This episode is a talk given by the forest meditation master Ajahn Gunhah Sukakhamo and is titled “Hell is in the heart of people who worry”. It was published as part of Jai Dee - Jai Sabai - Delivery 42. You can find links to the original text in the description below.
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Welcome to the Forest Path Podcast, a podcast sharing the teachings of awakened meditation masters of the modern era. This episode is a talk given by Ajangunha Sukakamu. It's titled Hell is in the Heart of People Who Worry. It was published as part of Jai Dai Sibai Delivery 42. You can find links to the original text in the description below.
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May you all benefit from hearing this gift of dharma. Hell is in the heart of people who worry. We have dukkha. Rich people have dukkha. Poor people have dukkha.
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Bhikkhus and Samaniras have dukkha. The Lord Buddha called this going to hell while being alive because you get burnt by your attitude towards material goods. You are looking for happiness and the end of suffering by relying on external objects. You have worries that are deep in your heart. You are concerned about your future and the future of your family and relatives.
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Like, will they live and eat well? How can they prosper? How can they become rich? The lord Buddha taught that by doing this, you are falling into hell alive. Rich people have the dukkha of rich people.
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Poor people have the dukkha of poor people. Because your heart is deluded, it gets burnt. Heaven is in your chest. Hell is in your heart all the time. The lord Buddha doesn't want you to look at heaven and hell as being far away.
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The big hole of hell is still far away from you, but the little hole of hell is here and bothering you. The lord buddha wants you to know about problems. The real problem lies in your mind not having wisdom. It does not have right view. Your heart is not yet peaceful.
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You think about things over and over again. If you worry like this, what do you get? The lord buddha wants you to have sati, samadhi, and panya and to know your thoughts and emotions. You must not let the lokadhamma or sense objects and moods control your heart. If you get dukkha through following them, you'll get worse accordingly.
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Because every day you are thinking a lot. If you think a lot, your heart swings between happiness and dukkha from moment to moment. The heart is the inner entity that can be peaceful. You have to make it peaceful. If you love or like someone, everything has the potential to cause you dukkha.
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If you hate someone or are angry with someone, it may be impossible not to have any dukkha. It is difficult to solve external problems and to resolve other people's issues because the biggest part of the problem is in the heart of the respective person. Generally, you don't have many issues, but by thinking a lot and having a lot of needs, you create a lot of problems for yourself. The lokadhamma start dominating you and you need to have a family. If you already have a family, you will have dukkha because you are faced with new problems all the time.
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It is a process of having to search for wealth and material things for yourself and your family to be comfortable. Look at the majority of people. They are like that. Reflect again on the things that are difficult and hard. Who is the builder, the creator, the maker of all these problems?
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Really, truly, it is you who is creating these problems for yourself. You are digging a pit yourself to fall into. The Lord Buddha wants you to know your mind and your emotions. Don't think a lot. Thinking a lot is demeritorious.
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When you don't think, you don't have dukkha. People don't want to think because from thinking comes dukkha, but they can't stop thinking. They can't make the heart peaceful. The Lord Buddha said that you like being busy. You don't like peace, which means you like to create problems instead of being someone who solves problems.
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You say you don't have any time to do sitting meditation or some chanting, but you have time to go to the theater and watch television until late at night, refusing to go to bed. This is the meaning of someone not liking peace. At the moment, we are close to entering the Vasa. The lord Buddha wants the bhikkhus to commit to staying at the temple to practice the dhamma together with laypeople who are going to accumulate goodness and parami. The Lord Buddha says that for training the mind, is not sufficient to do only sitting meditation and chanting.
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You have to practice the duties in your daily life too. When there are things that you like or dislike, you have to make your heart peaceful. Restrain it. Make it stop and cool down. If you don't add fuel to a small fire, it will soon get extinguished.
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The cycle of birth and death is a predicament. You must practice the dhamma to reach muga, pala, and Nibbana. Your life can be regarded as precious, as a life that is valuable. If you are deluded by the world, by material objects, you are bound to have difficulties in the future. The Lord Buddha taught to train the heart to be peaceful and cool and to focus on entering Samadhi to make the heart as good and bright as possible.
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When you practice entering Samadhi, it may not work every time. Keep doing it regularly anyway. The Lord Buddha calls someone lazy if they are a careless person who doesn't want to keep the precepts or develop samadhi, but only wants to gain wisdom. If you think like that, you may believe that your mind is unoccupied even though it is not. It is not true because you are attached to happiness and comfort.
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You don't want to practice, yet you want to get, to have, and to be. You have to make it your priority to stop yourself, become peaceful, and cool down your heart. Because all things arise, remain, and cease, there will be a time when your parents and relatives pass away. On such an occasion, it may be impossible for you not to suffer because you are only seeking things you like. Anything that I like, I will take Anything I don't like, I don't want.
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You have to accept things so that the heart becomes peaceful and cools down. Pursuing pleasant things will get you into trouble because you were born with a mortgage that consists of old age, sickness, death, and separation. You have to be patient and remain peaceful. Then you will be free from dukkha in any situation. According to the lord Buddha, this is what you must do and practice.
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The lord Buddha taught about cause and effect and gain and loss, but left it up to the individual to believe it or not. He didn't criticize people but had compassion and loving kindness. Keeping the precepts will direct you towards Nibbana. Practicing meditation, developing Panya, and renouncing everything will lead you towards entering Nibbana. Because you have an ego, a self, there is a lot of dukkha.
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Whenever you become aware of your breath during this vassa, regard it like this: I have a life that is precious. I have the chance to practice the Dhamma. I have explained enough of the Dhamma of the noble Sama Sambhudha for today. Through the Panyaparami of the Lord Buddha, the Dhamma and the Noble Sangha, may you reach the Dhamma and experience real peace. That concludes the dharma teaching, hell is in the heart of people who worry by the venerable Ajangana.
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If you'd like to hear more talks by Ajangana and other meditation masters of the forest tradition of Theravada Buddhism, subscribe to the forest path podcast using your favorite podcast app. You can also go to the website everydaydhamma.net for more. Thank you for listening. May you all experience insight and peace.