The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

5 March 2024

The person who has already been there can tell you exactly how to get there…. However, if you don’t become enlightened, don’t blame me immediately, instead you may have to blame yourself because you either might not have practiced correctly or you might not be practising hard enough.”

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Than Ajahn : Studying is the first important thing, listening to Dhamma talks especially from the masters who have attained. There is a lot of difference listening to instructions from those who truly know and those who just imagine that they know.

Lay devotee : How can you tell the difference between the two?

Than Ajahn : It is like if you are a merchant dealing with diamonds. You have to study how to judge which is genuine. 

So you have to study and ask people who know how to judge and differentiate which is genuine and which is not. 

We know because once you come here (to the right place), you already learn a lot. You know Ajahn Mun and Luangta Mahā Boowa. 

You know they are monks who really know because you have heard from other people. 

So if you don’t know then you have to study or ask for advice from those who know.

To know whether they really ‘know’, you have to practise to see whether their instructions can provide you with the result that you want. 

Then you know that they really ‘know’. 

Because if they don’t know then they would not be able to instruct you on the practice that leads to the result that you want to achieve. This is one way to prove that the one who teaches you, knows what he is talking about. You have to practise following his instructions.

After you have realized the result from following his instructions in your practice, then you know that this person really ‘knows’. 

If someone tells you how to get to a certain place, but if he has not been there before, he might not be able to tell you exactly the right direction. But if he has been there before, he can tell you exactly the right direction. 

When you listen to someone who has not been there before, you might not get to where you want to go, so you know this person doesn’t know what he is talking about.

The person who has already been there can tell you exactly how to get there and you can get there by following his instructions. Then you know that he must have been there before. This is another way to prove. 

All noble disciples of the Buddha have proven that the Buddha truly became enlightened because they used his instructions to guide themselves to become enlightened. 

Then they know that the Buddha must be truly enlightened. If he had not been truly enlightened, he would not have been able to guide them to become enlightened. 

You need to prove it through your practice then you will know that this teacher of yours ‘knows’, that he has become enlightened, because by following his instructions you can also become enlightened. 

Now it is your turn, you have already studied, now you have to practice, to see what I have said is what it should be or not. 

However, if you don’t become enlightened, don’t blame me immediately, instead you may have to blame yourself because you either might not have practiced correctly or you might not be practising hard enough.

Lay devotee : Is it through meditation?

Than Ajahn : Of course. Samatha and vipassana bhavana. That is the core of the practice with the support of dāna and sīla. 

Dāna is to give up your possessions, not just 10% but 100%. 

You give up everything so you can be free to be ordained and not to disrobe. 

If you are ordained and you disrobe, what’s the point of being ordained? It becomes a ritual instead of something practical.  

“Dhamma in English, Jun 14, 2015.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: 

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

#ajahnsuchartabhijato #dhamma #meditation #samatha #vipassana

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart. 

29 September 2024

Apart from having faith, exertion and mindfulness, we must also have concentration or samādhi. What should we concentrate on? Well, we should concentrate on doing good deeds. Normally, it is not easy for us to do this. Why? It’s because our mind tends to drift with our emotions. On days when we feel charitable and want to make a charitable contribution, we would do it. On other days when we don’t have that feeling, we wouldn’t do it. But when we have samādhi or concentration, we would be doing good deeds all the time. Refraining from doing evil would also be easy to do because the mind is now primed by samādhi to do it. 

We would then be always concentrating on refraining from doing evil and cultivating good deeds. 

To be successful in our endeavor, we must therefore have concentration or samādhi. 

It’s therefore imperative to meditate on a regular basis, at least once or twice a day. 

After we get up in the morning, wash our face and brush our teeth, we could start with some chanting. It’s a form of meditation. If we could do it for half an hour or an hour, it would help calm the mind down. The mind would stay put, not wandering around. If we don’t like chanting, we could meditate by mentally recite ‘buddho, buddho, buddho’. Do it as long as we possibly can, half an hour, an hour, or two hours. This is the way of training the mind to keep still with the aid of mindfulness. If we meditate without mindfulness, the mind will drift away. While chanting, if we also think of some other things, it means that the mind is not concentrating nor being mindful.

For example, while we chant ‘arahaṁ sammasambuddho’, etc, and also think of what we’re going to do today, it means we are not being mindful.

 We are chanting but our mind is also thinking about something else. 

This will not yield the desired result. The mind will not stay put. To keep it still, we must be only mindful of what we are chanting. If we chant ‘arahaṁ sammasambuddho’, then ‘arahaṁ sammasambuddho’ must be the only thing on our mind. Don’t let other things in. Our mind must be focused on only one thing. 

If it is, it will stay put. 

If there are two or three things on our mind, it will wobble, drifting back and forth, unable to keep still or calm down. It will become restless. This restlessness is caused by the defilement or kilesa such as love, hatred, boredom and the like. They will upset us, making us unable to do good, for example today we planned to go to the temple to make some merits, but when we saw something not to our liking it put us off and we decided then and there not to go. This could happen because our mind is not set. We have no samādhi. So we should keep on meditating. 

We can meditate all the time no matter where we are or what we do. We can do it while driving. Just don’t close your eyes. While driving, we can recite ‘buddho, buddho, buddho’ in our mind while concentrating on driving. This is also a form of meditation. 

While eating, concentrate on eating; reading, concentrate on reading; working, concentrate on working. We don’t have to wait until we can go to the temple, to a quiet place, or to sit in front of a Buddha image, in order to meditate. That will be too late. Why? 

It’s because the kilesa are always active and ever present. 

Greed and hatred can pop up anywhere, anytime. They don’t wait until they get on the stage to reveal themselves. They don’t operate that way. Whenever we see something greed or hatred can pop up right away. 

To fight them, we must use Dhamma. 

To stop them, we must use mindfulness and samādhi. 

Fighting the kilesa is a 24hrs-7days job, from the time we get up in the morning until the time we fall asleep. 

We must always be on guard, be mindful all the time of our thoughts. Is it about greed or anger? If it is, we must use mindfulness to stop them. We must remind ourselves that they are not good. They are like fire. 

When we hate, become greedy or lustful, we are setting our mind on fire. When we are not greedy or hateful, we would feel cool and at ease. Greed and anger can only be stopped by mindfulness. We must therefore strive to develop mindfulness and meditate all the time. 

When we have free time, instead of looking at comic books or fashion magazines, we should mentally recite ‘buddho, buddho, buddho’. Our mind will be cool, happy and relaxed. It will focus on doing good like meditating and developing samādhi or mental stability that will assist in our quest for the noble goal of spiritual purity. 

“Sensual Pleasures Are Painful”

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

13 February 2024

Question : When a person is going to die, will he or she know?

Phra Ajahn :  Well, do you know when you’re going die? Usually, most people don’t know, except for those who are highly developed persons, like the Buddha and the arahants. 

Sometimes, they can see when they’re going die. Like the Buddha, he told Venerable Ananda that he (the Buddha) will die in 3 months’ time. So, some people know when they are going to die. Some people don’t know. 

It depends on their mental abilities.

Dhamma in English, Aug 16, 2020.

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Question :  Before one’s last breath, will the body be definitely tensed even if he/she is a practitioner?

Phra Ajahn :  Whether the body is tensed or not is depending on the mind. If the mind is still attached to the body, the body can become tensed. Because the tension comes from the mind, from the attachment of the mind to the body. If the mind doesn’t attach to the body, the mind is equanimous, calm and peaceful, then the body will not be tensed. 

Question :  Will the mind still be in the body after the last breath?

Phra Ajahn :  As soon as the body stops functioning, the connection that the mind is connected to is disconnected. The mind doesn’t stay in the body. The mind is connected by the viññāṇas.

Question :  If the mind still stays in the body after one’s died, when will the mind be gone?

Phra Ajahn :  The mind will never be gone in terms of its existence. The mind will be separated from the body. 

But mind will continue on. It lives as a spiritual being and lives depending on the quality of the mind. If the mind is purified, like the Buddha and his noble disciples, then the mind will not reconnect with a new body. But if the mind is not purified, if the mind still has the 3 cravings: craving for sensual gratification, craving for being, and craving for non-being, then the mind will eventually reconnect with a new body.

Dhamma in English, Jun 13, 2020.

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: 

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

#ajahnsuchartabhijato #viññāṇas #minds

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

6 September 2024

In order for our mind to develop to a higher level, it needs fuel to get there, just like a car, which needs fuel to move around. It needs gasoline to drive the engine, oil for lubrication, water for cooling, distilled water for the battery, and many other kinds of oil. If any of these things is missing, it will not run smoothly or deliver us to our destination. 

While driving, if there is not enough water to cool the engine, it will overheat and stop running. 

Without gasoline, it will not run. 

Without lubricating oil, the engine will stop running. 

Likewise, for us to go from our present status to a higher and better one, namely, to be morally upright and wise, we need the fuel of Dhamma or the five spiritual powers to get us there. They are as follows: 

1. Conviction or saddhā. 

2. Exertion or viriya. 

3. Mindfulness or sati. 

4. Concentration or samādhi. 

5. Wisdom or paññā

We need these five spiritual powers to lead our mind to a better place, to heaven, to nibbāna, just like the Buddha and his noble disciples did. They all used these spiritual powers to propel their mind to achieve their goals. 

Conviction or faith is belief in the Buddha, the Dhamma or teaching, and the Sangha or noble disciples. 

We believe that the Buddha was an enlightened being, an arahant or pure one, whose mind was free of defilement or kilesa, as opposed to a puthujjana or ordinary worldling like all of us, who have not yet realized any of the four stages of enlightenment. We still have greed, hatred and delusion, which subject us to dukkha or suffering. An arahant, on the other hand, no longer has any kilesa or spiritual defilement, namely greed, hatred, and delusion. He is therefore free from all forms of suffering, because the causes of suffering have all been eliminated. This is what the Buddha had achieved. He then taught it to others, to humans and devas or inhabitants of the heavenly realm. 

Teaching to human beings is something we can comprehend since the noble disciples were all human beings. They took up his teaching and eventually attained enlightenment and became arahants like him. 

There is no doubt about this. 

But teaching to devas or inhabitants of the heavenly realm is something else. I don’t know if you believe in devas or not. They are transparent and cannot be seen with our naked eyes. 

They can only be seen with spiritual eyes that can be developed by meditation. When the Buddha meditated, he used his spiritual powers to communicate with heavenly beings. That was the way he taught the devas. 

Every day the Buddha performed five daily duties. In the afternoon he taught Dhamma to the laity, just as you are being taught today. In the evening he taught Dhamma to the monks. Late at night during meditation he taught Dhamma to the devas. In the morning before going out for alms, he would use his spiritual eyes to see whom he should bless first, someone who would quickly understand the Dhamma teaching and realize any one of the four stages of enlightenment, or someone who was about to pass away. 

Then he would go on his alms round. 

This was his daily activity during the remaining forty-five years of his life. 

Teaching Dhamma to interested persons is therefore the primary goal of Buddhism. 

Whoever follows the Dhamma teaching will benefit from it immensely. This is the task of the Dhamma and the Buddha, who had tirelessly and selflessly worked for the benefits of others. If we truly believe in his enlightenment, then we will not question his teaching. Faith in the Buddha will therefore lead to faith in the Dhamma teaching that taught us to cultivate good, avoid all evil, and cleanse our mind. This is the path to real happiness and liberation. 

If we believe in the Buddha, we will believe that his Dhamma teaching is correct and precise. 

Nothing can surpass it. 

Even if we are very rich and have millions, we will never find true happiness because it is not about wealth, not about possessions or people. If you have a girl friend or a boy friend, do not think that will make you truly happy. At first you might feel delighted but after a while things begin to change. New becomes old. Sweet becomes bitter. Nothing remains the same. This is the law of nature. 

People who are wealthy and have everything that money can buy are not truly happy because the things they have cannot give them true happiness. As we all well know, during the time of the Buddha, there were millionaires who gave up their money, kings and princes gave up their throne, for a life of a recluse because they believed in the Dhamma teaching that taught real happiness was in the mind that has no kilesa or defilement. 

The reason we are unhappy and afflicted by all sorts of suffering is because of the kilesa. 

Greed, hatred, and delusion are constantly agitating and disturbing our mind. They make us feel uneasy, discontent, insatiate, and lusting for more and more. This is the work of the kilesa. 

If we can get rid of them, then there will be nothing to agitate and push us to crave for this and that, to go here and there, and to lust for lots and lots of money so we can buy lots and lots of things to make us feel happy. But this kind of happiness is very short-lived before boredom sets in. 

Familiarity breeds boredom. After we own these things for a while, we get tired of them and want other things. This is the nature of unending lust. No matter how much we have, it is never enough. 

Dhamma therefore teaches that true happiness does not depend on having money to buy things because everything in this world is transient, full of stress, and not under our control. We may think that having this or that will make us happy. But after having it for a while, we will get tired of it. 

When it becomes old, damaged, breaks down, or leaves us, we will feel dejected. 

Therefore, please remember that everything in this world that we see, hear, taste, smell, and touch, is impermanent. They will surely leave us one day. When we lose something that we love dearly, it will make us very sad indeed. 

Because of this, the Buddha left all his possessions to become a monk in search of the real kind of happiness that doesn’t depend on external things such as wealth, fame or praise, the happiness that derives from peace of mind, devoid of the kilesa. 

When the kilesa are subdued, the mind becomes tranquil, content, at ease and happy. But when the kilesa is active, the mind is set on fire. 

We look mean and ferocious when we are angry or greedy. Our facial expression reflects our state of mind. But when the kilesa is subjugated, the mind radiates love, compassion, peace, charity and forgiveness. 

This is what happens when the mind is rid of all the kilesa. It experiences the supreme bliss. 

We should therefore have faith in the Dhamma teaching and the noble disciples who help propagate it, like all the Ajahns whom we believe to be arahants or noble ones, who have all attained the highest goal of Buddhism, nibbāna. They have practiced correctly according to the Buddha’s instruction until all of the kilesa are entirely eliminated from their mind, becoming noble disciples, and imparting puñña or merits and benefits to their faithful followers, who will get to hear their teaching of the way to the extinction of suffering, and when they faithfully follow this teaching they will eventually achieve the highest goal of Buddhism, becoming arahants or pure ones. 

“Sensual Pleasures Are Painful”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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

Listening to a Dhamma talk can be a very profitable experience because there are five benefits to be gained

The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.

19 August 2024

Listening to a Dhamma talk can be a very profitable experience because there are five benefits to be gained namely:

1. The listener will hear of things not heard before.

2. Have better understanding of what have been heard before.

3. Have correct views.

4. Dispel doubts and skepticism.

5. Have peace of mind.

This is because the Dhamma teaching of the Buddha is cool like cool water, refreshing and cool. When we read or listen to the Dhamma teaching, we will feel cool, calm, and peaceful. 

While listening to a Dhamma talk, it is essential for us to be attentive and receptive. 

Do not try to memorize everything the speaker says. Just concentrate on listening. 

Be attentive to the sound of his voice that flows into our ears. Think of what he is saying. What we understand, we will remember. 

What we do not understand, we will not remember. But that doesn’t matter. It is impossible to remember everything each time we listen because the speaker covers a wide range of topics. We should just listen. 

What we understand will be useful for us. 

When we understand something profoundly we will say “I see!” By listening repeatedly, again and again, we can gain better understanding of things previously not understood by us, and consequently eliminate doubts in our mind, and help us gain a correct view of the world.

“Sensual Pleasures Are Painful”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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

The Teachings of Luang Phor Suchart Apichato.

The Teachings of Luang Phor Suchart Apichato.

10 January 2024

For the people who come to be ordained, the Lord Buddha instructed them in “Sila, Samadhi and Panya” (morality, concentration and wisdom). He did not emphasise on Dana because Dana [stage] has already been passed. 

People who come to be ordained, each person has to perform Dana at an earlier stage. They will have to give up their property, belongings, money, also relinquishing their family, their husbands, their wives, abandoning all windfall, ranks or positions, honours etc. 

They have come all the way to become someone dependent on alms, to go on pindabat, to maintain their life, to feed their stomach. They do not go around in search of money to tamboon, to do Dana, this is not the duty of the Phra Bhikkhu.

If you come to ordain, then start setting a target and searching for silver and gold to start constructing buildings, hospitals, schools, or start building bohts (ubosots), chedis (stupas), this is considered a wrong objective. 

Coming to ordain as a monastic, we have to focus on practising the Dhamma. Practising to follow the path that will lead to liberation from suffering. That is, to practice “Sila, Samadhi and Panya”. 

But after reaching the goal, and after arriving at the destination at the end of the path, attaining to Phra Arahantship, and at this time devotees would like to tamboon and offer silver, gold, and all sorts of things. 

Then one takes these things offered in faith by the devotees to perform Dana. 

[The important thing] is that these things come by themselves, and not one going out in search of these. 

The silver, gold come by themselves, through the power of the Dhamma. 

The different Kruba Ajaans they help the world in accordance with their own dispositions. Not all of them are the same. 

Some help the world by building hospitals. 

Others help by establishing schools. Some of them help the poor and needy…

Luang Phor Suchart Apichato

Wat Yannasangwararam, Chonburi

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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

Cr. พุทโธ

Purpose of Fasting

The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart.

1 April 2025

Purpose of Fasting

Q: When we fast for 6 days, should we follow that with 6 days of eating?

Tan Ajahn:  It’s up to you how much you want to eat and how much you want to fast. You have to look at the benefit that you get from fasting but you also have to look at the benefit of eating because you need to maintain your body also. So when you fast you have to make sure that you don’t overdo it to the point where it hurts your body. So this is something you have to figure out for yourself. There’s no fixed formula whether you eat 6 days and fast 6 days. If you find fasting 6 days and eating 6 days works for you, that’s fine. Or may be you’ll find that fasting 6 days and then only eating 3 days and then going back to fasting again - if you want to concentrate more on your meditation effort then you might fast more than you eat. 

But if you want to have more of a balance between eating and fasting, you can divide half for each. Fast for 3 days, eat for 3 days, or fast for 5 days, eat for 5 days. 

This is something that you can try out for yourself and see which works for you the best.

Q: Other Ajahn’s seemed to have destroyed their digestive systems fasting, but yours seems to be okay. How did you manage it?

Tan Ajahn:  I don’t do the extreme, I just do it moderately. I don’t aim for the number of days of fasting. I look at the results of the practice when I fast. 

If I fast and my mind is alert and I have more mindfulness then I keep fasting. But if I fast to a point where the mind becomes weakened and not alert anymore because the body has become weakened, then I stop fasting. I’m not looking for statistics, how many days you can fast. I look more at the result of fasting - whether it assists the meditation or not. If it doesn’t assist, it becomes a burden or becomes an impediment, then I stop. If I fast just to keep a statistic but I don’t meditate then it’s not worth fasting. Fasting is not for the statistic, it’s supposed to support your meditation. 

So if you’re fasting but you’re not meditating, you just sleep because you’re so weak you cannot do anything, then it’s better not to fast. Then you should come back and eat. 

Fasting is to stop your mind from being drowsy and lazy but over fasting can also have the opposite effect. 

You can become sleepy and weak and you don’t feel like doing meditation practice if you fast too much. So this is something you have to figure out. Also the effect on your body. If you fast too long it can cause some stomach problems.

Q: What is the purpose of fasting and how do we know if it is suitable for our character?

Tan Ajahn:  Fasting is to support your meditation, to help you get rid of your hindrances of sleepiness and laziness. It also stimulates your mindfulness practice because when you are hungry, you have to stop your hunger by stopping to think about food. In order to stop thinking about food, you have to recite a mantra or try to contemplate on the repulsive nature of food to stop your hunger. So this helps to stimulate your practice of mindfulness and also wisdom when you fast. And eventually, you will overcome this problem with eating forever.

Once you can fast, you will find that you will have no problem with what to eat - you can eat almost anything. 

Because you can have a choice - if you don’t want to eat then you fast (Tan Ajahn laughs). When you’re given a choice then the defilements say, “Okay, I’ll eat anything that’s available.” But if you don’t have a choice, then you try to choose the food you want to eat and this is becoming defilements. So I think fasting is a good way of dealing with your overeating problem and also help your meditation practice.

“Dhamma in English, Feb 14, 2023.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

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