— 194 — Addendum Daily Life Schedule of Phra Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto • 5:54 a.m. – 6:40 a.m. (approximate time) Walking with other monks from Wat Yan for alms around Baan Amphur • 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. At the Sālā (dining hall) at Wat Yan. - Morning meal and conversation with visitors afterwards. On every Buddhist Holy Day, Saturday, and Sunday, Phra Ajahn Suchart gives a 30-minute Dhamma talk (around 8:00 a.m.) at the Sālā (dining hall). • 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. At Chuladham Sālā on Chi-On Mountain – Giving a Dhamma talk on every Holy Day, Saturday, Sunday, and Buddhist Holiday while other weekdays will be Dhamma conversation with visitors. **Please do not visit Phra Ajahn outside of the scheduled time.** **When ladies plan to visit Phra Ajahn or to attend a Dhamma talk, please refrain from wearing short pants or short skirt around the temple or the meditation retreat.** **Phra Ajahn Suchart does not accept any out- of - temple events or functions.**
— 195 — Glossary The following is a list of Pāli and Thai words as used in the text with a brief translation and comment. Ajahn: (Thai). Teacher; mentor. Equivalent to the Pāli ācariya. Anāgāmī: Non-returner. Someone who has reached the third stage of enlightenment, the stage before Arahant. A person who has abandoned the five lower fetters that bind the mind to the cycle of rebirth, and who after death will appear in one of the Brahma worlds called the Pure Abodes, there to attain Nibbāna, never again to return to this world. Anattā: Not-self; the truth that all phenomena are devoid of anything that can be identified as a ‘self.’ This means that none of the physical and mental components of personality (i.e. the five khandhas) make up an entity, either individual or collective, nor can a self-entity be found anywhere within the heart (citta). Therefore, what is experienced as being an abiding self is no more than a phantom personality born of ignorance and delusion — inherently transient, unstable, and bound up with suffering. Appanā: Full-absorption samādhi. In appanā samādhi the citta completely ‘converges’ to the very Glossary
— 196 — base of samādhi. Perceptions of body and mind totally disappear from awareness at that time, leaving only the essential knowing nature of the citta alone on its own. Clear, bright, and expansive, the citta simply “knows”. There is no object, no duality, just “knowing”. The previous sense of dividedness is replaced by a wholly unified mental state, and a feeling of pure and harmonious being that is so wondrous as to be indescribable. This is the advanced stage of samādhi. Arahant: One who is worthy, one who has reached the ultimate state of Nibbāna. Avijjā: Ignorance, in the form of blind unknowing. Bhava: Becoming. States of being that develop first in the mind and can then be experienced as internal worlds and/or as worlds on an external level. There are three levels of becoming: on the sensual level, the level of form, and the level of formlessness. Brahma (brahmasā): Celestial beings who inhabit the first three realms of the Fine Material World. Beings reborn into those sublime realms are said to have some experience with the meditative absorptions (jhāna). Consequently, brahmas have extremely refined bodies composed of pure light and experience extremely refined degrees of mental pleasure. When the good kamma that sent them to those realms is finally exhausted, these beings pass away and are reborn again somewhere else, in a realm of existence suitable to their remaining kamma. Buddho: Supremely enlightened. A traditional epithet for the Buddha, Buddho is a preparatory
— 197 — Glossary meditation-word (parikamma) that is repeated mentally while reflecting on the Buddha’s special qualities. In its simplest form, one focuses attention exclusively on the repetition of “Buddho”, continuously thinking the word “Buddho” while in meditation. One should simply be aware of each repetition of “Buddho, Buddho, Buddho” to the exclusion of all else. Once it becomes continuous, this simple repetition will produce results of peace and calm in the heart. Citta: That underlying essence of mind which manifests as feeling, memory, thought, and consciousness. In its pure state it is indefinable and beyond saṁsāra. Dāna: Giving, making gifts. Demerit: Bad, unskilful, corrupt. Desanā: The teachings of Dhamma; Dhamma talks. Deva; Devatā: An angel like being of the Deva– realms, which are immediately above the human realm. Dhamma [Skt. dharma]: (1) Event; a phenomenon in and of itself; (2) mental quality; (3) doctrine, teaching; (4) nibbāna. Also, principles of behaviour that human beings ought to follow so as to fit in with the right natural order of things; qualities of mind they should develop so as to realise the inherent quality of the mind in and of itself. By extension, "Dhamma" (usually capitalised) is used also to denote any doctrine that teaches such things. Thus the Dhamma of the Buddha denotes both his teachings and the direct experience of Nibbāna, the quality at which those teachings are aimed.
— 198 — Dukkha: Stress; suffering; pain; distress; discontent. Ekagattārammana; Ekaggataarom: Singleness of preoccupation; "one-pointedness." In meditation, the mental quality that allows one's attention to remain collected and focused on the chosen meditation object. Ekagattārammana reaches full maturity upon the development of the fourth level of jhāna. Jhāna: Various states of meditative absorption, including the four rūpa and the four arūpa–jhānas. Kamma: Lit: “action”. But in Buddhism, action of the body, speech or mind, which has a moral content of good, bad or neutral. Such action brings back a corresponding result. Kilesa: Defilement — lobha (passion), dosa (aversion), and moha (delusion) in their various forms, which include such things as greed, malevolence, anger, rancour, hypocrisy, arrogance, envy, miserliness, dishonesty, boastfulness, obstinacy, violence, pride, conceit, intoxication, and complacency. Kruba: Phra or Bhikkhu, (Isan) North-Eastern Thai form of address for a junior monk. Luangpu; Luangpor: Central Thai word for Venerable Father. Luangta: Venerable Grandfather. Magga: Path. Usually refers to the Noble Eightfold Path leading to Nibbāna.
— 199 — Glossary Māna: Conceit. Merit: Good, virtuous, skilful. Nibbāna: The ultimate goal of Buddhist training. Lit: “Extinguished”. Nirodha Samāpatti: The highest level of mundane meditative absorption (Jhāna) which is the cessation of all sensory experiences. Pāli: The canon of texts (see Tipiṭaka) preserved by the Theravāda school and, by extension, the language in which those texts are composed. Parikamma: Preparatory practice; preparatory meditation. Parinibbāna: Final Nibbāna attained at the death of the Buddha or any of the Arahants. Paṭipadā: Practice, mode of conduct. Pāramī, Pāramitā: Perfection of the character. A group of ten qualities developed over many lifetimes by a bodhisatta, which appear as a group in the Pāli canon only in the Jataka ("Birth Stories"): generosity (dāna), virtue (sīla), renunciation (nekkhamma), discernment (paññā), energy/persistence (viriya), patience/ forbearance (khanti), truthfulness (sacca), determination (adhiṭṭhāna), good will (mettā), and equanimity (upekkhā).
— 200 — Paṭivedha: Direct, first-hand realisation of the Dhamma. Pariyatti: Theoretical understanding of Dhamma obtained through reading, study, and learning. Sakkāya-diṭṭhi: Self-identification view. The view that mistakenly identifies any of the khandha as "self"; the first of the ten fetters (saṃyojana). Abandonment of sakkāya-diṭṭhi is one of the hallmarks of stream-entry. Sakadāgāmī: Once Returner. The second of the four stages culminating in becoming an Arahant. A person who has abandoned the first three of the fetters that bind the mind to the cycle of rebirth has weakened the fetters of sensual passion and resistance, and who after death is destined to be reborn in this world only once more. Sālā: A meeting hall. Samādhi: Absorption concentration, which has many levels and kinds. Saṃsāra: Transmigration; the round of death and rebirth. Sammāsam Buddha: A fully Enlightened Arahant through his own effort. Santosa: Having a sense of modesty; feeling content with what one has. Sīla: Morality, moral behaviour.
— 201 — Glossary Sotāpanna: Stream-enterer; stream winner. A person who has abandoned the first three of the fetters that bind the mind to the cycle of rebirth and has thus entered the "stream" flowing inexorably to Nibbāna, ensuring that one will be reborn at most only seven more times, and only into the human realm or higher. Taṇhā: Craving — for sensuality, for becoming, or for not-becoming. Tathāgata: The “Thus gone”, a title for the Buddha. Ti-lakkhaṇa: Three characteristics inherent in all conditioned phenomena — inconstant, stressful, and not-self. Vibhava: In vibhava–taṇhā: wanting to change, to become something different. Vinaya: The bhikkhu’s rules and the books containing them. Viriya: Persistence; energy. One of the ten perfections (pāramīs), the five faculties (bala; bodhipakkhiya-dhamma), and the five strengths/ factors (indriya; bodhi-pakkhiya-dhamma). Vipassanā: Clear intuitive insight into physical and mental phenomena as they arise and disappear, seeing them for what they actually are — in and of themselves — in terms of the three characteristics (see ti-lakkhaṇa) and in terms of stress, its origin, its disbanding, and the way leading to its disbanding.
— 202 — More teachings on Theravāda Buddhism and the contemporary Thai Forest Tradition can be obtained from the following websites: Recorded teachings of Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto in English and Thai www.kammatthana.com, www.phrasuchart.com English translation of Theravāda tipiṭaka and a selection of teaching from the Thai Forest Meditation Masters: www.accesstoinsight.org Translation in various languages of the teachings by Luangta Mahā Boowa: www.forestdhamma.org Related Websites for Further Reading