Some Final Words

　　by Ajahn Chah In every home and every community, whether we live in the city, the countryside, the forests, or the mountains, we are the same in experiencing happiness and suffering. And so many of us lack a place of refuge, a field or garden where we can cultivate positive qualities of heart. We experience this spiritual poverty because we don”t really have commitment; we don”t have clear understanding of what this life is all about and what we ought to be doing. From childhood and youth until becoming adults, we only learn to seek enjoyment and take delight in the things of the senses. We never think that danger will threaten us as we go about our lives, making a family and so on.

　　If we don”t have land to till and a home to live in, we are without an external refuge, and our lives are filled with difficulty and distress. Beyond that, there is the inner lack of not having sila and Dharma in our lives, of not going to hear teachings and practice Dharma. As a result, there is little wisdom in our lives, and everything regresses and degenerates. The Buddha, our Supreme Teacher, had lovingkindness (metta) for beings. He led sons and daughters of good family to ordain, to practice and realize the truth, to establish and spread the sasana to show people how to live in happiness in their daily lives. He taught the proper ways to earn a livelihood, to be moderate and thrifty in managing finances, to act without carelessness in all affairs.

　　But when we are lacking in both ways, externally in the material supports for life and internally in spiritual supports as well, then as time goes by and the number of people grows, the delusion and the poverty and difficulty become causes for us to grow further and further estranged from Dharma. We aren”t interested in seeking the Dharma because of our difficult circumstances. Even if there is a monastery nearby, we don”t feel much like going to listen to teachings because we are obsessed with our poverty and troubles and the difficulty of merely supporting our lives. But the Lord Buddha taught that no matter how poor we may be, we should not let it impoverish our hearts and starve our wisdom. Even if there are floods inundating our fields, our villages, and our homes to the point where it is beyond our capability to do save anything, the Buddha taught us not to let it flood and overcome the heart. Flooding the heart means that we lose sight of and have no knowledge of the Dharma.

　　There is the flood of sensuality, the flood of becoming, the flood of views, and the flood of ignorance. These four obscure and envelop the hearts of beings. They are worse than water that floods our fields, our villages, or our towns. Even if water floods our fields again and again over the years or fire burns down our homes, we still have our minds. If our minds have sila and Dharma, we can use our wisdom and find ways to earn a living and support ourselves. We can acquire land again and make a new start.

　　Now when we have our means of livelihood, our homes and possessions, our minds can be comfortable and upright, and we can have energy of spirit to help and assist each other. If someone is able to share food and clothing and provide shelter to those in need, that is an act of lovingkindness. The way I see it, giving things in a spirit of lovingkindness is far better than selling them to make a profit. Those who have metta aren”t wishing for anything for themselves. They only wish for others to live in happiness.

　　If we really make up our minds and commit ourselves to the right way, I think there shouldn”t be any serious difficulty. We won”t experience extreme poverty--we won”t be like earthworms. We still have a skeleton, eyes and ears, arms and legs. We can eat things like fruit; we don”t have to e…

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