The Teachings of Ajahn Suchart
Tue, 18 March 2025
"The hard part is the practice."
So we have to go to the temple to listen to sermons and Dhamma to gain wisdom and then we have to put it into practice. The hard part is the practice. It's easy to listen to, like a drug addict who knows that drugs are more harmful than beneficial, but he can't quit. When it's time to take them, his heart will shake. He has to be brave, he has to dare to leave them, to escape them. If he's close to them, he can't quit. If he knows what he's addicted to, he has to make up his mind to quit. For example, the Lord Buddha knew that he was still addicted to the palace. He stayed there until the age of 29, even though he knew that it wasn't true happiness. Finally, he had the chance when another trap arose. At that time, he had to make a decision. Before, the suffering was only 1 time, now it's 2 times. At that time, he had a resolute mind, so he escaped from the palace.
Because it's difficult to go. It's not easy to give up being a layman. I've been through it, so I know. The monk said that when he was going to ordain, it was like he was going to die. But he said that if he was going to die because of ordination, he would accept it. I happened to read his brief biography. He also told about the time he was going to ordain. If he was going to die because of ordination, he would die, willing to sacrifice to repay the kindness of his parents. Therefore, giving up and cutting off things is not easy, not a toy, but it is very beneficial. Therefore, we should not see it as a small matter. We should see it as an important matter, something that we should try to do, not beyond our ability. It just depends on whether we dare to do it or not. If we do not have enough strength, we should try to cultivate it first, try to accumulate strength, accumulate enough merit. Right now, it is not ripe enough, like a fruit that is not fully ripe, it has not yet come out of the tree. Until it is fully ripe, it will come out on its own. We are like the fruit. In order to be fully ripe, we must diligently accumulate various merits, such as generosity, morality, renunciation, wisdom, loving-kindness, diligence, patience, and determination, like we intend to make merit once a month. It is called determination. We should increase it to twice a month, three times a month is even better. We should do more, but it does not have to be like this. One month it will be like this, but another period we will go alone sometimes. We do not have to come in groups like this. Whenever I have free time, I go to the temple, stay at the temple, and practice. If I keep doing this, sooner or later, I will definitely ordain. The male and female lay devotees who have ordained do this, gradually moving step by step, not doing it all at once, except for some who have already accumulated enough merit.
Phra Ajahn Suchart Aphichato
Wat Yan Sangwararam, Chonburi
