Ajahn Sumedho Quotes & Sayings

Of course we can always imagine more perfect conditions, how it should be ideally, how everyone should behave. But it is not our task to create an ideal. It's our task to see how it is, and to learn from the world as it is. For the awakening of the heart, conditions are always good enough. — Ajahn Sumedho

I contemplated my greed for peace. And I did not seek tranquillity anymore. — Ajahn Sumedho

Suttas are not meant to be 'sacred scriptures' that tell us what to believe. One 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 Sumedho

A new day is here. Yesterday is a memory. Tomorrow is unknown. Now is the knowing. — Ajahn Sumedho

The 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. We no longer expect the sensory world to satisfy us. We no longer demand that sensory consciousness be anything other than an existing condition that we can use skillfully according to time and place. — Ajahn Sumedho

Oftentimes, the First Noble Truth is misquoted as "All life is suffering," but that is an inaccurate and misleading reflection of the Buddha's insight. He did not teach that life is constant misery, nor that you should expect to feel pain and unhappiness at all times. Rather, he proclaimed that suffering is an unavoidable reality of ordinary human existence that is to be known and responded to wisely. — Ajahn Sumedho

The 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 Sumedho

The mind of an enlightened human being is flexible and adaptable. The mind of the ignorant person is conditioned and fixed. — Ajahn Sumedho

We look directly into our suffering rather than try to become happy. The happiness that arises from this approach is reliable. — Ajahn Sumedho

The empty mind - the pure mind - is not a blank, zero-land, where you're not feeling or caring about anything. It'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. 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 Sumedho

Meditation is a skilful letting go: gently but with resolution. — Ajahn Sumedho

Instead of becoming the world's expert on Buddhism, just let go, let go, let go. — Ajahn Sumedho