Reflections from Emptiness: Dhamma Quotes on the Path from Ajahn Anan

by Ajahn Anan Akiñcano | Sept. 28, 2020

Ajahn Anan receiving guests at his monastery, Wat Marp Jan, in the Rayong province of Central Thailand. His community includes over fifty monks, including many foreigners.

The Complete Path of Practice | Ajahn Anan Akiñcano

by The Fourth Messenger Podcast

Listen to a talk by Ajahn Anan on our podcast:     iTunes    Google    Download    +

REFLECTIONS
on
meditation

Venerable Ajahn Chah, Ajahn Anan’s teacher who passed in 1992, was one of the renowned forest masters of twentieth century Thailand and attracted a large following of both foreign and native disciples. His legacy lives on today in over three hundred branch monasteries around the world. 

A Tibetan bhikshuni who had many questions about meditation in the Thai Forest tradition came to Wat Marp Jan for a week. Ajahn Anan showed her an extended welcome by answering all her questions in great detail. On a few occasions, he tried to encompass what he was teaching simply and directly for her by saying, “You don’t need to study a lot and know all this information; when you keep your mindfulness consistently with a meditation object, that’s enough knowledge gained. Watch over the mind to see the wholesome and unwholesome states that arise and try to find the one who knows within yourself.”

* * *

Endure suffering in the present, and the result will eventually be happiness. Indulge in pleasure in the present, and experience suffering as its result.

* * *

Keep reminding yourself, my practice still isn’t complete, true Dhamma hasn’t arisen within the heart yet. There is still more to do. Constantly reflect on where you are in the practice.

* * *

Whenever you are meditating on a particular Dhamma theme, if it fails to make the mind peaceful and at ease, there’s something wrong in your approach.

* * *

The most redundant recurring themes stressed by Ajahn Anan in the daily development of meditation are as follows: Firstly, he encourages, “Whatever posture you are in —sitting, standing, walking or lying down— have mindfulness on your meditation object at every moment.” Secondly, the Ajahn urges: “Eat just enough; know moderation in all aspects of life; be respectful and humble; learn to give up selfishness.”

* * *

Ajahn Anan frequently relates a question he asked Ajahn Chah as the main turning point in his practice. At the time, Ajahn Anan was starting to gain deep calm in the mind for long periods and wanted to ask Ajahn Chah what to do next. He felt that investigating the body was too coarse to be the fastest way to enlightenment and that investigating the mind must be the correct method.

When he asked Ajahn Chah about this, the teacher responded, “You’re asking me this, but right now is your mind calm?”

Ajahn Anan recalled the experience: “In those days, asking Ajahn Chah about your practice was a huge deal. I was petrified and shaking like a leaf, so more out of fear than anything, I replied that my mind was calm. He told me—and made it more than clear—that if the mind is calm, you have to investigate the body. For me to assume my practice was beyond that point at the time was foolish. I was like a little kid who wants the biggest, juiciest mango on the tree, but the stick I was using to get it was too long and heavy for the job.”

Ajahn Anan continued: “The key lesson every meditator should take away from this is that when the mind is calm, use that calm to investigate the body as impermanent, suffering, and not-self. This is because the roots of all defilements are attached to this body.”

“You can go straight to investigating the mind and see the Dhamma,” said Ajahn Anan, “if you already have a lot of accumulated merit and your practice is very advanced. For example, when the Buddha investigated the five aggregates—form, feeling, perception, thought and consciousness— he broke through ignorance and attained Dhamma. You have to remember though, the Buddha already had a lot of accumulated merit and his practice had progressed to the final point.

Because of this, he was able to contemplate dependent origination and become enlightened— but normal people like us? Even the great Thai Forest masters like Ajahn Mun and Ajahn Chah practiced investigating the body first, and taught others to do the same.”

“For most people, observing the body and mind is hard, but for me, the real difficulty is giving you enough faith to follow the path of practice with your whole heart. Keep striving. Every one of you—keep striving.”

* * *

Without exception, every one of us has to die, so what are you going to do with your life? How will you choose to live it? What good will you do for yourself and the world?

* * *

Life races towards death without resting or stopping, like an avalanche crashing down from all four directions—there’s nowhere to run or hide. Just as you would do anything to escape if you were trapped inside a burning house, you must do everything you can to escape this vicious cycle of samsāra.

* * *

When you’re born, all you’re doing is borrowing elements from the world for a body. When life’s time is up, you have to return them.

* * *

To be at one with death is the best thing you can do. You’ll always be in the present, because you’re with the truth. Being at one with death stops you from thinking aimlessly about things of no benefit.

* * *

Never be negligent with your life; as much as possible, recollect the fact you have to die. Every day, remind yourself, today might be my last day. Each in-breath you take may be your last. Every out-breath you take may be your last.

* * *

You don’t know whether you’ll die today, tomorrow, or when you’re fifty, sixty, or seventy. It’s not certain when or where you’ll die. So right now, what goodness would you leave the world with?

REFLECTIONS
for
practitioners

Wat Marp Jan’s shrine to Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Infinite Compassion. Ajahn Anan is known for his embracing of the Mahayana school of Buddhism alongside his native Theravada.

Think how much you have to go through in life to consider yourself a success. For example, if you want to be a doctor, how many years do you have to study, and then how many more do you have to work before you can consider yourself successful? Ajahn Chah said if you want to reach the highest success in the Dhamma, you have to put your life on the line. If you’re still not dead, then give it everything you’ve got.

* * *

If you have no mindfulness, concentration won’t arise. You’ll feel defeated from never having developed true happiness from the practice. Be determined. Whenever you have spare time— one full day or even half a day—give everything to the practice. However, what will be of most value is taking time on a daily basis to practice meditation. Do it every day. Look after the mind. Watch over the emotions. Make sure you are developing wholesome mind states continually and your practice is sure to progress. You also have to rely on listening to Dhamma talks and reading books to help make the mind more and more beautiful. Depending on your individual spiritual development, peace and calm will gradually increase accordingly. When the time is ripe, the mind will become still and wisdom will arise, giving you the greatest happiness you have ever experienced.

* * *

Every day, think out a plan—not a plan in a worldly sense, but a plan on how you’re going to meditate that day and what methods you’re going to use to develop the mind. Keep your meditation going continuously, but do it with an attitude of letting go. Being able to let go isn’t something near or far off in the future: letting go is now.

* * *

When you do your work with mindfulness, that activity won’t cause you any suffering. Never let the mind stray off. Just knowing the present moment is enough. The more you stay in the present moment, the more power the mind has.

* * *

These days, information travels quickly. Whatever it is you want to know, it’s right in the palm of your hand. If you want to follow politics twenty-four hours a day, you can. If you want to continually watch movies, there’s no shortage of them. Really, the emotions brought on by constant access to all this information are too much for one person to take in, so it’s important to be mindful of how much information you are consuming.

* * *

After a Dhamma discussion with a householder, Ajahn Anan gave some final words of encouragement by saying to him, “May you see the Dhamma in seven days.” He was grateful to receive such gracious words of encouragement, but felt that perhaps he couldn’t live up to the task. After a moment, Ajahn Anan explained further: “If not on a Sunday, then on a Monday. If not on a Monday, then on a Tuesday, or a Wednesday…whatever day it is, may you see the Dhamma.”

* * *

New meditators have lots of doubts and tend to ask many questions. Ajahn Anan always shows kindness to these people and answers all of them in great detail. After finishing answering a series of questions one day, Ajahn Anan added, “Even though I’ve given you all the answers, don’t just blindly believe me. You have to practice for yourself to really understand.”

REFLECTIONS
for
sangha

Ajahn Anan with a picture of his teacher at the memorial of Ajahn Chah’s passing held annually at Wat Nong Pah Pong, the monastery Ajahn Chah established in Northeast Thailand.

It’s easy to build a beautiful monastery; it’s harder to build a beautiful mind.

* * *

When they come back from India, people often comment on the poverty and large number of beggars they saw. Ajahn Anan reminds the monks, “These are some of the poorest people on the planet, but never forget, you’re actually poorer than they are. Even your basic requisites don’t belong to you—they belong to the Buddha’s dispensation. It’s the same with every monastery, no matter who is there or where it is. Everything householders give, they give to the Buddha and his dispensation, not to you. The only thing you have as a monk is this bare, naked body to make use of for a period of time, sustaining it just enough every day so you can keep practicing. Make sure you give everything you’ve got to this practice.

* * *

Food, shelter, the monastery— everything is in place and nothing lacking. The only thing missing now is your willingness to put the most into the practice.

* * *

A new monk asked Ajahn Anan why people had such a fixation on nudity. Ajahn Anan told him, “Ajahn Chah would say, ‘Look at a buffalo, it’s got no clothes on, so what are you so excited about?’ The problem is that your defilements spin out of control and tell you those objects that aren’t attractive are beautiful, and those objects that stink actually smell sweet. However, when these objects reach the end of their lifespan, where is their beauty and sweetness?”

* * *

Be careful and always keep your senses guarded. Whenever the eye sees a form or the ear hears a sound, restrain the mind and keep a close watch on how it reacts.

* * *

When Ajahn Chah received the formal position of Jao Kun from the Thai Ecclesiastical Sangha, many people came to congratulate him. He kept reminding them, “The tide and the waves of a river go up and down, but the bridge doesn’t go up and down with it, right?”

* * *

When I was at Wat Nong Pah Pong, there was a very intelligent monk well versed in the scriptures. He asked Ajahn Chah for permission to teach Dependent Origination to the monks by way of charts and diagrams. Ajahn Chah gave him permission and the monks gathered together in the Dhamma hall to hear his exposition. This monk explained the topic with both clarity and detail, putting on quite an impressive show of his apparent deep knowledge into the Dhamma.

That night I was assisting Ajahn Chah. He turned to me and said, “Anan, let’s go and see what this guy is teaching everyone.” We both quietly walked to the hall and stood outside in the dark without anybody noticing us. We listened for a while and then Ajahn Chah said, “When you teach the Dhamma wrong, you drop to hell! Come on Anan, let’s get out of here.” He never said another word about it again.

The moral here is that if you teach the Dhamma but don’t see and know it truly within your own heart, then no matter how smart you may be, you can end up teaching the wrong way and develop bad kamma for yourself.

* * *

A monk asked, “Why do I have to respect other monks here? Isn’t it enough that I just respect you? These monks have defilements the same as me, so why should I respect them?” Ajahn Anan answered, “Get those thoughts out of your head—they’re totally wrong. You respect others because they have faith to ordain just like you, so they must have some goodness. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have ordained. You also should respect them because many realized this aspiration long before you did. If you respect others, you’re respecting the Vinaya. If you respect the Vinaya, you are respecting the Buddha.”

The monk further quarreled, “Well, what if they tell me to do something ridiculous that I can’t do?”

“This is where you speak nicely with them: ‘Sorry to be an inconvenience, but at the moment I’m just not physically able to do this.’ Learn to speak politely to people. Train yourself to look for the positive traits of others. You don’t have to train to look at the negative traits in people —most of you are great at that already.”

* * *

Don’t look to me as your example of how to behave and practice: Look back to Ajahn Chah, take him as your example. Look back even further to the Buddha and take the Buddha as your highest example.

* * *

It is when you’re caught in a life-threatening situation that the Dhamma will help you. It is as the Buddha said: “The Dhamma guards those who practice earnestly.”

* * *

When I was a junior monk, I had a problem with bleeding gums. One day while I was assisting Ajahn Chah, someone offered him a glass of orange juice. I innocently thought to myself, orange juice has a lot of vitamin C —it would probably be good for my gums. Just that one thought and Ajahn Chah turned to me, pointed at the glass, and said, “That’s the fountain of death right there!” Words can’t explain how dumbfounded I was at that moment. The lesson he taught me that day was that whenever there is craving, it will be the cause for us to remain trapped within the cycle of birth and death, even if it’s just for something as small as a glass of orange juice.

* * *

When Ajahn Anan was a young monk training under Ajahn Chah, he had many doubts about the practice. Walking meditation one day, he wondered, what’s the most direct way to enlightenment? How do I know if I’m following the right path? If I was certain of the path, I’d put everything I’ve got into the practice. Remarkably, that night Ajahn Chah gave a talk where he emphasized over and over again, “The most direct path to enlightenment is to never let the mind fall into liking or disliking.”

* * *

When I was a young monk, I would always hear Ajahn Chah say, “If you can eat right, you can meditate right.” Being younger and less experienced, I didn’t understand what this meant, but as I grew in the practice, I realized, it’s exactly like that.

REFLECTIONS
on
liberation

The Uposatha hall at Wat Marp Jan, Ajahn Anan’s monastery in central Thailand.

What does it mean to see the Dhamma? It means you truly break through and understand everything that arises as merely a convention: this knowledge is liberation. The more you contemplate all things as conventions, the clearer your understanding becomes. Greed, hatred, and delusion are gradually reduced to the point where they disappear from the mind. At that point, the mind experiences true emptiness, perfect peace.

* * *

Buddho literally means the knowing, awakened, and joyous one. The knowing is the knowing that all things are impermanent. Awakened is the state of awakening from both happiness and suffering. Joyous is the quality that comes from understanding that all things are not self and are inherently empty.

* * *

The more you keep mindfulness—staying with Buddho—the closer you become to the Buddha.

 

* * *

Many people invited Ajahn Chah to India, but no one bought him a ticket. It never worried him though, and he’d say, “Don’t you think the Buddha could be born here in Thailand?”

It doesn’t matter what country you’re from: if your meditation brings you to the place where you realize the Dhamma, you’ll see the Buddha right there.

* * *

There are 84,000 teachings that the Buddha left behind, and the essence of all of them is that both mind and matter are impermanent, suffering, and not-self.

* * *

When the mind has power, it will see this body and the bodies of others as one and the same thing: simply a combination of elements subject to impermanence, suffering, and not-self. If the mind doesn’t have this power though, it sees this body as different from others, and experiences feelings of attraction, aversion, and delusion towards them. However, when your meditation practice brings you to deep levels of calm, the natural state of the mind will arise and you will see according to truth.

* * *

Keep your mindfulness within the frame of the body: then let everything go.

* * *

The question was asked, “When you let go of everything, what’s left?” “When you let go of everything, nothing
is left,” Ajahn Anan answered instantly. “If there were anything remaining, you’d still have suffering. Therefore, when you truly let go of everything, the one who let go is also gone. Only a mind in its perfected state—one of pure happiness and peace—remains, but there is no longer anyone left to attach to it.”

* * *

True happiness in life starts within every one of us. The basis of this happiness is the development of confidence, belief, and respect in the great wisdom of the Buddha; that he became rightly self-awakened and passed on that perfect teaching, the Dhamma. When you practice according to these teachings, keeping the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha as your true refuge, this belief will become the compass point that guides your life in the right direction. When you hold onto this true refuge and practice according to these teachings, clear understanding of the path of morality, concentration, and wisdom will arise within your heart. By following this path you will experience true happiness.

A free PDf of the book these quotes are drawn from, “Reflections from Emptiness: Dhamma Quotes on the Path and Liberation”, as well as more teachings from Ajahn Anan may be downloaded from his monastery’s website.