                                        
                                        
                                        
                                        
                      MAINTAINING THE STANDARD
 
 
 Today we are meeting together as we do every year after the annual 
 Dhamma examinations. [*] At this time all of you should reflect on 
 the importance of carrying out the various duties of the monastery, 
 those toward the preceptor and those toward the teachers. These are 
 what hold us together as a single group, enabling us to live in 
 harmony and concord. They are also what lead us to have respect for 
 each other, which in turn benefits the community.
 
 * [Many monks undertake written examinations of their scriptural 
 knowledge, sometimes -- as Ajahn Chah points out -- to the detriment 
 of their application of the teachings in daily life.]
    
    In all communities, from the time of the Buddha till the present, 
 no matter what form they may take, if the residents have no mutual 
 respect they cannot succeed. Whether they be secular communities or 
 monastic ones, if they lack mutual respect they have no solidarity. 
 If there is no mutual respect, negligence sets in and the practice 
 eventually degenerates.
    
    Our community of Dhamma practicers has lived here for about 
 twenty five years now, steadily growing, but it could deteriorate. 
 We must understand this point. But if we are all heedful, have 
 mutual respect and continue to maintain the standards of practice, I 
 feel that our harmony will be firm. Our practice as a group will be 
 a source of growth for Buddhism for a long time to come.
    
    Now in regard to the study and the practice, they are a pair. 
 Buddhism has grown and flourished until the present time because of 
 the study going hand in hand with practice. If we simply learn the 
 scriptures in a heedless way negligence sets in...For example, in 
 the first year here we had seven monks for the Rains Retreat. At 
 that time, I thought to myself, "Whenever monks start studying for 
 Dhamma Examinations the practice seems to degenerate." Considering 
 this, I tried to determine the cause, so I began to teach the monks 
 who were there for the Rains Retreat -- all seven of them. I taught 
 for about forty days, from after the meal till six in the evening, 
 every day. The monks went for the exams and it turned out there was 
 a good result in that respect, all seven of them passed.
    
    That much was good, but there was a certain complication 
 regarding those who were lacking in circumspection. To study, it is 
 necessary to do a lot of reciting and repeating. Those who are 
 unrestrained and unreserved tend to grow lax with the meditation 
 practice and spend all their time studying, repeating and 
 memorizing. This causes them to throw out their old abiding, their 
 standards of practice. And this happens very often.
    
    So it was when they had finished their studies and taken their 
 exams I could see a change in the behavior of the monks. There was 
 no walking meditation, only a little sitting, and an increase in 
 socializing. There was less restraint and composure.
    
    Actually, in our practice, when you do walking meditation, you 
 should really determine to walk; when sitting in meditation, you 
 should concentrate on doing just that. Whether you are standing, 
 walking, sitting or lying down, you should strive to be composed. 
 But when people do a lot of study, their minds are full of words, 
 they get high on the books and forget themselves. They get lost in 
 externals. Now this is so only for those who don't have wisdom, who 
 are unrestrained and don't have steady //sati//. For these people 
 studying can be a cause for decline. When such people are engaged in 
 study they don't do any sitting or walking meditation and become 
 less and less restrained. Their minds become more and more 
 distracted. Aimless chatter, lack of restraint and socializing 
 become the order of the day. This is the cause for the decline of 
 the practice. It's not because of the study in itself, but because 
 certain people don't make the effort, they forget themselves.
    
    Actually the scriptures are pointers along the path of practice. 
 If we really understand the practice, then reading or studying are 
 both further aspects of meditation. But if we study and then forget 
 ourselves it gives rise to a lot of talking and fruitless activity. 
 People throw out the meditation practice and soon want to disrobe. 
 Most of those who study and fail soon disrobe. It's not that the 
 study is not good, or that the practice is not right. It's that 
 people fail to examine themselves.
    
    Seeing this, in the second rains retreat I stopped teaching the 
 scriptures. Many years later more and more young men came to become 
 monks. Some of them knew nothing about the Dhamma-Vinaya and were 
 ignorant of the texts, so I decided to rectify the situation, asking 
 those senior monks who had already studied to teach, and they have 
 taught up until the present time. This is how we came to have 
 studying here.
    
    However, every year when the exams are finished, I ask all the 
 monks to re-establish their practice. All those scriptures which 
 aren't directly concerned with the practice, put them away in the 
 cupboards. Re-establish yourselves, go back to the regular 
 standards. Re-establish the communal practices such as coming 
 together for the daily chanting. This is our standard. Do it even if 
 only to resist your own laziness and aversion. This encourages 
 diligence.
    
    Don't discard your basic practices: eating little, speaking 
 little, sleeping little; restraint and composure; aloofness; regular 
 walking and sitting meditation; meeting together regularly at the 
 appropriate times. Please make an effort with these, every one of 
 you. Don't let this excellent opportunity go to waste. Do the 
 practice. You have this chance to practice here because you live 
 under the guidance of the teacher. He protects you on one level, so 
 you should all devote yourselves to the practice. You've done 
 walking meditation before, now also you should sit. In the past 
 you've chanted together in the mornings and evenings, and now also 
 you should make the effort. These are your specific duties, please 
 apply yourselves to them. 
 
 Those who simply "kill time" in the  robes don't have any strength, 
 you know. The ones who are floundering, homesick, confused...do you 
 see them? These  are the ones  who don't  put their minds  into the  
 practice. They don't have any work to do.  We can't just lie around 
 here. Being a Buddhist  monk or novice  you live and  eat well, you 
 shouldn't take it  for granted.  //Kamasukhallikanuyogo// [*]  is a  
 danger. Make  an effort  to  find your  own  practice. Whatever  is  
 faulty, work to rectify, don't get lost in externals.
 
 * [Indulgence in sense pleasures, indulgence in comfort.]
 
    
    One who has zeal never misses walking and sitting meditation, 
 never lets up in the maintenance of restraint and composure. Just 
 observe the monks here. Whoever, having finished the meal and any 
 business there may be, having hung out his robes, walks meditation 
 -- and when we walk past his //kuti// [*] we see the walking path a 
 well-worn trail, and we see it often -- this monk is not bored with 
 the practice. This is one who has effort, who has zeal.
 
 * [//Kuti// -- a bhikkhu's dwelling place, a hut.]
 
 
    If all of you devote yourselves like this to the practice, then 
 not many problems will arise. If you don't abide with the practice, 
 the walking and sitting meditation, there's nothing more than just 
 traveling around. Not liking it here you go traveling over there; 
 not liking it there you come touring back here. That's all there is 
 to it, following your noses everywhere. These people don't 
 persevere, it's good enough. You don't have to do a lot of traveling 
 around, just stay here and develop the practice, learn it in detail. 
 Traveling round can wait till later, it's not difficult. Make an 
 effort, all of you.
    
    Prosperity and decline hinge on this. If you really want to do 
 things properly, then study and practice in proportion; use both of 
 them together. It's like the body and the mind. If the mind is at 
 ease and the body free of disease and healthy, then the mind becomes 
 composed. If the mind is confused, even if the body is strong there 
 will be difficulty, let alone when the body experiences discomfort.
    
    The study of meditation is the study of cultivation and 
 relinquishment. What I mean by study here is: whenever the mind 
 experiences a sensation, do we still cling to it? Do we still create 
 problems around it? Do we still experience enjoyment or aversion 
 over it? To put it simply: Do we still get lost in our thoughts? 
 Yes, we do. If we don't like something we react with aversion; if we 
 do like it we react with pleasure, the mind becomes defiled and 
 stained. If this is the case then we must see that we still have 
 faults, we are still imperfect, we still have work to do. There must 
 be more relinquishing and more persistent cultivation. This is what 
 I mean by studying. If we get stuck on anything, we recognize that 
 we are stuck. We know what state we're in, and we work to correct 
 ourselves.
    
    Living with the teacher or apart from the teacher should be the 
 same. Some people are afraid. They're afraid that if they don't walk 
 meditation the teacher will upbraid or scold them. This is good in a 
 way, but in the true practice you don't need to be afraid of others, 
 just be wary of faults arising within your own actions, speech or 
 thoughts. When you see faults in your actions, speech or thoughts 
 you must guard yourselves. //Attano jodayattanam// -- "you must 
 exhort yourself," don't leave it to others to do. We must quickly 
 improve ourselves, know ourselves. This is called "studying," 
 cultivating and relinquishing. Look into this till you see it 
 clearly.
    
    Living in this way we rely on endurance, persevering in face of 
 all defilements. Although this is good, it is still on the level of 
 "practicing the Dhamma without having seen it." If we have practiced 
 the Dhamma and seen it, then whatever is wrong we will have already 
 given up, whatever is useful we will have cultivated. Seeing this 
 within ourselves, we experience a sense of well-being. No matter 
 what others say, we know our own mind, we are not moved. We can be 
 at peace anywhere.
    
    Now the younger monks and novices who have just begun to practice 
 may think that the senior Ajahn doesn't seem to do much walking or 
 sitting meditation. Don't imitate him in this. You should emulate, 
 but not imitate. To emulate is one thing, to imitate another. The 
 fact is that the senior Ajahn dwells within his own particular 
 contented abiding. Even though he doesn't seem to practice 
 externally, he practices inwardly. Whatever is in his mind cannot be 
 seen by the eye. The practice of Buddhism is the practice of the 
 mind. Even though the practice may not be apparent in his actions or 
 speech, the mind is a different matter.
    
    Thus, a teacher who has practiced for a long time, who is 
 proficient in the practice, may seem to let go of his actions and 
 speech, but he guards his mind. He is composed. Seeing only his 
 outer actions you may try to imitate him, letting go and saying 
 whatever you want to say, but it's not the same thing. You're not in 
 the same league. Think about this.
    
    There's a real difference, you are acting from different places. 
 Although the Ajahn seems to simply sit around, he is not being 
 careless. He lives with things but it is not confused by them. We 
 can't see this, whatever is in his mind is invisible to us. Don't 
 judge simply by external appearances, the mind is the important 
 thing. When we speak, our minds follow that speech. Whatever actions 
 we do, our minds follow, but one who has practiced already may do or 
 say things which his mind doesn't follow, because it adheres to 
 Dhamma and Vinaya. For example, sometimes the Ajahn may be severe 
 with his disciples, his speech may appear to be rough and careless, 
 his actions may seem coarse. Seeing this, all we can see are his 
 bodily and verbal actions, but the mind which adheres to Dhamma and 
 Vinaya can't be seen. Adhere to the Buddha's instruction: "Don't be 
 heedless." "Heedfulness is the way to the Deathless. Heedfulness is 
 death." Consider this. Whatever others do is not important, just 
 don't be heedless, this is the important thing.
    
    All I have been saying here is simply to warn you that now, 
 having completed the exams, you have a chance to travel around and 
 do many things. May you all constantly remember yourselves as 
 practicers of the Dhamma; a practicer must be collected, restrained 
 and circumspect.
    
    Consider the teaching which says "Bhikkhu: one who seeks alms." 
 If we define it this way our practice takes on one form...very 
 coarse. If we understand this word the way the Buddha defined it, as 
 one who sees the danger of //samsara//, [*] this is much more 
 profound.
    
 * [The cycle of conditioned existence, the world of delusion.]
 
 
    One who sees the danger of //samsara// is one who sees the 
 faults, the liability of this world. In this world there is so much 
 danger, but most people don't see it, they see the pleasure and 
 happiness of the world. Now the Buddha says that a bhikkhu is one 
 who sees the danger of //samsara//. What is //samsara//? The 
 suffering of //samsara// is overwhelming, it's intolerable. 
 Happiness is also //samsara//. The Buddha taught us not to cling to 
 them. If we don't see the danger of //samsara//, then when there is 
 happiness we cling to the happiness and forget suffering. We are 
 ignorant of it, like a child who doesn't know fire.
    
    If we understand Dhamma practice in this way..."Bhikkhu: one who 
 sees the danger of //samsara//"...if we have this understanding, 
 walking, sitting or lying down, wherever we may be, we will feel 
 dispassion. We reflect on ourselves, heedfulness is there. Even 
 sitting at ease, we feel this way. Whatever we do we see this 
 danger, so we are in a very different state. This practice is called 
 being "one who sees the danger of //samsara//'.
    
    One who sees the danger of //samsara// lives within //samsara// 
 and yet doesn't. That is, he understands concepts and he understands 
 their transcendence. Whatever such a person says is not like 
 ordinary people. Whatever he does is not the same, whatever he 
 thinks is not the same. His behavior is much wiser.
    
    Therefore it is said: "Emulate but don't imitate." There are two 
 ways -- emulation and imitation. One who is foolish will grab on to 
 everything. You mustn't do that! Don't forget yourselves.
    
    As for me, this year my body is not so well. Some things I will 
 leave to the other monks and novices to help take care of. Perhaps I 
 will take a rest. From time immemorial it's been this way, and in 
 the world it's the same: as long as the father and mother are still 
 alive, the children are well and prosperous. When the parents die, 
 the children separate. Having been rich they become poor. This is 
 usually how it is, even in the lay life, and one can see it here as 
 well. For example, while the Ajahn is still alive everybody is well 
 and prosperous. As soon as he passes away decline begins to set in 
 immediately. Why is this? Because while the teacher is still alive 
 people become complacent and forget themselves. They don't really 
 make an effort with the study and the practice. As in lay life, 
 while the mother and father are still alive, the children just leave 
 everything up to them. They lean on their parents and don't know how 
 to look after themselves. When the parents die they become paupers. 
 In the monkhood it's the same. If the Ajahn goes away or dies, the 
 monks tend to socialize, break up into groups and drift into 
 decline, almost every time.
    
    Why is this? It's because they forget themselves. Living off the 
 merits of the teacher everything runs smoothly. When the teacher 
 passes away, the disciples tend to split up. Their views clash. 
 Those who think wrongly live in one place, those who think rightly 
 live in another. Those who feel uncomfortable leave their old 
 associates and set up new places and start new lineages with their 
 own groups of disciples. This is how it goes. In the present it's 
 the same. This is because we are at fault. While the teacher is 
 still alive we are at fault, we live heedlessly. We don't take up 
 the standards of practice taught by the Ajahn and establish them 
 within our own hearts. We don't really follow in his footsteps.
    
    Even in the Buddha's time it was the same, remember the 
 scriptures? That old monk, what was his name...? Subhadda Bhikkhu! 
 When Venerable Maha Kassapa was returning from Pava he asked an 
 ascetic on the way, "Is the Lord Buddha faring well?" The ascetic 
 answered: "The Lord Buddha entered //Parinibbana// seven days ago."
    
    Those monks who were still unenlightened were grief-stricken, 
 crying and wailing. Those who had attained the Dhamma reflected to 
 themselves, "Ah, the Buddha has passed away. He has journeyed on." 
 But those who were still thick with defilements, such as Venerable 
 Subhadda, said:
    
    "What are you all crying for? The Buddha has passed away. That's 
 good! Now we can live at ease. When the Buddha was still alive he 
 was always bothering us with some rule or other, we couldn't do this 
 or say that. Now the Buddha has passed away, that's fine! We can do 
 whatever we want, say what we want...Why should you cry?"
    
    It's been so from way back then till the present day.
    
    However that may be, even though it's impossible to preserve 
 entirely...Suppose we had a glass and we took care to preserve it. 
 Each time we used it we cleaned it and put it away in a safe place. 
 Being very careful with that glass we can use it for a long time, 
 and then when we've finished with it others can also use it. Now, 
 using glasses carelessly and breaking them every day, and using one 
 glass for ten years before it breaks -- which is better?
    
    Our practice is like this. For instance, if out of all of us 
 living here, practicing steadily, only ten of you practice well, 
 then Wat Ba Pong will prosper. Just as in the villages: in the 
 village of one hundred houses, even if there are only fifty good 
 people that village will prosper. Actually to find even ten would be 
 difficult. Or take a monastery like this one here: it is hard to 
 find even five or six monks who have real commitment, who really do 
 the practice.
    
    In any case, we don't have any responsibilities now, other than 
 to practice well. Think about it, what do we own here? We don't have 
 wealth, possessions, and families any more. Even food we take only 
 once a day. We've given up many things already, even better things 
 than these. As monks and novices we give up everything. We own 
 nothing. All those things people really enjoy have been discarded by 
 us. Going forth as a Buddhist monk is in order to practice. Why then 
 should we hanker for other things, indulging in greed, aversion or 
 delusion? To occupy our hearts with other things is no longer 
 appropriate.
    
    Consider: why have we gone forth? Why are we practicing? We have 
 gone forth to practice. If we don't practice then we just lie 
 around. If we don't practice, then we are worse off than lay people, 
 we don't have any function. If we don't perform any function or 
 accept our responsibilities it's a waste of the //samana's// [*] 
 life. It contradicts the aims of a //samana//.
 
 * [//Samana//: a religious seeker living a renunciant life. 
 Originating from the Sanskrit term for "one who strives," the word 
 signifies someone who has made a profound commitment to spiritual 
 practice.]
    
    
    If this is the case then we are heedless. Being heedless is like 
 being dead. Ask yourself, will you have time to practice when you 
 die? Constantly ask yourself, "When will I die?" If we contemplate 
 in this way our mind will be alert every second, heedfulness will 
 always be present. When there is no heedlessness, //sati// -- 
 recollection of what is what -- will automatically follow. Wisdom 
 will be clear, seeing all the things clearly as they are. 
 Recollection guards the mind, knowing the arising of sensations at 
 all times, day and night. that is to have //sati//. To have //sati// 
 is to be composed. To be composed is to be heedful. If one is 
 heedful then one is practicing rightly. This is our specific 
 responsibility.
    
    So today I would like to present this to you all. If in the 
 future you leave here for one of the branch monasteries or anywhere 
 else, don't forget yourselves. The fact is you are still not 
 perfect, still not completed. You still have a lot of work to do, 
 many responsibilities to shoulder. Namely, the practices of 
 cultivation and relinquishment. Be concerned about this, every one 
 of you. Whether you live at this monastery or a branch monastery, 
 preserve the standards of practice. Nowadays there are many of us, 
 many branch temples. All the branch monasteries owe their 
 origination to Wat Ba Pong. We could say that the branch 
 monasteries. So, especially the teachers, monks and novices of Wat 
 Ba Pong should try to set the example, to be the guide for all the 
 other branch monasteries, continuing to be diligent in the practices 
 and responsibilities of a //samana//.
    
    
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