Teachings of Mae Chee Kaew
Someone once asked Ajahn Mun: “What books do forest meditation monks study?” His reply was: “They study with eyes closed, but mind awake.” As soon as I awaken in the morning, my eyes are bombard- ed by forms; so, I investigate the contact between eye and form. My ears are struck by sounds, my nose by aromas, and my tongue by flavors; my body senses hot and cold, hard and soft, while my heart is assailed by thoughts and emotions. I investigate all these things constantly. In that way, each of my sense faculties becomes a teach- er; and I am learning Dhamma the whole day without a break. It’s up to me which sense faculty I choose to focus on. As soon as I’m focused, I try to penetrate to the truth of it. That’s how Ajahn Mun taught me to meditate.
Being born into this world, you must rely on your innate wisdom. You can seek pain or pleasure, seek things of value or things of no value at all. Depending on the direction you choose, you can find heaven or hell, or the paths and fruitions leading to Nibbāna. You can find anything: it’s up to you to decide.
Having been born into the world, we attach importance to the days and the months and the years as they pass. We believe in the importance of our lives and the lives of others. For this reason, our minds are constantly concerned with pain and suffering. No sooner do we take birth than we cling on tightly to our precarious state and start to worry. We are afraid of this and fear that. Our minds are im-mediately consumed by worldly influences and deluded tendencies driven by greed, hatred and fear. We are born with this condition, and if we don’t do something about it now, we will die still carrying those tendencies with us. What a shame!
Look carefully at your own heart and mind. Examine them closely. There alone is where you’ll find heaven and hell, the noble path leading to enlightenment, and that which is secure, beyond all pain and suffering.
Self-honesty is the basis of moral virtue. Know yourself, accept your faults and work to overcome them. Hide nothing from yourself. Above all, don’t lie to yourself. Lying to yourself is a fundamental breach of moral virtue. You can lie to the entire world if you like, but you must never lie to yourself.
If you don’t practice, you won’t learn how to meditate. If you don’t see the truth for yourself, you won’t really understand its meaning.
We are born and we die again and again. Birth, aging and death cycle on . Being descendents of the Lord Buddha, we mustn’t live our lives only to rot and decompose without having found any thing genuine within ourselves.When death comes, die properly, die with purity. Die letting go of the body and mind, laying them down without attachment. Die in touch with the true nature of things. Die following the footsteps of the Lord Buddha. Die thus, and become “deathless.”
When strange and unusual things occur in your meditation, just let them happen. Don’t become attached to them. Such things are really an external focus and should be let go of. Put them down and move on — don’t hold on to them. All realms of consciousness originate from the mind. Heaven and hell originate from the mind. Pretas and devas, lay people, nuns — all living beings originate from the mind. Because of that, it is far better to focus exclusively on your own mind. There you will find the whole universe.
In the practice of Buddhism, you must find your own path. It is up to you to search for and discover the way to transcend suffering. The correct way to search is to look inside yourself. The path lies within the hearts and minds of each of us. So be tough and remain diligent until you reach the final destination.