‘‘Not Sure!’’ - The Standard of the Noble Ones¹

Now revering the Buddha is the same. Revering the Buddha by merely reciting Pāli phrases as a ceremony in the mornings and evenings is comparable to defining the word ''bhikkhu'' as ''one who asks.'' If we incline towards annicam, dukkham and anattā⁷ whenever the eye sees form, the ear hears sound, the nose smells an odor, the tongue tastes a flavor, the body experiences sensation or the mind cognizes mental impressions, at all times, this is comparable to defining the word ''bhikkhu'' as ''one who sees the danger of samsāra.'' It's so much more profound, cuts through so many things. If we understand this teaching we will grow in wisdom and understanding.

This is called patipadā. Develop this attitude in the practice and you will be on the right path. If you think and reflect in this way, even though you may be far from your teacher you will still be close to him. If you live close to the teacher physically but your mind has not yet met him you will spend your time either looking for his faults or adulating him. If he does something which suits you, you say he's no good - and that's as far as your practice goes. You won't achieve anything by wasting your time looking at someone else. But if you understand this teaching you can become a Noble One in the present moment.

That's why this year⁸ I've distanced myself from my disciples, both old and new, and not given much teaching: so that you can all look into things for yourselves as much as possible. For the newer monks I've already laid down the schedule and rules of the monastery, such as: ''Don't talk too much.'' Don't transgress the existing standards, the path to realization, fruition and Nibbāna. Anyone who transgresses these standards is not a real practicer, not one who has a pure intention to practice. What can such a person ever hope to see? Even if he slept near me every day he wouldn't see me. Even if he slept near the Buddha he wouldn't see the Buddha, if he didn't practice.

So knowing the Dhamma or seeing the Dhamma depends on practice. Have confidence, purify your own heart. If all the monks in this monastery put awareness into their respective minds we wouldn't have to reprimand or praise anybody. We wouldn't have to be suspicious of or favor anybody. If anger or dislike arise just leave them at the mind, but see them clearly!

Keep on looking at those things. As long as there is still something there it means we still have to dig and grind away right there. Some say, ''I can't cut it, I can't do it'' - if we start saying things like this there will only be a bunch of punks here, because nobody cuts at their own defilements.

You must try. If you can't yet cut it, dig in deeper. Dig at the defilements, uproot them. Dig them out even if they seem hard and fast. The Dhamma is not something to be reached by following your desires. Your mind may be one way, the truth another. You must watch up front and keep a lookout behind as well. That's why I say, ''It's all uncertain, all transient.''

This truth of uncertainty, this short and simple truth, at the same time so profound and faultless, people tend to ignore. They tend to see things differently. Don't cling to goodness, don't cling to badness. These are attributes of the world. We are practicing to be free of the world, so bring these things to an end. The Buddha taught to lay them down, to give them up, because they only cause suffering.

Footnotes

...¹

An informal talk given at Ajahn Chah's kuti, to some monks and novices one evening in 1980

...pātimokkha²

The central body of the monastic code, which is recited fortnightly in the Pāli language.

... angels³

Devaputta Māra - the Māra, or Tempter, which appears in a seemingly benevolent form.

...khandhas⁴

The five khandhas: Form (rūpa), feeling (vedanā), perception (saññā), conceptualization or mental formations (sankhārā) and sense-consciousness (viññāna). These comprise the psycho-physical experience known as the ''self''.

...anāgāmı⁵

Anāgāmī (non-returner): The third ''level'' of enlightenment, which is reached on the abandonment of the five ''lower fetters'' (of a total of ten) which bind the mind to worldly existence. The first two ''levels'' are sotāpanna (''stream-enterer'') and sakadāgāmī (''once-returner''), the last being arahant (''worthy or accomplished one'').

... asks⁶

That is, one who lives dependent on the generosity of others.

...anattā⁷

Transience, imperfection, and ownerlessness.

... year⁸

2522 of the Buddhist Era, or 1979 CE.