Accepting & Respecting The Truth | Online Retreat July 2024

Ajahn Anan encourages sincere practice grounded in faith, generosity, virtue, and mindfulness. He highlights the power of faith in seeking truth, as shown by disciples like Sariputta. Even brief Dhamma teachings can lead to deep insight when the heart is ready.

He emphasizes training in generosity, keeping the five precepts, and forgiving others to purify the heart and overcome suffering. Life’s impermanence is a key reflection—knowing all things arise and cease helps us accept loss with wisdom.

Through consistent practice, even laypeople can realize the Dhamma. We are urged to prepare our hearts like travelers on a long journey, cultivating mindfulness and wisdom to face life’s challenges. With effort, peace and joy will follow.

Transcript

So today it's the ninth day of our retreat.

For those of you who are joining here in person,

You've traveled here from many different places,

In Singapore,

Malaysia,

For example.

You've had this sincerity and also have this faith to set yourselves on finding freedom from suffering.

So satta is faith,

Conviction.

It has such immense value.

When we have this faith already,

Then we will seek out that thing.

So just like Venerable Sariputta,

That he had faith and wisdom.

So he went out to seek someone who knew the truth that attained to the Dhamma.

And he went all around India,

But he wasn't able to find that person.

So both himself and Venerable Mahamoggalana,

They went seeking,

But they didn't find.

So they went back to their former teacher,

The wanderer,

Sanchai.

But shortly after that,

Venerable Sariputta met with Venerable Assaji,

Who was one of the five ascetics and had attained to Arahantship already.

So when he met Venerable Assaji,

He listened to a brief Dhamma teaching from him.

So what this shows is that for those who have wisdom,

Then the one teaching doesn't have to speak very much,

And the one listening just needs a little bit,

Because their wisdom is already very great.

They had studied a lot already.

So we see just within his last life,

Sariputta had sought out teachers for a long time,

Been practicing Samadhi till he reached the highest level of that.

So all that it took was for him to listen to this very brief teaching,

That all phenomena which is of the nature to arise,

Its arising and its cessation,

Such is the teaching of the Tathagata,

The great teacher.

So all phenomena,

All Dhamma,

That Sariputta was aware of what that meant already.

So like we study about the body and about feelings and memories and thoughts and sense consciousness,

And so this is the physical and mental Dhammas.

There are material things,

Those which humans have created and those which appear naturally,

And this all arises and ceases.

And depending on its causes and conditions,

When those causes go,

Then that thing itself ceases.

So it took just this much,

Just this short Dhamma teaching,

And he was able to reach stream entry.

And then he took that Dhamma and spoke it to Mahamoggalana,

Who too became a Sotapanna.

So we see that when we listen with a heart established in faith and sincerity that has wisdom,

Then we can gain this kind of knowledge.

So like we put no effort into mindfulness and wisdom until this reaches a state of completion.

And what's left is just wisdom.

And so for Sariputta,

Mahamoggalana,

All they lacked was just a little bit of wisdom,

Not a lot.

So the reason that we are training ourselves and doing this so much is because these things haven't reached completion yet.

Our faculties are not yet complete.

So that's why we need to train in them first.

We need to train in generosity.

So we all have the faith to come here.

Some of the lay people have come today and brought their whole family with them.

And this is helping to forge good characters in them.

The character of generosity being one who is happy to give,

Who is selfless in their giving.

And this brings about a joyousness in the heart.

Because if we only just want to get things,

Then that's greed.

And when we get them,

Get these material things,

What we gain is something physical.

But the heart can become sad.

And so if we gain things in a way that's correct,

Then it's okay for the heart.

But if we do it in a way which is incorrect,

Then this saddens the heart.

So our hearts have such immense value to them.

And if we gain something external,

And that external thing breaks apart,

This can also break the heart as well.

And so we shouldn't allow our hearts to break like this.

Because when the heart breaks,

Then everything is wasted.

Everything breaks.

So therefore,

We practice in order to make our hearts better,

To make them purer than what they were.

So to do this,

The Buddha taught about generosity.

So there's generosity in giving and giving our forgiveness as well.

In abandoning our anger,

Our hatred,

Cruelty,

Ill-will.

In Sotapanna,

Stream-enters have given up all ill-will and cruelty already.

Because they've seen that this ill-will is something which isn't worth getting involved in.

Because they've seen into not-self.

If you've seen into not-self,

Then why would you be involved in ill-will?

Why wish harm upon others?

And so if we knew that,

If we see the danger in the body,

And we knew that this body was going to break apart in six months,

Then we would get the feeling,

Why be angry with anyone?

That anger just wouldn't come up.

We'd be able to bring our mindfulness back in time.

Bring our mind back to look at our bodies and our minds,

To be present with them.

Because what we want is to know clearly,

To gain understanding.

To see this truth in the nature of the body,

That it's constantly deteriorating already,

And in no long time it's going to fall apart.

And so then why get angry?

That every morning when we wake up,

We should make this determination that today I will not be angry with anyone.

I'm not going to have ill-will towards anyone.

And even though we still have these things within us,

Anger and ill-will,

But when we set our intention and establish our mindfulness like that,

Then when this anger and ill-will comes up,

We'll be able to have the presence of mind to be able to abandon them.

Because we see that these are the causes and conditions for suffering to arise.

And so we try to let them go.

So we give this kind of generosity and feel a joyousness through that external generosity,

Internal generosity,

Lifting the heart up.

Contemplating how everyone in this world wishes for happiness.

No one wants to suffer.

Just like how we don't want anyone to harm us,

To steal anything from us,

To hurt our feelings or destroy our wealth.

In the same way,

Other people don't wish for that either.

And seeing things in this way,

Then this is sila-dhamma,

That we're keeping our virtue.

And sila-dhamma is the cause for humans to be able to live together in peace and harmony.

These five precepts are the virtues of a Sotapanna,

The extreme entry.

So for all of us keeping these five precepts,

This kind of effort is what will take us to knowing and seeing the Dhamma.

And so for the lay people,

Even though you may have families,

You can still practice in a way that allows you to enter into the very principles of the Dhamma that the Buddha taught and to see them with clarity.

But what we really need to do is firmly set our hearts on that and to practice with consistency.

So if the five precepts are something that you can't keep every day,

Then you should keep them on some days and try to increase that amount until in the end you're able to keep them.

It's like someone who drinks alcohol,

And they feel like their body needs at least some alcohol,

But they just reduce the frequency with which they drink it.

And they steadily reduce the amount that they drink each time as well,

Until all that's left is just taking a sip.

And they'll be able to,

And while they're doing that,

They contemplate throughout that process,

And in the end they'll be able to give that up.

Or like someone who's trying to keep the first precept,

That's to not take any life.

And in Isan in the northeast of them,

And make a curry out of them.

And there was a disciple of Lumpu Cha who wanted to give up doing this,

To give up killing.

And in the end he was able to do that.

He still went out with his friends to catch the frogs,

And then they put them into this bamboo basket.

But then he freed all of them,

Let them all go,

Because he felt really sorry for them.

So his mind changed like this.

So sometimes when monks say this,

People ask,

Well if I keep these precepts,

If I act like this,

Then how am I going to find money?

How am I going to have enough to eat?

So like if we have a paddy field,

And we don't spray insecticide on that,

Well how am I going to live?

But it's interesting,

There was a case of one paddy field with which the owner sprayed insecticide,

And there was another paddy field right next to it,

And the owner of that was keeping the precepts and didn't want to kill.

And what happened was that that second paddy field,

The rice in it,

Was really beautiful,

And the amount of grains that it gave off was much more abundant than normal.

And there weren't insects that came to eat the crops.

So this is the benefit of Sila,

Of virtue.

And it's possible for this to happen,

And an incredible thing.

So when we see the value of these five precepts,

Then we set our hearts on keeping them.

And trying to do that,

We are trying to look after them well.

And we can take up the precepts with monks,

Or we can just do that by ourselves.

Just make this determination that today I want to keep the five precepts,

And then you've already taken the five precepts.

And people who are virtuous are people with a radiant appearance and joyous hearts.

So we see how this quality of Sila,

It helps to give us happiness to one level.

And then going on from that is this cultivation of mindfulness.

Something that you've been doing in the monastery,

Something that you should take home with you as well.

Putting effort,

Reciting Buddho,

Dhammo,

Sangho,

Thinking these mantras constantly.

Thinking about skillful things.

So you can think about the Samadhi that you have cultivated already,

That you've experienced at some point.

And then the mind can become joyful.

And really whatever it is that brings about joyfulness in the mind,

Then you should set your heart on bringing up that condition.

So the peace that you have experienced before,

You try to bring that up again.

And even though maybe you don't see this nature arising and ceasing,

Perhaps it's not on the level of Vipassana yet,

But don't worry about that.

And just maintain this happiness and goodness of heart that arises from generosity and virtue.

That gives us this ease like this.

Like one family that enjoyed helping out people who were unwell.

And they took them in and were able to look after 300 people.

So there was a great contentment that they felt,

A joyfulness that they felt,

Because of this selfless giving.

Because of their generosity,

Their virtue,

In the heart of kindness and compassion that they had.

So when we help one another,

Then what arises from that for us is joy and happiness,

A fullness of heart.

So this is what we're doing each day.

We're cultivating our hearts like this.

Abandoning anything which is harmful and skillful.

Giving rise to the good and the skillful.

Developing mindfulness,

Developing samadhi.

And when this is full already,

When we've developed it a lot,

We've done it a lot,

That there's full fruit in wisdom.

And wisdom can arise at any time.

It's not constricted by time.

So that was the case of Dīgha Naka Brāhmaṇa,

The Brāhmaṇa with long nails.

And he listened to the teaching of the Buddha.

And the Buddha taught in the Zen manner,

That of wisdom.

Because the Buddha was one who had wisdom and he taught in order for wisdom to arise in his listeners.

So really Zen,

It comes from the mindfulness and wisdom of the Buddha.

So on this occasion,

The Buddha taught in a question and answer manner,

That he asks these questions and an understanding arose.

So the Brāhmaṇa said,

Well I like pleasure.

And the Buddha asked,

Well old age,

Sickness and death,

Do you like those?

He said,

No.

Well then when you receive them,

You'll suffer won't you?

And just that,

And the Brāhmaṇa understood that he would suffer.

And he was able to change himself to be able to see the truth,

To see the Dhamma.

So therefore,

For us,

We suffer because our hearts don't understand and accept the truth.

So like,

When someone that we love passes away,

And we still think about them,

And when thoughts of that person come up,

Then the suffering comes up again.

There's grief arising again.

And what do we do in that state?

Wisdom isn't enough,

But we carry on contemplating how this is something that's common and normal,

That I am of the nature to be like this,

That it's common for other people to be like this as well.

But we also have this sadness that arises from the defilements and the way that they make our mind concoct things.

So we teach this to ourselves then,

When those defilements arise,

We teach ourselves this is normal.

So there was a grandchild of Lady Visakha,

Who was a Sotāpanna and just 14 or 15 years old and passed away.

And she was very saddened by this,

And she said,

I don't want to be like this as well,

By the passing of her grandchild.

And then there was also Ananda Pendaka,

Who had such immense faith.

You should think that he had the faith to be able to cover the land of Jetavana Monastery in gold coins,

In order to offer that land.

So just how much faith,

How much goodness,

How much bhārami did he have?

But he also had a child who was very virtuous and had great qualities within her.

But this child passed away and he was sad.

He couldn't stop that sadness.

But he wasn't sad because of the passing of his daughter,

But because he believed that she was dying in a deluded state.

Because just before her death,

He asked her,

Are you well?

And she answered,

I am well,

Younger brother.

And she was speaking in terms of Dhamma.

And she said,

My younger brother,

Don't worry about me,

I'm well,

I'm fine.

But Ananda Pendaka,

On hearing this,

Thought that she was in a delirious state.

And he was very upset by this and cried.

And he went to ask the Buddha.

And the Buddha said,

What she said is correct,

That you are her younger brother,

That you are a Sotāpanna and she is a Sakatakāmi,

A once-returner.

And through hearing this,

He was very happy that his daughter had developed her heart to an even higher level than her father.

Because Ananda Pendaka himself didn't have the time to be cultivating his mindfulness to that degree,

To be building up his wisdom to that degree,

Because he had so many duties he had a lot of work that he did.

But his daughter had the time to meditate.

So therefore for all of us,

We should really try,

Really put in our efforts to have this firmness and sincerity in order to accept the truth.

We accept and respect the truth of sankharas,

Of conditioned phenomena.

And see their nature is to be like this,

To deteriorate and decay like this.

When we see that,

Then Dhamma arises.

We see how this is just normal,

That arising,

Staying and ceasing is something that's normal.

And when we see just that much,

Then we see the Dhamma.

And this is what the Buddha taught to the five ascetics,

That that which arises is normal for that to cease.

But we see that arising and ceasing as a self,

That I get old,

That I am sick,

That I die,

It's all just me.

We don't see the normality of the khandhas and the elements to be this way,

How it's not a me,

It's not a you.

So there was one fully awakened monk who was unwell.

And some people went to ask him,

How are you?

And he said,

There's nothing,

I'm fine.

And he was talking about the five khandhas,

That it was just these five khandhas that were deteriorating,

But his mind wasn't anything.

And no long time after that he went into Nibbāna.

Because it's normal for conditioned phenomena to be this way.

So therefore we should establish ourselves in not being careless.

Because we don't know when sickness is going to come and find us.

So we need to prepare ourselves well.

It's like when we're going on a long journey,

We need to prepare supplies for that journey.

And so for this journey,

We need to prepare ourselves,

The supplies of mindfulness and wisdom,

To be able to pass over any difficulties.

And obstructions that we may meet.

But we need that mindfulness and wisdom in our hearts to be able to put up a good fight with these difficulties and obstructions.

So we should have confidence that this way is correct.

This path of generosity,

Virtue and meditation.

So we should develop this well,

Until wisdom arises and we can know clearly and see the Dhamma of the perfectly self-awakened Buddha.

So may you set your hearts on this.

May you meet with success in your work.

May you have good and strong health.

And may you know the Dhamma with clarity.

May you grow in blessings.

Reviews

Such a beautiful and restorative talk
Thank you Ajahn Anan
Love and blessings to you