About This Teaching
Living in forests, mountains and caves, far from society, leaves fewer sights and sounds to stir the mind, so there is more time for continuous meditation. Addressing monastics, Ajahn Dtun urges mindfulness from the moment of waking, in every posture and activity, with as much sitting and walking meditation as possible, and with moderation in sleep and food.
Having renounced worldly life, monks should be content with their eight requisites and not let greed take hold; even requisites can be seen as earth, water, fire and air. Anger is countered with daily metta (loving-kindness) and let go quickly. Lust remains even without wanting a spouse, and is met by contemplating the body, one's own or another's, as impermanent and not-self, which requires a foundation of concentration.
The body must be contemplated thousands of times, not ten or a hundred, and is released in three stages: gross, intermediate and refined. A subtle delusion then remains, in which the mind takes feeling, memory, thought and consciousness to be itself. Sharp wisdom sees these arise and cease, so the khandhas and the citta are known as separate, and he encourages restraint within the Dhamma-Vinaya until Nibbana is realised.