost always, they are rooted in attachment, desire or delusion. Yesterday however, meeting for the first time, and bowing before this great teacher, who I have learned from and loved for so many years, I struggled to not collapse with emotion. The tears flooded my eyes and I could not hold them back, despite the embarrassment I felt at the overwhelming feelings I was experiencing. It felt as though I was arriving home after a life time away.

What a fine, outstanding example of a renunciate, of one who studies, follows and applies the incredibly liberating teachings of the man called Buddha; our teacher. His poise, his manner, his conduct, his speech, his awareness, his humility, his graciousness, were faultless, highlighted by the profound authenticity and serenity that he displayed. It is rare that the word “awesome” is justifiable when referring to a human being, but in this case, it most definately applies! The same was true of the Great Ajahn Jayasaro when I had the great fortune to spend two days translating for him in Barcelona in 2010. Whenever I refer to first seeing Ajahn Jayasaro, I always say that he did not walk into the room but appeared to float into the room, such was his purity, humility and brilliance. 

Even though I was unable to ordain into the Ajahn Chah lineage, due to the age restriction they hold and also as an Insulin dependent Diabetic for forty years, I have ALWAYS referred to Luangpor Chah as “my heart teacher”. I consider myself a Luangpor Chah monk, even though I am sure that my practice and sīla would cause concern, even for a New monk at one of his temples. 

It is from from reading the teachings and stories of the Great Buddhist master of the Thai forest tradition, that I eventually became a Buddhist. It is from studying his many books and inspired by such, that I began to investigate and apply the teachings in my daily life, resulting in a changed life view of self, society and reality. The logical, common sense, intellectually honest truths, taught by the Buddha and espoused by Luangpor Chah, opened up a way of life to me that afforded a more lasting happiness, a contentment based internally and, unlike most of life’s “highs”, had nothing whatsoever to do with external realities. 

In the past fifteen years or so, with the huge expansion of social media, YouTube etc. the profound yet, in many ways, simple teachings of the Buddha have become more easily available across the world. The continuation of the Ajahn Chah lineage by such worthy and outstanding Bhikkhu’s, such as Luangpor Sumedho, Ajahn Jayasaro, Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Brahmali, to name a few, continue to educate and inspire millions of us, whether we are fully committed to the path as ordained renunciantes, lay practitioners, people who are “spiritually” minded or often just curious. 

In 2010, KNOWING beyond doubt that I had to ordain, to continue along the psychologically sound, peaceful path of happiness which had already brought me so much inner peace, reason and freedom, I imagined myself washing the feet of my teacher; just as the disciples of Ajahn Chah had the honour of doing for the master. I even spent a month training at Wat Po in Bangkok, learning foot massage in the hope of one day, bowing at the feet of a teacher and being able to humbly serve them out of gratitude. 

Sadly, my experience of temple life has never led me to a time or place where to do so was appropriate. And so, yesterday, touching the feet of Ajahn Amaro, I was very aware that, even though it was only briefly, I was AT LAST, honoring Luangpor Chah, Ajahn Jayasaro, Ajahn Amaro, Ajahn Brahmali, Ven Robina Courtin, Lama Yeshe, my beloved Luangpor Thong Sirimangalo, Mahasi Sayadaw, Somdet Phra Buddhaghosacariya (bhikkhu P.A Payutto), Phramaha Atorn Maikew, and all of those truly great renunciantes, disciples of the Buddha, teachers, living examples of The Noble One’s. 

Oh! That each of us could practice in such a way, renounce and let go, realize and liberate ourselves in such a way, and also become a blessing, beacons of hope and inspiration for a lost, hurting, deluded humanity, as these great teachers are, indeed, as the Buddha himself was. Let us strive with every breath to become Noble one’s. 

🙏🙏🙏❤️😁

❖ Welcoming Uncertainty ❖ ~ By Ajahn Amaro ~

❖ Welcoming Uncertainty ❖

~ By Ajahn Amaro ~

When we meet with a feeling of uncertainty usually what we do is we feel worried, we feel threatened. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future so what we tend to do is to try to fill up that unknown with a plan or a hope or a belief. We fill it with ideas of what might happen.

We often distract ourselves: ‘I don’t want to think about the future. I don’t want to worry about that. So, I’ll just look at my phone and catch up on my Facebook friends or see what communication I have coming through Line, what’s on the news or something.’ We thus deal with that feeling of worry or uncertainty with choosing distraction or, alternatively, we just switch off – we go blank, go numb and shut the world down, disengage all together. We do this because the feeling of not being sure is something that most of us don’t like and we relate to it as a problem, that feeling of anxiety, uncertainty. We automatically think of it as a problem, something that’s unwelcome.

This habit is interesting and useful to consider because life is always uncertain. More importantly, if the feeling of uncertainty was automatically a problem why would the Buddha encourage us to investigate it, that quality of anicca, of change? Why would he have said this is something good to look at? And why is it that it has been spoken of by the great Ajahns, the great elders, as the gateway to wisdom? Most of us are probably familiar with the Buddha’s description of what are called the Three Characteristics of Existence – aniccaṃ, dukkhaṃ, anattā – that everything is in a state of change; everything is not satisfying in and of itself; and that all things are not truly who and what we are. These are the principles of aniccaṃ, dukkhaṃ, anattā...

(From the book 'ไม่แน่! Not Sure!' by Ven. Ajahn Amaro, published in 2019)

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To read/download the full text (pdf), please visit Amaravati monastery's website:

https://www.amaravati.org/dhamma-books/ไม่แน่-not-sure/