Table
of Contents
[Page numbers are not accurate in this electronic version]
· Note to this Electronic Edition
· Editor's Preface
·
Introduction
· To the Last Breath
· Biographical Note
· 1. Ready to Go : Ready to Die
· 2. The Undying
· 3. The Highest Blessing
· 4. The Internal and the External
-- The True and the False
· 5. Letting Go
· 6. The Final
Night -- Fare Thee Well
· 7. The Middle Way
· Epilogue
· Directions for Insight
· Biographical Note
·
Preface to the Thai Edition
· 1. Training in Renunciation
·
2. Making Dhamma Your True Concern
· 3. Establishing a Foundation
of Mindfulness
· 4. Struggling against the Defilements' Hordes
· 5. Overcoming Suffering
· 6. Training for Liberation
· Glossary
· Appendix: The Gradual Teaching
Note
to this Electronic Version
Former footnotes are converted to Endnotes after
each section. Also page numbering is inaccurate.
Some Pali diacritical marks
are shown by this convention: 'long a' = aa; 'long i' = ii; 'long u' = uu; 'm',
'n', 't', and 'd' with dots beneath have a period before the respective letter;
i.e., '.m' '.n' '.t' '.d' ; 'n' or 'N' tilde are marked as 'ny' or 'Ny'.
Editor's
Preface
This book contains two sets of newly revised Dhamma talks. The 1980
edition of Amata Dhamma has been completely revised and has new additions, including
its new title, To the Last Breath. Directions for Insight -- the second part of
this book -- was only slightly revised, although it now has its proper title back,
which somehow had become lost in the first printing. (It was then printed as Directing
to Self Penetration.)
As Acharn Panyavaddho explained in the introduction
he wrote for the 1980 Amata Dhamma: "(six) of these (seven) talks were given
for the benefit of Mrs. Pow-panga Vathanakul, who had been staying in Wat Pa Bahn
Tahd, Udorn-thani, Thailand, since the beginning of November 1975. The other talk,
The Middle Way (of Practice), was actually given to the assembly of bhikkhus at
the Wat in 1962, and was one which Mrs. Pow-panga found useful... She stayed at
Wat Pa Bahn Tahd for almost four months and Ven. Acharn Maha Boowa gave about
130 talks during that period."[1]
The second part of this collection,
Directions for Insight, seems to fit in well with the general approach of To the
Last Breath. (In fact, both have the same flavor -- the taste of freedom -- which
is the true liberation of heart, without regard to gender, race or age.) It is
made up of six Dhamma Talks by Acharn Kor Khao-suan-luang. Khun Phoon Phongphanit,
a lay disciple of Acharn Kor, suggested a joint translation (with the editor)
of these six Dhamma talks,[2] originally printed (in Thai) under the title Na
Naew Mong Darn Ny. They form one booklet of a series printed over the years by
Upasika Kee Nanayon, who used the pen name Kor Khao-suan-luang. Khun Phoon Phongphanit
should receive special thanks for all his work in seeing that translation into
print.
The first translation of To the Last Breath (or Amata Dhamma as it
was then) was mainly the work of Ven. Bhikkhu A-j-. The present editor, who also
assisted at that time, has now completely revised the whole translation and so
must bear responsibility for the errors.
Any merit arising from my work on
this book, may it be dedicated to my mother. May she find peace and happiness.
A. Bhikkhu
Notes
1. For more about this, see the new section: Epilogue.
Other translations of similar Dhamma Talks by Ven. Acharn Maha Boowa are: Straight
from the Heart; Things As They Are; Forest Dhamma; The Dhamma Teaching of Acariya
Maha Boowa in London; Kammatthana.
2. Please note that this year (1995) a
new translation of four of these Talks has appeared, which, to a certain extent,
supersedes this pioneer translation. They are contained in a superb collection
of Acharn Kor's Dhamma entitled An Unentangled Knowing, The Teachings of a Thai
Buddhist Lay Woman, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. (Dhamma Dana Publications,
c/o Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, 149 Lockwood Road, Barre, Massachusetts
01005, USA.) They can also be found in electronic format on many Buddhist BBSs.
Introduction
Anyone who has visited the forest monasteries
of Thailand will need no introduction. They will have seen Acharns[1] who teach
in a spontaneous and direct way, and who live as they teach. This is Forest Dhamma,
vigorous but without pretension, inspiring one to live and practice the Way rather
than reading about it. Yet here is a book -- and a translation of a book at that
-- that can only attempt to offer a partial view of certain aspects of that Teaching.
This is especially so with the first part of this collection of Dhamma talks,
To the Last Breath. For these were given under quite special circumstances: A
person, quite knowledgeable about Buddhism, is dying of cancer. The emphasis is
therefore very much on dealing with pain, suffering and, finally, death. And pointing
towards that which is beyond suffering and death.
These circumstances mean
that the beginning fundamentals of Dhamma practice are generally assumed to be
already understood. (Khun Pow and the other listeners were already well practiced
in developing Dhamma in their actions and speech.)[2] For those new to Dhamma,
however, it is important to remember the special context and to take into account
the other Dhamma qualities that make an essential foundation that will need to
be cultivated. The Lord Buddha gave an important example of this when he would
begin his Dhamma Teaching (to those newly interested) with the Progressive or
Graduated Sermon:[3]
"Then the Lord delivered a graduated discourse
to 'Kutadanta,' on generosity, on morality and on heaven, showing the danger,
degradation and corruption of sense-desires, and the profit of renunciation. And
when the Lord knew that Kutadanta's mind was ready, pliable, free from the hindrances,
joyful and calm, then he preached a sermon on Dhamma in brief: on suffering, its
origin, its cessation, and the path..." [4]
It is this 'joyful, calm,
pliable, ready mind' -- already settled firmly upon foundations of generosity
and morality -- that is receptive to the powerful Truths about pain, suffering
and death. It is at this point that the emphasis changes to energetic striving,
to overcoming the obstacles that prevent insight and pin us blindly to the wheel
of birth and death.
"Then the Lord said to the monks: 'Now, monks, I
declare to you: all conditioned things are of a nature to decay -- strive on untiringly.'
These were the Tathagata's last words." [5]
In this book you will find
both these aspects. There are constant references to 'gradually'... 'steadily'...
'step by step'... 'level by level' (of the Graduated Teaching). These lead into
a growing emphasis on earnestness and diligence in practice.
Any translation
is the impossible search for just the right word. The expression that conveys
both the sense and accuracy in a pleasing way; and that also brings with it the
spirit of the original. This translation is much more of a blind groping. First,
there is the wide language and cultural gap between Thai and English. Then there
is the change of medium from the living word to the printed page, which must always
lose the dynamism of the original experience.[6] Finally, and perhaps the most
important point, there is the great profundity of Dhamma, which is really beyond
the translators' level of understanding. The reader will therefore need to make
due allowance for the deficiencies in this translation effort. The only way truly
to understand is to translate it back into your own life, your own experience
and practice.
Even with its errors and inadequacies this book is the result
of a great effort by many people. It will have all been worth while if a single
person finds some truth in it that can help him or her face up to their situation,
their illness and pain. Insight into that suffering may they go beyond a mere
book's description to true liberation.
Notes
1. Meditation Teachers.
2. See Epilogue.
3. Anupubbikatha. Also see the Appendix.
4. Thus
Have I Heard. Page 141/29. (D.i.148) (Maurice Walshe, trans.; London: Wisdom Publications,
1987.)
5. ibid., p. 270/67. (D.ii.156).
6. To help with these points,
Pali terms have been kept to a minimum or put in the Glossary. Repetitions --
which spoken Thai delights in with its musical variations of words and phrases;
and which also serve to reinforce the Dhamma themes -- have sometimes been deleted.
Part One
To the Last Breath
Dhamma Talks on Living and
Dying
by
Venerable Acharn Mahaa Boowa Nyanasampanno
of
Wat Pa
Bahn Tahd
Udorn-thani, N.E. Thailand
* * *
Biographical Note
Venerable Acharn Maha Boowa was born in Udorn-thani, North-east Thailand in 1913.
He became a monk in the customary way at a local monastery and went on to study
the Pali language and texts. At this time he also started to meditate but had
not yet found a suitable Teacher. Then he caught sight of the Ven. Acharn Mun
and immediately felt that this was someone really special, someone who obviously
had achieved something from his Dhamma practice.
After finishing his Grade
Three Pali studies[1] he therefore left the study monastery and followed Ven.
Acharn Mun into the forests of N.E. Thailand. When he caught up with Ven. Acharn
Mun, he was told to put his academic knowledge to one side and concentrate on
meditation. And that was what he did. He often went into solitary retreat in the
mountains and jungle but always returned for help and advice from Ven. Acharn
Mun. He stayed with Ven. Acharn Mun for seven years, right until the Ven. Acharn's
passing away.
The vigour and uncompromising determination of his Dhamma practice
attracted other monks dedicated to meditation and this eventually resulted in
the founding of Wat Pa Bahn Tahd, in some forest near the village where he was
born. This enabled his mother to come and live as a nun at the monastery.
Ven. Acharn Maha Boowa is well known for the fluency and skill of his Dhamma talks,
and their direct and dynamic approach. They obviously reflect his own attitude
and the way he personally practiced Dhamma. This is best exemplified in the Dhamma
talks he gives to those who go to meditate at Wat Pa Bahn Tahd. Such talks usually
take place in the cool of the evening, with lamps lit and the only sound being
the insects and cicadas in the surrounding jungle. He often begins the Dhamma
talk with a few moments of stillness -- this is the most preparation he needs
-- and then quietly begins the Dhamma exposition. As the theme naturally develops,
the pace quickens and those listening increasingly feel its strength and depth.
The formal Dhamma talk might last from thirty-five to sixty minutes. Then,
after a more general talk, the listeners would all go back to their solitary huts
in the jungle to continue the practice, to try to find the Dhamma they had been
listening about -- inside themselves.
Note
1. On completion of Grade
Three Paali, one is given the title Mahaa. There are nine grades in all.
1.
Ready to Go : Ready to Die
This heart of ours is much like a child. The child
is unable to take care of itself and so has to depend on mother and father, on
guardians and nursemaids, holding on to various people. But the child at least
has parents and guardians to look after it, to make sure it seldom meets with
harm. Whereas although the heart is always grasping and clinging to various things,
it doesn't find any such safety and security.
The heart can't rely on itself
and therefore always likes to cling onto things. For the most part, it tends to
reach for wrong things, for things that do it harm. The reason it likes to search
for and hold on to things, is so that it can find safety, security and comfort
for itself. The things it clings to however, are not dependable and so they pose
a constant danger for the heart. Whether we are children or already grown up,
this is the way our minds tend to be.
Instead of trying to rely on ourselves
we always put our hopes in other things, other people. We can't stand on own two
feet. This is because the heart isn't wise enough to check whether the objects
it grasps hold of are right or wrong, good or bad. It doesn't know how to care
for itself, how to help itself, because there's no one to teach it. There's nobody
to advise on how to know which things are dangerous and which are beneficial,
which things should be held on to and which things shouldn't. The heart therefore
continues indiscriminately to grasp hold of anything, whether good or bad, as
long as it likes the look of it. Even if it isn't gratifying, the heart's characteristic
trait is still to keep on grasping and clinging. Why should it be like this?
Normally, one wouldn't think that a mood[1] or a thing that's displeasing is worth
clinging to. Yet the heart continues to grasp hold of such things. It clings to
anger, to delusion and lust, hatred and disgust, because it becomes involved and
caught up in them. We can never say that the heart simply knows an object, for
it always gets caught up in it and clings to it. For the most part, those things
have nothing good in them.
Why does the heart have to go and grasp at things?
It's because it is attracted without realizing the repercussions of its attachment.
Even though you may wish to break away from it you can't, because there's something
else which is powerful enough to force the heart to grasp and hang on. The object
then becomes caught up in emotions, which continually overcloud and obscure yourself.
Here we're talking about emotional objects1 and moods.
Now I'll speak about
material objects. The heart will grasp at and cling to whatever object is present.
It doesn't matter how trifling or significant, how valuable or worthless it might
be; the heart can and will attach itself. We wouldn't be wrong if we were to call
the heart an expert 'hanger-on'. This is because it's still unable to rely on
itself, and so must depend on outside things, until the end of the body that has
led one through the changing situations. It may even forget itself by surrendering
to the power of external objects, even though their control is baseless and leads
the wrong way.
The Lord Buddha taught that, "self is the protector of
self".[2] Try to cure the heart of its dependency, of the tendency it has
of always hoping to rely on other things. Disengage yourself from such objects
and turn inward to rely more on your own resources and abilities. Don't depend
on your parents, friends and others, so much that you forget yourself. Our human
trait of continually seeking support in other people develops eventually into
a personal habit. It's like this all over the world, and in this regard we can
hardly even measure up to some kinds of animals. This, then, is why the Lord Buddha
taught about self-reliance.
In our commonplace and coarse affairs, like work
and other such responsibilities, we should try to be more self-reliant. Coming
in towards Dhamma -- the practice of meditation in the heart -- we need to have
had sufficient training under a Teacher to know the right direction in which to
proceed. The actual practice though, is the duty of each one of us, to find assurance
in our self-reliance following the principles of Dhamma. The Lord Buddha taught,
for example, about cultivating goodness and virtue through generosity, precepts[3]
and meditation. This is so that we can develop self-reliance, which is the heart
firmly holding to good and wholesome objects. There is then peace and happiness
in both the present and future lives, because they are beneficial things and originate
from wholesome actions. They make up fine objects or superior quality food for
the heart.
We are taught to meditate, which is a step higher in refinement.
This effort to train ourselves in meditation is a way of self-reliance that is
steadily taken onto a firmer and more dependable level. We use a meditation-word[4]
as the means to direct and control the heart. For, as the mind is not yet able
to sustain itself, we have to rely on the meditation-word as the object to soothe
and bring peace and calm. The settling of the mind in "buddho buddho buddho..."
is one example of this. It is an object for the heart to occupy itself with, which
is correct and right and appropriate to finding refuge in Dhamma.
In the
beginning of the practice the heart is still restless and distracted, still unable
to settle itself on Dhamma principles and become self-reliant. It has to depend
on a meditation-word to direct it until it merges in with that meditation-word
and gathers into stillness. When it enters calm, even the meditation-word itself
ceases to be an issue. This is one step towards self-reliance for the meditation-word
can be released at this stage, as the heart is well settled in calm. This is a
foundation and refuge for the heart that can be clearly seen. Even with just this
much, there's calm and ease in the heart that used to be restless and distracted,
unable to find any peace. This is because the heart normally does not know peace
but only trouble and unrest, hunger and thirst, worries and concerns over affairs
that are of no use to it at all. For the most part these affairs are the heart's
own thoughts and imaginings, which poison and burn oneself -- without anyone else
being involved.
The Lord Buddha discovered the correct way to practice and
achieved results to his heart's contentment. He was therefore able to explain
about the causes, or the way to practice, together with their fulfillment and
fruits. He taught us that the way to depend on oneself is through meditation and
that this is the direct route to a firmly established self-reliance. Basing the
heart in calm, to whatever degree, brings increasingly self-assurance and confidence
-- without having to ask anyone else about it. You will know from within yourself.
This is termed paccata.m or sandi.t.thiko. The knowledge of good or bad, what
needs remedying, removing or developing, will then arise in the heart. This will
be understood by oneself and for oneself, as the heart is more and more firmly
established.
The level of concentration, once reached, is already sufficient
to form a foundation for the heart, a home where the heart can find shelter and
peace. At the moment when we think so much that we feel faint-hearted and weary,
we should turn inwards and meditate. The heart can then rest and be stilled from
all its preoccupations, finding peace and calm. This is called going inward for
refuge, to find a resting place of comfort and ease. This is one level of refuge
for the heart.
The next steps, even though they're still concerned with samadhi,
are proceeding into more subtle and refined aspects of the heart. The levels of
momentary concentration, access concentration and attainment concentration[5]
show the refining of samadhi. This culminates in attainment concentration, and
beyond that samadhi can't advance.
Once the heart has some degree of calm,
according to the level of samadhi achieved, it is stilled and refined. However,
without developing mindfulness and wisdom[6] it will just remain at that level,
lacking wisdom radically to uproot its defilements.[7] If we compare the defilements
to a tree, although we may have pruned the branches the main trunk remains uncut
and is still capable of sending out new branches.
This is why we're taught
to investigate by way of wisdom. Wisdom is a keen intelligence and ingenuity.
It is able to investigate and follow through without any limitation. The Lord
Buddha described wisdom-and-knowledge -- being even more refined than wisdom --
in the Discourse of Setting the Wheel of Dhamma in Motion. Listen to this:
"Nyaa.na.m udapaadi, panyaa udapaadi, vijjaa udapaadi, aaloko udapaadi."
"Knowledge arose, wisdom arose, higher-knowledge arose, light arose."
Knowledge or vijjaa refers basically to the Threefold Knowledge.[8] Wisdom
arose, and, with greater refinement, higher- knowledge arose -- arising right
from this same heart. Wisdom is that which removes the defilements covering the
heart, whereas samadhi is simply that which herds the defilements together in
quietness within the heart. It is not yet capable of cutting off any defilements.
The heart's attachment, which embroils it with various things, remains intact
though it's weakening. Once the heart gains some calm and peace, wisdom can come
into its own as the important weapon that strikes down and uproots all the different
defilements in the heart, step by step.
"Samaadhi-paribhaavitaa panyaa
mahapphalaa hoti mahaanisa.msaa."
There! "Wisdom once supported
and nurtured in samadhi, is of great fruit and great advantage." Its examination
becomes skilled, its scrutiny agile and bold, so that it is able to cut away the
defilements one after another.
"Panyaa-paribhaavita.m citta.m sammadeva
aasavehi vimuccati."
"The heart nurtured with wisdom gains proper
release from the cankers."
Listen to that! It's wisdom alone that can
uproot the defilements; it doesn't matter whether they are gross, intermediate
or subtle, no defilement lies beyond the scope of wisdom. This is a primary principle
that secures the quality and value of our practice, which is the total elimination
of the defilements from the heart. It's the same practice which the Lord Buddha
and his Noble Disciples have already completed before us.
Thus samadhi and
wisdom can't be separated from each other. Whatever our character and tendencies
might be, samadhi is always needed as a quiet resting place for the heart. The
heart rests from work, by stilling in samadhi its thoughts and preoccupations.
Even work in the world requires a period of rest and recuperation -- making do
without is just not possible. This may certainly use up working-time but, just
as eating uses up food and the money needed to buy that food, it is necessary
that the body has renewed vigour to continue its work. Resting and sleeping may
waste some time but, again, they give the constitution new strength to fulfill
its duties and tasks. Otherwise it won't be able to go on.
This use of time
and material to provide for and restrengthen the body is certainly not wasted.
Rather, they act like fuel for a car, which won't go anywhere without it. Samadhi
and wisdom have the same sort of relationship. The mind needs time to be still
and calm in samadhi, and, after it has rested, it can then continue its investigation
using mindfulness and wisdom in line with its abilities.
This word wisdom
describes something very subtle and broad ranging, to accord with the character
and tendencies of the person bringing it into use. Any approach we use to investigate
for the sake of uprooting the defilements is termed right wisdom.
It's not
necessary always to have to go and read the scriptures in order to know how to
deal with the defilements; and in order for it to be 'Dhamma'. These texts were
extracted from the heart that is Dhamma, which had actually performed the uprooting
of the defilements and clearly seen the fruits. Only then was it written down
in the scriptures. So it's not the case that the texts originated before the Truth
-- which is the actual practice.
The Lord Buddha was the first to practice
and so no scriptures had been made for him to use. When he taught his disciples
the Noble Truths, he didn't write them down in palm leaf texts. He taught them
by word of mouth, and then his disciples themselves carried on the Teaching through
word of mouth. Where did they get their teachings? -- From the reality in their
hearts, which they had seen clearly as a result of their own practice.
It
is for this reason that the techniques and strategies of mindfulness and wisdom
depend primarily on the individual. Each of us needs to think, examine, investigate
and work out strategies using our own intelligence and abilities, according to
each case. Therefore, there's no need always to go back to retrieve scriptural
authority with questions like: "I've thought this up myself so it can't possibly
deal with the defilements." This way of thinking is not in accord with the
principles of Dhamma and can't be called right wisdom. When those things we remember
from the scriptures can't be actualized in ridding our heart of any defilements
then this too, for us, isn't right wisdom. It may be right wisdom in the scriptures
but it's wrong in the way it's used.
The Dhamma is only explained to a limited
extent in the scriptures. It's not really all that much. If we compare it to a
medicine, it's a general nonspecific remedy rather than one aimed at a particular
illness. Our integrating and formulating a specific approach capable of dealing
with each particular defilement is termed medicine. It is a remedy aimed at steadily
uprooting a certain defilement. This is why those who are successfully practicing
in the way of wisdom have Dhamma, have mindfulness and wisdom with them wherever
they are.
Ven. Acharn Mun once said that he "listened to Dhamma day
and night". Just think of that! Things keep making contact with our senses
of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch at all times. If the knowledge of this
contact doesn't arise at the heart, which is waiting with acknowledgment, where
else is it going to occur? What is it that acknowledges? The heart's acknowledging
also stirs up mindfulness and wisdom, which must come in to examine the ongoing
involvement with a well-founded scrutiny, that accords with cause and effect.
It checks out the contact and when it knows, it is able progressively to withdraw
or let go. This is what is called, 'listening to Dhamma day and night', listening
to Dhamma in the primal principles of nature. Defilements are natural principles
together with the heart. Dhamma, with its virtue, samadhi and wisdom are natural
principles within the heart. It all depends on how we bring them out to use in
our investigating; utilizing them to full advantage according to the ability of
mindfulness and wisdom, which is the ideal instrument to use.
The body. Listen!
Elements, aggregates, body. The Lord Buddha had them and all his disciples have
had them. At one stage they seized hold and attached to those aggregates, just
as we do now. Such defilements were the same for them as they are now for us.
But by grasping and attaching to, we establish conditions and causes for the accumulation
of defilement in our hearts.
The Lord Buddha and his arahant disciples formerly
had defilements -- just like us now -- so why was it possible for them to uproot
them? The body is the same, the five aggregates are the same, yet they could release
their attachment whereas we can't. Why? We don't seem able to understand, yet
how was it that they were able to gain realization? Why can't we also comprehend?
The heart is present, and mindfulness and wisdom can be built up in each aspect,
according to whatever angle we wish to take up for examination.
This body,
which exists right with us here now, is something that can be known and understood.
When we say that the heart can't depend on itself, what it all comes down to is
that it needs to depend on the body. Moreover, it not only relies on the aggregates
but also holds to them as being self. There! We depend on them and unashamedly
uphold them as self. What about that then? Even with some measure of shame, they
inevitably must be held onto because comprehension is still lacking, and without
it any possibility of letting-go. So, it is quite correct to say that we've been
shameless and we need to admit to our stupidity. From here, we must endeavor to
develop some cleverness that will see these things and let go of them through
the strength of our own efforts.
So, for once, let's get down to the facts.
These things follow the principles of nature and remain as they are they, whereas
we exert ourselves to pull them in as our-self. Now that is going to make problems
because it goes against the truth of things. To be in line with the facts you
have to investigate to see according to the truth about them. Repeatedly examine
and keep on investigating until you can understand. Once you understand, you won't
have to order the mind to let go. It will let go on its own because these things
are poisonous and harmful to us, owing to our own attachment. There are certainly
no benefits in this attachment. If there were any merit or advantage, the Lord
Buddha would have told us to grasp hold -- but then, such advice would not be
needed as the heart would have already involved itself. It is that attachment
that is the truly poisonous and harmful thing.
Even though those things may
be dangerous to us, we still seize and bring them close in. We hold them by making
the assumptions that, I'm like this, I'm like that; they are me; they are mine.
The trouble arises right there with these assumptions and notions based in delusion.
None of these aggregates have any meaningfulness in themselves. They exist,
in truth, in the same way as trees and mountains and such like. We are conscious
of their various aspects and this makes it the affair and concern of the heart.
Once dead we can't be aware of them, which shows that it's all mixed up with the
heart. If we are here, there is no happiness; if we go, there's no contentment;
if we grasp hold, there's no peace. And this goes on and on and on. How exasperating
and vexing this can be.
This heart is totally filled with delusion. Whatever
aspect it exposes, there is nothing but delusion and harmful attachments. We murmur
that, 'the heart can't depend on itself' and so has to go and hang onto this thing
or that. Our investigation through wisdom is carried forth so that we can understand
this whole situation. Then we can push away, press on out, disentangle and steadily
attain to self-reliance.
We give other things a complete looking over and
can manage to understand them. We look at building, homes, women, men, animals
and material things. We can tell whether they're good or bad, valuable or not,
worth keeping or not -- yet why can't we realize this about our body? Not only
do we fail to understand, but we also love and grasp hold of it in attachment.
We wouldn't dare love or hold on to outside things in the same way, especially
if we know there's nothing good in them. We wouldn't have anything to do with
them. Yet here, we will take it all -- the good with the bad. What can one say?
This is where we really show our stupidity. These eyes in our head see what the
body is like, our heart knows, but it's all on the superficial level of commonplace
people. It therefore keeps on going, in a stubborn, unrelenting way without true
knowledge, following the commonplace, mundane understanding. This is really the
commonplace way of ignorance, the ordinary type of delusion in the circle of knowledge.
It's out of line with the truth, which is why we must find a way to introduce
truth into the heart; for this is wisdom. Once wisdom is there, we will realize
the truth -- no longer concealed -- about ourselves incorporated in this physical
body.
Inspect it carefully. This body is not all that big: a fathom long,
a cubit wide and just a hand's span thick. We ought to be able to look it all
over -- externally it should only take a moment. On the inside, look deeply with
a heartfelt examination, following its present state and conditions to its final
dissolution. It doesn't really go anywhere; it does nothing but advance towards
its disintegration and a return to its original elements. And that's all. Using
wisdom make a deep-reaching and heartfelt investigation of this truth. When the
truth goes straight to the heart in a way beyond dispute, the grasping and attachment
will immediately withdraw. If the truth hasn't yet penetrated, then investigate
with wisdom until it does.
This wisdom doesn't appear from anyone else. This
profound insight into the body -- which is right with us here -- is something
that arises from your own investigation, your own understanding. When that understanding
is complete, you'll completely let go. You're the one who's been holding on, and
no one else can let go for you so investigate and free yourself.
Just look
on the body as something to lean upon and abide with. If, through your stupidity
and lack of wisdom, you see it as your-self or as belonging to you, it will cause
you endless suffering. This is especially so at the final breakup of the aggregates.
Your worries and regrets, loves and attachments, will all go out of control. Even
more than 'a kite with broken string on high', you'll spin along with the wind.
No one will know where you'll come down, and all this in spite of the fact that
the body is not worth such affection and regret. It is wholly made up of things
destined for dissolution.
Are you going to persist in resisting the truth?
When the time comes, there's no denying that the aggregates must break apart.
This is the truth. Are you going to set yourself against it by still loving and
cherishing, not wanting them to fail and fall apart? In this opposition to the
truth you will only heap up suffering for yourself, until finally there will be
no way out. Unless of course, you take this present moment quickly to dispatch
it through wisdom. If you succeed in this then you will receive that great gain
-- the supreme happiness of Nibbaana: "Nibbaana.m parama.m sukha.m!".
However, if you should go against Dhamma, then it's also quite possible that at
that moment you'll lose your faculties and wits.
Wisdom is a state of the
art weapon system that should penetrate through your investigation to the truth.
Release and let go [all attachments] in accordance with the truth, both now while
you're still living here and at the time of disintegration. Wisdom will then have
clearly appraised the present situation and the future -- nothing can now pose
a problem.
Pleasures and pains are still present because the aggregates are
still functioning. These things arise in dependence on one another. And it's the
heart that acknowledges and takes responsibility. It knows but doesn't grasp.
You should understand that there are two possible ways in which it can know --
either knowing-in-line-with-the-truth or by knowing-and-seizing-hold.
Feelings[9]
of whatever type or level are present with the aggregates but not in the purified
heart. The arahant does not have to bear with the feelings of both aggregate and
heart, whereas 'us lot' take up the contract to build the cycle-of-rebirth.[10]
When this condition of various aggregates tilts and skews, we follow; and when
it topples and falls we're knocked sprawling with it. It's because of the reliance
we put on them. They lead us to tilt and we tilt, to fall over and we fall too.
When they lead us to stand in place, we might be able also to hold up to a certain
extent but they aren't willing to stand still. Even if they persist and haven't
yet reached death, we are more upset about dying than they are.
It's therefore
necessary for us to investigate, clearly to see with wisdom, that these things
are solely something to abide with. Days... minutes... time steadily consumes
everything. If we see the way time and nature eat away, gnaw away at these things,
we'll see that it's like a dog gnawing away on a meaty bone. There's no difference
at all. It keeps gnawing away, biting and tearing until there's nothing left to
get its teeth into. So, there is the eating away [of the aggregates] in just the
same way. They keep disintegrating bit by bit, until they reach their final truth.
Whether we're sitting, standing, walking, lying down or sleeping soundly,
time keeps on eating away, gnawing away. Disintegration, diminishing and decline.
The continual gnawing and consuming. So you think that you can oppose and stop
this? No, there's no halting this. It is the [inevitable] course of nature --
something of massive proportions. Our assumptions are wrong, and what's wrong
is no match for what's right and true. Disintegration is quite the correct course;
it is following their principle of nature. To resist their essential nature is
the heart's error that must end in suffering.
Start right now with an all-round
investigation of these things. When the time comes finally to go, there will then
be no trembling because your investigation and understanding are complete and
you'll know that this is the inevitable way of things. There's just no alternative.
So then, let each thing go its own separate way. Whatever happens, let it
occur without trying to resist the truth. Painful feelings burn away at the body
and it gradually becomes brittle and 'overdone'. It steadily declines until it
breaks apart and disintegrates. However, a heart circled with mindfulness and
wisdom won't be broken, won't be extinguished and won't 'hang on'. It is its own
self by itself, self-reliant, without needing to depend on anything -- and infinitely
at ease.
Right here is where we see the importance of investigation, its
value for the heart. This is why sages, beginning with the Lord Buddha, teach
mindfulness and wisdom as their major point -- so that we can take the mind, drag
the mind, out of the bonfire and release it from danger.
The Teachings of
every Buddha are taught in the same way. This is because the natural principles
are the same, and the defilements are always the same. No Buddha will teach differently
or diverge from this. The practice is always to remove the defilements -- whether
great or small -- from the heart. This follows from the basic principles of Dhamma,
which they all teach. If we deviate from these principles, we'll be the laughing
stock of the defilements.
Therefore investigate. No matter how broadly or
how narrowly -- take the whole universe and worldly elements. Is there anything
there on which the heart can depend and which offers refuge? Take note of this
term 'refuge'. Even those things that are intimately associated with ourself are
not safe. Farther out than the body, there's no hope of finding refuge in anything.
Even those things closely connected with us aren't trustworthy. If we can't
discern the threat they pose, then where else will we be able to see it? It's
here where the danger must be seen and the heart withdrawn from its peril. The
quality that then arises in full measure is called:
'Attaa hi attano naatho':
'self is the protector of self.'
It doesn't depend on anything. 'Virtue',
'samadhi' or 'wisdom' in the final stage of release, are also terms no longer
needed. Why should a refuge be found in tools and instruments that have successfully
done their job of clearing out the defilements. The tools are laid down in accordance
with their condition. A knife taken up to chop vegetables or to peel fruit is
put aside when we take the food and eat it. It's obvious that we don't eat the
knife as well.
Virtue, samadhi and wisdom are tools for dealing with the
defilements. When the defilements are eliminated, all the problems for the heart
also go. While life remains these tools can be utilized for the sake of the world,
in line with conventional notions. However, they won't be needed to correct the
defilements ever again. In particular, at the final time when the passage from
the elements and aggregates will take place, there's definitely no need for anything.
Mindfulness and wisdom are no longer an issue and the body poses no problem, because
all problems in the heart are already finished with. Nothing can possible cause
concern. So you should move forward to this ending of problems, for this is where
all your worries will cease.
If you still have problems -- then that is a
problem. We hear of problems concerning suffering and hardship, concerning birth,
aging, sickness and death. They follow on from what we call 'problems'.
With
the ending of problems all issues cease. Investigate and understand. All the things
I've mentioned here lie in your own body or heart. Analyze them through the power
of your mindfulness and wisdom. Examine day after day. Don't be complacent. It's
not that mindfulness and wisdom are something that can be brought in to cook and
eat, but they can be brought in to deal with the defilements. By utilizing them
in this way the removal can carry on all day long. However, complacency will only
lead you to sink -- and there's certainly nothing to be gained by that. The final
result will be that when you're stuck in a corner, you won't even know where your
wisdom has disappeared to. You'll end up banging your head against the walls.
That certainly won't do!
We're not disciples of a Tathaagata, the Lord Buddha,
who banged his head against the wall. The Lord Buddha didn't do it, neither did
the Noble Disciples whom we revere with, "Sangha.m sara.na.m gacchaami".
How can we go and bang our heads in this way? You must endeavor, using whatever
means and strategies, to find the way that leads out. Try to the best of your
ability. Reaching the [present] limit of our capability, then that's all we can
manage. Whatever state or level we reach, we accept it -- because that's as much
as we can do. But as long as it's not beyond our ability we can strive to go further,
struggling, crawling and forcing our way through.
Sinking into the cycle
of birth and death is similar to when a ship capsizes and everything on board
goes down. The ship, the goods and cargo all sink together and the people die.
We go down with the elements and aggregates through delusion and ignorance. The
body goes down in accordance with its nature, but our heart sinks because of its
own stupidity. Do you approve of that? There's nothing good about this fall. The
heart goes straight down into the deep under the compulsion of delusion; and that
surely isn't good. In fact, it's disastrously bad and unwished for. It's for this
reason that we have to make sure that we steadily look for a way out.
Investigate
to see the truth, and especially the truth of the painful and unpleasant feelings
of the body and heart. This is of great importance. The heart goes in and seizes
hold so much that it becomes a mental disease on top of everything else. Realize
that the five conditions are not 'me': Body, feelings, memory or perception, mental
formations, and consciousness are particular conditions interdependent within
the elements and aggregates. The heart is something apart. By successfully analysing
and dissecting, using your mindfulness and wisdom, you'll reach safety from all
danger.
Death -- just let it go along its way. All the things of this world
die, they have death built-in. How can you expect them to be constant and enduring
-- when the time comes for them to die, they have to die. Nothing can constrain
or contradict this. Even arahants have to die; for them however, there is the
difference that they pass away without concern and worry. As for us, we're worried
even before we come to die -- perturbed and possessive. On death, the worry and
possessiveness intensify so that they pile up into a threat bigger than a mountain.
Be careful not to let that happen to you. Make sure you get beyond such anxieties.
As I'm always saying, prepare and establish yourself with sufficient qualities
-- 'kusalaa dhammaa'[11] (meaning) 'enough skill and intelligence'. This is our
'kusalaa'.
"Kusalaa dhammaa akusalaa dhammaa... "
Wherever
there's akusalaa -- unskillfulness or stupidity -- drive it out with kusalaa skillfullness,
which is your own mindfulness and wisdom.
This is what is called 'chanting
kusalaa for oneself', and it's something you have to do for yourself. Depending
on others to track down monks to chant... "kusalaa dhammaa"... after
your death causes so much fuss and bother. Something we don't want.
"Kusalaa
dhammaa:" prepare yourself enough skillfullness, complete and all encompassing,
and there will be no need for anything else. You'll die without turmoil and confusion
like a 'sugato'.
So then, that's all for now.
Notes
1. arom (Thai).
See Glossary.
2. "Atta hi attano natho, kohi natho paro siya?"
(Dhp. verse 160)
"Self is the protector of self, for who else could
(one's) protector be?"
3. precepts. See Glossary and Appendix.
4. pari-kamma.
5. samadhi: khanika samadhi; upacara samadhi; appana samadhi.
See Glossary.
6. sati-panyaa.
7. kilesa.
8. Remembrance of past
lives, knowledge of the decease and rebirth of beings, and knowledge of the extinction
of all the cankers.
9. vedanaa.
10. va.t.ta cakka.
11. The prescribed
chant at any Thai cremation ceremony.
2. The Undying
Listening
here to this Dhamma talk please make sure that you don't allow the mind to wander
away. Keep it within yourself rather than sending it out following after various
moods and imaginings. Don't look back and pine after past thoughts and conceptions,
for here and now they can't bring any benefit. At this time you should be trying
to suffuse the heart with Dhamma, for it has become parched through its long deficiency.
It's similar to a drought-ridden jungle lacking in moisture, where the dried
out vegetation easily ignites. Both living and dead trees are then scorched and
consumed. Forest fires during the rainy season are rare but the hot season, when
the vegetation dries out, brings a danger of fire. This may happen even in a forest
monastery when it is very dry. Bahn Tahd forest monastery has in fact caught on
fire several times. This is due to its becoming dry and parched.
When the
heart becomes parched through lack of Dhamma to cool and nourish it, the fire
of the defilements can rapidly take hold. This will then scorch everything coming
into experience. Fire brings damage, so when the defilements blaze within the
heart how can the heart itself escape harm? Regardless of its value it will become
tarnished and eventually worthless. Such is the way of the heart that has been
constantly scorched and consumed by fire.
A fire will damage our possessions
depending on its intensity and extent. Unless, of course, they happen to be stored
in a safe-place like a security vault, which banks use to protect their valuables.
But do we have a safety vault or safe place within our hearts? Or are we continually
exposing ourselves to danger, always leaving ourselves vulnerable without any
concern for our deserving heart? We can use this approach when considering our
situation and learning a lesson.
The heart cannot find any happiness because
it's constantly being burnt. This fire is the blaze of greed, hatred and delusion
that is described in the Fire Sermon.[1] There's nothing doubtful or uncertain
about this. It's a timeless truth. We need to take these Dhamma questions onto
a personal level, carefully comparing and considering the correctness and truth
of them there, and then we'll at least be in a position to escape the heat. We
will have found a breathing space, a safe, cool place and will no longer be always
caught up in the conflagration.
Each of you has made the effort to come here
to practice. You may consider it as a search for a safe-place for your riches
-- which are the virtue and skillfullness[2] you have gathered, and their protection
from the devastation of the three great fires.
Fighting ordinary outside
fires is difficult enough; especially when the blaze has taken such a hold that
even water can't contain it. The (village) hoses always seem to clog up, and if
that can't be fixed then the house will soon be charred remains and ashes. Turning
to extinguish the inner blaze, however, relies on the assiduous cultivation of
virtue. The meditation on loving kindness[3] for instance. The heart is then calmed
and concentrated, cooled and strengthened so that it can quench the harmful fires
within.
Fire, almost by definition, must be hot. Even sparks burn and sting
if we're in their way when they fly up. So if we go along allowing ourselves to
be burnt, day after day after day -- what's going to be left? The heart will be
burnt out. The body may remain but the heart will survive with a poor and indifferent
sort of knowing, without wholesome aspect because it's totally given over to the
all-consuming defilements. It is a knowingness invested with suffering, not with
comfort and ease. It lacks lucidity and wisdom and is completely overwhelmed in
suffering. So much so that the heart seems worthless. It will need a sustained
effort in cultivating meditation to extinguish the fire within the heart. This
will steadily bring peace and happiness.
All the teachings of the Lord Buddha
are within our reach and range. He never offered impossibilities or taught blindly
and haphazardly. Those of us who practice should see these Dhamma teachings as
being of vital importance and take them deeply to heart. Just as we all shy away
from pain and suffering -- which nobody wants -- so we must incline towards the
remedy and antidote. And that is Dhamma.
On analysing the situation we will
find that in doing the practice, the question of easiness or difficulty doesn't
appear so important. We have already carefully reasoned it out and are satisfied
and convinced of its effectiveness. It's this that has obliged us to take up the
practice.
We can only do our best. For who isn't lazy when the defilements
rule the roost? This laziness, which loathes acting towards anything good or beneficial,
is with us all. It always likes to hold the lead but is certainly not going to
deliver us from suffering. We remain complacent and negligent, steadily being
dragged down through the deceit and coercion of the defilements. The Lord Buddha
himself also went through and then overcame these oppressions of the heart. This
is something we should use as a reflection on our own situation. Then, when laziness
and discouragement overwhelm us, we can encourage and arouse ourselves with his
ideal example. A way will appear of resistance and commitment without always having
to yield and submit. It's difficult, yes, but just carry on and do it.
The
way to overcome and transcend suffering takes on a crucial importance if we acknowledge
the truth of suffering. Otherwise, this predicament that we detest and dread will
always confront us. But merely intellectualizing about ways of escape, without
actually taking remedial action, isn't going to get us anywhere. It doesn't matter
whether a technique is easy or difficult, as long as it's effective in ridding
the heart of its torments it must be applied.
We are all fellows and equal
in suffering, in birth and death amid the various realms of existence. Even after
so long, we are still equal first, with no one coming in behind. Each of us has
gone through repeated birth and death, matching each other in the suffering involved.
There can be no competition or rivalry here for we all manage an equal first and
are all in the same boat. Instead of achieving our top marks with the heart and
Dhamma, they come from being foremost together in suffering; following the guidance
and direction of the defilements. Without going against that lead there will never
be an end to suffering.
Dhamma is concerned with resisting the influence
of the defilements. It uses careful analysis and reason, perceiving that the source
of suffering and danger must be remedied in such and such a way. The putting-to-right
may be difficult or easy, but that is beside the point. When the craftsman works,
he selects the appropriate tool for the job in hand. As he selects his tool he
isn't concerned with its weight but only with steadily accomplishing his task.
The tools selected to be used against the defilements and for establishing
the heart in genuine wholeness and integrity come from the Dhamma. These Dhamma
tools are varied and need to be chosen to fit the circumstances. If the heart
is only mildly disturbed by the defilements, we may apply a lighter control. The
level of mindfulness and wisdom, the strength of application, the length of our
sitting or walking (in meditation) or investigating, isn't yet of great significance
because the work isn't at the critical stage. However, when the defilements rise
up to disturb and obsess the heart, and it finds it can't unburden or release
itself, we can no longer remain idle and indifferent.
Now is the time for
action. Whatever is available is thrown in with a do-or-die attitude and without
thought of surrender or defeat; unless death does indeed come for it's then beyond
us. Our response must be to mobilize all our resources and willingly endure the
painful predicament. Our resistance might bring with it suffering but that's nothing
compared with the aberrant effects of defilement-born suffering. It's this that
sinks one so thoroughly that there's no telling when one might emerge.
We
all know about the discomfort and pain of sitting or walking in meditation for
long periods. We've experienced the difficulties involved in finding strategies
and skillful means to oppose the defilements. We know this much. But when the
fruits of our exertion arise it will be experienced as something truly remarkable.
The happiness and wonder that arises! The new insight with such ingenuity and
resourcefulness. This is exactly what we have been hoping for.
Once the results
arrive to join up with the cause we'll be able to cope with any obstacle or difficulty
that may arise. If there were only hardship and struggle without the final rewarding
peace and contentment, then no one in this world would be able to continue. I
don't mean just us ordinary people, but even the Lord Buddha couldn't have awakened,
nor his enlightened disciples -- whom we celebrate with:
"Buddha.m,
Dhamma.m, Sangha.m sarana.m gacchaami."
"I go for refuge to the
Lord Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha."
The right time and opportunity will
always eventually arrive and we will then be able to manage the task. Perseverance
is therefore crucial, as is a steady and systematic use of clear reasoning; but
should this weaken the defilements will immediately grow more threatening and
incisive. With strong effort, with mindfulness and wisdom sharp and keen, the
defilements will gradually fall away. Defilements only fear Dhamma, for nothing
else can contain and subdue them. Dhamma is faith, diligent effort, mindfulness,
samadhi and wisdom.[4]
Faith is trust in the fruits of the Lord Buddha's
Realization. That the Dhamma he offered to the world definitely leads out from
suffering -- it is the Niyyaanika Dhamma. That if we too practice following the
Lord's teaching, we will steadily and surely come to those same fruits.
Diligent
effort will always bring the right and proper result to any action. Whether the
task be internal or external it will be well accomplished when supported by diligent
effort. This will be evident in its outstanding and appropriate result.
Mindfulness
is the vital factor that oversees each task, preventing any negligence or error.
Samadhi is the firm, undistracted commitment to the task in hand right up
to its final completion. That is the causal aspect while the samadhi of result
appears in the established, concentrated mind. The heart of peace and contentment.
The samadhi of cause concentrates on the action without vacillation or bias and
the resulting samadhi state is that of tranquillity. This leads up to ekaggataa,
which the Lord Buddha described as 'the mind having only one object', without
depending on anything else.
Wisdom is penetrative discernment, which is necessary
in checking out each situation: will it be damaging or fulfilling and effective?
We must rely on wisdom to investigate and analyze.
These are the factors
of Dhamma that will steadily lead us out from suffering, accomplishing the work
we set out to do. The Lord Buddha also described the Four Ways to Success[5] as
being of equal importance. They are:
Satisfaction.[6] What is it that brings
satisfaction to us? If we are content with defilements then that is what will
spring up. Whatever gratified us becomes the object of our search. We want that
and so that is what arises. However, the Four Ways to Success are not concerned
with such low gratifications but are directed at fulfilling our high and virtuous
aspirations. They are the four means to achieve those aims that lie within the
reach of us human beings.
Together with satisfaction there is diligent effort,[7]
attentiveness and application[8] to the work, and all-around wisdom.[9] These
combine to form a single effective force in accomplishing the single objective.
This is the Dhamma that builds the complete and whole human being. The heart
becomes firmly based. Efforts to accomplish the work are consolidated with excellent
principles, methods and suitable customs and traditions. All of this ensures that
those who take up the practice do not go counter to the basic principles of Dhamma.
Once the heart is attuned to Dhamma in this way it is safeguarded with the Dhamma-protection
and will steadily prosper. Harmful factors will fade, because regardless of how
long the heart had fallen into misery it was not ruined without any hope of renewal.
For once the heart is purged through exertion it will be left bright, serene and
happy. This then is the key, the vital instrument in turning our aspiration into
full reality. A mere passive wishing or easy discouragement will abort such accomplishments.
Whatever you are doing or thinking, never forget our great Teacher, the Lord
Buddha. When discouragement presses down, recollect his example. His persistent
exertion and his Awakening through using these Dhamma factors of faith, effort,
mindfulness, samadhi, and wisdom. This is how he attained to Awakening.
What
direction should one take to develop and nourish peace of mind? So that, at the
very least, you can claim to be following the way, with a guide and teacher? The
Lord Buddha explained his own fruitful practice in an orderly and methodical way,
so there's really no alternative way to try.
"Dhamma.m sarana.m gacchaami:
I go to refuge in Dhamma"
-- this phrase finds its source in the five
factors of faith, diligent effort, mindfulness, samadhi and wisdom. It's these
five factors that arose with the Lord Buddha himself.
"Sangha.m sarana.m
gacchaami" -- going for refuge to the Sangha is just the same. None of the
noble disciples, regardless of their (former) wealth or class, were weak-willed
or easily discouraged. Once gone forth into Dhamma's Way they were characterized
by their energy and diligent effort. This aspect of exertion is a vital factor
in steadily uplifting the quality of one's heart. These five factors and four
ways go together to raise the heart, releasing it from the oppressed condition
of worldlings sunk in suffering.
Some of the disciples walked on their meditation
path until their feet blistered. How's that for striving! Some didn't lie down
for three months at a time. The Ven. Cakkhupala strove like that until his eyes
ruptured and were broken and blinded. Is that enduring in one's endeavor or not?
As for us, there's no need to ruin our body but it would be good if we could
at least make the defilements suffer a bit; so that they run away and hide. Don't
let them swarm all over the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. Once infested
with defilements you'll never be able to find Dhamma or anything essential within
the heart. How on earth are you going to find any peace?
We must rely on
these Dhamma factors to overcome those defilements that remain dominant in the
heart. These principles of Dhamma must be taken deeply to heart -- don't cherish
anything else. They are the tools that will steadily deliver the heart to the
perfect freedom that we all prize so highly. Your choice is between the heart
of freedom and the heart under the domination of the defilements. So which is
better, the slave totally deprived of liberty or the free person?
We have
long been passively submissive under the mass of defilements and craving. It's
only when we become weary of their domination and start to recognize their curse,
that we'll be able to resist, by whatever way we can. Ultimately, we'll have to
rely on these five essential Dhamma tools to finish off and eliminate the defilements.
Where is the arena and battleground for anyone going into Dhamma practice?
What do those who relentlessly walk their meditation path or sit cross-legged
day and night take as their battlefield and zone of investigation? The Lord Buddha
brought forward the Four Noble Truths from the principles of Dhamma. These Four
Noble Truths are there within the body and mind of human beings. You are human,
so when you walk or sit in meditation searching for truth and Dhamma, it's obvious
that you must look for the Noble Truths.
We are aware of the suffering that
arises in the body and mind of human beings and animals. We, unlike the animals,
know a way to remedy the situation. How can this suffering be so welcome and desirable?
When it appears in the body it's plainly unwished for, yet even with bodily ease
and comfort any suffering that comes up will bring anxiety and negative, unsightly
behavior. And increasing distress manifests in an even more unattractive way.
The tormented heart will always expose itself in detrimental ways, for instead
of alleviating and ridding itself of suffering it actually makes the situation
worse. The idea that one can be rid of suffering -- 'get it off one's chest' --
with harsh words and offensiveness is completely mistaken. In reality, the perpetrator
not only hurts others with outpourings from a soiled heart but also increases
his own suffering. He spreads and multiplies his troubles rather than throwing
them out.
One element of the Noble Truths concerns the searching into how
suffering actually arises. We may be aware of suffering but to do anything about
it we need to know its root-cause. This is the originator, the producer of suffering
or samudaya. The Lord Buddha usually explained this as, sensual craving, craving
for existence and craving for no-existence.[10]
Desire for things that I
love and aversion for what I dislike is the source of our suffering. Those thought
fabrications based in defilements are producing suffering and so can be classed
as a source. All these branches and ramifications spring from one main trunk --
and that's in the heart. The heart is embedded with the roots of greed, hatred
and delusion.
Examine your body and then turn your inspection inward to the
heart. Check on its ongoing thoughts and fabrications. What do you find? The endless
proliferating of thoughts that contrive and process suffering for both yourself
and others. The Lord Buddha taught about the application of mindfulness and wisdom
to inspect what's going on. The heart appears anxious and concerned for these
aggregates. But what's the point in that? The aggregates have their space here
so surely there's room enough in a cemetery or crematorium ahead, just as there
is for everyone else in the world. What can all this concern and possessiveness
achieve? Where's the advantage? Won't the result be that of 'unfulfilled desires
that breed suffering'[11] for the heart. The Lord Buddha therefore advised against
indulging such desires and to turn and examine the actual situation.
The
bodily aggregate is fashioned and put together and is thus also destined for eventual
breakup. Just that. This can be irrefutably seen once wisdom is brought to bear,
and then any possessiveness seems altogether pointless. We can then let go our
grasp and allow the body to follow its own nature; whether it's still holding
together or has entered the inevitable final phase of dissolution.
This world
is full of cemeteries awaiting each person and animal. Examining the truth we
can no longer doubt the reality of our reserved plot, or, indeed, the inevitability
of our future death. Clearly acknowledging this mortality means we can then let
go of our worries and concern. Death is a fundamental part of the law of nature
that can neither be denied or defied. Let nature take its course, and the earth,
water, air and fire will follow their own essential natures.
That which knows
should genuinely know and not mistake water, fire and air as 'myself'. This acts
like a parasite hooking in and trapping the heart in turmoil. We mis-take them
for self and thereby fall into suffering.
The aggregate of feeling is much
the same. We have experienced pleasure and pain[12] from the day of our birth
up to the present. Whether it was a feeling of body or heart, it's all about impermanence,
suffering and not-self. It arises so as to pass away... When this (world of) assumptions
and suppositions[13] has come forward, nothing is able to keep steady and unchanging.
Where exactly is the suffering in feeling? Bodily pains are not too difficult
to examine when wisdom penetrates through. But the painful feeling in the heart
-- this is important. When there is bodily pain there is also pain and suffering
in the heart that arises because of the source[14] of suffering. This is the way
that the defilements trick all beings in the world with their beguilements. The
deception of taking this body as myself must be cleared by a thorough analysis
of the true nature of the body. The investigation of pleasant and unpleasant feeling
is aimed at erasing from the heart the notion that this feeling is myself.
Let things be as they truly are: feeling is feeling while this is me, which is
that knowingness. Don't mix them up. But anyway, that's not possible as they are
intrinsically different. How can they become merged together into one? Can two
individuals be combined as only one? Having to bear the burden of one person is
heavy enough -- but to have the extra weight of two, three, four or five others...
We don't just take up the body but also shoulder the other four aggregates, which
press down with the weight of attachment. It's the heart that takes responsibility
and so the heart alone must bear the consequences. That is suffering -- and there's
no compensation to be found. And yet we still persist with such hanging on. This
needs looking at to see the true nature of pain.
There is then the aggregate
of perception or memory,[15] that remembers something only to forget it again.
When that memory is required we may recall it anew and then it will fade away
again -- "sanyaa vaassa vim hati". That's how the Lord Buddha described
it and who can argue with that. Perception is impermanent, memory fades into forgetfulness
-- "sanyaa aniccaa". This aniccaa was explained by the Lord Buddha and
it's this that we now use when we chant for the dead:
"Aniccaa vata
sankhaaraa -- impermanent are all conditioned things."
But no chants
or spells are able to conjure up a person or a self. You won't find any sign of
self in all the five aggregates, for they are impermanent, suffering and not-self.
Investigate and analyze through to a more refined understanding. Don't be
so afraid of dying, for death like that isn't found with the heart. By bringing
in such fears you'll only succeed in deceiving yourself and piling up suffering.
This goes counter to Dhamma, to the truth taught by the Lord Buddha. If you accept
his Way then obviously you should follow it and see the truth for yourself rather
than going against it. This is the true going for refuge. "Buddha.m sarana.m
gacchaami." It's a discerning of the truth of the heart rather than a mere
mouthing of words. The Lord Buddha offered this Teaching to all creatures of the
world, and as that includes us why shouldn't we too be able to comprehend the
Four Noble Truths. They're there within each one of us.
Now, about thought-concocting
formations.[16] Is this contriving and fabricating of thoughts trustworthy? We
think up various forms from various things -- for instance, take the form of a
doll that is quickly broken. Our thought-fabrications are much the same. We think
up good or bad (things), anything at all becomes a concoction to fool ourselves.
This is why the heart is the chief of fools, gullible and easily taken in by any
deception. It believes in anything and is endlessly played false.
However,
when wisdom is also present it will be able to keep in check and carefully screen
such fabrications. They may appear a hundred or thousand times a second, but wisdom
is ready at every turn. What can fool wisdom? It realizes that formations are
formations, and that knowingness is the heart. How can it be deceived by them?
Why be startled and react to shadows arising from oneself -- for this is what
formations are.
It is the same with consciousness[17] that flicks on and
off whenever anything contacts through the senses and is known by the heart. It
is then concocted through formations and memory into self-contrived delusions.
We repeatedly fall for our self-made fancies, and it's this wrong taking up of
objects that creates suffering. The damage is done here and this is where it must
be seen.
You will learn about the Noble Truths right at this point. Follow
and probe into it with greater precision and refinement, without concern over
how many times you have to go over it. The importance lies in the eventual clear
penetration of wisdom, which can pierce through any attachment even if it may
seem as big as a mountain.
When wisdom is in close pursuit, craving will
have to retreat into the big cave,[18] into the heart. Driving forward with wisdom,
using impermanence, suffering and not-self (to question and probe) exactly where
the real substance of these shadows is found. Penetrating further, you will see
that it only exists there in the heart where they have gathered together. Elsewhere,
it's just disassociated shadows; excitement and deception over form, feeling,
perception, formations and consciousness.
Once they have all converged, the
heart must turn and investigate, right there, in the heart. At this point we must
be willing to follow them in and destroy them there, in their hiding place in
the heart. They are like brigands in ambush, waiting to shoot our heads off. When
bandits take over a place, no matter how valuable the building might be, we must
go in with explosives and blow them out; destroying it all, including the bandits.
If all must be obliterated -- so be it. We still have life and can build again,
for we managed to avoid dying too.
This is how to deal with this most subtle
sort of defilement hiding out in the heart. Hit them hard with the truth of impermanence,
suffering and not-self, because these defilements are the essence of sammuti --
all our suppositions about the world. They must be crushed and dispersed from
the heart, and then we'll see whether the heart has also been annihilated. No,
it is not destroyed. The heart has no cemetery. It is undying[19] by its very
nature -- even when it still has defilements.
The Lord Buddha called this
the complete dissolution of the defilements: "the end of danger, the quenching
of the fires of greed, hatred and delusion" by the pouring of the Undying
Dhamma[20] elixir. With the defilements gone, only spotless purity remains. It
is here in this fully purified heart that perfect happiness is to be found. All
work finishes here; all projects end here. The Lord said:
"Done is the
task, fulfilled is the holy life, there is no further work to do."[21] All
suffering ends with this right understanding.
The summit of Dhamma is found
in this purified heart. The "Buddha.m- Dhamma.m- Sangha.m sarana.m gacchaami"
that we repeat to reverently recollect the Lord Buddha, all gather and converge
in this pure nature. Buddho, Dhammo, Sangho are exactly this pure nature. Concern
with questions about the Lord Buddha's final passing away[22] in India -- 'how
many centuries ago is it now?' -- will now end. The true nature of Buddha, Dhamma
and Sangha will now be evident in 'one's own' heart of purity. This is the heart's
priceless treasure, where the true state of things is seen and all questions settled.
Where did the Lord Buddha go when he finally passed away? The bodily aggregate
certainly disintegrated following its nature -- bodies being the same anywhere.
However, the purified nature, Buddho, was not destroyed or annihilated for it
is not confined by time or position. It is this that we refer to in "Buddha.m-
Dhamma.m- Sangha.m sarana.m gacchaami". When we can experience this for ourselves,
we will be able to verify with complete certainty that this nature cannot be annihilated.
The arahant disciples understand this. Wherever they may be, they are together
with Dhamma; with 'Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha', having constant audience with the
Lord Buddha. Their minds are unshakable because the fires of desire are quenched
with the waters of Dhamma. "The quelling and cessation of all conditioning
factors is supreme happiness."[23] These conditioning factors are really
samudaya, the source of suffering, so when this is ended all that remains is supreme
happiness.
The means and the results, the good and the bad, are within all
of us who are aware and care. This nature that knows is uniquely suited to all
levels of Dhamma, up to and including the state of purity[24] and there's nothing
apart from this knowledge.
Please try steadily to purify this nature that
knows, ridding it of all obstructions and oppressive influences. There will then
be no need to make enquiries about Nibbana, for having experienced the purified
heart all questions will be finally settled.
It's appropriate to stop this
Dhamma talk here.
Notes
1. raaga, dosa and moha. AAdittapariyaaya Sutta
2. punya (Pali) or boon (Thai)
3. mettaa bhaavanaa
4. saddhaa,
viriya, sati, samaadhi, panyaa
5. iddhi-paada
6. chanda
7. viriya
8. citta
9. viima.msaa
10. kaamata.nhaa, bhavata.nhaa and vibhavata.nhaa
11. yampicca.m na labhati tampi dukkha.m
12. sukha-, dukkha-vedanaa
13. sammati
14. samudaya
15. sanyaa
16. sa.nkhaara
17. vinyaa.na
18. guuhaaseyya.m
19. amata.m
20. amata-dhamma
21. "Vusita.m
brahmacariya.m kata.m karaniiya.m naapara.m itthattaa yaati pajaanaati."
22. parinibbaana
23. "Tesa.m vuupasamo sukho."
24. visuddhi
dhamma
3. The Highest Blessing
Nibbaana Sacchikiriya Ca
The Dhamma of the Lord Buddha was revealed correctly and properly. It was neither
hidden nor obscured but was clearly presented on every level according to the
truth. For example, it states that virtue and wrongdoing,[1] heaven and hell,
Nibbaana, all really do exist. It continues unequivocally to maintain that the
defilements are also things present and extant. These truths can't be denied.
Yet why do such things pose a problem for us?
The Dhamma was openly and forthrightly
presented. There was nothing esoteric and mysterious about it, for it was expounded
entirely in accordance with truth -- the reality that's present now. It was offered
from every aspect and level of truth, and yet we still can't understand it. It's
as if the Lord Buddha is saying to the blind and the deaf, "Look here! Look
at this!". Apparently we must be like those blind people who can only grope
around but can't actually see. Even though we know that the Lord has already explained
all about it, we still always seem to bump into suffering. We've been told that
suffering isn't something to welcome and yet we are constantly caught up by it.
This is because our motives -- the causes we put into effect -- become aimed entirely
at amassing the fire of suffering to heap on ourselves.
One quality of Dhamma
that the Lord has pointed out is that it is visible here and now -- sandi.t.thiko.
Happiness and suffering can both be seen and experienced within ourselves. Death
is one example of this. The other qualities of ehipassiko and opanayiko are also
very important principles. Ehipassiko means 'calling one to come and see' the
genuine Dhamma. This though does not mean that we should go out calling other
people to come and see it. 'Ehi' refers to teaching the one listening to Dhamma
and practicing it, so turn your heart to look inwards to where the truth is found.
Using more worldly terms, we can say that the truth is constantly proclaiming
itself, constantly inviting and challenging -- because of its candour and honesty
it challenges us to, "look here!". This 'ehi!' invites you to look,
rather than getting other people to come and see. How can others see, when they
neither know the truth nor where to look for it. The truth is in themselves but
if they don't search for it there then they are certainly not going to find the
truth inside us.
Ehipassiko -- the Lord taught us to look at the truth, the
truth about ourselves that is right here.
Opanayiko means to 'bring within'.
Whatever we see or hear or touch needs leading inside so that we can make good
use of it. Anything coming into contact through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and
body, or appearing in the heart, must always be opanayiko -- brought inward. Whether
it is concerned with goodness or wickedness, happiness or suffering, the internal
or external, past or future, it must all -- opanayiko -- incline towards the heart.
For this is the principle source of all internal affairs.
The heart is preeminent
and nothing surpasses it in importance. The issue of the heart is therefore pressing
and critical: "All dhammas originate from the heart".[2] This statement
alone is enough to shake up the entire physical world. One's slightest movement
must originate in the mind, and in fact, all dhammas must look to the heart as
being foremost.
Only the heart is able to know about all the various things.
What are these various kinds of dhamma? There are wholesome dhammas and unwholesome
dhammas,[3] These are only found in the heart. Wholesome dhammas come from the
resourcefulness and cleverness of the heart, which enables it to respond quickly
and appropriately to the ongoing situation. In fact, the various issues and consequences
of these ongoing events spring from our own heart. When unwholesome dhamma arises
in the heart, bring up the investigative wisdom of wholesome dhamma to examine
and rectify our foolishness -- which is that unwholesome dhamma -- so that it
can be disposed of.
Opanayiko is the inclining, drawing inward of any experience.
Whether it be one of foolishness or cleverness, happiness or suffering, coming
from anyone whatsoever, it all needs to be brought inside and made a lesson for
the heart.
Ehipassiko is the viewing of the point source, the well- spring
of all issues. And that is the heart. It's involved in never-ending activity,
outperforming commonplace machinery that starts and stops according to its fixed
schedule. The heart is never shut down but goes on and on until the last day of
life.
It makes no difference how much we grumble and complain about the suffering
involved in this state of affairs. Only by correcting it at its root cause will
there be any practical value. Rectify the cause and the resultant suffering will
diminish -- in proportion to the proficiency of our circumspection and wise judgment.
The Lord Buddha never pointed away from these principles for that would be like
teaching one to catch hold of distant shadows. "There, over there!"
-- whereby one overlooks the real perpetrator, the original cause. This is of
paramount importance because that's where the defilements are born.
What
are we going to do? How are we going to cope? What is the origin of the suffering
and the hardship that all beings must endure? What is the source of birth, aging,
sickness and death? The defilements are the source and the prime-mover and yet
they themselves can only arise in the heart. They are right here. That's why the
Lord didn't teach about other places. So when we get down seriously to investigate
the structure, the cause and effect of all this, and gradually see the truth and
steadily uproot the defilement -- we must do it here. This is the spot where our
ignorance and stupidity binds and confines us, allowing the defilements to accumulate
and grow.
This is also the place where mindfulness and wisdom, as they increase
in their range and discernment, must uproot the defilements. Mindfulness must
be maintained there with care and vigilance. This place -- which is the heart
-- needs to be closely protected and sustained; nourished with mindfulness and
with meditation. Mindfulness protects the heart by not allowing it to stray outside,
whereby it would involve itself in external affairs and finally return with fire.
From protection one moves to eradication by analysing and probing into the
reasons for this situation. We must then try to correct whatever is detrimental
by examining its fundamental nature and rectifying it at its place of origin.
The essential point at issue lies with the heart. It is the heart that takes up
birth and endlessly wanders through the repeated cycles of birth and death. The
accumulated corpses of just one person would be enough to fill the whole world
-- yet ignorance so blinds the 'owner' that nothing is known about the true extent
of the situation. What remains is just deception and delusion, where no essence
of truth can be found.
This is where you should try to advance your mindfulness
so that it can come to terms with the thoughts and imaginings bubbling up in the
heart. With awareness in attendance the slightest rippling of agitation in the
heart will simultaneously arouse 'mindfulness and wisdom.' As we sit and watch
right at the place where all developments originate -- right at the heart -- we
will gradually start to notice the first flurries of activity.
This is where
the deception of the heart begins and the heart will need wisdom to get to the
truth of it. We'll also have to investigate the nature of the body until insight
is implanted in the heart, so that the truth of each bodily part is deeply felt
by the heart. By repeatedly examining and going over each part the heart will
understand more and more, and the initial understanding will deepen to profound
conviction.
Form.[4] Listen, what is this form? Hair of the head, hair of
the body, nails, teeth and skin, flesh, sinews and bones: These are all form.
This includes every internal bodily part and organ that is on the physical and
material side. The Lord called this the form aggregate or simply, the body. All
right then. Let's look at this. While exploring and probing, mindfulness will
need to follow each observation of a part or organ of the body. Let mindfulness
direct the work of investigation, being constantly in attendance. Let wisdom screen
and process the information for a more and more subtle understanding. This is
our work and task.
Our previous occupation with thinking and imagining, with
drifting and wandering, always lacking in mindfulness has been of enormous harm
to the heart. Whereas this other work is directly leading to the ending of the
internal suffering and danger. Mindfulness holds down each piece of work, while
wisdom explores, and knowledge follows through each bodily part and provides a
guideline for the heart to follow. Mindfulness and wisdom must constantly follow
along closely, as writing follows the ruled line. This is the 'Kammatthana Tour',
the (in-)sight-seeing meditation trip around the cemetery found within ourselves.
You must not allow wishful over-eagerness for a speedy realization to interfere
with the investigation. Keep your understanding following what is currently being
investigated. Continue the analysis and differentiate and penetrate into the nature
of this bodily aggregate. It's covered with a mere membrane of skin -- that still
manages to deceive the eyes of us all. It's not even as thick as a palm-leaf manuscript.
That's skin. Yet whichever way your investigations proceed they must always be
aimed at the overcoming of delusion. That won't be all, for they will soon start
to become a quite fascinating and absorbing exercise too.
Alright! Let's
take this body and look up to the top and down to the bottom. Let's see its outside
and its inside. Let's immerse ourselves in this tour, not merely 'going along
for the ride' but with mindfulness in full attendance together with wisdom checking
each experience. In this way wherever you look you'll find the true Dhamma.
This can be considered the work of purging and eliminating the poison of attachment[5]
which infiltrates and infects every part of the body. It is primarily because
of this attachment that suffering is spread everywhere. This 'universal suffering'
refers to the suffering in the heart caused by attachment, rather than any other
sort.
The bodily pain and suffering arising from illness -- the aggregates
must always fall under the law of impermanence, suffering and not-self -- was
experienced by the Lord Buddha and the noble disciples. But the heart that has
transcended those conditions, or is in a position to do so, can observe -- without
negligence -- these things so that it's no longer affected by them. This is because
the envisioning of oneself is done so that you can investigate and get to the
truth. This is the important factor in preventing anything from affecting the
heart. In other words, suffering can no longer arise within, because the body
is no longer imagined and credited as being 'me' or 'mine'.
Examine this
body. Probe right into it. Alright then, what is skin really like? How about those
animal hides that are made into handbags and shoes?
Let's look at the whole
lot: the flesh, sinews and bone. See here! Both animal flesh and human flesh are
much the same. Delve into it -- what's the nature of bone? What's the difference
between animal and human bone? Look to see the full truth within yourself. Carry
on in! Penetrating this body that inherently poses such a challenge to us.
So why can't we fathom it out? Why isn't the heart bold and courageous? Once we
begin to see the truth, it will be enough to start challenging the deception.
The truth, realized with wisdom, is potent and able gradually to wipe out those
false and treacherous views until they are entirely eliminated.
The truth
that appears within the heart arises through mindfulness and wisdom. This truth
is valid in two aspects or conditions: In one respect there's the truth of the
aggregates whose very existence offers us a challenge. And then, when wisdom has
fathomed and realized the truth of those conditions, there will be the truth within
the heart. Such is the way of uprooting the defilements. Once these two truths
meet and connect they are no longer harmful and will expel all the poison and
danger out from the heart.
While on the 'Kammatthana sightseeing tour' of
the body, we have examined and investigated its various organs, both large and
small. Now we have to continue this Kammatthana trip to see how this body ends
in transformation and dissolution. We must fix our attention here to see in what
way it will decay and rot, until it has disintegrated and dispersed. The body
must definitely go this way, though which aspects we target can be adjusted according
to inclination and preference. Suppose that we wish to fix our attention on one
particular object, so as to clearly see it within the heart. Whatever object we
take -- skin for instance -- must be firmly held and targeted so that it appears
as an image in the heart.
Should the image appear high or low, don't speculate
about its position. The object under investigation must be taken as the target
for our awareness, with mindfulness directing the way without distraction. However
much the object might appear to expand, just see it as it is in the present. Whether
it's high or low, let there just be awareness of that without wondering if it's
too high or too low, or has already left the body.
At first we might wonder
why it is that although we set our investigation inside the body, the particular
part now seems to be external to it. Don't allow such thoughts to intervene. By
not permitting awareness to wander from its target -- whatever position it may
have assumed -- the object will give us a sight of 'the extraordinary and wondrous'.
For example, if you concentrate on flesh, of whatever part of the body, see it
clearly within yourself and then you'll observe that it will gradually transform
itself. With mindfulness firmly established -- which is when we have undivided
attention firmly fixed in front of us -- the heart will know that it is doing
the work and that wisdom is doing the analysis. In a short while that object begins
to transform itself. It starts to decay and decompose.
Right then. Let's
get to see this clearly, without fear of death. Why should we be afraid when we
are looking at the truth of the matter and not our own mortality? Go ahead then,
let it disintegrate. I did my own investigations in this way. Each of the different
bodily-parts just broke-up. It was really fascinating doing this investigation,
this exploration into one's own body. Yet while being absorbed in the investigation,
it then seemed as if the body had completely disappeared. Awareness of the body
was not apparent even though I was investigating the body.
So. The body disintegrates.
The head falls off... and an arm breaks off right there, in front of one. Then
the other arm goes, and a length of bone, and everything inside ruptures and bursts
out. Keep on looking. Be absorbed in watching the body as it falls apart.
Some of the bodily fluids seep out into the ground and some evaporate into the
air. That's the way it goes. Once all the liquids are lost into the ground and
atmosphere, the bodily parts start to dry out and steadily dehydrate until they
finally crumble into dust. Then the dust from the bones of the body and the earth
itself merge into one. This is seen so clearly.
Those more solid parts, like
a bone for instance, could be taken up and seen as if it's burnt in a fire or
as it slowly decomposes and crumbles away. Eventually they all seem to have become
one with the earth.
In this particular investigation both the earth and water
elements appeared the most vivid; but especially the earth element. The water
element seemed to remain as water, while neither the air nor fire elements posed
any problem. Unlike the courser, more solid parts, they didn't seem the weighty
objects of this investigation and therefore didn't appear so vividly to the heart.
Once this stuff had completely dispersed into, and become one with, the earth,
the heart was empty and bare. At that moment everything was void.
However,
when you are doing the investigation, please don't speculate about such things.
Just take the truth within yourself as your own, as your living testimony. Don't
bring in outside speculation for witness and mode of practice, because that's
about other people and doesn't belong to you. What you have realized by yourself
is your own, and whatever that might be, let it happen within yourself. Your own
realization and experience are what matters. So remember this as you go further.
At other times the results of the practice were not always exactly the same.
Although they would still be following the natural course of things. On occasion
the body would have dispersed into the earth, but some skeletal parts were left
in a partial state of decomposition. Then a thought appeared in the heart predicting
that, 'even though they haven't all gone yet, what's left is still doomed to return
to the earth again'. This when there was no awareness of one's body -- yet the
heart was still able to create such things.
A moment later and the ground
suddenly seemed to swell up out of nowhere and the rest of the remains were swallowed
up. And so they all were transformed into earth. When that was done, the heart
turned around to another angle and... everything disappeared. Even the ground
that had so suddenly swallowed up the bone fragments was no longer there.
There was the knowledge and realization that: 'Aha! Every part of the body is
made of earth and has returned to earth.' Then the heart turned around and everything
disappeared with only pure awareness remaining. An indescribable feeling of wonder
and amazement arose, because my investigation had never ended like this before.
But now it had actually happened and was vividly perceived and experienced. The
heart was now one, without a single moment of duality, because it was steadfast
and constant in a true state of oneness.
(Normally,) as soon as the heart
begins to stir, it will form two with the thought process, but here, there was
absolutely no thought process. All that remained was bare awareness, which was
marvellous and amazing. At that moment there was no physical world -- no trees,
no mountains. Nothing was present. It was empty and void as if it was all space,
however there was also no conjectures using such ideas. Only knowingness was present.
The heart was stilled like this for hours and then, having emerged from that
condition, any object focused upon appeared empty and void. Such an experience
probably only happens once for each practitioner. For me it happened just that
one time and has never occurred again. However, the investigative process can
be repeated and will eventually be successful every time, depending on the skillfullness
of the heart.
The transformation process into earth, water, air and fire
will then be vividly seen every time one investigates it. This repeated experience
strengthens the heart, familiarizes it with the truth of the elements and enables
it steadily to uproot the view that they are 'me' or 'mine'. For that's how things
really are -- this body is made up of elements, when one talks in terms of elements,
or it's the earth element. It is not 'me' or 'mine' as one's various opinions
and imaginings like to impute and depict.
Repeated investigations will steadily
deepen your insight until you are able clearly to comprehend and detach yourself
from seeing the body as 'me' and 'mine'. Then there will be merely the body, and
we can also say that even that's only a label. We could also call it a conditioned
phenomenon, if we wanted to. Once this is sufficiently understood, nothing can
pose a problem any more. Whatever the heart may call it, it won't make any difficulties,
because the problem has always lain solely within the heart.
Our problems
have to be dealt with by disengaging from fantasy and delusion, and by entering
into the truth of Dhamma. This is that 'bare awareness' of the 'bare elements'.
We might designate body but that's just the bare elements. Turning in towards
the heart is bare awareness. We then have the two as the bare truth. Alright then,
if feeling springs up let it carry on, for it's 'elemental' or a natural process[6]
similar to the body. This is how they are connected.
Perception or notions[7]
are concerned with knowledge of the heart's engaging in thought concoctions. We
know that it has gone out from the heart and is engaged in a particular thought
fabrication or supposition. On becoming aware of this the heart will withdraw
and perception will stop straight away. But if we are not aware it will continue
on, connecting up with this... and that... in progression... like a chain... link
to link. And it will only stop the moment that mindfulness catches up. For it
will then cease to concoct concepts and associations of ideas. This is what is
meant by mindfulness matching up -- and if it can't catch up with the train of
thoughts, they will perpetually go on and on.
Investigating the body should
become one of your major concerns. The Lord Buddha therefore taught the Four Foundations
of Mindfulness that are all found within this body and mind. And this includes
the Noble Truths. Yet what might be the purpose of all these investigations? They
are aimed at enabling the heart to understand the truth of the situation and thereby
let go of its deluded attachment. It will then come up against this being-a-self.
So then, when our confused misconceptions concerning the four elements and
the five aggregates are resolved, we must then turn to investigate the delusion
of the heart. See! There is a problem remaining.
This level of delusion is
more insidious due to the subtle nature of its defilements. We need to move in
closer to examine and then decide what to use as the basis for this investigation.
We are investigating the heart and the heart is naama-dhamma.[8] So are feelings,
defilements and wisdom itself, so it doesn't just apply to the heart. Naama-dhamma's
are able to coexist and interrelate and this means that the defilements and the
heart can associate together.
It's wisdom then, that must do the probing
for it too is a naama-dhamma. We must investigate in the same way as we did with
the aggregates, by differentiating and analysing so as to see through to the true
nature. Then we must put the heart in the dock and hit hard at the accused, the
offender.[9]
The heart has gathered its offenses into itself and is conceited,
thinking itself all-wise and all-knowing. It thinks it knows everything about
this physical world of sense impressions and aggregates. But it doesn't yet know
about itself. This is where it gets stuck. This is where it is ignorant. Wisdom
must now be turned loose into the heart, dissecting and cutting away so as to
penetrate it. We must thrust through to that knowingness, which is the body of
conceited awareness, which forms the real delusion of the heart.
A careful
and thorough scrutiny and analysis of the condition that has infiltrated within
the heart, will show that it's just another natural process.[10] The heart, therefore,
won't come to ruin by such a rigorous investigation. Nevertheless, one's investigation
can't be eased back for fear of harming it, because if the heart is able to stand
up to the truth it will prevail and won't be destroyed. It will be true to its
nature, and so will not only survive but will go beyond all offenses to purity.
Let's see whether the heart will be annihilated or not.
Delve and dig into
it. Don't be hesitant or over- protective of anything, not even of the heart.
Don't be afraid that the heart will be destroyed or ruined. Once wisdom has completely
wiped out the infiltrators, every kind of defilement will disappear. For it's
this that makes up all the falsity existing within the heart. When the investigation
really gets moving properly, those things that are vulnerable to dispersion will
not be able to resist and will be annihilated. But the nature that can't be annihilated
will come through and stand.
Please notice therefore, that it is the heart
that is dominated by the defilements. And that once wisdom has totally shattered
and cleared the defilements away, the heart will be transformed into the state
of purity. This is the genuine purity. How can it vanish? Were it to disappear,
how could it be pure? That dies, that is ruined, but this is the genuine deathless,
the undying.[11] It is undying through purity and doesn't turn[12] -- unlike the
immortality that spins with the revolving wheel of birth and death. This is the
vital truth present in the midst of our aggregates.
So we come to the main
culprit, the one that incites and agitates the heart; pressing it into falling
for the world, for the elements, for the aggregates, for pain, illness, and confusion.
In truth, these things don't have anything to say about the matter. The body is
how it is. Feeling arises as it should -- it doesn't know that it's pain or pleasure
or neutral feeling. It is this heart that goes and gives meaning to them and afterwards
is duped by those self-made meanings. It gains nothing but harm and affliction
for itself in the process.
We must therefore inquire into this. What can
be lost by a vigorous examination into the true state of affairs? If the body
should break, let it break. It comes, like all things in the world, under the
law of impermanence, suffering and not-self -- just as the Lord always said it
did. How can we interfere? Let go of it! If it can't endure, then let it go! Everything
in this physical world is breaking and dissolving. Some sooner, others later,
but surely our aggregates can't last for aeons and aeons, for they too fall under
the same law and limit. So let's investigate to see our aggregates according to
truth, before they break up. This is encompassing, all-around wisdom, ready clearly
to see painful feeling coming on the scene.
Alright then. Today we climb
into the (boxing) ring. That's it. Today, we are going into the ring to see and
realize the truth in accordance with Dhamma. We're certainly not going in there
to fall down or collapse. When painful-feeling arises, that's pain's business,
but the investigation of it belongs to mindfulness and wisdom. We are searching
for the truth so how can we be knocked down. We don't do it for our downfall,
but for victory and for penetrative insight. For the all-embracing realization
of truth-- of every aspect of truth within our heart. Victory will bring us freedom,
and it's this that is 'the highest blessing'.[13]
The Lord said that:
"The realization of Nibbaana is the highest blessing."[14]
So you
can see that this is the way to go. Nibbaana is concealed because the heart is
covered and obscured by defilements, craving and ignorance. This has to be cleared
and put right by investigation and an analysis to gain insight into the truth.
It is the way to uncover and reveal all the things that have been hidden. It's
called the way of realizing Nibbaana and seeing it clearly within the heart --
here is the highest blessing. What can be any higher than this?
From here
on it is:
"Whatever comes into contact, this heart is no longer shaken
or upset. Nothing can reach it or affect it." Asoka viraja khema etam mangalamuttama."[15]
This is the secure and blissful heart -- "khema.m" -- and it is
the highest blessing. These two blessings that I've mentioned are found in the
heart, and nowhere else. It is the heart that is the blessing, yet it can also
become a bane.
Right at this moment, we are turning the malediction that
has infiltrated our hearts into the benediction 'Nibbaana sacchikiriya'. So then,
let's open and clear all of this:
"Tapo ca brahmacariyanca Ariya sacca
na dassanam."
Here, 'tapo' means the burning up of defilements. They
sear the heart with their own heat so we must turn on them the dhamma-torch,[16]
which is mindfulness and wisdom. It's putting the heat on the defilements and
burning them out.
'Ariya Sacca' and 'dassanam' is the realization of the
Four Noble Truths: Suffering is now fully understood by the heart; its Cause is
completely relinquished; the Path is fully developed to its ultimate level of
greater-mindfulness and wisdom.[17] All that's left to say is, the Cessation of
suffering is now fully apparent.
This is what is meant by seeing the Truth
of Dhamma, and the one who truly knows this is the one who reveals Nibbaana. This
one is the heart that is no longer shaken and upset by all the worldly dhammas.[18]
So then, shouldn't we try to reach the essential, the heart of the matter.
As far as the aggregates and body go, well, we already have gone into that. It's
the heart that really counts.
If any thing should break up and come apart,
well, let it. That's the way the world goes along and it's been like that from
time immemorial. We have followed that way for so long, dying and being born again
and again... Continuing along the old highway.
This so-called 'highway' is
really the common course of things, the way the world gets along. No one can block
this path and all must follow it. Yet surely by now, you are starting to have
an inkling of the truth. What else can I say... I can't present anything more.
Please take this up and examine it with care. Don't be careless and complacent.
"Endeavoring for the realization of Nibbaana is the highest blessing
-- Nibbaana sacchikiriya ca etammangalamuttamam."
And one day it
must definitely belong to the followers of the Lord Buddha, to those who determinedly
strive on.
May I close this Dhamma talk with that.
Notes
1. boon
and bahp. (Thai)
2. "Mano pubba.mgamaa dhammaa"
3. kusalaa
dhammaa; akusalaa dhammaa
4. ruupa
5. upaadaana
6. sabhaava dhamma
7. sanyaa
8. naama-dhamma; incorporeal.
9. offender = nak tote,
offences = tote (Thai)
10. sabhaava-dhamma
11. amata.m
12. vi-va.t.ta;
va.t.ta-cakra
13. from the Mangala Sutta, on the 'highest blessing.'
14. "Nibbaanasacchikiriyaa ca etam ma.ngalamuttama.m"
15. "Phu.t.thassa
lokadhammehi citta.m yassa na kampati,
Asoka.m viraja.m khema.m etam ma.ngalamuttama.m."
16. tapa dhamma
17. mahaa-sati; mahaa-panyaa
18. loka-dhamma
4.
The Internal and the External -- The True and the False
Developing the Samana
in the Heart
Whenever Ven. Acharn Mun touched on this particular topic in
his Dhamma talks or conversation, he would always say... I think it's in the Muttodaya
collection.[1] But there it's only couched in general terms, whereas I recorded
it in more detail than the compiler of Muttodaya. The Ven. Acharn himself didn't
always go into detailed analysis but what he said was enough for us to understand
the implications. When he brought up the whole tree trunk the finer points and
branches would come along too.
What he said was this:
"The Dhamma
of the Lord Buddha is pure by nature, but when it comes to stay in an ordinary
worldling[2] it becomes counterfeit and is corrupted. Only when it's placed in
a Noble One[3] is it the real, genuine Dhamma."
That was the general
way in which he described it.
There are many levels of Noble Ones: Stream-enterers
are the first level, followed by Once-returners, Non-returners[4] and then Arahants
as the fourth. When we analyze it in this way, we can then go on to say that in
the hearts of Stream-enterers, the dhamma of stream entry is pure and true, but
the dhammas of once-returning, non-returning and arahantship are still corrupted.
The Stream-enterer may commit all these dhammas to memory and fully know the way
to reach them, yet even so they remain falsified in his heart, in spite of his
awareness.
The Once-returner is still counterfeit on the levels of non-returning
and arahantship while the Non-returner remains false to the dhamma of arahantship.
Only when arahantship is attained does every level of the Dhamma become fully
complete in the heart, with no corruptions at all.
Some may argue that, 'since
the Dhamma of the Lord Buddha is real and pure, it must remain so wherever it
might be. It can be compared with pure gold which though fallen in the mire is
still pure gold. It can't turn into mud or muck.'
If we fail to analyze this
further, it does indeed seem that 'gold can't change into mud'. But who will deny
that there isn't any mud around? The dirt is smeared over and contaminates the
gold as they lie there together. Is there no difference between gold that has
fallen in mud and that which hasn't? Of course there is. How can anyone assert
that the pure, uncontaminated gold and slime covered gold are both equally pure?
Surely, there must be a difference.
A second illustration could consider
food, prepared and ready to eat. If the morsel was to drop from our fingers and
land in some dirt, then what had been eminently eatable becomes unacceptable --
and even offensively so. Alternatively, if the actual food container is soiled,
then regardless of how succulent the food appears, once it's placed in the dirty
vessel it too becomes contaminated. How can it remain pure when it's mixed with
dirt?
The Dhamma of the Lord Buddha is much the same. In this case the vessel
equates to the heart, which alone is suitable for receiving Dhamma. However much
the heart has been soiled will rub off on the Dhamma when it comes into contact
and associates with it. It is this impurity that the Lord described as 'counterfeit
and corrupted'.
Furthermore, although the palm-leaf scriptures are Dhamma,
when we look them up and study them, we can only commit them to memory and retain
them in mind. Yet that mind is already full with defilements so the Dhamma that
comes into the heart is really more a 'rote-learned Dhamma' than the genuine thing.
If it is the authentic Dhamma, why don't the defilements all disappear from our
hearts since each of us has studied and engraved it in our memory? We've gone
into every intellectual aspect of Dhamma -- including the subject of Nibbana --
and yet we can't go beyond the fact that our hearts remain brimful with defilements.
This is why 'Dhamma' can be false.
Take up the Lord Buddha's Dhamma, both
the theory and the practice,[5] and open it up through practicing what was correctly
taught there. Only then will the true Dhamma begin to emerge from what has been
memorized. We committed it to memory as an outline and plan, ready to put into
practice, rather than just storing it away. It's similar to the building plans
for a house. Regardless of how many hundreds or thousands of designs might have
been drawn up, they are still merely specifications and not a house. It can't
be properly called a house until its construction -- following the blue print
-- is completed.
Committing it to memory for practical use is one thing,
but simply to store it away without any interest in its practical application
is something else. Whatever happens, that which has been studied must then be
put into practice. Having practiced you'll then undoubtedly experience the results
of practice,[6] which are steady, penetrating discernment and realization. We
Buddhists should take both the theory and the practice as being basic to the Teaching,
being its fundamental Dhamma. By so doing the Teaching[7] and its followers will
excel in Dhamma, in virtue and in the knowledge and understanding that brings
calm and peace to both the individual and all the community.
The case then
is that the Teaching is merely retained in memory, or it just remains inscribed
on palm leaves. The person goes one way, that which has been memorized goes another
way and the way of practice goes in yet another direction. They don't harmonize
and are all in a constant state of conflict right there in the same individual.
Furthermore, it also disturbs and annoys other people, making them wonder how
the followers of the Lord Buddha can be in such a mess. Such criticism is well-founded
and irrefutable. Whatever is wrong must be accepted as such.
Once the theory
is put into practice, the results will be in harmony and you'll truly be able
to understand according to your present ability. Whatever your practice has enabled
you to experience in the heart can plainly be described. You'll be bold and confident
when talking about them without fear of contradiction -- for you've seen it for
yourself. How could there be any misgivings? There'll be no scruples or twinge
of conscience because it isn't a matter of guessing or blind hypothesizing. You
spoke from your own experience and insight and didn't plagiarize anybody else.
How can it be wrong and how can one be intimidated or shaken? Every one of us
is seeking for the truth. We know the truth as far as our ability allows and can
talk about it so far as we know it. How then can there be any diffidence or misgivings?
There are none, of course.
It was never said that the Lord Buddha took a
'Nibbana course' at any institution. Nor did he go to any school to study about
the Eightfold Path or the Middle Way of Practice. On the contrary, this was something
he taught himself through analysis and investigation leading up to Enlightenment.
He realized and experienced Dhamma to his heart's contentment and then declared
this Dhamma to the world. Who can be more accomplished than the Lord Buddha for
he is a Self-enlightened One,[8] and the founder of the Way of Buddhism.
If we wish to match up to the Teaching, to find the way to growth and benefit,
we must make ourselves worthy followers of that Noble Teaching. It then wouldn't
be a case of vainly carrying the stack of scriptures. At the same time being unable
to use them to make even a scratch on the defilements resident in the heart, or
to gain any practical value. This doesn't measure up to the reputation of the
Lord Buddha nor to the purpose of his Teaching, which is the removal and elimination
of the defilements. Instead we shoulder the burden of the defilements by merely
learning the Dhamma by rote. That's quite contrary to the purpose of the Teaching.
And it explains how Dhamma becomes worldly and mundane.
The way for Dhamma
really to be Dhamma is by the practice that I've already mentioned. When the texts
have been studied and one turns to practice, only then will the truth be learned.
This is because the Lord Buddha's way of teaching was the Well-proclaimed Dhamma.[9]
It doesn't go wrong or deviate from this principle unless it's through the practitioner's
own misunderstanding. If that happens, there isn't much that can be done because
it runs contrary to the truth, which is Dhamma.
The Dhamma Teachings of the
Lord Buddha are like merchandise that boldly challenge any test of validity or
quality. This 'Dhamma merchandise', regardless of the market place, will put all
the other products out of business because people are always on the lookout for
a good and genuine product. Once they've seen it, how can they fail to recognize
its worth -- even small children can perceive that much.
However, Dhamma
is no material commodity that can be advertised to compete with other products.
It can only be appreciated by those who have experienced it, and can only be individually
realized. Yet this isn't aimed at the accumulation of defilements, whether boastfulness
or conceit. Every stage of insight and realization is for the sake of uprooting
defilements, for these are inimical to both oneself and others. How then could
one show off and boast -- for that's promoting and exhibiting the defilements.
That's enough to make anyone sick and it certainly isn't the way to get rid of
them.
It's because of this that those who practice and understand anything
about Dhamma appear serene and at peace. Their speech is appropriate to the circumstances
and when there's no reason to say anything they remain silent. They are neither
grasping nor covetous but live like a samana,[10] responding serenely and appropriately
with words or stillness. This is what the Lord referred to when he said:
"To behold a samana who is free from corruption and perversion is the highest
blessing."[11]
The samana here can be considered in four stages: The
first is Stream-enterer, the second Non-returner, the third Once-returner and
the Arahant as the fourth.
The standard viewpoint refers to those who have
become a samana by virtue of their attainment to the various levels of Dhamma:
stream-entry, once-returning, non-returning and arahantship. All of them are a
blessing to those who look to them with respect. This is the external samana.
Turning within to the internal samana. We see the first, second and third
samana in the heart by investigating the Dhamma-truth. It's this that uncovers
the Path and the Fruit so that they can be clearly perceived within the heart.
And it forms another of the highest blessings. We must turn inward for our own
benefit, or else we will be constantly searching for the external samana, always
speculating as to who is at what stage. None of the Stream-enterers, Once-returners,
Non-returners or Arahants wear labels or insignia like military officers, so how
can we pick them out? And if they are genuine how can we know from their behavior
and deportment? They would never flaunt their achievement in the gross way the
world likes to indulge in. Those with impeccable virtue, who seek after and are
imbued with the Truth and Dhamma, can't possibly behave in this way. Seeking out
this kind of samana to pay our respects is far from easy. It's so difficult to
know when we might come across them. Instead, we should take up the Teaching that
points towards those four levels of samana, and with application we'll be able
to reach those same stages within ourselves. This is by far the most fitting way,
and really gets us to the heart of the problem without wasting time in hunting
for clues and chasing after shadows.
When we actually encounter a teacher
imbued with truth and Dhamma, peaceful in body, speech and heart -- or better
still a first, second, third or fourth level samana -- we mustn't let slip [the
opportunity for] the first, second, third and fourth levels of samana that could
appear within our own hearts. When the necessary conditions are fulfilled we would
then definitely reap the fruits of our practice, because the Lord Buddha did not
reserve those fruits exclusively to himself.
Sota means 'stream'. It is the
entry into the stream of Nibbana. However, we tend rather to indulge in speculation,
using various theories and models to try to work out what it's really like. 'How
wide or narrow, how deep or shallow, how coarse or subtle, is this stream?' This
merely grows into subjective, emotional ideas without practical value. In fact,
'the stream' refers to the sphere of certitude and assurance of definitely reaching
release from suffering.
Nevertheless, whatever happens, stream or no stream,
as one who practices you should try to have inner peace. It is the heart itself
that, with constant attention and wholesome care, will become Nibbana. A home
is a home, a house is a house, earth is earth, water is water, air is air, and
fire is fire. Neither earth, sky nor space can become Nibbana, nor lead one to
Nibbana. Nor can they be developed into a Stream-enterer, Once-returner, Non-returner
or an Arahant. How then can it ever be possible to transform them into Nibbana?
It is only the heart through Dhamma practice that is able steadily to uncover
the darkness that shrouds the vision of the heart. Peace and happiness will then
naturally occur. It hasn't happened before because of those dark things that continually
try to provoke agitation in us. Day and night they disturb us with worry and anxiety
and confusion... and in every position, whether standing, walking, sitting or
lying down. These are the defilements that constantly agitate and disturb, choking
out any peace and calm.
The defilements have been an endless source of trouble
for all the creatures of the world -- even though they may not have been recognized
as such. In fact, people commonly hold them up as being something good, and never
give a thought to letting them go. If they are really so wonderful, why is there
all this grumbling we hear in the world? It's really the defilements that cause
all our moaning because it's they that bring about suffering and hardship. So
this is why the Lord taught that we have to develop the samana dhamma.
'Samana'
here means calm and serenity. With calm, slowly but steadily, the first samana
and the second and the third and the fourth, appears within our heart. Yet how
do we practice to reach these four samana? The Lord explained this, in general
terms, in the First Sermon, the Turning of the Dhamma Wheel.[12] Although there
it wasn't presented in too great a detail so a beginner in the way of practice
might find it quite difficult to understand.
The Lord spoke there about:
"The Noble Truth of Suffering, that is, birth, old age and death are
suffering, association with the unwanted is suffering, separation from the loved
is suffering... "[13]
This is the story of suffering. Now, how does
this suffering come about? It arises from birth. Birth is the cause for the arising
of suffering. The 'real agent of birth' has its root in 'ignorance conditions
the arising of determinations'.[14] Indeed, other than avijjaa paccaya sankhaaraa
what else can condition birth? The Lord started right here at the principal determinant.
Ven. Acharn Mun's way of analysing it was very interesting. He said: "Thiti
bh tam avijjaa paccaya sankhaaraa".
How is it possible for ignorance
to arise and persist if it has nothing to depend on, no father and mother for
its origin? It must rely on thiti bh tam avijjaa paccaya sankhaaraa[15] as the
basis for birth, for life and existence. This can then be separated into three
categories:
"Accompanied by enjoyment and lust, and enjoying this and
that, in other words, craving for sensual pleasure, craving for being, and craving
for non-being."[16]
The Lord called these the Source of Suffering. This
is the Noble Truth, but what can be used to remedy it? The Noble Truth of the
Origin of Suffering[17] is all about the darkening of the heart, about a nature
that agitates and sullies. Thinking in material terms, it's as if the heart is
all messed up with dirt and mud.
These three cravings[18] that are the source
of suffering are the hankering and hunger, the inability to continue at ease,
the loss of peace and the ability to live alone with oneself. Craving is necessarily
hungry and ravenous, with a driven restless struggling towards sensual pleasure,
being and non- being. This is putting it simply and vividly, for that's how it
continually hounds and oppresses the heart.
The heart is unable to sustain
its natural poise because these agents continually come in to upset and disturb
so that it can't find any peace. How can we remedy this? The Lord taught the Noble
Truth of the Path[19] that begins with right view and right thought. He described
this as the Way to overcome that nature or condition that is responsible for creating,
through the power of craving and discontent, all the upheaval and confusion. Once
anyone is consumed by desire [for something] -- and it's just the same for animals
-- they will openly or covertly take up the chase and, using fair means or foul,
grasp hold of it. This is due to compulsive craving, ambition and insatiability;
with the heart struggling after its desires through torment and suffering.
Why suffering? Suffering because of samudaya. And it's this cause that oppresses
the hearts of all beings. By day and night, whether walking, standing, sitting
or lying down, beings of all the realms of existence come under its yoke. As each
train of thought goes out only to be taken under its sway, what can we do to save
the situation? The 'state of the art' instruments to use for the combating and
the eradication of these three cravings from the heart are the eight factors of
the Path. These are right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right
livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right samadhi. Nothing else can
match the Middle Way of Practice.
This right view is the seeing of what rightly?
For us here now, everything is wrongly seen and goes to make up the wrong views
of desire for sensual pleasure, being and non-being. This is the way that our
body and heart unfailing take.
Why should we feel affection and love? What's
the reason behind it? Use mindfulness and wisdom to examine the body, which forms
the immediate object of affection. We first cherish this body before being attracted
to other bodies. This is where you'll find sensual craving.[20] You must get to
the bottom of this and find out the reason for such love and affection. So, it's
love for the skin, the flesh, the muscles, the bones, the hair of head and body
-- Is that it? But whether mine or whoevers', they're much the same. So what's
with this fondness?
This analysis and dissection is called the right view
of the Path. It's that discerning examination that searches out the object of
attachment and the reason behind it. What value does this object of attachment
bring? Really, instead of giving comfort, benefit and happiness, it brings a blazing
fire to sear the heart with suffering and torment. It arises out of the false
notion that such an object belongs to me and is myself. This is all nonsense.
It's up to wisdom therefore to follow up and straighten out the wrong idea.
This was why the Lord taught about the investigation with mindfulness of the body.[21]
Probe into it. Examine both inside and out, above and below, internally and externally.
Do it thoroughly and judiciously, over and over again until you come to discern
it clearly. This is the way of wisdom that is able to quash the craving and thirst
of the defilements. It's only right view and right thought can overcome and cure
us of our desires, for they are factors of the Eightfold Path. And that is the
Noble Truth which tames every kind of defilement. This is the way we should go.
You must hit hard with mindfulness and wisdom, for this is the instrument
that can counter any stratagem of the defilements. Without hesitating, carefully
probe into anywhere that appears dark and obscure -- for that's where the viper
will be lurking. Whenever wisdom fails to follow up quickly enough, that becomes
the place for the arising of the views of 'self', of 'creature or 'person', of
'me' or 'they', of 'mine' or 'theirs'.
Wisdom must therefore penetrate to
see according to the living scriptures -- which are this body and mind. The truth
will then be revealed and there will be no more notions about 'person', 'animal',
'I' and 'they'. Once wisdom has fathomed the truth the conjurations and suppositions
will be seen for the fraud they really are; having been designed by those masters
of deception, the defilements. Wisdom then steadily follows through with its cleanup
work until everything had been dealt with.
The heart, long crushed under
the weight of attachment, will now be freed and uplifted through mindfulness and
wisdom. The 'title deeds' of 'me' and 'mine', and the claims of territorial right,
especially over the five aggregates, will be overturned. These claims have stood
since birth -- the flesh, the sinews and the bones, the arms and the legs. Each
bodily part has been taken as 'me'. They have been declared 'me' and 'mine', even
though they know nothing about such claims. We draw up the boundaries of our own
domain, and as other things impinge or intrude they give rise to unease and pain,
to suffering within the heart. It's suffering of heart, not only of body, which
arises because of attraction and possessiveness in the setting out of our domain.
The Lord described this examination into the true state of things as 'investigating
the Noble Truth,[22] with wisdom and right view'. In essence, this refers to the
correct view concerning the four Noble Truths -- the right view about Suffering,
for instance.
Right thought is reflection aimed at uprooting defilements.
The Lord divided this into three:
First, the non-holding of thoughts of malice
or enmity against others.[23] This concerns all those defilements based in hostility
and resentment.
Second, not thinking of being cruel to oneself or others.[24]
Third, is the thought and resolution to be free from all entanglement[25]
-- free from delight in sense pleasures, for example.
There's a natural principle
that insists that before anything can go out to disturb other people, it must
affect oneself first. This is where right view comes in to rectify matters, for
the problem arises due to defilement-enforced wrong view. Right thought and right
view coming together are like single strands spliced into a strengthened cord.
They are the heart's activity, the thinking processes, and together they become
wisdom -- the resourcefulness and ingenuity of the heart become one with the heart.
When all eight strands combine and splice together as one, this is called the
Middle Way. Ever since the time of the Lord Buddha this had formed the most fitting
way to deal with the defilements.
Your investigation needs to be aimed at
those things that are currently entangling the heart. They will have to be disentangled
using the Path -- right thought for example -- for only this can rid the heart
of defilements. By using mindfulness and wisdom we can investigate and challenge
delusion in the arena of the body and aggregates. These will form our target so
we must penetrate to their true nature. Personally, I find that it goes against
the grain to teach from other angles -- but elucidating on these themes goes right
to the heart because these things are for real. The defilements and the Path are
both found here. The Four Noble Truths exist right here.
As the Path steadily
quells defilements, so the Cessation of suffering comes about, for it's dependent
on the strength of the Path that is the factor moving things along. It is mindfulness
and wisdom that subdue and eradicate defilements, systematically bringing about
the cessation of suffering. It's no good thinking anyone can aim at putting an
end to suffering without treading the Path. The Lord said that Cessation had to
be clearly realized, yet the only way to achieve that is through the Path. Concentrating
all one's efforts on knowing Cessation without having the Path to clear the way
can't succeed, because this Dhamma is the fruit of the Path.
The Lord taught
about all these conditions. However, the important principle to remember is that
mindfulness and wisdom have to be fixed on a particular point, and from there
they will steadily resonate through to all four Noble Truths. They simultaneously
work together like the various parts of a single clockwork mechanism. Trying to
distinguish each independent function would be as confusing as trying to follow
individual ox tracks inside the stall. It's just not possible.
We therefore
should investigate a single object within the r pa or naama dhammas, the body
or mind. For example, by taking up one of the many different bodily parts. Although
(painful) feeling may arise during this investigation, there shouldn't be any
upset or bother because while the body is r pa, feeling is mental phenomenon (naama).
Where is 'this self', 'this creature', 'this person', 'this me' or 'them'? All
feeling, whether pleasant or painful, has similar characteristics -- there's nothing
there about self, creatures or people -- and they're just mental phenomena arising
in the heart.
The heart can be aware of an arising condition. That it has
attributes of pain or pleasure and will disappear following those causes that
lead to its ceasing. Alright then! There is a way for wisdom to discern the situation
because these things really are present. They manifest themselves openly without
being mysterious or hidden, entirely dependent on their root causes.
The
bodily aggregate: We are with this body day in day out -- putting it to bed, lulling
it to sleep, discharging its wastes, standing it up and taking it for walks. The
aggregate of feeling is also constantly manifesting itself, even right at this
very moment. If it isn't pleasant, it's painful, as feelings alternate and change.
The important point is that the heart doesn't take on board that pain and suffering.
When pain is present, be aware that it is part of the aggregates, with their (built-in)
impermanence, suffering and not-self. If you don't allow the heart to involve
itself with them it won't be suffering.
Feeling -- I've talked about this
each day, so listen carefully and get to understand it. The defilements tenaciously
cling to these five aggregates and they've done it day after day, for countless
ages. This is why it's inadequate to think of making an examination every now
and again. The occasional Dhamma talk is also insufficient, for the point needs
repeatedly driving home until it is definitely understood.
You must also
repeatedly examine this until you comprehend and then the letting-go will happen
of itself. There! Get to see it clearly. Where is feeling, where is painful feeling?
If it's present, you can't deny its existence nor make it in to something else.
It must always be true to its natural state.
Perception is recollection.[26]
We've been looking back from the day of our birth right up to the present. In
all of that, have we managed to find anything that's of fundamental significance?
If amongst it all there really were 'self, 'creature,' or 'person', then probably
we wouldn't be able to find a chest big enough to store them all -- because we're
continually recalling more and more of them all the time. Yet really, as soon
as they are recalled, they pass away without remainder. Listen then, what sort
of essence can be found in them?
The thinking processing[27] perpetually
concocts from dawn till dusk, dusk to dawn. Sometimes it thinks so much that it
overheats and the heart becoming exhausted. This may continue to the point of
nervous breakdown, and may even end up killing someone. For instance, take the
person who pines away through some sorrow or disappointment. The defilements takeover
this aggregate as their concocting-device, as their tool to keep up the pressure
of proliferating thoughts and imaginings. Only mindfulness and wisdom can effectively
check this proliferation.
When the defilements take over this recollecting
and thought processing, they can pierce right through to the heart. The results
are torment and suffering in no small measure. When it's worse than this it may
end with insanity. We are tormented because of so much thinking, yet we don't
ask ourselves whether it's all worthwhile.
Consciousness[27] is the plain
awareness of an object present through contact, which then dies away together
with it. Where in this is any core or substance to be found? It's here with these
objects where we fall into delusion. Other than this it's merely the byproduct
of the defilements.
These are the fundamental principles. This is the way
to tread the Path of Practice and it is here that we must investigate to achieve
clear insight. In other words, this is the Truth of the Path and is the means
of correcting and overcoming our delusion. Then, as the result of our letting
go, the heart can be at peace and free from all worries.
Death is a basic
principle beyond the world's challenge or objection. The laws of impermanence,
suffering and not-self are like a highway, for they shape the way and course of
nature. If tenure isn't yet up (the body) won't break apart, but when the time
finally comes, there's no stopping it -- however tenaciously we may cling and
hold back. It will just go its own way, along the highway, the way of nature,
which takes precedence and can't be blocked or stayed. Nature must take its course,
for this is an undeniable principle directing things throughout this world. We
must investigate so that we can see according to their true nature -- as they
say, 'felling a tree from the windward side.'[28]
So don't go against the
Lord Buddha's Dhamma that accords with the 'natural course', but rather achieve
knowledge by following the truth. The heart will then be at peace. But when the
heart coexists with the defilements, it dwells in confusion and consequently reaps
suffering. We have already seen the harm of this and so must make sure the heart
stays with Dhamma, with mindfulness and wisdom. The heart will then be safeguarded
and at peace.
Strive to overcome these things known as 'defilements', wherever
you find them. After dealing with the external ones turn to those involved with
the body and then inside the heart itself. Deploy wisdom for a complete all-round
penetration of them -- these authors of the concepts of 'creature' and 'person'.
All notions of 'self', of 'creature' and 'person' will cease to be a problem the
moment the defilements have been entirely dispersed. They will disappear by themselves
and we will no longer pointlessly fantasize about them. While the truth remains
as it actually is, bringing peace of mind and freedom from all anxiety.
Yet
this peace shouldn't be thought of as the Noble Truth itself -- for that is concerned
with suffering. It is the suffering of body and heart that is called the Truth
of Suffering; the Truth of the Source of Suffering is the affair of all defilements
and taints; the Truth of the Path, from right view through to right samadhi, is
the instrument for the correction and eradication of defilements. The Truth of
Cessation follows the steady extinguishing of suffering until the total penetrative
realization of the nature of the Source is accomplished. The complete elimination
of this Source -- which though only existing within the heart makes up the principal
culprit -- together with that of the defilements is the Truth of the Cessation
of Suffering.
The one that knows the ending of suffering through the Path's
destruction of the defilements, is the one that knows freedom.[29] That was the
Noble Truth and this is Freedom. This is the purified one and it is not the Four
Noble Truths -- for they are the means to an end and when that end is reached
they naturally lose their raison d'etre, without need of coercion or force. It's
a natural consequence; just as the stairs lose their significance once we have
climbed to our final goal, so traveling the Path comes to an end. Mindfulness
and wisdom have accomplished their task and the heart has gone beyond -- so their
instrumental work in dispelling the defilements is over.
This is our arrival
at the summit. It's the Samana Dhamma, the supreme samana, the fourth class of
recluse. The first samana we encountered in our practice was the Stream-enterer,
the second was the Once-returner and the third the Non-returner. The fourth samana
is the Arahant, the Arahatta Dhamma. This is the ultimate and final achievement
realized through the Path of Practice, that most penetrating and luminous of ways.
The four samanas are now found within the heart -- "Etam mangalamuttamam",
the highest blessing arises there. There's no need to seek for it elsewhere because
when the heart goes beyond all oppressive domination, to perfect purity, then
that itself is the supreme blessing.
Whatever has been discussed here, about
the four Noble Truths or the four samanas, is all found within the 'one that knows',
and nowhere else. This is the one who can uphold the four samanas through the
work of emancipation, and who arrives at freedom. In brief, 'that which knows'
is the one 'with absolute certainty', in consistently being able to deal with
anything that comes to awareness.
The defilements are capable of ruining
many things but they can't destroy the heart. Although they may be up to bringing
the heart to experience hardship and suffering, they can't possibly annihilate
it. This nature is constant. It is upright and consistent, and only appears otherwise
-- taking on differing characteristics -- because of the things it associates
and involves itself with. Once shaken off and cleaned free of all stain, this
nature is poised and wholly imperturbable. It's this that people call the 'perfect
fourth samana', while in Dhamma terms it's the Arahatta Dhamma inside the heart.
This heart is now wholly Dhamma. The citta[30] is Dhamma; the Dhamma is citta.
Whichever way you want to put it, this truth is beyond dispute. There can be no
more contradictions because there are no more defilements left to agitate.
This is how all issues are resolved. They cease right here. Suffering ends here,
birth and becoming finish at this point. It can't happen anywhere else. It was
from here that birth and existence came into being -- this one was the seed of
birth and existence because it originates with the defilements, which were together
with the heart. This is the reason why there is the wandering through the various
realms of existence. There has been endless suffering, affliction, upset and hardship
arising from this seed, that generates and perpetuates these experiences. Once
the cankerous shell and fecund kernel can be completely cut out, every difficulty
and problem will be removed.
Please take (what I've said) up, and make sure
you examine it until you realize your situation and achieve the results. Whether
woman or man, ordained or lay, the heart of those individuals who practice can
attain to this insight and realization. All can succeed because it doesn't depend
on gender, or age, or anything else like that.
Therefore, may I conclude
this Dhamma talk with this.
Notes
1. A small collection of Dhamma teachings
recollected by Ven. Acharn Mun's disciples. It is now translated into English
as A Heart Released.
2. puthujjana
3. ariya
4. sotaapanna, sakadaagaamii,
anaagaamii
5. pariyatti, pa.tipatti
6. pa.tivedha
7. Saasanaa
8. Sabbanyuu
9. Svaakkhaata Dhamma
10. recluse, holy one.
11. "Sama.naananyca
dassana.m... etam ma.ngalamuttama.m." (From the Mangala Sutta.)
12.
Dhamma-cakka-pavattana Sutta
13. "Dukkha.m Ariya Sacca.m... Jaatipi
dukkhaa jaraapi dukkhaa mara.nampi dukkha.m, soka parideva dukkha domanassa upaayaasa..."
14. avijjaa paccayaa sa.nkhaaraa
15. "Nandi-raaga sahagata tatra
tatra bhinandini seyyathida.m, kaamata.nhaa bhavata.nhaa vibhavata.nhaa."
16. Samudaya Ariya Sacca.m
17. ta.nhaa
18. Magga Ariya Sacca.m
19. kaama-ta.nhaa
20. kaayagatasati
21. Sacca Dhamma
22. abyaapaada
sa.nkappo
23. avihi.msaa sa.nkappo
24. nekkhamma sa.nkappo
25.
sanyaa
26. sa.nkhaara
27. vinyaa.na
28. A Thai idiom meaning, 'to
let nature take its own course'.
29. vimutti
30. citta: See Glossary.
5. Letting Go (Magha Puja Day)
Today is Magha Puja[1] day.
It's the day when the Lord Buddha declared his intention to let go of the conditioned
state, bidding goodbye to the world and to the prison of the cycle of birth and
death. He chose to relinquish and discard his body after having carried it for
eighty years, and throughout that period it had always been an oppressive load
to bear.
But then, such is the nature of this body. Other things, in contrast,
have their times of heaviness and lightness, occasionally allowing us to catch
a breath. Carrying food and water (for example) are heavy when we first shoulder
them but become progressively lighter as we steadily use them up. Yet we have
been bearing the load of our body since birth and it never seems to get any lighter.
It's always heavy. In fact, as we advance in years and decline in strength, it
seems increasingly heavy. That is why the Lord Buddha asserted that:
"These
five aggregates are an extremely heavy burden."[2]
Apart from shouldering
the heavy load of this form or body, there is also painful feeling and the rest
of the aggregates. They are not only heavy and oppressive but also have razor
sharp barbs that pierce through our body and heart.
The Lord Buddha put up
with this until he was eighty years old. To put it simply, he must have said:
"Ah! This body is beyond bearing. It's time to leave it."
Thus he declared that, in three months time he would relinquish his life and lay
down the burden. He made the decision on the full moon day of the third lunar
month.
On that very same day, twelve hundred and fifty noble disciples[3]
assembled, spontaneously and without invitation, each coming through his own initiative.
The Lord Buddha therefore presented this teaching to the Arahant disciples, delighting
them with the bliss of the Buddha-dhamma. The gathering thus became the Pure Assembly.[4]
Here is a brief outline of what was said on that day:
"Sabbapaapassa
akara.na.m, The not-doing of all evils,
kusalass'uupasa.mpadaa, The doing
of what is good,
Sacitta pariyodapana.m, The purifying of one's own heart:
eta.m Buddhaanasaasana.m. This is the Teaching of the Buddhas.
Anuupavaado
anuupaghaato Not insulting, not harming,
paa.timokkhe ca sa.mvaro Restraint
according to the Patimokkha,
Mattanyutaa ca bhattasmi.m Moderation in taking
food,
pantanyca sayanaasana.m Having a secluded place,
Adhicitte ca
aayogo, Intent on the pure heart:
eta.m Buddhaanasaasana.m. This is the Teaching
of the Buddhas."
The Buddha gave this teaching[5] to the twelve hundred
and fifty as a form of diversion on that afternoon, which accords with today.
For those arahants, it was more of an enjoyment than an exhortation because they
were already pure, no longer needing instruction to cleanse the defilements from
their hearts. That is why they were called the Pure Assembly. This was a unique
event in the Buddha's teaching life, never again were 1250 Arahant disciples to
gather-and be offered such teaching.
We celebrate the Buddhas and Arahants
because of their prodigious and brilliant nature. They were figures of wonder
among the majority of people because the worldly people's hearts remain corrupted
by the staining defilements -- not one of them could compare with the spotless
Arahants.
"Sabbapaapassa akara.na.m": to refrain from unwholesome,
down-casting actions that give rise to all kinds of suffering. It's this base
side of the heart that is so critically important. Depraved actions and speech
have natural limitations but the depravity of the heart, which depresses and down-casts
itself, is propelled by our own continuous thinking and imagining. It's these
agents that drive the heart into gloom and dark depression that are exactly the
things in the heart that are already murky and defiled. The Lord Buddha named
them 'defilements'. They are those factors that manoeuvre and instigate memory
and thought processes into action. While another sort of defilement causes the
heart to become gloomy and disconsolate.
Wrongdoing and base deeds don't
just refer to robbery, looting and plundering. That's evil on a gross level but
we manage continually to generate similar depravities on the intermediate and
more subtle level. This is equivalent to constantly depressing our own heart.
This downcast heart will continue to be cast down wherever we may go because we
are also generating depression for the heart. Walking, standing, sitting, lying
down -- the heart is always concocting and contriving and thus becoming miserable
in every posture. One aspect of the Lord Buddha's teaching therefore is his emphasizing
that we shouldn't indulge in creating gloom and misery for ourselves.
What
method can we find to avoid this depression?
"Kusalass' uupasampadaa":
wisdom must be sufficiently developed to remedy this depression by cleaning out
the gloom-makers and the base evils, we will then have:
"Sacitta pariyodapana.m":
a bright and cheerful heart. When our cleverness, which is mindfulness and wisdom,
has cleaned out all the filth and gloom from the heart, it becomes bright and
clear -- "sacitta pariyodapana.m".
The evil, whether great or small,
will then start to wane as our heart becomes pure. The Teaching of all the Buddhas
is like this. They all say: "Do it this way. There's no alternative."
Any alternative, easier way would have been known to the wisest of all, the
Lord Buddha. He might have woven us all a hammock to lounge in, while we steadily
swatted at and ridded ourselves of defilements. This might seem to accord with
his fame as a teacher full of love and compassion, to a world full of frail and
grumbling beings. In fact, the Lord Buddha had already used all his skill and
ability in establishing the shortest and most direct path.
Each of the Buddhas
had to cultivate the perfections[6] before realizing Buddhahood. They used the
Dhamma in their hearts to drive out the defilements, and then taught this as the
true and correct way. They tested and selected with the maximum power of their
minds before discovering and teaching the Dhamma, which is most suitable for all
living beings.
Suitable here does not mean that it fits in with people's
own fancies, but rather that it points to a practice appropriate to overcoming
their defilements. This is Dhamma. Nothing else can surpass the Middle Way of
practice as passed on from the Lord Buddha. The defilements fear no other means,
methods or dhammas. Nothing else can eject them from the heart, or even scratch
their skins.
"Anuupavaado": Don't slander other people.
"Anuupaghaato":
Don't harm or kill human beings or animals.
"Paa.timokkhe ca sa.mvaro":
Keep your behavior within the bounds of Dhamma, for this is the means of uprooting
the defilements.
"Mattanyutaa ca bhattasmi.m": Know the right measure
in using food, and live simply and frugally. Don't indulge and exceed what is
reasonable for one who practices. Know the right amount in whatever you're involved
with.
"Pantanyca sayanaasana.m": Look for seclusion, and use this
solitude to deal with the defilements.
"Adhicitte ca aayogo": Develop
the heart to excel in Dhamma, employing mindfulness and wisdom, step by step.
("Eta.m Buddhaanasaasana.m":) This is the essence of the Teaching
of all the Buddhas.
This was the Dhamma with which the Lord Buddha delighted
all the noble disciples. To those who were not yet Arahant, he also taught "sabbapaapassa
akarana.m". It is an essential practice, being the only way we can hope to
use gradually to drive the defilements from our heart. Yet, do we truly take it
to heart? Or is it rather that hammock hanging over there, that takes our fancy?
The essence of the pure Dhamma, imparted by each Buddha, is directly drawn
from each of their hearts. But do we receive it into ours? The Lord Buddha bequeathed
it with his great compassion. But do we receive it with full devotion and trust?
With total mind and heart? If we merely feign acceptance of the Dhamma and later
come to discard it, then it will all have been worthless. It would, in fact, have
gone against the Lord Buddha's original intention.
The Lord Buddha decided
to relinquish the body on the full moon of the sixth lunar month, and made the
announcement to that effect on the third month's full moon -- which is today.
From that moment on, the constraints and irritations of the elements and aggregates
would vanish. This is the complete passing away without remainder,[7] with no
more concerns or obligations to any worldly condition. This is the Dhamma transcending
the world. The ultimate Dhamma.
'World' is the whole gamut of suppositions
and assumptions existing in this world -- the three worlds are the worlds of supposition[8]
and change, the worlds governed by impermanence, suffering and not-self. Whatever
one's birth or state, these three marks spin that world with confusion, and no
one can bar their course. But once one has got beyond them, all concerns come
to an end:
"Nicchato parinibbuto": craving totally ends, mundane
suppositions are gone. It is out of this Dhamma that all the truths taught by
the Lord Buddha resound. If we take this Dhamma deeply to heart in our practice,
then it will 'ring and roar' in our heart. At first, it will resonate in a cool,
calm and peaceful condition of heart -- which are the various levels of samadhi.
Then, it will reverberate with wisdom in our thinking and analysis, so that we
can steadily free ourselves. Finally, it will resound in the pure[9] state of
complete freedom. There!
"Nicchato parinibutto": craving is totally
extinguished. The source of those cravings was defilement of every sort, because
it is never sated or satisfied.
"Natthi ta.nhaa samaa nadii": the
waters of river and ocean can't equal the defilement-inspired craving. They perpetually
engulf the hearts of sentient beings and never run out.
How can we dry up
these waters? We must bail them out using the energy of the one who practices
until they eventually ebb and diminish. Draining and drawing out every day, examining
every day, understanding and thereby relinquishing every day. The waters will
then start to seem not quite so great. They are really only as large as our aggregates,
that's all.
But for the heart that is attached to the aggregates, this is
a weighty matter. The heart doesn't bother with any piece of land, instead it
comes and seizes hold right here. This is the big issue, the hot and heavy concern.
This is where the defilements scorch the heart as no other fire can, endlessly
turning up the heat.
We have all heard about floods. When our lungs are flooded
and congested, the doctor can drain them. But when the defilements, complete with
craving, engulf the heart, what are we going to use to draw them off? We can only
bring in faith, energy, mindfulness and wisdom. Thus, we must probe, examine and
investigate to see things clearly, as they really are. What is being clung to?
About what are false assumptions being made? And why is it that the voice of Dhamma,
the aid in drawing-out, is never listened to?
The defilements usually try
to play smart with the Buddha. They are his adversary and must always assert their
cleverness against the Dhamma and contend with it. Grasping is the defilement's
line while correcting and uprooting is the way of Dhamma. Extracting defilements
with wisdom is Dhamma, and transcending them and arriving at serene happiness
is the Nibbana Dhamma, or the Pure Dhamma.[10] There is always this rivalry.
Keep on trying! Don't lose out to these things, for you now have entered the boxing
ring and must determine to be the champion. Fight without backing down. You'll
have to be dead before you'll allow yourself to be carried out of the ring. If
you've been floored but still live and can return to the fight, then battle on.
If you can't manage to fight on anymore, then you can always denounce and curse
them right there in the ring. What harm can that do? We are fighters and if we
can no longer fight the defilements, then curse every mother and father of them.
This is our single remaining weapon. We are down and cannot punch back, yet we
still have a mouth. We can still talk, scold and curse even though we are knocked
down.
Of course, this is only an analogy. To be a warrior doesn't mean that
we go round cursing or abusing anyone, but rather that we combat the defilements.
We must fight to the extent befitting a disciple of the Tathagata,[11] who was
himself of the warrior class.
Have you ever noticed how our teachers and
venerable acharns practiced? These meditation masters, whom we respect so deeply,
were all warriors in this way. If that's how they themselves triumphed, why should
they teach us to go in a different direction?
Alright then. Keep switching
and varying your probe, using wisdom to stay on top of the events within. This
wisdom is of such sharp discernment that it will be able to find a way to draw
us out of the deep mire of elements and aggregates in which we've been stuck and
buried for countless eons. Ultimately, we end up with the heart, and even here
we have to pull everything out. The 'I' must be extracted from form, from the
body and from the elements of earth, water, air, and fire. We must pull the heart
out of the painful feeling that we have taken on as ourself. The way to withdraw
from form is simply to let go of the very form that we have grasped as self. We
pull away from grasping each of the aggregates that we have taken as 'me' and
'mine'. Use wisdom to try and root-out, right here, keeping pace with whatever's
going on.
The heart is subtle and extraordinary. The body, in contrast, is
nothing special -- however much we uphold and cling to it in our delusion. It
can only be our utter stupidity that leads us so readily to shoulder this gross
thing, without ever wanting to put it down. If we were really smart and considered
what's behind it all, we would let it go. Why carry it? Probe and investigate
these questions using mindfulness and wisdom that are available.
There's
no need to go and be so afraid of dying. Fear itself is just another defilement.
Why build up defilements by being frightened? We must rather build up our courage
because this is a quality that counters the defilements. Bring it out to fight
the defilements and to find out what actually dies. In fact, nothing dies. And
the defilements are always lying to us about it. The moment we are unguarded,
they instantly insinuate themselves and whisper: "When will I die... today?...
tomorrow?... here?... or over there?... I'm going to die very soon." We upset
ourselves with such thinking, while the elements just exist, indifferently. In
this way we complicate matters and confuse ourselves by thinking that we are responsible.
What sort of responsibility is this? It's more a matter of self-confusion than
self-responsibility.
If we are to be truly self-responsible and self-reliant,
then our heart will need full mindfulness and wisdom to use for investigation
and rooting out. It must be able to probe and extract from the heart all the anxieties
and confusions about living, about death and sickness -- and whatever else is
found there. There can be no easing off or allowing the defilements in to fool
us. One can then say that those who practice in this way are truly being responsible
for themselves. By investigating everything, both close in and all around, you
will come to realize the true situation and be able to free the heart. Then there's
contentment and relief. Contentment is found right here. Success and correctly
assumed responsibility are also right here.
We hear news reports that so
and so is an arahant -- as in the case of those 1250 Arahants -- or that that
person is a Stream-enterer, Once-returner or Non-returner. But what about ourselves?
Our news is only about weakness, discouragement, depression, stupidity, dejection
and confusion. This is our whole story. Doesn't it run contrary to the reports
about those others?
Our personal news is exactly the opposite of those who
possess the Ariyan Treasure, the Dhamma Wealth in their hearts. If our news only
measures up to this, then it can only be concerned with the thousand-and-one kinds
of suffering. It's more like 'sinking in the mud'. The unwanted news makes up
our account, and because we create this story we must also bear the result.
Who is Dhamma intended for? Who is it taught for? Who makes up the Buddhist Community
-- if we can't be counted as members. Surely the Dhamma was taught and intended
for us. Then what are we taught to overcome? Do we have the means for this purpose?
Yes, they are right here -- it's as if the Lord Buddha is right here before our
very eyes, pointing them out to us. This isn't something about long ago or far
away. It's fresh and vibrant right here. The Dhamma of the Lord Buddha exists
here with us now, so why go elsewhere with all your worthless speculations?
"The Buddha realized Nibbana in a distant time and place. He taught the Dhamma
long ago and it has become stale and insipid. Its flavor can't last up until today."
There! Listen to that! The defilements lie to us -- can't we hear them? Beware
of Maara[12] whose fabrications will destroy us with such ideas, mashing us to
pulp. The Truth has no time or era and is there with everyone who is searching
for it. How can Dhamma ever vanish with time? How can we kill the truth with these
ideas, needlessly bringing utter ruin to ourselves?
Who in this world can
know better than the Lord Buddha? The Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha always stand challenging
the defilements in the arena of truth. This is something timeless.[13] Therefore
virtue, concentration and wisdom are never outmoded or behind the times. They're
independent of period or place -- and yet are within everyone. They can be produced
at anytime, and whenever developed they grow and thrive. This is the way leading
to the Path, Fruit and Nibbaana; which is timeless and independent of place. While
the defilements for their part also manage a continued presence within the hearts
of sentient beings.
We all now, as in the Buddha's time, have defilements.
The overcoming of these defilements must still be done with the same old virtue,
concentration, wisdom, faith and effort. How can this be kept far away and long
ago from us? It cannot. We will all be able to go beyond suffering by rectifying
the situation at the right spot and in the right way. Expose whatever is cloaking
the heart by focusing with wisdom and mindfulness on whatever is dark and obscure,
taking that spot as the target for investigation. Where exactly is this sadness
and gloom? It's a condition of the heart that we can perceive, just as we know
when darkness or light contacts our eyes. We notice that darkness is dark, but
the one who knows is not also in the dark. Light is known; darkness is known;
any amount of darkness can be known within our heart. And gloom and depression
are also known together with brightness and cheerfulness.
The one who knows,
knows in this way. We must make wisdom penetrate further, taking the heart or
these things as its target. When sadness and gloom appear within the heart, don't
be alarmed, or glad or regretful. Look on them as mental conditions that must
be investigated, as things that arise and cease. They're not of the heart but
simply depend on it to appear and then hook into it. Persevere with the examination
but don't get excited or unsettled with the objects themselves. Whatever arises
and passes through -- that we must know. Then we can be counted as being one who
takes up the study and practice. We have to study until we know through wisdom
and can understand those things that appear within ourselves. This true knowingness
has no ups and downs. It is never like that. A condition arises and the one who
practices recognizes it as such.
When all these conditions end, so does any
concern about them. All that is left is the consummate state of purity. Our investigations
depended on the continual encountering with such conditions in the heart. If they
were around they would need to declare their existence, so that it's always possible
to know the true state of affairs. Therefore, if we want the truth, we must look
for and investigate the feelings that arise, and similarly with any sadness or
cheerfulness, any happiness or suffering that appear. Such is the way of one who
knows with all-round wisdom, being aware of any condition that resides with the
heart. There is only this one place where we can finish off our studies.
They talk of graduating with a Bachelor degree or a Masters' or Doctorate; or
of passing the various exams of Paali language study, following the popular convention
of the time. Throughout the ages people with defilements have always had to rely
on customs and observances and these are numerous beyond description. The ways
of Dhamma though always remain current because their nature is constant and immutable.
You can have as many grades and degrees as you like -- level fifteen or level
thirty[14]... But I wonder if defilements bother with such things. They just have
a great time, singing away there on top of people's hearts. Since when were they
meeker and more humble than people? They wield greater power than people -- stupid
people, that is. Intelligent people are able to crush and destroy them and this
is the way to gain our knowledge and qualification.
Our Bachelor's degree
of virtue, samadhi and wisdom is all around us -- better to take this B.A.. Then
on to the Masters' and the premier 'Ek' grade so that we have 'one heart, One
Dhamma'. But this isn't the preeminence of someone with only one eye, who is already
nearly blind. Don't be foremost in that way.[15]
The true preeminence of
the Lord Buddha is 'one heart One Dhamma'. Study up to this Ph.D. by having all-round
knowledge to the highest degree, replacing our ignorance with knowledge about
ourselves. Inspect, using wisdom to probe and clear-up, until reaching the Highest
Dhamma level, or the genuine Dhamma, which are the same. 'The heart and Dhamma
are one and the same!'
"Buddha.m, Dhamma.m, Sangha.m sara.na.m gacchaami"
-- finding refuge in Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha falls completely within this One
Dhamma.
"Dhammo padiipo" -- the radiance of Dhamma always shining
brightly. This is the genuine Dhamma. It is timeless and unconditioned... the
true Dhamma.
Alright then -- build the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha right here
within the heart:
"Buddha.m, Dhamma.m, Sangha.m sara.na.m gacchaami.
We go for refuge to the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha."
More precisely,
we arrive at the Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha in the purity inside the heart, for this
is the coming together of all three refuges. See them clearly within the heart
and make yourself a refuge within. This is the complete "attaahi attano naatho":
'We are our own refuge, not needing to depend on anything else.'
As is the
Buddha so is Dhamma and Sangha. Buddha Dhamma Sangha are the same. When one has
reached this stage there's no need to go out seeking to pay respects to the Lord
Buddha, for we can now offer this purity of heart -- the whole Dhamma of this
purity -- as our puja-offering to him. Nothing else intermeshes and fits together
as well. As is the Buddha of the Lord Buddha so is the Buddha of us. As is that
Dhamma, so this Dhamma here. Without doubt, they are all one and the same.
Did the Lord Buddha finally pass away[16] so long ago? We no longer ask, because
this concerns the conditioned state of elements, the body and aggregates. The
Lord merely let go of his aggregates, at a certain time, in a certain year and
place. The Noble Disciples were just the same. Were they all completely annihilated
after they passed away? Is it really like that? This is the view of empty, worthless
men and women; the truth is otherwise. The real Dhamma is that of supreme happiness,[17]
which endorses and confirms the fruit of that purity.
What is Sangho? It
is the one who upholds the state of purity. This is the true sangho and is found
within ourselves: "Attaahi attano naatho" -- 'oneself is one's own protector'.
The vital point is to make this refuge sufficiently secure, for it's imperative
that the heart frees itself from all dangers and attains to deliverance. Whatever
is worth attaining is worth striving for. Go for it right here.
Don't upset
yourself over anything at all. Nothing really matters in this world. It's just
that our heart goes and gets involved. We actually go looking for affairs to indulge
our-self in, and this needs cutting away with mindfulness and wisdom.
Wherever
we are, we are always alone. We are born alone. When illness comes, it isn't the
assembled relatives that are in pain. When we die, we die alone -- nobody else
can die in our place or deputize for our distress. Therefore, we must help ourselves
-- Attaahi attano naatho -- using our own mindfulness and wisdom. This is the
right and most fitting response.
The Lord Buddha decided to let go of his
life on this same full moon day. For us today, we should resolve to abandon craving
and defilements. These are the essential things that one must be rid of.
As far as dying is concerned, the Lord Buddha said it wasn't important which day
we die on. Whenever the breath runs out, that is the day we die. The only criterion
is our last breath. If there's still breath, then we haven't yet died. So we keep
on breathing... which in itself is no great problem. It's really just about a
lot of wind.
The important point is the founding of a base and the putting
ourselves on alert -- all for the sake of our heart. "Attaahi attano naatho":
'oneself is one's own protector'. When this is accomplished then there is contentment
in living or dying, wherever and whenever it might take place. No more problems
remain, for they were only concerned with mundane conditions.
That's it for
this talk on Dhamma. I think it's suitable to stop here.
Notes
1. Maagha
Puuja is the national holiday in Thailand dedicated to the Sangha Jewel. (Visaakha
Puuja in May and AAsaalha Puuja in July are for the Buddha and Dhamma.)
2.
"bhaaraa have panyca khandhaa"
3. ariya saavakaa
4. Visuddhi
Uposatha
5. Dhammapada, vv: 183 and 185
6. paaramii
7. anupaadisesa-nibbaana.
8. sammuti
9. visuddhi
10. Visuddhi Dhamma
11. See Glossary.
12. Maara usually personified as the Evil One, or tempter. And here referring
to misleading, evil thoughts.
13. akaaliko
14. Pali language is examined
in just nine grades.
15. A play on the word ek or eka, which in Thai can
mean: 'highest' or 'first' (as in Ph.D.); 'one' or 'singular' (as in 'one eye'
and 'One Dhamma') so eka-grade, eka-eye, and Eka Dhamma.
16. parinibbaana
17. parama.m sukha.m
6. The Final Night -- Fare Thee Well
No one can surpass the Lord Buddha in wishing for people to be virtuous and good.
His Teaching was offered so that people in the world might find goodness and happiness.
He didn't want the world to be troubled and hurt through misdeeds arising from
ignorance of the right way of conduct. The building up of the perfections[1] to
become a Buddha, full of compassion for all sentient beings, was an exacting task
-- very different from all other forms of achievement.[1] And his mastery went
along with his compassion, hand in hand.
Anyone listening to the Lord Buddha's
teachings -- from his own lips or from the scriptures -- and trusting those principles
of truth would then try to correct and improve themselves, so as to be a virtuous
person. One individual takes it up, and a second, and then each family member,
however many there might, be all change themselves for the better. One virtuous
person -- but when such people live together it becomes one virtuous family-circle,
and then one virtuous village, and town and country. There's no need to ask about
the whole country's peace and stability for it must definitely follow from the
goodness of all its individual citizens.
On the other hand, hardship and
discontent only arise because of wrong doings and baseness. The number of corrupted
individuals corresponds to the extent that the body of society is stuck with 'splinters
and thorns'. The more there are, the more hellish the world becomes. It is then
dark both in the night and daytime, and is in a constant state of disturbance.
There is no need to go and search after hell for it is being forged right there
in the hearts of people. From there it spreads and extends everywhere, turning
all to fire. This only happens because of those wrongdoings, not because of what
is skillful and right.
When things are in harmony with the Buddha Dhamma
such a situation can't arise. There would then be no need for judges, courts of
appeal or a supreme court. There would be no cases to settle because everyone
is intent on living virtuously, all trying to follow a just and sensible way together.
In discussions there would be mutual understanding -- it wouldn't matter if it
were between young and old, man and woman, ordained and householder. This springs
from a deep understanding of the nature and reasons for goodness and baseness
that is within one's heart. There only would be the wish and intention to see
in the way of reason, truth, and virtue. Everyone would listen sympathetically
to one another, and always conduct themselves fairly and justly with no need for
secrecy.
The world, however, doesn't seem to follow the heart's wish. Wherever
one goes, there are only complaints about suffering and misfortune. The whole
earth seems to be in a state of confusion and unrest, even though everyone studies
and searches for knowledge. This knowledge, however, doesn't appear to be of much
use -- it might even end up burning one instead -- because it isn't knowledge
imbued with Dhamma. It doesn't have Dhamma to add a protective coat or to act
as a support, a brake, an accelerator, or steering-wheel. It therefore trundles
forward in any old direction, without any limit or bounds.
When examined
in this light, the value and importance of the Lord Buddha's Dhamma stands out
clearly. The individual effort to change oneself for the better, even though one
can't do the same for anyone else, will provide peace and contentment wherever
one is. Such happiness will result from your right actions and way of living,
and this will follow for anyone who practices in the same way.
This right
way and contentment have a series of levels -- everyone being able to step up
to the general level with the right intention and effort. Don't allow yourself
to miss out on this, for the world can be worth living in and can bring happiness,
peace, and joy. Beyond this mundane joy lies the prospect of progress and happiness
within the heart itself. However, it does need commitment and energy to achieve
this subtle and more refined type of happiness.
Those who are especially
interested in the way of meditation[2] really stand in the front line -- if this
is considered in images of going to war and battle. Those who decide on this approach
can't afford to be weak and faint-hearted. Whatever they attempt will require
vigilance, and such exertion will then steadily develop in them a consistent and
stable mindfulness. Any lack of this and they won't be considered tough enough
to succeed in the war.
This toughness depends on an alert effort, together
with mindfulness and wisdom checking on the behavior to see whether it is going
in the right or wrong way. As this becomes increasingly subtle and involved, it
is more and more necessary to depend on the protection of mindfulness and wisdom.
The stream of the heart and its various imaginings and concoctions will not then
go and amass poisonous ideas and emotional objects with which to burn and torment
itself. Once the heart has received proper care and nurturing it will gradually
come to peace, and be radiant and happy without any fading into downhearted dullness,
as it did before.
All of you have been training here for quite a long time,
so please draw into your heart the Dhamma of the Lord Buddha. Don't think that
you'll be leaving[3] your teacher and monastery behind. Your departure is only
an activity or physical movement. The important thing to remember are the Lord
Buddha's words:
"Anyone who practices Dhamma in accordance with the
way of Dhamma, is truly one who offers reverence to the Tathagata."
That practice is the way of mindfulness, wisdom, faith and diligent effort. It
has to be there in every posture and at all times. This right conduct within the
heart, together with continuous watchfulness is what is meant by 'practicing Dhamma
following the Way and giving constant reverence to the Tathagata', the Lord Buddha.
The Lord Buddha continued:
"Whoever sees Dhamma, sees the Tathagata."
How does one see, know and practice so as to see this Dhamma? It's by practicing
as we are doing now, and especially refers to meditation. This is the way of practicing
Dhamma. Seeing Dhamma is discerning those obstructions present within oneself
that should be counted 'the enemy'. These are the first two Noble Truths, that
of Suffering and its Cause.
We investigate these things to penetrate to their
true nature, which exists in every human being and animal -- the only exception
being the arahant who has gone beyond. The rest of us must possess this Cause
to some degree, and it's this that he called the Noble Truth. By examining and
seeing Dhamma in the true state of affairs, it's then possible to turn to letting
go and uprooting. This results in coolness and peace within. This letting go and
uprooting is also termed 'seeing Dhamma', for it is a gradual seeing, level by
level, step by step, until one finally perceives the whole Tathagata.
We
can speak about these levels of attainment in this way: Those who have practiced
up to Stream-entry[4] can be said to have seen the Lord Buddha at one level, having
penetrated into the stream of Dhamma. It is the beginning of seeing, as if you
are standing in a field and can glimpse the Lord in the distance. The Once-returner[5]
stage seems to bring the Lord a little closer and the Non-returner[6] sees him
closer still. Until finally, with the Arahant[7] stage, you see the Lord Buddha
in full. The Dhamma that facilitates our reaching each of these stages resides
with everyone of us.
Holding to the practice is like following behind and
sighting the Tathagata. One sees him by way of cause, which is our practice; and
by way of result, which is the steadily attained fruit of that practice. The Lord
Buddha went this way before, seeing and steadily realizing and passing beyond.
Therefore, the heart of the one who practices is never apart from the Lord
Buddha, Dhamma, or the Sangha. By virtue of that practice, reverence is given
to the Tathagata, the Dhamma, and the Sangha. This is true reverence and is the
way -- through diligent effort -- of having continuous audience with the Lord
Buddha.
Departing and going away is only activity. There is a departing right
here when, for example, after sitting here you leave to sit over there; from there
you return to sit here. There is a continual departing. You shouldn't be concerned
with leaving this place for that, this town for that, this house for elsewhere.
Leaving from here for far or near -- there is continual departing in this world
of impermanence where things are constantly changing.
By using the three
marks[8] we can reflect upon these things so that it becomes a Dhamma lesson.
Those who truly know and see will always depend on this principle as the way to
move forward. While we are here we practice Dhamma and when we are there we practice
Dhamma -- because it is aimed at letting go, at eradicating defilements and ending
all the suffering within the heart. We practice wherever we are so as to uproot
and release, and for this purpose our present location isn't relevant.
The
Lord Buddha therefore taught the Noble Disciples:
"Go bhikkhus, and
seek secluded places. Be steadfast and resolute there. This is the way to have
constant audience with the Tathagata. There is no need for all of you to come
here to gather around the Tathagata. That is not the way. But rather, whoever
has mindfulness and is diligent in all postures immediately gives reverence and
has audience with the Tathagata. Nonchalantly sitting around here is not the way
to meet, nor to see or have audience with the Tathagata. The Tathagata does not
regard the coming here and the going away as having an audience with or taking
leave of the Tathagata. The Tathagata considers that diligence in the practice
to eradicate defilements from the heart, whether little or much, as steadily gaining
audience with the Tathagata."
This is the progressive seeing of the
Tathagata. It is the major principle in the Teaching that allows a clear sight
of the Tathagata, rather than peering with dim and blurry eyes, lacking in mindfulness.
Just completely rid yourselves of the poisons in the heart, and then compare the
resulting state that you have realized -- is there any difference between that
nature and the Tathagata? Plainly, without question, such a purified nature is
identical with it. Listen! The essence of the Lord Buddha's teaching is just like
this.
Training your heart and developing yourself into a good person is the
way to accumulate happiness. With increasing growth within the heart the result
will, of course, be happiness. Not being able to find happiness or it being incomplete,
arises because of obstructions in the heart, which are the defilements. Nothing
else is able to obstruct and pierce the hearts of all sentient beings, preventing
them from finding happiness and fulfillment. Suffering and hardship, whether internal
or external, is solely caused by defilements. For example, when the body is feverish
or ill, the defilements will also get in the act by moaning about the pain here
or the ache there. This disturbs and worries, which adds yet another load of suffering
for the heart, to go with the bodily illness.
Common bodily upset or illness
was experienced by both the Lord Buddha and the Noble Disciples. It's the nature
of the aggregates to be ruled by the this-worldly[9] law of the three marks. Whoever
has aggregates and elements cannot go beyond this worldly norm, with the inevitable
consequences of change and impermanence. However, their hearts did not waver because
there was already total understanding of the state of things.
But it's not
like that for us. When we have bodily pain, whether much or little, it also shows
in the heart that accumulates additional suffering. The amount can't be estimated
but sometimes the suffering within the heart becomes greater than that of the
body.
This is what is meant by 'an encompassing infiltration by the defilements',
when we are absent-minded and careless. When there is no mindfulness and wisdom
to know what the defilements are up to, they can penetrate in every possible way,
regardless of time, place or posture. All that's necessary is for the heart to
move and show itself without mindfulness, and wisdom becomes more like perceiving-memory.[10]
It's as if the heart becomes the defilement's unknowing helper. In such a situation
Dhamma can't possible arise and it can only go the way of the defilements and
their steady increase. It's therefore necessary to throw in the full force of
your mindfulness and wisdom, faith and energy, to keep up with the events happening
within the heart.
Research into these elements and aggregates will make you
an outstanding person but graduation from any other kind of study will never be
enough. There will still be the thirst for more, much like anything in this world.
However, when your studies into the elements, aggregates and heart are completed,
that thirst will also be ended. You will find complete fulfillment.
At present
you are deficient in the theory of Aggregate-ology and the application and practice
of it. This is really about mindfulness and wisdom, and the penetrative insight
into the true nature of the elements and aggregates. It is analysis by separating
the true from the false. But when the study is not yet concluded or understood,
endless confusion and turmoil will remain with the elements, aggregates and heart.
There is no confusion and agitation worse than that found in the elements,
the aggregates and heart. This is where all sorts of complications are constantly
emerging because we have yet to clear them up. This indictment can only be dismissed
through the studying of the case right there, with mindfulness and wisdom disentangling
the truth and giving judgment after careful deliberation.
Alright! Let's
wind up these studies. What is there in these elements and aggregates -- as I've
always said, there's:
Form aggregate, which is everything in this body of
ours.
Feeling aggregate, which comprises painful, pleasant and neutral feelings,
that arise within the body and heart.
Perception aggregate is memory and
assumed knowledge of various things.
Thought processing is the creative,
concocting facility of the heart that thinks about virtue or wickedness, past
or future, without any limitation.
Consciousness aggregate, which acknowledges
forms, sounds, smells, tastes, or tactile objects as they come into contact with
the senses. And at that moment reports them to the heart to acknowledge. Once
that contact ends the consciousness lapses as the object passes. This is called
consciousness of the five aggregates.[11]
The consciousness of the five aggregates
is different from the re-linking consciousness.[12] This refers to mind[13] and
particularly to the heart. It is the heart that is about to enter into re-linking
consciousness, taking birth in the various forms of existence. The consciousness
of the five aggregates arises and ceases with the things that come into contact
with it. That is, the acknowledgement ceases along with the passing away of those
things. The re-linking consciousness however, refers to the heart that possesses
the faculty of knowing, alone and by itself. Even if nothing makes contact with
it, it doesn't end.
Study these five aggregates -- and do it exhaustively.
Keep on going over it, revising and researching until you can understand. This
is the field of work for anyone wanting to be rid of defilements and craving,
by the demolishing of the cycle of birth and death.[14] The heart spins through
birth in various forms of existence, endlessly roving and reserving itself a place
in cemeteries all over the place. The reservation is made even before death. This
is all due to delusion -- ignorance about the true nature of the aggregates. We
grasp at more of them even though we already have a heap of them. There's never
enough, so we fall and catch hold of them without limit -- unless, of course,
wisdom can be called in to investigate.
Analyze and investigate so that you
come to true knowledge and can therefore cut free the attachment. Take up the
study of the elements and aggregates -- or take this body, for therein lies the
'substance' of the Noble Truth and the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. These
are synonyms for the same thing and can (practically) replace each other in our
investigations.
We will find that they are all essentially concerned with
the Noble Truths and the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. Normally, without illness
or disease, the body exists simply as the body, and form is still just form. However,
when the body changes and becomes abnormal and disordered, it then follows its
(new) natural course. The painful feeling that arises due to this irregularity
does not remain for long and you should just let the heart know it for what it
is. This is the way to study Aggregate-ology. Don't be alarmed or frightened,
or depressed with them; for this is their normal, inevitable course in the world.[15]
They have to follow a progressive transformation with both subtle, unnoticed changes
and marked changes. They change in accordance with their nature -- at every period,
every second. But perhaps even a 'second' is too long a time, rather make it every
instant, all the time. They just change, continually change. There is no pause,
no taking time off for rest and sleep like animals and people do.
As for
suffering, that also manifests itself constantly, without stopping for sleep or
rest. People may take time off for leisure and recuperation but that doesn't apply
to the Noble Truths and 'the three marks'. They never stop, never ease off with
anybody. They proceed along their course both day and night; with standing, walking,
sitting, or lying down. The condition of these things is to turn through their
changes. This body, too, revolves, as it changes its position and state. We sit
for a little while and then an ache appears. Have things changed? Well, if they
haven't what's this pain doing here?
This ache is called painful feeling.
It is one sort of condition that arises in our awareness, one aspect of the Noble
Truths. Examine it and see it as it really is, for in the last resort there's
no alternative. To think that you can depend on some other person is a misreading
of the situation. Something that will drain your resolve, leaving you weak and
disheartened in the task of saving yourself. Such wrong understanding or misapprehension
comes from the defilement's subversive insinuations, constantly deceiving you.
This happens both in normal times and in times of sickness and emergency, cutting
the ground from under your feet by means of their trickery.
When the final
time is really drawing near, it is like a boxer in the ring. Before climbing into
the ring the trainer can teach and instruct, but once in the ring there is no
way to teach anything more. Right or wrong, good or bad, alive or dead -- you
now have to rely and help yourself to the utmost. It's now too late to learn any
new boxing techniques.
The time of going into battle is that of the final
moment when the aggregates and the heart are going their separate ways. It is
the time of breaking up. It is like when crows and vultures come down and sit
together on the branches of a tree. When they alighted, the branches hardly shook
at all but when they fly away they jolt the branches until the whole tree vibrates.
Any dry, dead branches will break and fall in the process.
At the time when
the body is departing, how hard will it shake us? How are we going to stand up
to this shaking -- with mindfulness and wisdom, that's how. Without them we definitely
won't be able to bear it and will lose our balance and control. We must therefore
fight to the fullest capacity of our mindfulness and wisdom. Don't even think
about the possibility of collapsing in the fight. Our vigorous questioning of
the truth about the nature of the body is aimed towards gaining release, not towards
destruction. This is the chief way to help oneself in a critical situation, by
using all one's strength, and is the right course recommended by the wise.
When the time of emergency arrives it will be all pain -- clearly showing itself
throughout every part of the body as if each piece is burning. Inside, the body
will be like a blazing, red-hot furnace. So, what are we going to do now? Mindfulness
and wisdom must be sighted on that heat, that suffering and pain. Clearly discerning
we can then turn and observe our heart. Is the heart also red-hot? Or is it only
the body and aggregates that are on fire? If you are already well-practiced in
using mindfulness and wisdom, you'll find that the heart is cool and unaffected
even in the midst of such a conflagration. It is the body that is burning with
the flames of suffering. This is how we who practice must see it.
This is
the way of self-help, without leaning on any one else, for you are already up
in there in the fighting ring. Once you are determined to fight, then fight using
reason and your full strength. "Come what may! Live or die! Who cares who
might have to carry me out of the ring." It's a fight to the end -- but fight
cleverly, don't just close your eyes and allow yourself to be like a dummy accepting
all the punishment without blocking or returning punches. That's useless! Fight
with energy putting your life on the line. If you have to die, then so be it.
But there'll be no retreat. Use your mindfulness and wisdom that is tuned to be
the most advanced weapon going.
Battling with feeling means penetrating to
its true nature. Don't attempt to force it to disappear for that is trying to
go against feeling's natural course. The only way is to examine it as it really
is and then let it disappear of itself. If it still lingers then realize that
that's how things are, and don't go in and grasp hold of it.
Form[16] is
form -- don't bring in anything to contradict this or make it something else.
Form is form; body is body, and it's just body, just form. Feeling[17] is feeling
-- whether it's painful, pleasant or neutral, it's really only feeling.
What
is this that knows body, knows feeling? It's the heart, of course. The heart is
not of that nature and must be separated and clearly seen with wisdom. This is
truly seeing the Noble Truth and there will now be no wavering even if the body
can't endure. Right then. Let's turn and face the battle, let's see what will
go first and what will outlast. With our confidence riding with mindfulness and
wisdom we'll know the truth that the heart is not the one that dies, but is that
which is there to acknowledge whatever is present.
Alright then, whatever
is impermanent -- may it go its way. The body can't endure? Then let it break
up. Feelings don't last, well, let them dissolve. If it's impermanent, then let
is all disperse. However, whatever endures will last and prevail. What is it that
prevails? It is that which knows, which is the heart. There! It's the one who
knows standing out distinctly all the time.
The results will definitely be
like this once you have successfully trained yourself in the way of mindfulness
and wisdom. But if your mindfulness and wisdom are deficient then the heart will
remain feeble and easily discouraged. All kinds of suffering will then converge
into the heart because it is the heart itself that accumulates suffering through
its own stupidity. Weakness, therefore, is certainly not the path that leads away
from harm and danger. It has to be accomplished through diligence and hard work,
with a warrior spirit armed with mindfulness and wisdom. Nothing else can bring
victory and preeminence, goodness and virtue, excellence and distinction; nothing
else brings bravery and fearlessness to arise within the heart.
Please consider
it in this way: Suppose that we return home without a teacher or instructor. Well,
what teaching have we already received and what are we really missing? The teacher
is still present in his teaching, and it's there that we'll find the Tathagata
and the Dhamma. We are with the Dhamma, with the Lord Buddha, and with the Sangha
at all times because of the Teaching that we train ourselves with. We do not lack
a teacher or an instructor. We live with a refuge in having mindfulness, wisdom,
faith, and energy out fighting to destroy those things that are our enemy. How
can we say we are without a teacher when we exist with our teacher! So we must
strive to gain knowledge together with this teacher.
This is the way to practice,
without loneliness or wavering but endowed with firmness and steadfastness in
the truth of Dhamma. The teacher's instructions are constantly embraced as the
internal guide within the heart. Wherever we may be, we can say that we are with
a teacher, with an instructor, with the Lord Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha
-- because the real Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha are within the heart. It is only
the heart that can be with Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, or the whole essence of
Dhamma.
The body doesn't know anything. How on earth can it ever know anything
about the Lord Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha? Feeling also doesn't know;
while perception just remembers and then it's gone; and thought processing imagines
and then vanishes. How can there be any basis in them sufficient to accommodate
the Lord Buddha? The one who can truly receive, is that which really understands
the Lord Buddha. The real Buddho is just this heart.
So, investigate the
heart to your utmost. Don't be weak or discouraged. In any case, all of us must
eventually enter into this battle. It's unavoidable. All we can do is to help
ourselves, and it's very certain that we will need to help ourselves. When the
time of necessity is upon us, nobody else can help. Whether father or mother,
son or daughter, husband or wife, they can only stand by and watch with affection,
sympathy, and yearning. They all long to help but when the time comes, they are
powerless.
The only things that can help us transcend suffering and torment,
and to be free from all bondage, are mindfulness, wisdom and our own effort. There
is nothing else. We must therefore be strict with ourselves, be firm at heart,
even if the body is nearing its end. From this moment on, this is something to
keep close to your heart. Then you won't lose out later on.
However the aggregates
might display themselves, the one certain thing is that they aren't above death.
Whether they appear often or not, they will come to die. So the one who knows
knows till death, at which time the body dissolves and that which knows is rid
of all problems and obligations. Let's get down to the crux of the matter. Right
to the essence of truth, of cause and effect. Then we will arrive at the real
and genuine Dhamma within the heart.
This Dhamma presentation seems enough;
so I'll finish here.
Notes
1. paaramii
2. citta-bhaavanaa
3.
The next day Khun Pow was due to return to home... and hospital.
4. sotaapatti-magga
and -phala
5. sakadaagaamii
6. anaagaamii
7. arahatta-phala
8. ti-lakkha.na
9. sammuti
10. panyaa and sanyaa
11. vinyaa.na
khandha
12. pa.tisandhi-vinyaana
13. mano
14. va.t.ta
15.
sammuti
16. ruupa
17. vedanaa
7. The Middle Way
Listening
to a Dhamma talk[1] keep your attention in the present. Don't send the mind outward
but keep it focused within, you'll then be able to experience the true taste of
Dhamma right in your heart. It has been taught that one may gain five benefits
while listening to a Dhamma talk. Then there are also those benefits that come
to fruition in the future that are extra gains. This is the reason that so many
followers became enlightened while listening to the Lord Buddha's Dhamma. They
had correctly stationed their heart in the present, without concern for past or
future; being wholly receptive and ready to experience the taste of Dhamma that
the Lord was presenting.
The Lord first went forth into homelessness greatly
aroused by Dhamma. Even prior to this he had had a growing fascination and concern,
originating with his successive encounters with the four deva-dutas -- the sights
of the old man, the sick man, the dead man, and the holy man. From the first day
of his going forth he labored with great effort and determination through the
austere practices, always committed to his task up to the day of his Enlightenment.
He thought neither to abandon his undertaking nor to slacken in his pursuit. The
laziness, discouragement and weakness prevailing over the hearts of all other
sentient beings could not overcome him.
The noble disciples also went forth
with conscientiousness and the intention to find freedom from suffering, following
the example of the Lord. They attended to each word of the Lord's Dhamma and put
it into practice with devotion. Their staying, their coming or going, were always
accompanied by mindfulness. Every facet of exertion went together with reflection
and application of the principles of truth. The results and the rewards of their
concern and dedication seem to contrast with those of our time. This is due to
the immense difference in the appreciation of Dhamma and the intensity of practice.
It's then obvious that the results can't possibly be the same.
The Lord Buddha
didn't relent or relax in his quest from the first day of his endeavor to the
day of his Enlightenment. It was on finally reaching his goal that he became the
Great Teacher[2] of the world. He then brought the Dhamma out to the Buddhist
Community -- teaching and urging them to follow the path of Dhamma by which he
himself had succeeded. Those who received what was revealed by the Lord, delighted
in the essence of Dhamma. By taking it up and applying it in their practice, in
due course they had all variously come to Dhamma attainments; acquiring the Dhamma
Eye like the Lord had before them.
The Lord Buddha became the model and ideal
for the Buddhist Community right from the beginning. This is made plain from the
way he practiced, by always spending his time living away in the forest. When
he renounced the home life, he went forth into the forest and no longer took any
interest in people; including those in the realm he had once ruled over with peace
and security. No longer being concerned with his princely status he courageously
and unflinchingly stood up to the ordeal of his exertions. In this respect, no
one can surpass the Lord, for every mode of his practice transcended the world.
His renunciation and going forth into homelessness differed from the usual way
of the world, so when the results appeared they also differed. They were now of
two disparate 'worlds', for his heart had been transformed into the purified heart
of a Buddha. His accomplishments stood in distinct contrast to the rest of the
world.
This was also true for the noble disciples who had gone forth following
the Lord Buddha. They rejoiced and delighted on hearing the Lord present the basic,
fundamental guidelines:
"Rukkhamuulasenaasana.m nissaaya pabbajjaa tatthavo
yaavajiva.m ussahokaraniiyo."
We could express this in our own words:
"Look, over there! There's a mountain and a deep jungle; mountainsides
and gorges, brooks and streams, cliffs, peaks and mountain slopes. There are the
water courses and banks of mountain rivers. These are places of ease and quietude,
free from all forms of entanglement. Seek for such areas and strive there amongst
such scenes."
"The Tathagata attained his Buddhahood from these
settings and surroundings, not through socializing and mingling together. He didn't
become enlightened by indulging in frivolity and merriment, by trailing in the
flow of desire, self-seeking ambitions and obsessions, and allowing himself to
be dragged away under the authority of defilements and desires. On the contrary,
the Tathagata came to his Enlightenment in secluded and deserted places. Those
were the spots where he made his great effort, escaping from his palace and city
and all their manner of peoples. The Tathagata went through hardship and adversity
that was born and derived from his exertion in those secluded and remote places.
Enlightenment didn't come to him amidst the grandeur and magnificence of palaces,
or amongst the crowds at crossroads or market places. It came to him in solitude
and seclusion, totally retired from the world. The Tathagata accomplished and
arrived at the state of purity of a Buddha in these outlying places."
"May all of you therefore turn towards these places that the Tathagata has
described. The mountains, hillsides, caves, and shady trees; the deep forests
and the distant open spaces where the air is light and clear. These spots are
deserted and quiet, free from confusions and troubles, forsaken by people. If
you all aspire to the state free from suffering then you must follow the route
of the Tathagata to those places. Then you too will definitely, one day, also
reach the ending of lives and existences, the (quenching) of the glowing coals
in the pit of repeated births and deaths."
What I've just explained
was, in fact, the second of the basic guidelines. The first directive was:
"Pa.msakuula ciivara.m... "
"All of you who have gone forth
should seek for discarded materials left in cemeteries or along the road sides.
Stitch and sew them together to make your lower robe, upper robe and outer robe;
so they may be used to cover and protect your body, sustaining the holy life from
day to day. This will accord with your recluseship and spartan life following
the way of Dhamma. Subsist frugally on the four requisites of living -- food,
shelter, clothing and medicine -- and be content with little, satisfied with whatever
requisites accrue without indulgence in excess and lavish wastefulness. You may
however, accept the gift of robes presented by lay devotees as long as it is the
way of simplicity and moderation. One causes oneself to be easily fed and cared
for without causing problems and concerns for the faithful supporters."
The third of the guidelines was:
"Pi.n.diyaalopabhojana... ."
"Having gone forth in the religion[3] you can't afford to be lazy. Go on
an almsround,[4] feeding yourself by your own effort and on your own two feet
with a pure and honest heart. The faithful devotees willingly and happily offer
the gift of food following the samana's tradition, avoiding the usual worldly
bargaining with money. The going for alms in order to support yourself is the
pure and impeccable livelihood for one who has gone forth. You should try to maintain
this practice for the rest of your life. Any occasions of abundance and excess
should be considered exceptional circumstances, when you need to oblige the laity.
Any shower of gifts, however, must never be taken heedlessly, complacently thinking
that they indicate your honor and dignity. They would then be transformed into
gifts and offerings that kill the unworthy[5] [as the bait hooks the fish]."
The fourth instruction was: "Gilaanabhesajja... ."
This refers
to medicine for curing the sickness that can, depending on conditions, afflict
both monks and lay people. The remedy needs to accommodate to and measure up with
the particular situation as if it were its shadow. However, know and exercise
moderation in requesting assistance from relatives or those supporters who volunteer
their service. You must keep it well within the bounds of propriety.
Knowing
moderation is the necessary quality that all who have gone forth must bear in
mind. He then becomes sangha sobhana, a graceful recluse who adorns the religion
with refinement and beauty, being well received by fellow Buddhists and the public
everywhere. The important point for a monk to remember is to be always prudent
and wary of immoderation in soliciting anything at all. (The going for alms is
special in this regard because it's a suitable daily observance for monks and
novices.) Never make a habit of visiting and seeking aid from lay people, but
rather exercise moderation in response to the given situation.
After hearing
and accepting these fundamental Dhamma guidelines from the Lord Buddha, the noble
disciples all gladly practiced them with zealous dedication. Each went their separate
ways into the seclusion and solitude of the forests and mountains, unhindered
by concern for life and well being. Whatever their family backgrounds -- some
were even kings and princes -- none asserted their status and position. That would
have only activated pride and snobbery, and contempt for (the quality of) those
requisites of living that the ordinary lay supporters were able to provide. The
noble disciples welcomed any kind of food -- save that set aside under the vinaya
code -- for the sake of sustaining their life processes and supporting a steady
Dhamma practice. They were mindful of their exertion, their practical duties and
observances. They were attracted to quiet and secluded surroundings, far away
from noise, confusion and all disturbing influences. They continued with steady
endeavor by both day and night and in all postures. For them nothing was more
worthwhile and rewarding than the practice that would rid them of suffering.
All the noble disciples considered freedom from suffering as the priceless Dhamma.
It went beyond any gains that repeated births and deaths could show, for those
all originated in the deceit of ignorance,[6] which is the root source of the
constant suffering of all sentient beings. The total dedication of the noble disciples
meant that neither pride of royal blood and wealthy family, nor pride of scholarship
and erudition, could infiltrate their hearts. For this reason all of them, from
the first to the last arahant disciple, were able to gain Enlightenment following
the Lord Buddha.
May all you who practice therefore turn your attention to
the reports describing the Lord Buddha and his arahant disciples. Consider how
their practicing came to success, how they achieved renown and were revered by
all sections of the world -- including those of the heavenly deva realms. The
Lord Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha cannot be surpassed for wisdom, discernment
and accomplishment. They reign supreme, so let us all carefully consider this.
Being easily discouraged and obsessed with food and sleep are not ways to nobility
and freedom from suffering. They can't make the supreme Dhamma manifest within
the field of our awareness, which is our heart.
In every movement and posture,
always give heed to reason and be constantly observant of your actions. Make sure
that these actions don't cause delay or 'stain' your body, speech and heart. Delight
in seclusion and solitude, and totally commit your efforts of both body and heart
to the Dhamma work. Let a dogged determination be your guide through every thought
and movement, always pointing to the goal -- freedom from suffering. The outcome
is then assuredly equivalent to that found by the Lord Buddha and the noble disciples,
since it follows the same path.
The Lord Buddha did not present the Dhamma
teaching -- about right view and right thought, for instance -- to just anyone.
It was aimed specifically at all those who practice the way of moral precepts,
samadhi and wisdom. Having once stepped out along the Path that the Lord pointed
out by living and practicing in accord with the fundamental guidelines that we've
already discussed -- rukkhamuula senaasana.m or living at the foot of trees is
another example -- there can only be one result. It is freedom from suffering
and reaching to the natural prominence of a noble disciple of the Lord Buddha,
which is the state of purity within the heart.
Whatever your posture, whatever
you're doing, always be mindful -- the only exception being during sleep when
it's beyond one's means. Incline yourself towards applying mindfulness and wisdom
with strenuous effort. The reality of deliverance will then appear within the
heart.
During the Lord Buddha's time people listened to Dhamma with earnest
interest, securing the Dhamma they heard within their mind. They didn't allow
the Dhamma to slip away and disperse; nor did they listen merely for courtesy's
sake, treating it more as a ritual. Whatever people do nowadays -- and that includes
all you monks here -- seems to become mere ritual. Without true dedication and
firm determination everything you attempt will insensibly turn into ritual.
For instance, to walk along your meditation path just to keep up with a set schedule
becomes ritualistic. The question is whether the heart and mindfulness are in
harmony with your exertion. Consequently, the end results may very well be different
from what was expected. Why should it be so? It's because, even though we may
be 'walking meditation', the heart is elsewhere, occupied with every other thing
except the Dhamma-theme. What is this principle of Dhamma? It is always to be
mindful while striving in one's practice.
The heart together with mindfulness
may drift and wander; drawn away by the allure and fascination of other places
and objects rather than being focused in the object taken up. This indicates that
the flow of the heart is already going astray. Whether your practice is one of
samadhi or investigation, the ensuing results must be contrary to Dhamma -- being
something else altogether.
Such is the way when we are not observant of our
actions, and strive in the practice more for practice's sake or from a sense of
obligation. We might then fall into wrong view and criticize the religion, disparaging
the Lord Buddha's Dhamma Teaching as not being the true Niyyanika Dhamma, unable
to lead us away from suffering. And that it's unequal to its claim of being the
Well-taught Dhamma. The reality is that the flow of our heart is constantly, by
both day and night, pulling toward the world. So please bear in mind that the
world, whether the inner or the external world, is different from Dhamma. The
endeavor of the Lord Buddha and all the noble disciples is aimed at the Dhamma
principle as the deliverance from suffering. Consequently, every turn of their
exertion was for the erasing of 'stains' until they were totally removed and came
to Buddho -- to which the world pays homage and respect. They had attained to
the summit of Dhamma because their practices accorded with Dhamma. This has to
be the outcome when the means and ends come together in complete harmony.
For us though, we may be walking on our meditation path or sitting in samadhi
practice but our samadhi is merely a stump-like samadhi. This is when we actually
fall asleep right in that samadhi practice. We may do this many times -- and it
may even become routine for some people, although I personally can't confirm it.
Yet it does seem quite probable going by the results people manage to get. If
the cause accords with Dhamma, then the result can't be otherwise. Both the means
and ends must correspond.
It must be because we don't practice following
the principles of Dhamma. Instead of walking or sitting in meditation -- with
mindfulness in tune with our exertion and the Dhamma theme or processes[7] under
investigation -- the heart turns aside. The flow of the heart goes chasing after
forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile objects. Furthermore, the mental objects[8]
conceived in the heart are also about forms, sounds, smells, tastes and tactile
objects, whether they be past or future. The heart never stays with the present
for even a single moment. If this is the case, the results must always be mundane
and commonplace, since the flow of the heart is constantly involved with worldly
affairs. The heart for its part will also remain mundane, acting as the source
of suffering that afflicts us with trouble and hardship. We consequently find
fault with that which results: "Why should there be anxiety and worry? Why
am I miserable today?" We never consider that it's we ourselves who perpetually
instigate this unpleasantness by running at cross-purposes with Dhamma. That's
why the outcome has to be as it is.
For this reason, all of us who practice
must constantly secure within our minds the resolution to be free from suffering.
We must never allow our actions done through body, speech and mind to deviate
from the teaching of the Lord Buddha. He taught us to seek for seclusion and solitude
in the deep forests that are appropriate and conducive to our exertion. There
were no exhortations to go live and practice in the market, at the crossroads,
or in crowded places packed with people. As if such places would instantly enable
us to arrive at the safe haven free from suffering. We must consider what this
living at the root of a tree[9] really means.
Every facet of the Dhamma Teaching
expounded by all the Buddhas has behind it sound and justifiable reason. It is
the basis for truth, bringing benefit to those who observe and practice it. This
is why the story of the Lord Buddha and the noble disciples -- how they cultivated
the Way and came to the ultimate accomplishment, becoming great teachers for the
whole world -- is a story of great wonder and marvel.
Yet, however great
a Teacher they may be, the teaching can't always hit home. For us, the vital point
is to take the Dhamma -- the principle of truth and reason that is the essence
of the Great Teacher -- as that which will give us constant instruction. Every
action will then be made known to our teacher, which is our own heart. This must,
without neglect or absent-mindedness, always be borne in mind. Otherwise we will
never manage to keep to our course and survive, but will squander time worthlessly.
Don't allow the idea that one particular day or night, whether past, present or
future, is somehow exceptional or unusual. It's still that regular sort of day
or night. The defilements don't depend on time but are concerned with the heart
and all related states and conditions. This is the crucial fact. Please investigate
it.
Wherever you go always make sure the great Teacher leads as the guide.
Whether sitting, lying down, standing or walking, mindfulness must be there with
each posture. Without a basis in mindfulness and wisdom, calm of heart and clear
discernment cannot arise. This is because mindfulness, wisdom and diligent effort
form the surrounding protective barrier and are the elements that substantiate
them. As we tread the path through our strenuous effort, we keep within the guidelines
of precepts, samadhi and wisdom. This is all that is required. We will then experience
the realm free from suffering right within our own heart -- without having to
ask anyone else about it. Regardless of time, if the Well-taught Dhamma is still
extant in the world, and if the one listening to it takes it up for study by dedicatedly
practicing following its instruction, the result can only be freedom from suffering.
This will be clearly perceived in their heart. Please keep this in mind, and correct
the problem there, otherwise you'll steadily regress and will fail to accomplish
anything.
With mindfulness and a continual probing with wisdom into the natural
things and processes[10] -- the body for example -- you'll constantly come across
extraordinary (new) understanding. On the other hand, if your effort is unsettled
and spasmodic the forthcoming results will similarly be deficient. Therefore,
really try to cultivate and develop mindfulness and wisdom up to a steady awareness
and discernment. This will definitely contribute to samadhi, the firmness and
stability of heart, and to a genuine wisdom that follows from investigating the
four Foundations of Mindfulness and the four Noble Truths. Please also understand
that both the Foundations of Mindfulness and the Noble Truths are dhammas of the
present, which are constantly manifesting here and now, within our body and heart.
In the Middle Way of Practice (which is the Noble Eightfold Path) the Lord
detailed right view.[11] There are right views concerning things in general, more
specific things, and the really subtle aspects of Dhamma.
The right views
of ordinary Buddhists deal especially with the conviction that virtuous deeds
and wrongdoing, good and evil, really do exist. And that those performing such
actions must reap the corresponding results, either of good or evil. This is one
level of right view.
The more specific (right) view is of those who take
up the practice and, using wisdom, investigate the four Foundations of Mindfulness
and the four Noble Truths. Here one examines the body, feeling, citta and dhamma
in terms of the three marks[12] -- that they are all intrinsically bound up with
impermanence, suffering and not-self.
Build up your faith and firm conviction
in Truth and Dhamma through investigating the three marks inherent within all
things[13] and by making that the course for wisdom to follow. Moreover, explore
the Noble Truths to realize that suffering -- that which arises in body and heart,
in both oneself and all other beings -- is something that one can't afford to
remain complacent about. Recognize the harm caused by the Source[14] that generates
the immeasurable suffering that all creatures must endlessly endure. Then you'll
be ready to dismantle and undo that Source, using wisdom to arrive at Cessation[15]
which is the sphere of the total ending of suffering.
The level of right
view on these subtler aspects of Dhamma deals with correctly seeing the Truth
of Suffering, its Source, its Cessation and the Way, which are precepts, samadhi
and wisdom. This is right view void of judgmental opinions concerning the Noble
Truths and the natural processes[16] everywhere. This is another level of right
view.
The levels of right view vary according to the Dhamma accomplishments
of the one practicing. If there was only a single level of right view then wisdom
would be limited too. Since there are many grades of defilements, many layers
of downheartedness and depression, wisdom must have the equivalent levels. It's
for this reason that I've been explaining about the varied aspects of sammaa ditthi
or right view.
The second path factor is right thought.[17] There are three
categories: the thought of non-oppression; the thought of friendliness, free from
enmity and ill-will; and the thought that extricates one from entanglement and
bonds.
The thought of non-oppression refers to a regard for the welfare of
one's fellow creatures, both human and animal alike. However, you will also need
to take care of your own well-being by not straining or overburdening yourself.
One neither gives thought on how to inflict troubles and hardships on others,
nor on how one can indulge in self-destructive habits -- like consuming drugs,
alcohol or opium and heroin.
These thoughts that go in the direction of non-
vindictiveness are really the not thinking in malicious and violent terms, whether
towards people or animals. One doesn't wish to hurt anyone; or that anyone should
be sick, or that they might drop dead. Nor does one think of suicide -- killing
oneself in the various ways they regularly report in the newspapers. These things
happen because they are the fruit of the seed of the original wrong reflection.
One once valued oneself; one thought of oneself as one's most precious resource.
Then, because of wrong thought, it all turns sour and one now appears as the enemy,
one's antagonist. This seems to happen all the time, and it does so because of
wrong thoughts and reasoning. Those who genuinely take care of themselves will
immediately act to stop the train of wrong, dangerous thought. As soon as the
heart becomes aware of the beginning of such disquiet it will abandon and let
go[18] those thought concoctions. How could one allow these wrong reflections
to get out of hand to the point of committing suicide? It's hardly an example
of caring for oneself.
The commonplace ideas of finding a way to cast off
the bonds of poverty and want, in order to find abundance and wealth, is also
a thought of renunciation. So is the thought of involving oneself in actions of
generosity, morality and meditation.[19] One might think about contributing to
the construction of roads, wells or pagodas[20]; about maintaining and renovating
old and crumbling shrines; about building dwellings and halls for monks, or other
structures. This impulsion towards good works in order to extricate oneself from
the mass of suffering also comes under thought of renunciation.
Another kind
of renunciation is the contemplating and the seeing of the peril contained in
birth, decay, sickness and death. This being inherent within every form of sentient
existence -- without exception -- one sees the life of one gone forth as fulfilling
one's own aspiration to develop precepts, samadhi and wisdom. So one resolves
to go forth as nun, 'white robe', monk or novice.
One who practices, contemplates
and investigates his subject of meditation to release the heart from all mental
hindrances. He utilizes all the various methods, developed by continuing analysis
and reflection, to remove defilements. He steadily eradicates defilements through
the various levels right up to the automatic stage of right thought. With a constant
probing and examining, he will ultimately eliminate all defilements. This is the
final category of right thought which completes the explanation of this second
path factor.
The third path factor was stated as being right speech.[21]
This includes general speech and specifically that concerned with Dhamma. Passing
on aphorisms of the wise that are not detrimental to those who listen; speaking
from sound principles that are impressive and eloquent; speaking politely and
modestly; and expressing gratitude and appreciation to anyone, of whatever rank,
who has shown kindness and support. These can all be classed as one level of right
speech.
The primary form of right speech within the sphere of Dhamma are
the sallekha dhammas, which are fitted to scour out the defilements. These include:
Appicchakathaa -- talk favorable to wanting little of the monk's requisites.
Santu.t.thiikathaa -- talk of contentment with whatever requisites become
available and are properly offered according to Dhamma.
Asa.msaggakathaa
-- talk favorable to not mingling together or socializing.
Pavivekathaa --
talk favorable to seclusion and detachment of body and heart.
Viriyaarambhakathaa
-- talk favorable to strenuous exertion.
Siilakathaa -- talk favorable to
upholding the purity of moral precepts; and to the development of samadhi and
wisdom.[22]
Vimuttikathaa -- talk favorable to deliverance; and to the clear,
penetrative realization of deliverance.[23]
These are the subtler aspects
of right speech. There's no vain talk or gossip here but only serious speech,
dedicated to exertion and the utilization of these purifying dhammas.
The
fourth path factor was stated as being right action or right undertaking.[24]
There are those right actions that deal with commonplace work and those concerned
with the task of Dhamma. Occupations that are not against the law, like farming
or trading for example, fall within the bounds of right undertaking. Likewise
with the building of temples and monasteries, or the practice of generosity, morality
and the development of the meditation on loving kindness.[25] These form another
kind of right action.
Walking meditation and sitting in samadhi are also
there as right action. Every movement of the body, speech and heart is kamma,
which is action. The body acts, speech verbalizes and the mind deliberates, and
it's all action or kamma. Actions done by body, speech and heart are called kamma.
Those correct and proper bodily actions, speech and thoughts are called right
actions.
Right action covers a wide and extensive range and it's up to each
individual to work it out and apply it for himself. This is because the world
and Dhamma have always been paired together, like the left and right hands of
the same person. The world and Dhamma can't be separated -- the world has its
work, as has Dhamma. Since the situation and make-up of each person vary, their
undertakings cannot all be identical. It's because of this that lay people and
those who have gone forth following the way of Dhamma, have to undertake work
that is appropriate to their position. Don't allow opinions to interfere and conflict
with anyone's undertaking; each person will then be able to undertake his or her
'right action'. Each day will then see the world and Dhamma steadily flourishing
together because of everyone's mutual contribution and support.
The fifth
path factor was stated as being right livelihood.[26] One aspect of this is the
eating and consuming that is an everyday form of making a living, whether by humans
or animals. Catering to feed the heart with emotional objects born of contact
is another kind of livelihood. The step by step nourishing of the heart with the
various levels of Dhamma is another.
Making one's living in a scrupulous
manner that accords with Dhamma, without violating the law by actions like robbery
and theft, is one form of right livelihood. One lives within one's means from
day to day. But if things accrue in abundance and through honest means, then that
can also be reckoned as right livelihood.
Contact will arise with external
objects such as the form, the sound, smell, taste, or touch of man or women. If
it suits one's disposition and provides nutriment for the heart with mental and
emotional objects that delight and relieve the heart's sadness, then it serves
as an elixir of life. However, by pursuing them in the wrong way it becomes poison
and devours the heart. This type of right livelihood is appropriate for the person
in the world who knows the right measure of things, and their suitability and
limits.
Sustaining the heart with Dhamma is done by declining to admit entrance
to the world's poison to disturb the heart through contact between the sense organs
and external objects. Every contact made with forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile
and mental objects should always be contemplated in the light of Dhamma. Neither
a warm welcome nor a hostile rejection should be allowed, for that would bring
hardship for the heart. A Dhamma-imbued investigation will provide and sustain
the heart with the essence of Dhamma; and it will be gladdened and delighted through
both the heart's serenity and its wisdom and discernment. There will then be no
seeking after poisonous objects that are ruinous for the heart, rather it will
be constantly nourished with Dhamma.
In the light of Dhamma, always try to
push the investigation of every contact made between the sense organs and the
sense objects towards true understanding and emancipation. Never contemplate in
a worldly-minded way, for that will be the taking in of fire to burn oneself with,
and it can only cause the heart to overheat. Constantly screen and feed the heart
only with objects of Dhamma, and this Dhamma essence will nourish the heart, steadily
sustaining and protecting it. What I've been talking about here is one more kind
of right livelihood.
The sixth path factor was stated as being right exertion.[27]
There are four ways of exertion:
The effort involved in preventing the accumulation
of unwholesomeness within one's character and make up; in getting rid of anything
unwholesome that has arisen; in developing and bringing up wholesomeness; and
the effort in maintaining that wholesomeness that has already arisen.
These
must be drawn inwards[28] by applying them to the level of Dhamma that you are
actually practicing in, where they will be ready to add to whatever basis of samadhi
and wisdom is necessary.
First: Devote yourself to caring for the heart that
is so liable to become obsessed and infatuated with the flow of craving. This
is based in ignorance and will drag the heart away.
Second: Try to develop
precepts, samadhi and wisdom, for these are the dhammas capable of rectifying
every type of defilement. If you aspire for Nibbana, totally extinguish your burning
anxiety.
Third: Don't allow your standard of precepts, samadhi and wisdom
to fall back and slip away through negligence. You will need to develop and nourish
them to full maturity and to their transmutation into the supramundane knowledge
of the Path,[29] which erases all defilements, including those lying latent. The
sphere of Freedom[30] and Nibbana, previously perceived as beyond one's capacity,
will arise within the heart the instant all the defilements are cleared out.
The seventh path factor was stated as being right mindfulness.[31] This is setting
up mindfulness to attend to your exertion. Whatever you fix on as the heart's
meditation object -- "Buddho" or mindfulness of breathing for instance
-- should be the place where mindfulness is established. If you settle on the
Four Foundations of Mindfulness -- whether as a basis for samadhi or in the development
of wisdom -- you must constantly have awareness minding and attending to every
round of practice. This is one section of right mindfulness.
The eighth path
factor was stated as being right samadhi, which is the heart rightly and firmly
established in calm. This refers to the samadhi that is imbued with wisdom and
not that stump-like samadhi. Also, it isn't the addictive sort of samadhi that
sticks both day and night and is loath to investigate by way of wisdom. That sort
of samadhi may seem, in itself, to be an adequately exalted dhamma but wisdom
will end up being dismissed as phoney. Samadhi, in this case, is called incorrect
or wrong samadhi[32] and can't truly deliver one from suffering.
To practice
the samadhi that will free one from suffering, attention has to be focused on
one's selected Dhamma principle or theme, with mindfulness guarding and directing
until the heart converges. It doesn't matter too much which class of samadhi this
may be -- it's the right or correct samadhi as long as you feel that the heart
has calmed down. It has ceased from concocting amongst the various thought processes,
and abides, for a time, singular and distinct from all surrounding conditions,
before withdrawing from that state.
This is not the same as that type of
samadhi where, once the heart has converged, one loses track of day and night,
not knowing if one is alive -- and it's as if one is dead. It is only after the
heart has emerged that one starts to wonder about what had happened: "Was
it that the heart converged? Wherever did my mind go?". This is 'stump-like
samadhi' because it resembles a stump without any consciousness. Try to avoid
and quit this type of samadhi, and if you've already fallen for it then you must
immediately extricate yourself.
This stump-like samadhi is certainly found
among those of us who practice. The remedy is to hold back and break the habitual
way the heart tends to converge. If one indulges it then it will always stick
with that propensity, so you will have to compel it to break away and 'take a
tour' of the body. Mindfulness needs to be firmly in control, traveling up and
around and down and around, over and over again until wisdom, Path and Fruit are
realized.
The kind of samadhi that is right samadhi is that which has mindfulness
attending to the state of calm, when the heart has converged into samadhi. After
the heart has emerged again (out of samadhi), the various natural conditions[33]
found within the body and mind should be investigated with wisdom. Therefore,
with the right occasion and appropriate conditions start up the investigation.
Samadhi and wisdom are dhammas that should always interrelate and collaborate.
Don't allow your samadhi development to drift without giving it the necessary
attention.
So, to summarize, one can say that these three dhammas -- mindfulness,
samadhi and wisdom -- are interrelated and inseparable. They can't move forward
alone, for samadhi and wisdom have to take their turns in taking a step, with
mindfulness minding and watching over them.
I've discussed these eight path
factors partly according to the principles of Dhamma and partly from practical
experience. Please note that right view through to right samadhi are formed from
dhammas of many different levels. It's up to each of you listening here to take
them up and apply them in your own practice. How far you can go depends on your
Dhamma understanding and ability.
Regardless of whether you're a lay person
or have gone forth, with commitment you'll be able to practice for the full development
of these eight path factors. The fruits of Freedom[34] and knowledge and insight
of Freedom[35] will then become your most valuable possession. This is because
precepts, samadhi and wisdom are integral to this Path and they function as the
key that clearly reveals these two Freedoms to the heart.
Moreover, all of
you who practice shouldn't misunderstand and think that Freedom and knowledge
of Freedom are separate from each other or that they perform two different functions.
Truly, that's not so. When a man uses an axe to chop up wood, as soon as the wood
is cut through he both sees it with his eyes and at the same instant realizes
it in his heart. In the same way, Freedom and knowledge of Freedom simultaneously
allow the seeing and the knowing that the defilements have been excised from the
heart, through using precepts, samadhi and wisdom.
Thereafter, there can
be no more fussing with problems because all bothersome concerns derive from the
conflict between the heart and the defilements. This is the truly great issue
of the three realms of existence. By letting go of the heart, which is the cardinal
problem, the defilements that are lodged there will spontaneously detach themselves.
Furthermore, sila, samadhi and wisdom, Freedom, and knowledge of Freedom all remain
as they really are. Each side comes to truth, and consequently all the contentious
issues come to an end.
Today, I have presented a talk on Dhamma to all of
you who practice by highlighting the example of the Lord Buddha and the Noble
Disciples. May it serve you as a guide, pointing out the Way so that you can set
your compass -- your programme of practice -- and relentlessly strive to follow
the Lord Buddha. Once you have fully developed sila, samadhi and wisdom, then
Freedom and knowledge of Freedom, which is the essence of Nibbana, will undoubtedly
be yours.
Therefore, may all of you listening here realize that all these
matters are found right here in your body and heart. Please draw Dhamma inwards
as your own. Then, both the cultivation of the means and the fruits of Freedom
and Nibbana, which I have elucidated, will all belong to you, either today or
sometime in the future. May this talk on Dhamma now reach its conclusion.
Evam. Such is the way.
Notes
1. This is from an earlier (1962) Dhamma
talk given to the monks at Wat Pa Barn Tard. It was a favorite of Khun Pow.
2. Saasadaa
3. Saasanaa
4. pi.n.dapaata
5. sakkaro purisan hanti.
6. avijjaa
7. sabhaava dhamma
8. dhammaaramma.na
9. rukkhamuula
senaasanam
10. sabhaava dhammas
11. sammaa di.t.thi
12. ti-lakkha.na
13. sabhaava dhammas
14. samudaya
15. nirodha
16. sabhaava
dhammas
17. sammaa sa.nkappo
18. nekkhamma
19. daana, siila and
bhaavanaa
20. cetiyas
21. sammaa vaacaa
22. samaadhikathaa and
panyaakathaa
23. vimutti-nyaa.nadassanakathaa
24. sammaa kammanto
25. mettaa
26. sammaa aajiivo
27. sammaa vaayaamo
28. opanayiko
29. magga nyaa.na
30. Vimutti
31. sammaa sati
32. micchaa
samaadhi
33. sabhaava dhammas
34. Vimutti
35. Vimutti Nyaa.nadassana
Epilogue
Mrs. Pow-panga Vathanakul died on September 11th,
1976. She had asked her husband, Mr. Vai Vathanakul, to keep her funeral rites
simple and to cremate the body within a few days. (This is the ideal for those
who practice Dhamma.) But when the time came her own family insisted on the customary
Thai funeral.
Khun Vai, for his part, put together a book to give to family
and friends at the funeral. Memorial books are customary on such occasions but
Khun Pow had rather preempted this by already distributing, when she ill, some
Dhamma books that she had had printed. Khun Vai, however, produced his book with
the idea of it being a 'case study'. Four of the Dhamma talks translated above
came from this book, and it seems worthwhile here to mention some of the other
points that Khun Vai brought together. In many ways they are also highly relevant
to Buddhists outside Thailand, living under modern conditions.
Relatives
and friends contributed a section about Khun Pow's life and career:
She was
born in 1925 in Bangkok and studied there, entering the Accountancy Department
of Chulalongkorn University. However, poor health (resulting from a thyroid condition)
forced her to cut short her course after only two years. She went out to work
for an insurance company in 1946, and was one of the first staff of the newly
established firm. Business conditions were difficult in those early days but Khun
Pow worked her way up so that in 1948 she was made Secretary to the Board.
The company sent her (and Khun Vai) on study tours abroad to other insurance companies,
in India and Europe, and for six months in the U.S.A. The American insurance managers
were highly impressed with her "excellent judgment... in underwriting problems..."
and considered her "... an unusually capable woman and apt scholar..."
(There is even a photograph of her in the men-only executive dining-room of a
very large German insurance company, being the second woman to have broken that
barrier.)
In 1958 she was made General Manager of the company. Nine years
later she stepped down from that post -- although staying on as Secretary to the
Board -- so that she would have more time for Dhamma practice. At that time the
company had more than 400 employees with another 400 insurance agents. When, in
1975, she fully retired she had been with the company for almost thirty years,
having overseen a large part of the company's growth. She now turned more to concentrate
on Dhamma.
In the company she had been renown for her hard work and discipline,
and had expected the same from her workers. She was also known for her care and
helpfulness. This is perhaps made evident by the gathering of over a thousand
former colleagues and co-workers who came to pay their final respects at her funeral
rites. (It had been formally announced in the newspaper as per custom, although
no invitations had been sent out to all those individuals.)
Another section
concerns Khun Pow's Dhamma practice:
In 1957 Khun Pow started to visit Bangkok
monasteries to listen to sermons and join in the meditation. When, for health
reasons, she retired from being General Manager she had more time for her Dhamma
studies, and a scholar monk at a major Bangkok monastery was designated by the
abbot to teach her the third, and then second grade General Dhamma studies. (And
she was the only person who managed to pass the second grade examination, at the
monastery that year.)
In 1970 a friend gave Khun Pow a Dhamma book about
the meditation masters in the North east of Thailand. She was deeply impressed
and when one of them, the Ven. Acharn Maha Boowa, visited Bangkok she went to
pay her respects and asked permission to go and stay at Wat Pa Bahn Tahd. On first
going to a jungle monastery she found herself too frightened to come out of her
room at night, but after listening to the Dhamma teaching she became determined
to return every few months to practice. She also decided not to go for her grade
one General Dhamma (book) studies, but to concentrate on putting those studies
into practice.
Khun Pow, with Khun Vai's agreement, started to keep the Eight
Precepts on the Observance Days. When business pressures -- guests from abroad
for instance -- made this difficult, she would simply keep them on another day.
To help make such days more suitable for meditation practice at home, one upstairs
room was set aside and dubbed 'Ekasatarn'. (Meaning 'a place to be alone', and
also sounding as if it is the name of a monastery.) Any disturbing telephone calls
could then be deflected with the news that, 'Khun Pow had gone to 'Ekasatarn'.
Khun Pow's friends would then assume that she had gone to the monastery, and there
would be no need to lie about Khun Pow 'not being at home'.
In 1971, Khun
Pow thought back upon the help given to her by her teacher in Dhamma studies,
the scholar monk in the central Bangkok monastery, and offered to sponsor his
further (M.A.) studies at the Banares University in India. (Since that time, this
monk has become one of the most well known scholars in Thailand.)
By 1974
Khun Pow was spending much more time away in the north eastern meditation monasteries,
and decided that the following year she would spent the whole of the three month
Rains Retreat period up there. Back home, a small hut had been made in the garden,
beneath a tree and with a view of the nearby pond. That was where she retired
to, for she was now regularly keeping the Eight Precepts. She and Khun Vai decided
that it was also time for her to fully retire from the company, which she did
in 1975, and she was then ready to go on the three month's retreat that year.
Khun Pow had always been bedeviled with health problems that resulted in
many stays in hospital. These included operations on the womb, the gall bladder
and the breast. This last treatment concluded with radiation therapy that seemed
to clear things up in 1975. However, that July, when she was already settled in
the monastery for the Rains Retreat, she met a fellow devotee who was also a doctor.
The doctor noticed that Khun Pow's eyes were yellow (with jaundice?) and so advised
her quickly to go to Bangkok for treatment.
Eventually, after many tests
and a final bone biopsy, it was confirmed that this time the cancer had penetrated
to the bone marrow, and that no further treatment was possible. When Khun Pow
knew that the cancer was terminal, she asked permission to go and practice Dhamma
at Wat Pa Bahn Tahd. She arrived there in October and Ven. Acharn Maha Boowa gave
her a Dhamma talk virtually every evening, for over 130 days. Other devotees were
also staying there with her, one being a lady doctor, and when her condition made
it necessary to be nearer the hospital she returned to Bangkok.
When Khun
Pow was home again, she and Khun Vai decided that they would be fellow Dhamma
farers, rather than husband and wife. She asked him to help remind her about Dhamma,
to awaken her mindfulness, in the coming days. Khun Vai therefore prepared some
appropriate Dhamma verses and set himself the task of giving as much spiritual
support as he could. He was able to sit with her and prayed and meditated. When
Khun Pow could not read anymore, he would read aloud and tape some of the important
Dhamma teachings for her to listen and meditate on.
Khun Pow went into a
semi-coma, but when she became more conscious, Khun Vai was there to repeat some
words of Dhamma. He then thought a better way would be to use the original voices,
by using a tape machine. So he arranged tapes of the morning and evening chanting
(that Khun Pow had always recited and found so inspiring); and a tape of the final
Dhamma talk -- the farewell night -- that Khun Pow had listened to at Wat Pa Bahn
Tahd. There were also tapes of Dhamma chants and verses that Khun Pow particularly
liked: such as The First Sermon of the Lord Buddha, the Turning of the Dhamma
Wheel, with its explanation about the Four Noble Truths. And the Discourse on
the Highest Blessing.
By the time that Khun Vai had arranged the tapes, Khun
Pow's condition was obviously deteriorating. The oxygen tubes that she had resolutely
refused and pushed away, wanting to be left unencumbered in her final moments,
had now been reinserted by the nurses. This showed for certain that she had to
be unconscious. Khun Vai started a cycle of tapes and within a few moments Khun
Pow's hands were lifted together in anyjali, the traditional gesture of respect
and veneration. The hands fell back... and were then raised again, palms together,
over the heart. Khun Vai was delighted with this sign that the Dhamma was penetrating,
even though Khun Pow was in a coma. He therefore arranged for the tapes to be
continually interchanged using two machines. The Turning of the Dhamma Wheel sounded,
with words about the heart of one who practices, how knowledge and light arise,
and how by going beyond all attachment there is the Undying Dhamma.
Khun
Pow appeared calm but her breathing became irregular. Khun Vai sat close by and
quietly meditated; and as her breathing faltered he asked everyone in the room
to stay still and not to cry, and for nobody else to come in. As they meditated,
the sound of the breathing gradually diminished. And was still.
Khun Vai
collected all the above to be a 'case study' about an ordinary person taking up
the practice of Dhamma. (And it should not be too difficult for westerners to
relate to someone like Khun Pow.) Khun Vai himself is something of a 'case study'
too. He was Khun Pow's business colleague throughout, successfully overcame a
major cancer operation and, more to the point, is a devout Christian.
It's
said that Khun Vai would accompany Khun Pow to the Buddhist monastery and everyone
who didn't know would think he was a Buddhist too. It was much the same when Khun
Pow (occasionally) went with Khun Vai to church. Religion for him is not just
Christianity, for he sees much value in Dhamma and fully supported his wife in
her practice. With his wife's death he was keenly aware that both faiths are concerned
with suffering -- death and separation from the person one loves -- and how to
deal with that truth.
Khun Vai has been a leading member of the YMCA -- he's
now President Emeritus of the YMCA in Bangkok -- and has addressed various international
meetings, often concerning his understanding of religion. He has spoken about
how he sees a similarity between Christianity and Buddhism. On the basic level,
he compares the Buddhist generosity and moral precepts, with the Christian Commandments
and love. Or "Love in action for all faiths and beliefs." Then he says,
"Whereas for spiritual higher attainment, we have to leave to each person
depending on his or her belief to pursue."
It is now fifteen years since
Khun Pow's death, yet the Dhamma Teachings she received and practiced are still
available to those who want to develop their own 'case study'.
Part
Two
Directions for Insight
Six Dhamma Talks
on centering the mind
in non-attachment
by
Acharn Kor Khao-suan-luang
* * *
Biographical
Note[1]
Kee Nanayon was born in 1901 in the provincial town of Rajburi, about
100 kilometres west of Bangkok. When she was young, she liked to visit the nearby
Buddhist monastery, especially on the weekly Observance Day when she listened
to Dhamma from the monks and kept the Eight Precepts. Sometimes she would rest
from her work around the house by developing tranquillity meditation in any suitably
quiet corner.
Khao-suan-luang is the name of a secluded, picturesque hill
about 20 kilometres from Rajburi, near where her uncle and aunt lived. Whenever
she visited them, she always felt comfortable there and eventually in 1945 persuaded
her relatives to move their house over to the hill. This was the beginning --
the first three members -- of the community that was later to develop there.
Upasika Kee attracted Dhamma students, and residents included both female lay
devotees and white-robed nuns. She taught her disciples to develop meditation,
to chant at least every morning and evening, and to avoid stimulants like coffee,
cigarettes and meat. They could listen to her talks and try to follow the example
of her simple way of living. She made herself comfortable on the barest necessities
and never indulged in luxuries, either in food or material things. Strictly keeping
the Eight Precepts and constantly trying to guard the sense doors were basic to
her practice.
In later years she developed corneal ulcers and eventually
became blind. She passed away in 1978 but her community still continues with about
thirty residents.
These Dhamma talks were given mainly to the women who stayed
at her center to practice meditation. (Men could visit to listen to the Dhamma
talks but were not permitted to stay.) After listening with calmed, centered minds,
they would all sit in meditation together. Some nuns or lay devotees would take
on the special practice and go into retreat alone in a separate meditation hut.
It was known as 'guarding the sense doors', and could last for one or two weeks.
Note
1. For more information see the new translation of four of these
Talks, which, to a certain extent, supersedes this pioneer translation. The introductory
article, Upasika Kee Nanayon and the Social Dynamic of Theravadin Buddhist Practice
is especially interesting. They are contained in a superb collection of Acharn
Kor's Dhamma entitled An Unentangled Knowing, The Teachings of a Thai Buddhist
Lay Woman, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. (Dhamma Dana Publications, c/o Barre
Center for Buddhist Studies, 149 Lockwood Road, Barre, Massachusetts 01005, USA.)
They can also be found in electronic format on many Buddhist BBSs.
Preface
to the Thai Edition
(My) Dhamma talks given to those practicing at Khao-suan-luang
on the weekly Observance Day have regularly been printed, and this book continues
the series. They aim to encourage and support Dhamma practice following the Way
of the Lord Buddha and his Noble Disciples whose brilliance dispels the darkness
of every age and time. Devotion to practice always brings great benefit in leading
to the end of suffering.
I wish to acknowledge the generosity of all those
who have joined together to make merit by printing this book to be given away
freely as a pure gift of Dhamma to anyone interested in practice. Other books
in this series have already been widely distributed to various monasteries and
libraries, and as opportunity allows we hope to continue this service.
Kor
Khao-suan-luang
Usom Sathan
Khao-suan-luang
Rajburi.
23rd April
1972
1. Training in Renunciation
1st November, B.E. 2506 (1963)
As you steadily develop your self-inspection, carefully note where it is heading
so that any lapse or imprudence in your daily life can be corrected. Failing to
uphold a high standard will cause a continuous deterioration in the mind due to
selfishness. You must persevere with the self-inspection because any lapse will
cause this disease of selfishness to spread its infection everywhere. Whenever
you become neglectful, make sure that you then purge any selfishness that has
arisen. This is especially necessary when it flares up in force, but even when
it manifests more subtly, it still needs to be thoroughly searched out. If you
do not eradicate this virulent disease, your practice cannot be considered to
accord with the Lord Buddha's Teaching.
It's therefore imperative that your
self-inspection becomes comprehensive, and that it is based and develops out of
the Five or Eight Precepts. Generally, the precepts can reduce selfishness at
one level and then our mind-development can come in and remove it at a medium
level. This is something you should all understand quite well. Finally, however,
mindfulness and wisdom will need to become engaged in eradicating the selfishness
that results from overlooking the truth about impermanence, suffering, and not-
self. With repeated attention, your concern will deepen and the defilements --
craving and clinging -- and self, in its various manifestations, can be disposed
of. It's not seeing the impermanence and deception of things that permits desire
to grasp hold and cherish them. This disease is made even more difficult to treat
by our predilection in examining other people before ourselves.
To be able
to turn within and apprehend self with its machinations concealed deep in one's
nature, does indeed require potent mindfulness and wisdom. Yet also actually to
get rid of them isn't so simple, and one really only manages to view self's deceptions
and desires. These multifarious schemes of greed are worthy of great attention
and need to be carefully examined. Any shortcoming will force the practice to
veer off course and may end by actually facilitating and increasing one's sense
of self.
In the beginning, we should be content with what we already have
so as not to feed and inflate this sense of self. Greed for anything -- however
coarse or refined, no matter how attractive -- must be put aside. This is something
each one of us must see and understand for ourselves; but because it can be all
so misleading and deceptive, that isn't so easy. The predicament is compounded
because 'self' is always looking out for distractions to involve us in. Should
we enquire what it is grasping for, what it is in turmoil over -- it just pretends
not to have heard. It is only interested in wanting more and more, without end.
A basic feature of human beings is the enterprise they apply when acquiring
things. The defilements possess a certain cleverness in procuring, but not in
giving up or forgoing. If only this could be transposed so that instead we became
creative in bestowing and giving away. The benefit would be great because the
grasping at things would stop and gradually, with intensive contemplation, the
basic attachment would be destroyed. Blocking the defilements from taking their
fill by cutting off their nutriment is following the Way of the Noble Disciple.
But the other way, the way of deception and sponsoring self, makes one a firm
follower of Maara, the Evil One, who personifies the defilements. Instead of dispensing
things one then endlessly acquires and consumes them.
There are, therefore,
two possible ways to go. You have to discern in yourself the existence of the
acute disease of selfishness, with its 'getting-cleverness'. Yet, if you aren't
sharp enough, you'll be fooled by self's duplicity: "The more [things acquired]
the merrier," as Maara would say. Ask yourself, "Am I really following
the way to enlightenment or is it the way of Maara and selfishness? On which path
does my proficiency really lie?" This is something to always question.
The household stores in this area have been donated for the use of those who come
here to practice Dhamma. Be careful never to appropriate such communal property
to yourself and always ask about such things first. Grabbing this and that to
make yourself as comfortable as possible, even if it may have been done unthinkingly,
is still the same as theft. These communal household utensils should therefore
not be requisitioned as your own; even those things donated specifically for your
use should, on occasion, be brought out and shared. In that case there is no attachment
and one does not plan just for one's own convenience. Otherwise, the instinct
of 'self' -- which needs to appropriate things to itself -- is too manipulative
and cunning, and its villainy is so difficult to see. One then mistakenly endorses
the dictum, the more I can get the better, and such selfishness puts one under
the domination of Mara.
Now that we have become disciples of the Lord Buddha,
how can we possibly be like that? If we should see that the greed arisen in ourselves
becomes particularly grasping, then the only way out is to give up the thing (that
we're grasping at). Let go of it! Under no circumstances should you quietly appropriate
it on the side. Absolutely not! I will tell you plainly, anyone living in a religious
community who behaves in such a way will only go from bad to worse, because there
is no sense of shame or fear of doing evil. Without these two fundamental principles
as a foundation, how can Dhamma possibly be built up? Though one might be knowledgeable
and skilled in reciting the scriptures, one can't even put right such an underlying
character defect. A personality that knows no bounds to its greed really seems
disgusting, or rather the disease that infects that mind does. What can we do
to cleanse such a mind? Anyway, to associate with extremely selfish people will
inflame the disease still more and its infection will penetrate deep into the
mind.
All this remains a hidden subject which people don't wish to speak
about. It's not pleasant talk for it disturbs and disconcerts with its sinister
implications. It's only through mindfulness and wisdom examining within yourself
that you'll be able to know the deceit of the defilements and greed. How can they
all be eradicated? This is not a matter about which you can be halfhearted. You'll
have to disavow and give away as much as possible. Anything that is involved in
upholding such selfishness must be relinquished. Don't agree amongst yourselves
that everyone may grab as much as they can, but rather encourage one another to
give as much as possible. Failure to do this will cause the mind to fall into
anguish, because you twist round and infect yourself with the dirt and disease
of selfishness. Who else can possibly come and treat you?
When you decide
to examine this malignant disease, you'll have to recall all this for yourself,
because nobody else will want to discuss it with you. Even though they too are
saturated with the same infection, they prefer to talk of other matters. The occasional
giving away of various things is relatively easy, but to relinquish self is both
recondite and extremely difficult. Nevertheless, the effort is worthwhile because
this self is the sole source of all suffering. Should this root not be destroyed
it will continue to sprout and flourish, so we must turn and apprehend this self.
The Lord Buddha has laid down the Recollections of the Four Requisites [of
life], which, for the monks, are: robe material, alms food, shelter, and medicine.
He said that if they weren't considered merely as material exigencies, as elements,[1]
free of all ideas of self, then the yellow robe, the lump of rice, the hut and
medicines would all burst into flame. Even though we may not be monks and only
beginners in Dhamma practice, if we really have the determination to be rid of
the defilements and self, then there's no loss in trying to follow a similar basic
rule. If we don't, imagine how the defilements, craving, clinging, and self will
relentlessly proliferate. So we have to make our choice: simply to follow the
old way, or to strive towards the ending of self. Each one of you should take
this to heart. Turning to examine internally is difficult, but even modest application
will result in great benefit. Actually catching the deceit of self in the act
of plunging one still deeper into suffering, and being able, there and then, to
wipe it out -- this is truly a reward beyond price.
The failure to implement
this eradication, this giving up of self, lays the basis for the intensification
of suffering. For, by not bringing it in for examination, it is able to grow freely.
You may be able to quote and recite the scriptures -- and even skillfully teach
others -- yet the mind remains impure and confused. By clearly seeing this you
will feel revulsion for everything involved with this craving and desire. You
will start to give generously and to make sacrifices, no matter how difficult
it seems, and thereby suffering can no longer secure a hold. Each small renunciation
builds its own reward in the mind until there is complete victory.
Anyone
having a strong tendency towards stinginess -- which is a particular defilement
-- seems unable to give anything up. They are reluctant to examine themselves
or admit that they can possibly harbor a disease as severe as selfishness. If
they would frequently make an inspection, that sort of defilement wouldn't dare
to show its face. But by being negligent the defilement grows strong and bold,
and is capable of the most selfish and despicable acts. Such people will then
be able to appropriate the property of a community, such as we have here, for
their own selfish purposes.
By turning to a constant probing of your mind,
you'll be able to succeed in the giving up of unworthy attachments. Whatever you
do will then become Dhamma, and will be of assistance to our companions in [this
world of] birth, sickness, old age and death. The getting rid of selfishness will
also allow you to come to the aid of others, without caring about the hardships
involved. Without self we are truly on the noble way.
The practice of Dhamma
needs orderliness in daily life. Any slackness is inappropriate. Another point
here is that any shortcomings in behavior allow defilements a chance to come forth
more easily. Orderliness helps to arouse mindfulness, which may in its turn forestall
the defilements. Disregard for rules and regulations brings nothing, whereas conscientiously
abiding by them can bring benefit. They give one a sense of how properly to respond
to any situation, and this is necessary because we still can't completely understand
by ourselves. The Lord Buddha knew the situation from every side, whereas we are
surrounded by darkness and ignorance. This means we can't be sure of ourselves
-- either externally or internally -- and so must depend on Dhamma and the Way
it points out to us. The decision -- to follow Dhamma or to wander away -- remains
with each one of you.
Anyone who wishes to be rid of their defilements and
suffering, will need vigilance as an asset of mind and must then be diligent and
persevere. Forever encountering the scorching fire of suffering, they will finally
have to stop, turn and set themselves the task of struggling to be free. Without
a clear and thorough understanding about oneself, the defilements will thrive
and spread their virulent infection, which can only bring more and more suffering.
We must therefore reinforce our mindfulness and wisdom, for no other instrument
can fight and destroy the defilements.
The persistent quest to train the
mind needs mindfulness and wisdom to point the way. Halfheartedness merely wastes
time and one remains the same unmitigated fool. When you come to realize this
the benefits from the resulting effort are immense. Eventually, you will be able
to destroy the defilements, relinquish all attachment and the mind will transcend
suffering. But any failure to achieve this will see you swept away by the power
of craving and defilements. Negligence and carelessness will allow them to lead
you away by the nose; they'll pull you here and drag you there. This is why the
Lord Buddha emphasized, in so many ways, the necessity of letting go, sacrificing
and disentangling yourself. This is the way to excise the cancer from the mind.
This kind of malignant disease is very insidious and though it may reveal
a few symptoms, it's usually not enough to alert one to the situation. Eventually,
it will usually triumph and sometimes you may even submit to its terms with alacrity.
Your examination therefore must be circumspect and alert, otherwise it's like
plugging one hole in a leaking boat only to find it's leaking elsewhere. There
are six holes or apertures -- the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind -- and
if you have no control over them, they are left open to follow after emotional
objects. And this causes great suffering. You must use mindfulness and wisdom
to seek out and review the true situation present within yourself, and this must
become the most important activity throughout the day.
Our life is for working
on the elimination of the defilements, not for anything else. Yet the defilements
and suffering continue to hover about, and if we aren't equal to their threat
we'll surely get burnt. We need to pull ourselves around and question how to deal
with this, for then we'll be heading for great success. While we still have breath
and our body isn't yet rotting in its coffin, we must take counsel and search
for a way to eradicate the root infection of this terrible disease, the germ of
defilements and craving. This cancer, which has gnawed deeply into the mind, can
only be remedied with Dhamma. The Lord Buddha prescribed his Dhamma medicines
with their various properties. Each one of us must carefully select from them
and blend what is correct and most suitable, and then use it to destroy the root
infection. All this necessitates great circumspection.
Should your self-inspection
remain insufficient to destroy the defilements, they will grow stronger and burn
like an unseen fire inside the mind. Introspection is the extinguisher to use,
so that when you notice greed arising for an object, you can snuff it out and
let go of it. Now, look at the mind, is it free or entangled in turmoil? If you
don't persevere, it can only end in your getting burnt. No matter how smart you
think you are, you always seem to succumb to greed. Greed seizes the commander's
position and you make no attempt to dislodge it -- and even go out to receive
it in with compliments. The mind is then the oppressed slave of desire, and has
fallen into delusion, with the grasping of this and that. There's no obvious way
out of such wretched entanglement; we just don't know how to escape the dilemma
that viciously encircles our mind.
We are trapped by our lack of true resolve
and finally, when we are at our wit's end, we become slaves to the defilements
just as before. The more often we submit to them the more their power grows. The
only true way to overthrow them is strenuously to bring mindfulness and wisdom
to bear. We can then examine, from all angles, the suffering they bring until
the mind refuses to stay a slave any longer. It's no use just making an external
show of it, because the greater the fuss the more stubborn the defilements become.
Yet, we also can't be halfhearted about it. You must have the appropriate response
for whatever the situation brings. You can't rush in with massive good intention
to wipe them out, but must first carefully focus and enhance mindfulness and wisdom.
This will all require great circumspection, and all these points will need to
be remembered.
To genuinely understand, the mind will have to investigate
in every posture, with every breath. It will then be equal to the task of stopping
those moods and tendencies that continually fabricate notions, without reason
or value, under the compulsion of delusion. Without true determination, practice
becomes halfhearted. This leads to distraction and a waste of valuable time, with
it all being nothing more than delusion. We must turn our vision within and persevere
until we see clearly. Once we are adept, it's actually more enjoyable to look
inside than out. Externally there is just the dissolution of things seen -- why
be so engrossed in that? But the inner eye can penetrate to the clear light and
then to the Truth of Dhamma. By seeing the nature of the dissolution of all determinations,[2]
new insight will arise as to that nature that doesn't deteriorate, a nature that
can't be altered but just is.
If your all-round mindfulness and wisdom remain
insufficient and weak, the defilements will be overwhelming. However, if you can
persistently build up mindfulness and wisdom, the strength of the defilements
will proportionally decline. You'll notice that though the mind was previously
confused, it has now become resolute. It's able to see the impermanence of things
more clearly, so that they can be let go of. This insight into impermanence empowers
mindfulness and wisdom to move towards an even deeper discernment. Yet this penetration
must be truly focused, otherwise the slightest inattention will be disruptive.
If it doesn't wander off target, even for a moment, then this is truly the way
to control the defilements. Negligence, however, means that they can never be
threatened and they'll regroup stronger than ever.
Mindfulness and clear
comprehension must be developed in every posture, with every breath. We must make
the effort so that the mind is attentive and doesn't drift away following various
emotional objects, or lose itself in the confusion of concocting thoughts. You
should be forewarned here about the tendency to think, "I know!", when
you don't really know at all. Until the mind penetrates to true insight there
must always be doubt and uncertainty; but when you begin truly to see, such doubts
fall away and speculation is no longer necessary. One truly knows. How can you
be certain that you have true insight? When the mind truly comprehends, the defilements
and suffering are really eliminated. However, if one just thinks that one sees
-- whilst having no real insight -- then one can't possibly destroy the defilements
and suffering.
This insight penetrates into the mind, for this is where the
desire for things is activated and that which blocks out Dhamma resides. When
this concocting stops, one sees through to the nature of mind that is without
the fire and anguish of desire. This can be seen anytime when one focuses properly
and with determination. One can see other things, why not this? Just truly look
and you will certainly see!
But you must look correctly to be able to penetrate,
otherwise you won't see anything. If you grasp at things -- which goes against
the basic principles of true knowledge -- and then try to go straight on to the
truth, it's probable that you'll get all twisted and an element of pride, or something
similar, will insinuate itself. The only way is to see the arising and ceasing
of things, merely seeing and understanding without grasping. See! This is the
way to freedom from attachment. It has been said, "See the world as if it
were empty," and we must similarly see our moods, as they arise and cease,
as empty. When the mind truly realizes the transience of things, the deceit of
the world and our moods, it doesn't grasp at them any more. This is the free mind.
There are many levels to this but even a temporary experience is still of benefit;
just don't go and grasp after anything!
The free mind that is called vimokkha
-- attaining to true and final release -- we find described in one of the scriptures[3]
we chant: "vimokkha is not subject to change." Those levels of freed
mind that change are not true vimokkha, so we must continue to examine each level
and press for the fruit, which is always freedom from attachment. It doesn't matter
how many levels one has to work through until it finally doesn't change, which
is when it is without any aim or attachment for anything. This is the true way
to penetrative insight.
May all of you who practice Dhamma, work tirelessly
to see and know this truth.
Notes
1. dhaatu
2. sa.nkhaaras
3. Solasapanyha Sutta
2. Making Dhamma Your True Concern
16th
November, B.E. 2506 (1963)
We all have suffering, and the most important task
of our life is to let go and be rid of it. The mind is besieged by defilements
and is left helpless owing to its deficient study of Dhamma. It is continually
scorched with suffering and unless we turn to Dhamma it will be consumed throughout
this life and on into the next. Only Dhamma practice can extinguish and release
us from suffering.
This practice of Dhamma is precisely a constant self-
examination, because body and mind are the basis of our existence. The condition
of changing, which they naturally exhibit, needs to be correctly examined. Otherwise
you will follow the unthinking 'normal' course, understanding nothing and grasping
after things which only go to compound your suffering. This, however, is difficult
to see and will require your full attention and concern. In examining the unrest
and anxiety of the mind, you'll find it emerges from the disease of greed, hatred
and delusion. The desire for things can only bring turmoil to the mind and it's
like a virulent infection has taken hold.
It's normal to be afraid of bodily
disease, but the affliction of the defilements, which disturb and depress the
mind, doesn't concern us at all. We choose not to recognize the seriousness of
this infection and sometimes, in our ignorance, even to aggravate matters. To
actually get down to eliminating the defilements is therefore difficult and unattractive,
especially with the myriad outside distractions that stir up desire. The indifferent,
common person just spins with their desires, leaving the mind dizzy and unbalanced
all the time. This is plainly suffering and torment, yet if we don't concern ourselves
with this affliction, don't struggle to overcome the tendency to follow our desires,
then we must abjectly submit to it. It's our ignorance concerning the defilement's
successful infiltration and infection of the mind that makes this disease so difficult
to see.
You must turn your attention away from external things and set it
on your own body and mind. Whether mind or body,[1] it's all subject to impermanence
and change. Yet this is difficult for the ordinary person to comprehend. It's
like what we think of as the growth of people; from their mother's womb onwards
there is continual change and transformation so that this growth really refers
to change. Nothing remains immutable in this world.
The decline and decay
of either the body or material things shouldn't be so difficult to notice, and
yet it still somehow escapes our attention. The mind and mental states are constantly
changing but instead of seeing this we grasp at the sight or sound of any object
experienced, and this drops us into even more suffering.
If we could penetrate
to the actual experience of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles and mind
objects, we would find a continual change, a constant arising and passing away.
How does the old emotional object pass away, how does a new one arise? How is
it that the mind is overpowered by the defilements into conceivings and imaginings
that proliferate out of hand? But we pay no interest to such matters and are consequently
overwhelmed by suffering, which extends into actions and speech full of intense
greed, hatred and delusion. This incessant torment of the defilements -- hotter
than the hottest fire -- can only be relieved through the practice of Dhamma.
Yet the ordinary worldling, though being roasted alive, behaves as if she is immune
to the fire and pays it no attention. She even smiles and thinks herself content
in habitually grasping at transient things as 'me' and 'mine'. She doesn't realize
that whatever she reaches out to, and falls in love with, is forever out of reach,
edging towards dissolution. This all needs the deepest examination, so as to see
the truth and not fall into attachment and delusion.
People learn from the
scriptures of such diseases as the fetters[2] or underlying tendencies,[3] but
they don't turn to check them out in themselves. One takes up words and translates
their definitions, yet one doesn't see that the wrong view of holding to personality[4]
is the direct source of all one's suffering and torment. One not only fails to
comprehend this plain truth, but then one turns and unthinkingly submits to upholding
such wrong view. This is why the mind is in such a state of profound ignorance.
It is normal for people to have knowledge about many things, sometimes to
the extent that they can't relax and must be forever researching new matters.
They know what's good, what's right -- they know it all! Whatever the subject,
they manage to concoct an answer, finally spiralling out into wild conceptualizations.
They simply know too much! This style of knowledge is that of the defilements
and craving; its antidote is the knowledge arising from mindfulness and wisdom
that penetrates to the truth of the mind. If we should give free rein to this
obsession with wild imaginings, the mind will exhaust itself and we will eventually
suffer a nervous breakdown. If we allow ourselves to get into such a state then
we'll end up insane. Some cases may stay deluded until their death and, on being
reborn, they will return to that same delusion. This transpires from a lack of
critical examination and from not trusting in the application of Dhamma. Tranquilizers
and similar drugs for the mentally ill merely relieve the external symptoms but
do not get to the root cause. A radical cure depends on the control of one's own
mind, using mindfulness and wisdom to brake and critically check, enabling the
mind to free itself from its delusions. This is the complete cure of Dhamma.
That Dhamma practice should be able to cure every kind of illness should merit
some thought. Each stage in your understanding of Dhamma will depend on mindfulness
and wisdom. Those who show no interest in Dhamma -- no matter how great their
knowledge of worldly matters -- will fall under the domination of the defilements
and become subject to birth, old age, sickness and death. Once you come to understand
Dhamma, following the Lord Buddha, the mind will become bright, calm and pure.
This knowledge is of far more value than that which you have acquired for your
livelihood's sake, or that which you obtained by being pleasurably -- but temporarily!
-- engrossed in various entertainments.
When you come around to constantly
examining your mind, you'll see that when anxiety arises the mind is not free
and will not accept the truth of the Lord Buddha's words: "Go out from desire
in happiness." Being burned alive in the maw of desire through indulging
in the five sense strands -- sight, sound, smell, taste, touch -- is hardly 'going
out from desire with happiness'. But if you correctly see that the penalty of
desire is suffering, it will cease to gratify and the mind will be freed from
desire. At that moment, when the mind is unattached to sense objects and is free
of desire, you can penetrate to more profound levels and truly know whether it
is really happiness. The free mind will know of itself that happiness is not being
overwhelmed by suffering or aroused to passion. The mind without passion will
immediately incline solely towards freedom. Is this what you want, or are you
satisfied with lust and insatiable desire? Consider carefully and make your choice.
Inclining the mind towards freedom and release from the entanglements of
passion and lust brings a natural state of purity and calm. Surely, compared to
this freedom and happiness, the turmoil of sense desires will seem loathsome and
repellent. If you don't reflect upon this you'll become absorbed and lost in never-ending
desires and passions, caught and confined in the cage of craving. Held in the
grip of this disease so difficult to cure, isn't it high time you turned to radically
curing it by destroying its root infection?
When the mind fixes on a desired
object, you must reflect and see the harm and suffering that arise and compare
it with the happiness of the mind freed from desire. You must constantly examine
this suffering and the freedom from suffering in your own mind, attending to it
with every in- and out-breath. The principle is set down in the scriptures in
the Foundations of Mindfulness, which describes many different ways to examine
and reflect. But if you don't actually apply them in your practice, no matter
how many of the texts you read, it will be of no benefit. You will continue merely
groping along in the dark without understanding anything. To detect this insidious
disease requires mindfulness and wisdom, and these must be nurtured and applied
so that they become well established. If you only do this sporadically and irresolutely,
you will always end in laxity and make no progress in Dhamma practice. It is just
this progress that leads to a lessening of suffering and a decline in desire --
as you will see for yourself. You'll realize that the most direct way of practice
is constant reflection and examination, and will see how best this can be applied
in your daily life. Those of us here who devote our lives to Dhamma through following
the training rule of chastity[5] must especially consider this carefully.
This way of Dhamma practice needs an earnest application of mindfulness and wisdom,
persevering with them until true knowledge arises. But initially, how should one
investigate so that new understanding may arise where previously there was ignorance?
When the mind is possessed by ignorance and delusion, you can't relax or be indifferent
but must concern yourself energetically with escaping from that which brings harm
and suffering. You must discern what it is that brings brightness and clarity
to the mind.
If this isn't done, the mind will tend to be seduced by surrounding
sense objects and you are left with just scholarly knowledge and talk. In fact,
your mind truly doesn't know what is what, and any scrap of insight that does
genuinely arise will not be followed up. You'll relax, become preoccupied with
things, and neglect the practice. It is therefore important to be very careful
about this and bring mindfulness and wisdom to bear so that they can be steadily
trained and perfected. When you can penetrate to the truth of impermanence, suffering
and not-self, even if just for a moment, you'll see that this is truly the perfect
way to extinguish all suffering. Whatever remains undiscerned must be earnestly
investigated and related to what one already knows. This leads to disattachment
from self and others, from 'mine' and 'theirs'. Just a momentary insight gives
value to your life, otherwise you'll remain in the continual darkness of ignorance
and ceaseless imaginings. The mind being caught in constant turmoil is truly a
wretched state of affairs.
Meditation must therefore be steadfastly developed.
You must build it up as an asset of the mind and not be concerned only with eating,
sleeping and other bad habits. You must watch over the mind so that it stays under
the direction of mindfulness and wisdom, always pulling it back and never leading
it out to other concerns that are a waste of time. A first step in the practice
is the code of conduct, necessary because otherwise things only slide into distraction
and confusion. You must therefore place yourself under precepts and discipline,
for it's this that can bring great benefit. You'll then come to see that this
life is meant only for training yourself towards the elimination of defilements
and suffering; and doing it before the body itself is laid out in its coffin.
Without this concern for practice and for finding a suitably quiet place, the
mind will tend to overextend itself with notions of conceit. Therefore you must
all decide on the way to go, blocking the wandering of the mind after sense objects
and moods, and bringing it back to investigate within yourself so as to steadily
develop calm and tranquillity.
The Lord Buddha rightly set down various methods
for developing meditation, including mindfulness of breathing. If we don't take
up one of these methods as a basis for practice, even though it may still be possible
to gain results they will be unsteady and fleeting. But with a basis of practice
to aid one, the mind can be brought under the control of mindfulness and clear
comprehension, without fading into distraction. How should each of us go about
this to obtain the desired results? In your daily life, how can you improve your
practice? These questions warrant great concern and consideration. Don't be careless
and forgetful. Whatever you do in your practice -- including the guarding of the
sense doors[6] -- must be followed through steadfastly without vacillation or
distraction. Otherwise time flies by, your life ebbs away, and you achieve nothing.
Inattentive and halfhearted, how can you expect to escape from suffering? What
a waste -- be earnest!
Such concern, when it arises authentically, enables
you to correct and right yourself. It steadily wears away at your distraction.
Your investigation should center on impermanence, the suffering involved in such
change, and the lack of self in all of it. You then must focus on the central
point of 'knowing' and penetrate through to clearly understand impermanence, suffering,
and not-self in both body and mind. When you succeed in clearly realizing this,
you can truly be called wise, awakened and happy through Dhamma. If it is genuine
insight you'll no longer feel any attachment or involvement with anything. You
will be free of feelings of 'me' and 'mine'. Does this sound appealing? I'm not
talking about trivial matters. This is serious -- I tell you plainly -- and you
must concern yourselves seriously. Halfhearted listening to what I say is no use,
you must really try to gain insight within yourself. This brings such great rewards
that it deserves your special attention. Above all things concentrate your attention
on this.
May Dhamma be the guiding light in your life.
Notes
1.
naama or ruupa
2. sa.myojana
3. anusaya
4. sakkaaya-di.t.thi
5. brahmacariya
6. indriya sa.mvara
3. Establishing a Foundation
of Mindfulness
6th November, B.E. 2513 (1970)
Concern for Dhamma practice
is of the greatest value because it leads on to wisdom. Its steady development
will allow you to '(inwardly) read yourself,' by using a careful examination of
suffering and the harm caused by the defilements. Occasionally, you'll be able
clearly to discern the situation and resolve to get free. The mind is then calm
and serene, without those agitating thoughts that, through one's negligence, had
previously been allowed a free rein.
The principle of self-examination is
a tool of vital importance and requires regular and specific development. It brings
the mind to stability by securing it with mindfulness is essential. Otherwise,
the mind will waver and vacillate following contact with various objects, which
will eventually lead to proliferating imaginings and turmoil. By controlling the
six sense doors -- which means having mindfulness constantly in attendance --
one lays a deep, immovable foundation. This can be compared to driving piles into
firm ground rather than mud, where they would sway under any external force. Mindfulness
is therefore necessary for controlling the mind, so that it is stable and can
withstand contact with objects, neither craving them nor being repelled by them.
This firm mindfulness must be maintained in each posture and with every breath,
and this will effectively check the mind's wild chasing after sense objects. Otherwise,
the mind will be like a rudderless ship, battered by wind and waves (which are
the sense objects) and drifting helplessly. Mindfulness is therefore essential
in securing the mind, allowing it to stabilize and investigate for insight.
Initially, in order to establish a foundation of mindfulness, you'll have to concentrate
on centering and balancing the mind in impartiality. At this stage, there's no
need to speculate or be concerned about any matter. If you can fortify and hold
this centeredness, it will become the base and standard for your investigation.
But this impartiality needs careful checking to make sure that it's not just a
state of indifference and inertia, or absent-minded preoccupation. You must be
neither scattered nor engrossed in things. Sitting straight-backed in meditation;
maintaining mindfulness and centeredness is all that is required. There's no need
to think of anything. The mind is firm, unswayed by whatever may arise, be it
pleasant or painful feelings. One's attention is locked onto the stability of
mind, and excludes all feelings (and moods) and it's this that leads to equanimity.
Guard against any inclination towards either absent-mindedness or infatuation
with some object. So that if you're sitting in meditation, after thirty minutes
of the hour's session the mind is established and continues to be so for the remaining
time. When changing posture to standing, walking or lying down, notice that though
the body has shifted, the mind is still centered and unshaken. Mindfulness, which
must be sustained with every breath, is the kingpin in this, forestalling the
imaginings and concoctions of mind. Then, with the mind centered and neutral,
the intense concentration on the in- and out-breath can be relaxed to a suitably
moderate level. In the hour's session, the mind will then be without worries and
distracting thoughts. Afterwards, you'll start to notice that in whatever you
do or say, the mind has a natural 'poise with knowingness'.
When the mind
is thus stationed, it will have all-round protection so that contact with external
objects will not affect its stability. Even if it should be drawn out for a moment,
it will quickly and without coercion return to maintaining its base. What had
previously stimulated attraction or repulsion, a pull to this or that side, is
rendered ineffectual because the mind is now centered and neutral. Any wandering
or distraction can be countered by a critical examination of the virtues and attributes
of the centered, stable mind.
The foundation of mindfulness must be deeply
laid within every posture and constantly developed in every action. Once the base
is set, the mind becomes compliant, calm and free of imaginings and turmoil. It
steadily grows more refined and is able to penetrate and examine, knowing both
its stability and its disinterestedness in those brief external contacts. Any
craving can thus be disposed with. When changing your position -- perhaps in response
to painful bodily feeling -- the mind will neither fix on the pain, nor on the
new pleasant feeling (with the improved circulation), but will be intent in itself.
This stability permits you comfortably to avoid the cravings involved with feelings.
The ordinary untrained mind on the other hand will be irritated into pursuing
pleasant feelings. With repeated practice, the foundation's piles are driven deeper
and deeper, so that there is no swaying under the impact of sense objects and
moods. No longer are you restlessly drawn out after sights, sounds, smells, tastes
and tangibles; no longer indulging in meaningless thought fabrications because
of your lack of mindfulness.
This stability of mind needs constant attention
and strengthening. Then the examination of impermanence and not- self, which usually
deceive the mind, can be set up. The mind, like a mischievous monkey, tends to
wander away. Yet even monkeys can be caught and trained, and so it is with the
mind. It must be first caught and tied with mindfulness, then tamed and disciplined.
The training of the mind can neither be excessively forced nor abandoned
to complacency. Everyone must find out for themselves exactly what brings results.
If you are only casually mindful, the mind will lack a foundation and be easily
distracted by sense objects and moods. It will then be impossible to brake, to
calm down and free yourself. The firm establishing of mindfulness in every posture
-- standing, walking, sitting or lying down -- becomes essential so that the monkey
is tethered and can only circle its post, without being able to get into mischief.
Once the mind is trained, it will be calm and capable of self-examination.
However, any obsessive imaginings show up a deficiency and you'll have to train
yourself further, because it's precisely this lack of firmness that underlies
all your turmoil. Why should the mind be so wild and disobedient? Practice --
so that it calms down and rests in stability.
At this stage, the mind is
stabilized and supported by mindfulness in all postures. Any distraction occurs
for only a moment and without attachment. You'll now have to perfect this so that
all distractive imaginings and moods, arising from contact with external objects,
are subdued and completely cease.
This training isn't so very difficult.
The vital point is being aware of the mind's centeredness in whichever of the
various meditation subjects you choose to use. If attention wanders, always bring
it back to the established mind, and the foundation will continue to be laid.
Such mindfulness is then always available for investigation, because the firmly
settled mind is also able to see clearly. It can discern the truth and falseness
within oneself, whereas the unsettled mind can only swing around to haunt and
jumble everything up to fool you. The established mind can therefore get rid of
the defilements and suffering from every side.
This way of practice depends
very much on diligence and perseverance in establishing the mind. Then, just as
a firmly anchored post isn't shaken in a storm, so the various defilements with
their resulting anguish and distress can no longer afflict the mind. When this
is realized, you'll no longer go out with fondness for this thing or aversion
for that. Such equanimity can then become a basis for investigation and insight.
But initially, in stabilizing the mind to a deeper level, there's no need to involve
yourself with any thinking processes. Preoccupations and absent-mindedness must
both be guarded against, for it's at this point that delusion and the machinations
of craving takes over. The firmly settled mind might waver a little but it will
quickly correct itself so that the basis of mindfulness can be used for examining
impermanence, suffering and not-self.
In the beginning stages, though not
absolutely essential, it's better to concentrate on stabilizing the mind. If you
try to focus the mind without such stability it's liable to fly off into uncontrolled
imaginings. Therefore, settle your mind, steadily focusing it so that it develops
to the profound level imbued with freedom.
The torment of the defilements
with their domination of the sense-doors will then be overthrown. This is because
with such firm control over the mind, the eyes and ears, the nose, tongue and
touch will also be guarded. Without a firm foundation of mindfulness there is
no restraint of the senses, for the eyes want to look, the ears want to hear and
come into contact with the myriad sense objects. With the mind centered, it's
already protected and so there's no need to guard the actual senses themselves.
Then, whatever you say, the mind is settled without harking after notions of:
"That's good -- I like it; That's bad -- I dislike it; That's pretty... That's
ugly..." The mind is no longer fixed on externals, but keeps to the principle
of being centered and uninvolved.
Every experience is now received with impartiality
because five of the six sense doors have been closed, and the mind is centered
and steady. When sights, sounds, smells, tastes, or tangibles arise, the mind
isn't attracted but remains centered, controlling all. Just like that. Try it.
It is now the end of the Rainy Season. During this week, you should all make
an extra special effort to establish the heart with mindfulness. In the Lord Buddha's
time, it was during this period -- when the lotus and water lily bloom -- that
a meeting was arranged between the Lord Buddha and his senior disciples. They
had just finished training newly ordained monks and novices during the Rains.
As in other years, I want to stress this again to encourage you to make the mind
steadfast. When this is achieved the mind will bloom, unwithered by the defilements,
heat and myriad afflictions. So you should all try for this during the coming
seven days.
Watch over the firmly centered mind so that it receives constant
support. Except, that is, for when you're asleep and even then the mind should
be centered right up to the last wakeful moment. Try it, and you'll find on Awakening
that the mind has remained centered. It will be free of craving and all the suffering
this involves. Then you'll be able to see for yourself how the mind gently blooms.
With the mind established it is naturally cooled and soothed without effort.
You can be assured that this mind will neither be scorched by the defilements
nor led into self-inflicted craving and torment. The fires of lust, hatred and
delusion can't touch it. But please understand that this can only be achieved
with genuine exertion and constant mindfulness. Playing about and being irresolute
will only hand you over to the torments of the defilements.
Dhamma practice
is one of restraint and steadfastness, clear of any mischievous pursuits after
sense distractions. Whatever you do, whether eating or excreting, make sure the
mind is established within. When you realize this state, the mind will be unshaken
by turmoil and free of weakness. It will be established in a freedom beyond harm
from those things that had burnt it. It is free for through introspection it no
longer grasps and embraces such things, and is therefore constantly protected.
In such a state there are no thoughts of self, there's just the stabilized mind.
Sustain it for seven days and you will know the results for yourself. So please
persevere!
Each day keep a check and record of your progress. Don't become
lax and erratic. Keep the mind steady and don't weaken in your resolve -- really
try to make an end of suffering! If you are irresolute, you will fall for the
provocations of wanting things and doing things, and thereby you'll enslave yourself
and suffer.
Your daily life should give good opportunity for self- examination.
Enter the battlefield. Firmly center yourself. The uprising feelings and moods
should be seen as neutral without involvement in notions of good or bad. Everything
is halted in centeredness because without intention there is no good or bad or
self. Sustain this centeredness and freedom from self, and know exactly how the
lotus blooms. If it doesn't bud and flower, know that it's withering and rotting
in the heat of the defilements and your inattention. Please apply yourselves to
establishing the mind, and do your best to bring the lotus to bloom. Make sure
it doesn't become scorched in the fire of the defilements.
4. Struggling
against the Defilements' Hordes
13th November, B.E. 2513 (1970)
We are
meeting here again today and some of you have already spoken to me of your practice.
I would like further to emphasize that your development of mindfulness and self-
inspection requires a suitable basis in effort and perseverance. We have all heard
about the mind being enshrouded in defilements, and we can only falter and slip
back by not pressing on with practice. If the mind lacks energy, it's time to
increase and maintain the pressure of practice, thereby enabling us to break through
with insight. Such insight isn't merely a matter of 'thinking it out', for it's
an examination based in the concentrated mind, which is calm and stabilized to
a sufficient degree. This calm, centered mind, without imaginings or thought fabrications,
without positive or negative reactions to emotional objects, requires a careful
and subtle investigation into its various conditions without disturbing its balance.
A cursory understanding is hardly true knowledge, for one knows merely the external
calm or those characteristics of mind that still sway under the defilements, without
any lucid insight.
Make the effort to analyze and examine within, searching
for the understanding to help you along and constantly sharpening your investigation.
If you aren't at this investigative stage, true knowledge won't arise because
your knowledge and mindfulness are still at a relatively superficial level. Taking
the physical body up for examination, you can analyze it as either made up of
the various elements -- earth, water, fire, air -- or inspect aspects of its loathsomeness.
This will lead to an understanding about the body, which can be advanced in each
posture so that your thoughts never wander off course. Your work is meticulously
to focus on and destroy the defilements in whatever guise they appear.
The
qualities of heedfulness and non-distraction will advance your practice along
smoothly. It's as if one becomes experienced and proficient in treating and eradicating
the subtle disease within the mind -- which is the malady of nescience and delusion.
Normally, we can't comprehend even the grosser aspects of this condition, but
when it's been stilled by firmly establishing the mind we'll be able to penetrate
through to the deeper levels and discern the deceit and cunning of the defilements.
With this seeing and understanding you'll be ready to renounce them as they swerve
away to find a sight or sound, a delicious taste or smell. Whether it's aimed
at the relishing of bodily contact or pleasant mental contact, you must be wise
to it all. But this is difficult to perceive because we still have so many desires
for pleasure at a very coarse level, involving pleasant feeling together with
perception, thought and awareness. Thus we are infatuated by their guiles, fall
into negligence, and end up understanding nothing.
This is a subtle affair
because such alluring pleasures are really only concerned with lust, sexual desire
and craving. These instigate the mind to swerve out through the five senses after
delightful objects remembered from before. Long past impressions -- whether good
or bad -- are conjured up, which we deludedly grasp at and sink ourselves in anguish
and total sorrow.
To understand these myriad disease-carrying germs within
yourself is difficult. Although you may well discern and dispose of some of the
more external problems, overall it's of little help. Wherever they are concentrated
together, this master- problem is stubborn and determined to remain master however
much you may try to overcome it. Remember that if your mindfulness and wisdom
aren't yet strong enough, the battle will also upset the basic calmness of mind.
Dhamma practice requires a careful balancing -- neither too tense nor too
slack -- so that you always strive with the appropriate response, which is the
Middle Way. You will have to notice in yourself the state of mind that is controlled
by mindfulness and wisdom, and constantly support and sustain it with diligent
attention. This allows calm and stability to arise for longer periods until you
become intimately acquainted with it. At times you will recognize the need to
put on extra pressure to force the results because, even though it may be hard
to do, you can't just give up halfheartedly. Weakness means there's no way to
stop the mind drifting back into its old wilful ways, so you must apply force:
strong mindfulness and wisdom, vigorous exertion to the point of sacrificing life
if need be. When the time comes to battle it out you'll have steadfastly to fight
on, sometimes using a vow to fortify your resolve, until you can vanquish the
mind's stubborn obsession with coarse pleasure and desire for things. Otherwise
the mind scrambles distractedly after whatever attracts and lures it through the
senses. Unable to resist, it becomes increasingly frantic and agitated.
The
easy-going acceptance of whatever 'comes up' means that when it is desire that
arises, you go overboard for it. This then becomes a habitual attitude of giving
free rein to your desires, because the defilements now know your weak spot and
will continually tempt and provoke you. It's like breaking an addiction to betel
nut and cigarettes, or indulgence in meat eating. Even though it's on a very coarse
level such habits are still very difficult to break because craving constantly
waits for its chance to tempt you. "Just a little bit," it invites,
"it doesn't really matter... just a taste." They entice like the bait
on the hook, for as soon as the fish is bold enough to take one nibble, and then
another, it's sure to be caught. So whenever we fall for a pleasant taste, the
defilements are waiting to draw in the line while we struggle helplessly, impaled
on the baited hook.
You must realize that the overcoming of the defilements
isn't a trivial affair, but requires steadfast practice. Weakness won't do, but
you must also consider and gauge your strength in this battle because the defilements
have the power of a demon yet lie hidden deep within your personality. How can
you harass them to force them out? In some cases, for instance in breaking an
addiction, you can have a full-blooded fight and complete victory without also
killing yourself in the process. But an all out battle isn't always called for
-- especially in those deeper, more refined aspects that require a more subtle,
gradual approach and need careful thinking out.
You must learn how steadily
to undermine the defilements' roots so that they gradually weaken. When your base
of mindfulness and wisdom is strong enough, you'll then be able to turn the tide
against them. However, if you still find yourself out-manoeuvred you'll need carefully
to analyze the situation. Otherwise the defilements will frustrate your every
effort, for when they decide they want something they'll brush mindfulness and
wisdom aside and insist, "I must have that! I won't listen to any objections!".
They really are that stubborn. So this isn't a trifling matter. It's as if you
are face to face with your enemy, confronted by a man-eater of a wild beast. What
will you do?
This confrontation with the defilements needs very careful handling.
If they should appear right before your eyes, are your mindfulness and wisdom
sufficient to counter them? This is the horde of the enemy[1] come to offer battle,
to burn and destroy. How should we handle them? What stratagem can we use to overcome
them right there and then? Confronted with bodily or mental pain or, worse still,
with desired bodily or mental pleasure -- what to do?
The pleasant feeling
is a much more treacherous affliction because of its insidious ability to mislead
us, without our even realizing it. But you can be sure that nobody is seduced
by unpleasant feeling because it's just too painful! So how can you find in this
present, existing confrontation a means of disengaging yourself from both the
pleasant and the unpleasant? It's not a matter of practicing and accepting the
pleasant but rejecting the painful. It's not like that at all. You must see through
to both characteristics and realize that both pleasure and pain are impermanent
and therefore unsatisfactory. If you don't discern this you will fall for the
deception of craving that is only interested in pleasure, whether it's of the
fleshly variety or whatever. In every posture isn't there always an obsession
with finding pleasure?
By trying to lose yourself in pleasure with its multifarious
forms -- it doesn't matter what as long as it gives only pleasure -- you'll fall
unaware into the mire of suffering. You'll be stuck there because of a lack of
investigation into impermanence, suffering and not-self. You will be deceived
into welcoming bodily and mental pleasure as beneficial, whereas on careful examination
they are found to be suffering. By understanding all of this, you'll start really
to comprehend the truth of impermanence.
When the mind no longer continually
insists on pleasure, your suffering and anguish will lighten. Furthermore, you'll
see that in reality there is no pleasure to grasp hold of anyway -- but only suffering.
Your grasping should therefore start to come under control. When we have chanted
the scriptures together, it has been about this: "r pa, vedanaa, sanyaa..."
-- "form, feeling, perception[2]... are all suffering". Yet you still
fail to penetrate to the truth of this within yourself -- which is made up of
just these things. Without a new perspective on true knowledge, you must fall
into delusion, trying to attain pleasure, always pleasure. When in fact all you
get is suffering. You shut your eyes and ears, and refuse to understand anything.
If you really did understand, the mind would become much more peaceful, calming
down from its wild chasings after nonexistent pleasures.
Craving is an initiative
that startles and frantically agitates the mind. It arises from the desire for
pleasure, so you will have to investigate to see that: such pleasure doesn't really
exist; that the natural state is one of suffering; and that it isn't 'me' or 'mine'.
You will need to analyze and differentiate. First, take the integrated body apart
into its separate elements without allowing any of them to be seized on as being
'me' or 'mine'. Continually go over and over it in this way, until you realize
its truth.
The same idea is contained in the Recollection of Using the Requisites
of Life (which are robes, food, shelter, and medicine) that we chant together.
If we don't analyze and understand this properly, then we must fall into the delusion
of loving and pining after this body -- "it's me, it's mine!" We repeatedly
seize upon it without quite realizing what we're doing, even though Dhamma teaching
is ready and waiting and complete. We may have tried in a cursory way to consider
it all, yet only achieved a very vague understanding that tended to wander away
into distraction. Such investigation does not penetrate because the mind has no
foundation and is not based in calm. The mind chases after and fabricates various
agitating concerns, yet never catches anything of real importance. It's like a
half-blind man seeing a blur and managing, as time flies by, just to snatch the
odd idea or two.
Those who are unconcerned with pursuing Dhamma, who are
indifferent about what is right and wrong, remain unquestioning and have no uncertainty
or doubt. They are enveloped in the darkness of ignorance. When you start to examine
Dhamma, any points not yet fully understood must naturally arise as doubts or
queries: "What's this? How should I understand that? How can I dispose of
this?". These questions need to be taken up and worked at. If you don't,
it plainly shows your lack of mindfulness and wisdom. However, a cursory investigation,
picking it up and then leaving it unfinished, means you will never be able to
penetrate to the root principles of practice. You'll know a little -- and that's
all. With mindfulness and wisdom still underdeveloped and an exertion effort that's
inadequate, you will lack the courage to penetrate into the Noble Truth.
Trying to estimate for oneself about what's right in one's practice may become
self-deception, which will then make it impossible to overcome suffering. If you
happen to understand something, don't go out and brag about it or else it will
turn and befuddle you in many inextricable ways. Wise people and sages have always
been careful to press on with their investigations -- even if they really have
gained some insight -- never getting stuck and satisfied with their present level
of practice. They never boast about their accomplishments, for that would surely
be the mark of a fool. The clever person constantly searches out the obstacles
ahead, which are always more subtle than those already overcome. They never rest
content with the present lucidity, but always want to penetrate further. With
the defilements still burning and scorching one, how can one afford to stop to
brag of such and such an achievement -- even if it might be a genuine insight?
Without a firm foundation, you'll always need to be careful and cautious about
this.
In your investigations with mindfulness and wisdom, it's the danger
of carelessness and heedlessness that takes on the greatest significance. Only
when heedful can you reckon to keep abreast with your life's span, the term of
which is always ebbing away. But what exactly is this heedfulness, this avoidance
of negligence? This is the vital question. If you remain ignorant of it, however
much tranquillity you may gain -- by guarding the sense doors, for instance --
will eventually falter and you're back with the old turmoil.
Be careful!
The defilements will provoke and force you to speak and bray; they won't allow
you to keep your mouth closed and quiet. Without understanding the underlying
intentions and basic situation, you will only deceive yourself and end up going
the rounds, bragging of your past attainments: "I attained calm for so many
years...". It's a deceiving of both yourself and others. For, in reality,
you are still in bondage to stupidity, following the dictates of the defilements
within yourself, without even realizing it. Then, if anyone should offer praise,
the ears prick up and you puff yourself out. Instead of explaining about suffering
and the harm of the defilements that you have managed to understand, you just
boast about yourself.
You can't just bumble foolishly along, for this Way
demands the alertness of mindfulness and wisdom. After proper examination, you'll
find there's nothing to be idly amused and preoccupied about; that both externally
and internally it's all really one great deception. It's like being alone in mid-ocean
with no island or shore in sight. Can you now afford just to sit back and relax,
or make a temporary show of effort and then boast about it? Of course not!
When a person's investigation penetrates through to ever more subtle levels of
mind, they will steadily become both calmer and more reserved as well. This is
comparable to the increasing knowledge and mature circumspection of the child
as it develops to become a teenager and then an adult. Mindfulness and wisdom
must be continually developed in this way so that you can discern, in whatever
arises, what is right or wrong, true or false. This will enable you to relinquish
and let go of it all. Attaining to this true Dhamma practice will make your path
through life smooth and even. Otherwise, you'll fall into boasting of temporary
success in techniques of tranquillity practice and eventually find yourself in
even greater distress. This is where the defilements proliferate and one plunges
headlong into their conflagration. You'll (cockily) elevate your head into a mass
of internal fire!
Use the torch of mindfulness and wisdom to neutralize and
extinguish the blaze of the defilements that sears your mind. Do so with an increasing
faith in your own efforts Don't allow the defilements a chance to insinuate their
'command post' with its various stratagems. You must be alert and equal to them.
Be circumspect -- don't fall for them! Whatever rationale they come up with can
only succeed when your mindfulness and wisdom are deficient. The defilements lead
you away by the nose, openly scorching you with their fire, yet you are still
able to open your mouth to brag and boast! Turn and inspect this in yourself.
Check every aspect, because right and wrong, truth and falsity, are all within.
It's not a matter of external observations. Any external damage is nothing compared
to the internal hurt from the defilements' blaze.
When 'I myself' raises
its head, if you are not wholeheartedly committed to Dhamma practice, there's
no way you can overcome suffering. A little knowledge, a little renunciation,
can't get to the root problem that lies buried deep down. This must be dug out.
It's not just a matter of resting easy after some temporary and superficial success.
This won't do because the defilements lie deep in the basis of personality, which
can only be searched out with the delicate but thorough examination of mindfulness
and wisdom. Otherwise, if you stay on the coarse level, you can practice until
your body lies rotting in its coffin, but it won't have affected the basic personality
problem.
Anyone with a careful and scrupulous manner of practice is able
to see their own deficiencies and faults of character. They will need to control
and overturn pride in all its aspects, not allowing it to act big, to become inflated.
However, the actual elimination of this disease isn't so easy. For those who haven't
persevered with a rigorous enough self-inspection, the process may actually only
increase their conceit, their bragging and 'teaching'. Yet should they turn within
and discern the conceit and deceit of self, a profound feeling of weariness and
sadness will arise. One will pity oneself for the stupidity of such self- deception.
So you must set yourself to battle on. However much pain, however many tears --
persevere! Don't be only concerned with pleasure seeking. Determine that, "Come
what may, I will keep on with my striving, with my practice of chastity, throughout
this life."
Don't grumble about the first small difficulty, that, "It's
a waste of time. I'm quite content with giving in to the defilements." And
then quit the task. You must take just the opposite stance. When temptations and
provocations to 'grab this, take a lot of that' arise -- don't indulge, don't
take! However marvellous it seems, give a firm refusal, "I don't want it."
This is the only way to withstand the snares and deceptions of the defilements.
They scare and trick in every manner of ways, so that even if you get wise to
one stratagem they simply change to another, and another...
Acknowledge the
situation:
"I have been continually and variously deceived by the wiles
of the defilements, and I'm still ignorant of the truth inside myself. Other people
may fool me a little but the defilements do so all the time. I fall for them and
follow them the whole way. My trust in the Lord Buddha is nothing compared to
my belief in these defilements. I'm a disciple of the demons of desire, passively
allowing myself to be led ever deeper into their jungle wilderness."
If you can't see this for yourself then you really are out there, lost and being
burned alive among the corpses of that jungle charnel ground. There, the demons
forever spit and roast you with desires and every form of distress.
Though
you may have come to stay in a place void of distractions, these demons are still
at work, persuading, tempting and trying to draw you away. Just notice how the
saliva flows when you come across any delicious object. So you must make the decision
to be either a warrior or a victim, and in your practice to struggle to overcome
this horde of defilements and desires. Be always on your guard, no matter which
way they enter to seduce and deceive you. Nobody else can come in to lead you
away, but the demons of your own desires can and do so with relish.
You must
break this bondage through scrupulous attention and examination of yourself and
thereby attain freedom. Strenuously develop your mindfulness and wisdom, gaining
insight and letting go of everything, until all your suffering is extinguished.
Notes
1. Maara
2. "ruupa, vedanaa, sanyaa..."
5.
Overcoming Suffering
21st November, B.E. 2513 (1970)
Today, I wish to
comment on the principles of Dhamma practice, because when applied properly they
steadily offer insight into the truth and falseness within oneself. This is valued
highly because all of us must come to see in ourselves the (Four) Truths of Suffering,
its Origin, its Cessation, and the Way Leading to its Cessation. Whoever remains
totally ignorant of this falls into the suffering of the world. Even though they
may reside in a monastery they won't gain any benefit from their vocation. It's
the same for those who live at home: all they possess there are precepts, because
lack of true understanding means their practice will tend to wander away towards
worldly pleasures and, finally, suffering.
The practice of investigation
must continue until one comprehends suffering and its origin, the power base of
defilements in the mind. The steady elimination of these defilements is truly
the Supreme Way. Those who don't practice at all are left behind, blind and ignorant
in the midst of defilements. They are led unaware into suffering and, unless they
find Dhamma and the way of practice, they are doomed to birth and death, making
kamma for their next round of suffering.
When you catch sight -- through
your practice -- of what suffering is really about, you will strive to overcome
it and never again be heedless of the danger. This means a constant struggle for
victory, always cutting away at your faults until arriving at the more subtle
aspects of suffering, craving and defilement. A deep probing and a delicate examination
are required, while a mere superficial inspection proves inadequate. Therefore,
the mind must be firmly established with mindfulness and focused inwards without
any outside distractions. When you do turn within, you will be able to see the
truth of suffering and its origin, craving and the defilements. You will then
know their features and traits, and be able to destroy them.
Truly speaking,
Dhamma practice is only concerned with one thing: it all comes down to suffering
and its origin. This is the central, pivotal point in human life, and even all
the animals are in this same predicament. Ignorance and wrong view insinuate a
propensity to grab and consume every sort of thing, but right view will clearly
reveal the truth of suffering and its origin.
You can also think of it in
terms of fixing attention on seeing the truth, for without fixing on suffering
you can only remain ignorant. The unsecured mind will always tend to drift away,
following and becoming absorbed in emotional objects. Therefore, when you try
to focus attention on Dhamma, the mind -- which has been habitually allowed to
wander away -- may well resist and struggle. You must then rely on repeated effort
to secure the mind until you realize the way to tame it and bring it back under
constant control. It then becomes easier because the mind no longer tends towards
distraction. However stubborn a problem it may have appeared at first, it can
now always be tamed and brought back to calm.
But never underestimate the
strength of the defilements. Should the mind prove intractable, you must apply
maximum effort to seek out the reasons why it won't calm down. A halfhearted approach
won't succeed, for it needs a 'fight to the death' attitude. If your only concern
is for pleasure and comfort, then be assured you will never gain release from
the domination of the defilements.
The mastery of the defilements envelops
the whole of the basic personality structure, making it formidably hard for anyone
to find out the truth about themselves. A mere smattering of knowledge certainly
won't stop you from going astray. You'll thereby abandon the quest and involve
yourself in various excursions, without recognizing the vital importance of Dhamma
practice. You'll no longer bother to be strict and vigorous in the Dhamma work,
but instead will absorb yourself in grabbing things under the defilement's direction.
By weakly groping along like this the clear seeing of suffering is made all the
more difficult by allowing the mind to abscond. It is concerned only with swallowing
the defilement's bait. When the defilements announce their slight discomfort,
you will quickly pander to them and take the lure. You neither appreciate the
power and mastery of craving, as it swerves away after sights, tastes, smells
and sounds, nor the resulting harm of such obsessions.
This ceaseless activity
means you will never be able to bring the mind to stillness. It leaves one squarely
sunk in suffering even though you may try to shut your eyes to it all. Through
Dhamma practice one gradually realizes one's situation, and this conveys a steady
easing of the suffering -- as long as you aren't heedless. Whereas before you
were always defeated and burned, now you prevail by turning the flame of mindfulness
and wisdom back onto the defilements. So abandon your delinquent and heedless
ways, and realize for yourself the benefits of Dhamma. When you take Dhamma to
heart, it will keep the practice progressing, but inadequate effort will only
reap you more and more misery. Resolve to practice until your final breath!
Don't be feeble and easily led astray. Those with mindfulness and wisdom will
understand this advice, but those deficient and unpracticed will instead swallow
the defilement's lures. Rather than surmounting suffering, their practice will
then regress to its former state. Their attempt at skillfullness will mutate --
through delusion -- to become suffering and unskillfulness. They will criticize
Dhamma practice as being futile and bad. If such a person submits to the defilements,
Dhamma practice becomes impossible.
The practice of Dhamma involves great
struggle and endurance. It's comparable to rowing against the current, for one
needs great exertion to succeed. Going counter to the defilements is just as demanding,
for they're always waiting their chance to drag one down to a lower level. If
you aren't alert and don't utilize the Lord Buddha's Dhamma in examining yourself,
your strength will fail. This is because mindfulness and wisdom remain weak and
vacillating, especially when compared to the strength of the defilements. If you
go over and combine with these tempters and agitators, you will be led wildly
astray into turbulent obsessions.
Dhamma practice is, then, a going against
the current of suffering -- because suffering is the crux of the problem. This
is where you must focus your practice, because it's only by actually seeing suffering
that you will be drawn to discover its root source. Wisdom will then be able to
track down exactly where suffering springs from. For those with mindfulness and
wisdom the arising of suffering is taken as the ideal opportunity to search out
its original source -- to be able cut it off there. Such investigation proceeds
on many levels, from the coarse to the refined. It therefore also requires consultation
and advice, so that you won't stumble. Otherwise you might fancy that you can
figure it all out in your head. And that won't do at all.
There are many
principles of Dhamma that the Lord Buddha left for our examination. However, it's
not mandatory to learn about every one of them. Taking up just some of the more
important schemes, such as the five aggregates[1] or name-and-form,[2] will be
of much value. However, it does require a rigorous all-round examination, not
just an occasional probe. This will lead to the arising of a feeling of weariness
with the whole situation, so that the shackles of lust are loosened. Alertly guarding
the sense-doors with tight supervision, will enable mindfulness to outdo any lapses
into negligence. Whether talking, acting or thinking, be aware of whatever leads
you into error. This persistent sustaining of mindfulness must continue with resolution,
for it is the way to end your suffering. Mindfulness and wisdom stay retarded
because the concern and interest in you are still not sensitive and subtle enough.
The more refined and circumspect you become, the more mindfulness and wisdom are
strengthened. So the Lord Buddha said: "Develop yourselves fully. Make mindfulness
strong in the mind."[3]
The development of your practice through daily
tasks follows on from the examination and control of the mind. This will become
evident in its accomplishments and benefits, whether great or small. Increase
your effort and don't be so easily disheartened. Don't forfeit such a golden opportunity,
for your life is steadily dwindling and ebbing away.
The development of mindfulness
and wisdom leads on to Dhamma maturity. However, if your defilements are gross
and your wisdom coarse, you will have to take extra special care when you arrive
at old age -- and that eventually comes to us all. So grasp this moment to develop
the faculties[4] of faith, energy, mindfulness, samadhi and wisdom; all in balance
together. Keep up a steadfast scrutiny and investigation and you'll find that
the temptations of the world have lost their appeal. When you can see them as
poisoned bait, the longing for worldly gains will cease. Dhamma then becomes the
refuge and beacon of your life. With this assurance in yourself, you can only
stride forward without any slipping back, while any uncertainty about the merit
of Dhamma practice will make you waver and turn astray. So be very careful that
you aren't pulled away towards the chasm and pit of fire.
If you can't free
yourself you will be tugged at from every direction, because the basic game plan
is the tendency to be dragged down. But for those who are more circumspect and
have enough mindfulness and wisdom to discern suffering, there's no more falling
away and no more worldly hardships to endure. You will then feel a weariness and
distaste for lust, and the temptations of the world will lose their color and
attractiveness. Your Dhamma practice will shake off whatever misled you into grasping
at alluring objects. You will recognize that death may come soon -- it isn't so
very far away -- and then there'll be no concern for owning or supervising worldly
treasures, however vast. With such realization, a great disenchantment and coolness
towards worldly pleasures will arise, and they will lose all their luster. They
will no longer be cherished and esteemed, however, whenever required for Dhamma
they may still be of use. Your ardour cools down. After all, even this body that
is perceived as 'me' and 'mine' is steadily wearing out and falling apart.
Defilement and desire stand ready with their troublemaking for any lapse into
careless abandon. They then stab and punch through with the suffering involved
in name-and-form and the five aggregates. When your investigation really penetrates,
the gross external concerns about good and bad people or things are all swept
away. Your attention is then wholly fixed on insight to destroy this eminent self,
this conceit of self. External affairs fade in importance because the vital concern
is the penetration to lucidity within, where the bright light arises.
This
bright clarity of insight isn't the same as common or ordinary light. You must
know it for yourself, otherwise it evades description. Mindfulness and wisdom
will cleanse the mind: ejecting, renouncing, eliminating and liberating according
to their ability. Any lack of mindfulness and wisdom, with its scrutiny and renunciation,
leaves one surrounded by internal darkness -- a gloom permeated with fire. The
defilements conceal their poisonous fuel so that the internal fires always blaze
fiercely -- what can be more terrifying than this? Even though this conflagration
may lack substance, as soon as there is contact with objects it flares up.
The bombs dropped on people are nothing compared to the three bombs of lust, hatred
and delusion. These are perpetually tearing the mind apart, whereas an air raid
brings death in just the one lifetime. But until there is practice of Dhamma you
won't be able to comprehend the gravity of the situation, which is like a slow
roasting of the mind by the defilements whenever there is (sense-) contact. To
catch sight of the defilement's cunning agility so that one can destroy them,
requires proper tools and careful attention to avoid heedlessness.
Those
who stay and practice here without the concerns and involvements of the world
will find they can progress relatively quickly. Depending on the proficiency of
mindfulness and wisdom, they will be able to refine their investigation and reduce
suffering. Each one of you will know for yourself the extent to which a life dedicated
to Dhamma practice is advancing towards the end of suffering. People who can never
find any free time to come and rest here, and those who come but don't truly leave
their worldly concerns behind, will be lost in a fog of diversions and preoccupations.
They often like to claim: "It doesn't matter where you practice. One can
practice anywhere." This is really just hot air. In actual fact their practice
is stuck in the groove of the defilements. Yet they still manage to brag about
being able to practice "anywhere at all". One might remark that their
mind and mouth are out of alignment. Their mind, though seething under the attack
and heat of defilements and craving, isn't aware of their predicament. It's as
if something lives in filth and prefers to exist and die in that filth.
Those
people whose mindfulness and wisdom remain quite coarse will quite happily play
about in the mire of their sullied minds. Those with a more mature and penetrating
mindfulness and wisdom, will feel disgust at such filth. As one's insight grows,
so this feeling of revulsion deepens and intensifies. One then sees the danger
in preoccupations, delusions and desire, because they're entirely concerned with
suffering. One sees that it's all a matter of impermanence, suffering and not-self.
Then the questions: "What do I want from life? What was I born for?"
arise. Those who are ignorant answer: "My life is for acquiring money and
things to get rich." But that sort of life is the same as falling into hell!
Anyone who understands the Dhamma of the Lord Buddha, realizes that there's absolutely
nothing that is worth wishing for, or concerning oneself with. Everything ought
to be relinquished and released.
Those who are still attached to the five
aggregates, thinking, 'they are my self,' must investigate to see that each of
them really embraces suffering. Alternatively, in a more condensed format, they
should realize that name-and-form is suffering, or, even more broadly, that body
and mind are suffering. When you can see all of this from the coarse to the subtle
level, you will be able to rise above pleasure and pain, for both are then given
up. However, without a full understanding you will still yearn for pleasure, and
the more you desire the more you will suffer. This also applies to any attachment
based in the peace and happiness arising from tranquillity-meditation. This then
becomes almost like an addiction. One craves and must consume the narcotic that,
one considers, is able to bring one pleasure. Insight into the nature of the continual
craving and its concomitant suffering never occurs to the addict. They want and
they get the drug, and think themselves very happy and contented!
The feature
that continually foils the addict's bid to break their habit, is that after taking
the drug they feel quite content. Thus it is with sensual desire: it is sated
only to flare up again when the briefly assuaged appetite returns. People think
that the gratification of an intense longing brings even greater pleasure, without
realizing the inherent danger and suffering it involves. Such is the state of
those with weak wisdom and gross defilements. They don't see the turmoil of desire
as suffering, and instead of extinguishing it, they try to allay it by taking
poison. This poison is the pandering to the craving so that it's briefly gratified,
then having to do it again, and again, and again, until one is stupefied and deluded.
A person with mindfulness and wisdom focuses on the question: "Why must
I repeatedly indulge my desires?". They realize that it's the craving itself
that must be attacked, because by overcoming this one element, they will not only
escape the frantic effort to satisfy the craving, but will also do away with future
desire. This is the way that enables one to transcend suffering. However, the
obsession with the pleasure taken in consuming things, makes the disowning of
such desire an arduous task.
All one knows about is how to feed on the bait
and this makes one afraid to forgo and stop. It's the dread of the addict not
getting his drug, or, on another level, the meat-eater not being able to give
up their attachment to tastes. It's all a matter of being a s]ave to desire. If
you can't overcome such gross cravings, how can you ever deal with the much more
subtle longings rotting within yourself? With just a little persuasion, off you
go, swallowing the coarsest of baits, fussily arranging it to suit and satisfy.
You'll notice neither your exhaustion nor comprehend that the source of all the
terrible suffering that deludes and dominates all creatures in the world is found
right here in this process. Even though the Lord Buddha's Teaching sets out the
most appropriate way to investigate and meditate to get to the root of all this,
you ignore it and continue to swallow the bait. Staying immersed in pleasure,
you can only apply yourself to follow defilements and desire.
Our practice
here is concerned with going against the current of craving and the deviating
mind. It means a multifaceted supervision together with restraint regarding any
sense-contacts -- sight, sound, smell or taste, for example. Such contacts arise
to lure and obsess one into liking some object and then, swiftly tiring of it,
racing frantically after something else. Continuing on in this way can only lead
to complete agitation.
The malignancies in the mind are many and if you don't
know how to curb and eliminate them, you can't help but fall under their menacing
power. Those who have seen the nature of suffering will make it a life and death
struggle. Just as the Lord Buddha did, when he was prepared to give his life to
overcome suffering. Don't think it's something that can be done with ease and
leisure. In each of his lives the future-Buddha[5] had to endure hardship and
suffering to help himself and others. We too must be willing to sacrifice all
possessions and wealth, however great.
It just can't be done in comfort.
Dhamma practice is a battle and struggle, and whoever endures and perseveres will
gain success and peerless victory. This supreme victory means that any problem
can be examined and then resolved. So please keep on trying. It's not a matter
of gaining some limited success and then turning away to something else for after
every successful encounter mindfulness and wisdom will be strengthened. So you
must be on your guard and inspect whatever arises through the sense doors -- the
eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind.
With application, your mindfulness
will become sharper and more penetrating, and you will start to understand about
releasing and extinguishing. It's similar to grasping a live, glowing coal and
perceiving its heat -- and therefore quickly releasing it. Dhamma practice is
of supreme worth, but victory over the might of the defilements is arduous and
should never be underestimated. Therefore, strenuously apply yourself to reinforcing
mindfulness and wisdom, and the defilements will correspondingly lose their potency.
This is called progress in Dhamma, because it's the quenching of the suffering
within. So while you still have life and strength, apply it all to this task.
The Lord Buddha declared: "Whatever is still unclear, make it clear;
whatever is not penetrated, pierce it through; whatever is not complete, finish
it off". So don't be feeble and vacillating, always making excuses. The leaving-home
for 'ordination' is also considered a sacrifice. In the Lord Buddha's time, people
from every level of the householder's life -- royalty, the very wealthy, the middle
class, ordinary citizens -- went forth, cutting themselves off from home and family
and entering the Lord Buddha's clan, with no return. He said that the falling-back
into the former, petty life was bad. The Lord Buddha's only concern was earnestly
to pull people out of suffering. So if we want to escape we must follow his example,
cutting away worry and concern for former relatives by entering the lineage of
the Lord Buddha. This life and practice under the Lord Buddha's discipline is
truly the supreme way and refuge.
Those who follow the principles and discipline
of Dhamma will pledge their life to the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. Even those
who have only managed an occasional taste of its resulting peace, without penetrating
to the whole truth, will make their commitment. They realize that there is no
alternative way that leads to freedom from suffering. When their mindfulness and
wisdom become more penetrating, they will see that on this shore there is only
anguish, with a never-ending circle of birth and death. They then become determined
to cross to the farther shore, making unceasing effort to renounce self.
There is nothing mysterious about this 'crossing over to the farther shore'. But
first you must give up the view of self in the five aggregates, by investigating
to see them all as suffering -- none of them are 'me' or 'mine'.
Focus on
not grasping or holding. The Lord Buddha once spoke of the past as below, the
future as above and the present as in the middle. He also said that unskillfulness
was below, skillfullness was above and neutrality[6] a was in the middle. To each
of these characteristics he said: "Don't grasp them!". You should not
even grasp at what you think is Nibbana, the farther shore. Consider the scope
of the true realization of non- attachment concerning any object. Those of you
who can't fathom why even Nibbana isn't to be grasped at, must reflect on this:
Nothing must be either grasped or held. This is set down as a Dhamma principle
and is really the perfect summary of them all.
'Determined things' and 'non-determined
things' submit to 'all things are not-self'.[7] They should not be grasped and
held. This summarizes the whole matter, including the investigation to see the
Dhamma Truth in both the world and in the Teaching. One's mindfulness and wisdom
need to see through the world, penetrating from determined things to the non-determined,
from the worldly to the world-transcending. Yet this is all concerned with what's
inside oneself, and not with anything external.
This insight into the essence
of Dhamma requires a deep and profound understanding. Then it's just a matter
of releasing and letting go. The dictum: 'Don't grasp', will suffice throughout
your practice, from beginning to end. By not holding to 'me' or 'mine', it can
be said that you are truly following the Lord Buddha's Way, and will eventually
win through to the complete cessation of all suffering. Then mindfulness and wisdom
will penetrate throughout, without attachment to matter, feeling, perception,
conditions and consciousness.
The Lord Buddha explained about ignorance,
about delusion concerning form, about craving that arises in the mind making it
agitated, and about kamma, the action that seeks to obtain what is desired. When
you perceive this, your practice will be correctly aimed at eliminating desire
and understanding yourself in both body and mind. This needs a repeated examination
to stop the concern and obsession with external things. The deeper your understanding
the more pathetic such desires appear. They are simply not worth the total absorption
they demand. Such exuberant distractions originated in ignorance, resulting in
a continued raving about people or involvements in the myriad things. Your talk
becomes pervaded with worldly concerns: "this is good, that is bad; she is
good, he is bad." In such a condition, you won't be able to see either the
affliction of desire or the defilements within yourself.
The Lord Buddha
resolved Mogharaja's Problem,[8] by advising him to see the world as empty, as
not-self, as being composed of elements and aggregates. The aggregates (and so
on) must be stripped away, and concepts and assumptions such as 'person' or 'animal'
(and so on) must be disestablished. The elements, aggregates, sense bases and
concepts, need to be all exposed so that there's no more grasping at them. What
remains is the Deathless Dhamma. This is without birth or death, and is also called
the World-Transcending Dhamma or Nibbaana.
There are many names, but they
all essentially refer to the same thing. When mundane things are spurned, the
result is the Transcendent Dhamma, the Non-Determined Dhamma, Pure Dhamma. Just
consider the running-on, the coursing-on from birth to death, from death to birth
in the different realms of existence. Then decide if Nibbana is really worth attaining.
On that farther shore, there's no suffering, no birth or death, because the 'King
of Death' can't reach there. Yet because we can't fathom this out, we persist
in repeatedly choosing to be born on this nether shore, amidst its endless suffering.
With true understanding about suffering, your course will become firmly set
straight for the farther shore, where all desires and defilements are extinguished.
Insight allows the penetration to see the common characteristics of impermanence,
suffering and not-self in the aggregates. Those with mindfulness and wisdom must
concentrate on annihilating the defilements, for should its 'germ' remain, it
will lead to renewed suffering. Therefore, steadily investigate, release and eliminate
-- this is certainly the right way to proceed. But do you care about any of this?
It's not as if there's some mystery involved; every one of you, whether woman
or man, can come to accomplish it. So develop yourselves through right moral behavior,
through calming and stabilizing the mind, and through mindfulness and wisdom.
Then you will realize its true worth.
The stupid person enjoys dismissing
Dhamma with: "Why should I bother?". Such a person can neither safeguard
precepts, nor bring the mind to calm, and they turn away from that greatest of
all tasks, the resolute striving to end suffering. It is these people who are
crazily rushing around, snatching and consuming, competing together until they
all lie rotting in their coffins. Exactly where is the value in any of this? We've
gone astray for far too long already, our lives almost spent after spanning the
years. It doesn't matter which generation you come from. The air you breathe isn't
just for your convenience and comfort, but for you to learn about suffering and
the way to extinguish your suffering. Don't imagine that your family and relatives
are anything fundamental -- you are alone. You came alone and you'll go alone.
It's the same for all of us. Only when there isn't any self to go, is Dhamma-insight
achievable. If there is still a self to be born, then you are stuck in the orbit
of suffering. So it's up to each one of you to investigate for a way of escape.
Those who trust in the Lord Buddha will have to go the same Dhamma way. Those
who would rather count on the demons and defilements will thrust themselves down
into the mire. They may then try to bully and be assertive, but their only gain
will be more suffering. True understanding on the other hand, leads to a profound
weariness and a loosening of the bonds of lust. However, if people appear to understand
while still going out following after desires, then they truly are a disciple
of the demons. They declare a weariness and fatigue with it all, but really their
mind isn't at all tired and finds it still very attractive. It still wants to
get, to have, to possess. Yet insight can still arise through self-inspection
of mind, and then the stupidity and delusion start to diminish. They will come
to their senses, from misguided delusions, and will realize the foolishness of
self-praise and conceit. This is the way steadily to rid oneself of such folly.
Your investigations must always be directed within, As self-inspection steadily
becomes increasingly subtle and penetrating, your investigations must always be
directed within. It's not concerned with expert knowledge in external affairs,
but with the seeing within yourself of all that's impermanent, suffering and not-self.
Ignorance stands as the source of any misguided attraction, but you've already
closed your eyes and ears, and even tried to show off your presumed knowledge.
You won't be able to blame anyone else though, for you'll see that it's all due
to your own foolishness. This means that you must strive to clear up such backwardness
before you die. Don't waste your breath in gratifying desires, to get, to be and
generally to make merry. For this is being possessed by the demons of the defilements,
with their multifarious mania to procure and become great and famous. Focusing
on this conceit will subdue it, and it will then withdraw until its death; for
you'll start to realize that 'more conceit means more suffering.'
When your
practice spins fully within yourself, you will be able steadily to clean out the
defilements and find your reward in the emptied mind. But if you continue to connive
with the conceits, they will sweep away any Dhamma virtue you may have. Then,
only the demons will keep you company; for it's only when they are all driven
out that their antithesis, the virtuous ones, will enter in. Turmoil and unrest
are the manifestations of your possession by demons, while freedom, serenity and
peace demonstrate your fellowship with the virtuous.
Will all of you please
go and check how many of these demons have been driven out. Is the situation improving?
When they show their faces, point your finger at them and accuse them of being
demons and devils, come to eat your heart and drink your blood. Previously you've
allowed them in, but now you can stop them and reduce your suffering. The former
bloated self shrivels as the demons lose their power. Conceit of self withers
away. It's like administering antitoxin to someone bitten by a rabid dog, for
by fixing one's attention back on to the disease one eliminates it.
The mind
is then undisturbed and at peace, because the dictum, 'Don't grasp or hold anything',
has been followed to the final cessation of suffering.
Notes
1. khandha
2. naama-ruupa
3. "Bhaavitaa bahuliikataa."
4. indriya
5. Bodhisatta
6. abyaakata
7. 'sabbe dhammaa anattaa.'
8.
Solasapanyha Sutta, the series of 'Sixteen Questions'.
6. Training
for Liberation
28th November, B.E. 2513 (1970)
Those who practice Dhamma
by developing mindfulness and wisdom will come truly to understand the way to
extinguish suffering. If they should ever lapse into heedlessness and grasp on
to something, their steady training in controlling the mind will quickly notice
and check the situation. This, in itself, is of great benefit. The important point
about defilements and suffering is that they lie deep down in the personality
structure; thus one must probe and examine within oneself.
We are all intimately
acquainted with observing external things and should realize that they bring unrest
and they clutter the mind. We must therefore aim to achieve a condition of mind
characterized by centeredness, and a stability of mindfulness. You should notice
in yourself the extent of the mind's restraint under various circumstances and
whether mindfulness is sustained in every posture. How should we handle the mind
as it loses its balance through its habitual tendency to allow thoughts to proliferate
out of control? How can we bring it back under control? You must realize that
the mind without calm is full of endless imaginings and thought fabrications.
It is all aimed at acquiring and obtaining, and that this is suffering. You must
continually examine within yourself to see that such things are all impermanent,
subject to change, to arising and ceasing, and are suffering. This must be seen
clearly and distinctly.
When we understand this arising and ceasing -- by
turning to examine such conditions inside oneself -- we will realize that it's
neither something good nor bad. It is just a natural process of arising, persisting
and ceasing. Try to penetrate and see this. The regular cleansing of the mind
will show up any impurity, like dirt in an otherwise tidy room. Each moment you
should clean out any attachment. Whatever should arise, persist and then cease
-- don't grasp and hold onto it! Take this principle of 'not wanting, not grasping'
deeply to heart, for then the mind will be undisturbed and free. This is such
a worthwhile realization. It doesn't involve extensive knowledge -- we just penetrate
to see the impermanence in form, feeling, perception, conditions and consciousness.
Alternatively, you can examine the continually changing emotions within yourself,
as they arise and cease. Even if you don't go astray by chasing after these moods,
perceptions and notions, you should still carefully stabilize the mind so that
it doesn't grasp after anything -- including any memory or thought which may arise.
Just concentrate on doing this and you will sweep clean the mind, wiping out whatever
suffering is present. Every condition arises and then ceases, comes and disappears.
Don't go and grasp hold of anything, thinking it's good or bad, or taking it as
oneself. Stop all such thinking and conceptualizing. When you understand this,
the mind will calm down of itself; it will naturally become free. Whatever thoughts
arise, see that they just come and will go, so don't grasp at them. Then there's
not much else to do. Just carefully scrutinize and detach yourself from any entanglements
within. There are then no fantasies and thought fabrications about the past or
future. They've all stopped. Things arise and cease -- just that.
When you
truly penetrate to see the present, with its arisings and ceasings, it's really
no great affair at all. Whatever one thinks about will naturally come to a close.
But if you can't foresee its cessation, then whatever comes up will be grasped
and held, plunging you into turmoil and continuing thought proliferations. You
must stop this stream of conceivings and imaginings. Cut it off! Secure mindfulness
and fix your total attention on the mind, and the chain of thought and fantasy
-- which had become an obsession -- can be broken and stopped. You can do this
at any time and the mind will always release its hold and become still and free.
This must then be guarded as the normal state of mind by repeatedly keeping the
thought proliferations in check. Whenever they run out of control you must be
aware of the situation and stop them. You should practice like this until you
become skilled, until the mind is no longer stuck in its obsessions.
Take
the driver of a motor car as a model. Whenever he or she wants to stop, the brakes
can immediately be applied. It's the same with the runaway mind, for when mindfulness
is in attendance it will brake at once. Whatever the situation, with mindfulness
firmly established, you will be able to stop, disengage and free the mind. This
is by far the quickest and easiest way to deal with any circumstance that may
arise. Any other way is not quick enough to cope. This method of self- reflection
and self-knowledge is very worthwhile, because anyone can apply it at any time.
Even right here where there is speaking and listening, always bring the mind back
to its normal state.
Before we knew anything about all this, we allowed the
mind to go chasing after concerns and fantasies, spinning a web to trap ourselves
in all kinds of difficulties. Whatever meditation technique we tried wasn't really
able to stop the confused dreaming. Don't underestimate this method because of
its apparent simplicity. Please train yourself to become skillful in its application
to combat any emotion that may intrude or any opinion that may interject itself.
When such opinions and conceits issue forth, cry: "Halt! First stop and listen
to what I have to say." But the self and such conceits will immediately counter
with their own arguments, even before you've finished telling them.
This
is similar to suddenly encountering a wild animal, such as a tiger or poisonous
snake. Lacking any escape route you will have to stop and radiate loving-kindness.[1]
Likewise, this will be able to quench the defilements and the self, which is ever
ready to emerge and show its face. You must be able to hold back the defilements,
otherwise they will vastly expand their power. By enduring and holding them back
you will allow mindfulness time to adapt to the situation. Then, if a halt is
called, it will be able to stop it all immediately, without any resistance.
If you sit in meditation for one hour it must be in order to know the state of
the mind with mindfulness, not just for pleasure-seeking. By realizing the mind's
condition you can make it firmly established; and then you will lose interest
in pleasant feelings or desires. Even if painful feeling should arise, don't commit
your attention to it. Keep mindfulness constantly established, not allowing the
mind to swerve away dependent on what pleases or displeases. Detach yourself from
everything; for it's all just suffering involved with the aggregates, which are
all impermanent. Feeling is impermanent; the body is impermanent. That's the way
it is.
Craving is characterized by wanting pleasure: by being fully satisfied
in any pleasurable feeling that arises; by abandoning oneself to entrancement
with that pleasure; and by wanting that pleasure to last as long as possible.
But what about the suffering and pain that stand opposed to it? If one sits a
long time the body becomes stiff and painful, and the mind becomes agitated as
the craving insists one change position. It suggests one should do this or that,
but instead you must train yourself to become detached and see it as merely the
suffering involved in the aggregates. Then the mind's agitation and anxiety will
be allayed. If this can't be fully achieved, never mind, just make sure there's
no struggle to change the situation. You must restrain and extinguish the desire
and agitation. If the mind is still very agitated and frantic, don't change your
posture even if it is extremely painful. Wait and calmly observe the extent of
the pain and catch the right moment to change positions. Carefully straighten
out your leg, with the mind remaining firmly concentrated and unattached. This
may last for five minutes, after which the pain should have subsided. However,
you should remain in complete control of the mind so that one's centeredness is
not disturbed by attraction towards the pleasant feeling that has replaced the
pain.
This control needs to be established in all postures, and especially
when pleasant feeling arises because there will then be a tendency to become entranced
by it. Even the feeling of equanimity -- when there's neither pain nor pleasure
-- can be entrancing, so mindfulness must always be in attendance. You should
realize that, in truth, feeling is impermanent and suffering. There's really no
happiness involved at all. You will need to examine to see both pleasant and unpleasant
feeling in the same light. This should be repeated until you are no longer enamoured
with pleasant feeling. Otherwise it will lead to great suffering because craving
wants only unalloyed pleasure, which simply does not exist in this world of suffering.
If the mind can go beyond pleasure, pain and feeling, then it is truly going the
transcendent way. But please understand right here that if you haven't truly transcended
feeling, there will still be desire for pleasure, and therefore grasping and holding
onto suffering. So this is something you must check out, should you consider yourself
detached from all feeling.
You should thoroughly train yourself to deal with
the feeling that arises from bodily pain. However, the pleasant feeling, stemming
from the subtle form of sensual desire, isn't so easily understood and you may
then (mis-)take it for happiness. You will want to obtain happiness and this is
where craving comes in. It's therefore always taught that wanting and lust must
be abandoned and given up. Lust here means wanting only pleasure. Satisfaction
in lust or dissatisfaction in lust indicate that the mind is helplessly entangled
in the tastes of both bodily and mental feeling.
Sometimes bodily feeling
can manifest as great pain and anguish, and mindfulness should be used to find
relief through stopping and detaching from the mind's frantic struggling. Then,
even though the body is upset, the mind doesn't follow after it. However, this
needs to be practiced first under moderate conditions before the situation becomes
critical.
If you eagerly gather up the sensations stemming from the defilements,
your load of suffering will increase more and more. To think that it's all very
comfortable and trouble-free is falling into enchantment with feeling. Don't do
it! You must carefully follow through with every type of feeling to see it all
as impermanent, suffering and not-self. If you can disengage from feeling you
will become totally disenchanted with the pleasant feeling involved in the five
aggregates. When you don't investigate and aren't circumspect enough, you will
fall into desire and pining; just notice whether the mind is free or not.
The mind entangled and satiated in its desires is obviously dirty and sullied.
This occurs because the mind deludedly grasps after things, which brings struggle
and extreme agitation. If the mind is still attached to feeling -- whether pleasant,
unpleasant or neither pleasant nor unpleasant -- it must endure suffering. You
should investigate to see impermanence, suffering and not-self in both body and
mind, and not grasp or hold onto anything. Whether looking out or in, you will
then not be attached to anything and realize that this is indeed freedom. The
deeper you penetrate, the more you will realize that non-attachment is the overcoming
of suffering. This is the easiest way to end suffering, but if you don't properly
understand, it really is the hardest way. It is therefore imperative to train
and investigate so that you can detach yourself and gain true release from the
mind and its grasping. Then, when you command the mind to stop and detach, to
release and be free, it truly does find freedom.
This way of knowing the
mind is of the greatest value, yet we never seem concerned enough to be as resourceful
as possible in ridding ourselves of suffering. With such a relaxed and intermittent
effort you will never understand exactly where and how to remedy, to eliminate
and relinquish. You will whirl around with attachments and suffering. You must
know how to find your way to the end of suffering and not just sit back, taking
it easy. Look around and use mindfulness and wisdom as the means to free yourself
from such conceits as 'me' and 'mine' and from all attachments.
If you are
lacking in mindfulness and wisdom you will never be able to extinguish suffering,
for each and every defilement is stubborn and difficult to overcome. You need
to understand how each of the sixteen defilements[2] arises; although they won't
all arise simultaneously. By seeing the characteristics of their birth you will
then be able to detach yourself from them. Initially, you must clearly recognize
them all as being 'hot and bothersome.' When one is discontented this is relatively
easy, but when one is happy and contented it's much more difficult. You have to
find the normal state of mind, body and speech.
Normal here means being disinterested
and impartial, and involves the keeping of pure precepts. In guarding the sense
doors this normality[3] becomes an important indicator of failed vigilance when,
for example, one is being attracted or repelled by an object that contacts the
senses. If you become careless and indulge in desire, then it's no longer just
a small lapse but a very damaging failure that stains one's precepts and virtue.
The result is always agitation and distress. So even in apparently minor affairs
don't carelessly dismiss any desire as negligible, thinking it doesn't matter.
Always be mindful, with wisdom ready to remedy and eliminate. By assiduous investigation
even a very dangerous situation can be relieved and put down, and such incidents
will then become more and more infrequent.
The intermediate (level) defilements,
such as the five hindrances,[4] must be similarly considered. The first hindrance
is sensual desire: the satisfaction in sights, sounds, smells, tastes and tangibles.
The dissatisfaction in such sense experience is aversion. Both attraction and
repulsion sully the mind making it agitated and frantic, unable to come to calm.
The important point to recognize here is that when the mind is dominated by the
five hindrances, it is in a state of distress and suffering. Can you recognize
these intermediate defilements that shroud your mind?
The hindrance of sensual
desire can be likened to dye which clouds clear water, making it murky; and this
turbidity equates with suffering. Aversion as a hindrance is irritability and
dissatisfaction, and the hindrance of sloth-and-torpor is a state of drowsiness
and lassitude. This is a condition of burying oneself in sleep and childish forgetfulness.
All the hindrances -- including the final two; restless thought proliferations
that interminably burden the mind, and sceptical doubt -- cloak and cloud the
mind in darkness. You must therefore forcefully struggle to investigate these
hindrances so that they, and every form of defilement from the gross to the subtle
level, are weakened and ejected.
The practice of Dhamma is a very subtle
and profound task requiring mindfulness and wisdom to probe and comprehend body
and mind. Repeatedly strive to see the truth of the body that is impermanent,
suffering and composed of mere elements. If you don't practice in this way to
achieve insight, you will be left vainly groping about with no chance of extricating
yourself from the mass of suffering. The mind is full of intrigue and trickery
that can adapt and expand in myriad ways. Sometimes you may gain some insight
through mindfulness and wisdom, becoming calm, clear and free, only to find the
defilements intruding to spoil and cloak the mind in total darkness. Then thought
obsessions becloud your lucidity.
Each one of you must find a special means
or stratagem to employ in understanding about yourself so that you don't get lost
in a maze of distractions. The obsessional thought proliferations together with
heedlessness are of vital concern. To become disheartened and indifferent to this
danger means that your enemies effectively bar your way, thwarting your penetration
to Dhamma. You must find a way to destroy them and this needs proper attention[5]
-- a resourceful, clever and ingenious attack. Carefully probe to see how they
originated and how they cease. Repeatedly attend to the characteristics of impermanence,
suffering and not-self. When you truly see impermanence you will also know how
to put down the defilements and craving, or at least how to weaken and thin them
out. It's as if we take up a broom and sweep out whatever attachments arise until
eventually there's nothing left to grasp at, because everything was found to be
tainted with impermanence and swept away.
By persevering in your investigation
to see impermanence, suffering and not-self you will gain relief and ease, for
you will be far from attachments. This is the wonder of Dhamma: ease of body and
mind and complete freedom from entanglement in the defilements. It's nescience
that enshrouds the mind and causes one to wander about entranced by sights and
sounds, a victim under the tyranny of craving and the defilements. Mindfulness
and wisdom will break your entrancement by seeing that really there's no self
involved in any of it, only things that arise and cease. Such insight sweeps away
every trace of 'me' and 'mine', leaving pure Dhamma with neither pleasure nor
suffering.
The Lord Buddha declared, "Sabbe dhammaa anattaa" --
All things are not-self."... There's just Dhamma that is essential but not-self.
This doesn't mean the wrong view of complete annihilationism, but the extinction
of all attachment and holding 'me' and 'mine'. There's only that which is called
the Undying Dhamma[6] -- without birth, without aging, without pain and without
death. Only the defilements and suffering are annihilated. This is also known
as 'Sunyo', the voidness of a substantial self. This Undying Dhamma is the true
marvel that the Lord Buddha discovered and expounded to awaken us. Shouldn't we
therefore hurry to penetrate through the impermanence, suffering and not-self
in the five aggregates, to that condition of Dhamma that is without birth, old
age, illness and death? This is also called Nibbaana, Sunyataa and the Undetermined
Dhamma. They are really the same but have been given various mundane names and
titles. Don't grasp at them! Just stay in the condition of mind free of self.
The Path, Fruit and Nibbaana are not something to hope for in a future life
by developing a vast heap of Perfections.[7] Some people like to point out that
the Lord Buddha had to accumulate so many, many virtues -- but what about yourself?
You don't consider how many lives have passed, yet you still haven't attained
to the Goal. It's all because of your stupidity in ever devising excuses.
The Lord Buddha expounded principles of Dhamma such as the Four Foundations of
Mindfulness, the Four Noble Truths and the Three Marks. These are to be found
inside yourself, so probe and examine and search out the defilements within. Then
disengage and eject them and all their concerns for 'me' and 'mine', to overcome
all suffering. It's not a case of excusing oneself from exertion by relying on
the miraculous powers of some object or by building up the perfections. Bring
the mind back to the present defilements -- is it better to eliminate them or
fall in with them? Does that lead to suffering? You must find out the truth within
yourself about getting rid of stupidity and the delusion that living in the structure
of suffering is really happiness. Each one of us is stuck in such delusion because
we won't open our eyes to the predicament. You must discuss together, gain advice
and dig out the truth so that mindfulness and wisdom can lead to self-knowledge.
This acknowledgement and seeing of the defilements and suffering within yourself
brings great benefits. But you must also consult about this to learn the basic
truths of suffering, its origin and the way of investigating body, mind and Dhamma
to extinguish that suffering. Then your suffering will diminish because mindfulness
and wisdom probe and extract the defilements that burn in the mind.
With
correct Dhamma practice and insight your suffering will decline. This will, of
itself, encourage and attract other people to follow your example without having
to go out to proclaim your success. Here, there's nothing like: "I received
this diploma or that degree." Our talk is all about suffering, defilements
and not-self. True penetration using mindfulness and wisdom can scrape away all
the defilements; but only if you persevere and take advantage of this opportune
moment to achieve such results in yourself. Don't abandon your life to the service
of the defilements and craving. You must constantly adjust your exertion to make
it increasingly effective in destroying craving and extinguishing suffering. The
renouncing of self and defilements is essential because of the resulting state
of peace and freedom in the mind. You must concern yourself with this, otherwise
the defilements will never be destroyed and, together with every other ignorant
person in the world, you will only find vexation and suffering.
Maara, the
Evil One, attempted to stop the Lord Buddha's exertion by telling him that within
seven days he was to become a World Ruling Monarch. But the Lord Buddha was wise
to such deceptions and trickery and answered, "I know that already!".
The Lord Buddha had the ability instantly to know such things for himself, so
Maara was continually defeated.
But what about us? Are you a disciple of
the Lord Buddha or still a follower of Maara? When a temptation appears -- there
you go, following him the whole way, never wearying of the lust involved. Disciples
of the Lord Buddha must turn against the stream of craving and establish themselves
in pure precepts and virtue, the perfect qualities of self control. By exertion,
from the level of precepts to that of developing calm and wisdom to see impermancnce,
suffering and not-self, they attain to the end of suffering. This level of not-self
is also where high-wisdom must be brought to bear.
But the essential point
is never to believe the wiles of the defilements. Whether it's the canker of nescience
or of craving, you must establish mindfulness and wisdom to check, clear and renounce.
Temptations will then fail and stop because you reject their offers. One doesn't
want, one relinquishes. If you accept and follow their lure, then you will fall
for more and more desire until the mind is frantic and aflame. But by steadily
turning away and resisting, such cravings lessen and diminish until finally they
cease.
The training of the mind takes desire for its battlefield. Otherwise
it is like an addict who, with no intention to beat his habit, becomes inescapably
a slave to his own craving. You must establish mindfulness as your rampart, and
wisdom as the weapon you use to break through and destroy. You can then make steady
progress, penetrating to an ever deepening awareness of the structure of craving.
By self-penetration you will be able to destroy the defilements and realize the
escape route used by all the Noble Disciples. You will then see that it was because
of one's own previous blindness that one felt able to assert that Nibbana didn't
exist.
The true elimination of suffering is only concerned with yourself
in this present moment. By being mindful you can stop and disengage yourself,
so that suffering is relieved. As your Dhamma practice develops, the defilements
steadily lose strength. It's Ehipassiko -- inviting one to come and see -- because
everyone is capable of extinguishing suffering. By discerning the impermanence,
suffering and not-self in everything, and breaking off all attachments, the mind
is free, becoming Dhamma. There's no need to rush out to follow anyone else, whether
heavenly protectors or miracle men, because success is wholly found within the
mind. One penetrates thoroughly, clearing out all attachments, making the mind
worthy of Ehipassiko. But if the mind is still full of defilements, one's invitation
is to come and see oneself being burned alive! Therefore such an invitation always
has a double edge. When craving and attachments are entirely quenched, one knows
right there and then that one is free. So come and see this liberated mind right
now! You are perfectly capable of realizing this for yourself. It's not so difficult.
To enter and examine the mind is easy because it's evident in every posture
and at every moment. You don't have to take any trip by car or boat to see the
various forms of truth and falsehood within yourself. But if you only learn about
external things by studying mundane affairs as worldly people do, you can never
gain insight. You must turn within to learn about Dhamma, truly penetrating to
the impermanence, suffering and not-self of body, feeling, mind and mind-objects.
One sees each thing as: impermanent -- it arises, persists and ceases; suffering,
therefore one doesn't grasp it; and it's all free of self. It all comes together
in this state of Dhamma and then, if one has true insight, it's simple for the
mind to gain freedom. But if you understand wrongly -- it's like switching an
electric light off instead of on. With proper understanding one flicks the switch
and all is light, while wrong understanding plunges one into instant darkness.
It's the same with the mind: insight brings light and improper understanding
brings darkness. You need to examine to see why there is a constant wanting of
things. Such concerns are all suffering based in ignorance, wishful thinking and
fantasizing about self, people and possessions. It's all frantic and nonstop news
and information gathering. But by concentrating the mind within you will find
there's no problem or concern. It's just a detaching and emptying. Dhamma arises
here as easily as the defilements can develop on the opposite side. So you must
choose: either the bright or dark side; to stop and be free or to continue rushing
frantically about. Make this decision within yourself. Dhamma insight is remarkable,
for, if one begins by seeing correctly, it leads on to full penetration. If one
becomes snagged on any obstacle, one must then probe and examine to see where
one's attachment still lies. Then it will all become clear.
You have learned
and followed the ways of the defilements long enough. Now turn and use mindfulness
and wisdom to investigate them. Don't continue conniving with them! Resist their
advances and refuse to follow them! When you understand this, you will find that
all desire and delinquency, all love and hatred, are completely swept away. But
without insight the self inflates with desires for this and that, masterly arranging
its banquet fantasies. Just consider the following: People are just like actors
in a large theater. It's a drama of life with a cast of Maara and demons, and
hero and heroine -- all contained within yourself! You must rip away the conventional
forms to reveal the pure Dhamma that remains. This is freedom from self and everything
will end there.
Notes
1. mettaa
2. upakilesa
3. siila
4. niivara.na
5. yoniso manasikaara
6. amata dhamma, amata dhaatu
7. paaramii
Glossary
The language used in these talks is that
of Forest Dhamma. This means that apart from some Paali quotations -- usually
taken from the chants that many of the listeners would be familiar with, and most
of the monks would have learned by heart -- it is usually ordinary Thai. Many
Thai words are rooted in Paali and this can be seen in their spelling. However,
both the present pronunciation and the meaning of the word have often been transformed.
Forest Dhamma therefore should not be treated as if it was classical Paali, and
scholars should beware of trying to track definitions through the text. It's important
to remember that this is an oral teaching, which afterwards was warmed up between
pages.
Acharn (Thai); aacariya (Pali): (meditation) teacher.
Akaaliko:
not delayed; timeless. A quality of Dhamma.
Akusala: In Pali it means unwholesome,
demeritorious. It is part of a piece ritually chanted at funerals and therefore
is given another Forest Dhamma meaning: un-clever, unskilled. See kusala.
Amata: the deathless state; the Undying; Nibbaana; immortal; ambrosia.
Anaagaamii:
a Never-Returner; Non-Returner. See Ariya.
Appanaa: See Samaadhi.
Arahant:
worthy one; one who has attained Nibbaana. See Ariya.
Ariya: Noble One. It
has four stages, with Path (magga) and Fruit (phala) for each stage: Sotaapanna;
Sakadaagaamii; Anaagaamii; Arahant.
Arom (Thai); aaramma.na (Pali): The original
Pali means: sense-objects; an object of consciousness. Modern Thai: mood, temper,
spirits, disposition. In this work it is an important term and is translated as:
preoccupation, mood, emotional object, object.
Attaa: self; soul; ego; personal
entity. (contrast anattaa.) Mind; the whole personality, as in the phrase from
the Dhammapada: "Attaa hi attano naatho, kohi naatho paro siyaa?". This
is concerned with attaadhipateyya, which is self-dependence and self-reliance,
and a central theme of these Dhamma talks.
Avijjaa: ignorance; nescience;
lack of knowledge; delusion.
Bahn (Thai): village.
Bahp (Thai); paapa
(Pali): evil, wrong action; demerit; bad; base; wicked. (contrast boon.)
Bhaavanaa: heart/mind development; meditation.
Boon (Thai); punya (Pali):
merit; meritorious (-action); virtue; righteousness; good works; good. (contrast
bahp.)
Brahmacariya: the Holy life; religious life; strict chastity.
Buddha: the Awakened One; Enlightened One.
Buddho: often used as a meditation
word ('mantra') "Buddho... ", being the recollection of Buddha. (See
kamma.t.thaana.)
Citta: (Pali); Chit, chit-chai (Thai): heart; mind. A central
term. In To the Last Breath it is usually translated as 'heart', while in Directions
for Insight it is more often 'mind'. (In fact it is more like 'heart-mind'.) For
similar usage in the Suttas see: Mano, Citta, Vinyaa.na; R. Johannson; University
of Ceylon Review. Peredeniya. Vol. 23. 1965.
Daana: giving; alms-giving;
charity; generosity; benevolence. See Appendix.
Dhamma: the Teachings (of
the Buddha); the Truth; the Supramundane; virtue. dhamma: thing; phenomenon; nature;
condition.
Dhaatu: an element; natural condition; earth, water, fire and
air.
Di.t.thi: view; opinion; (often) wrong view.
Dosa: hatred; anger;
ill-will; aversion.
Dukkha: suffering. See Noble Truths.
Ehipassiko:
inviting to come and see; inviting inspection. An attribute of Dhamma.
Kamma.t.thaana:
subjects of meditation; the act of meditation. The subjects often mentioned in
this book are: Buddhaanussati -- recollection of the Buddha; contemplation on
the virtues of the Buddha. Kaayagataasati -- mindfulness occupied with the body;
contemplation on the 32 impure parts of the body. AAnaapaanasati -- mindfulness
on breathing. (For more see A. I. 30,41; Vism. 197.) It is also sometimes used
as a general term describing the way of practice of meditation monks in N.E. Thailand.
Khandha: aggregate; category. Usually the Five Aggregates: ruupa; vedanaa;
sanyaa; sa.nkhaara; vinyaa.na.
Khun (Thai): The equivalent of Mr., Mrs.,
or Ms.
Kilesa: defilements; impurities; impairments. These include: greed,
hatred, delusion, conceit, wrong view, doubt or uncertainty, sloth, restlessness,
shamelessness, lack of moral concern.
Kusala: wholesome; meritorious; moral;
skillful. It is part of a piece ritually chanted at funerals and therefore is
given another Forest Dhamma meaning: clever, skilled. See akusala.
Magga:
the Path; the Way. See Noble Truths.
Maagha-puuja: Worship on the Full-Moon
Day of the third lunar month in commemoration of the Great Assembly of Disciples.
Ma.ngala (Sutta): auspicious; (the thirty-eight) blessings.
Maara: the
Evil One; Death; the Tempter; Defilements personified.
Mettaa: loving-kindness,
friendliness, goodwill.
Moha: delusion; ignorance; dullness.
Naama:
mind; name; mental factors; mentality. See ruupa.
Nyaa.na: knowledge; wisdom;
insight.
Nyaa.nadassana: knowing and seeing, perfect knowledge; vision through
wisdom.
Nekkhamma: renunciation; letting go; giving up the world; self- denial.
Nibbaana: the extinction of the fires of greed, of hatred and of ignorance;
the extinction of all defilements and suffering; the Unconditioned.
Nirodha:
cessation. See Noble Truths.
Niivara.na: the (five) hindrances; obstacles.
Noble Truths: Dukkha: suffering; misery; woe; discontent; anguish; anxiety;
pain. Samudaya: the Cause, Origin or Source of Suffering; Nirodha: the Cessation
or Extinction of Suffering. Magga: the Path; the Way; the Noble Eightfold Path.
Opanayiko: worthy of inducing in and by one's own mind; worthy of realizing;
to be tried by practice; leading onward. An attribute of Dhamma.
Paali: the
language of the texts of the Theravada Canon.
Panyaa (Pali/Thai): wisdom.
Often coupled with mindfulness. See sati.
Paaramii: (the ten) Perfections;
stages of spiritual perfection on the path to Awakening.
Parikamma: (Pali:
preliminary action, preparation.) Thai: preparatory meditation, such as the (silent)
repetition of "Buddho".
Parinibbaana: the Final Passing Away of
the Lord Buddha; final release.
Pariyatti: the Scriptures; study of them;
the Teachings to be studied.
Patipatti: putting into practice.
Pativedha:
penetration; realization; insight.
Pa.tisandhi-vinyaa.na: relinking; rebirth;
reunion; conception.
Phala: fruit; result; consequence; effect. See magga.
Pi.n.dapaata: food received in the alms-bowl (of a Bhikkhu); alms- gathering;
to go on an almsround.
Puujaa: worship (external and mental); honor; veneration;
devotional offering.
Puthujjana: a worldling; worldly person; ordinary person.
As opposed to ariya.
Ruupa: matter; form; material; body; shape; corporeality.
See naama.
Sabhaava dhamma: principle of nature; natural condition; natural
phenomenon.
Sacca (-Dhamma): truth, truthfulness; Truth.
Saddhaa: faith;
confidence.
Sakadaagaamii: a Once-Returner. See ariya.
Sakkaaya-di.t.thi:
(the delusion of) self-view; belief in a personal self.
Samaadhi: concentration;
one-pointedness of mind; the condition of mind when focused, centered and still.
Sama.na: recluse; holy one; a Buddhist monk.
Sammati; Sammuti (Thai/Pali):
conventional; mundane; supposed; assumed; generally accepted.
Samudaya: Cause.
See Noble Truth.
Sa.myojana: (the ten) Fetters (that bind to the round of
rebirth).
Sa.ngha (Saavaka Sa.ngha): (the noble) community, one of the Three
Jewels; the Order.
Sa.nkappo: thought.
Sankhaara: determinations; compounded
things; mental formations (see Khandha). In Forest Dhamma this is the processing,
concocting and fabricating of thoughts.
Sanyaa: perception; idea; ideation;
(see Khandha). In Forest Dhamma this is the aspect of remembering (past perceptions).
Sara.na: refuge; help; protection; guide; remembrance.
Saranagamana:
taking refuge (in the Three Jewels); going for refuge.
Saasada (Thai), Satthu
(Pali): the Master; the Great Teacher (the Lord Buddha).
Saasana: teaching;
message; doctrine; a religion.
Sati: mindfulness; awareness; attentiveness.
In Forest Dhamma it is often coupled with wisdom (panyaa). (In Thai common usage
sati-panya means: intelligence; intellect.)
Saavaka: a (noble) disciple;
hearer; follower.
Siila: virtue; morality; moral conduct; a precept; training
rule. See Appendix.
Sotaapanna: a Stream-Enterer; one who has attained the
first stage of Ariya.
Sugato: Well-gone; Well-farer; sublime. A epithet of
Buddha.
Sukha: happiness; ease; joy; comfort; pleasure; physical or bodily
happiness or ease. As opposed to dukkha.
Sutta: a discourse from the Pali
Canon.
Svaakkhaata: well-taught; well proclaimed. A attribute of Dhamma.
Ta.nhaa: craving; desire; thirst.
Tapa: exertion; ascetic practice;
(burning out).
Tathaagata: the Accomplished One; the Thus-come; the Thus-gone.
An epithet of the Lord Buddha. Sometimes used as a pronoun when the Lord Buddha
is quoted as saying something himself.
Ti-lakkha.na: the Three Characteristics,
Marks or Signs; also called the Common Characteristics, viz., impermanence, suffering
and not-self.
Upaadaana: attachment; clinging; grasping; holding.
Uposatha:
Observance Day (for the monks).
Va.t.ta (-cakka): the round of rebirth, of
existences; (the cycle or wheel of rebirth).
Vedanaa: feeling. See Khandha.
Vimutti (-nyaanadassana): deliverance; release; liberation; freedom; (knowledge
of that deliverance).
Vinyaa.na: consciousness. See Khandha.
Viriya:
effort; energy; vigour; endeavor; exertion.
Visuddhi: purity; purification.
Wat (Thai): a monastery.
Appendix: The Gradual Teaching
As this book is mainly concerned with meditation, here are some Sutta passages
with descriptions of generosity (daana) and moral precepts (siila).
Daana:
Generosity
In contrast to the modern emphasis on consuming and possessing,
the Lord Buddha spoke of the virtue of giving and being content with whatever
one has. There are always circumstances where one can give. For instance, one
can offer one's time, help and sympathy. And one can for-give.
If one has
wealth, he explained the use of possessions; the benefits which one should get
from wealth; reasons for earning and having wealth:
i) to make oneself, one's
parents, children, wife, servants and workmen happy and live in comfort.
ii) to share this happiness and comfort with one's friends.
iii) to make
oneself secure against all misfortunes.
iv) to make the fivefold offering:
to relatives, by giving help to them.
to guests, by receiving them.
to the departed, by dedicating merit to them.
to the king, (i.e., to
the government) by paying taxes and duties and so on.
to the deities, i.e.,
those beings who are worshipped according to one's faith.
v) to support those
monks and spiritual teachers who lead a pure and diligent life.
(A.III.45)
Sappurisa Daana: Gifts of a good man
i) to give clean things.
ii)
to give choice things.
iii) to give at fitting times.
iv) to give suitable
things.
v) to give with discretion.
vi) to give repeatedly or regularly.
vii) to calm one's mind on giving.
viii) to be glad after giving.
(A.IV.243)
Siila: Precepts
The basic guidelines for the actions and speech
of any Buddhist can be appreciated by anyone, of any religion or none. There is
no dogma involved, it is a plain and simple way of living without harming or hurting
any creature.
The other feature to bear in mind is that it is accepted voluntarily
by the individual. This is not something that one is commanded to receive. It
is the individual's volition that changes a list of precepts into a way of living.
With that change, the appreciation and mindfulness of one's actions and speech
become more subtle and which automatically leads on to meditation.
There
are the basic Five Precepts and these become more refined with the Eight Precepts.
Everyone who listened to the original Dhamma talks (in this book) would be keeping
(at least temporarily) the Eight Precepts.
These Precepts can be received
by simply saying:
"I undertake the training rule/precept...
i)
to abstain from taking life.
ii) to abstain from taking what is not given.
*iii) to abstain from sexual misconduct.
iv) to abstain from false speech.
v) to abstain from intoxicants causing heedlessness."
*iii) "to
abstain from unchastity.
vi) to abstain from untimely eating.
vii) to
abstain from dancing, singing, music and unseemly shows, from wearing garlands,
smartening with scents, and embellishment with unguents.
viii) to abstain
from the use of high and large luxurious couches."
[Taken from the Dictionary
of Buddhism, compiled by Ven. Phra Debvedi (Prayudh Payutto), Bangkok, B.E. 2528
(1985)]
Revised: Wed 6 February 2002
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/boowa/london.html