The highest goal can only appear by rigorous meditation

Question : Is it possible for a free thinker or follower of another religion to practice meditation to eliminate defilements and gain wisdom? How will Tan Ajahn advise a free thinker to practice meditation?

Tan Ajahn: Other religions have ways of meditating also, like when they sing hymns in the chapel, this is also a form of meditation. When you sing hymns, you stop thinking about things that make you worried, sad, or unhappy. So this is a form of meditation. It is like repeating the mantra or chanting the sutta. It is the same thing.

So every religion uses some form of meditation to calm the mind. Some people cannot go to sleep, so they count sheep. This is another form of meditation. They just keep counting sheep: one sheep, two sheep, and three sheep. They just keep on counting. This will prevent you from thinking about things that make you agitated and restless.

When you don’t think about those things, then your mind will fall asleep. So I think there are different forms of meditation, it is just that people don’t call it meditation, or maybe they are not as intensive as in Buddhism.

In Buddhism we do a very intensive meditation because we want the highest goal. And the highest goal can only appear by rigorous meditation.

Question : I understand that suffering is not getting what we want. However, I am not craving anything, yet I am suffering. Family challenges keep coming to me regularly. How can I use my practice to overcome this suffering?

Tan Ajahn: Not wanting to face your family challenges is another form of desire. You have to accept that when you live with people you are bound to have challenges, you cannot avoid them, and you have to face them calmly. That’s all you have to do.

But if you have the desire not to face them, this is the cause of your suffering—not the challenges, but the desire to avoid them. So you have to watch your mind closely. What do you desire right now? It’s this desire you want to get rid of, not the things that cause you to have this desire.

Question : How do we know if our deceased parents or relatives have received the merits which we dedicated to them? Is there any sign or feeling to indicate so?

Tan Ajahn: If they don’t come into your dream, or when you meditate, they don’t come to see you, then you won’t know. You just have to assume that they did, but also keep in mind that it doesn’t matter, as long as you do your part. That’s all you have to do.

Question : How can we know that we have attained Sotāpanna, Sakadāgāmī, Anāgāmī, or Arahant? How do we know that we have eradicated sakkāyadiṭṭhii? Is it important to know?

Tan Ajahn: When you are sick and you get well, do you know the difference? It is the same way. When you still have suffering with your body, suffering with the painful feeling of the body, then you haven’t yet attained Sotāpanna. But when you no longer are affected by the changes in the body, whether it is getting old, getting sick or dying, then you know that you have achieved Sotāpanna because you have let go of the body.

You have used paññā to see that the body is just the four elements. There is no part of you in that body, so you no longer care what happens to the body.

Question : I do not have a good foundation of Dhamma and I am very new to Buddhism. Could Tan Ajahn please advise and guide me to start walking the Dhamma path correctly?

Tan Ajahn: The first step is to study the Dhamma teachings, like tonight you are there to listen to the Dhamma talk and the discussion we are having. You are studying the Dhamma teachings. You have to do it until you fully understand what you have to do next.

First you have to study everything to know what you have to do. Once you know what you have to do, then you do it. That is the second level we call paṭipatti. The first level we call pariyatti, which means study. First you study the Buddha’s teachings through Dhamma talks or reading the Suttas or books written by the Noble Disciples, and after you have studied, you know what you have to do—then you do it. After you have done it, you will experience the result from your practice which we call attainment.

You will achieve various stages of attainment. For example, you know you have to give to charity, you know you have to keep the precepts, and you know that you have to develop mindfulness in order to be successful in your meditation. So you have to do it. Once you do it, then the results will appear.

By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto