Ajahn Jayasāro:
Approximately 110 billion people have died on this planet.

Another almost eight billion are in the waiting room.

Death is inevitable. It’s coming for me and it’s coming for you. It’s coming for everyone we know without exception; those we love and like, those we hate or dislike, and to all those to whom we are indifferent.

The fact of death is certain, but when we will die is uncertain. Do we have years left, or months, or days, or hours, or minutes, or seconds? We can’t know for sure.

How will we die? Fast or slow, painfully or painlessly, alone or with others? We can’t know for sure.

Where will we die? In hospital, at home, on a road, on a mountain, in a city or a forest? We don’t know.

Reflecting on these truths unwisely may lead to depression or anxiety. But reflecting on them wisely gives meaning to our lives and destroys complacency.

To practise death before death, pause at the end of an exhalation. Dwell there mindfully as long as is comfortable. Inhale. Exhale. Pause. Inhale. Exhale. Pause. Feel the space at the end of an exhalation as your home base. Practise this regularly for a while and see its effect on your fear of death.

Ajahn Jayasāro
15/4/25

Ajahn Jayasāro:
When Ajahn Chah practised walking meditation as a young monk, he liked to walk fast. When someone asked him about it, he said, "When I walk fast the defilements can't keep up with me." In many meditation traditions slow walking is taught. Here the mind wards off defilements by paying close attention to the minutiae of the walking posture. Myself, I have always preferred a pace similar to normal walking pace, as I have found it best facilitates the integration of walking meditation awareness into daily life.

The decision to walk fast or slow may depend upon the space available for walking. Fast walking needs a long path, around thirty paces; too frequent turns distract the mind. For meditators walking in a room or small garden slow walking is more practical. When meditators feel sleepy, walking backwards is a good option. Walking sideways is rarely a good idea, but can be adviseable when facing a tiger, as it is dangerous to turn your back on one.

If you only look on walking meditation as a way of stretching your legs between sits, try to change that perception by walking for long periods. Assuming you can find the time, two or three hour walks can open up whole new vistas in your meditation practice.

Ajahn Jayasāro
3/3/25

Ajahn Jayasāro:
The centre back of a football team can sprint fifty meters to hug the centre forward who has just scored a goal. At that moment the centre-back feels mudita, sympathetic or appreciative joy. They do so because they see themself and the centre forward as part of the same team. Their team mate's success and their own success are one and the same. In a similar way, looking on ourselves as members of the human team trying to do good in the world is a skilful means by which we can outflank the jealousy we may feel in the presence of those, especially peers, who are superior to us in some way, have abilities, happiness, success that we aspire to.

But the cultivation of mudita has a further benefit. It also dissolves the sense of bleakness, dreariness of heart, the unfocused resentment and disappointment that assails so many people these days. Open your eyes to goodness. Learn how to appreciate it wherever, wherever and by whoever's actions it appears. It is marvellous how potent this practice can be.

Ajahn Jayasāro
28/9/24

Ajahn Jayasāro:
It is common to talk about complex phenomena as being "greater than the sum of their parts". When contributory factors combine in a particular way, new unexpected things can happen. The unique qualities of water - say, for example, its ability to put out a fire - cannot be predicted from any of its constituent elements of hydrogen and oxygen. In Buddhist terminology, so-called "emergent properties" are referred to as "conditioned phenomena". These properties can only be present as long as their supporting causes and conditions prevail. In the case of water and all its properties, they will disappear if electrolysis is used to separate the hydrogen and oxygen atoms.

One way of looking at this very real sense we have of ourselves as the owner of experience, the one who acts and is acted upon, is as an emergent property of the Five Khandas. In Buddhism, when we say that there is "no self" we mean that we cannot find this entity we believe to exist separate from the moment-to-moment interactions of the five khandas. "No self" means that we accept that there is a phenomena that we have agreed to call "self". It's just not what we think it is.

Ajahn Jayasāro
18/4/23

Ajahn Jayasāro:
Once, before i became a monk, i offered to teach my maternal grandmother how to meditate. She said that, unlike me, she didn't have enough spare time to sit around with her eyes closed doing nothing. She said that she relaxed by knitting. It was a far better way to relax than meditation. Not only did knitting give her a lot of pleasure, but it also allowed her to make garments that she could give as gift to family members. By the hook on her face after she said this, i got the impression that she had been wanting to tell me this for some time. I realized that i would never be my grandmother's meditation teacher.

if meditation was merely a means to relax, my grandmother's view would make sense. But it isn't. Meditation is our best means of verifying the truth of the Buddha's teachings. We take as our first working hypothesis the Buddha's assertion that the root cause of mental suffering and true happiness lies in the presence or absence of defilements in the mind. Our second hypothesis is his declaration that defilements can be completely eliminated by wisdom when the mind has been stabilized by samadhi. Then we get to work cultivating the mindfulness that leads to the samadhi that leads to that wisdom. This is what we mean by the word 'meditation'.

Ajahn Jayasāro
9/8/22

Ajahn Jayasāro:
In Buddhism we talk about two kinds of truth. The first kind is the truth that Ajahn Chah liked to call "liberation truth". It is the truth known as a direct non-verbal experience by the mind that is liberated - temporarily or permanently - from defilement. It is timeless, universal truth.

The second kind of truth is called "truth through agreement". This kind of truth is time-bound, contingent. Statements of truths through agreement might include: "My name is Ajahn Jayasaro. I am a Buddhist monk. I live in Thailand."

Agreed truths are flimsy and without essence. Nevertheless, much of the incredible material progress humanity has achieved is due to our ability to create "truths through agreement". The financial system is an obvious example. At the same time, though, certain dangers have appeared:

1. Attaching to conditional truths as if they were ultimately true has often led humans into dark and destructive paths.

2. Seeking to destroy agreed truths out of a blind belief that doing so will lead to freedom or authenticity, has often led to anarchy and ceding power to defilement.

In the Buddha's Middle Way we seek to understand "truths through agreement" as simply that. No more, no less. Wherever and whenever appropriate we uphold agreed truths that do not conflict with liberation truths. We use them as tools for living.

Ajahn Jayasāro
9/5/23

Ajahn Jayasāro:
On one occasion Ven. Sāriputta was falsely accused of attacking another monk physically. Absurd as the accusation was, the Buddha did not reject it out of hand. Instead, he called a meeting of the Sangha, in which the accuser was invited to repeat his allegations publicly, and Ven. Sāriputta was given the opportunity to reply to them. Ven. Sāriputta's response was so eloquent and so powerful it became known as his 'lion's roar'.

Ven. Sāriputta was not hurt or offended by the accusations because he was incapable of taking them personally:

"Just as, o Lord, people throw upon the earth thing clean and unclean, dung, urine, spittlr, pus and blood; yet for all that the earth feels no loathing, revulsion or disgust. Even so, Lord, do i dwell with a heart that is like the earth, wide, extensive and measureless, without hostility and ill-will. Just as, o Lord, people wash in water thing clean and unclean... so do i dwell with a heart that is like water... Just as, o Lord, fire burns things clean and unclean... so do i dwell with a heart that is like fire... Just as, o Lord, the wind blows over things clean and unclean... so do i dwell with a heart like the wind"

Ven. Sāriputta goes on to compare his heart's lack of pride to an outcast child, begging bowl in hand; his lack of aggression to a well-trained bull with its horns cut off. Only, he says, if he was enamoured of the physical body, would the volition to harm crises. He is not so enamoured.

The Buddha says to Ven. Sāriputta: "Sāriputta, forgive this silly man before his head explodes into pieces".

Ajahn Jayasāro
25/6/24

Ajahn Jayasāro:
I remember Ajahn Chah praising a certain monk on a number of occasions. I felt uncomfortable, "How can Luang Por not see the faults in him when even I can see them so clearly?" At the same time, a monk who I looked up to was sometimes treated by Ajahn Chah in a quite abrupt way.

A senior monk explained: for Ajahn Chah, praise and criticism were like medicines. He gave praise medicine to those who grew through praise and critical words medicine to those who grew from hearing them.

If words of praise are like medicine, they are most like radiation. Radiotherapy, if not precisely targeted, destroys healthy cells along with malignant ones. (Examples: "you're so smart," "you're so beautiful").

The best praise is often observations that affirm shared values:
"You kept your calm when everyone else panicked."
"The points you made were clear, well-ordered and persuasive."
"You weren't intimidated by his aggression."

Although critical words medicine is often called feedback, it's best not to stuff it down anybody's throat. Better is observation affirming shared values:
"When you lost your calm your harsh words undermined the trust and harmony in the group."
"The points you made were vague, random and made no impression on them."
"Retreating from his aggression in that way made it worse for everyone else."

Ajahn Jayasāro
5/4/25

Ajahn Jayasāro:
One of the strengths of the monastic order (Sangha) is that its Disciplinary Code (Vinaya) allows for no exemptions. However senior a monk may be, no matter how liberated, he must still keep all the same rules that he did when he first became a monk. Great importance is given to the elders leading by example. This tradition may be traced back to the Buddha himself.

On one occasion, during an inspection tour of monastery lodgings, the Buddha and his attendant, Ven. Ananda, came across a monk suffering from dysentery. The monk was lying on the floor fouled by urine and excrement. When the Buddha asked why none of his fellow monks was nursing him, the monk replied, "Because i do nothing for the Sangha". The Buddha instructed Ven. Ananda washed the monk's body, before lifting him onto his bed.

Later, the Buddha addressed the resident Sangha. "Monks, you have no mother or father who might tend to you. If you do not tend to one another, who will then tend to you ? Monks, whoever would tend to me, should tend to the sick." Thus, the Buddha showed his own willingness to clean urine and excrement from sick monk's body. He also made it clear, that such care and compassion should be shown to all monks without exception. Even to those who might not seem to deserve it.

Ajahn Jayasāro
18/7/23

Ajahn Jayasāro:
Mettā (loving-kindness) without upekkhā (equanimity) is often short-sighted and sometimes blind.

It can become overly concerned with the immediate happiness of others. It often confuses pleasure with happiness, and becomes superficial. It produces an exuberance of heart that may lead to big gestures and commitments that can't be sustained.

It can easily become sidetracked into personal affection, love or lust. Upekkhā reminds us of the big picture, of the consequences or possible ramification of our actions.

Upekkhā provides the stability, balance and clear vision in which mettā must be wisely grounded.

Upekkhā allows us to see that whether people change or not, whether or not they free themselves from their pain, whether or not they find happiness, is due to a web of causes and conditions. Our mettā is just one part of that web.

Ajahn Jayasāro
05/09/23