Mae Yo's Blog

During the October 2012 mini retreat, there were a lot of good questions asked during discussion. These questions and answers by Mae Yo may benefit other practitioners as well. Thus some of these queries are paraphrased and shared here:

Q. When it comes to sickness and death, I see that they are inevitable and inescapable across age, social class, and vulnerability levels. How can I contemplate this in terms of the four elements as well as self and self belongings?

A. Contemplate to understand that the tangible form (body) belongs to the world, not to anyone who thinks they own it. To understand this truth about belonging, we must understand suffering, harmful consequences, and perils inherent in possessing this body. How much do we suffer as a result of not being able control our bodies? Understanding suffering, harmful consequences, and perils is the way for us to arrive at the conclusion that sickness and death are inescapable and inevitable.

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Q. I am afraid of ghosts. What should I do?

A. You must understand that ghosts and humans are no different, except for the fact that we as humans have physical bodies. Their feelings and ours are the same. When we are scared, we are frightened by the thought of a ghost, which clearly shows the ghost exists in our mind. We don’t even know what is real or is not. In order to not be scared, replace fearful imaginative thoughts with thoughts of something else.

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A practitioner related an issue about not wanting to work with a particular person again due to an ugly past work experience. The practitioner was asked how this issue related to the four elements as well as the concept of self and self belongings.

Q. What is the physical aspect that I am trying to control? Is it the coworker, because I don’t want her to be mean like last time?

A. Luang Por Thoon always emphasized the importance of separating the abstract aspects from the tangible form. In this case, you are mixing the tangible and intangible in that you are trying to control the coworkers behavior. If we are talking about your desire to control the coworker’s height, weight, or hair, then that is the physical aspect you are trying to control. The behavior is intangible. Don’t mix these two aspects.