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Most Precious Gift THE MOST PRECIOUS GIFT HONOURING THE LIFE AND WORK OF AJAHN SUCITTO The Most Precious Gift HONOURING THE LIFE AND WORK OF AJAHN SUCITTO RECOLLECTIONS OF AJAHN SUCITTO AND A COLLECTION OF HIS DHAMMA REFLECTIONS FROM 1985 TO 2017 WITH GRATITUDE TO AJAHN SUCITTO ON THE OCCASION OF HIS SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY ‘THE GIFT OF DHAMMA IS THE MOST PRECIOUS GIFT; THE TASTE OF DHAMMA IS THE SWEETEST TASTE; THE JOY OF DHAMMA IS THE GREATEST JOY; THE EXTINCTION OF CRAVING IS THE END OF ALL SUFFERING.’ Dhammapada, verse 354 A Handful of Leaves The Blessed One was once living at Kosambi in a wood of siṁsapā trees. He picked up a few leaves in his hand and asked the bhikkhus, ‘How do you conceive this, bhikkhus? Which is more, the few leaves that I have picked up in my hand or those on the trees in the wood?’ ‘The leaves that the Blessed One has picked up in his hand are few, Lord; those in the wood are far more.’ ‘So too, bhikkhus, the things I have known by direct knowledge are more; the things that I have told you are only a few. ‘Why have I not told them? Because they bring no benefit, no advancement in the holy life, and because they do not lead to dispassion, to fading, to ceasing, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to nibbāna. That is why I have not told them. ‘And what have I told you? This is suffering; this is the origin of suffering; this is the cessation of suffering; this is the way leading to the cessation of suffering. That is what I have told you. Why have I told it? Because it brings benefit and advancement in the holy life, and because it leads to dispassion, to fading, to ceasing, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to enlightenment, to nibbāna. ‘So bhikkhus, let your task be the contemplation: this is suffering; this is the origin of suffering; this is the cessation of suffering; this is the way leading to the cessation of suffering.’ Saṁyutta Nikāya 56.31 ix COMMENTARY ON FRONT COVER DRAWING BY Ajahn Ṭhitadhammo 29 NOVEMBER 2012 – FULL MOON Sitting in the corner on the concrete floor, flooded by sunlight. No roof yet, only the body of an upturned boat. All ribs. No planking. It is spring. A tall moving blue sky of passing white clouds. Oak pillars, all arching cross-ties, become an avenue upholding the longitudinal purlins, strapped down by rafters in seven chants between principles – all static. The air saturated with pleasant, rancid tanning fragrance. In a faraway silence the April cuckoo called contentedly from Hammer Wood and in the leaves, sprung, recreating these awarenesses of machined timber back into dreaming self of this my cradled cathedral – wooded and shadowed as was once growing. Even now, wandering stumbles into these memories so privately engraved upon corridors of remembrance, leading as it does to my death of this once more fortunate return. x FRONT PAGE DRAWING AND COMMENTARY BY Ajahn Ṭhitadhammo ADDED COMMENTARY ON 4 MAY 2016 An umbrellaed protection canopy. An emptiness Buddha symbol of the further shore within, held in the heartwood temple of Dhamma. Eightfold raft against the stream. 1000 petaled opening consciousness awakening wisdom. Hand of the teacher offering (emphasizing); ‘What should be done by a teacher – this I have done for you.’ xi Numerical References Numerical references to the suttas from the Majjhima Nikāya are taken from the Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi translation. Numerical references to the suttas from the Saṁyutta Nikāya and Aṅguttara Nikāya are taken from the Bhikkhu Bodhi translations. Numerical references to the suttas from the Dīgha Nikāya are taken from the Maurice Walshe translation. xiii Contents A HANDFUL OF LEAVES . IX COMMENTARY ON FRONT COVER DRAWING BY AJAHN ṬHITADHAMMO. X NUMERICAL REFERENCES . XIII PREFACE . XVII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . XXII RECOLLECTIONS . 1 RECOLLECTIONS OF AJAHN SUCITTO. 3 LUANG POR SUMEDHO . 4 AJAHN VĪRADHAMMO . 9 AJAHN KĀRUṆIKO . 10 AJAHN SUNDARĀ . 12 AJAHN CANDASIRĪ . 14 AYYĀ MEDHĀNANDĪ . 16 THANIYA (WILLA REID) . 19 KITTISĀRO. 20 NICHOLAS HALLIDAY . 25 NICK SCOTT . 28 RECOLLECTIONS OF LUANG POR SUMEDHO BY AJAHN SUCITTO . 33 AJAHN SUMEDHO, MY TEACHER . 34 DHAMMA REFLECTIONS . 55 1985-1992 BEFORE BECOMING ABBOT OF CITTAVIVEKA MONASTERY . 57 LEARNING TO FEEL AND BE WITH ONESELF . 58 RIGHT EFFORT . 71 DEATH AND DYING RETREAT. 89 CONTEMPLATING IMPERMANENCE . 90 BEYOND THE SENSE OF SELF . 96 WALKING MEDITATION . 107 MEALTIME REFLECTION. 108 LEARNING FROM THE BITTER GIFTS OF LIFE . 110 REFLECTING ON KAMMA . 113 HONOURING LIFE AND EACH OTHER . 123 STRUGGLES OF LIFE AND DEATH . 131 xiv 1992-2014 AS ABBOT OF CITTAVIVEKA MONASTERY . .143 THE BRAHMAVIHĀRAS AS A DELIVERANCE OF THE HEART . .144 THE SUPREME GIVING . .158 STANDING ON THE SPHERE OF THE BRAHMAVIHĀRAS . .175 REFUGE . .185 CONTEMPLATING INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY . .201 PRESENCE . .218 RESOLVED TO LET GO . .229 STEPPING BACK INTO WISDOM. .245 2014-2017 AFTER RESIGNATION AS ABBOT . .263 AMARAVATI RETREAT . .265 THE RELATIONAL SENSE . .266 EXPERIENCING THE WHOLE BODY . .276 RELEASING THE MIND THROUGH THE BODY . .279 STANDING MEDITATION. .291 WALKING MEDITATION . .293 STAYING PRESENT . .294 CULTIVATION OF SKILFUL THOUGHT . .297 PRACTISING WITH AN ORGANIC SYSTEM. .310 NOT CLINGING TO ANYTHING IN THE WORLD . .321 THE WORLD OF THE FIVE AGGREGATES . .336 BREATHING THROUGH THE FOUR ELEMENTS . .352 MELTING DOWN TO THE NATURAL STATE . .355 ONE-POINTEDNESS . .372 MINDFULNESS, THE TRUE MONARCH . .387 HINDRANCES AND ENLIGHTENMENT FACTORS . .390 RECOLLECTIONS – THE DOOR TO THE UNIVERSAL . .406 NIBBĀNA AND THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS . .417 LUANG POR SUMEDHO OPEN RETREAT . .431 TRANSFORMATION . .432 HERE, NOW – MEETING IN THE BLESSING . .450 GLOSSARY . 463 DEFINITION OF TECHNICAL TERMS . 477 xv AJAHN SUCITTO’S PABBAJJĀ CEREMONY IN SEPTEMBER 1975 Preface The inspiration to compile this celebratory volume in honour of Ajahn Sucitto’s seventieth birthday came from the hearts of a number of his appreciative students, both monastic and lay, in particular Sister Kittiñāṇī. Ajahn Sucitto has spread the Buddha Dhamma to a vast range of audiences for well over thirty years, so it seems most fitting to use this natural milestone of seventy years to honour his teaching career. In addition, it is an opportunity to express gratitude for the wisdom, guidance and good example that have come from being in his presence and hearing his voice, for so many of us, for so many years. Although Ajahn Sucitto has compiled numerous books of his own teachings, such as Dawn of the Dhamma, Kalyāna, Introduction to Insight Meditation, Meditation – A Way of Awakening, Meditation – An Outline, Kamma and the End of Kamma, Pāramī – Ways to Cross Life’s Floods, Clarity and Calm, Unseating the Inner Tyrant, Samādhi is Pure Enjoyment and others, they have all focused on specific areas of Dhamma practice, drawing the attention to particular facets of experience and spiritual training. These individual jewels each have their own value and beauty, but, another intention behind this current publication is, in contrast, to display a varied casket of gems of Ajahn Sucitto’s teachings, embodied in his wise reflections as they have evolved over more than thirty years. It is hoped that gathering together this broad range of talks that Ajahn Sucitto has offered over several decades will provide a representative compendium of his words that his many long-standing students can easily refer to and be reminded of. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it aims to offer a multitude of helpful and inspiring xvii perspectives to new readers, spiritual aspirants and all those whose hearts are seeking an end to suffering. ◆ ◆ ◆ It is a sign of the respect and admiration in which Ajahn Sucitto is held that it was felt appropriate to begin the book with a number of Recollections expressed by his fellow Dhamma-farers, led by Luang Por Sumedho. For Ajahn Sucitto has not only been a source of guidance and inspiration for the vast numbers of lay people he has taught on retreat, or who have visited Cittaviveka Monastery over the last decades; he has also been a major source of wise reflection and an exemplar of the spiritual ideal for his fellow monastics. The reader may notice that many of these Recollections refer to Ajahn Sucitto’s ‘Mahā Kassapa-like’ relishing of ascesis – the bitter practices of monastic training – particularly in the earlier years of his monastic life. However, it is striking that it is rather his ‘Sāriputta-like’ wisdom, as manifested in the lively thoroughness and intricacy of his Dhamma teachings, that has shone the brightest light into the lives of so many of us. As expressed in many of the Recollections, Ajahn Sucitto’s wisdom is multi-layered, astute, never repeating and ever-fresh in expression. It is this brilliance of the light of embodied wisdom that has touched so many so deeply. ◆ ◆ ◆ By way of introducing the Dhamma material gathered in these pages, the reader should note that all the teachings were given by Ajahn Sucitto as extemporaneous talks. These are not scholarly papers but Dhamma-desanā, ‘demonstrations of the Dhamma’ arising from the living interaction between the audience and the teacher. All the talks transcribed here were offered to people on meditation retreats or to members of a monastic community, usually during a retreat period. xviii The book’s voice thus assumes the reader will have some degree of familiarity with Buddhist terms and concepts. Accordingly it is not a book designed to meet the needs of those completely new to the Buddha’s teachings and meditation, but hopefully those unfamiliar with the terminology will be able (with the aid of the Glossary and the Definition of Technical Terms), to glean great benefit from these pages regardless.
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