The life of a renunciant

is the best life in the world.

One must let virtue guide their life."

Think about it carefully.

Look at Luang Phor Sumedho.

He was a brilliant man from America,

a scientist,

a superstar of intellect and knowledge.

But he realized that life in that way was impossible.

So he traveled to India, Nepal, Sri Lanka,

to Burma, to Thailand.

He ordained and lived with Ajahn Chah for ten full years.

He abandoned his sense of self,

stopped following his own desires,

let go of the ego.

If a person abandons their sense of self

and lets virtue guide their life,

their heart will be peaceful and cool.

A constitution of virtue

makes life peaceful.

出家的生活是世界上最好的生活。人必須讓德行引導他們的生活。

仔細想想。看看隆波蘇美多。他是一位來自美國的傑出人士，一位科學家，一位智慧與知識的超級明星。但他意識到以那種方式生活是不可能的。因此，他前往印度、尼泊爾、斯里蘭卡、緬甸和泰國。他出家並與阿姜查一起生活了整整十年。他放棄了自我，停止追隨自己的欲望，放下了自我意識。

如果一個人放棄自我，讓德行引導自己的生活，他的心會變得平靜而清涼。德行的構成使生活平和。

---Luang Por Ganha

Dhamma Talk given on Friday, March 14, 2025

So you begin to observe the frustration, the limitation we have by trying to control everything, trying to get rid of anger, trying to get rid of jealousy, trying to get rid of fear, trying to get rid of bad thoughts. It's endlessly resisting, trying to get rid of things we don't like, which is a form of desire. Now, if we observe that desire—"wanting to get rid of anger is like this"—you stop trying to find out; you just kind of let go of the idea that anger is something you've got to get rid of, but something you observe. And when you take that position of the awakened consciousness, the Buddha, then you see that anger arises and ceases in consciousness, rather than trying to get rid of it, which is creating more anger, more misery. The more we try to resist and control and make things the way we want them, the more miserable we become.

So in Luang Por' Chah's version of meditation, it's the holiday of the heart, rather than striving to perfect oneself by becoming perfectly mindful 24 hours a day to become enlightened, like we imagine. 

因此你開始觀察到這種挫敗感——那種源自我們試圖掌控一切、試圖驅除憤怒、試圖擺脫嫉妒、試圖消除恐懼、試圖清除惡念的局限性。這無休止的抗拒，企圖擺脫所有我們不喜歡的事物，其本質正是欲望的顯現。當我們如實觀察這種「想要消除憤怒」的欲望時，便不再汲汲營營尋求解決之道，而是放下「必須剷除憤怒」的念頭，轉以觀照的態度面對。當你安住於覺醒的意識（佛陀）之位時，就會看清憤怒只是在識中生起又滅去的現象，而非需要驅逐的對象——那些驅逐的努力只會滋生更多憤怒與苦痛。我們越是抗拒、控制、執著於塑造理想境界，就越會深陷痛苦的泥沼。

所以，依照隆波查的禪修之道，禪修應是一場心靈的假期，而非我們想像中那樣——必須時時刻刻保持完美正念以求開悟，彷彿要將自己鍛造成完美的存在。

---Ajahn Sumedho

from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNZV6z0UO3g&t=2364s

One time, years ago, I asked Luang Por Chah, "Am I a stream-enterer? Am I a sotāpanna?" He looked at me and smiled and said, "How should I know?" Suddenly I realized that this is something to be known individually through wisdom, not something that has to be affirmed by someone you trust is enlightened. "How should I know?" This is Buddhadhamma—to be realized individually, not to be knighted with a sword by an enlightened master who says, "You are a stream-enterer." I would not trust that. The ego would like that; the ego would like to have all the wise sages affirm that I am highly spiritually evolved. But when you are not an ego anymore, what are you if you are not a person?

有一次，多年前，我問阿姜查：「我是入流者嗎？我是須陀洹嗎？」他看著我，微笑著說：「我怎麼知道？」我突然領悟到，這是需要透過智慧各自體悟的，不是必須由你信任的開悟者來確認的事。「我怎麼知道？」這就是佛法——需要各自證悟，而不是由一位開悟大師用劍為你冊封，說：「你是入流者。」我不會相信那種方式。自我會喜歡那樣；自我會希望所有智者都肯定我在靈性上高度進化。但當你不再是一個自我時，如果你不是一個人，那你又是什麼？

---Ajahn Sumedho

《What have you gained from ordination?》

People often like to ask: "After being a monk for so long, what have you gained? Have you attained Arahantship?"

I would reply that, in fact, I did not ordain to become anything. 

Whether Thai or American, ordinary people love to ask:

'What do you want to become by ordaining? At least you want to become a Stream-enterer or a Once-returner, right?'

Actually, this kind of thinking is foolish.

If one believes that ordination is for the purpose of 'becoming a certain stage,' that is a form of ignorance.

"According to the Buddha's teachings:

We ordain to see the drawbacks (dangers) of 'becoming something.'

Ordination is the path toward 'not becoming anything.'

Although we speak in worldly terms that we are Thai, American, or monks,

in reality, we are nothing.

Those are merely ‘sankhara (fabrications)’ and ‘thought constructs.’

If we cling to these thoughts, we will be filled with doubts, and problems will arise.''

He then recalled his teenage years, saying he loved to learn and read books, carrying them everywhere he went.

Without a book nearby, he felt uneasy.

“Later, when I ordained here, Luang Por Chah told me not to read any books.

Books could be kept in the kuti,

but during the rainy retreat, reading was not allowed.''

The master said that knowing Sumedho would feel uneasy, so he would go to read.

But Luang Por Chah said he hoped I would read my own heart, read my inner mind,

observe my thoughts,

and that all arising emotions are an object of observation (ārammaṇa).”

One morning, I was sweeping fallen leaves in the temple yard.

Feeling upset and dissatisfied,

I thought everything I encountered since arriving at Wat Pah Pong was suffering.

Just then, Luang Por Chah walked by me,

he smiled and said, “Wat Pah Pong is very suffering.”

Then he turned and walked away.

I was puzzled: why did the master say that?

After returning to my kuti and reflecting quietly, I suddenly realized:

suffering does not come from Wat Pah Pong,but from my own heart. 

---Ajahn Sumedho 

《您出家有什麼收穫？》

常有人喜歡問：“出家當了這麼久的和尚，有什麼收穫？證悟成阿羅漢了嗎？”

“我會回答說，其實我出家並不是為了成為什麼。泰國人也好，美國人也好，老百姓都愛問：
‘出家想成為什麼？
至少也想成為須陀洹或斯陀含果吧？’
 

其實，這種想法是愚痴的。
如果認為出家是為了‘成為某種果位’，那就是一種愚痴。
 

“按照佛陀的教導：
我們出家，是為了看到‘成為什麼’的過患（危險）。
出家，就是走向‘不成為任何東西’的道路。
雖然我們在世俗語言中說，我們是泰國人、美國人，是僧人，
但實際上，我們什麼也不是。

那些只是‘行’和‘思想的構建’而已。
若我們執著於這些思維，就會充滿疑惑，問題也隨之而生。”
接著他回憶起自己青少年時期，說自己非常喜歡學習，愛讀書，走到哪裡都帶著書。
沒有書在身邊就感到不安。
 

“後來出家到這裡時，隆波查告訴我，不許讀任何書。
書可以收著放在寮房裡，
但在雨安居期間，不許閱讀。
師父說，知道蘇美多會不安，所以才去看書。
但隆波查說，希望我多讀自己的心，讀自己的內心，
觀察自己的心念，
一切生起的情緒，都是一個可被觀察的‘所緣’（ārammaṇa）。”

一天早上，我正在寺院的院子裡掃落葉。
心情不好，感到煩躁和不滿，
覺得自從來到巴蓬寺以來，所遇到的事盡是痛苦。
正好隆波查朝我走過來，
他對我微笑著說了一句：“巴蓬寺很苦啊。”
然後他就轉身走了。
我心裡疑惑：為什麼師父這麼說？
回到寮房後靜靜思考，才頓悟到：
痛苦並不是來自巴蓬寺，
而是來自我自己的內心。

----Ajahn Sumedho

cred. to Judge

當時阿姜蘇美多還是個很新的僧眾，到那裡才一兩年 的時間，禪修很認真。他捨不得離開巴蓬寺安定的生活， 但還是加入了開路的行列，跟著大眾在太陽下擊石、推車， 賣力地工作。兩三天後，他覺得天氣越來越熱、汗流不停， 心裡煩躁極了。

白天工作 12 小時之後，晚上還要誦經打坐，阿姜蘇美多認為「這些有什麼用！浪費時間！打坐功 夫全沒了！這個對修行生活一點幫助都沒有。」他仔細地 向阿姜查解釋他的關切：「我發現工作損害禪坐，不參加 比較好，我需要的是更正式的修行，更多打坐和經行的時 間，這樣對我的修行最好，這樣才有用。」阿姜查說：「好， 蘇美多，就如你所願。但我最好告知僧眾，讓大家知道發 生什麼事。」

他有時就是如此「邪惡」，在集會時他跟大 眾說：「現在跟大家宣佈，舖路、擊石、搬石，這些工作很重要，我們得做。但禪坐也很重要，蘇美多問我，我們 造路時，讓他打坐。我說好，沒問題。我不希望你們任何 人去批評他。對我而言，這一點都沒關係。讓他獨自打坐， 我們繼續造路。」

阿姜查從早到晚都在外面工作，不鋪路時，就接待訪 客跟大眾開示，忙得不亦樂乎。而阿姜蘇美多則獨自一人 在木屋打坐。第一天他覺得很糟，第二天更糟，第三天他 再也受不了，內心受到很大的折磨。索性出關回去打石、 搬石，投入工作。

阿姜查笑著看這熱情年輕僧人，問：「蘇美多，享受 工作嗎？」「是，師父。」 「現在又熱又髒，內心卻比獨自打坐快樂，不是很奇 怪嗎？」「是，師父。」 阿姜蘇美多又上了一課，自己區分何者是禪修，何者 不是，事實上，兩者根本沒差別。

若全心投入，不管做什麼、經驗什麼、周圍發生什麼，心中沒事，也沒有特別的偏好，在明覺的清明、覺知的空靈下，所有事物經驗完全相同無差別。

——阿姜阿玛罗 (Ajahn Amaro)

問題：您說起關於識，有時說到關於它是常的。那讓一些人困惑，因為他習慣聽說識是五蘊中，或緣起中，那裡的識是無常的，請求您的回答。

Ajahn sumedho :對，這對我們大部分人來說是困惑的。在上座部上，在禪宗上。五蘊那是關於身體，感受，記憶，情緒，識。這是對於感官的識來說的，透過看見，聽見，嗅，嘗，觸摸，思考。這些都是無常的。

例如眼識，或者影像，那是局限於感官的經歷。你問你自己這些問題。

也根據巴利聖典，常恒的識 ，viññāṇaṃ anidassanaṃ anantaṃ sabbato pabhaṃ （MN49,DN11）

這被翻譯為識無限、不顯現，光亮遍四周。

這並沒有限制於感官或物質身體。你知道，佛教的核心在於看穿我們的身份，我們看，聽，嗅，嘗，觸摸，想，有情緒。

這個禪修，尤其是泰國森林派，我們省思到這個知道（knowing ） ，那個我們可以見證的無常。我們留意到這個身體是無常的，感受是無常的，記憶是無常的，情緒是無常的，感官的識是無常的。

但當你禪修，你具備正念，你培育覺知，正念。當你不再粘著於感官的本體，到一點，識知道它自己，它不再傳送出去（往外送），去到看目標，聽，嗅，嘗，觸，想。但你停止做這些，你限制傳送你的識去到看，聽，嗅，嘗，觸，想的目標。你仍然有識，這被叫做覺知它自己的識；或者覺知著覺知的覺知。

在泰國的用詞，那叫做空的識。那不再被傳送出去感官目標。但當我們放下慾望，放下這些習慣性干擾我們的看，聽，嗅，嘗，觸，想；餘下的，就是覺知，在覺知它自己。所以這是滅。這是第三個聖諦，苦的終結。因為這個苦意味著四聖諦。

苦就是因為這個幻覺，對感官經歷的粘著，和對身體的身份。緣起就是追踪到無明，無明於法的真實性。那是苦的原因。所以無明緣行。這以基本的幻覺—我是這個身體，我是這個人，這個個性—這影響了識，透過以這個身份來思考，帶您去苦的結果。所以對法的無知，就是在當下。當我們說起法的時候，如果我們翻譯它為在當下明顯的，那個識是當下明顯的--對於任何在這個星球的人類。當你問任何人：你是否有意識？他會回答是，因為這是個事實。那是在這一刻可知的

識可以成為法的門口。假如識是依靠感官去作用，它是很局限性的，它只是另一個行（條件組合的事物）。所以在五蘊中，那是無常的。

但在究竟現實中，那是常的。

在緣起中。透過看見法，透過覺悟，整個（緣起）都崩潰了。但你不是變得無意識。覺悟的人不是進入昏迷或死亡，而是不再痴迷於自我，個性，不再束縛於文化，社會的條件施加，或者一路以來的思維習慣。他看穿這些條件的施加。當我們認同自我，分離出來的自我的感覺，這個人，這個身體。大部分在這個星球的人，都有這個身份。你不是帶著這個身份而出生，而是你透過社會，文化的條件施加。因為識不被限制，它不可被量度。識無限、不顯現，光亮遍四周。你不能具體化識，以語言描述它。但你就在當下知道它。它不是被培育或被創造的。

當識知道它自己，它不再使用感官。那是什麼？這是對viññāṇaṃ anidassanaṃ anantaṃ sabbato pabhaṃ 的洞察。當你體現到那個，那是平靜。那可以被考量為愛，無私的愛，對一切東西不再判斷，審察什麼是對或錯，好或壞，是自由，是平靜；不是我們智能的條件施加，那是空白狀態的‘無’。 那是‘無’，或者純潔狀態的‘知’ ，那是平靜的。

我們一直都不平靜，因為我們都在找些東西，拿些東西，去除某些東西，想要什麼。因為我們一直都在粘著一些條件，被創造的，條件組合的東西，人類心智的創造。我們束縛自己於生死，成功失敗，讚美於毀謗；我們認同無常，苦，無我。

‘行’被翻譯為條件組合的現象。那生起而又滅去，以三相--無常，苦，無我。

所以觀禪，我們開始意識到身體不是我，感受不是我，記憶不是我，情緒不是我，感官的識不是我。

但知道感官的識的東西也不是我。那就是識。你意識到一個覺知，那沒有對這種條件的粘著。所以透過反思這個識，在這一刻，我們知道這個識。但不是在想：我是識； 而是識是這樣。所以在阿姜查直接的方式去反思，就是用buddho 這個咒語，意思是覺醒的識，覺醒於它自己。不再用於眼耳鼻舌身和精神的條件施加，而是釋放了，自由，完美

我們許多人都有這個文化的條件施加。就如一開始我去到上座部佛教，我不能理解，識是無常的，因為感官是無常的。當身體死了，眼睛腐爛，他不再有看的功能。就如屍體不再看，聽，嗅，嘗，觸，想，不再有情緒。因為這是‘行’。這個人類的身體是很大程度不是一個恆常的自我，靈魂。它不過只是一個被構成的東西，無常，苦，無我。所以能夠反思行的能力是，是否行去了知到生起和滅去?是否行？ 那是什麼？什麼在了知到行的存在和消失？ 那就是知道它自己的識，就是佛陀，那個知道。那是知道當下，不是在判斷當下。當下就是這樣，識就是這樣。然後你停止找它。因為你用於描述識的文字，也是行，就算是‘知道’這個詞也是行。你要最終停止思考，而只有純潔的知道，不用去想任何東西。這就是道智，修行中的正見

問：隆波，這個問題更多是來自對佛陀教導的知識性、理論性的理解。人們通過閱讀書籍或背誦教法，在這些不同教導中聽聞「識是無常的」，然而實修中又存在著純潔的意識。該如何放下書本，觀察自身經驗，開始覺察到那種未必與「行」糾纏在一起的意識？

阿姜蘇美多：嗯，你無法覺察到它，因為你本身就是它。你無法將意識客體化。你可以通過專注於所緣來客體化眼識——比如我意識到眼前的這尊佛像，正將識投向它。但當我閉上雙眼，佛像在哪裡？那種識便隨之中斷。然而終極的、不死的意識——「不顯現的識 viññāṇaṃ anidassanaṃ 」⋯⋯那無限的覺知，它是宇宙性的意識，而非個人所有。

Q:first question for today is a question that comes up frequently. You speak about consciousness and sometimes talk about it as being permanent, which leaves some people confused because they're used to hearing consciousness as mentioned in the five aggregates or in the dependent origination, where it is talked about as being impermanent. Could you address that, please?

Ajahn Sumedho: Yeah, that's very confusing for most of us who've entered the Theravada tradition from the Zen tradition. Because in the five khandhas, the five aggregates, that's about the body, feelings, memories, emotions, and consciousness. This is dealing with sensory consciousness through seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, thinking. So this is all impermanent; eye consciousness is consciousness in the eyes, and the object of the eyes is limited to sensory experience, you know? We ask ourselves these questions. There's also references in the Pali Canon, in the sutras, regarding the permanent consciousness, which is translated as consciousness invisible, infinite, and being present all around. 

(viññāṇaṃ anidassanaṃ anantaṃ sabbato pabhaṃ （MN49,DN11）)

So that doesn't convey that it is confined to sense organs or to a physical body.

The whole point of Buddha's teaching is to see beyond the identity that we have with what we see, hear, smell, taste, touch, think, through our emotional habits. This practice of meditation, especially in this Thai Forest tradition, where we reflect on knowing the impermanence that we can witness as we pay attention: the body is impermanent, the feelings are impermanent, the memories are all impermanent, the emotions are impermanent, the sensory consciousness is impermanent. But when you meditate, when you are mindful, when you cultivate awareness, mindfulness, then when you're no longer attached to the sensory identities, you reach a point where the consciousness knows itself. It's no longer being sent out into objects of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, thinking. It's where you stop doing that, where you refrain from sending your consciousness to the objects of sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, thought. There's still consciousness, and that's what we call the consciousness aware of itself, or awareness aware of awareness. In Thai terms, it's called *jit wang*, or empty consciousness. It's not being sent out to objects of the senses anymore through the senses... when we've let go of desire, let go of these habitual patterns of distracting ourselves through looking, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, thinking, what remains is awareness aware of itself. So this is the Nibbana; this is the third Noble Truth, the end of suffering.

The suffering implied in the First Noble Truth is due to this delusion of attachment to sensory experience and identity with the body. So in the *paticca samuppada*, or dependent origination, as you trace that, you start with ignorance as the basic cause. Ignorance of ultimate reality, of Dhamma, is the cause of suffering. You start with *avijja*. When you start with the basic delusion of "I am this person, this body, this personality," then it follows suit that that affects consciousness, through-thinking, through identity with *sankhara*, which takes you to the result of suffering. So ignorance is our ignorance of Dhamma, which is here and now. When we talk about Dhamma, it'll be translated as apparent here and now. So that consciousness is what's apparent here and now for every single human being on the planet. You know, when you ask anyone whether they're conscious, they have to say yes, because that's a fact that is knowable in the present moment. So it's a Dhamma; consciousness, whatever you want to call it, can be the doorway to Dhamma, to ultimate realization.

So, if consciousness is dependent upon senses to function, then it's very limited; it's just another *sankhara*. And so in the five khandhas, the five aggregates, it is impermanent. But in terms of ultimate reality, it's permanent in the nirodha side of the teaching, through dependent origination, through wisdom,through seeing Dhamma; then the whole thing collapses. You become unconscious? No. An enlightened individual is not in a trance or drugged dead, but is no longer deluded by the illusion of the temporary self, personality as the ego. They are no longer bound and limited by the cultural, social conditioning that individuals received or by the thinking habits that they've developed. It sees through these highly controlled conditionings that we identify with.

When we identify with the ego, the sense of a separate self—"I am this person, this body"—to most human beings on planet earth, this identity is... you weren't born with it, but you acquire that identity through the social, cultural conditioning that you receive after birth. Because consciousness isn't limited; it's one of the immeasurables. It is what I have said before as : the consciousness invisible, infinite, it has no boundaries; you can't find, you can't objectify consciousness and describe it with words, but you know it because it's the very act of knowing in the present moment. It's always here and now; it's not something cultivated or created. So when consciousness knows itself, it's no longer just being used through the senses. What is that?  it is the insight into viññāṇaṃ anidassanaṃ anantaṃ sabbato pabhaṃ, the realization of that is peaceful. It can be considered love, you know, in the sense of unconditional love. It accepts everything; it's no longer judging, determining what's right and wrong, good or bad. It's freedom; it's peaceful. So it's not just a blank state that you imagine. The *jit wang*, the empty consciousness, sounds through the intellectual conditioning we have as a kind of blank state of nothingness. But emptiness, the pure state of being of knowing, is peaceful.

We wonder what peace really is in our lives when we find that we're not peaceful in ourselves because we're always trying to find something, get something, get rid of something, wanting something, because we're always attached to the conditions, to conditioned phenomena. *Sankharas* are creations of the human psyche. We limit ourselves and bind ourselves to birth and death, to success and failure, to praise and blame, because we're identifying with impermanent, unsatisfactory conditions. In terms of Buddhism, *sankhara* is the word translated as condition or phenomena, and it arises and ceases with the three characteristics of nature: impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and non-self.

In personal meditation, we begin to realize that the body is not self, the feelings, the pleasure, pain, neutral sensations, the memories are not self, and emotions are not self, and sensory consciousness is not self. But what is it that knows sensory consciousness is not self? And that's consciousness. You actually realize this thing where there's no attachment to a condition. So in terms of reflecting, consciousness at this very moment for every one of us is like this; we know we're conscious. But then we start thinking about it; we see it as "I am conscious," rather than "consciousness is like this." In Ajahn Chah's direct kind of approach to this way of reflecting is using this "Buddho" mantra, which means awakened consciousness awakened to itself. It's no longer just being used through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mental conditioning; it's liberated and free and perfect.

So, many of us, because of our cultural conditioning... when I first encountered Theravada Buddhism, I couldn't figure it out because consciousness is impermanent through the senses. When the body dies, the eyes decay; they have no lasting ability other than through the life force of a singular body. A corpse doesn't see, hear, taste, touch, or think anymore, doesn't have emotions because it is a *sankhara*. The human body is very much not a permanent self or a soul; it has no other quality other than it is made up of conditions that are impermanent, unsatisfactory, and not-self.

So what is the ability to reflect on *sankhara*? Is that a *sankhara*? Is being aware of the arising and ceasing of a condition a *sankhara*? Or what is it that knows the presence and absence of the *sankhara* or condition? And that is the consciousness knowing itself. It's the *Buddho*, the Buddha, the Buddha-type of knowledge , the knowing. Because the only word that makes any sense in the English language describing consciousness is it's knowing. It's knowing here and now. It's not describing here and now; it's not judging here and now as pleasant, painful, good or bad, but it's knowing, "Oh, it's like this in the present moment. Consciousness is like this." And then you stop trying to figure it out because the words you try to describe consciousness are all *sankharas*. Even the word "knowing" is a *sankhara*. You have to eventually just stop, stop trying to think at all, to where there's just pure knowing without having to think the word. And so this is path knowledge; this is *samma ditthi*, right understanding in practice.

Q:Luang Por, the question comes more from an intellectual, theoretical understanding of the Buddha's teachings, where people read the books or memorize the teachings and hear that consciousness is impermanent in these various teachings, and then there's this pure consciousness in practice. How does one go, sort of putting down the book, how do I look at my experience and start noticing the consciousness that is not necessarily bound up in the *sankharas*?

Ajahn Sumedho: Well, you don't notice it because you are that. You can't objectify consciousness. You can objectify eye consciousness by focusing on an object. I'm aware of this Buddha rupa in front of me, I'm sending consciousness through that. But if I close my eyes, where is the Buddha? That consciousness stops when you close your eyes. But the ultimate, the deathless consciousness, the  viññāṇaṃ anidassanaṃ ... the infinite awareness all around, it's universal consciousness, not personal.

阿姜查版本的禪修定義是—心的假期，放鬆～

那不像是嘗試去除一些東西，或者拿一些你沒有的東西，這傾向於拿取許多努力和壓力。

我們嘗試去控制去去除我們的煩惱，嘗試去獲得禪定和專注

我們要付出許多努力去做到這點。這是在創造壓力

但心的假期，是你放鬆和放下，你不用做什麼或成為什麼人

---ajahn sumedho

摘錄自：

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNZV6z0UO3g&t=2364s