Simply This Moment - Buddhist Meditation and Theravada ...

things really complicated. It’s so easy when there is only one thing you have to get.I really feel for people who live in the world. If they want to get a toothbrush thereare a hundred different types to choose from: different styles and different types ofbristle or handles. Goodness knows how difficult it is to make choices in this worldnow, and because there are so many choices, there’s less freedom. So it’s wonderfulwhen there’s not much choice. You know you just have to get up in the morning andthat’s it. You don’t have to think about it. You know you only have to eat what’sthere. You choose from what’s there and that’s it. If you had a menu, imagine what itwould be like. If instead of having dāna we had a supporter who owned a couple ofrestaurants and they sent the menu out every morning so we could order up whateverwe wanted – imagine if I gave you the menu every morning and you had to choosewhat to eat. It would be terrible having all those choices and decisions to make.It’s very wonderful not having to make decisions. It’s nice being on retreat: youdon’t even put the food into your own bowl; someone else does it for you. I’venoticed when I’ve been on retreat – especially during the rains retreat – how I actuallyenjoy my food much more because someone else has put it into the bowl for me. Ithink it is because I don’t have to go through all the hassle of choosing. Someonebrings the bowl up and I just eat what’s there. That’s choicelessness. It means morefreedom, more happiness, and more peace.One of the reasons we have all these rules is to give us freedom from having to makedecisions and to avoid arguing about what we should do. It’s already been arrangedand decided, and that makes life so much easier, so much freer. We can use our mindfor more important things than deciding what to eat or deciding how to do things.That’s also the happiness of hierarchy. When someone else tells you what to do itmakes it easier; you don’t have to think about it, you just do it. You know what it’slike when you get into that complaining mind, ‘I don’t want to do this. Why doesAjahn Brahm always ask me to clean the toilets? Why can’t I do something else?’‘Doesn’t he think I can hammer a nail into a piece of wood like anyone else?’ ‘I onlywant the really nice jobs.’It’s really strange, but one of the jobs that I really wanted to do once I became a monk108