About This Teaching
Facing a monk who dreamed of returning to lay life, Ajahn Chah, called Luang Por here, punctured the fantasy with vivid detail: a crying baby, a scolding wife and in-laws, life hemmed in by pots and pans, set against the freedom of wandering on tudong. He reminded him of monks who disrobed and later regretted it, and called sensual pleasure fleeting, like good food on the tongue, compared with the ease of seeing the Dhamma.
His central point was that lust and longing are not outside monastic training but part of it: look at the suffering until it is clear, even fasting, going without sleep, being willing to die. He told of a venerable monk who chopped logs for three days and nights until exhausted, then shouted to his defilements. A disciple of Luang Pu Mun, infatuated with an almsgiver, fasted until he saw the body's unattractiveness. For sexual desire, meditate on the body's parts; if defilements come high, duck, and if low, jump over them.