by Venerable Acariya
Maha Boowa Nanasampanno
People who
practice in earnestness, trying to develop and improve the qualities in
their
hearts
step by step, beginning with virtue, the stages of concentration, and the
levels of
discernment,
are -- to make a comparison -- like the people
who build a rocket or a
satellite
to travel in outer space. They have to put their vehicle
into good shape.
Otherwise
it won't get off the ground -- because the things that can
act as obstacles to
their vehicle
are many. The object that's going to travel in space
has to be developed in
order to
be completely suited to its environment in every way.
Before they can get it
safely
past its obstacles, they need to have made ample calculations.
Even then, there
are times
when mishaps occur. But once the vehicle has been thoroughly
developed, it
can travel
easily in outer space without any mishaps of any sort.
This is an analogy for
the minds
of those who practice, who have developed their inner qualities and put
them in
to shape.
The heart
is what will step out beyond the realm of conventional realities that exert
a
gravitational
pull on it, into the outer space beyond convention: to vimutti,
or release.
The things
that act as obstacles, preventing it from stepping out, are the various
kinds of
defilement.
For this
reason, we have to make a very great effort. The defilements
have various levels
of crudeness
and subtlety, so in developing the heart so as to pass through the
crudeness
and subtlety of the various levels of conventional reality --
and of the
defilements
in particular -- we must try to make it just right.
We must use whatever
qualities
are needed to get the mind past the crudeness of conventional realities
or
defilement,
stage by stage, by means of our practice, by means of our efforts to improve
and develop
it. Our persistence has to be strong.
Our efforts, our endeavors in all ways
have to
be strong. Mindfulness and discernment are the important
factors that will take
the heart
beyond the various obstacles thwarting it step by step.
All of the techniques
and strategies
taught by the Buddha in the area of meditation are means for developing
the heart
so that it will be suited to transcending the realm of conventional reality
and
reaching
outer space: nibbana.
What is
it like, the outer space of the Dhamma? They no longer doubt
about whether the
outer space
of the world exists or not. The things that lie within
conventional reality are
known to
exist. Outer space beyond our atmosphere is another level
of conventional
reality.
Outer space: What is it like? Does it exist?
How does our world in the
atmosphere
differ from the things outside the world of our atmosphere called outer
space?
Both of these levels exist.
The mind
that lies in the realm of conventional reality -- surrounded
and controlled -- is
like the
various objects in the world trapped by the pull of gravity at all times.
The mind is
trapped
by the pull of defilement in just the same way. It can't
escape, which is why it
must develop
its strength to escape from the world of this gravitational pull.
This
gravitational
pull is something the Buddha has already explained. In
brief, there is
craving
for sensuality, craving for becoming, and craving for no becoming.
The details
--
the branches and offshoots -- are more than can be numbered.
They fill this world of
conventional
realities. They are all factors that make the mind attached
and entangled --
loving,
hating, and resenting different things, different beings, different people.
All these
factors
can be adversaries to the heart and come from the preoccupations of the
heart
itself
that labels things and misinterprets them.
For this
reason, the principles of the Dhamma that the Buddha taught in the area
of
meditation
for developing and modifying the heart are very appropriate for helping
us as
meditators
to escape from all the things in our hearts that exert a pull on us or
weigh us
down.
These things are hard to remove, hard to remedy, hard to sever, which is
why we
need a
Teacher to guide us. If we had no Teacher, the living
beings in the three realms of
the cosmos
-- no matter how many thousands or millions of forms and levels there
are --
would all
be as if deaf and blind. Not one of them would be able
to escape from this
darkness
and blindness. This is why we should have a heartfelt
sense of the
awesomeness
of the arising of a Buddha, who leads living beings to escape from this
gravitational
pull, from this oppressiveness, safely and in large numbers --
to the point
where no
one else can compare -- beginning with each Buddha's foremost
disciples and
on to the
end of his dispensation, when his teachings no longer exist in the hearts
of living
beings,
which is the final point in his work of ferrying living beings from all
sorts of
blindness,
darkness, suffering, and stress.
Our present
Buddha performed these duties with the full mindfulness and discernment
of
his great
mercy and compassion, beginning with the day of his Awakening.
It's as if he
took a
large ship and cast anchor in the middle of the ocean in order to gather
the living
beings
of various kinds and strengths adrift in the water on the verge of death
and bring
them on
board stage by stage. Those who take an interest in the
Dhamma are like beings
who struggle
to get on board the Buddha's ship that has cast anchor in the middle of
the
sea.
They keep climbing on board, climbing on board, until the day when the
beings of
the world
have no more belief in the teachings of the religion.
That's when the ship will
no longer
have any function. Those who are still left in the sea
will have to stay there
adrift,
with no more way of escape. They are the ones who are
to become food for the
fishes
and turtles.
Those who
have come on board, though, are the various stages of those who have been
able to
escape, as mentioned in the four types of individuals, beginning with the
ugghatitannu,
vipacitannu and neyya. These are the ones who have come
on board.
How high
or low they are able to go depends on their individual capabilities.
There are
those who
escape completely -- those free of defilement; there are those
on the verge of
escape
-- the non-returners (anagami); those in the middle --
the once-returners
(sakidagami);
and then the stream-winners (sotapanna); and finally ordinary good people.
Here we're referring to the Buddha's ship in its general sense.
He uses it to salvage
living
beings, beginning from the day of his Awakening until the point when the
teachings
of the
religion have no more meaning in the world's sensibilities.
That's the final point.
Those who
remain are the diseased who can find no medicine or physician to treat
their
illnesses
and are simply awaiting their day to die.
So now we
are swimming and struggling toward the Buddha's large ship by making the
effort
of the practice. In particular, now that we have ordained
in the Buddha's religion
and have
developed a feel for his teaching, this makes us even more moved, even
more
convinced
of all the truths that he taught rightly about good and evil, right and
wrong, hell,
heaven,
the Brahma worlds, and nibbana, all of which are realities that actually
exist.
We have
followed the principles of the Buddha's Dhamma, and in particular the practice
of
meditation.
Try to build up your strength and ability without flagging, so as to resist
and
remove
all the things that coerce or exert a gravitational pull on the heart.
Don't let
yourself
become accustomed to their pull. They pull you to disaster,
not to anything else.
They're not forces that will pull you to what is auspicious.
They'll pull you to what's
inauspicious,
step by step, depending on how much you believe, give in, and are
overcome
by their pull. Suffering will then appear in proportion
to how much you
unconsciously
agree, give in, and are overcome by their pull. Even
though there are the
teachings
of the religion to pull you back, the mind tends to take the lower path
more than
the path
of the religion, which is why it is set adrift. But we're
not the type to be set adrift.
We're the type who are swimming to release using the full power of our
intelligence and
abilities.
Wherever
you are, whatever you do, always be on the alert with mindfulness.
Don't
regard
the effort of the practice as tiring, as something wearisome, difficult
to do, difficult
to get
right, difficult to contend with. Struggle and effort:
These are the path for those
who are
to gain release from all stress and danger, not the path of those headed
downward
to the depths of hell, blind and in the dark by day and by night, their
minds
consumed
by all things lowly and vile.
The Noble
Ones in the time of the Buddha practiced in earnest.
With the words, 'I go to
the Buddha
for refuge,' or 'I go to the Sangha for refuge,' we should reflect on their
Dhamma,
investigating and unraveling it so as to see the profundity and subtlety
of their
practice.
At the same time, we should take their realizations into our hearts as
good
examples
to follow, so that we can conduct ourselves in the footsteps of their practices
and realizations.
'I go to
the Buddha for refuge.' We all know how difficult it was for him to become
the
Buddha.
We should engrave it in our hearts. Our Teacher was the
first pioneer in our
age to
the good destination for the sake of all living beings.
Things were never made
easy for
him. From the day of his renunciation to the day of his
Awakening, it was as if he
were in
hell -- there's no need to compare it to being in prison
-- because he had been
very delicately
brought up in his royal home. When he renounced the household
life, he
faced great
difficulties in terms of the four necessities. In addition,
there were many,
many defilements
in his heart related to his treasury and to the nation filled with his
royal
subjects.
It weighed heavily on his heart at all times that he had to leave these
things
behind.
He found no comfort or peace at all, except when he was sound asleep.
As for us,
we don't have a following, don't have subjects, have never been kings.
We
became
ordained far more easily than the Buddha. And when we
make the effort of the
practice,
we have his teachings, correct in their every aspect, as our guide.
Our practice
isn't really
difficult like that of the Buddha, who had to struggle on his own with
no one to
guide him.
On this point, we're very different. We have a much lighter
burden in the
effort
of the practice than the Buddha, who was of royal birth.
Food, wherever
we go, is full to overflowing, thanks to the faith of those who are already
convinced
of the Buddha's teachings and are not lacking in interest and faith for
those
who practice
rightly. For this reason, monks -- wherever
they go -- are not lacking in
the four
necessities of life, which is very different from the case of the Buddha.
All of the
Noble Disciples who followed in the Buddha's footsteps were second to him
in
terms of
the difficulties they faced. They had a much easier time
as regards the four
necessities
of life, because people by and large had already begun to have faith and
conviction
in the teachings. But even so, the disciples didn't take
pleasure in the four
necessities
more than in the Dhamma, in making the single-minded effort to gain release
from suffering
and stress. This is something very pleasing, something
very worthy to be
taken as
an example. They gave their hearts, their lives
-- every part of themselves -- in
homage
to the Buddha and Dhamma, to the point where they all became homage to
the
Sangha
within themselves. In doing so, they all encountered
difficulties, every one of
them.
Because
the Dhamma is something superior and superlative, whoever meets it has
to
develop
and prosper through its power day by day, step by step, to a state of superlative
excellence.
As for the defilements, there is no type of defilement that can take anyone
to
peace,
security, or excellence of any kind.
The defilements
know this. They know that the Dhamma far excels them,
so they
disguise
themselves thoroughly to keep us from knowing their tricks and deceits.
In
everything
we do, they have to lie behind the scenes, showing only their tactics and
strategies,
which are nothing but means of fooling living beings into falling for them
and
staying
attached to them. This is very ingenious on their part.
For this
reason, those who make the effort of the practice are constantly bending
under
their gravitational
pull. Whether we are doing sitting meditation, walking
meditation --
whatever
our posture -- we keep bending and leaning under their pull.
They pull us
toward
laziness and lethargy. They pull us toward discouragement
and weakness.
They pull
us into believing that our mindfulness and discernment are too meager for
the
teachings
of the religion. They pull us into believing that our
capacities are too meager to
deserve
the Dhamma, to deserve the paths, fruitions, and nibbana, or to deserve
the
Buddha's
teachings. All of these things are the tactics of the
pull of defilement to draw us
solely
into failure, away from the Dhamma. If we don't practice
the Dhamma so as to get
above these
things, we won't have any sense at all that they are all deceits of defilement.
When we
have practiced so as to get beyond them step by step, though, they won't
be
able to
remain hidden. No matter how sharp and ingenious the
various kinds of
defilement
may be, they don't lie beyond the power of mindfulness and discernment.
This is
why the Buddha saw causes and effects, benefits and harm, in a way that
went
straight
to his heart, because of his intelligence that transcended defilement.
For this
reason, when he taught the Dhamma to the world, he did so with full compassion
so that
living beings could truly escape from danger, from the depths of the world
so full
of suffering.
He wanted the beings of the world to see the marvelousness, the
awesomeness
of the Dhamma that had had such an impact within his heart, so that they
too would
actually see as he did. This is why his proclamation
of the Dhamma was done
in full
measure, for it was based on his benevolence. He didn't
proclaim it with empty
pronouncements
or as empty ceremony. That sort of thing didn't exist
in the Buddha.
Instead,
he was truly filled with benevolence for the living beings of the world.
His activities
as Buddha -- the five duties of the Buddha we are always hearing
about --
he never
abandoned, except for the few times he occasionally set them aside in line
with
events.
But even though he set them aside, it wasn't because he had set his benevolence
aside.
He set them aside in keeping with events and circumstances.
For example, when
he spent
the rains alone in the Prileyya Forest, he had no following, and none of
the
monks entered
the forest to receive instruction from him, which meant that this activity
was set
aside. Other than that, though, he performed his duties
to the full because of his
benevolence,
with nothing lacking in any way.
This is
a matter of his having seen things clearly in his heart: the
harm of all things
dangerous,
and the benefits of all things beneficial. The Buddha
had touched and
known them
in every way, which is why he had nothing to doubt. His
teaching of the
Dhamma
regarding harms and benefits was thus done in full measure.
He analyzed harm
into all
its branches. He analyzed benefits into all their branches
and completely revealed
the differing
degrees of benefits they gave. The beings of the world
who had lived
drearily
with suffering and stress for untold aeons and were capable of learning
of the
excellence
of the Dhamma from the Buddha: How could they remain complacent?
Once
they had
heard the teachings of the religion truly resonating in their very own
ears and
hearts
-- because of the truth, the honesty, the genuine compassion of the
Buddha --
they had
to wake up. The beings of the world had to wake up.
They had to accept the
truth.
That truth
is of two kinds. The truth on the side of harm is one
kind of truth: It really is
stressful,
and the origin of stress really creates stress to burn the hearts of living
beings.
As for
the path, it really creates ease and happiness for living beings.
Those who
listened
to these truths, listened with all their hearts. This
being the case, the strength of
will they
developed, their conviction, and their clear vision of both harm and benefits
all
gathered
to become a strength permeating the one heart of each person.
So why
shouldn't
these things reveal their full strength and manifest themselves as persistence,
effort,
earnestness, and determination in every activity for the sake of gaining
release from
all dangers
and adversity by means of the Dhamma?
This is
why the disciples who heard the Dhamma from the Buddha, from the mouth
of the
foremost
Teacher, felt inspired and convinced. Many of them even
came to see the
Dhamma
and gain release from suffering and stress, step by step to the point of
absolute
release,
right there in the Buddha's presence. As we've seen the
texts say: When the
Buddha
was explaining the Dhamma for the sake of those who could be taught, his
followers
-- such as the monks -- attained the Dhamma to ultimate
release, nibbana, in
no small
numbers. This is what happens when truth meets with truth.
They fit together
easily
with no difficulty at all. Those who listened did so
by really seeing the benefits and
harm, really
convinced by the reasons of the Dhamma taught by the Buddha, which is why
they gained
clear results right then and there.
The Dhamma
-- both the harm and benefits that the Buddha explained in his day
and age,
and that
existed in the hearts of his listeners in that day and age:
In what way is it
different
from the truths existing in our hearts at present? They're
all the same nature of
truth,
the same Noble Truths. They don't lie beyond the four
Noble Truths, either in the
Buddha's
time or in the present.
The Buddha's
instructions were the truth of the path, teaching people to have virtue,
concentration,
and discernment so that they could truly understand the affairs of stress
straight
to the heart and remove the cause of stress, which is a thorn or a spear
stabbing
the heart
of living beings, creating suffering and stress that go straight to the
heart as well.
The truth of stress exists in our bodies and minds. The
truth of the origin of stress
reveals
itself blatantly in our hearts in our every activity.
What can reveal itself only
intermittently,
or not at all, is the path -- even though we are listening
to it right now.
What is
the path? Mindfulness and discernment. Right
View and Right Attitude: These
things
refer to the levels of discernment. If we add Right Mindfulness,
then when we have
these three
qualities nourishing the heart, Right Concentration will arise because
of our
right activities.
Right Activity, for those who are to extricate themselves from stress,
refers
primarily to the work of removing defilement -- for example,
the work of sitting and
walking
meditation, the work of guarding the heart with mindfulness, using mindfulness
and discernment
continually to investigate and contemplate the different kinds of good
and bad
things making contact with us at all times. This is called
building the path within
the heart.
When we
bring the path out to contend with our adversary -- the origin
of stress -- what
facet is
the adversary displaying? The facet of love? What
does it love? What exactly is
the object
it loves? Here we focus mindfulness and discernment in on unraveling
the
object
that's loved. What is the object in actuality?
Unravel it so as to see it through and
through,
being really intent in line with the principles of mindfulness and discernment.
Reflect
back and forth, again and again, so as to see it clearly.
The object that's loved or
lovable
will fade away of its own accord because of our discernment.
Mindfulness and
discernment
wash away all the artifice, all that is counterfeit in that so-called love
step by
step until
it is all gone. This is the discernment we build up in
the heart to wash away all
the artifices,
all the filth with which the defilements plaster things inside and out.
Outside,
they plaster these things on sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile
sensations.
Inside, they plaster them on labels -- sanna --
that go out our eyes. . . . They plaster
things
beginning with our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body, stage by stage.
There's
nothing
but the plaster of defilement. When we meet with these
things, seeing them or
hearing
them, sanna -- labels and interpretations -- and
sankhara -- thought-formations
--
appear in the mind. These continue plastering layer on
layer.
For this
reason, we must use discernment to investigate. Whatever
is plastered outside,
wash that
plastering away. Then turn around to wash away the plastering
inside. When
we have
seen these things clearly with discernment, how can discernment help but
turn to
find the
important culprit, the deceiver inside? It has to turn inside.
In using mindfulness
and discernment,
this is how we must use them. When we investigate, this
is how we
investigate
-- and we do it earnestly. This is Right Activity
in the area of the practice.
Right Speech:
As I've said before, we speak in line with the ten topics of effacement
(sallekha-dhamma).
We don't bring matters of the world, politics, commerce, matters of
women and
men, matters of defilement and craving to converse among ourselves so as
to
become
distracted and conceited, piling on more defilement and stress, in line
with the
things
we discuss. With the topics of effacement --
that's what the Buddha called them
--
we speak of things that will strengthen our will to make persistent effort,
making us
convinced
and inspired with the Dhamma. At the same time, these
topics are warnings
against
heedlessness and means of washing away the various kinds of defilement
when
we hear
them from one another. This is Right Speech in the area
of the practice.
Right Livelihood:
Feed your heart with Dhamma. Don't bring in poison
-- greed, anger,
delusion,
or lust -- to feed the heart, for these things will be toxic,
burning the heart and
making
it far more troubled than any poisonous substances could.
Try to guard your
heart well
with mindfulness and discernment. The savor of the Dhamma,
beginning with
concentration
as its basis, will appear as peace and calm within the heart in proportion
to
the levels
of concentration. Then use discernment to unravel the
various things that the
mind labels
and interprets, so as to see them clearly step by step.
This is called Right
Livelihood
-- guarding the heart rightly, feeding it correctly with the nourishment
of the
Dhamma,
and not with the various kinds of defilement, craving, and mental effluents
that
are like
poisons burning the heart. Reduce matters to these terms,
meditators. This is
called
Right Livelihood in the practice of meditation.
Right Effort,
as I've said before, means persistence in abandoning all forms of evil.
This
covers
everything we've said so far. The Buddha defines this
as persistence in four
areas,
or of four sorts, [*] but since I've already explained this many times,
I'll pass over it
here.
[*] Making
the effort (1) to prevent evil from arising, (2) to abandon evil that has
arisen, (3)
to give
rise to the good, and (4) to maintain and perfect the good that has arisen.
Right Mindfulness:
What does the Buddha have us keep in mind? All the things that
will
remove
defilement. For example, he has us keep the four frames
of reference in mind:
being mindful
as we investigate the body; being mindful as we investigate feelings; being
mindful
as we investigate the mind; being mindful as we investigate phenomena that
involve
the mind, arise in the mind, arise and then vanish, vanish and then arise,
matters of
past and
future appearing in the present all the time. We keep
investigating in this way.
If we investigate
so as to make the mind progress in tranquility meditation, Right
Mindfulness
means using mindfulness to supervise our mental repetition.
From there it
turns into
Right Concentration within the heart. This is called
building the Dhamma,
building
tools for clearing our way, loosening the things that bind and constrict
the heart
so that
we can make easy progress, so that we aren't obstructed and blocked by
the force
of the
things I have mentioned.
Only the
religion, or only the Dhamma, can remove and scatter all the things that
have
bound us
for countless aeons, clearing them away so that we can make easy progress.
When the
mind is centered in concentration, then confusion and turmoil are far away.
The mind
is still and dwells in comfort and ease. When the mind
develops discernment
from investigating
and contemplating the things that obstruct it, it makes easy progress.
The sharper
its discernment, the wider the path it can clear for itself.
Its going is smooth.
Easy. It advances by seeing and knowing the truth, without
being deluded or deceiving
itself.
Genuine discernment doesn't deceive itself, but instead makes smooth progress.
It unravels
all the things that obstruct it -- our various attachments
and misconstruings --
so as to
see them thoroughly, as if it were slashing away the obstacles in its path
so that it
can progress
step by step as I've already explained to you.
The most
important basis for its investigation is the body. Bodies
outside or the body
inside,
investigate them carefully and thoroughly, for they're all Noble Truths.
They're all
the path,
both inside and out. Investigate and unravel them so
as to see them clearly --
and while
you're investigating them, don't concern yourself with any other work more
than
with the
work of investigation. Use discernment to investigate
in order really to know,
really
to see these things as they are, and uproot the counterfeit labels and
assumptions
that say
that they're pretty and beautiful, lovely and attractive.
Investigate so as to
penetrate
to the truth that there is nothing at all beautiful or attractive about
them. They're
thoroughly
filthy and repulsive: your body and the bodies of others, all
without
exception.
They're all filled with filthy and repulsive things.
If you look in line with the
principles
of the truth, that's how they are. Discernment investigates,
peering inward so
as to see
clear through -- from the skin outside on into the inside,
which is putrid with all
kinds of
filth -- for the sake of seeing clearly exactly what is pretty,
what is beautiful, what
is lovely
and attractive. There's nothing of the sort in any body.
There are only the lying
defilements
that have planted these notions there.
When we
have really investigated on in, we see that these notions are all false.
The
genuine
truth is that these bodies aren't pretty or beautiful.
They're nothing but
repulsive.
When they fall apart, what are they? When they fall apart,
earth is earth --
because
earth is what it already was when it was still in the body.
The properties of
water,
wind, and fire were already water, wind, and fire when they were in the
body.
When the
body falls apart, where do these things ever become gods and Brahmas,
heaven
and nibbana? They have to be earth, water, wind, and fire in
line with their nature.
This is how discernment investigates and analyzes so as to see clearly.
This is how we
use clear-seeing
discernment to clear away the things obstructing and distorting our
vision.
Now there's no more such thing as being constricted or blocked.
Our
discernment,
if we use it, has to be discernment all the day long.
Wherever
discernment penetrates, it sees clearly, clears away its doubts, and lets
go, step
by step,
until it lets go once and for all from having known thoroughly.
Once it has
investigated
blatant things so as to know them clearly, where will the mind then go?
Once it
has investigated blatant things and known them clearly, it's as if it has
completely
uprooted
the blatant defilements that have planted thorns in different objects,
such as our
own body.
So now where will the defilements go? Will they fly away?
They can only
shrink
inward to find a hiding place when they are chased inside and attacked
by
mindfulness
and discernment.
Feelings,
labels, thought-formations, and cognizance: These are simply
individual
conditions
by their nature, but they are under the control of defilement.
Defilement is the
basis from
which they spring, so it has to regard itself as being in charge.
It uses labels
to make
them defilement. It forms thought-formations so as to
make them defilement. It
cognizes
and takes note so as to make these things defilement.
However many feelings
arise,
it makes them all defilement. Defilement can't make things
into Dhamma. It has to
be defilement
all the day long. This is how it builds itself in its
various branches.
So.
Investigate on in. Slash on in. Feelings
of pleasure and pain: They exist both in
the body
and in the mind. Feeling isn't defilement.
If we look in line with the principles
of nature,
it's simply a reality. The assumption that 'I'm pained'
or 'I'm pleased' --
delusion
with pain, delusion with pleasure, delusion with feelings of indifference
in the
body and
mind: These things are defilement. The assumptions
and delusions are
defilement.
When we really investigate inward, the various feelings aren't defilement;
these four
mental phenomena aren't defilement.
Once we've
spotted our assumptions and construings, they retreat inward.
The feelings
that still
exist in the body and mind, even though they aren't yet thoroughly understood,
are still
greatly lightened. We begin to gain an inkling of their
ways, step by step. We're
not deluded
to the point of complete blindness as we were before we investigated.
Whichever
aspects of feeling are blatant and associated with the body, we know clearly.
We can
let go of bodily feelings. We can understand them.
As for feelings remaining in
the mind,
for the most part they're refined feelings of pleasure.
We know and let go of
them in
the same way when the path gains power. These feelings
of pleasure are like fish
in a trap:
No matter what, there's no way they can escape getting cooked.
They can't
swim down
into large ponds and lakes as they used to. They can
only sit waiting for their
dying day.
The same holds true for the refined feeling of pleasure --
which is a
conventional
reality -- within the heart. It can only
wait for the day it will be disbanded as
a convention
when the ultimate ease, which is not a convention, comes to rule the heart
through
the complete penetration of mindfulness and discernment.
So investigate on in
until you
understand, reaching the point of letting go with no more concerns.
What is
sanna labeling? Labeling this, labeling that, making assumptions
about this and
that:
These are all affairs of defilement using sanna. When
cognizance (vinnana) takes
note, it
too is turned into defilement. So we investigate these
things, using discernment
in the
same way as when we investigate feelings. We then understand.
When we
understand,
these things become simply cognizance taking note, simply sanna labeling,
without
labeling so as to be defilement, without taking note so as to be defilement.
Defilement
then retreats further and further inward.
Ultimately,
these five issues -- namely, the physical khandha, our body;
the vedana
khandha,
feelings in the body (as for feelings in the mind, let's save those for
the moment);
the sanna
khandha, the sankhara khandha, and the vinnana khandha -- are
all clearly
known in
the heart, with no more doubts. The defilements gather
inward, converge
inward.
They can't go out roaming, because they'll get slashed to bits by mindfulness
and discernment.
So they have to withdraw inward to find a hiding place.
This, in
actuality,
is what the investigation is like, and not otherwise.
In our investigation
as meditators, when discernment reaches any particular level, we'll
know for
ourselves, step by step. Both defilement and discernment:
We'll know both
sides at
the same time. When discernment is very strong, defilement
grows weaker.
Mindfulness
and discernment become even more courageous and unflinching.
The
words laziness
and lethargy, which are affairs of defilement, disappear.
We keep moving
in with
persistence day and night. This is the way it is when
the path gains strength. As
meditators
you should take note of this and practice so as to know it and see it,
so as to
make it
your own treasure arising in your heart. Your doubts
will then be ended in every
way.
We now take
this atomic mindfulness and discernment and shoot it into the central point
of conventional
reality, the point that causes living beings to founder in the wheel of
the
cycle (vatta)
so that they can't find their way out, don't know the way out, don't know
the
ways of
birth, don't know who has been born as what, where they have died, what
burdens
of suffering and stress they have carried. Mindfulness
and discernment go
crashing
down into that point until it is scattered to pieces.
And so now how can we not
know what
it is that has caused us to take birth and die? There is only
defilement that is
the important
seed causing us to take birth and die, causing us to suffer pain and stress.
The true
Dhamma hasn't caused us to suffer. It has brought us
nothing but pleasure and
ease in
line with its levels, in line with the levels of what is noble and good.
The things
that give
rise to major and minor sufferings are all affairs of defilement.
We can see this
clearly.
We can know this clearly. Especially when defilement
has been completely
scattered
from the heart, it's as if the earth and sky collapse.
How can this not send a
tremor
through the three levels of the cosmos? -- because
this thing is what has
wandered
throughout the three levels of the cosmos. When it has
been made to collapse
within
the heart, what is the heart like now? How does the outer space
of the Dhamma
differ
from the outer space of the world? Now we know clearly.
The outer space of this
purified
mind: Is it annihilation? The outer space of the
world isn't annihilation. If it
were annihilation,
they wouldn't call it outer space. It's a nature that
exists in line with the
principles
of its nature as outer space.
The outer
space of the mind released from all forms of gravitational pull, i. e.
, conventional
reality:
What is it like? Even though we've never known it before, when
we come to
know it,
we won't have any doubts. Even though we've never seen
it before, when we
come to
see it, we won't have any doubts. Even though we've never
experienced it
before,
when we come to experience it, we won't have any doubts.
We won't have to
search
for witnesses to confirm it, the way we do with conventions in general.
It's
sanditthiko
-- immediately apparent -- and only this fits perfectly
with our heart and that
outer space
mind.
This is
what we referred to at the beginning when we talked about the outer space
of the
world and
the outer space of the mind. The outer space of the mind
-- the mind of
nibbana
-- is like that. Just where is it annihilated?
Who experiences the outer space of
the mind?
If it were annihilation, who could experience it? As for where
it will or won't be
reborn,
we already know that there's no way for it to be reborn.
We know this clearly.
We've removed
every defilement or conventional reality that would lead to rebirth.
Conventional
reality is the same thing as defilement. All things
-- no matter how subtle
--
that have been dangers to the heart for such a long time have been completely
destroyed.
All that remains is the pure outer space of the mind: the mind
that is pure.
You can
call it outer space, you can call it anything at all, because the world
has its
conventions,
so we have to make differentiations to use in line with the conventions
of the
world so
as not to conflict.
When we
reach the level of the outer space mind, how does it feel for the mind
to have
been coerced,
oppressed, and subject to the pull of all things base and vile, full of
stress
and great
sufferings for aeons and aeons? We don't have to reflect on
how many
lifetimes
it's been. We can take the principle of the present as
our evidence. Now the
mind is
released. We've seen how much suffering there has been
and now we've
abandoned
it once and for all. We've absolutely destroyed its seeds,
beginning with
'avijja-paccaya
sankhara' -- 'With unawareness as condition there occur mental
formations.'
All that remains is 'avijjayatveva asesa-viraga-nirodha' sankhara-nirodho'
--
'Simply
with the disbanding of unawareness, with no remaining passion,
thought-formations
disband.' That's the outer space of the mind.
The mind
released from all gravitational forces: Even though it's still
alive and directing
the khandhas,
there's nothing to bar its thoughts, its vision, its knowledge.
There's
nothing
to obstruct it, nothing to make it worried or relieved, nothing to make
it brave,
nothing
to make it afraid. It is simply its own nature by itself,
always independent in that
way.
For this
reason, knowledge of all truths has to be completely open to this unobstructed
and unoppressed
mind. It can know and see. If we speak
of matters related to the body
and khandhas,
we can speak in every way without faltering, because there's nothing to
hinder
us. Only the defilements are what kept us from seeing
what we saw and from
describing
the things we should have been able to describe, because we didn't know,
we
didn't
see. What we knew was bits and pieces.
We didn't know the full truth of these
various
things. When this was the case, how could we know clearly?
How could we
speak clearly?
All we knew was bits and pieces, so when we spoke, it had to be bits and
pieces
as well.
But once
we've shed these things, everything is wide open. The
mind is free, vast, and
empty,
without limits, without bounds. There's nothing to enclose
or obscure it. When
we know,
we really know the truth. When we see, we really see
the truth. When we
speak,
we can speak the truth. You can call the mind brave or
not-brave as you like,
because
we speak in line with what we experience, what we know and see, so why
can't
we speak?
We can know, we can see, so why can't we speak? --
for these things exist
as they
have from the beginning. When the Buddha proclaimed the
Dhamma to the
world,
he took the things that existed and that he saw in line with what he had
known --
everything
of every sort -- and proclaimed them to the world.
Think of how broad it was,
the knowledge
of the Buddha, how subtle and profound -- because nothing was
concealed
or mysterious to him. Everything was completely opened
to him. This is why
he's called
lokavidu -- one who knows the world clearly --
through the vastness of his
mind that
had nothing to enclose or conceal it at all.
Aloko udapadi:
'Brightness arose.' His mind was bright toward the truth both by day and
by night.
This is how the Buddha knew. The Noble Disciples all
knew in the same way,
except
that his range and theirs differed in breadth. But as
for knowing the truth, it was
the same
for them all.
Here we've
described both the benefits and the harm of the things involved with the
mind
--
in other words, both the Dhamma and the defilements -- for
you as meditators to listen
to and
contemplate in earnestness.
So.
Let's try to develop our minds so as to shoot out beyond this world of
conventional
realities
to see what it's like. Then we won't have to ask where
the Buddha is, how many
Buddhas
there have been, whether the Noble Disciples really exist or how many they
are
--
because the one truth that we know and see clearly in our hearts resonates
to all the
Buddhas,
all the Noble Disciples, and all the Dhamma that exists.
We won't have any
doubts,
because the nature that knows and exists within us contains them all:
all the
Buddhas,
the community of Noble Disciples, and all the Dhamma that exists.
It's a nature
just right
in its every aspect, with nothing for us to doubt.
This is
the place -- if we speak in terms of place -- where
we run out of doubts about
everything
of every sort. We oversee the khandhas, which are simply
conventions of the
world,
just as all the Noble Disciples do while they are still living.
As for the mind, it has
gained
release and remains released in that way. As we have
said, even though it
remains
in the midst of the world of conventions, this nature is its own nature,
and those
other things
are their own affairs. Each is a separate reality that
doesn't mingle, join, or
have an
effect on the others. When we say release from the world,
this is what we mean.
All of the
Dhammas I have mentioned here: When do they exist?
And when don't they
exist?
The Dhamma exists at all times and in all places. It's
akaliko, timeless. So I ask
that you
penetrate into the Dhamma of these four Noble Truths.
You'll be right on target
with the
results of the Buddha and the Noble Disciples; and there's no doubt but
that
you'll
be right on target with the results of the Buddha's and the Noble Disciples'
work.
Their workplace
is in these four Noble Truths, and the results that come from the work
are
the paths,
fruitions, and nibbana. They arise right here.
They're located right here.
When we
have practiced and reached them fully and completely, there will be nothing
for
us to question.
This is
why there won't be any reason to doubt the time of the Buddha as compared
to our
own time,
as to whether the Dhamma of the Buddha was different because the defilements
are now
different from what they were then. The defilements then
and now are all of the
same sort.
The Dhamma is all of the same sort. If we cure defilement
in the same way,
we're bound
to gain release in the same way. There is no other way
to gain release, no
matter
what the day and age. There is only this one way:
following the way of the path,
beginning
with virtue, concentration, and discernment, to eliminate defilement, the
cause
of stress
-- in particular, craving for sensuality, craving for becoming, and
craving for no
becoming
-- completely from the heart. As for nirodha, the
cessation of stress: When
defilement
is disbanded, from where will any more suffering or stress arise?
When
defilement
and stress are disbanded for good, that's the outer space of the mind.
As for
the Noble
Truths, they're activities, or our workplace. The result
that comes from these
four Noble
Truths is something else entirely. As I've always been
telling you: What is it
that knows
that stress and the cause of stress disband? When the path
has performed its
duties
to the full and has completely wiped out the cause of stress, then nirodha
-- the
cessation
of stress -- appears in full measure, after which it disbands
as well, because it
too is
a conventional reality. As for the one who knows that
the cause of stress has
disbanded
by being eradicated through the path so as to give rise to the cessation
of
stress:
The one who knows this is the pure one -- the outer space of
the mind -- and
that's
the end of the matter.
So investigate
carefully. Listen carefully when you listen to the Dhamma
while putting it
to use.
When we work, we can't let go of our tools. For instance,
if we're working with
an ax,
the ax has to be at hand. If we're working with a knife,
the knife has to be at hand.
If we're
working with a chisel, the chisel has to be at hand.
But when we've finished our
work, we
let go of our chisel, we let go of our various tools.
So here the virtue,
concentration,
and discernment that are called the path are our tools in the work of
eliminating
defilement. We have to keep them right at hand while
we are working. When
we have
eliminated defilement until it's completely defeated and nothing is left,
these tools
are phenomena
that let go of themselves of their own accord, without our having to force
them.
As I've
always
been saying, the teachings on inconstancy, stress, and not-self are our
path.
We can't let go of them. We have to investigate things
with mindfulness and
discernment
so as to see them clearly in line with the principles of inconstancy, stress,
and not-self.
Once we're ready and we've run the full course, we let go of these
principles
in line with the truth. We don't call anything not-self.
Each thing is a separate
reality,
with no quarreling. This is the Dhamma: It
has many stages, many levels, so
those who
listen have to make distinctions, because in this talk I've discussed many
stages
on many levels, back and forth, so as to make things plain for those listening.
To summarize:
The marketplace of the paths, fruitions, and nibbana is located in the
Noble Truths.
It isn't located anywhere else. So, whatever else, make
sure that you
attain
them. Accelerate your efforts to the full extent of your
ability. Use all the
mindfulness
and discernment you have to contemplate and investigate things in order
to
see them
clearly. See what it's like to set them spinning as a
wheel of Dhamma, which
the Buddha
has described as super-mindfulness and super-discernment.
When we start
out practicing,
how can they immediately become super-mindfulness and
super-discernment?
When children are born, they don't immediately become adults.
They have
to be nourished and guarded and cared for. Think of how
much it takes, how
much it
costs, for each child to become an adult as we all have.
Mindfulness and
discernment
need to be nourished and guarded in just the same way.
When we nourish
and guard
them unceasingly, unflaggingly, they grow bold and capable until they become
super-mindfulness
and super-discernment. Then they attack the defilements
-- no
matter
what the sort -- until the defilements are slashed to pieces
with nothing left, so that
we attain
purity -- release and nibbana -- within our own
heart, which will then have the
highest
value. Whether or not anyone else confers titles on it,
we ourselves don't confer
titles.
We've reached sufficiency, so what is there to gain by conferring titles?
All that's
left is
the gentleness and tenderness of purity, blended into one with benevolence.
The
entire
mind is filled with benevolence.
The Buddha
taught the beings of the world through his benevolence.
His mind was
completely
gentle toward every living being in the three levels of the cosmos.
He didn't
exalt or
demean any of them at all. 'Sabbe satta' --
'May all living beings who are fellows
in suffering,
birth, ageing, illness, and death' -- 'avera hontu' --
'be free from enmity'. . . all
the way
to 'sukhi attanam pariharantu' -- 'may they maintain themselves
with ease.' [*]
That was
his benevolence. He gave equality to all living beings.
He didn't lean, because
his mind
didn't have anything to lean. It didn't have any defilements
infiltrating it that
could make
it lean. The things leaning this way and that are all
affairs of defilement.
When there's
pure Dhamma, the mind keeps its balance with pure fairness, so there's
no
leaning.
It's a principle of nature that stays as it is.
[*] The
full passage: Sabbe satta sukhita hontu, avera hontu, abyapajjha
hontu, anigha
hontu,
sukhi attanam pariharantu: May all living beings be happy,
free from enmity, free
from affliction,
free from anxiety. May they maintain themselves with
ease.
So I ask
that you all take this and earnestly put it into practice.
Gain release so as to see it
clearly
in your heart. How do they compare: this
heart as it's currently coerced and
oppressed,
and the heart when it has attained release from coercion and oppression.
How do
they differ in value? Come to see this clearly in your own
heart. You won't see it
anywhere
else. Sanditthiko: It's immediately apparent
within the person who practices.
So then. This seems to be enough explanation for now.
source: http://www.geocities.com/~wtwilson3/
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