The way it is By Ajahn Sumedho 1 Ajahn Sumedho 2 Venerable Ajahn Sumedho is a bhikkhu of the Theravada school of Buddhism, a tradition that prevails in Sri Lanka and S.E. Asia. In this last century, its clear and practical teachings have been well received in the West as a source of understanding and peace that stands up to the rigorous test of our current age. Ajahn Sumedho is himself a Westerner having been born in Seattle, Washington, USA in 1934. He left the States in 1964 and took bhikkhu ordination in Nong Khai, N.E. Thailand in 1967. Soon after this he went to stay with Venerable Ajahn Chah, a Thai meditation master who lived in a forest monastery known as Wat Nong Pah Pong in Ubon Province. Ajahn Chah’s monasteries were renowned for their austerity and emphasis on a simple direct approach to Dhamma practice, and Ajahn Sumedho eventually stayed for ten years in this environment before being invited to take up residence in London by the English Sangha Trust with three other of Ajahn Chah’s Western disciples. The aim of the English Sangha Trust was to establish the proper conditions for the training of bhikkhus in the West. Their London base, the Hampstead Buddhist Vihara, provided a reasonable starting point but the advantages of a more gentle rural environment inclined the Sangha to establishing a forest monastery in Britain. This aim was achieved in 1979, with the acquisition of a ruined house in West Sussex subsequently known as Chithurst Buddhist Monastery or Cittaviveka. With the foundation of a proper monastery, the Sangha began to grow in numbers quite steadily and also took on a training for women as Buddhist nuns (siladhara). The increase in the numbers of people wishing to live the monastic life, or to help support it, made it possible to set up branch monasteries in Britain and also overseas; it also helped to bring about the establishment of a large-scale teaching center, Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, in 1984. This is where Ajahn Sumedho customarily resides and many of the talks included in this book were given there. Amaravati Buddhist Monastery is just outside the village of Great Gaddesden near Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. It is both a monastery and a retreat center and welcomes those who are interested in the teachings of the Buddha. Visitors may stay as guests of the monastery if they are interested in living in a community and training in terms of morality, awareness and service. This publication is part of the service that Amaravati undertakes and has been made available through voluntary efforts and donations. Amaravati has produced several other books of teachings by Ajahn Sumedho, and also distributes books by Ajahn Chah and other Buddhist masters. For a current list, please send a SAE to Amaravati Publications, Great Gaddesden, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HPI 3BZ, England. 3 _____________________ DEDICATION _____________________________________ In memory of Praya and Khunying Chavakij Banharn 4 Free distribution page Publication from Amaravati. This work may be copied or reprinted, without permission from the copyright holder, for free distribution only. Otherwise, all rights reserved. This publication as with most publications is made possible Through offerings from individuals and/or groups, given Specifically for the publication of Buddhist teachings. Further information is available from the address below. Sabbadanam dhammadanam jinati The gift of Dhamma surpasses all other gifts Copyright Amaravati Publications 1991 Amaravati Publications Amaravati Buddhist Monastery Great Gaddesden Hemmel Hempstead Hertfordshire HPI 3BZ England ISBN 1 870205 11 1 5 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION…..7 ‘ . Happiness forever’…..11 INVESTIGATING THE MIND…..14 EVERYTHING THAT ARISES PASSES AWAY…..21 THE FIVE KHANDHAS…..28 ‘ . All the time in the world’…..38 PRECEPTS…..39 ‘THE WAY IT IS’…..46 THE RAFT…..49 PATIENCE…..56 REFLECTIONS ON FOOD…..60 ACCEPTING THE WAY THINGS ARE…..61 CONSCIOUSNESS AND SENSITIVITY…..65 THE SOUND OF SILENCE…..72 ONLY ONE BREATH…..74 STILLNESS AND RESPONSE…..81 TURNING TOWARDS EMPTINESS…..89 BEYOND BELIEF…..96 BEING NOBODY…..102 NON-DUALISM…..110 DEPENDENT ORIGINATION…..113 IGNORANCE IS THE SELF-VIEW…..115 MOMENTARY ARISING…..122 THE FORMATIONS OF SELF…..127 FEELING CONDITIONS DESIRE…..134 LETTING GO OF DESIRE…..142 THE SHINING-THROUGH OF THE DIVINE…..151 A TIME OF LOVE…..162 REFLECTIONS ON BENEVOLENCE…..170 6 INTRODUCTION This book contains a collection of teachings of Ajahn Sumedho given to people who are familiar with the conventions of Theravada Buddhism and have some experience of meditation. Most of the chapters are edited from talks either given during retreats for lay people or for Ajahn Sumedho’s monastic (ordained) disciples, so they require some careful attention and are best read in sequence. In the two – month monastic retreats Ajahn Sumedho develops a theme from the Buddha’s teaching, linking it to other aspects of the Dhamma, embellishing it with accounts of his personal experiences, demonstrating its relevance to the society in general, or using it as an exhortation to the Sangha to live up to their aspiration of enlightenment. Although it is not possible to render the tonal depth and variety of these talks in a printed work, the mixture of short exhortations and pointers, and longer contemplative reflections mingled with the chants that the monks and nuns have been reciting daily for years may suggest the atmosphere and scope within which the teachings are offered. In many of these talks Ajahn Sumedho expounds on the uniquely Buddhist expression of ‘not-self’ (anatta). He maintains this to be the Buddha’s way of pointing to the experience of Ultimate Reality that is the goal of many religions. During the monastic retreats, Ajahn Sumedho frequently teaches Dependent Origination (paticcasamuppada) based on the approach of anatta. The Dependent Origination traces the process whereby suffering (dukkha) is compounded out of ignorance (avijja) and, conversely, suffering is eliminated (or rather not created) with the cessation of ignorance. Just as anatta, not-self, is the expression of Ultimate Truth, Ajahn Sumedho suggests that the root of ignorance is the illusion of ‘Self’. He is trying not to annihilate or reject personal qualities but rather to point out how suffering (dukkha) arises through attempting to sustain an identity denoted by body and mind. This mistaken identity is what the average person calls ‘myself’. It can be detected in a latent state as self-consciousness, as a habitual mood of the 7 mind such as conceit or self-criticism, or it can manifest as selfish bodily or verbal activity. The profundity of Dependent Origination is that it describes how, even at its most passive, such wrong view creates habitual drives (kamma) and attitudes through which even a silent and well-intentioned meditator experiences suffering. Kamma ranges from the ‘internal’, psychological plane to the ‘outer’ realm of action. This habitual process then manifests in terms of body, speech or mind; all such manifestations being termed sankhara. Even moral action based on ‘self-view’ can lead to anxiety, doubt, ‘sorrow, grief, pain, lamentation and despair’. Such is the meaning of the first ‘link’ of Dependent Origination ‘avijja paccaya sankhara’ or ‘dependent on ignorance are kammic formations’. In its most complete formulation, Dependent Origination is expressed as: ‘avijjapaccaya sankhara; sankharapaccaya vinnanam; vinnanapaccaya namarupam; namarupapaccaya salayatanam; salayantanapaccaya phasso; phassapaccaya vedana; vedanapaccaya tanha; tanhapaccaya upadanam; upadanapaccaya bhavo; bhavapaccaya jati; jatipaccaya jaramaranam- soka-parideve-dukkha-domanassupayasa sambhavanti, evametassa kevalassa dukkhakhandassa samudayo hoti.’ This deals with arising of dukkha. The cessation of dukkha is then mapped out: ‘avijjayatveva asesaviraga-nirodha sankharanirodho; sankharanirodha vinnananirodho; vinnananirodha namarupanirodho; namarupanirodha salayatananirodho; salayatananirodha phassanirodho; phassanirodha vedananirodho; vedananirodha tanhanirodho; tanhanirodha upadananirodho; upadananirodha bhavanirodho; bhavanirodha jatinirodho; jatinirodha jaramaranam-soka-parideva-dukkha- domanassupayasa nirujjhanti; evametassa kevalassa dukkhakhandhassa nirodho hoti’. In English this can be translated as: Dependent on ignorance are habitual formations; dependent on habitual (kamma) formations is consciousness; dependent on consciousness are name-and-form (mentality-corporeality); dependent on name-and-form are the six sense-bases; dependent on the six sense bases is contact; dependent on contact is feeling; dependent on feeling is desire; dependent on desire is 8 grasping is becoming; dependent on becoming is birth; dependent on birth is old age, sickness and death, sorrow, grief, lamentation, pain and despair. Through the entire ceasing of this ignorance, habitual formations cease; through the ceasing of habitual formations, consciousness ceases; through the ceasing of consciousness, name-and-form cease; through the ceasing of name-and-form, the six sense-bases cease; through the ceasing of the six- sense bases, contact ceases; through the ceasing of contact, feeling ceases; through the ceasing of feeling, desire ceases; through the ceasing of desire, grasping ceases; through the ceasing of grasping, becoming ceases; through the ceasing of becoming, birth ceases; through the ceasing of birth, old age, sickness and death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair come to cease. Thus is the ceasing of this