No.224 - The cycle of human evolution in terms of the spiritual life.

Ajahn Suchart

“The cycle of human evolution in terms of the spiritual life.”

Male:  “I read a book about going out of the body (to the psychic world). Some people said that they can see past lives and some said that it’s possible to go to the future. Is this possible?”

Than Ajahn:  “As far as recollecting past lives, it’s possible. As for going to the future, since it’s not happening yet, I guess people can only project the future. If you have the right kind of knowledge, you can project what the future will be.

Like the Buddha, he could recollect his past lives and he could project the future of the world. He saw that the world will decline in spiritual interest. People will be less inclined to do spiritual activities. People will be more inclined towards gaining material things. The world will become more problematic because people start fighting for material things. Eventually people will end up killing each other. All will die.

Then, a new group of spiritual people will start the world all over again. This is the cycle of human evolution in terms of the spiritual life. It will rise to the top and then eventually it will come down to zero. The top is during the time of the Buddha where there were many spiritual people and all live in harmony. People don’t hurt each other. They don’t kill each other. People live in peace and happiness.

As soon as people start to stay away from the spiritual life and start moving towards gaining material things, they will start to fight with each other. They compete with each other to acquire more material things. They will be less kind. There will be more cruelty. They will start hurting each other. Eventually, they will end up killing each other just like the two World War we had. We’re going to have more World War. We’re going to have a big war that will kill almost everybody except for a few people who will restart a new world again.

From:  “Dhamma in English to layperson from Austria, Jan 15, 2018.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

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

No.223 - Humility is the antidote to get rid of your ego.

Ajahn Suchart

"Humility is the antidote to get rid of your ego."

 Question from France:  “How to stop my ego?”

Than Ajahn:  “By making yourself a nobody. Don’t think of yourself as somebody. The Buddha said, ‘Think of yourself as the earth.’ The earth can be trampled upon by anybody. Anybody can step on you. Anybody can spit on you. Anybody can urinate on you. Anybody can do anything to you. So, think of yourself as the earth. This is the way to get rid of your ego. To be humble. Humility is the antidote to get rid of your ego.”

"Dhamma in English to layperson from France, Mar 5-8, 2018."

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

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

No.222 - If you still live and carry on the same old way, then you'll only just maintain the merit you've already made in the past.

Ajahn Suchart

“If you still live and carry on the same old way, then you’ll only just maintain the merit you’ve already made in the past.”

“Living as a lay person, social obligations can sometimes be an obstacle to one’s practice. You should find time to be away from them on occasions. For instance, you can do a retreat at a monastery on a weekend or a holiday. You need to take one step at a time. It is not like you can just dive into it. But you should at least make an effort and have the courage to do what you can, even though you don’t enjoy it or find it difficult.

Since you know that this is the path one must take, you need to make it happen. You shouldn’t wait for a good opportunity to come along as there is no such thing. This is because such an opportunity or the right timing is already here, so are good teachers.

Thailand, as a Buddhist country, is a nice place to live. People make merit (puñña), practise generosity (dāna), maintain the precepts (sῑla), and practise meditation (bhāvanā). There is really nothing to stop you when it comes to practice. It only depends on you and whether you would do it.

If you still live and carry on the same old way, then you’ll only just maintain the merit you’ve already made in the past. There will be nothing more if you don’t push yourself and try to raise the bar. If you used to be able to maintain the five precepts, you’ll only be able to keep those five precepts. If you used to make a certain level of merit through giving, you’ll only be able to do it to the same extent.”

From “Against the Defilements”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

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

No.221 - Responsibility to the Dead: Remembering and Letting Go.

Ven Kumara

Dhamma Talk

Responsibility to the Dead:

REMEMBERING  AND  LETTING  GO

By Ven Kumara

We just chanted the Metta Sutta and the Mangala Sutta. The Metta Sutta is chanted for the well being, happiness and peace of all beings, far and near. The Mangala Sutta tells us what blessings are, such as associating with the wise, having respect for those worthy of respect, and showing gratitude.

We hope that Ah Loong who passed away 7 weeks ago, heard the suttas and is also well, happy and peaceful. We hope that he heard the blessings of the Mangala Sutta. One who has died and is not yet reborn can hear the suttas because the consciousness is still around. He can understand the suttas in any language because those in the spirit world have no language but communicate with the mind.

Letting Go

Attachment to someone as a result of long association is natural and understandable. However, attachments, such as on the part of the living for the dead and vice versa, do not benefit anyone. Instead, it causes and prolongs suffering. The coming and going of something is what impermanence is all about. It is the way of the world and we have to accept it. I hope Ah Loong and his family members understand this and are able to let go of this attachment. Both parties have to let go. If not, his consciousness will continue to wander and prevent his rebirth.

Difference between attachment and love

Real love has no attachments and asks for nothing in return. It is unconditional and accepts whatever one does — good deeds, bad deeds, coming and going. Love is good; attachment is not. Attachment brings suffering whereas loving-kindness brings happiness. We must differentiate between the two.

Remembering the Dead

The purpose of today’s dana is to transfer merits to the deceased. You’ve performed a number of meritorious deeds today. You’ve taken refuge in the Triple Gem, taken the 5 Precepts and offered food to the Sangha. We have given and listened to a Dhamma talk and chanted. If Ah Loong rejoices in these deeds, he will receive all the merits transferred to him. I hope he receives these merits and goes to a better place. Today’s dana is one way of fulfilling one of the responsibilities of the living towards the dead.

Transference of merits to the dead

This responsibility is expounded in the Tirokutta Sutta which tells of dead relatives coming back to the house when the living relatives are giving dana.

These departed relatives stand at the door, but because of previous bad kamma, no one remembers them. Those with compassion will offer good food to their dead relatives who will come and in return wish for a long and happy life for the living. The dead depends on the living for sustenance. This sutta likens these offerings for the dead to water flowing down a river. In the same way, the offerings will flow down to the dead. Considering the good deeds done for the living by the deceased while he was alive, the living should make offerings for his benefit. Lamentation, on the other hand, is no help to the dead. Offerings may include offerings to the Sangha, which give strength to the Sangha and bring the highest and lasting merits to the giver, according to the Buddha.

So, with this talk, I hope both the living and the departed would know what is of use and what is not, and would know what to do for the benefit of all.

Sadhu ...... Sadhu ....... Sadhu ........

No.220 - Is reaching Jhana make someone becoming a sotapanna?

Ajahn Suchart

Question: Is reaching jhāna make someone becoming a sotāpanna?

Than Ajahn:  No, jhāna just makes the mind calm. It will support the practice of becoming a sotāpanna. A sotāpanna must let go of his desire for clinging to the body, the desires for not wanting to get old, get sick, and die. A sotāpanna understands that mental suffering arises from the cravings for not wanting to get old, to get sick, and to die. If you don’t want to suffer from ageing, sickness and death, then you must not have any desire for the body not to get old, get sick or die. You have to let the body go. Let the body get old, get sick or die.

If you have no jhāna, you won’t be able to let go even though you know that your suffering is caused by your attachment to your body. If you have jhāna, when you know that your suffering is caused by your attachment to your body, and if you don’t want to suffer anymore, then you just let the body go. You can do this with the support of jhāna.

“Dhamma in English, Feb 27, 2018.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

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

No.219 - You cannot control your mind at the last minute of your death.

Ajahn Suchart

“You cannot control your mind at the last minute of your death.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Question: How should we prepare someone who is going to die within his last breath? What is the correct mental state to be when we’re in our last minute or seconds to our death?

Than Ajahn: You cannot control your mind at the last minute of your death. It is because the kamma that you’ve done during your life time will be the ones that take over your mind at the last moment of your life. So, what you should do when you are still alive is trying to create a lot of good kamma and avoid doing bad kamma. Then, the sum total of the kamma will be on the positive side, on the good side. This good and positive kamma will calm the mind. It will send the mind to a good state of existence.

If you are a meditator, you can use mindfulness to calm your mind. When you are sick, when you know that you’re going to die soon, you use mindfulness to calm your mind by reciting a mantra or by watching your breath.

If you are on the level of Dhamma or vipassanā, you can contemplate the impermanent nature of the body. You let go of the body. Don’t cling to the body. Let the body die. You are the mind. You don’t die with the body. Your mind will feel bad if you cling to the body because your mind doesn’t want your body to die.

If you want your mind to be peaceful and calm, then you will have to look at the body as impermanent. Look at it as the 4 elements. The body is not yourself. You are not the body. You are the mind. You have to separate the mind from the body by letting the body be. If the body is going to stop breathing, let it stop breathing. If the body is going to be in pain, let it be in pain. Don’t try to do anything to the body. If the doctor can fix the body with some medication, fix it. But if the doctor cannot fix it, you’ll just have to let it happen. Let it be. Then, your mind will be peaceful and calm.

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

No.218 - “How to practice without a master?”

Ajahn Suchart

“How to practice without a master?”

Question from France: “I live in the countryside in France and cannot find any master. How to practice without a master?”

Than Ajahn: "You don’t need a master to be teaching you all the time. Now you can study the teachings of the masters from Internet. Go look for a book or someone, like Mr. Olivier, who can help you convey your questions to the master. If you have any questions, you can ask me.

When you practice, you don’t need to know much. Like meditation, all you need is mindfulness. Try to be mindful all the time, from the time you get up to the time you go to sleep. That’s all you have to know. Try to sit for as much as possible.

If you don’t have mindfulness, when you sit you cannot become still. So, you need to be mindful when you are not sitting. When you are working, try to be mindful with what you’re doing. Don’t let your mind go someplace else. Be with the work that you are doing. If you are taking a shower, just taking a shower with the body. If you are eating, eating with the body. Don’t send your mind somewhere else. This is developing mindfulness, to bring the mind to be here with the body; To be here and now.

Once you can do this, when you meditate, you can tell your mind to be with your breath. If the mind doesn’t go elsewhere, it will stay with the breath, and the mind will gradually become peaceful and calm. Sometimes the mind might become calm quickly, it might happen all of a sudden. Whatever the situation, don’t anticipate. Just keep being mindful of your breath. Eventually, your mind will become still and happy. If you have any questions, you can go to Internet or come here and ask me.”

From “Dhamma in English to layperson from France, Mar 5-8, 2018.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com
Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

No.217 - “If you expect returns, it is not called giving, it is trading.”

Ajahn Suchart

“If you expect returns, it is not called giving, it is trading.”

Question: When I donate $10 (which is about 10% of my wealth) and my friend donates $500 which is a fraction of his million dollar wealth, do we get the same merits?

Than Ajahn: No, the feeling is different. When you give more, you feel happier, when you gave less, then you feel less happy. So it depends on how much you have, the percentage of what you give. If you were a millionaire, say if you have 100 million baht and you give one million baht, you give away 1% of your wealth. If you have 100,000 baht and if you give away 10,000 baht, it means you give away 10% of your wealth. The effect on your mind is different. When you give 10% of your wealth, it is a lot more than giving 1% of your wealth. So the result on the mind is different too. For someone who gave 10%, the mind feels happier even though the amount is not as much as the one who gave 1%. It is not the absolute amount, but the percentage of what you have that makes the difference on your mind.

The resultant impact on your next life depends on how much you gave. If you gave one million, you will get five million back, if you give 100k you will get 500k back. So if you give more, you will get more results when you come back. It is like the King Vessantara, he gave away everything and when he died he went to heaven and after he came back from heaven he was reborn as prince Siddharta who became the Lord Buddha.
………….
Question: My friend is a person who is not ready to listen to higher Dhamma practice but he likes to do dāna to monks and temples and in turn wishes that he has good health, abundance of wealth or winning a lottery. How does this compare to someone who just donate to beggars or animals where one does not wish for any returns. Do they get the same merits?

Than Ajahn: Whether you get more merits depends on what you desire for. If you give without any desire, you get more merits. If you give and you desire for returns, then you have less merits because sometimes when you don’t get what you want, you feel bad. And instead of feeling good from giving, you feel bad. So if you don’t have any desire for returns then you won’t feel bad, you will feel happy. It depends on your expectations. If you have expectation, the less merits you get. If you don’t have expectation, you get 100% merits, you feel happy. So ideally, you give without any expectation for rewards or returns because when you expect returns, you have defilements (kilesa), it is lobha and having lobha will make you unhappy.

If you expect returns, it is not called giving, it is trading, like buying or selling. I give you this much and you give me this much back, like when you go to the store and you give the shop owner some money and he gives you something back, so this is trading, it is not dāna. Dāna is a one way street, it is the act of giving and not taking and if you are still taking, it means you are not giving. The result (of your giving) is automatic and comes from your mind. When you sacrifice you feel good. When you don’t sacrifice you don’t feel good.

By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com
Youtube: Dhamma in English
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

No.216 - “The real happiness is right here (inside) waiting for you to discover.”

Ajahn Succhart

“The real happiness is right here (inside) waiting for you to discover.”
*****
“What does running around do for you? It’s doing nothing for you. It’s better to be still. But that’s the hardest thing to do. If you can be still, if you can overcome your desire to go here and there, you will find peace and happiness. And this kind of happiness is far better than any kinds of happiness that you can find on this earth.

Stop going out to look for happiness. Happiness is right here within you. But you keep going away from this real happiness in you. You go look for the false kind of happiness outside. The real happiness is right here (inside) waiting for you to discover. You can find it by developing mindfulness. If you have mindfulness, you can stop your thinking. When you can stop your thoughts, you can stop your desire to go here and there.

If you keep thinking about Singapore, about Malaysia, about China, your desire will arise. Then, you want to go back to Singapore. You want to go to Malaysia. You want to go to China. But if you don’t think about it, if you only think about Buddho, Buddho, Buddho, there is no desire to go anywhere. Then, you can be here, be still and be happy without having to do anything. So, try to develop mindfulness. This is very important. This is the key to your success.

The Buddha said that mindfulness is the main element of success. Without mindfulness, nothing can happen. If you have no mindfulness, you cannot have samādhi. If you have no samādhi, you cannot use wisdom to get rid of your desire.

So, do what I told you to do. Keep controlling your thoughts from the time you get up, either by using a mantra or by focusing on your body. Whatever you do with your body, keep watching your body. Don’t let your mind go elsewhere. Bring it here and now, in the present. The present is in the body or at the recitation of mantra.

If you go to the past or to the future, you’ve already started thinking. You have to think to go to the past. When you asked yourself, ‘What happened yesterday?’ This is already a thought form. When you asked yourself, ‘What is going to happen tomorrow?’ This is another thought form. So, you have to stop. Stop going to the past or to the future by concentrating on the present moment, on your body or on a mantra. Then, your mind will become blank, empty, peaceful, and happy. It’s not heavy-hearted.

Your mind becomes heavy-hearted because you think about something and you want to take some actions on it but you can’t. The inability to do something makes you feel heavy-hearted. But if you don’t think about it, your mind becomes light-hearted. So, stop thinking. Thinking is bad for you. Thinking is worse than smoking a cigarette because thinking is the one that causes you to go to smoke. Thinking causes you to get addicted to something. It all comes from your thoughts. So, if you can stop thinking, you can stop all your addictions, all your desire.

“Dhamma in English, Apr 24, 2018.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
www.phrasuchart.com
Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

215 - The Four types of Karma

aṅguttara nikāya
4. book of the fours

237. The Noble Path

“Monks, these four types of kamma have been directly realized, verified, & made known by me. Which four? There is kamma that is dark with dark result. There is kamma that is bright with bright result. There is kamma that is dark & bright with dark & bright result. There is kamma that is neither dark nor bright with neither dark nor bright result, leading to the ending of kamma.

“And what is kamma that is dark with dark result? There is the case where a certain person fabricates an injurious bodily fabrication, fabricates an injurious verbal fabrication, fabricates an injurious mental fabrication. Having fabricated an injurious bodily fabrication, having fabricated an injurious verbal fabrication, having fabricated an injurious mental fabrication, he rearises in an injurious world. On rearising in an injurious world, he is there touched by injurious contacts. Touched by injurious contacts, he experiences feelings that are exclusively painful, like those of the beings in hell. This is called kamma that is dark with dark result.

“And what is kamma that is bright with bright result? There is the case where a certain person fabricates a non-injurious bodily fabrication … a non-injurious verbal fabrication … a non-injurious mental fabrication … He rearises in a non-injurious world … There he is touched by non-injurious contacts … He experiences feelings that are exclusively pleasant, like those of the Beautiful Black Devas. This is called kamma that is bright with bright result.

“And what is kamma that is dark & bright with dark & bright result? There is the case where a certain person fabricates a bodily fabrication that is injurious & non-injurious … a verbal fabrication that is injurious & non-injurious … a mental fabrication that is injurious & non-injurious … He rearises in an injurious & non-injurious world … There he is touched by injurious & non-injurious contacts … He experiences injurious & non-injurious feelings, pleasure mingled with pain, like those of human beings, some devas, and some beings in the lower realms. This is called kamma that is dark & bright with dark & bright result.

“And what is kamma that is neither dark nor bright with neither dark nor bright result, leading to the ending of kamma? Right view, right resolve, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. This is called kamma that is neither dark nor bright with neither dark nor bright result, leading to the ending of kamma.

“These, monks, are the four types of kamma directly realized, verified, & made known by me.”