Don’t Be Discouraged, Remain Indifferent in All Experiences : Training the Mind to Stop Still Within, On and On
Luang Por Dhammajayo teaches that the purpose of either visualizing an image or resting the mind still, indifferent, is to bring the mind back to its original resting place within, so that the mind stops and is still, after it has run without stopping through the various stories of daily life for a long time, causing us not to find true happiness. Therefore we must train the mind to stop still within, training on and on. Do not be discouraged or give up halfway; keep making effort. Then everyone will be fulfilled—that is, attaining true happiness, which has only one way: stopping and being still. Let us learn this teaching.
Don’t Be Discouraged : The Effort of Training the Mind to Stop Still Belongs to Ordinary Human Beings
- The purpose of the practice is to bring the mind back to its original resting place within: The purpose of either visualizing an image or resting the mind still, indifferent, is to bring the mind back to its original resting place within, so that the mind stops and is still, after it has run without stopping through the various stories of daily life for a long time, causing us not to find true happiness. Therefore we must train the mind to stop still within, training on and on, my dear one.
- Do not be discouraged or give up halfway; keep making effort: Do not be discouraged or give up halfway; keep making effort. We must accept that we are ordinary human beings, not devas. Therefore, when first training, there is some wandering, some darkness, some tiredness, some boredom, some discouragement—count that as normal. Do not be discouraged; keep on making effort. Sometimes we sit and it seems we do not progress, but in truth that is not so. It is when we do not practice that it is called not progressing. But if we train every day, it moves forward all the while—it may just be a little slower.
- Walking slowly still reaches the goal, but if you do not walk you stay in place: As we walk gradually, even though it is slow, we still reach the goal. But if we do not walk, we stay in place and never reach the goal. That means, if we do not sit to train the mind to be within, that is refusing to walk. Then how will it ever reach the final destination?
- There is no happiness other than a still mind—natthi santiparam sukham: We must train, and then we will be fulfilled in life—that is, attaining true happiness, which has only one way: stopping and being still. Natthi santiparam sukham—there is no happiness other than a still mind. It means we cannot find happiness from elsewhere, from people, animals, and things; it is not there. We do not find it because it does not exist. And the wise, those with wisdom, do not waste their time seeking that which does not exist, because the one thing that truly exists is stopping and being still within.
- Seeing or not seeing does not matter; train on and on: Therefore train on and on; whether you see or do not see does not matter, just keep training. But training on and on, not seeing is not the same as nothing—it differs only in being slow or fast. If we have diligence and practice continuously, regularly, correctly according to the Method (with the mind placed just right), then sooner or later everyone will succeed.
Now the dedication of merit. When we recall every merit made through countless lives and births up to today, gather it all at the center of the body, the Seventh Base, and make the vow that this merit may eradicate all defilements of the mind completely, becoming the treasury of attainment accompanying us into the next life, complete with physical beauty, wealth, and virtue, with gain, honor, praise, happiness, magga, phala, and Nibbana, and the knowledge of Vijja Dhammakaya, with mindfulness and wisdom to protect ourselves. Then let this merit reach our relatives, friends, family, benefactors, and companions who have passed away, and also limitless sentient beings throughout the hundred-thousand universes and the infinite universes, that they may share in the merit we have so diligently made.
Other articles in the series ง่ายแต่ลึก (Easy Yet Deep):
This article is compiled from the teaching of Luang Por Dhammajayo in the program “ง่ายแต่ลึก” (Easy Yet Deep), Episode 7 “อย่าท้อ, เฉยในทุกประสบการณ์” (Don’t Be Discouraged, Remain Indifferent in All Experiences), Sunday, 5 December 2004 (B.E. 2547).
