No.260 - “Your mind does not need that kind of puññā. Your mind right now needs peace, samādhi and paññā (wisdom).”

“Your mind does not need that kind of puññā. Your mind right now needs peace, samādhi and paññā (wisdom).”

Sometimes your mind is too slow so you have to push it, and sometimes it goes too fast and you have to pull it back. The Buddha said you have to stay in the middle path, just like the string of a lute. If you tighten it too tight, it can break, but if you don't string it tight enough, you cannot play it to make a sound. So you always have to watch your mind, to always be in equanimity.

Try to be in the neutral position. Try to calm your mind, so it remains calm and mindful. Don't let your thoughts fool you sometimes. At times you may think too much and want to do what your thoughts tell you to do. But you have to accept reality that you are not in that position to do that yet. You have to go step by step. So fundamentally, you have to maintain mindfulness and be aware of what you are thinking. Better still is to not let your mind think at all. If you want to think, bring it back to Buddho, or investigate the body by going through the 32 parts of the body.

Try not to let your mind wander in discursive thinking, thinking about this or that and so forth. If you want to think, then think about the Dhamma, think about the 32 parts and repulsiveness of the body. Otherwise let it be blank and not think about anything. That will be good. Concentrate on your breathing or what you are doing. Be mindful of the movement of your body.

Try to be strict with yourself. For instance, if you know you have to do a certain thing at a particular time, then do it. Suppose at this particular time you have to sit, then sit, and if you have to walk, then walk. Do not give in to excuses for not doing it, because it will become a habit. You will then keep on excusing yourself and do something else instead. As soon as you move away from your practice, you are regressing. You are going backward and not forward.

Sometimes your kilesas tell you that you are doing puññā or making merit by helping other people, but it is not enough for your mind. Your mind does not need that kind of puññā. Your mind right now needs peace, samādhi and paññā (wisdom).

By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Youtube: Dhamma in English

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

No.259 - This pond is clear

This pond is clear

'Just as if, in the midst of the mountains there were a pond, clear as a polished mirror, where a man with good eyesight standing on the bank could see oyster-shells, gravelbanks, and shoals of fish, on the move or stationary. And he might think: "This pond is clear, there are oyster-shells ... ",

Just so, with mind concentrated, he knows: "Birth is finished, the holy life has been led, done is what had to be done, there is nothing further here."

No.258 - The kamma that affects us is to be born.

“The kamma that affects us is to be born.”

- - -

Question:  When there are natural disasters like tsunami or flood, there are a lot of people died and lost their property, but there are also people who lived in the same area survived. Is this because of kamma? 

Than Ajahn:  No, as far as natural occurrences, it has nothing to do with kamma. It just happens. It happens due to the interaction of the 4 elements – the earth, water, fire and wind. When they interact, they can cause storms, and they can cause earthquakes. If you happened to be in that place, you would be affected by it. If you were in a different place, you wouldn’t be affected by it. So, it is not kamma.

The kamma that affects us is to be born. If we weren’t born, we won’t be affected by natural occurrences. And the cause of our kamma is our desires or our cravings. These cravings push us to come and be born into this world. Once we were born, our body will have to live with the natural occurrences. Sometimes we have to face the storms. Sometimes we have to face the floods. Sometimes we have to face the droughts. These natural occurrences were already there, whether we were there or not. If we happened to go to that place when the natural disaster occurrs, then we will have to experience it. So, our kamma is to be born. If we weren’t born, we don’t have to face all these occurrences.

“Dhamma in English, Jul 4, 2018.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

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

No.257 - "Not by mere speech nor solely by listening.

[The Blessed One:] "Not by mere speech nor solely by listening.

  Can one advance on this firm path of practice By which the wise ones, the meditators, Are released from the bondage of Mara.

 "Truly, the wise do not pretend, for they have understood the way of the world. By final knowledge the wise are quenched: They have crossed over attachment to the world."

No.256 - Song of Samsara

Song of Samsara ~ Milarepa

https://justdharma.com/s/6mwjz

When you are young and vigorous

You never think of old age coming,

But it approaches slow and sure

Like a seed growing underground.

When you are strong and healthy

You never think of sickness coming,

But it descends with sudden force

Like a stroke of lightning.

When involved in worldly things

You never think of death’s approach.

Quick it comes like thunder

Crashing round your head.

Sickness, old age and death

Ever meet each other

As do hands and mouth.

Waiting for his prey in ambush,

Yama is ready for his victim,

When disaster catches him.

Sparrows fly in single file. Like them,

Life, Death and Bardo follow one another.

Never apart from you

Are these three 'visitors'.

Thus thinking, fear you not

Your sinful deeds?

Like strong arrows in ambush waiting,

Rebirth in Hell, as Hungry Ghost, or Beast

Is (the destiny) waiting to catch you.

If once into their traps you fall,

Hard will you find it to escape.

Do you not fear the miseries

You experienced in the past?

Surely you will feel much pain

If misfortunes attack you?

The woes of life succeed one another

Like the sea’s incessant waves

One has barely passed, before

The next one takes its place.

Until you are liberated, pain

and pleasure come and go at random

Like passers-by encountered in the street.

Pleasures are precarious,

Like bathing in the sun;

Transient, too, as snowstorms

Which come without warning.

Remembering these things,

Why not practise the Dharma?

– Milarepa

from the book "The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa, Vol. 2"

ISBN: 978-0877730965  -  https://amzn.to/1ezFDSO

translated by Garma C. C. Chang

No.255 - Is reaching jhāna make someone becoming a sotāpanna?

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:

No.254 - Nanda, the cowherd

Nanda, the cowherd

At one time the Blessed One lived in Kosambi on the bank of river Ganges.

The Blessed One seeing a huge mass of wood carried along by the current of the river, addressed the monks:

Monks, do you see that huge mass of wood carried along by the current of river Ganges?     Yes, venerable sir we do.

Monks, if this mass of wood does not reach the hither bank, the thither bank, does not sink in the middle, does not reach high ground, is not seized by humans, is not seized by non-humans, is not caught in a whirlpool, does not deteriorate from within, it bends, slants and turns towards the ocean. What is the reason? Monks, the current of river Ganges bends, slants and turns towards the ocean.

In the same manner monks, if you do not reach the hither bank, the thither bank, do not sink in the middle, do not reach high ground, are not seized by humans, are not seized by non-humans, are not caught in a whirlpool, do not deteriorate from within, you bend, slant and turn towards extinction. What is the reason? Monks, right view bends, slants and turns towards extinction.

When this was said a certain monk said to the Blessed One, venerable sir, what is the hither shore, what is the thither shore, what is the middle, what is to sink, what is to reach high ground, what is the seizure by humans, what is the seizure by non-humans, what is the whirlpool and what is deterioration from within?

Monk, the hither shore is a synonym for the six personal spheres.

Monk, the thither shore is a synonym for the six external spheres.

To sink in the middle is a synonym for interest and greed.

Monk, to reach high ground is a synonym for measuring as I am.

Monk, what is seizure by humans? Here the monk lives associating lay people sharing interests, grief, pleased with the pleasant, unhappy with the unhappy and he yokes himself to whatever arisen situation. Monk, this is called seizure by humans.

Monks, what is seizure by non-humans? Here, monk, a certain one leads the holy life aspiring to be born in a certain heavenly clan. Leading the holy life observing these virtues, observances and austerities may I be born in the company of such and such a god! Monk, this is called seizure by non humans.

Monk, whirlpool is a synonym for the five strands of sensuality.

Monk, what is the deterioration from within? Here, monks, someone is not virtuous, thinks evil, vile thoughts, has secret actions, has only promised to be a recluse and lead the holy life. Evil thoughts leak from him. This is deterioration from within.

At that time the cowherd Nanda was in the vicinity of the Blessed One, and said to the Blessed One: Venerable sir, I do not reach the hither bank nor the thither bank. I do not sink in the middle, nor reach high ground. I am not seized by humans, non-humans, nor caught in a whirlpool and I do not deteriorate from within, may I gain the going forth and the higher ordination.

Then Nanda, return the herd to the master.

Venerable sir, they are with calves and they will go.

Nanda, you return them to the master.

Then the cowherd Nanda returned the herd to the master and approached the Blessed One and said: ßVenerable sir, I have returned the herd to the master. May I gain the going forth and the higher ordination in the presence of the Blessed One.

The cowherd Nanda obtained the going forth and the higher ordination and before long venerable Nanda secluded and withdrawing from the crowd, for whatever purpose sons of clansmen rightfully go forth, that highest end of the holy life he realized here and now.

Venerable Nanda became a worthy one.

No.253 - Jañà Bharadvaja, “who will disentangle this knot?”

Jañà Bharadvaja, “who will disentangle this knot?”

The Brahmin Jañà Bharadvaja approached the Blessed One, exchanged friendly greetings and sat on a side. Seated on a side the Brahmin Jaña Bharadvaja said a stanza to the Blessed One:

The internal and the external are entangled, the people are entangled,

I ask Gotama, who will disentangle this knot?

(The Blessed One:)

A wise man established in virtues, develops his mind and wisdom,

If clever and zealous to dispel, he disentangles the knot.

With the fading of greed, anger and ignorance,

The worthy one, destroying desires disentangles the knot.

Whenever name and matter is destroyed and there is nothing,

Of anger and perceptions of matter, then the knot is cut.

Then the Brahmin Jaña Baradvaja said to the Blessed One: ßGood Gotama, now I understand. It's like something overturned is put upright. Something covered is made manifest. It's like one who was lost was shown the path. It's like a lamp was lighted for the darkness, for those who have sight to see forms. In this and other ways the Teaching is well explained. Now I take refuge in good Gotama, in the Teaching and the Community of bhikkhus. May I gain the going forth and the higher ordination in the dispensation of Gotama.

The Brahmin Jaña Bharadvaja obtained the going forth and higher ordination. Soon after the higher ordination, venerable Jaña Bharadvaja secluded and withdrawn from the crowd abode diligently to dispel and before long, for whatever reason sons of clansmen rightfully leave the household and become homeless, that noble end of the holy life he realized, attained and abode. He knew, birth is destroyed, the holy life is lived, duties done, there is nothing more to do.

Venerable Bharadvaja became one of the worthy ones.

No.252 - Dharma - The teachings of Ajahn Mun

Dharma - The teachings of Ajahn Mun

The contemplation of the body is a practice that sages —including the Buddha—have described in many ways.

For example, in the Mahasatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (Great Establishings of Mindfulness Discourse), he calls it the contemplation of the body as a frame of reference. In the root themes of meditation, which a preceptor must teach at the beginning of the ordination ceremony, he describes the contemplation of hairs of the head, hairs of the body, nails, teeth, and skin.

In the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (Discourse on the Turning of the Wheel of Dhamma), he teaches that birth, aging, and death are stressful.

We have all taken birth now, haven’t we? When we practice so as to opanayiko—take these teachings inward and contemplate them by applying them to ourselves—we are not going wrong in the practice, because the Dhamma is akāliko, ever-present; and āloko, blatantly clear both by day and by night, with nothing to obscure it.

(Ajahn Mun)

No.251 - The Teachings of Ajahn Dhammadharo

Dharma

The Teachings of Ajahn Dhammadharo

Sometimes inconstancy makes us happy, sometimes it makes us sad. Say we hear that a person we don’t like is going to be demoted, or is sick or dying. It makes us gleeful, and we can’t wait for him or her to die. His body is impermanent, his life is uncertain—it can change—but we’re glad. That’s a defilement. Say we hear that a son or daughter has become wealthy, influential, and famous, and we become happy. Again, our mind has strayed from the noble path. It’s not firmly in right concentration. We have to make the mind neutral: not thrilled over things, not upset over things, not thrilled when our plans succeed, not upset when they don’t. When we can make the mind neutral like this, that’s the neutrality of right view. We see what’s wrong, what’s right, and try to steer the mind away from the wrong and toward the right. This is called right resolve, part of vipassanā-ñāṇa.

The same holds true with stress, whether it’s our stress and pain, or somebody else’s. Say we hear that an enemy is suffering. ‘Glad to hear it,’ we think. ‘Hope they hurry up and die.’ The heart has tilted. Say we hear that a friend has become wealthy, and we become happy; or a son or daughter is ill, and we become sad. Our mind has fallen in with suffering and stress. Why? Because we don’t have any knowledge. We’re unskilled. The mind isn’t centered. In other words, it’s not in right concentration. We have to look after the mind. Don’t let it fall in with stress. Whatever suffers, let it suffer, but don’t let the mind suffer with it. The people in the world may be pained, but the mind isn’t pained along with them. Pain may arise in the body, but the mind isn’t pained along with it. Let the body go ahead and suffer, but the mind doesn’t suffer. Keep the mind neutral. Don’t be pleased by pleasure, either—pleasure is a form of stress, you know. How so? It can change. It can rise and fall. It can be high and low. It can’t last. That’s stress. Pain is also stress: double stress. When you gain this sort of insight into stress—when you really see stress—vipassanā has arisen in the mind.

As for anattā, not-self: Once we’ve examined things and seen them for what they really are, we don’t make claims, we don’t display influence, we don’t try to show that we have the right or the power to bring things that are not-self under our control. No matter how hard we try, we can’t prevent birth, aging, illness, and death. If the body is going to be old, let it be old. If it’s going to hurt, let it hurt. If it has to die, let it die. Don’t be pleased by death, either your own or that of others. Don’t be upset by death, your own or that of others. Keep the mind neutral. Unruffled. Unfazed. This is saṅkhārūpekkhā-ñāṇa: letting saṅkhāras—all fabrications—follow their own inherent nature. The mind like this is in vipassanā.

This is the first branch of knowledge—vipassanā—in brief: You see that all things fashioned are inconstant, stressful, and not-self. You can disentangle them from your grasp. You can let go. This is where it gets good. How so? You don’t have to wear yourself out, lugging saṅkhāras around.

To be attached means to carry a load, and there are five heaps (khandhas) we carry:

rūpūpādānakkhandho: physical phenomena are the first load;

vedanūpādānakkhandho: feelings that we’re attached to are another;

saññūpādānakkhandho: the concepts and labels that we claim are ours are a pole for carrying a load on our shoulder;

saṅkhārūpādānakkhandho: the mental fabrications that we hang onto and think are ours;

viññāṇūpādānakkhandho: our attachment to sensory consciousness.

Go ahead: Carry them around. Hang one load from your left leg and one from your right. Put one on your left shoulder and one on your right. Put the last load on your head. And now: Carry them wherever you go—clumsy, encumbered, and comical.

Go ahead and carry them. The five khandhas are a heavy load,

Carry them everywhere you go,

and you waste your time suffering in the world.

The Buddha taught that whoever lacks discernment, whoever is unskilled, whoever doesn’t practice concentration leading to vipassanā-ñāṇa, will have to be burdened with stress, will always be loaded down. It’s pathetic. It’s a shame. They’ll never get away. When they’re loaded down like this, it’s really pathetic. Their legs are burdened, their shoulders burdened—and where are they going? Three steps forward and two steps back. Soon they’ll get discouraged, and then after a while they’ll pick themselves up and get going again.

Now, when we see inconstancy—that all fabrications, whether within us or without, are undependable; when we see that they’re stressful; when we see that they’re not our self, that they simply whirl around in and of themselves: When we gain these insights, we can put down our burdens, i.e., let go of our attachments. We can put down the past—i.e., stop dwelling in it. We can let go of the future—i.e., stop yearning for it. We can let go of the present—i.e., stop claiming it as the self. Once these three big baskets have fallen from our shoulders, we can walk with a light step. We can even dance. We’re beautiful. Wherever we go, people will be glad to know us. Why? Because we’re not encumbered. Whatever we do, we can do with ease. We can walk, run, dance and sing—all with a light heart. We’re Buddhism’s beauty, a sight for sore eyes, graceful wherever we go. No longer burdened, no longer encumbered, we can be at our ease. This is vipassanā-ñāṇa: the first branch of knowledge.

~

From Knowledge in Inner Strength & Parting Gifts: Talks by Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo, translated by Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu

https://www.dhammatalks.org/books/InnerStrength/Contents.html

No.250 - As a man who was ill.

As a man who was ill.

'Just as a man who was ill, suffering, terribly sick, with no appetite and weak in body, might after a time recover, and regain his appetite and bodily strength, and he might think: "Before this I was ill ... ", and he would rejoice and be glad about that.

'As long, Sire, as a monk does not perceive the disappearance of the five hindrances in himself, he feels as if in sickness. But when he perceives the disappearance of the five hindrances in himself, it is as if he were freed from sickness.