Freeing the Heart from Darkness | Don't Allow the Evil We Witness to Darken Your Heart | Ajahn Dhammasiha

Ajahn Dhammasiha was asked via email to talk about bringing peace to ourselves regarding Iran, Israel and US war, and all the other evil and insanity we witness being committed globally.

As Brisbane just witnessed a total lunar eclipse ('Blood Moon') on Magha Puja Full Moon day, Ajahn shares the ancient Indian myth how Rāhu the evil demon swallows the moon deity Chandimā during an eclipse. In his distress, Chandimā remembers the Buddha and takes refuge in him. The Buddha chants a verse to Rāhu requesting him to release Chandimā, and Rāhu indeed lets go of the moon.

Although this myth totally contradicts our astronomical understanding how an eclipse works, Ajahn Dhammasiha declares himself a true believer in its truth: meaning his is convinced of the metaphorical truth of the matter, not the literal meaning 😉

• The moon is a simile for our heart
• The moon being swallowed by Rāhu is an allegory for our heart becoming dark due to sadness, anger or despair
• Taking refuge in the Buddha, and remembering that the Buddha's complete release from all oppression can be experienced by ourselves, frees our heart from darkness and unwholesome states

Ajahn encourages us to remember the symbolism of the lunar eclipse whenever we notice our heart going dark. If we remember the Buddha and take refuge in him, the forces of evil will not be able to darken our heart.

This is the most important thing. We may not be able to stop the evil happening externally, in the extreme we may even get killed ourselves by evil. However, as long as evil can't take over our own heart, we've still won the most essential battle.

This doesn't mean that we have to be completely passive regarding evil. It only means that we do not commit evil ourselves in opposing it. We oppose evil only by means that are not violent, keeping the Buddhist precepts, and most importantly, based on compassion, kindness, truth and equanimity, never baswed on anger or hatred.

To do that, we have to first make sure that anger, hatred, delusion or fear are not influencing our heart.

We also have to keep in mind that it is utterly impossible to turn this human world into a perfect place without evil. It is part of the first noble truth that we live in a world with war and atrocities. However, if we free our own heart from evil, we will experience a devine world without evil in our next rebirth.

And if we free our hear from any trace of greed, hatred & delusion, we will experience the state of total release, Nibbāna, where no trace of evil can ever reach.

You can listen to a recording we did of Dhammagiri monks chanting the Moon Protection (Canda Paritta) during the total lunar eclipse for Veask Full Moon 2021 here:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/canda-paritta-moon-protection-recitation-at-lunar-eclipse/id1534539834?i=1000523371067

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