So someone who is going to enter the Dhamma, when their mind has gained peace, it will be straight and direct to go towards the paths and fruits of Nibbana. There will be someone who is easy to tell and to teach and is yielding as well. So here we can think: if we have a lot of duties and responsibilities, a lot of distractions in our life, can we become peaceful? We won't be able to be peaceful in body and speech. We have to receive all types of information and things from outside, and it brings in agitation. But someone who has wisdom will do less work and duties. Oh, sometimes getting higher positions and more to manage brings in more agitation and restlessness. Our time is used up on managing work; we have no time for ourselves, and that which has the highest benefit is time. But if we have no wisdom in order to earn a living, then we can also be in trouble and in difficulties. So we need wisdom to be able to earn a living, but we have to have time to find peace in the mind. We become someone who is sense-restrained and is careful of their actions and speech, not getting too involved and caught up with a lot of things. We must be able to make this mind peaceful.
是以，即將契入正法者，當其心獲得平靜時，便會直趨涅槃道果。這樣的人易於勸誡教導，且能隨順受教。由此我們可思惟：若生活中充斥諸多職責牽掛、紛擾雜務，我們能否獲得內心平靜？身語皆難以安寧。我們不得不接收來自外界的各類資訊與事物，這只會帶來擾動。然有智慧者，必當減省事務與職責。啊！有時職位愈高、掌管愈多，反而增添焦躁不安。光陰盡耗於處理事務，無暇安住自身，而時間實為最珍貴資糧。但若缺乏謀生智慧，亦會陷入困頓艱難。故我們需以智慧謀生，更需騰出時日讓心尋得安寧。當成為防護諸根、謹言慎行之者，不過度涉入與糾纏諸多俗務。我們必須令此心臻至寂靜。
----Luang Por Anan
禪修者：在《慈經》中，有「少事務」這句話，請問它究竟是什麼意思？
阿姜布拉姆：這問題讓我有些慚愧。其實我有很多事務。換句話說，你不應讓事務優先於禪修與內心的寧靜。如果你能夠放下那些職責——尤其在禪修期間，這正是你參加禪修的原因，不論長短——你必須放下所有事務，才能真正享受禪修；那些因慈悲他人而承擔的事務，也需暫時放下。
我很久以前就學會放下這些職責。當時我每週五晚上前往珀斯，週六或週日回來，回到寺院後會檢查一切是否安好，看看是否有需要處理的事，然後週一又開始工作——週一、週二、週三、週四、週五都在工作，週五下午再出發去珀斯。完全沒有休息。
人們常來到對面的寺院，說：「哇，這真是個美麗寧靜的寺院。」有時我會公開回應，但大多時候只在心裡嘀咕：「什麼意思？這是我工作的地方。這裡有太多事務，太多需要處理的事。」後來我意識到自己錯了。
於是，我開始給自己週一上午放假。在週一上午，我不是主管、不是老師、不是住持——我只是個無名之輩。如果有人問：「阿姜布拉姆，我想請教一些禪修問題。」我會說：「今天我不是老師。今天我不是阿姜布拉姆。我只是個平靜安詳的比丘。」如果有比丘來告訴我：「水管壞了，馬桶淹水了。」我會回答：「週一上午不關我的事。」
可以說，我在週一上午去度假了。說真的，因為身為主管，我從未真正休息過，終於能將自己從職責表中移除。在週一上午，我像訪客一樣看待菩提伽耶寺——一個美麗寧靜的地方。但如果我仍在負責，就無法這樣做。
你去餐廳是為了什麼？是為了享受。如果你在享受，就不會去洗碗、不會去烹飪——你坐下來，放鬆，點餐。作為比丘，尤其是住持，我從未有過這樣的機會——24/7的責任。只有當我停止工作、卸下職責時，才能真正體會到寧靜與美好。
2024年11月（15/19）| 九日禪修營 | 阿姜布拉姆
Devotee: In metta sutta, there is "not busy with duties" , what does it mean exactly?
Ajahn Brahm: that makes me embarrased. You got a lot of duties. In other words, you do not allow duties to take precedence over the meditation and the peace. If you are able to let those duties go, especially when you're on a retreat—this is why you go on retreat, for however long—you have to let go of all the duties to really enjoy it, all the duties which you have out of compassion for others.
I learned to let go of those duties a long time ago. When I was going to Perth every Friday night and returning Saturday or Sunday, I would come back, check that the monastery was okay, see if there was anything I should be doing, and then on Monday we’d start work again—working Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, then heading back to Perth Friday afternoon. There was no rest.
People would come to the monastery across the road and say, "Wow, what a beautiful, peaceful monastery this is." Sometimes I’d say it openly, but most of the time under my breath: "What do you mean? This is where I work. There are so many duties here, so many things to fix up." Then I realized I was doing it wrong.
So I started giving myself Monday mornings off. On Monday morning, I was not the boss, not the teacher, not the abbot—I was a nobody. If someone asked, "Ajahn Brahm, I need to ask some questions about my meditation," I’d say, "I’m not the teacher today. I’m not Ajahn Brahm today. I’m just a nice peaceful monk." If monks came up and said, "The plumbing isn’t working, the toilets are flooding," I’d reply, "Not my job on Monday morning."
I would go on holiday, so to speak, on Monday morning. And honestly, because I’d never really taken time off—being the boss—I could finally take myself off the duty roster. On Monday morning, I saw Bodhinyana Monastery in the same way visitors see it: as a beautiful, peaceful place. But I couldn’t do that if I was in charge.
When you go to a restaurant, why do you go? To enjoy it. And if you’re enjoying it, you don’t do the washing up, you don’t do the cooking—you sit down, relax, and order the food. I never had that opportunity as a monk, especially as an abbot—24/7 responsibility. When I stopped working and took myself off duty, only then could I actually appreciate the stillness and the beauty.
2024 November (15/19) | 9 day Retreat | Ajahn Brahm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr3HVJVzDv8&list=PLf9HOK_Rf1M7Vk1fcy0AhvSTg3Y1Ai67E&index=15