When we accept life as it is, we can respond appropriately to the way we’re experiencing it, rather than just reacting out of fear and aversion.
AJAHN SUMEDHOWhen we accept life as it is, we can respond appropriately to the way we’re experiencing it, rather than just reacting out of fear and aversion.
AJAHN SUMEDHOThe empty mind – the pure mind – is not a blank, zero-land, where you’re not feeling or caring about anything.
AJAHN SUMEDHOWe look directly into our suffering rather than try to become happy. The happiness that arises from this approach is reliable.
AJAHN SUMEDHOMeditation is a skilful letting go: gently but with resolution.
AJAHN SUMEDHOThe mind of the ignorant person is conditioned and fixed.
AJAHN SUMEDHOSuttas are not meant to be ‘sacred scriptures’ that tell us what to believe.
AJAHN SUMEDHOWhatever you think you are, that’s not what you are.
AJAHN SUMEDHOOne should read them, listen to them, think about them, contemplate them, and investigate the present reality, the present experience with them. Then, and only then, can one insightfully know the truth beyond words.
AJAHN SUMEDHOThe goal lies away from the sensual world. It is not a rejection of the sensual world, but understanding it so well that we no longer seek it as an end in itself.
AJAHN SUMEDHOThe problem is grasping the clock. So what do I do? Let it go, lay it aside – put it down gently without any kind of aversion. Then I can pick it up again, see what time it is and lay it aside when necessary.
AJAHN SUMEDHOThe mind of an enlightened human being is flexible and adaptable.
AJAHN SUMEDHOI contemplated my greed for peace. And I did not seek tranquillity anymore.
AJAHN SUMEDHOWe no longer expect the sensory world to satisfy us.
AJAHN SUMEDHOIt’s an effulgence of the mind. It’s a brightness that is truly sensitive and accepting. It’s an ability to accept life as it is.
AJAHN SUMEDHOWe no longer demand that sensory consciousness be anything other than an existing condition that we can use skillfully according to time and place.
AJAHN SUMEDHOA new day is here. Yesterday is a memory. Tomorrow is unknown. Now is the knowing.
AJAHN SUMEDHO