No Matter What Happens, It's All Normal

Ajahn Anan, one of Ajahn Chah's foremost disciples, reminds practitioners that no matter what phenomena arise, they are normal, they are unsure. Aging, illness, and death are the nature of our bodies and the world around us.

Transcript

So we train these minds of ours so that they may be imbued with wisdom.

Because if the mind doesn't have wisdom,

Then it has delusion,

It has this avicca,

This ignorance,

Not knowing.

So in the word vicca,

What that means is knowledge.

A vicca means not knowing,

A lack of knowledge.

We don't know the truth.

We don't accept the realities of nature.

We always opposed to them,

Opposed to nature,

Opposed to the laws of nature.

And ever since we've been born,

We've been under these laws of nature which are fixed,

Which is that anything that is of the nature to arise.

And what we mean by anything here is all form and all mentality.

And so there's the natural things around us,

These physical things.

There's also materials which people produce.

And there are physical things that have minds or consciousness.

They're sentient beings,

Such as animals or humans.

And this too falls under everything,

All things of the nature to arise.

And so all physical things,

All mental things,

That which is sentient,

That which is not,

The hills,

Rivers,

Trees,

Everything in the solar system,

That which is of the nature to arise once it's arisen,

Is of the nature to cease.

And so if it has arising as its nature,

Then it also have ceasing as its nature as well.

And if our minds know this truth like this,

Then we'll be like venerable Anya Kondanya and we'll see the Dhamma.

If we understand deeply into this and see into Anatta,

Into Anicca Dukkha Anatta,

This impermanence and stress and not-self,

Then we attain to the Dhamma.

So seeing the Dhamma is reaching stream entry,

Attaining to the Dhamma is reaching the level of arahant,

Of not having any kilesas at all.

And the mind is filled with knowledge,

Filled with wisdom.

And there's just brightness there,

No darkness.

So if we don't have this knowledge,

However,

Then there'll be delusion and the mind will be gloomy and dark,

Filled with attachments and have this delusion which is the cause for suffering to arise.

And so being afflicted with delusion,

It's like we want to travel east.

And so we think that we are traveling east,

But we're actually traveling west.

And that's what delusion,

A mind that is deluded,

That's what it's like.

And the fact that we are born is due to the delusion in our minds.

And whenever we become aware of anything,

Whenever we have anything,

Then we're deluded by that.

And so suffering is constantly arising for us.

And it comes up all the time,

During this life,

During our next lives,

And it's just suffering on and on and on.

But if you look at just in terms of this life,

That whenever we have a feeling of self come up,

Then the cause for suffering arises right there.

So the question arises,

How do we free ourselves from this delusion?

We come to study this path of practice.

And then we know that delusion is the cause of suffering and none of us wants to suffer.

But it's not the case that just because we don't want to suffer,

Then suddenly we gain the wisdom that allows us to let go of everything.

Because we're firmly attached to these bodies,

To the bodies of other people.

We have families,

We have a husband or a wife,

We have mother and father and children,

Friends,

And we're attached to all of these people.

And whenever anything comes up,

We gain something or we receive some praise or status or pleasure,

Then we cling to all of that.

But when these undergo change,

Then we experience suffering.

And that which must change a lot is this body.

It grows old and then it gets ill and then eventually it dies.

But our hearts just can't accept these things.

And if we're not able to accept this truth,

Then that's the cause for suffering right there.

There'll be fear arising within us and this fear too is the cause for suffering to come up.

And we can be afraid of all kinds of things.

And sometimes we can't even find the reason for our fears.

Or maybe we may be thinking about the future a lot.

But if we gather all these fears together,

We boil them down,

What it comes down to is a fear of death.

So for us to bring up knowledge to the stage of being able to let things go,

That's quite difficult.

But it's not above our capabilities if we try.

But we need a starting point for that journey.

And we start off as petr anything.

It's greed,

Hatred and delusion filling up the heart.

But we start from that point and become detrain.

We see this noble truth of suffering appearing for us.

And then we seek out a path of practice,

A way that will lead us to the end of that suffering,

Which is dāna,

Sila,

Bhavana,

This generosity and virtue,

Meditation,

Sila,

Samadhi and pannya,

This virtue and collectedness,

Peace of mind and wisdom.

So we seek out methods,

Ways to abandon our selfishness,

To bring about brightness and clarity to the mind to one degree.

And there's a sense of restraint there,

Restraint over body and speech.

And this is sila.

Because it's normal for us to have conceit.

And we're not willing to give into anyone.

We think I am the best,

I'm right,

I'm correct.

And maybe we argue with others,

We gossip about others,

We try to harm each other.

And in the end,

You can even kill one another,

Or even start wars.

So therefore,

We need to train these minds so that at least they gain a little bit of wisdom,

So that we can see the drawbacks in things being chaotic,

Seeing the benefits of this training of the mind,

Of bringing the mind to peace,

The benefits of being generous,

Of being virtuous,

Of cultivating these minds.

And when we are generous in a consistent way,

When we have virtue,

Then the mind grows more and more at ease,

Becomes more and more bright.

And even though we may not have a lot of things in our lives,

It's natural to attach to what we do have.

And so maybe we just have one bicycle,

Or one motorbike,

Or one car.

But that one bicycle that we may have,

Well that's for us to support our lives.

And if we didn't have that,

Things would be very difficult.

So then upon having that,

We worry about it,

Is someone going to come and steal it?

Or maybe some people come here to practice the Dhamma,

And they bring along some valuables with them as well.

But then they're always cautious and suspicious that other people are going to take them,

Wondering if they're going to disappear or not.

So we gain these possessions in order to cure our suffering.

But if we're too attached to them,

Then they'd cause suffering.

And already just the suffering there and living our lives,

And trying to look after our family,

That's great already.

And then we're born into this life,

And the next,

And the next.

And it's just constant suffering like this without end.

And from the moment that we were born,

There's a sense of me and mine,

That this body is me.

We don't stop to consider this,

And thinking,

Well,

If this is me,

If all these things are mine,

Then why can't I take them with me when I die?

It's like we're staying in a house,

And we think that that house belongs to us,

But actually we've just rented it.

And so it's natural that eventually we're going to have to leave.

And so what about these bodies?

Are they me?

Or do we borrow them?

And we borrow them,

Don't they?

Don't we?

And what is it that we borrow?

Well,

It's the elements of earth,

Water,

Fire,

And air that comprise these bodies that we depend upon.

We're able to live because of the oxygen that we breathe.

But then we think that it's me who wants that oxygen to support this body.

There's the earth elements that we put in,

The water elements,

The fire element,

In order to nurture and nourish these cells.

But this body just stays for a short time,

Nonetheless.

And we still attach to it as being me.

It's me that's born,

And then I grow up,

I get old,

It's me that's sick,

And then it's me that dies.

And these are the worldly dumbers here,

This is the world.

But if we have wisdom,

We'll see this as being something normal,

It's natural.

It comes up,

It stays for a while,

And then it goes,

And that's normal.

It's not a self.

So sometimes the awakened teachers,

They teach through wisdom.

There's one who was about to die,

And I asked him,

Well,

How are you?

And he said,

I'm not anything.

And this is right at the peak,

This is the highest.

And in no long time after that,

He passed away.

But still he said,

It's like,

I'm fine,

I'm not anything.

And so it was just the four elements,

That's all it was.

It wasn't him,

Just the four elements.

And he could speak in terms of convention,

Saying that I am old,

Or I'm sick,

Or I'm about to die.

But if we take it in terms of dumber,

Then that's not right.

It's just the elements following the course of nature.

And so right before the end,

He said,

I'm fine,

I'm not anything.

It's just nature.

It's just material things.

It's just mental things.

So accepting what's normal,

That is seeing the dumber.

Whatever arises,

We tell ourselves,

It's normal.

If sickness comes up,

If the cells in the body start to deteriorate,

Start to degenerate,

We get cancer,

And many,

Many people get that these days,

We tell ourselves,

This is normal.

And we establish that as a principle for our lives,

That whatever arises,

Everything that we meet with,

We tell ourselves,

This is normal.

If we get sick while we're young,

That's normal.

It's in mid-age,

Then it's normal.

If it's when we're old,

Then that's normal.

And it's just natural,

Normal for conditioned phenomena,

And these conditioned bodies to not stay around forever,

We need to be separated from them.

So we must train ourselves to accept what's normal.

And this is what Anya Kondanya did.

It's what the other four ascetics did.

They're able to accept things that were natural and normal,

That is just like this.

And they were able to see the Dhamma through that.

So some people,

When they talk about this accepting of what's natural and normal,

They can think that they're speaking in terms of wisdom.

And it needs to be wisdom.

It shouldn't just be memory,

It shouldn't just be perception.

And some people,

They think it's wisdom,

But actually it is just that memory.

It's not transcendent,

It's not Lokuttara yet.

It feels like we see things clearly,

It feels like we understand.

These people are able to explain with great clarity,

Able to expound on this,

Like how ignorance gives rise to conditions,

And how this goes on to craving and clinging,

And then suffering.

They're able to explain in such a skilled and proficient way.

And it really seems like it's deep and profound,

But it's not really that.

It's just memory,

It's just perception.

They think it's wisdom,

This is genuine wisdom,

But they're actually deluded.

It's memory.

So sometimes this is what happens,

People teach through their memory,

Teach through perception.

And there's one time that Venerable Ajahn Chah went to listen to a monk who was very skilled in teaching the Dhamma.

And this monk had asked permission from Ajahn Chah to teach on dependent origination.

This very high Dhamma.

And so I was attending on Ajahn Chah and he said to me,

Well come on,

And then let's go and listen to this monk teach.

And so we went along and stood there and Ajahn Chah listened to this monk teach about dependent origination.

And then he turned to me and said,

Those people who teach the Dhamma incorrectly go to hell.

Those who teach incorrectly go to hell.

And those who teach correctly,

They go to heaven.

And the people listening,

They go to heaven as well.

But if what they say is wrong,

Then they fall into hell.

So we need to be quite cautious about this.

It's like when Venerable Asaji,

Who was an arahant,

Taught Venerable Sariputta.

He said that he would just pick up a teaching of the Buddha.

He would teach something the Buddha had taught him,

Which was that whatever is of the nature to arise is of the nature to cease.

And so he didn't teach just from himself,

But he taught the teaching of the Buddha and then Sariputta was able to see the Dhamma.

So we should set our hearts on having mindfulness.

And if people come and they scold us,

They abuse us,

Then we tell ourselves this is normal.

If people praise us and we tell ourselves this is normal,

We don't allow the mind to give in to liking or disliking towards that.

If we get something and then we become happy or we lose something and then we suffer,

Well that's something that we need to be cautious around.

Like these bodies of ours,

That it's normal for parts of them to degenerate.

And so we seek out replacements for those parts and try to replace some organs,

Get transplants,

Or maybe even find artificial organs,

Like try to find an artificial stomach,

And people are willing to pay millions of dollars for this.

So what that shows us is that having a human body is of great value.

But we also need to contemplate into its nature as well,

Seeing it as being something normal.

Because it's the things of the world that delight us,

That we become fascinated and deluded by,

That make us forget.

Then when we remember,

We're old already,

We forget again,

And then it may be cancer that makes us,

That brings us to our senses.

And so we don't contemplate these things beforehand.

We've been deluded for such a long time.

Perhaps we meet with some obstruction,

Some sickness.

If we have good merit,

Then we're able to survive and overcome that.

If we don't have the merit,

Then we pass away.

And we contemplate,

In either of these cases,

That this is just normal.

We accept the normality of the situation,

And see the Dhamma,

See the truth.

So may you train your minds like this to see things in this way.

When we gain something,

When we get praised,

Then we're happy.

But when we're separated from the things that we like,

Then suffering comes up.

And so we tell ourselves,

All these things are just normal.

The suffering that we have experienced throughout this life is a lot.

And then all the past lives that we've had,

We can't even remember that suffering.

But if we take it just in this life,

It's already an incredible amount.

So we need to look after these hearts through mindfulness and clear awareness,

And so that wisdom can be brought about,

It can be brought up,

So these minds can become firm,

So they can come into peace.

So bringing about peace through our bodies and speech,

This is Sila,

This is virtue.

And we should be proud of ourselves that we can do this,

That we can build up this kind of goodness.

There are some people who offer alms each day,

And they give like this,

They have virtue.

And this is all for the sake of bringing about this inner awakening.

So it's like a tree that's complete.

It has healthy roots,

It has the trunk,

It has branches and leaves and fruit.

And so when we practice,

Then our meditation,

Our Dhamma practice becomes like this.

But we need to endure first.

And we need to have faith as well in this path of practice.

And one day as we go along,

Then we'll be able to succeed.

This knowledge,

Wisdom will come up.

And when that knowledge comes up,

Then delusion just goes away all by itself.

It's like when brightness comes up and the darkness just goes.

We see if there's,

Or looking at it in one way,

We can say that the light destroyed the darkness.

But if we look at it another way,

We can say that that darkness is there,

But it's just the light has come in its place.

And so the defilements are there,

But when knowledge comes up,

Then the defilements just go away all by themselves.

It's like,

Say we have a house which is dirty and then we clean it and that dirtiness just goes by itself.

Or we can say that that dirt or that dirtiness was there,

But then cleanliness has come up in its place.

And so there are two ways of looking at it.

And so you may you set your hearts on training each and every day and try to make your practice even and consistent,

Forbear,

Endure,

And then the results will appear.

You can see the Dhamma,

Attain to the Dhamma.

So may you set your hearts on being generous,

On being virtuous,

On cultivating these minds.

And just this aspect of Sila is something that's not easy to do,

But we take it up for the sake of freedom from suffering.

So we need to try to build up our Bhāramī,

These spiritual virtues.

And we do that through chanting,

Through meditating,

Through praising the virtues of the Buddha,

The Dhamma,

The Sangha.

And just this is already a great form of goodness that we're creating.

And as we build up these Bhāramīs,

Then the practice will just carry on.

It will take on kind of a life of its own and go by itself.

So may you set your hearts on this.

Reviews

Ajahn Anan always provides excellent wisdom. This was very insightful

Very enlightening, many thanks 🙏🏻

Powerful.

Many bows

A beautiful, simple teaching. Of course.

Thank you 🙏

🙏🙏🙏

Sadhu sadhu sadhu anumodami

Thank you 🙏

Excellent 👍🏾 Thank you 🙏🏽