- Medin Full Moon Poya Dayfalls on March 13
- Dana, Seela, and Bhavana as paths to higher realms
The following are excerpts from an interview with Theravada bhikkhu Ven. Ajahn Suchart Abhijato Maha Thera of Thailand. The Maha Thera is well known across the globe for his effective Dhamma teaching methods and meditation practice.
Q: There are 40 types of meditation objects to focus on. Which one is the best, or does it depend on one’s individual preference?
A: Of these 40 objects of meditation, each has a specific purpose/reason for using it. For example, if you feel anger toward someone, you practise mettā (loving-kindness) to calm your mind. If you struggle with sensual desires, you use asubha (contemplation of the unattractive). But generally speaking, to develop deep meditation- the jhāna – one usually practises recollection of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, mindfulness of breathing, or contemplation of death.
These can all be used as meditation objects. To understand them in detail, you should study the 40 kammaṭṭhānas.
Q: How can we use breath observation in daily life as a form of mindfulness practice?
A: You can use it when you practise sitting meditation. You cannot do breath observation at other times. But you can watch your body at other times – you can watch what you are doing. When you are not doing anything, or when you are sitting down or standing still, then you can watch your breath.
Q: How does watching the breath help us overcome distractions and deepen concentration (samādhi)?
A: By focusing on the breath, you ignore everything else and keep your attention solely on it. It’s like when you are watching a football game and ignore everyone around you.
Q: Does it mean that we can watch and concentrate on anything other than the breath?
A: No, because certain things you watch can make you emotional. You don’t want to focus on anything that triggers emotions. Instead, you should focus on something neutral, like the breath.
Q: We don’t get attached to the breath emotionally?
A: No, you do not get angry or sad from watching the breath. But if you’re watching a movie, for example, you can become happy or sad based on what you see.
Q: The Buddha as Bodhisattva completed the Paramitas over many lifetimes and was born as Prince Siddhartha in his final birth to become a Buddha. Why didn’t he achieve Enlightenment immediately, instead of practising for seven years before finding the Middle Path?
A: Because his wisdom was not yet fully developed. He had not yet realised the Four Noble Truths.
Q: But over countless lifetimes as a Bodhisattva, he had already completed the pāramitās to become the Buddha.
A: Yet, he still did not know the Four Noble Truths. In his last birth, he discovered the Four Noble Truths which meant he attained full Enlightenment.
Q: Among dāna, sīla, and bhāvanā, is dāna the best practice for attaining a better rebirth?
A: All three practices will lead to a better rebirth, but they result in different levels of rebirth. Dana will lead you to the heavenly realm of the Devas. Keeping the Five Precepts will prevent you from going to a lower realm of existence. If you keep the Five Precepts, you won’t be reborn as an animal, a hungry ghost, or in hell. If you practise charity (dāna), you are more likely to be reborn in the realm of the devas.
However, if you meditate, you can reach the realm of the Brahmā or the realm of the Noble Disciples. So, each practice yields different results.
Q: Is it wrong to acquire a lot of money? Having wealth enables us to do good deeds, such as building temples and offering dāna to the Sangha. Even during the Buddha’s time, wealthy kings and emperors invested significant resources in constructing monasteries like Jethawanarama for the Buddha. Doesn’t this mean that possessing money—and using it for good—can be beneficial?
A: It is not bad to have money if you earn it honestly—without cheating or harming others. If you are fortunate enough to succeed in your endeavours and accumulate wealth, having money is acceptable. But money can be harmful to you, if you get attached to money and such attachments may lead to worry, anxiety, or fear. Anyway, if you have wisdom, you know that money is something temporary that reflects the impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactoriness (dukkha), and non-self (anatta) of all things. In that case, you will keep only what you need and use any surplus to help others.
Q: As I understand, to become a Sotapanna, we first need to give up our attachment to the body. Could you explain, one by one, what attachments we need to relinquish on the path to attaining Sotapanna?
A: Before giving up your attachment to the body, you can give up your attachment to any external possessions such as money, status, or work. You can become a bhikkhu. By becoming a monk, embracing homelessness and having no possessions, it will be easy for you to give up your attachment to the body.
Q: Here ‘ Giving up” the body means relinquishing one’s attachment to it right? We still have to feed it and take medicine when it gets sick. Am I correct?
A: Yes, you still need to look after your body, but in a detached manner. If you cannot feed it, then you just have to leave it and let it go hungry. You should not break the Precept to steal some food to eat because by stealing, you are committing a bad Kamma which can be harmful to your mind. Thus you do not want to commit any bad kamma in order to protect or look after your body.
Q: How does Buddhist teachings explain encounters with ghosts or supernatural beings? Can we see ghosts?
A: If you have psychic powers, then you can see ghosts, spiritual beings.
Q: There are stories of people encountering ghosts when passing by a cemetery. Could there be any truth to these stories
A: I think for most people, it’s a mental fabrication. When they are near dead people, they may start to visualise the spirits of the deceased.
Q: Kamma is not the only factor influencing what happens to us. What other forces shape our experiences?
A: The law of nature. As long as we live, we are governed by the laws of nature such as wildfires, floods, volcano eruptions, or even forces such as economic downturns or war. All these things can affect our lives. But they are not necessarily caused by our Kamma. Our real Kamma is simply being born into this world. If we can stop the cycle of birth, we will no longer have to endure such calamities. Through meditation and developing wisdom, we can eliminate our cravings and break free from the cycle of existence.
Q: Does a king or head of state who declares war or orders attacks on a terrorist group violate the First Precept? Does he commit a sin by causing the deaths of others?
A: Yes, when you order killing, whether you kill yourself or instruct others to do it, you break the First Precept ( Abstain from killing.)
Q: But the intention of the leader is to control a terrorist group. Does he still break the Precept?
A: Yes, in that case, he becomes a terrorist himself. But you do not call him a terrorist. Anyway, those who are engaged in killing others are terrorists.
Q: Whether he is a Head of State or otherwise?
A: Yes, whether as Head of State or at times as a judge who has to pass the judgment that someone should be killed or something similar, that also violates the First Precept. Even though not directly carrying out the killing, instructing other people to do it on one’s behalf still violates the Precept.
– Ven. Ajahn Suchart Abhijato Maha Thera was born on November 2, 1947. Having completed his degree in Civil Engineering at California State University, Fresno, USA, he returned to his motherland where he designed an ice cream parlour for a brief stint.
Quite soon, inspired by a Dhamma book, he decided to go in search of “true happiness,” to find inner peace through the practice of Buddhist meditation. He became a bhikkhu at the age of 27 and received ordination at Wat Bovornives in Bangkok on February 19, 1975, with Somdet Phra Ñanasarivara, the late Supreme Patriarch (Somdet Phra Sangharaja), as his Preceptor.
Ven. Ajahn Suchart Abhijato Maha Thera resides in Wat Yansangwararam, Thailand.
