Ajahn 你好，我修習安般念許久了，但依然未能夠進入禪那，甚至不能看到光，請問有什麼建議？

Ajahn suchart: 就只是繼續做。尤其是當你不在打坐的時候，你應該無時無刻修習念，從你一起床到你睡覺。嘗試阻止你的心毫無目的地想，讓他專注在某樣東西，例如一個咒語：不斷默念Buddho buddho ,或專注你的身體動作

Hi ajahn , I have been practicing anapanasati for a long time , but still not able to get into jhana , not even seeing lights, any advice?

Ajahn suchart: just keep doing it. Especially when you are not meditating, you should practice mindfulness all the time, from the time you get up to the time you go to sleep, try to stop your mind from thinking aimlessly, force it to focus on something like a mantra, keep reciting buddho buddho, or focus on your body movement .

Student:I am determined to enter into jhana in this life, sometimes I sit for very long hours like 6 hours a day, but still cannot enter into jhana. Any advice ?

Ajahn suchart: stick to mindfulness but not jhana. Because with mindfulness it will lead you into jhana. But if you keep thinking of getting jhana, you will not get it. Don’t think about having jhana, just think about having mindfulness all the time when you meditate.

Student : some kruba ajahns they can enter into jhana after enduring excruciating pain from their legs, so I tried this throughout  this week , but still cannot succeed, like I sit for two hours and then I failed and gave up.

Ajahn suchart: your mindfulness is not strong enough

Student : Now I have plenty of time to sit all day long, any advice for me to enhance my practice?

Ajahn suchart: just be mindful, keep your mindfulness continuous

Student : just now I read about ajahn kao’s biography, and it says that at one time , ajahn kao contemplated about the pain from his leg, and then he could enter into jhana. But isn’t it that this kind of contemplation is regard to vipassana, why can it lead to jhana?

Ajahn suchart: this is the method of wisdom developing samadhi, you use vipassana to calm your mind.

Student : so we can enter into jhana by using this contemplation right?

Ajahn suchart: that’s right, to teach the mind to understand the nature of pain—being anicca dukkha and anatta—and there is no anything that you could do about it . All you could do is just leave it alone, leave the pain alone and you could enter into calmness

Student : I somehow summarize the successful examples of some kruba ajahns, and one is by enduring this excruciating pain , another one is to fight against the fear, like towards tigers. Is it right?

Ajahn suchart : that’s right, these two are usually the problems that you have to solve. The first one is the fear of pain , the second is the fear of death—which your body will experience one day. So you learn to cope with pain and death. Once you have learnt how to cope with them, you will not be afraid of pain and death

Student : what is the mechanism behind? Why by overcoming the fear can one enter into jhana ?

Ajahn suchart: this is for people who have jhana before. Sometimes they cannot enter into jhana by mindfulness , then they have to resort to wisdom instead. But for people who do not have jhana experience before , then it is not easy for them to use wisdom to calm their mind. So you have to rely on mindfulness by reciting a mantra

Student : In ajahn mun’s biography, it records some incidents that people enter into jhana after chanting buddho in their mind amid fear, but they do not use wisdom. so what is the mechanism behind?

Ajahn suchart: each individual has different capacity on mindfulness or wisdom, so that sometimes one person can use mindfulness  and successfully enter into jhana; another person may need to use wisdom. So this is not something that you have to worry about, you have to worry about what you can use to get your mind into jhana.

Student : Because now I have plenty of time , I can go everywhere, is it conducive for me to practice on tombs or deserted places ? 

Ajahn suchart: there is no fixed formula for everybody. You have to find out what works for you. You have to try this method or that method , this place and that place , eventually  you can find which one is suitable for you; then you will know

Student : so maybe I will try to endure the excruciating pain once with strong determination. If I enter a point which the pain is really excruciating, should I concentrate on buddho or contemplate about the pain?

Ajahn suchart: that is what I mean, you have to decide for yourself.

Student : so expectedly, I will enter into jhana by simply buddho or contemplation , right?

Ajahn suchart: right.

學生：有時當我看見一些比丘誦念時， 我覺得那是無意義的， 他們都不知道當中的意思。

Ajahn suchart : 念誦和用一個 “咒語” 是同樣的東西。 目的是要有正念與禪那

念誦Buddho 之外， 你念誦 itipiso, bhagava, 或者任何一個句子。 那是一樣的-- 發展念的方法。 那是停止你的心毫無目的地想的方法

學生: 如果我們念誦三藏經， 用我們的口念， 我們可以進入禪那嗎?

Ajahn suchart:. 不是單靠念誦， 但念誦可以幫到， 他可以舒緩你某些散亂， 讓你更易坐下然後看呼吸。 有時因為你的心還是很躁動和散亂， 你不能夠看你的呼吸。所以你需要先念誦來平靜你的心。 你然後就可以坐下然後看呼吸

學生： 所以念誦只是一個禪修的工具

Ajahn suchart : 對的

學生：但除了這個， 念誦有什麼意義？

Ajahn suchart:那已經是主要的目的了。那就是停止然後平靜你的心。 如果你還未能夠禪修， 你應該用念誦作為禪修的一種。

如果你明白當中意思， 你就可以得到智慧。 就好像你念四念住經， 你明白然後念誦。 如果你不， 你就不會獲得智慧和知識， 只是念。

<<The significance of chanting sutta>>

Student : sometimes when I see some monks chanting, I think it is meaningless, because they don't understand the meaning .

Ajahn suchart : well , chanting and using the mantra is the same thing. The purpose is to have mindfulness and jhana.

Instead of chanting buddho, you chant itipiso, bhagava, or whatever verses. It is the same , the way to develop mindfulness. It is the way to stop your mind thinking aimlessly.

Student : if we chant sutta from tipitaka, chant by our mouth , can we enter into jhana?

Ajahn suchart:. Not by chanting alone , but chanting can help. It can help to relieve some of your restlessness , and then it can make it easier to make you sit and watch your breath. Sometimes you are not able to watch your breath, because your mind is still agitated and restless. So sometimes you need to chant first to calm your mind down . You can then sit and watch your breath.

Student : so chanting is only an aid for meditation.

Ajahn suchart : yes

Student : but aside from this , is there any significance of chanting ? Like what the monks are doing

Ajahn suchart: that is the main purpose , that is to stop and calm your mind . If you can not yet meditate , then you should use chanting as a form of meditation.

If you understand the meaning , then you can get wisdom . Like you chant the four foundation of mindfulness sutta, and you understand and chant . If you don't , you don't get wisdom and knowledge, just mindfulness.

17-10-23

進入禪那的“技巧”

學生: 我聽過進入禪那是件離我們很近的事情， 當我們獲得技巧。

Ajahn suchart : 技巧是： 和 buddho 在一起， 不要讓 buddho 自己一個， 和他在一起。 不要讓 Buddho 孤單。陪伴著 Buddho

Technique of entering into jhana

Student : I heard that entering into jhana is something near to us , once we get the technique

Ajahn suchart : the technique is , just stay with buddho. Don't leave buddho alone , stay with buddho. Dont let buddho lonely . Keep company with buddho buddho.

17-10-23

學習時怎樣修行？

背景： 一個學生透過念誦 Buddho 來修行， 然後打坐許多個小時。 但當他學習， 他的心就會離開 buddho 然後失去正念， 不能覺知身心

Ajahn suchart :. 你要停止做任何其他東西， 只是專注於你的 Buddho . 當你正在發展正念，你不應該做任何學習。只是專注 Buddho buddho

學生： 但如果我需要學習， 我應該覺知這個“想”？

Ajahn suchart :學習什麼？

學生：大學的東西

Ajahn suchart : 那你應該有念於你在學習的東西。只是專注於你的學習， 不要讓你的心想其他事情。

當你要學習， 要用到思想於工作或其他事情， 你就暫時停止 buddho . 但如果你不用想， 你應該透過念誦 buddho buddho 來停止念頭

How to practise when studying ?

Background : a student practise by reciting buddho, and sit for long hours. But when he studies , his mind will fall apart from Buddho and lose mindfulness, can't aware of the body and mind

Ajahn suchart :

So you have to stop doing anything else , just focus on your buddha alone . You should not do any study now , when you are developing mindfulness . Just concentrate on buddho buddho.

Student : but if I need to study , I should aware of the thinking ?

Ajahn suchart : what study ?

Student : materials from university

Ajahn suchart: then you should be mindful of what you are studying. Focus on your study only , don't let your mind think of other things .

Stop buddho temporarily , when you have to study , when you have to use your thought on your work or something . But if you dont have to think , you should stop your thought by reciting Buddho buddho

17-10-23

信徒：我同意透過發展更多念，心會變得更加明亮和快樂。現在我的禪修業處是透過念誦buddho buddho 和呼吸。吸bud 呼dho 。我讀過你的教導，透過念誦這個buddho buddho，我們可以實現禪那，ajahn 可否描述一下由一開始到禪那？那個過程是什麼？我們可以怎樣透過念誦buddho buddho來進入禪那？

Ajahn suchart: 你要全日地念誦，嘗試停止你的思想。如果你能做到這個，當你坐和禪修，你的心就會掉下然後進入禪那。假如你坐下然後打坐，但你的心還未掉入禪那，你只需要全日不斷地做它。不要只在打坐時做它，你應該全日都做它。由你起床的時間，到你睡覺的時候。

信徒：如果我們念誦buddho buddho, 禪相會否出現？

Ajahn suchart: 不會

信徒：假如我合併佛陀進呼吸呢？禪相會否出現？

Ajahn suchart: 我不知道，你要試試

我建議您只用buddho ,不要綁它到呼吸，用任何一個，不要用兩個。如果你用buddho ,就忘記呼吸，如果你用呼吸，就忘記buddho 。

信徒：所以如果我念誦buddho buddho，然後是時候進入禪那了，我會突然體驗禪那的快樂對嗎？突然地

Ajahn suchart: 對的，用Buddho的時候，當你進入禪那，就如從高處掉下。然後心就會靜止，完全地靜止，然後你就會有中捨，平靜和快樂。但你不能預期這個，只是專注在你的buddho buddho。沒有人知道它何時發生，當它發生，他就會發生。你只應該念Buddhobuddho ,或看呼吸。

信徒：有時我的心非常平靜，但仍然不能進入禪那。

Ajahn suchart :因為你的念還不夠強，你要做更多，更多

信徒：有時我覺得我已經非常地具念，但仍然不能進入禪那

AJAHN SUCHART: 你要整天具念，不只是一時，從你起床到你睡覺的時候。

Disciple : I agree that by developing more mindfulness, the mind will be brighter and happier. Now my subject of practicing is by chanting buddho buddho with the breathing. So breathe in bud and breathe out dho. I read your teaching that by chanting this buddho buddho, we can achieve jhana, can I ask ajahn to describe from the beginning to jhana, what is the process? How we can enter into jhana by chanting buddho buddho.

Ajahn suchart: well, you have to chant all day long, try to stop your thinking. If you can do this, when you sit and meditate, your mind will drop and enter into jhana. If you sit and meditate ,but your mind hasn’t dropped into jhana, just have to keep doing it all day long. Don’t just do it during meditation , you should also do it all day long . From the time you get up, to the time before you sleep

Disciple：will nimitta appears if we chant buddho buddho?

Ajahn suchart: no

Disciple:　what if I incorporate buddho into breathing? Will nimitta appears?

Ajahn suchart: well, I don’t know, you have to try it and see

I recommend you use buddho alone, don’t tie it with the breath, use either one, not both . If you use buddho, just forget the breath. You use the breath just forget about the buddho .

Disciple : so if I chant buddho buddho and its time to go into jhana, so suddenly I will expereiecne the bliss of jhana right? Suddenly

AJAHN suchart:that’s right. With buddho, when you enter into jhana, its like jumping from a high place. And then the mind become still, completely still and you have equanimity and peace and happiness . But you cannot expect this , just focus on your buddho buddho. Nobody knows when it is about to happen , when it happens, it will happen. You just supposed to do buddho buddho, or watching your breath.

Disciple : sometimes my mind is very calm, but still cannot enter into jhana

Ajahn suchart: because your mindfulness is not strong enough, you have to do more and more.

Disciple : sometimes I　think I am very mindful already, but still cannot enter into jhana

Ajahn suchart: you have to be mindful all day, not just sometimes, from the time you get up to the time you sleep.

信徒：有時悲傷的感覺會來到我的心，在我胸口的位置，他週不時發生，好想前幾天，那個悲傷盤踞，然後我不能用任何方法停止它，包括在心中念誦Buddho buddho 。 然後我以一個較為中立的心觀察它，但悲傷依然在。我都不知道為什麼悲傷會在那裡，它沒有原因地出現，Ajahn 可否啟發我，怎樣去停止它？

AJAHN SUCHART: 如果你不能停止你的悲傷，那你就要接受它。就好像你接受天氣，你不能阻止下雨。如果你能停止，那就停止，如果不知道方法，你只需要接受它。既然你不能做任何東西，就讓它來然後去吧，最終它會消失的。假如你反應，那會傷害得你更深，比你不反應。不要反應，不要試圖去除他，假如你不能去除它。那你就不會在心中製造更多壓力。

信徒：但有時我發現這個悲傷很煩擾，他會讓我想哭，一些眼淚會在我的眼中，但就是不知道為什麼。它影響我的日常工作，因為我的心被這個悲傷佔據， 所以我只是接受它？還是有其他更好的方法使他消失？

Ajahn suchart: 那是一個長的過程， 你要發展更多念，你要念誦buddho buddho ,不只你悲傷時做。你要把它作為例行公事。假如你有更多正念，這個悲傷就會更輕。那是一個長的過程，不是當下能做到事情。 你要接受當下的情況，然後發展更多念。然後慢慢地，你的悲傷就會更少，更少。

Disciple :Sometimes the feeling of saddnes will spring up in my mind, in the area of my chest, and it happens suddenly from time to time , and like few days ago, the sadness was lingering and I cannot stop it in whatever ways, including chanting buddho buddho in my mind. And I observe it with a relatively neutral mind, but the sadness is still there. I also don’t know why the sadness is there, it just spring up without a reason , could ajahn inspire me how to stop this sadness?

Ajahn suchart: well if you cannot stop your sadness , then you have to accept for what it is. Like you accept the weather, you cannot stop the rain. If you can stop, then stop it, but if you don’t know the technique , you just need to accept it for now. Now that you cannot do anything about it, just let it come and go, eventually it will disappear . If you react, it will hurt you more than you not react. Don’t react it , don’t try to get rid of it if you cannot get rid of you. Then you wont be creating more of the stress in your mind.

Disciple : but sometimes I found this sadness very disturbing, it will make me wanna cry ,some tears will be in my eyes, but I just don’t know why. It affects my daily working as my mind is occupied by this sadness, so I just accept it, or I can use other ways to make it disappear?

Ajahn sucahrt: well, it is a long process, you have to develop more mindfulness , you have to keep reciting buddho buddho, not just meditate when you are sad, you have to make it a daily regular routing. If you have more mindfulness, the sadness will become less. It is a long process, not something that you can do right away. You have to accept the situation now for what it is , and try to develop more mindfulness, and slowly gradually your sadness will become less and less.

'不斷想著這個咒語--buddho budho'

你知道關於布施，持戒，止禪，觀禪。這些是佛教徒應該專注的事情。如果他們想要去除煩惱—他們焦慮，有壓力，散亂和一切壞蛋感受到原因。這是通往真正快樂的道路。

由有錢所得到的快樂，能夠做任何事情，可以買任何事情，那只是暫時的，然後當我們不再能夠做我們所想要的事情時，可以轉變為悲傷。這種快樂依靠於許多事情，例如，一個健康的身體，有許多錢。假如你沒錢了，或你的健康惡化，你就不能做你所喜歡的事情了。當你不能夠做你所想做的事情的時候，你就會悲傷。然而，假如你懂得建造其他方式的快樂—不用靠錢的，或有強壯和健康的身體—那就算你沒錢或你的身體不強壯或健康，你也能快樂。這就是心的快樂—起源於禪修的快樂。

有兩層的禪修。第一層是要讓心平靜，第二層就是要教導心覺悟，或者觀。我們可以讓心開悟之前，心一定要先平靜。所以第一步就是要平靜這顆心，為心帶來快樂。當心平靜和快樂，這種快樂不依靠於身體或錢。你可以沒錢仍然快樂，生病或不健康的時候你依然能快樂。

所以你一定要先嘗試達成這個目標，那就是讓心平靜，做到這個的方法就是有念。

念能把心朝向成為平靜。念是專注於一樣精神的目標，例如咒語‘buddho’。假如你可以在心裡背誦‘buddho buddho’ ，由你起床到睡覺一直念，只有在你要想重要事情的時候才暫停，但當你沒有任何工作或思考要做到時候，你不應把你的心毫無目的地想。

當你毫無目的地想的時候，你會傾向於走向煩惱，想要成為更有錢的，更快樂，想要這個那個。當你有這類型的想法，它就會開始製造不安和焦慮。你的心不會平靜和快樂。

要制止心這樣想，你要不斷想這個咒語‘buddho buddho’ ,然後心就不會能夠朝著煩惱的方向想，心就不會散亂和激動。它就會平靜和快樂。當你坐禪的時候，你的心就能輕易集中，成為一，進入禪那，進入禪定—這是你找到由平靜而生起的快樂的地方。你就會知道這個世界沒有任何其他類型的快樂等同於這種快樂，然後呢就會知道你能夠去除對你自己金錢和身體的依著。

過去，你需要它們來讓你自己快樂，但現在你有第二種快樂—不需要身體或錢的。你不再擔心你的健康，你不用擔心你的財富，你是否富有。是否健康不再重要，因為你能一直帶來這種由有念而帶來的快樂。一直發展念是很重要的

“Keep thinking of the mantra ‘Buddho’ ‘Buddho’”

“….You know about dāna, sīla, samatha-bhāvanā and vipassanā-bhāvanā. These are the main activities that Buddhists should concentrate on, if they want to eliminate the defilements (kilesa), which is the cause of their anxiety, stress, restlessness and all the bad feelings. This is the way to real happiness.

The happiness that we acquire from having money, being able to do anything, to buy anything is only temporary and can turn into sadness when you can no longer do what you want. This type of happiness depends on many things, for instance, a healthy body and having a lot of money. If you run out of money or if your health deteriorates, you will not be able to do what you like to do. When you cannot do what you want to do, then you will have sadness.

However, if you know how to build the other kind of happiness, that which doesn’t rely on having money, or having a strong and healthy body, then even when you don’t have money or when your body is not strong or healthy, you can still be happy. This is the happiness of the heart or mind, which arise from the practice of meditation (bhāvanā).

There are two levels of meditation. The first level is to calm the mind, the second level is to teach the mind to become enlightened, or vipassanā. Before we can enlighten the mind, the mind must first be peaceful and calm, so the first step is to calm the mind, to bring happiness to the mind. When the mind is calm and peaceful, the mind is happy and this happiness doesn’t rely on the body or money. You can be happy without having money, you can be happy even if your body is sick or not healthy.

So you must try to achieve this goal first, that is to keep your mind peaceful and calm. The way to do it is to have mindfulness.

Mindfulness can direct the mind to become calm and peaceful. Mindfulness is to focus on one mental object, such as the mantra, ‘Buddho’. If you can recite mentally ‘Buddho’ ‘Buddho’ all the time from the time you get up to the time you go to sleep, and only pause when you have to think about something important (like when you have to work or you have to think), then you stop your mantra, but when you don’t have any work or thinking to do, then you should not let the mind thinks aimlessly.

When you think aimlessly, you tend to go to the way of the kilesa, wanting to become richer, to be happier, to have this and that. When you have this kind of thinking, it will start to create restlessness and anxiety. Your mind will not be peaceful, calm and happy.

To refrain your mind from thinking like that, keep thinking of the mantra ‘Buddho’ ‘Buddho’ then the mind will not be able to think in the way of kilesa, then the mind will not be restless or agitated. It will be peaceful, calm and happy, and when you sit in meditation your mind can become easily concentrated, become one, enter into jhāna, enter into samādhi where you will find happiness that arise from being peaceful and calm. You will then know that there is no other kind of happiness in the world that is equal to this kind of happiness, then you will know that you can get rid of the attachment to your money, to your body.

In the past, you need them to make you happy, but now you have another kind of happiness that doesn’t need the body or need money, then you don’t have to worry about your body health, you don’t have to worry about your financial health, whether you are rich or poor. It doesn’t matter if you are sick or healthy, because you can always bring about this happiness that arises from having mindfulness. It is very important to develop mindfulness at all time…”

By Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto

www.facebook.com/AjahnSuchartAbhijat

問題： 我應該禪修多少個小時，以嚐到禪那的味道？

Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto: Dhamma for the Asking :首先， 你要在禪修成功之前時刻培育念。 你可以在你起床到睡覺的之間做， 透過誦念一個咒語， 或專注於你的身體活動。 把你的心放在咒語或身體活動，不要讓心想其他事情， 除了那些你一定要想的事情。一旦你有了連續的念，你可以坐下， 或者在幾分鐘內你就能進入禪那。所以， 關鍵是要在禪修前先發展念。沒有念的話， 不論你打多少個小時座， 你也不能獲得任何結果

Question: How many hours should we meditate every day in order to get some taste of jhāna?

Than Ajahn suchart: First, you have to develop mindfulness all the time before you can meditate successfully. You can do it from the time you get up to the time you go to sleep by reciting a mantra or by focusing on your body activities. Keep your mind on the mantra or on the body activities. Don’t let the mind think about other things, except for the things that you really need to think about. Once you have continuous mindfulness, you can sit down and maybe in a few minutes, your mind can enter jhāna. So, the key is to develop mindfulness first before you meditate. Without mindfulness, no matter how many hours you meditate, you will not get any result.

Question: Should somebody seek legal justice for the wrongdoing of another person to him/her?

問：假如有人傷害別人，那個被傷害的人應否採取法律行動？

Than Ajahn: Well, ideally not if you want to have compassion and goodwill towards that person. Then you just forgive that person who did wrong to you. This will end all problems as there will be no retaliation. If you take legal action, then you might instigate more retaliation from your enemy.

Ajahn suchart :這樣的，最好不要假如你想要對那個人有同情心和好心。

那麼你只是寬恕那個對你做錯事的人。這樣就可以停止一切問題，不會有報復。假如你採取法律行動，你可能招致更多敵人的報復

So the ideal way is to forgive and forget and move on. It’s already gone anyway, right? What had been done was already done. So it’s better to leave it alone and forget about it.

所以最理想的是寬恕、忘記然後向前走。那已經過去了，對嗎？做了的東西已經做了。所以放下他然後忘記比較好。

Because if you take legal action, it can also cause you stress. And if you lose, you’ll have more stress and sorrow, and you will lose a lot of money at the same time. So, why do it in the first place, right? Let it go.

因為如果你採取法律行動，那也會讓你產生壓力。假如你輸了，你會有更多壓力和悲傷，然後同時你會失去許多金錢。所以，為什麼一開始要這樣做呢？放下吧！

This is what radiating compassion or goodwill (mettā) means. Radiating mettā is not by doing chanting, but by actual action of doing it, by forgiving others. A lot of Buddhists think that radiating mettā means doing chanting. But by just doing chanting, they don’t do anything. Chanting is just teaching you how to do it.

這就是散發慈悲的意思了 。散發慈愛不是透過念誦，但是是透過真正做出來，寬恕他人。

很多佛教徒認為散發慈心就只是念誦，然後他們不做任何東西。念誦只是教你怎樣做。

Question: Would this stop future harm to other people?

問：這樣會不會能夠阻止他繼續傷害他人呢？

Than Ajahn: Well, if that person wants to harm other people, who can stop him or her from doing it? Unless you kill that person.

Ajahn suchart : 這樣的，假如這個人想要傷害其他人，誰人能夠阻止他呢？除非你殺了他

And then that person will go and take another birth and do it again anyway. So let things be naturally. You just do things on your part to protect yourself.

然後那個人會投生繼續做同樣的。 所以讓一切自然地發生吧。你只需做保護你自己的部分。

But as far as other people are concerned, who knows? Maybe by you forgiving that person, it might change that person’s character from being a bad person to become a good person. Because there is compassion in this world, there is goodwill in this world.

對其他人來說，誰知道呢？可能你寬恕了那個人他會轉變性格，由一個壞人變成一個好人呢。因為世界有悲心，好心

The Buddha said that you don’t end hatred by hatred; you end hatred by loving kindness.

佛陀說你不能透過憎惡終止憎惡,你透過慈愛終止憎惡

Ajahn suchart

問：當我被啓發，我就許下承諾要把很多錢拿出來奉獻；但過了一陣子，當那個感覺消失，我心裏有點吝惜因爲要捐去那麽多錢。當我計算出我的月開支，我發現一大部分的薪金都拿來捐款。我感到很愉快，但我仍然覺得有一點吝惜與粘著。我想請教一下應該怎樣有技巧地處理這問題？

老師：當你做慈善時，不要衝動。你要理智地做。你要想透徹一點你是否真的想做，或者你能不能負擔。一旦你認爲這個捐款是有好的目的然後想去做，你也有資源去做，那就去做！然後不要再猶豫。因爲你常常都能夠看回你捐款的原因，然後會讓你不會反悔地感到快樂。

如果你真的認爲你佈施的理由很好，例如是支持醫院的，那這會讓你快樂。所以你要知道你在做什麽和你能給多少

Question: When I feel inspired, I make a promise to contribute to a cause which may cost a lot of money, but after some time, when the feeling disappears, I feel a little stingy as I have to part with so much money. And after I tallied my monthly expenses, I realized that a big portion of my salary went to donation. I felt happy about it, but I also felt some form of stinginess and attachment. I seek Ajahn’s advice on how to skillfully deal with this?

Than Ajahn: When you do charity, you shouldn’t do it on impulse. You should do it on rationality. You have to think through whether you really want to do it or not, or whether you can afford to do it or not. Once you have decided that the donation is for a good cause and you want to do it, and you have the resources to do it, then do it! And then, forget about it; don’t have a second thought. Because you can always look at the cause that you are supporting which can always make you happy and it won’t make you change your mind.

You take your time to think about it first. Don’t do it on impulse. Ask yourself, ‘Do I really want to do it? Can I really afford it? Is it a good cause that I will always be happy with it every time I think of it?’ If you think that it’s really for a good cause, for example, if you are supporting the hospital, so every time when you think of what the hospital can do for people, it will always make you happy. So, you have to know what you are doing and how much you can give.

“Dhamma in English, Sep 19, 2021.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube: Dhamma in English.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

如果真正聽聞佛法，就懂得因與果是一對的。

我們所要的果報，佛陀說它不是來自於向他人哀求而來，而是真正是來自本身的行為，即是快樂，進步，滅苦，都來自本身所做的一切。

如果我們想對的事情，講對的話，做對的事情，那麼快樂與進步就會跟隨著來，同樣的如果我們的思想，講話，做事情都做不好，那麼煩惱以及苦就會跟隨著 來。

這個就是自然法則，或者是因果，有因就有其果，如果想要果報，就要知道其因會讓它成為什麼果，就必須學習了解其因。

我們大家來寺院學習，聽聞佛法，我們來的目的是為了聽聞佛法以及學習其因，它會讓我們這個生命帶來進步與快樂，遠離一切苦。

這一切的因讓它的果報生起，不是來自於插3支香，也不是在許願向求佛陀。

Phra suchart

Teachings by Phra Ajahn Suchart

translated 4:00 am January 24, 2022

選擇相伴一生的伴侶不應該著急， 一旦你看到某人並從外表上喜歡他，不要立刻決定住在一起，先花時間以徹底了解彼此而不僅僅是表面上， 你需要真正了解他或她的特質和習慣，比如他是否遵守五戒。如果是他被認為是一個很好的人， 如果你必須選擇一個有錢但不道德的人或一個不富裕但有道德的人，你最好選擇道德的，這樣你就不會失望了，

選擇一個有錢但不道德的人，有一天那個人可能會離開你，因為他有錢將很容易找到新的伴侶， 因此我們必須用智慧來審視一個人。要想有智慧就必須持戒修行，以布施為輔，你必須遵循佛陀所教導的道路，也就是做功德、持戒、修行、發展智慧、保持理性，當你想要某樣東西的時候你必須問問自己，你想要的東西是否真的是一件好事，

比如你要買水果的時候，要選擇新鮮的，不爛的，不要盲目購買。當你選擇某人作為你的伴侶時也是如此，你必須一絲不苟地挑選合適的，要想選得好就必須有智慧才會懂得辨別好壞，

 找個好人做夥伴或做朋友，你將會快樂，因為一個好人不會給任何人帶來痛苦，如果你讓一個壞人成為你的朋友和伴侶，你總是會受到傷害，因為壞人不關心別人的感受，自私的人做任何事都不考慮是否會給別人帶來麻煩。但是一個有道德的人總是想他的身體或言語行為是否會給別人帶來麻煩， 一個有道德的人不會奪取別人的生命，不會偷竊別人的東西，不會犯下邪淫，不會說謊，不會吸毒。不做這些事就不會給別人添麻煩， 因此一個有道德的人是令人欽佩的，也很值得與之交往，因為他會給你帶來長久的快樂和安全。

Question:  How can I attain sotāpanna?

問題：我怎樣達到初果？

Than Ajahn:  You have to get rid of the fetters. There are three fetters you have to get rid of: (i) sakkāyadiṭṭhi – wrong view about the body or the five khandhas; (ii) doubt in the Buddha, Dhamma and the Saṅgha, and; (iii) attachment to rituals. These are the three fetters that a sotāpanna needs to eliminate. In order to do these, you need to have sīla, samādhi and paññā. 

ajahan suchart: 你要除去你的束縛。有三種束縛你要除去：1 有身見---關於身體和五蘊的錯見  2 對佛法僧的懷疑  3  對儀式的依著

爲了要去除他們，你要有 戒、定、慧。

Paññā means you see the body, the five khandhas, as aniccaṁ, dukkhaṁ, anattā. Once you’ve seen that and have seen the Four Noble Truths, you will have the eye of the Dhamma – you see the Dhamma. Those who see the Dhamma, see the Buddha, then you’ll have no doubt in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Saṅgha. The Saṅgha is you who see the Buddha and the Dhamma. 

智慧指你看到身體，五蘊是無常、無我和苦的。 當你已經看到四聖諦，你就會有法眼--你看到法了。那些看到法的就會看到佛陀， 之後你就對佛法僧沒有任何懷疑了。僧就是見佛和法的你。

You’ll also see that your suffering arises from your attachment, your cravings or your desires and to perform any kinds of rituals cannot get rid of your suffering. So, once you know the cause of your suffering, which is your craving or your desire, you don’t perform any more rituals. All you need to do when you are not happy is to get rid of your cravings or your desires.

你也會看到你的苦產生於你的依著，你的渴愛或者欲望。去做不同的儀式是不能除去你的苦的。所以只要你知道苦的原因，那就是你的欲望，你就不會再做任何儀式。當你不快樂時，你要做的就是除去你的渴愛和欲望。

“Dhamma in English, Aug 15, 2018.”

Question:  A few hours ago there was a terrorists attack in Paris and such attacks are happening in many other countries as well. I would like to know from a Buddhist perspective, how can we deal with it?

Than Ajahn:  You have to look at the total picture. There are many other people who also died but not from terror attacks. Death from terror attack is very small. For example, three people died yesterday. But many die from natural causes: thousands or tens or hundreds of thousands every day but it never gets into the news, that’s all. You have to consider the big picture. 

Don’t look at the news only. News only highlights some of the events and it may look terrible, but the news does not really report how many people have died in the world. How many people have died in Africa from famine and sickness? Many people die every day. We ourselves make it look worse. Just let it be natural. Two policemen died, one terrorist died. Three people died. Compare this to the twenty thousand that died today. What then is the difference of the death of the three people? We tend to react to something that is magnified, when such incident is just as normal as apple pie. People die every day. People die from automobile accidents more than they die from being shot down by a terrorist.

Laypeople:  I mean this violence and terror are committed freely in the name of religion.

Than Ajahn:  People die in the name of religion, country and race or are killed for various reasons. If you were to look at the big picture, people will still die anyway from natural or unnatural causes. We all die anyway. We try to magnify something normal to become abnormal. Instead of leaving it naturally, we make it worst by our reactions. For example: “If they kill three of us, we will bomb 300 of them.”

I do not wish to go into the causes that resulted in this current situation. There are causes that lead people into such actions. We only look on our side, we don’t look on the other side who are hurt by our actions. We have our justification for killing them, so they also have their justifications for killing us. They say, “Since you kill us, we also have the right to kill you.” That is why the Buddha said that:

Hatred can never be appeased by hatred. Hatred can only be appeased by love and forgiveness. So we just have to forgive them and look at it as a natural thing. People are born and die but whatever causes this doesn’t matter. We all die anyway when the time comes for us to die. Seeing in this way will prevent us from taking revenge or creating more bad actions.

Laypeople:  So, we have to see the big picture and must not let this incident overshadow it.

Than Ajahn:  Yes. Everybody dies. How many people are there in France? Eighty million? They are all going to die. How many people are there in Thailand? Seventy million? They too are all going to die. So what’s the big deal of 3 death yesterday or today? There are more people died due to drinking alcohol.

Laypeople:  But it is how they die that matters, right?

Than Ajahn:  That’s what I mean; you look from the wrong perspective. I see from the perspective of just death and not how they die. If you choose to see how they die, you can get angry. But if you choose to see death as the end result of life, regardless of how we die we are all going to die. So why should you do anything about it? If a person dies, let him die. Instead of seeing things in this way, we take revenge. If you try to kill me, I will kill your father and his son will come and kill you. Back and forth and it’s never ending. So instead of living together peacefully, you live in hatred and violence.

If you contemplate on the nature of the body, you will see that death is just part of the body’s nature. Regardless of how it dies, it doesn’t really matter. Maybe, there are more people killed by their own loved ones, such as husband and wife. I suppose if you are to look at the statistics, you are more likely to be killed by your spouse than terrorists. You make your wife angry and she can kill you! 

So, in Buddhism, it teaches us to just be ready to die. Just accept it. We know who dies and who doesn’t die, so death doesn’t mean anything to a Buddhist because what dies isn’t us. The body is like our servant. The body is like a robot. Right now, we are developing a robot to do things for us. If your robot ‘dies’, would you get mad or angry? Would you get sad? It’s OK! The body is a (just) biological robot and not a mechanical one. That’s all it is. It is not you or me. It’s just your robot or my robot. So why get so upset when your robot dies? You just get a new one. Reborn again, you get a new robot.

“Dhamma in English, Apr 21, 2017.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube:  Dhamma in English.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

問 ：幾個小時前，巴黎發生了恐怖襲擊，許多其他國家也發生了此類襲擊。我想從佛教的角度知道，我們該如何處理？

阿姜 ：你必須看全局。還有許多其他人也死於恐怖襲擊。恐怖襲擊造成的死亡人數很少。例如，昨天有三個人死亡。但許多人死於自然原因：每天有數千、數万或數十萬，但它從未成為新聞，僅此而已。你必須考慮大局。

不要只看新聞。新聞只強調了一些事件，看起來可能很可怕，但新聞並沒有真正報導世界上有多少人死亡。非洲有多少人死於飢荒和疾病？每天都有很多人死去。我們自己讓它看起來更糟。順其自然吧。兩名警察死亡，一名恐怖分子死亡。三人死亡。與今天死去的兩萬人相比。那麼這三個人的死有什麼區別呢？我們傾向於對被放大的事情做出反應，而這種事件就像蘋果派一樣正常。每天都有人死去。死於車禍的人比死於恐怖分子的人多。

居士 ：我的意思是這種暴力和恐怖是以宗教的名義自由實施的。

阿姜 ：人們以宗教、國家和種族的名義死亡或因各種原因被殺害。如果從大局來看，人們仍然會死於自然或非自然原因。反正我們都會死。我們試圖放大一些正常的東西變得異常。我們不是自然而然地離開它，而是通過我們的反應讓它變得更糟。例如：“如果他們殺死我們三個，我們將轟炸其中的 300 個。”

我不想深入探討導致這種現狀的原因。有一些原因會導致人們採取這種行動。我們只看自己的一面，不看因我們的行為而受到傷害的另一方。我們有殺害他們的理由，所以他們也有殺害我們的理由。他們說：“既然你殺了我們，我們也有權殺了你。”所以佛陀說：

仇恨永遠無法被仇恨平息。仇恨只能通過愛和寬恕來平息。所以我們只需要原諒他們並將其視為自然而然的事情。人有生有死，但這無關緊要。無論如何，當我們該死的時候，我們都會死。以這種方式看待將防止我們報復或製造更多不良行為。

居士 ：所以，我們必須看到大局，不能讓這個事件掩蓋它。

阿姜 ：是的。每個人都死了。法國有多少人？八千萬？他們都將死去。泰國有多少人？七千萬？他們也都將死去。那麼昨天或今天的 3 人死亡有什麼大不了的？有更多的人因飲酒而死亡。

居士 ：但重要的是他們如何死去，對吧？

阿姜 ：這就是我的意思；你從錯誤的角度看。我是從死亡的角度來看的，而不是他們如何死亡的。如果你選擇看他們怎麼死，你可能會生氣。但是，如果您選擇將死亡視為生命的最終結果，那麼無論我們如何死去，我們都將死去。那麼你為什麼要對此做些什麼呢？如果一個人死了，就讓他死吧。我們不是以這種方式看待事情，而是報復。如果你想殺我，我會殺了你的父親，他的兒子會來殺你。來來回回，永無止境。因此，你不是和平地生活在一起，而是生活在仇恨和暴力中。

如果你觀照身體的本性，你會看到死亡只是身體本性的一部分。不管它怎麼死，都無所謂。也許，還有更多的人被自己的親人殺害，比如夫妻。我想如果你看一下統計數據，你被配偶殺死的可能性比被恐怖分子殺死的可能性更大。你惹你老婆生氣，她可以殺了你！

因此，在佛教中，它教導我們做好死亡的準備。只要接受它。我們知道誰死誰不死，所以死亡對佛教徒來說沒有任何意義，因為死去的不是我們。身體就像我們的僕人。身體就像一個機器人。現在，我們正在開發一個機器人來為我們做事。如果你的機器人“死了”，你會生氣還是生氣？你會難過嗎？沒關係！身體是（只是）生物機器人，而不是機械機器人。這就是全部。這不是你或我。這只是你的機器人或我的機器人。那麼為什麼當你的機器人死了時會如此沮喪呢？你只是得到一個新的。重生，你得到一個新的機器人。

“英文佛法，2017 年 4 月 21 日。”

阿姜蘇查·阿比加托

Ajahn Suchart Abhijato

www.phrasuchart.com

YouTube：英文版的佛法。

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

感謝法友 lou beng 翻譯

Question:  What is the teaching of the Buddha?

問題:佛陀的教導是怎麼樣的?

Than Ajahn:  The teachings of the Buddha are the teachings about the truth of life: what makes us happy and what makes us sad.

Ajahn suchart:  佛陀的教導就是生命真相的教導：什麼讓我們快樂，什麼讓我們悲傷。

 The Buddha said that what make us happy is when we do good kamma and what makes us sad is when we do bad kamma. 

佛陀說讓我們快樂的就是當我們做善業，讓我們悲傷的就是當我們做惡業

He said that we should only do good kamma and we should abstain from doing bad kamma. What are the bad kamma to avoid? They are killing, stealing, committing adultery, lying and drinking—these are bad kamma.

他說我們應該只應做善業和我們應該節制自己不做惡業。

什麼是應該避免的？殺生、偷盜、邪淫、妄語與飲酒。 這些就是惡業

Question: When the Dalai Lama dies, all the local village know that he will come back.

問：當達賴喇嘛死去，所有本地的村民都知道他會回來

Than Ajahn: This is partly true, but it isn’t always true because once you die, you cannot direct your mind to go and be reborn in a certain place. The law of kamma will take over; the law of chances and opportunity will take place. So, you cannot decide that you are going to come back and be reborn as an Australian next life.

Ajahn suchart :這對了一半，這不一定永遠對，因為你一死，你不能夠控制你心的去向，然後再生於一個特定的地方。

業力會接手，機會法則會發生。所以，你不能決定下一世你會否回來然後再生成為澳洲人

“Dhamma in English, Jan 3, 2019.”

By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto

www.phrasuchart.com

Latest Dhamma talks on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g

瞋心怒氣，從「貪——想要」而起，當我們想要卻得不到，就生氣。所以，要減少「想要」。佛陀教導我們要學習「安樂知足」，得到什麼都滿意歡喜。

別太過挑剔想要這樣那樣，想要事情變成這樣那樣，一旦達不到心中想要，就生氣。

但如果懂得知足，隨緣歡喜，得到這樣也歡喜，成為那樣也歡喜，如此心就不會生氣。所以要學習減少「想要」、「期望」，學習得到什麼都能安樂歡喜，那就不會生氣。

Phra Ajahn Suchart