Maintaining the Standard¹

One who sees the danger of samsāra 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 samsāra. What is samsāra? The suffering of samsāra is overwhelming, it's intolerable. Happiness is also samsāra. The Buddha taught us not to cling to them. If we don't see the danger of samsāra, 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 samsāra''... 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 samsāra.''

One who sees the danger of samsāra lives within samsāra 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 Mahā Kassapa was returning from Pāvā he asked an ascetic on the way: ''Is the Lord Buddha faring well?'' The ascetic answered: ''The Lord Buddha entered Parinibbāna seven days ago.''

Footnotes

...¹

Given at Wat Pah Pong, after the completion of the Dhamma exams, 1978

... examinations²

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.

...Kāmasukallikānuyogo³

Indulgence in sense pleasures, indulgence in comfort.

...i⁴

Kuti - a bhikkhu's dwelling place, a hut.

...samsāra⁵

The cycle of conditioned existence, the world of delusion.

...a's⁶

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.