The foreign monk concept is no alien concept to Sri Lanka . The
country had been maintaining excellent diplomatic relations with other Buddhist
countries well before the European arrival. The country leaders always made it
a point to exchange gifts with each other. Many foreign monks came to Sri Lanka as a
result, keenly interested in studying and following the Buddha’s teachings.
It is doubtful, however, if any of those monks could make an
impact the local audience like Ajahn Brahm did.
His visit to Sri
Lanka , this Poson, has become a much
looked-forward to event among Buddhists. You would naturally inquire why all
this fuss for a simple foreign monk when there is quite a number of virtuous
monks in this country. That inquiry is valid as long as you have no idea who
this Ajahn Brahm really is. The more you study Ajahn’s life, times and work,
the more your question looks ignorant.
Because Ajahn Brahm (lesser known as Ajahn Brahmavamso
Mahathera) is unique.
Ajahn Brahm’s uniqueness could be accredited to two reasons:
first, his preaching style; second, his contents.
He is quite active while he delivers the Dhamma talk. He
would laugh out aloud, and at times makes the audience burst out with laughter
with what he himself calls silly jokes. Then he narrates stories, more from his
own life than the scriptures. If he takes stories from the scriptures, he would
deconstruct them to suit his audience, mostly Australian, Singaporean and
Indonesian.
He has compiled 108 of those stories into a compilation
called ‘Opening the Door of Your Heart’, which is available in Sinhala as well.
The last story, 108th one, in his ‘Opening the Door of Your Heart, offers a
symbolic meaning: no matter how much you listen to and read these stories, it
is of no use if you choose to dwell in the same quagmire without attempting to
gain happiness.
Ajahn Brahm’s teachings are diverse, which could be
segmented into three main categories: 1. Talking to the popular audience 2.
Meditation 3. Dealing with more serious Dhamma matters, meant for monks.
Although he would mostly combine the second with first, he is cautious never to
interfuse it into the third, which is the most serious of all.
His mainstream books (he has various booklets published as
well) are distinctively different from each other. Some of his books are
‘Opening the Door of Your Heart’, ‘Good? Bad? Who Knows?’ (sequel to ‘Opening
the Door’), ‘Happiness through Meditation’, ‘Wisdom Born of Stillness’, ‘The
Art of Disappearing’ and ‘Simply this Moment’.
This is not to undermine the Sri Lankan monk in general, but
Ajahn Brahm’s style is quite distinctive that it is hard to imagine a local
monk equipped with those characteristics. His western upbringing as well as the
influence from his Thai master Ajahn Chah would have contributed to this. His
western upbringing gave him the courage and confidence to deal with subjects
such as sex, while the training under Ajahn Chah offered him a foundation to
interpret Dhamma in a witty manner.
Once reproaching Ajahn Sumedho, Ajahn Chah stressed on the
fact that Dhamma talks should be given without prior preparation. If it is
prepared, Ajahn elaborated, it holds no credibility. You could exert so much
information from Dhamma books, but that is scholarship – the Dhamma talk is yet
another lecture.
Intriguingly, the Arahants during the Buddha’s time never
made use of books to deliver Dhamma talks. Ajahn Chah emphasized the importance
of delivering Dhamma talks based on practical experience. For instance, if you
deal with Jhana as the subject of your Dhamma talk, you should have experienced
Jhana in the first place.
That is how Ajahns emerge – with practice. You are entitled
to the title of Ajahn – which is teacher in Thai, derived from Pali Acharya –
only when you could claim sufficient experience of Dhamma practice.
Ajahn Chah was instrumental in combining forest and village
traditions. In his tradition, a forest monk would dedicate some time for the
community service as well. Ajahn Chah undoubtedly foresaw the importance of
this tradition-combination. The laity could be much more benefited when the
forest-based monk delivers a Dhamma talk as he is dealing with practical
knowledge.
Ajahn Brahm did not just parachute from the heavens. He was
practising the Dhamma alone for quite a long time before he finally came in for
community communication. Looking at him, it is hard to believe he is actually
63 years.
His teachings have many controversial elements which have a
great appeal for the modern generation. He applies his pet subject, ‘loving
kindness’, even in places where it is almost unthinkable. It might be difficult
to control your anger in the first instance, second instance, or may be even
the third instance, but that is quite all right – Ajahn would teach. You don’t
have to be annoyed with yourself for not being able to control your anger. He
would also draw many examples and similes to elaborate his subject.
He was once questioned whether he knew he has a facebook
account made by a fan. Responding to the question, Ajahn said it is quite all
right to be active in facebook but what is important is practice. “Ajahn Chah
taught us only a little. He did not want us to keep on listening to him. So
spreading Dhamma in facebook is not enough. You have to practise it, now, this
moment.”
