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Forest Leaves Is Sandiååhiko – Right in Front of Our Eyes, to Be Experi Ajahn Martin Piyadhammo ForestLeaves AA SelectionSelection ofof TalksTalks onon BuddhistBuddhist PracticePractice A Selection of Talks on Buddhist Practice To get down to the true knowingness, we have to use any means that come to hand. The easiest method is to go into appanã samãdhi where everything disappears and only the true nature of the heart, knowingness, re- mains. When the heart opens up, it sees and understands immediately – this is what we call insight, which arises from the heart’s very nature. It’s there all the time; all we need to do is open the heart and set it free. The Dhamma Forest Leaves is sandiååhiko – right in front of our eyes, to be experi- enced by the wise here and now. Ajahn Martin Piyadhammo o hu K ng T P on at g W THIS BOOK IS A GIFT OF DHAMMA AND THIS BOOK IS A GIFT OF DHAMMA AND A FOREST DHAMMA TALKS PUBLICATION PRINTED FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION ONLY F WAT PHU KONG TONG (FORESTo MONASTERY),s THAILAND r k PRINTED FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION ONLY es al Ajahn Martin Piyadhammo t T Dhamma Forest Leaves A Selection of Talks on Buddhist Practice By Ajahn Martin Piyadhammo u Kong Ph T t on a g W F o s lk re a st T Dhamma THIS BOOK IS A GIFT OF DHAMMA AND PRINTED FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION ONLY “The gift of Dhamma excels all other gifts” The Buddha Copyright 2019 © by Ajahn Martin Piyadhammo (Phu Kong Tong Monastery) THIS BOOK IS A GIFT OF DHAMMA AND PRINTED FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION ONLY. ALL COMMERCIAL RIGHTS RESERVED. Dhamma should not be sold like goods in the market place, so this book is printed for free distribution. Permission to reproduce this publication in any way for free distribution, as a gift of Dhamma, is hereby granted and no further permission need be obtained. Reproduction in any way for commercial gain is strictly prohibited and is an infringement of copyright. Title: Forest Leaves – A Selection of Talks on Buddhist Practice Author: Ajahn Martin Piyadhammo First edition: February 2019 Design: Nicole Gehlen, www.königsblau-design.de Photos: pages 3, 4, 70, 162: Ti-Ratana Penchala, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2018 pages 11, 194/195: Wat Phu Kong Tong, Thailand pages cover, 12/13, 14, 26, 60, 96, 112, 124, 138, 172, 193, 216: Andrea Liebers, Germany pages 6, 48, 86: Willi Kappner pages 36, 150, 182: unknown photographer Any inquiries can be addressed to: Wat Phu Kong Tong (Forest Monastery) Baan Tamklongpen, Nontan Ampher Meuang Nongbua Lamphu 39000, Thailand Email: [email protected] This book is available for free download at www.forestdhammatalks.org 3 4 Contents 7 Introduction 15 The need for simplicity 27 Samãdhi is not an option 37 The teaching of Ajahn Mahã Bua 49 The work of a samaõa 61 Dealing with pain and emotions 71 McNibbãna or the real thing? 87 Shutting down the mind engine 97 How to practice body contemplation 113 Investigating fear, contemplating death 125 Generosity, respect and gratitude 139 Kamma – is there still free will? 151 Sati is the key to practice 163 Dukkha is a very profound teaching 173 The power and deceitfulness of avijjã 183 Kamma and rebirth 196 Glossary 211 Appendix 6 Introduction Ajahn Martin Piyadhammo, the author of this collection of talks on Dhamma (desanãs), is a Buddhist monk (bhikkhu) in the Thai Forest Tradition, which puts emphasis on the practice of medita- tion to attain enlightenment in this life. The founder of the Thai Forest Tradition was Than (Venerable) Ajahn Mun (1870–1949) who spent most of his life practicing medi- tation in the extensive rainforests of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos. Many of his disciples also became accomplished meditation mas- ters, and certainly the most famous in Thailand was Than Ajahn Mahã Bua Ñãõasampanno (1913–2011), affectionately known as Luangta Mahã Bua. Ordained as a Buddhist monk in 1934, Than Ajahn Mahã Bua attained enlightenment in 1950 and founded his famous monastery at Baan Taad near Udon Thani, Thailand in 1955. Thereafter, he became the central figure in the Thai Forest Tradition. Than Ajahn Mahã Bua often called his monastery the forest university, which indicated that it was not primarily designed for monks or laypeople at the start of their practice but rather for serious practitioners aiming to achieve a “doctoral degree” and rid themselves of avijjã (fundamental ignorance) once and for all. From the 1970s onwards, he wrote a number of books detailing Than Ajahn Mun’s life and mode of practice – intensive medita- tion, discipline and renunciation – which brought these teachings to an international audience. The Thai Forest Tradition is summa- rized in this quote from Than Ajahn Mahã Bua: “This is the Lord Buddha’s teaching – rukkhamýla-senãsanaæ, retreating into the forests and mountains. After ordaining as a monk, one should go and live under the shade of a tree, in the forest, in the mountains, in caves or under rocky overhangs. These are places conducive to the practice, where one will not be disturbed. Your practice there will progress comfortably, smoothly and well. There you should practice diligently and with perseverance for the rest of your life!” 7 Introduction Ajahn Martin Piyadhammo was born in Stuttgart in 1957 and studied electrical and computer engineering in Germany and the USA. In 1995, he went to live with Than Ajahn Mahã Bua in Baan Taad Forest Monastery, and was ordained as a Buddhist monk in the same year. His first five years were spent living inside the monastery under the tutelage of Than Ajahn Mahã Bua and other senior monks. As Thai monasteries have a precise and detailed etiquette covering most aspects of life, he had to learn everything anew: how to wash himself, how to sit down properly, how to eat his one meal of the day, and how to behave and conduct himself as a monk. Meditation practice was not easy at the beginning, of course, but Ajahn Martin went deeper and deeper into practice as the years progressed. If obstacles arose and problems came up, he used his wisdom to overcome them, reflecting that whatever he had experienced before in his life had led to nothing but duk- kha, whereas the satisfaction and joy that came from meditation was something he had never experienced in ordinary life. He was certain that he did not want to be reborn again. His teacher Than Ajahn Mahã Bua also had a vital role to play. As Ajahn Martin recalls, “He kept coming at the right moment, and he saw through all of us. Once when one of my fellow monks was sweeping the area around the monastery, Than Ajahn Mahã Bua came past and said, “If you’re sweeping, you should just sweep, and not sing a song inside your head.” It turned out that the monk had been silently humming to the rhythm of a song in his head while doing the sweeping. It was instances like this that showed the remarkable quality of Than Ajahn Mahã Bua as a teacher.” When his five years of apprenticeship in the monastery were over, Ajahn Martin went on thudong around the surrounding provinces for two to five months each year, returning thereafter to Baan Taad forest monastery to live with his teacher. At first, he spent his periods of solitude at a very remote monastery with other monks. However, as time went on, he preferred to be alone on thudong, spending time in caves located far away from the villages and largely undisturbed. 8 Ajahn Martin has mastered living in solitude, without becoming anti-social. He exudes a warm inner peace, shows great interest in the well-being of his fellow human beings, and does his best to help them to develop their full potential. He is known for the directness of his teachings that come straight from the heart and hit the ques- tioner at exactly the right spot – the heart. Ajahn Martin does not beat around the bush, whether in his discourses or in his personal encounters with people. If he feels that someone is just about to understand something, he digs in further. He finds the sore point and presses his finger on it, so that the person can understand exactly what he means and look directly inwards for a solution. If some people find this provocative, then so be it, for it is part and parcel of Ajahn Martin’s great talent for getting straight to the heart of the matter. He reaches effortlessly into people’s hearts, asking questions like, “Are you awake or asleep? Are you still alive? May I try to wake you up, at least a little?” As he explains, “Buddhism in the West, and Theravãda Buddhism in general, is often too scho- lastic. People talk and talk about it with a superior attitude, but this is not the right way. Rather, it is one’s own experience that counts.” To illustrate the point, he uses the analogy of a group of scholars sitting around a fire. They discuss the fire, arguing over whether it is hot, warm, or even, perhaps, cold. Without direct experience, these scholars have only their assumptions about its true nature, but when one of them touches the fire, he knows the truth for himself without having to ask anyone else’s opinion. Ajahn Martin sees his task as encouraging people to practice Dhamma to know the truth for themselves. In an interview, he was asked what had driven him to move towards his goal of ending the rounds of rebirth with such energy and directness.
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