Transcript of Evening Talk with Venerable Passano

Venue: Buddhadasa Indapanno Archives (BIA)/ Suan Mokkh

December 16, 2013: 18:30-20:00

“New Year, New Life, Life Can Be Improved” by Venerable Ajahn Passano

In terms of meditation, it is always important to recollect what we’re actually doing, and the opportunity to allow the mind to dwell in awareness and clarity. This is giving ourselves that opportunity. So often we approach meditation as something we have to do, have to achieve, have to accomplish, have to make happen, and that usually leads to more complications than necessary. Approach it as a gift to yourself, giving yourself the opportunity to settle, to be aware, to be alert, to be present with something that fosters a sense of clarity. Be present with the attention to the breath as it comes in, as it goes out, paying attention to the body, in the sense of relaxing into an upright posture that is nicely balanced, sort of just right. It’s one of the phrases that many of the great Dhamma teachers here in emphasize, the sense of just right, in Thai: “paw dee”. Establishing attention in a kind of a just right way, not forcing, not pushing, not too slack, not too wooly. Being present with the experience of the breath, with the body, and when one does that the mind will naturally settle, the heart will become more clear. Give oneself the opportunity to experience that. We tend to fill the mind with experiences of confusion, agitation and stress. Give yourself a break, just settle into attention; settle into awareness.

This evening I’ve been requested to speak on Dhamma yet also keep to this month’s theme: New Year, New Life, Life can be improved. This is a little saying that of course is a translation that Ajahn Budhadhasa himself used. I think it’s a good theme to explore in the sense that the New Year is coming, people start making New Year’s resolutions, thinking of what they’re going to do for the New Year that’s different from the old year. Usually the New Year’s resolution lasts about 6 hours. That’s usually not a particularly fruitful exercise. My new year’s resolutions use to be like that anyway. But I think reflecting from the place of the Buddha’s teachings, it’s an arbitrary assignment that there is a “New Year”. The reality is that we can bring new life into whatever we’re doing at any point in time, and that establishing of awareness is a new life. This evening is a new evening, and tomorrow is a new day. And we can bring a sense of determination to make skillful use of that. It is helpful to make that conscious. There’s a very well known discourse of the Buddha, where the Buddha is pointing out that the past is gone, the future is really unknown, but with each presently arisen phenomena, bring awareness to it, bring a sense of taking responsibility for it. That’s where change can happen, in a sense that life can be improved. We can be making choices that allow us to really improve our perspectives, our conduct, our quality of heart. This afternoon I was talking to the group that was here about the word that is usually used by the Buddha when we think about meditation. The word in the scriptural language is bhāvanā, and it’s actually the same word that the Thais have taken, and kind of Sanskritized it and made it into “patana”, which means to develop, to improve, to make better in some way. And so our efforts at the cultivation and development of the path that the Buddha has laid down gives us an opportunity for establishing a very new and fresh approach to our existence. So particularly the development of is an important foundation, because mindfulness is the basis by which we can bring a sense of clarity to our experience, whether it’s pleasant or unpleasant, whether it’s wanted or unwanted, whether it’s something we like or dislike. We can be mindful of it, we can be aware very clearly of what that experience is. As we become aware of that, we can be more clear with the choices that we make, and any improvement, development, cultivation that we do has to rely on a clarity of the way that we choose our actions in body, speech and mind. Because so often we actually don’t choose, we just do it unconsciously, mindlessly, out of habit. We do things just following the world around us, and there’s so often a distinct lack of clarity in the choices that we make. We cultivate a mindfulness that gives us a foundation to make skillful choices. Because the reality is whether we make a skillful choice or not in our actions, body, speech or mind, we receive the fruits of those actions. We say something that is timely, that is kind, we receive the fruits of that. We say something that is kind of negative, critical, confrontational, we receive the fruits of that. So make sure that we are as clear as possible, because there is a big difference between the results of something that is negative and unskillful, and something that is wholesome and skillful. Certainly you know what we actually want is to be happy, to experience well-being, to be somewhat peaceful, and it is dependent on these choices that we make. Bring a conscious awareness to our actions of body, speech, and mind, so that we can facilitate the experience of well-being. When one puts it as stark as that, you think: “Well that should be pretty easy.” Of course you know the reality of our interactions and social complications, and our own habits and tendencies keep dragging us along in ways that we keep coming back to: “Why am I suffering again?” So it’s just this sense of really being able to remind ourselves of this fact that we can improve, we can cultivate, we can develop. I think of , my teacher, who gave very simple examples to illustrate how we cultivate and practice. We want to be mindful, we want to be peaceful, we want to have wisdom and discernment, but it takes time. Ajahn Chah was saying it does take time, like a child who first goes to school. One first starts to learn how to write, and when the child first start to learn how to write, the letters aren't very neat, they are not very straight, they’re not very even, and it doesn't look very beautiful. But as the child continues to practice writing, continues to be diligent in learning the writing, it starts to flow, and it’s legible, and it’s beautiful--and it’s all through that practice and training. Like myself as a monk, particularly in Ajahn Chah’s tradition, one of the basic things that we do is we sew our own robes. And when you first start to sew robes, it can be pretty messy. You don’t get the most beautiful robe the first time you sew, and it takes time even just to sit down to learn how to use a sewing machine. Sometimes you actually have to get the coordination going without any cloth or thread in the machine. You just want to learn how to get that stupid machine to keep going! But then you know after a while, you practice with it, you train with it, and you get to actually sew pretty basic things. Then you develop those skills, and you keep building on those skills, and after time you’re able to complete a whole robe. It’s just through that practice and training. I think that’s one of the characteristics of the Buddhist teaching, that emphasis on practice and training. It’s not about thinking through some philosophical analysis of the universe; it’s not about just having some kind of faith and devotion in some ideal. It’s about taking on a training, and continuing to practice and work with that training. And the training is about training our body, speech, and mind. So that learning how to pay attention to the results of our actions, and then being willing to take on a training that helps those fundamentals of our existence, our actions of body, speech, and mind to bear fruit in well- being, in happiness, and in clarity. It’s something that we can do; it’s something that’s possible. For me one of the very beautiful discourses of the Buddha, just a simple statement where he says: “This training can be accomplished by you. If it weren’t possible for you to reap the fruits of this training, I wouldn’t teach it.” These are the things that the Buddha is teaching. He’s giving us the tools to cultivate, develop, practice, and allow us to experience the fruits, and dwell in those fruits. But it is important to reflect on how do we train with this, how do we work with it. The of the Buddha, which is in the teachings, is the path the Buddha laid out for the cessation of suffering. Traditionally it’s broken down into three kind of areas, or groupings. They are called the three trainings, or in : tri sikkha. The training in virtue is around precepts and conduct. I think certainly for those of us who grew up in a Western or Judeo-Christian culture, our relationship to precepts and moral injunctions usually has that flavor of being a commandment. I don’t know about anybody else, but when somebody commands me to do something, I tend to resist. I think we’re all like that as human beings, in some ways, training the mind is like that. When we command it to do something, like a cat, even if you put some food out for a cat, and you go push it, “Go and eat that”. What does a cat do? It doesn’t comply. It just digs its paws in, and says ‘Back off!” And our mind does that. But the relationship with moral precepts and virtue from a Buddhist perspective is training. And that’s embedded in the language, like when we’re taking the . The first precept, in the scriptural language is pāṇātipātā veramaṇī sikkhāpadaṃ samādiyāmi, and the verb samādiyāmi means to determine, or to undertake. I undertake ‘to do this,’ and the word that we translate as a precept is from the word sikkhāpadaṃ, that’s two words together, pada is literally ‘foot,’ but it means the basis or the foundation, and sikkhā of course is training. So sikkhāpadaṃ means the basis of training. So, I undertake the basis of training to refrain from taking a life of any living creature. That’s a very different approach than a commandment, something that we take on ourselves and recognize that we’re taking it on as a basis for training ourselves. And training in the Buddha’s perspective is actually engaging in the activity of: “How does it work? What happens? What’s the result? What are the obstacles I have as I take this on?” Sikkhā, the training, in and Thai is suksa, which means to study, to learn, and it has that whole spectrum. So practicing is studying and learning. We’re using our actions to study and learn. How do we engage in a way that doesn’t create conflict? How do we engage in a way that doesn’t create disharmony? How do we engage in a way that develops trust and well-being? Of course that’s the purpose of the precepts, establishing our conduct of body and speech in a way that establishes trust and non- remorse. So the immediate fruit of keeping within the bounds of precepts is that there’s no basis for regret or remorse. That’s a big deal. You can think of how many times you go back with that kind of regret, “I wish I hadn’t said that,” and you think about it, and there’s that regret. That remorse, “Oh, I should have been more kind,” or “I should have been more sensitive.” But that’s part of the training and that takes mindfulness. This is where the path works together. So when we think of the three trainings of virtue, meditation, and wisdom, our virtue is trained in conjunction with the meditation aspects, and the wisdom aspects. They have to support each other; they have to feed each other. They need to interact and connect with each other. Because the three trainings are mutually supportive, in terms of our actions and speech, establish those meditative aspects. The training of meditation includes training in effort or application of energy, application of mindfulness and awareness, attention, and then being able to settle and establish the mind firmly. That is what the mind-training meditation is trying to accomplish. It gives skills in order to apply our effort and energy to things without getting distracted, without burning ourselves out, accomplishing a balance in the application of effort and energy. It’s about having the ability to be mindful. Mindful from the Buddha’s perspective, the Buddha rarely uses the word ‘mindfulness’ standing alone, it almost always is in conjunction with the quality of clear comprehension. So mindfulness and clear comprehension go together. There isn’t such a thing as mindfulness that excludes , or is not attentive to the circumstances and the implications of our actions. One of the necessary aspects of mindfulness is that it’s actually sensitive and attuned to the time and place, to the people, and to the results that are going to take place. There is a relinquishing of selfish interest, and one does things in a way that are based in non-delusion rather than delusion. It’s not just about being so focused on something, thinking that just being mindful of one little thing is going to be enough. The way the mind works is that I can look down and see the clock there and I can see what it’s doing. But there’s all sorts of other things happening around it, and that’s a part of mindfulness: seeing the context of our actions, seeing the context of our relationship with ourselves and others. So that cultivation of mindfulness is not narrow, it’s actually a broad and clear way of relating to the world around us. Of course, the ability to have that firmly established mind, is having the stability of mind that isn’t easily shaken by the contact with the natural experience of things that you like or you dislike, things that are pleasurable or not pleasurable. And recognizing that it’s ordinary to experience something that is pleasing, that we like, isn’t a reason to get all excited and gratified and absorbed into it to the point of forgetting that: as pleasurable as anything can be, it’s still going to change, it’s still impermanent, it’s still based on all sorts of conditions in order for it to be there. It is exactly the same thing with something that is not pleasurable or not something that we want. If there is something that we like, we can still be present with it and not be shaken or get overwhelmed. Usually what we tend to project is the way we would like things to be, and try to manipulate conditions so that they are pleasing to us. We resent when conditions aren’t pleasing, but to be able to have internal clarity and adaptability enables us to be even and clear in whatever circumstance we are in. A good example of that is the story of , the senior Western disciple of Ajahn Chah, who tells of his experience with Ajahn Chah in the early days of his training with Ajahn Chah. Ajahn Sumedho was a pioneer in the sense that he was the first Westerner, and for many years he was the only Westerner living with Ajahn Chah. It takes a while to have the language skills to understand what’s going on around you, and it could be quite frustrating at times. In those days, Ajahn Sumedho was very keen on meditation, very focused, so he used to resent the times when he had to do group work activities, which was actually every day at Pah Pong, Ajahn Chah’s monastery. The thing that was his real pet peeve was sweeping. He’d come out and sweep, and sweep the leaves, and then you’d be sweeping, you sweep this, and the leaves are falling right behind you. Then he’d say, “What’s the use, I could be meditating in my kuti (meditation hut) rather than chasing these leaves around.” Usually he wasn’t very enthusiastic about it. The bell would ring for the sweeping, everyone would come out, but he’d be about the last person to come out. And of course, all that’s left is some scraggly broom that isn’t very much fun to sweep with anyway. So one day he was feeling sorry for himself and irritated by sweeping. He was just standing there kind of glum, and Ajahn Chah, who is usually a very astute observer of human nature, walked past Ajahn Sumedho, stopped, smiled and said, “Oh, is Wat Pah Pong suffering?” and then he walked off. That got Ajahn Sumedho thinking, “Is Wat Pah Pong suffering? I certainly suffer at Wat Pah Pong, but Wat Pah Pong’s actually a really nice place! So seeing Wat Pah Pong and the things that we do, we have different duties, yet none of that is actually suffering. I’m not asked to do anything immoral or inappropriate; actually it’s all good things that I’m asked to do. But you know, I still make it suffering for myself.” So it’s separating that out, recognizing that something can be unpleasant, but we don’t have to suffer over it. We don’t have to create a problem around it. We don’t have to resent it or get swept up in it in some way that actually undermines our well-being and peace of mind. And again, that’s the training, the mind training, the meditation training. Being able to establish the mind firmly helps that clarity to see things and to see through things. But then it also works with the aspect of wisdom. Wisdom is not just some kind of theoretical formula that one applies to “Buddhist Wisdom,” but it’s the wisdom and discernment to see things in their true nature. Particularly the perspective that the Buddha is always trying to get us to pay attention to is: “What is it that creates suffering? How do we free ourselves from suffering?” That is a really important framework to be investigating. Think of the wisdom that the Buddha is encouraging us towards. It’s always towards: “How do we see through things so clearly that we don’t have to pick up any suffering?” Again, another example from Ajahn Chah, where at one point Ajahn Chah brought in these very large boundary marker stones into the monastery around the . But there were many left over, so that he arranged them into a garden area. So now there’s these big stones in the grounds of Wat Pah Pong, Ajahn Chah’s Monastery. I remember one time he was walking by and asked, “Is that stone heavy?” And of course if you would look at this huge stone you would say, “Yeah, it’s really heavy; it’s big.” And he said, “It’s not heavy if you don’t pick it up.” You know it’s like the same thing, “Is there suffering in the world?” or, “Is suffering a reality?” Yes, if you pick it up. Having the clarity and the wisdom to not be picking it up, this is a training. You know we keep picking it up. We can train ourselves to know the integrity of conduct, the clarity of mind, and the kind of view or perspective that’s attending to things in their true nature. By seeing things as they are, we give ourselves the option of opting out of suffering. It’s something we volunteer for. We can volunteer for more suffering, or we can do the opposite. We can give our attention to the things that allow us to experience well-being, clarity and peace. So these are things we can develop, we can cultivate. This is what the practice is for - the tri sikkha, training in virtue, in meditation, and in discernment. We can continue to work with, refine, and develop the skill to be able to choose to stay with what is peaceful and clear, and relinquish that which is suffering and creates dis-ease within us. I’ll leave those thoughts with you there for your reflection as a perspective or some thoughts on the phrase “New year, new life, life can be improved.” We’ve got enough time to give people the opportunity to ask questions.

Q&A

Questioner 1: I’m not quite sure how to ask this question, but what struck me is what you just said a while ago when you said that, “The stone is heavy, but you won’t know it’s heavy unless you pick it up, and it’s just like suffering. You don’t have to pick it up.” I’m in a stage where I am battling a loss in my life and I’m suffering. I didn’t pick up that stone; it was flung at me. So, I’m not quite sure how to deal with it. This is actually the second session I’ve ever attended on . I’m actually Catholic, but I’m open, because I’m not finding that helpful enough for what I’m going through.

Ajahn Pasanno: From a Buddhist perspective, a sense of some experience of loss, or something in life that is unwanted, just as you expressed it by saying that “It was flung at me,” is one of the things that the Buddha encourages us to be contemplating: the different realities of human existence. We should be contemplating every single day: “I’m of the nature to age, I’ve not gone beyond aging. I’m of the nature to sicken, I’ve not gone beyond sickness. I’m of the nature to die, I’ve not gone beyond dying. All that is mine, beloved and pleasing will become otherwise, will become separated from me.” So these are the truths of , change, separation from the loved, and then the last one: “I’m the owner of my actions and heir to my actions, born of my actions, related to my actions, abide, supported by my actions. Whatever I will do, for good or for ill, of that, I will be the heir.” So there is recognition of the fundamental law of cause and effect. According to our actions, we receive the fruits of our actions. These reflections help us to have a willingness to contemplate the natural occurrence of aging, illness, and death. Whether it’s ourselves or others, or separation from the loved, whether it's other persons, material things or our own mental states, it’s a constant truth that we need to familiarize ourselves with in order to establish a quality of clarity and equanimity. It’s not just to be fatalistic and negative, but to recognize, “That’s actually the true nature of things.” That’s nature following its course. And whenever you start to get into a fight with nature, you always lose. It’s giving an opportunity to put it in a broader perspective. Then there is also that feeling when something changes, something’s different, and that it’s about me. In reality, this is the Universal Truth: we’re not actually excepted; there’s no exception; it isn’t just something that happens to other people; it happens to us; it happens to everybody. What makes it very heavy is the me bit. It’s like with Ajahn Chah saying with this big rock, on its own, when seeing it in its context of its nature, then it’s not heavy. It’s when “I” go and try to pick it up and carry it, that’s when it becomes heavy. So the same happens with our interactions with the world around us as well as with our relationships with other people. And it doesn’t mean that we try to push anything away, but it’s really about attending to things in a way of kindness and wisdom. One needs to have that kindness and wisdom in our relationships with others, because that’s a source of happiness for both ourselves and for others. Then we’re also ready for whatever change is going to happen. Then we have the discernment and clarity of mind to not be shaken by natural change.

Questioner 2: Sadhu Ajahn. You said in the chanting, “I am the heir of my karma.” So kamma, or ‘kam’ in Thai, is what we cultivate through the body, speech, and mind, but in the Thai concept we also have a “jao kam nie wane.” Can Ajahn please help me to sort this out what ‘jao kam nie wane’ is?

Ajahn Pasanno: Well, I don’t want to try and sort it out at all. It’s not Buddhist; it’s not in the Buddhist teachings; it’s not in the Buddhist scriptures; I don’t even want to go there. I mean, I don’t say that it doesn’t exist. I don’t say that, but it’s just a whole other layer outside of the teachings that’s just too complicated.

Questioner 2: The reason that I’m asking is because … I’m going through the process of my mother dying, and she’s 88, and she had a plane accident 20 years go. She can’t walk; she’s completely immobile, and her life in the last 20 years … it’s like … not her kamma, but in Thai they often say, “Mae must have tam kam wane wai yuh,” this ‘jao kam nie wane’ must be chasing after her. This may sound silly, but…

Ajahn Pasanno: Yeah, it’s a good story, but I don’t know. To me, it’s just a story.

Questioner 2: I just don’t have a way to look at my mother dying which is a very painful death. So why? Again, why my mother? That’s the question. She is in so much pain…

Ajahn Pasanno: The why, that constant why, that in itself is a lot of suffering.

Questioner 2: Yes

Ajahn Pasanno: The main thing is not the why, but the main thing is how do you give attention to your mother, support her, care for her, make her feel safe, and look after her physical needs, yet also try to look after her emotional needs. That’s something you can do. Figuring out the why is something that as human beings, it doesn’t matter what culture, we have these complicated stories of trying to make sense of things. And you know the Buddha has a principle there, but he’s not trying to fill in a whole story. The reality is your mother is sick. I mean we’re all dying actually, so looking after her is something you can be doing that is wholesome, is positive, and you can feel good about that. Trying to figure out the why of it, there’s no way you can feel good about it. It’s just adding a layer of complexity and complication which is not necessary.

Questioner 2: Anyway, what I’ve figured-out is that being born is suffering enough. That’s how I see it. Maybe I get that point Ajahn.

Ajahn Pasanno: Yes, just keep it simple.

BIA Announcer: Any other questions?

Well, in that case actually, it’s about time for the New Year’s Blessing in Thai that we all want.

(Laughter)

Venerable Ajahn Pasanno: It’s not so easy just to flip the switch (Then Ajahn switches from English to Thai flawlessly and gives the following blessing.)

Today is similar to New Year’s day, hypothetically speaking. It is a normal thing for to ask for blessings heading into the New Year, and as we enter the New Year, we should also think of new ways for new things to occur in our life. Get ready to throw away old things, such as greed, anger and delusion—and like this we enter the New Year, and these things will all become old history (laughter). Be determined. We should get ready to practice and train ourselves. Practice to improve ourselves. That way, there will be new things that come into our life and New Year. As for the giving of blessings, if we review the teachings of the Buddha, we see a difference from the typical blessings we see nowadays. For example, a monk gives a blessing and chants Yathā vārivahā…and at the end of the chant everybody raises their folded palms together and says “Sadhu!”, and they have received their blessing. People believe that since the monk gave this blessing, then they will in fact receive long life, beauty, happiness and strength—but it doesn’t work like that!

When we look at the real teachings of the Buddha, we see he gave blessings which were teachings of cause and effect. He points out the ‘cause’ first for us to understand, then the outcome/effect which arises. (Ajahn repeats the Pali blessing chant.) One who understands how to be respectful of that which is worthy of respect, show respect and come close to the teacher and the teachings will have four benefits: long life, beauty, happiness and strength. You’ve got to create the causes first, then the outcome will appear. This is the way to give blessings. Do good deeds, and receive good outcomes. Do deeds that are causes for happiness, and you will receive happiness. This is what I would like to leave with you for this upcoming New Year. Also, I encourage you to put effort into creating the right causes, and your wishes will come true. I express my appreciation for all of you.

Audience: Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu!