The Dhamma Challenge

~ By Ajahn Jayasāro ~

Feeling powerless and without choices is depressing. But having too many choices can cripple us. When there are a great many options available, fear of making the wrong choice, or of not making the absolute best choice, can mean that we end up making no choices at all.

There are so many Buddhists teachings and traditions to choose from these days. It is wonderful that in the modern world we can gain such easy access to the Dhamma. But that easy access brings with it its own dangers. If we can turn on or turn off the Dhamma with the tap of a screen, we can lose our sense of its preciousness. It can become just one more thing that we watched today, absorbing at the time but then soon submerged beneath all the other things. Rather than taking advantage of technology to be encouraged and challenged and empowered in our practice, we risk becoming mere consumers of Dhamma, accumulations of high-quality clips and links.

The Dhamma challenges us to put the teachings to the test of experience, with sincerity and consistent, patient effort. By whatever means we receive the Dhamma, let us not forget that its purpose is always to lead us onwards on our path to truth.

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"Food for the Heart", a series of Dhamma teachings handwritten weekly is posted on the Buddhadāsa Indapañño Archives page with Ajahn's kind permission.

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For other teachings by Ven. Ajahn Jayasāro, please visit the Panyaprateep Foundation website.