I used to listen to live dhamma talks every week, either at Sriracha or Baan Aree. For some bizarre reasons, I just don't get to do it as often now though I still love listening to these "reflections" (Luangpor Sumedho's term) very dearly.
Ajahn Jayasaro is currently my most-listen-to speaker at the moment. I really enjoy these Western monks trained under Luangpor Chah because I can relate to what they say. I'm not sure if it's because of the similarities in educational and social backgrounds or not, but definitely not because I favor "imported" monks over local ones....
He was invited to give a dhamma talk to Thai Airways staff today. I thought I was going to pay respect to him this weekend at his residence in Pak Chong, Korat (he usually holds meditation sessions every first and third Sundays of every month), but he cancels the next two sessions as he's going abroad. So I joined this event.
His physical appearances are unchanged from what I saw last year at Baan Aree. He must be 55-60 years old now but he looks ten years younger. His manner is charming and collected. By the way, it is common for monks trained under the Thai forest tradition to give talks without scripts. If a speaker can assess the audience's abilities, this approach is very attractive as it allows the speaker to be very flexible.
First, he contrasted between religions whose permanent "God" exists and Buddhism that teaches ways to seek refuge in impermanence. Morality in the first type of religion is based on resisting temptations. He said, for example, suppose you are told that this glass of water is really yummy. But you are also instructed that you cannot drink it. This is very tough to do, and it makes ones having ideals of what one should be or should not be. If one doesn't meet those standards, guilt naturally arises. The Buddhist's take on temptations is to see for yourself if this drink is actually yummy. He said, if we see the truth of the matter, desire will automatically disappear. No need to try to eliminate it or to have a fixed set of rules for all future incidents which cannot be foreseen with absolute certainty anyway. Our job is just to be aware of what we are up to, what kind of emotions we currently have (รู้เท่าทันอารมณ์).
He also distinguished between "guilt" and "shame" though both of them mean the same thing in Thai. The first term does not exist in Buddhism; only the second one does. Guilt is unwholesome (อกุศล) whereas shame is wholesome (กุศล) because guilt arises with a sense of self but shame doesn't. Shame implies refraining or holding back from doing something for morality reasons. But guilt comes up when one cannot live up to some sets of "should" and "shouldn't."
Regarding the current political gridlock, he said misconception or ignorance (his word: ความคิดผิด) and craving (ตัณหา) arise because we believe that this world must be fair. We forgot about the eight worldly conditions (โลกธรรม): gain, loss, dignity, obscurity, blame, praise, happiness, and pain. He recalled a story about himself that he used to think that if he strictly followed all the monk's rules (พระวินัย), then he wouldn't be blamed. Of course, he was talked about behind his back anyway. Yet for something that he could have been blamed, he got away with them. Some praises and blames are also out of proportion, in comparison to the deeds.
He warned us about harmful effects of overconsumption of information and how to position oneself (วางท่าที) as a Buddhist: not to totally believe in what you hear and even what you see with your own eyes. He told us that when no way out seems to exist, one has to look at a much longer time scale. He cited a historical example of the transition period between Ayuddhaya empire and Krung Thonburi that there were 4-5 years of power vacuum and real struggles among citizens. I don't think he meant that we are going through the change in that scale, but he probably just implied that the mess we're in is just another example of impermanence in action.
The new knowledge that I gained from his talk this time is about the three fundamental lessons (ไตรสิกขา) underlying ฺBuddha's path to enlightenment: morality or precepts (ศีล), concentration or stillness (สมาธิ) and wisdom (ปัญญา). I didn't know that awareness (สติ) is classified as stillness (สมาธิ) and clear comprehension (สัมปชัญญะ) belongs to wisdom (ปัญญา). He cited a metaphor that Luangpor Chah gave: when our awareness is still weak, each instance of awareness is like a drop of water that falls down once in a long while. But as it becomes stronger and stronger, these drops falling down so often that altogether it becomes a stream. Alas, the stream of awareness is concentration.
During the Q&A session, someone asked about how to prepare oneself for death. He said though we may practice meditation regularly, it is just like swimming in a pool. But to face death is like being in a tsunami. I was like, wow!, the imagery is so striking that I realize how little prepared I am. To get myself ready for a tsunami? Hopefully, surviving a volcano eruption gives me an edge on this task....(^ ^)
Ajahn Jayasaro is currently my most-listen-to speaker at the moment. I really enjoy these Western monks trained under Luangpor Chah because I can relate to what they say. I'm not sure if it's because of the similarities in educational and social backgrounds or not, but definitely not because I favor "imported" monks over local ones....
He was invited to give a dhamma talk to Thai Airways staff today. I thought I was going to pay respect to him this weekend at his residence in Pak Chong, Korat (he usually holds meditation sessions every first and third Sundays of every month), but he cancels the next two sessions as he's going abroad. So I joined this event.
His physical appearances are unchanged from what I saw last year at Baan Aree. He must be 55-60 years old now but he looks ten years younger. His manner is charming and collected. By the way, it is common for monks trained under the Thai forest tradition to give talks without scripts. If a speaker can assess the audience's abilities, this approach is very attractive as it allows the speaker to be very flexible.
First, he contrasted between religions whose permanent "God" exists and Buddhism that teaches ways to seek refuge in impermanence. Morality in the first type of religion is based on resisting temptations. He said, for example, suppose you are told that this glass of water is really yummy. But you are also instructed that you cannot drink it. This is very tough to do, and it makes ones having ideals of what one should be or should not be. If one doesn't meet those standards, guilt naturally arises. The Buddhist's take on temptations is to see for yourself if this drink is actually yummy. He said, if we see the truth of the matter, desire will automatically disappear. No need to try to eliminate it or to have a fixed set of rules for all future incidents which cannot be foreseen with absolute certainty anyway. Our job is just to be aware of what we are up to, what kind of emotions we currently have (รู้เท่าทันอารมณ์).
He also distinguished between "guilt" and "shame" though both of them mean the same thing in Thai. The first term does not exist in Buddhism; only the second one does. Guilt is unwholesome (อกุศล) whereas shame is wholesome (กุศล) because guilt arises with a sense of self but shame doesn't. Shame implies refraining or holding back from doing something for morality reasons. But guilt comes up when one cannot live up to some sets of "should" and "shouldn't."
Regarding the current political gridlock, he said misconception or ignorance (his word: ความคิดผิด) and craving (ตัณหา) arise because we believe that this world must be fair. We forgot about the eight worldly conditions (โลกธรรม): gain, loss, dignity, obscurity, blame, praise, happiness, and pain. He recalled a story about himself that he used to think that if he strictly followed all the monk's rules (พระวินัย), then he wouldn't be blamed. Of course, he was talked about behind his back anyway. Yet for something that he could have been blamed, he got away with them. Some praises and blames are also out of proportion, in comparison to the deeds.
He warned us about harmful effects of overconsumption of information and how to position oneself (วางท่าที) as a Buddhist: not to totally believe in what you hear and even what you see with your own eyes. He told us that when no way out seems to exist, one has to look at a much longer time scale. He cited a historical example of the transition period between Ayuddhaya empire and Krung Thonburi that there were 4-5 years of power vacuum and real struggles among citizens. I don't think he meant that we are going through the change in that scale, but he probably just implied that the mess we're in is just another example of impermanence in action.
The new knowledge that I gained from his talk this time is about the three fundamental lessons (ไตรสิกขา) underlying ฺBuddha's path to enlightenment: morality or precepts (ศีล), concentration or stillness (สมาธิ) and wisdom (ปัญญา). I didn't know that awareness (สติ) is classified as stillness (สมาธิ) and clear comprehension (สัมปชัญญะ) belongs to wisdom (ปัญญา). He cited a metaphor that Luangpor Chah gave: when our awareness is still weak, each instance of awareness is like a drop of water that falls down once in a long while. But as it becomes stronger and stronger, these drops falling down so often that altogether it becomes a stream. Alas, the stream of awareness is concentration.
During the Q&A session, someone asked about how to prepare oneself for death. He said though we may practice meditation regularly, it is just like swimming in a pool. But to face death is like being in a tsunami. I was like, wow!, the imagery is so striking that I realize how little prepared I am. To get myself ready for a tsunami? Hopefully, surviving a volcano eruption gives me an edge on this task....(^ ^)
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