In this videoconference talk from 25 Jun, 2021, Ajahn Anan discusses about using our discernment with regards to current events.
“Do you really see it? If the economy is good, the pigs die, the chickens die, the ducks die, the cows all die. They are all food for humans. The more well they sell, the more animals die. And even all the animals aren’t crying, they aren’t complaining. But we also come to eat them and do other harmful things to them. We may have some loss, but at least we still have the breath. So we still have a lot of things, which is just this breath. We are born with this breath, so we are people who have something valuable. If we have no more breath anymore, then all the things we have now, will they still have meaning or not? So now, what do we possess? We still have the breath, we have time. So we should find the time to chant a lot. Exchange it for merit instead. Is this a good idea?”
In meditation we do need to set a goal and raise our efforts, but we also need to relax and let go.
Even though we have studied a lot at school, what we have received is a superficial knowledge. This is necessary to make our way in this world, but it cannot lead us out of suffering. It’s only the inner knowledge that we gain through cultivating our minds that can lead us to liberation.
To join Ajahn Anan and the Wat Marp Jan Community online for daily chanting, meditation, and a Dhamma talk, you can email wmjdhamma@gmail.com for the link. Daily live sessions at 7pm – 9pm, Indochina Time (Bangkok, GMT+7).
We practice to relieve suffering, not to heap it up upon ourselves. Great determination and self-aversion are a dangerous combination, something we need to be on the lookout for. If our minds do have self hate, it’s important to develop kindness towards ourselves. We must also have self awareness to know our own limits and resources, and how much we are capable of. Our efforts must come through wisdom.
By keeping our awareness focused on the mind and its contents, we’ll gain an understanding of how it operates. We can then discern how it is that stress arises, and how we can be freed from it.
Based on faith one may ask for success in various things. However, the Buddha taught that all phenomena arise based on causes. Therefore, whether in worldly activities or Dhamma, one needs to put in the appropriate causes in order to gain success. Through the path of sila, samadhi and panna, we can succeed in the practice and know the Dhamma for ourselves, realizing true refuge in our own hearts.
To join Ajahn Anan and the Wat Marp Jan Community online for daily chanting, meditation, and a Dhamma talk, you can email wmjdhamma@gmail.com for the link. Daily live sessions at 7pm – 9pm, Indochina Time (Bangkok, GMT+7).
Not sharing our wealth has its consequences, bringing us pain in the present and hardship in the future. But the goodness we create through being generous also gives results—happiness here and now, and being well looked after in the future.
To join Ajahn Anan and the Wat Marp Jan Community online for daily chanting, meditation, and a Dhamma talk, you can email wmjdhamma@gmail.com for the link. Daily live sessions at 7pm – 9pm, Indochina Time (Bangkok, GMT+7).
We’re all trying to solve the problems in our lives. How successful we are depends whether the methods we’re using are correct or not, and whether our minds have peace and wisdom.
2021.06.16 | Faith in dana, sila, and bhavana is of value beyond measure. When we see the results of meditation practice for ourselves, then motivation to practise arises of its own accord.
To join Ajahn Anan and the Wat Marp Jan Community online for daily chanting, meditation, and a Dhamma talk, you can email wmjdhamma@gmail.com for the link. Daily live sessions at 7pm – 9pm, Indochina Time (Bangkok, GMT+7).
Whenever we have our mindfulness established on a right object, right then and there we are practising Dhamma.
To join Ajahn Anan and the Wat Marp Jan Community online for daily chanting, meditation, and a Dhamma talk, you can email wmjdhamma@gmail.com for the link. Daily live sessions at 7pm – 9pm, Indochina Time (Bangkok, GMT+7).