The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart

Question:  How do we think about spiritual friendships in the present world today?

Than Ajahn:  Spiritual friendship really refers to your spiritual teacher as your real friend.  Your teacher is the one who knows about the spiritual path. So anybody, whether he is a monk or a lay person, if he can lead you on a spiritual path especially the Noble Eightfold Path, then he is your good spiritual friend. The person who can teach you about the path, who is able to help you clear your questions is considered to be your good spiritual friend. So for us, the Buddha is our first good spiritual friend; his noble disciples are the second good spiritual friends. If you cannot find the Buddha or the noble disciples, then you have to depend on the Dhamma teachings as your spiritual friend.

“Dhamma in English, Jan 5, 2021.”

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Question:   Ajahn teaches that there is no form of friendship and ideally you have to be alone because you want to concentrate all your time and efforts in developing mindfulness. What is the context of Ajahn’s teaching?

Than Ajahn:  Friendship in Buddhist practice doesn’t mean that you hang out with somebody. Friendship in Buddhism means that you have someone to guide you in your practice. That’s the best friendship. If you have a Buddha or teacher as your friend, you don’t hang around with the Buddha or teacher all the time. 

You hang around with him when you need his guidance. When you need his guidance then you go to your teacher or the Buddha and once you’ve received the guidance, you have to go and live alone to develop that knowledge that is given from your teacher. So, the friendship in Buddhist practice is not a friendship in a worldly way. People cannot compare them likewise. In the world when you have friends, you hang around with them, you do things with them all the time, you eat and sleep with them. This is not the kind of friendship we talk about in Buddhism.

The kind of friendship in Buddhism, kalyanamitta, means to have a good person as your friend, someone who is wiser and smarter than you, to help you, to teach you to practise and to become enlightened. It doesn’t mean that you have to live with your teacher all the time. You only come close to your teacher when he needs to give you the instructions. Once he has given you the instruction, he will instruct you to go and live alone in the forest to develop what he has taught you.

Question: How about peers?

Than Ajahn: You have to understand that it is a different kind of friendship. The friendship in Buddhism that we talk about is to have someone to guide you but not someone who sticks with you and goes everywhere together, because in order to be enlightened you have to be alone. 

Look at Venerable Ananda. He had lived with the Buddha for over 20 years and he never became enlightened. But after the Buddha died, three months later he became enlightened. That’s because he was alone. So, that’s the kind of friendship in Buddhism.

“Dhamma in English, Jun 14, 2016.”

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“If you are a real practitioner, your best friend is yourself. You want to live by yourself to be your own refuge. If you need to have a friend, it has to be a reason, like your teacher or a person who can help you in your practice. If you still cannot do it by yourself, you need someone to guide you then you need that person, but eventually once you know what to do, you have to come back to being alone. Don’t let the defilement use it as an excuse like seeking company because you are lonely.”

“Dhamma in English, Nov 5, 2015.”

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“Kalayanamitta, having a mentor or an admirable friend, is very important with regards to the practice. If we lack the wisdom to motivate ourselves, we should have a mentor. The best mentor or friend is a Kruba Ajaan (a meditation teacher) who has practised correctly. The practice of meditation is complex with many obstacles and traps. Without the help of a mentor who has gone through it, almost everyone will be caught in a trap. 

Those making merit will be stuck in merit making. Those observing and maintaining the precepts will be stuck on the level of keeping precepts. Those sitting in samādhi (tranquillity meditation only) will be stuck and trapped in samādhi. Every step of the way, there are traps for us to get caught and stuck in.” 

“Dhamma for the Asking, Jun 30, 2013.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: 

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

The Guardian Spirit of the Oceans

The Guardian Spirit of the Oceans

On the seventh of December, 1973, I went on holiday for my third time to Phuket with my younger brother and his friend. Many of our friends were the sons of fishermen and led us in their usual pastime of catching crabs coming up onto the shoreline of Sai Kaew Beach. The crabs were put into a pot, intending that they would be our supper that evening. After quite some time I returned to where our vehicle was parked and sat chatting with some friends, while several others went about lighting a campfire close by. By 9 p.m. everyone had returned and we sat around the fire talking. 

An incident occurred at about that time which made me see the light of some simple truths and encouraged me to further develop goodness in my life. A being from a different realm came to this human realm – it called itself ‘The Guardian Spirit of the Oceans’.

It said to me, ‘Beneath the ocean are things of great beauty and things that are most fearsome. 

Many people who come to play in the ocean are lacking in both caution and a sense of their own physical strength. Waves that sweep up onto the beach are then drawn back into the ocean. In some spots where this happens the ocean floor quickly falls away, becoming deep in an instant. Subsequently, many will lose their life. For some, when they swim out to deep water, they will get dragged out to even deeper water and do not have the necessary strength to resist the current. It’s all because of heedlessness that many people lose their life in the ocean.’

It then asked me, ‘Do you love your father?’ ‘Yes’ I replied. ‘Would you like it if someone were to harm him?’ ‘No’ I answered. It then went on to ask, ‘Do you love your younger brother?’ ‘Yes’ I replied again. ‘Would you like it if someone were to harm him?’ ‘No’ I answered. Finally, it asked ‘And you, do you love yourself?’ Again I answered, ‘Yes.’ ‘Would you like it if someone were to come and harm you?’ ‘No.’ 

It said, ‘All animals have fathers, mothers, and siblings. It’s just that they don’t speak your language. You already have a comfortable life, why do you think to harm or take the life of other creatures?’ Having said just that much I instantly knew I had unwittingly done wrong and behaved improperly.

Deep in my heart I knew straight away that henceforth I would never intentionally harm or take the life of another creature. It taught me many things which not only led to my refraining from taking life, but also caused some of my other friends who were present that night to also do the same. Afterwards I told my friends to take the pot of crabs and release them at the shoreline. 

Even though seven years had already passed before writing about this in my journal, I could still remember the incident so clearly, and I frequently recollect the compassion and kindness of this being, for it enabled me to see the light and endeavour to do only good. It made me clearly aware that there are numerous realms of existence outside of this human one.

My conversation with this being lasted for three to four hours. Some time after the incident I further recollected on the theme of dhammas that come in pairs and realized that there is good and there is evil. Since then I’ve always tried to do what is good and refrain from what is not. 

One time, not long after that day the thought arose, ‘Whatever is reckoned as good in this world, that is what I wish to possess.’ Even to this day I still recollect this being’s great act of kindness. 

Luang Por Akaradej Thiracitto Bhikkhu

~ Ajahn Dtun

Wat Boonyawad, Bo Thong, Chonburi

“Pleasant Practice, Painful Practice" ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu

“Pleasant Practice, Painful Practice"
~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu 

"There’s a sad story about a young American who went to Thailand and became a monk. 

He went to stay with Ajaan Maha Boowa, and one of the first questions he asked Ajaan Maha Boowa on arrival was, “What meditation theme can I follow that will lead me to awakening?” Ajaan Maha Boowa said, “I don’t know. You have to find out for yourself.” 

Unfortunately, the young monk thought that Ajaan Maha Boowa was saying that he didn’t know the way to awakening, so he got discouraged, left, and ended up disrobing. He tried Zen for several years, disrobed from that, and ended up being a professor of Buddhist studies here in the States.

The sad thing, of course, is that he misinterpreted Ajaan Maha Boowa’s statement. 

Ajaan Maha Boowa didn’t say that he didn’t know the way to awakening. What he didn’t know was which technique would work specifically for that young monk, seeing that there’s no one technique guaranteed to take every meditator to stream entry or once returning or non-returning or arahantship. 

The technique that works for each individual person is a matter of individual temperament."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu 

“Pleasant Practice, Painful Practice"

“As a monk, I have to be frugal and austere, taking things as they come.”

The teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

19th March, 2022

“As a monk, I have to be frugal and austere, taking things as they come.”

Question:  “Can we still meditate and not become monks?”

Than Ajahn:  “Yes, I started meditating as a layperson and became addicted to meditation. 

To be able to practise all day, I had to quit my job and become a monk.

When you become a monk, you don’t have to work since everything is taken care of by the lay devotees. 

You’ll be happy and content when you meditate. 

With meditation, you’re exchanging your old way of life for a new one.

Eventually, you’ll make a complete switch. At the moment, we have two Westerners waiting to get ordained next month. One is from Atlanta, Georgia; the other is from Coutras, France.

I have been here 27 years, and have been a monk for 39 years. 

Next February (2015), it will be my 40th anniversary. I spent nine years in the northeast of Thailand studying meditation, and then I moved here to be near my home in Pattaya. 

People become monks because lay life is full of problems. As a monk, I have to be frugal and austere, taking things as they come—with no running water, no electricity, and no amenities.

I have only one set of robes.”

“Essential Teachings”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: 

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

PROSTRATIONS

 PROSTRATIONS:

Why do we do prostrations?  

The tradition of prostrations goes back thousands of years, long before the Buddha.  

Buddha Shakyamuni did thousands of prostrations when he was on the Bodhisattva Path. Prostrations are a powerful and practical method of purification for body and mind.  Prostrations are an antidote to pride and arrogance around who you think you are.  It is a good way to test your ego and purifying your mind.

As Roshi Philip Kapleau used to say, "Lower the mast of ego."

Most Buddhist paths include some form of prostrations in daily practice. Traditionally, prostrations are more than a show of respect for Buddha, Dharma and Sangha; they are a method to purify the mind, or the “antidote” for ego-clinging. Cutting the ego down to size is at least somewhat important to helping us understand the wisdom of emptiness. 

Additionally, in terms of the “five faults” you could also say that prostrations can be an antidote for the fault of “laziness.”

Making prostrations is an excellent antidote for slicing through false pride.  

Prostrations are often encouraged in the context of showing respect for all living beings. Since every sentient being has Buddha Nature (in Mahayana traditions), bowing to any person can be thought of as bowing to the Buddha Nature in all of us.

Cutting the ego through preliminary practices such as prostration is “point one”, while Bodhichitta, is “point two.” Both are critical.  

Contemplate that as long as you are too focused on self-importance and too caught up in thinking about how you are good or bad, you will experience suffering. 

Obsessing about getting what you want and avoiding what you don’t want does not result in happiness. The main preliminary practice focused on cutting the ego is prostrations.

Every morning, I begin my practice with 108 prostrations.  

If you think you'd like to practice this, you can go to this link:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmRCuJRJYuo 

~ Bhikkhuni Tịnh Quang (清光)

One Tool Among Many: The Place of Vipassanā in Buddhist Practice. ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu

One Tool Among Many: The Place of Vipassanā in Buddhist Practice. ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu

"Vipassanā is not a meditation technique. It’s a quality of mind — the ability to see events clearly in the present moment. 

Although mindfulness is helpful in fostering vipassanā, it’s not enough for developing vipassanā to the point of total release. Other techniques and approaches are needed as well. 

In particular, vipassanā needs to be teamed with samatha — the ability to settle the mind comfortably in the present — so as to master the attainment of strong states of absorption, or jhāna. Based on this mastery, you then apply samatha and vipassanā to a skillful program of questioning, called appropriate attention, directed at all experience: exploring events not in terms of me/not me, or being/not being, but in terms of the four noble truths. 

You pursue this program until it leads to a fivefold understanding of all events: in terms of their arising, their passing away, their drawbacks, their allure, and the escape from them. Only then can the mind taste release."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu 

"One Tool Among Many: The Place of Vipassanā in Buddhist Practice"
https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/NobleStrategy/Section0012.html

The teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

The teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

“We are afraid of loneliness and sadness if we go to stay at the temple. So we continue to remain prisoners trapped in the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.”

"If we do not push ourselves, there is no one who will push us. Teachers have taught us, but they are not able to drag or push us. We have to push ourselves.

We have to be reminded of thinking about death on a regular basis. It will stimulate us to persevere. We do not know when we will die, therefore; we should not be negligent and complacent. We should think about the Lord Buddha and his disciples all the time. Look at their examples. They were once like us, even though they were born in the midst of fame and wealth, surrounded by pleasures deriving from the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue, and the body. How could they have attained Nibbāna?

They persevered and had wisdom (paññā). We, perhaps, do not have wisdom; that is why we do not see the danger of fame and fortune, and of pleasures derived from the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue, and the body. We are like a fish caught with a lure in its mouth and afraid to remove the lure from the mouth because we do not want to endure pain. When we remove ourselves from fame, fortune, and happiness, we are afraid of suffering.

We are afraid of loneliness and sadness if we go to stay at the temple. So we continue to remain prisoners trapped in the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth."

“My Way”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g