Let’s feed the mind more than the body

Tan Ajaan: Actually in the practice, we do not have to study a lot. It mostly depends on our own meditation. But if he practises and gets stuck on samādhi or has a problem, he can come to ask for help. Teaching is not that difficult. In the early days foreigners stayed with Luangpor Chah who didn’t speak English, but they were still able to learn from him just by watching him and following his example.

So meditation practice is not just about sitting and listening, but it is about knowing what should be done and then doing it. Actually, just knowing one word is enough – ‘sati’ or ‘mindfulness’. Just knowing that one should recite Buddho all day long and being able to do so is enough. We don’t need to know a whole lot.

Tell him that if he wants to come, he may. But whether he can stay for a long time or not, we will need to see. There are many factors that need to be considered. If he wants to, he may stay for a while to try it out.

(Distributing Dhamma books) Please do read the book, otherwise it will be like useless scrap paper. If you read it, though, it will be like gold, and you will gain great wealth.

Question: If the repetition of Buddho has not yet yielded good results, do we just continue with it, or should we change techniques?

Tan Ajaan: Any technique is acceptable as long as you can control your thinking. You don’t want to think too much. (Asking a layperson) Do you still practice?

Layperson: Yes. Tan Ajaan: Having studied, what should you do next? Practise by yourself, right?

Question: Yes, practise at home by myself.

Tan Ajaan: Don’t think that we have graduated and can now stop practising. We have only learned the theoretical aspects but have not yet mastered the core of the practice. We should use the knowledge we have gained to practise until we achieve the path and fruition of nibbāna. If we practise, we will definitely get there. Just like if we eat, we will definitely get full. But if we do not eat, we will not become full.

Therefore, we should be diligent, exert ourselves, have patience, endurance, and discipline, and force ourselves to practise when it is time to do so. Don’t practice according to your emotions. If we just follow our feelings, then whenever we are not in the mood we will not practise.

Since most of the time our emotions discourage us from meditating, we have to force ourselves. When we wake up in the morning we should sit in concentration, pay respect to the Buddha, chant, and listen to Dhamma talks. Before sleeping we should again pay respect to the Buddha, chant, and listen to Dhamma talks.

At the least, we should listen to Dhamma talks during the day when we are free. We have to have a fixed routine in the same way we eat our meals on a regular basis. If we have time to eat, surely we also have time to meditate. Meditation is like feeding the mind. If we give food to the body at regular times, why can’t we do the same for the mind?

Try to do it often, for the mind is hundreds of times more important than the body. The body is a temporary thing, and after not too long it will die. The mind never dies, but it is hungry all the time because we do not feed it, because we do not practice Dhamma.

If we practise then in future we will be full all the time. The important thing is the mind; it is our foundation, because it does not die along with the body. If we meditate, then when we no longer have a body we will not be restless, but will live with contentment and happiness, having Dhamma to feed the mind. Without Dhamma to nourish the mind, we will be starving, agitated, and distressed when our body ceases to function.

Let us try to practise as much as possible. Let’s feed the mind more than the body. No matter how much we nourish the body, it will still eventually die, but the mind never dies. Without food, the mind will only experience hunger. Once it gets the food of Dhamma, though, it will be happy and satisfied. There is no one who can do this for us; we are the ones who have to do the work ourselves. Just like no one can eat on our behalf, no one can meditate on our behalf either. We ought to take this maxim to heart: oneself is one’s own refuge. So let’s try to meditate.

By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto