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Six Dhamma Talks
about Centering the Mind in
Non-Attachment by Tan
Acharn Kor Khao-suan-luang (Upasika
Kee Nanayon) Wheel
No. 326 / 328 Copyright
© Kandy, Buddhist Publication
Society, (First BPS edition 1985) For free
distribution. This work may be republished, reformatted,
reprinted and redistributed in any medium. However, any such
republication and
redistribution is to be made available to the public on a free and
unrestricted
basis and translations and other derivative works are to be clearly
marked as
such. Making
Dhamma One's True Concern Mindfulness
Like the Pilings of a Dam All
Things Are Unworthy of Attachment 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 23.4.1972 The
results of one's step by step
practice of self-inspection must be carefully noted, then any
imprudence or
mistake in one's daily life can be corrected as much as possible. If we
don't
keep to a high standard, our mind will continually decline because of
selfishness. Without careful and thorough examination, this disease of
selfishness will spread its infection everywhere; therefore we must
continually
keep on with our task of self-inspection. Whenever we are careless in
this and
selfishness arises, we must make sure we completely eradicate it,
especially if
it should arise strongly. Even when it is more subtle it must be
thoroughly
searched out. If we do not destroy this virulent disease inside
ourselves, our
practice will not be in accord with the Lord Buddha's Teaching. It
is therefore necessary to have
complete self-inspection based upon and developing from the Five and
Eight
Precepts. Normally, the precepts can lower selfishness at one level and
our
mind development can eliminate it at a medium level, as we should all
understand quite well. Finally, however, we have to use mindfulness and
wisdom
(satipa––‡) to eradicate the selfishness
which results from not seeing the truth of impermanence, suffering, and
not-self. We must consider this repeatedly. When interest intensifies,
the
defilements, craving and clinging, and the self in its various
manifestations
can be eliminated. In not knowing that things are impermanent and
deceitful
comes the desire to grasp hold of them and take them always as our
treasure.
This disease is difficult to treat simply because we would rather
examine
others than ourselves! To
turn and examine oneself so as to
catch and see that Ôself' with its intrigues, hiding
insidiously deep in one's
natureÑthis requires strong and thorough mindfulness and
wisdom. But to
actually get rid of it isn't so easy and really one only sees its
deceit and
desires. These multifarious ways of greed are worthy of great attention
and
need to be carefully examined, for without introspection one's practise
will
veer off-course and end by actually facilitating and increasing one's
sense of
self. Initially,
so as not to feed and inflate
this sense of self, we have to be content with what we have. There
should be no
need for things, from the crudest to the most refined, no matter how
much one
is attracted to them. But everyone must see and understand this for
himself,
which isn't easy as it is all very insidious. The difficulty is
compounded
because the self is always looking for distractions to involve us in.
Should we
enquire what it is grasping for, what it is in turmoil over
Ñit just pretends
not to have heard. It is interested in just wanting more and more,
without end. A
basic characteristic of the human
being is to be clever in acquiring this and that. The defilements
(kilesa) only
have this cleverness in getting but not in giving up or sacrificing. If
only
this could be changed around so that one became clever in giving away!
It would
bring such great benefits because one would stop grasping at things and
gradually, with strong contemplation, destroy the attachment. If one
stops the
defilements from talking their fill by cutting off their food, this can
be
considered as following the Way of the Noble Disciple (Arahant). But
the other
way, the way of deception and sponsoring self, makes one a firm
follower of
Mara, the Evil One, who personifies the defilements, and instead of
giving away
one just endlessly acquires and consumes things. There
are, therefore, these two ways and
we must examine ourselves to see the acute disease of
selfishnessÑwith its
getting clevernessÑwhich lies within us all. Yet if we
aren't sharp enough, we
will be fooled by self's guiles; "the more the merrier" as Mara would
say. You must ask yourself, "Am I really following the way to
Enlightenment or is it the way of Mara and selfishness? On which path
does my
cleverness really lie?" This is something we must always question. With
regard to the household stores in
this area which have been donated for the general use of those who come
here to
practise Dhamma, one should be careful never to appropriate any such
communal
property for oneselfÑone must always ask first. If one grabs
this and that to
be as comfortable as possible, then even though one may have acted
unthinkingly
this is the same as theft. The communal household utensils here should
therefore not be requisitioned as one's own; even those things donated
to you
should, on occasion, be brought out and shared. Then there is no
attachment and
one does not plan just for one's own convenience. Otherwise the
instinct of
Ôself'Ñwhich must appropriate things to itself
Ñis very insidious and cunning
and it's difficult to see its villainy. One mistakenly accepts "the
more I
can get the better." Such selfishness puts one under the power of Mara. Now
that we have become disciples of the
Lord Buddha, how can we possibly be like that? If we should see the
greed
arisen in ourselves become particularly avaricious, then the only way
out is to
give that thing up. Relinquish it! Under no circumstance should it be
quietly
appropriated on the side. Absolutely not! I will tell you plainly,
anyone
living in a religious community who behaves like this 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 fault of character. A character
which
knows no bounds to its greed really seems disgusting or, at least, the
disease
which infects that mind is. What can we do to cleanse such a mind?
Anyway, to
associate with extremely selfish people will inflame the disease still
more and
it will infect deep into the mind. This
remains a hidden subject which
people don't wish to speak about. It's not pleasant talk, rather, it is
disturbing with sinister implications. Only with mindfulness and wisdom
in
examining oneself will one be able to know the deceit of the
defilements and
greed. How can this all be destroyed? It is not something which one can
be
half-hearted about; one must renounce and give away as much as
possible. Those
things which are involved in supporting such selfishness must be given
up. You
shouldn't agree amongst yourselves that each grabs as much as he can,
but
rather encourage one another to give as much as possible. If you don't
then the
mind will fall into anguish because you turn and infect yourself with
the dirt
and disease of selfishness. And who can possibly come and treat you? When
one decides to examine this
malignant disease, one must remember all this for nobody else wants to
discuss
it with you. Even though they are all saturated with the same
infection, they
prefer to talk of other things! The giving away of various things from
time to
time is relatively easy, but to relinquish the self is both extremely
difficult
and profound. 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. We must
therefore turn and catch this self. The
Lord Buddha has laid down the Recollection
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 dh‡tu freed 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 destroy the defilements and Ôself,' then
there's no loss
in trying to follow a similar basic rule. If we don't, imagine how the
defilements, craving, clinging, and the self are boundlessly growing.
So we
have to make our choice: simply to follow the old way or to try hard to
turn
towards the end of self. This is very much your own concern. Turning to
examine
internally is difficult, but one has only to try carefully a little and
great
benefit will always come from it. When one can actually catch the
deceit of
self in the act of plunging one still deeper into suffering, and there
and then
wipe it out, this is truly a reward beyond price. If
we do not realize this eradication,
this giving up of self, then the basis for continual suffering is laid
and
grows. By not bringing it in for examination it grows freely. Even
though we
can quote and recite the scripturesÑand even skillfully
teach othersÑstill the
mind is impure and confused. When we can see all this clearly then we
will feel
revulsion with all this desire. Then we can begin to give and make
sacrificesÑhowever difficult it seems!Ñnot
allowing suffering a hold. Thereupon
each small renunciation builds its own reward in the mind until there
is
complete victory. Those
having a strong tendency to
meannessÑwhich is a specific defilementÑseem to
be unable to give anything up.
They are reluctant to examine themselves and admit that there really
exists
within them such a severe disease as selfishness. If they would
frequently
examine carefully inside themselves, such a defilement wouldn't dare to
show
its face, but if they are negligent then the defilement will grow
strong and
bold and be capable of the most selfish and despicable acts. Such
people are
then capable of appropriating the property of a community such as we
have here
for their own selfish purposes. When
we turn around and constantly try
to examine our minds, we will persist in giving up our unworthy
attachments.
Then whatever we do is Dhamma and will all be of help to our companions
in
(this world of) birth, illness, old age and death. Once selfishness is
expurgated, through this single advance we can come to the aid of
others
without caring about any hardships involved. Without self we are truly
on the
noble way. The
practice of Dhamma needs orderliness
in daily life without which it is unseemly. Another point here is that
shortcomings in behaviour allow the defilements to arise more easily.
Orderliness helps to arouse mindfulness which may allow one to
forestall the
defilements. Disregard for rules and regulations is valueless whereas
conscientiously abiding by them can bring benefit. They give one a
sense of how
to respond correctly to every situation, which is necessary because we
don't
yet really 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 ourselvesÑeither externally or
internallyÑand so must depend
on Dhamma and the Way it points out to us. But whether one is to follow
Dhamma
or wander astray must be decided each one for himself. Those
who wish to get rid of their own
defilements and suffering and who have vigilance as an asset of mind
must be
diligent and persevere. Wherever they venture they only seem to meet
the scorching
fire of suffering, so finally they stop, turn and set themselves the
task of
struggling to be free. Without a clear and thorough understanding of
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
unremitting effort to train the mind
needs mindfulness and wisdom to point the way. Half-heartedness is
merely a
waste of time and one remains an unmitigated fool. When one realizes
this, the
benefits from the resulting effort are immense; eventually
one can destroy
the defilements, relinquish one's attachment and the mind transcends
suffering. But
if one can't make this gain then one will be
swept away by the power of craving and defilements. By being negligent
and
careless they lead one by the nose, they pull one here and drag one
there.
Therefore, the Lord Buddha emphasized in many ways that one must
relinquish,
sacrifice and be uninvolved, for these are the instruments to cut out
the
cancer from the mind. This
kind of malignant disease is very
insidious and though it may make itself felt a little, it's usually not
enough
to alert one and eventually it triumphs. Sometimes one even submits to
its
terms with alacrity. Therefore, one's examination must be very
circumspect and
careful, otherwise it's like plugging one hole in a leaking boat only
to find
it's leaking elsewhere. There are six holes or aperturesÑthe
eyes, ears, nose,
tongue, body and mindÑand if we have no control over them,
they are left open
to follow after emotions, which causes great suffering. One must use
mindfulness and wisdom to seek out and review the true situation inside
oneself
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 them they will burn
us. We
must pull ourselves around and question how to remedy this, which will
lead to
great results. While we still have breath and our bodies are not yet
rotting in
their 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 that has eaten deeply into the mind can only be cured with
Dhamma.
The Lord Buddha prescribed the different properties of his various
Dhamma
medicines. Each one of us must carefully select and compound what is
correct
and most suitable, then use it to destroy the root infection. All this
necessitates great circumspection. Should
one's self-inspection still be
insufficient to destroy the defilements they will grow stronger and
burn like
an invisible fire inside the mind. Introspection is the extinguisher to
use, so
that when we notice greed arising for an object, we must snuff it out
and
relinquish it. Now look at the mind, is it free or entangled in
turmoil? If we
don't persevere it can only end in our getting burnt. No matter how
smart we
think we are, we succumb to greed. Greed seizes the commander's place
and we
make no attempt to drive it out and even go out to receive it with
compliments.
The mind is then the oppressed slave of desire. It has fallen into
delusion
with grasping this and that, leaving no obvious way out of such
wretched
entanglement. We don't know how to escape this dilemma which viciously
encircles our mind. We
are trapped by our lack of true
resolve and finally, when we are at wit's end, we become slaves to the
defilements as before. The more often we submit to them the more their
power
grows. The only true way to overthrow them is to strenuously
bring
mindfulness and wisdom to bear and examine the suffering they bring
from all
angles until the mind refuses to stay a slave. It's no use just making an
external show of it because the greater the
fuss the more stubborn the defilements become, and yet we also can't be
half-hearted about it. One must have the appropriate response for
whatever the
situation. One can't just go in with massive
good intention to wipe
them out, but must first carefully focus and enhance one's mindfulness
and
wisdom. This
all requires great
circumspection and these are all important points to remember. When
one's all-round mindfulness and
wisdom are still insufficient and not reinforced, then the defilements
will be
overwhelming. If one can persistently build up mindfulness and wisdom
then, in
their turn, the strength of the defilements will gradually fall away.
One notices
that the mind that previously was confused is now resolute and sees the
impermanence of things more clearly so that they can be let go of and
relinquished. This insight into impermanence restrengthens mindfulness
and
wisdom to an even deeper discernment; yet this penetration must be
truly
focused, otherwise the slightest inattention will break it up. If it
doesn't
wander off target, even for a moment, then this is truly the way to
control the
defilements, but carelessness means it can never affect them and they
will
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 the various
emotions, or lose itself in confusion arising from concocting thoughts.
One
should be forewarned here about the tendency to think "I know!" when
one really doesn't. Until the mind penetrates to true insight, there
must
always be doubt and uncertainty; but when one truly starts to see, then
doubts
fall away and one no longer speculates about it. One truly knows. Can
you be
certain that you have true insight? When the mind truly sees,
the
defilements and suffering are really eliminated, but if one just thinks
one
seesÑwhilst having no real insight of mindÑthen
one can't possibly destroy the
defilements and suffering. For
the mind to genuinely understand, it
must investigate in every posture, with every breath. It will then be
equal to
stopping the emotions and those tendencies which continually fabricate
notions
without reason or value under the compulsion of delusion. Without true
determination practice becomes halfhearted and this leads to
distractionÑand a
waste of valuable timeÑall being nothing more than delusion.
We must turn our
vision inside ourselves 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 seenÑwhy 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 sankharas
(which determine compounded things) new insight will arise as to that
nature
which doesn't deteriorate, a nature which can't be altered but just is. This
insight penetrates into the mind,
where the desire for things is activated and that which blocks out
Dhamma
abides. When this concocting stops one sees 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
one must look correctly to be able
to penetrate, otherwise one will see nothing. If one grasps at
things which
goes against the basic principles of true knowledge and then
tries to go
straight to the truth, it's probable that one will 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 free and empty," and we must
similarly see our emotions as they arise and cease as free and empty. When
the mind truly realizes the transience of things, the deceit of the
world and
our emotions, it doesn't grasp 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--true and final release--we
find described in one of
the scriptures we chant, the Solasapa–h‡, as "vimokkha is
not subject to change." Those levels of free mind which change are not
true vimokkha and 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 aim or attachment for anything. This is the true way to
penetrative insight. May
all of you who practise Dhamma work tirelessly so as to see and know
this
truth. Making Dhamma One's True
Concern Every
one of us has suffering, and the
most important task of our life is to get rid of it. The defilements
besiege
the mind which, lacking study of Dhamma, is left helpless. They
continually
scorch the mind 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 just constant
self-examination because the body and mind are the basis of our
existence. The
state of changing--which they naturally exhibit--needs correct
investigation,
otherwise one goes the unthinking normal way, understanding nothing and
grasping after things which can only compound one's suffering. But this
is
difficult to see and needs one's full attention and concern. In
examining the
unrest and anxiety of the mind, one finds it arises from the disease of
greed,
hatred and delusion. The desiring of things brings only turmoil to the
mind; it
is like being infected with a virulent disease. It's
normal for us to be afraid of
bodily disease, but the disease of the defilements which disturbs and
depresses
the mind doesn't concern us at all. We don't choose to realize the
seriousness
of this infection and sometimes in our ignorance make it even worse. To
actually get down to eliminating the defilements is therefore difficult
and
unattractive, especially with the myriad distractions outside which
stir up
desire. The indifferent common man just spins with his desires making
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
because we are unaware that the defilements have already overpowered
and
infected the mind that this disease is so difficult to see. One
must turn one's attention from
external things and fix it on one's own body and mind. Whether mind or
body,
name or matter, it's all subject to impermanence and change; but this
is
difficult for the ordinary person to realize. It's like what we think
of as the
growth of a man, from his mother's womb onwards there is continual
change and
transformation so that this growth really means change. Nothing is
immutable in
this world. The
decline and decay of the body and
material things shouldn't be so difficult to notice but still it
escapes our
attention. The mind and mental states are constantly changing, yet
instead of
seeing this, whenever we experience a sight or sound, we only grasp at
the
object, which drops us down to even more suffering. If
we could penetrate to the 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. But
the ordinary worldling, though being roasted alive, behaves as if he is
immune
to the fire and pays it no attention. He
even smiles and thinks himself content in habitually grasping at
transient
things as Ôme' and Ômine.' He doesn't realize that
whatever he grasps at 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 of it and not
fall
into attachment and delusion. People
learn from the scriptures of such
diseases as the fetters (sa’yojana) or
underlying tendencies (anusaya)
but they don't turn to check for them in themselves. One takes up words
and
translates their definitions, yet one doesn't see that sakk‡yadiþþhi--the wrong view of holding to
personality--is the
direct source of all one's suffering and torment. Not only does one not
comprehend this plain truth, but one even turns and submits to
upholding such
wrong view without any consideration. 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
rest 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 which
penetrates
to the truth of the mind.
Should one give
free rein to the obsession of wild imaginings, the mind will exhaust
itself and
one will eventually suffer a nervous breakdown. If one allows oneself
to get
into such a state, one will end up insane, in some cases staying
deluded till
one's death and on being reborn returning to that same delusion. This
occurs
because of a lack of critical examination and from not relying on the
application of Dhamma. Tranquilizers and such drugs for the mentally
ill merely
relieve the external symptoms and 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 the mind and to free it from its
delusions.
This is the complete cure of Dhamma. That
Dhamma practice can cure every kind
of illness should merit some thought. Each stage in one's understanding
of
Dhamma depends on mindfulness and wisdom. Those who show no
interest in
Dhamma, no matter how great their knowledge of worldly matters, fall
under the
domination of the defilements, subject to birth, old age, sickness and
death. Once
one understands Dhamma following the Lord
Buddha, the mind will become bright, calm and pure. This knowledge is
of far
more value than that acquired for making one's livelihood, and that
obtained by
being pleasurably--but temporarily!--engrossed in various
entertainments. When
one comes to constantly examine
one's mind, one sees 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
gratification
in the five sense strands--sight, sound, smell, taste, touch--is not
going out
from desire with happiness. But if one correctly sees that the penalty
of
desire is suffering, then it no longer satisfies and the mind is freed
from
desire. At that moment, when the mind is unattached to sense objects
and is free
of desire, one 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. Bending
the mind towards freedom and
release from entanglement in 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 this isn't reflected
upon, one
will 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
one must reflect and see the harm and suffering which arise and compare
it with
the happiness of the mind freed from desire. One must constantly
examine this
suffering and freedom from suffering in one's 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 one doesn't actually
apply them
in one's practice, no matter how many of the texts one reads, it will
be of no
benefit. One will just continue groping along in the dark,
understanding
nothing. To detect this insidious disease requires mindfulness and
wisdom, and
these must be nurtured and applied so that they become well
established. If one
only does this sporadically and irresolutely, one will always end in
negligence
and make no progress in Dhamma practice. And it is just this progress
which
leads to a lessening of suffering and a decline in desire, as one will
see for
oneself. One realizes that the most direct way of practice is constant
reflection and examination, and sees how this can be applied best in
one's
daily life. Those of us here who devote our lives to Dhamma through
following
the training rule of chastity (brahmacariya) must especially consider this
carefully. This way
of Dhamma practice needs earnest application of mindfulness and wisdom,
persevering 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, one
can't
relax or be indifferent but must concern oneself energetically with
escaping
from that which brings harm and suffering. One 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 one is left with just
scholarly
knowledge and talk. In fact, one's mind truly doesn't know what is
what, and
any scrap of insight which does genuinely arise will not be followed
up. One
relaxes, becomes preoccupied with things, and neglects the practice.
Therefore
it is important to be very careful about this and bring mindfulness and
wisdom
to bear so that they can be steadily trained and perfected. When one
can
penetrate to the truth of impermanence, suffering and not-self, even if
just
for a moment, one sees 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 Ômine' and Ôhis.' Just a momentary
insight gives value to one's
life, otherwise one remains in the continual darkness of ignorance and
ceaseless imaginings. The mind being caught in constant turmoil is a
wretched
state of affairs. Meditation
must therefore be steadfastly
developed. One must build it up as an asset of the mind and not be
concerned
only with eating, sleeping and other bad habits. One 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 which 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. One must therefore
place
oneself under precepts and discipline which can bring great benefit. One
then comes to see that this life is only for training oneself for the
elimination of one's defilements and suffering before the body is laid
out in
its coffin. Without
this concern for
practice and for finding a suitably quiet place, the mind will tend to
over-extend itself with notions of conceit. Therefore we must all
decide on the
way to go, blocking the wandering of the mind after sense objects and
emotions,
and bringing it back to investigate within oneself so as to steadily
develop
calm and tranquility. The
Lord Buddha rightly set down various
methods in developing meditation, including mindfulness of breathing.
If we
should not take one of these methods as a basis for practice, though
it's still
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 we each go about this to obtain the desired results? In one's
daily
life, how can one improve one's practice? These questions warrant great
concern
and consideration. Don't be careless and forgetful! Whatever one does
in one's
practice--including guarding the sense doors (indriya-sa’vara)--must be followed through
steadfastly without
vacillation or distraction. Otherwise time flies by, one's life ebbs
away, and
one achieves nothing. Inattentive and half-hearted, how can you expect
to
escape from suffering? What a waste! Be earnest! Such
concern, when it arises
authentically, enables one to right oneself and steadily wears away
one's
distraction. The investigation should centre on impermanence, the
suffering
involved in such change, and the lack of self in all of it. One then
must focus
on the central point of knowing and penetrate so as to clearly
understand
impermanence, suffering, and not-self in both body and mind. When one
succeeds
in clearly realizing this, then one can truly be called wise, awakened
and
happy through Dhamma. If it is genuine insight, then one no longer
feels any
attachment or involvement with anything. One is free from feelings of
Ôme' and
Ômine.' Does this sound interesting? I don't speak of trivial
matters, this is
serious--I tell you plainly!--and you must concern yourselves
seriously. It's no
use half-hearted listening, you must 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. Mindfulness
Like the Pilings of a Dam Discussing
the practice is more useful
than discussing anything else because it gives rise to insight. If we
follow
the practice step by step we can read
ourselves, continually deciphering things within us. As you read
yourself
through probing and investigating the harm and suffering caused by
defilement,
craving, and attachment, there will be times when you come to true
knowledge,
enabling you to grow dispassionate and let go. The mind will then
immediately
grow still, with none of the mental concoctions that used to have the
run of
the place through your lack of self-investigation. The
principles of self-investigation are
our most important tools. We have to make a concerted effort to master
them at
all times, with special emphasis on using mindfulness to focus on the
mind and
bring it to centered concentration. If we don't focus on keeping the
mind
centered or neutral as its basic stance, it will wander off in various
ways in
pursuit of preoccupations or sensory contacts, giving rise to turmoil
and
restlessness. But when we practice restraint over the sensory doors by
maintaining continuous mindfulness in the heart, it's like driving in
the
pilings for a dam. If you've ever seen the pilings for a dam, you'll
know that
they're driven deep, deep into the ground so that they're absolutely
firm and
immovable. But if you drive them into mud, they're easily swayed by the
slightest contact. This should give us an idea of how firm our
mindfulness
should be in supervising the mind to make it stable, able to withstand
sensory
contact without liking or disliking its objects. The
firmness of your mindfulness is
something you have to maintain continuously in your every activity,
with every
in-and-out breath. The mind will stop being scattered in search for
preoccupations. If you don't manage this, then the mind will get
stirred up
whenever there's sensory contact, like a rudderless ship going wherever
the
wind and waves will take it. This is why you need mindfulness to guard
the mind
at every moment. If you can make mindfulness constant, in every
activity, the
mind will be continuously neutral, ready to probe and investigate for
insight. As
a first step in driving in the
pilings for our dam--in other words, in making mindfulness firm--we
have to focus
on neutrality as our basic stance. There's nothing you have to think
about.
Simply make the mind solid in its neutrality. If you can do this
continuously,
that's when you'll have a true standard for your investigation, because
the
mind will have gathered into concentration. But this concentration is
something
you have to watch over carefully to make sure it's not just oblivious
indifference. Make the mind firmly established and centered so that it
doesn't
get absentminded or distracted as you sit in meditation. Sit straight,
maintain
steady mindfulness, and there's nothing else you have to do. Keep the
mind firm
and neutral, not thinking of anything at all. Make sure this stability
stays
continuous. When anything pops up, no matter how, keep the mind
neutral. For
example, if there's a feeling of pleasure or pain, don't focus on the
feeling.
Simply focus on the stability of the mind--and there will be a sense of
neutrality in that stability. If
you're careful not to let the mind
get absentminded or distracted, its concentration will become
continuous. For
example, if you're going to sit for an hour of meditation, focus on
centering
the mind like this for the first half hour and then make sure it
doesn't wander
off anywhere until the hour is up. If you change positions, it's simply
an
outer change in the body, while the mind is still firmly centered and
neutral
each moment you're standing, sitting, lying down, or whatever. Mindfulness
is the key factor in all of
this, keeping the mind from concocting thoughts or labeling things. Everything
has to stop.
Keep this foundation snug and
stable with every in-and-out breath. Then you can relax your focus on
the
breath while keeping the mind in the same state of neutrality. Relax
your heavy
focus so that it feels just right with the breath. The mind will be
able to
stay in this state for the entire hour, free from any thoughts that
might
wander off the path. Then keep an eye out to see that no matter what
you do or
say, the mind stays solidly in its normal state of inward knowing. If
the mind is stable within itself,
you're protected on all sides. When sensory contacts come, you stay
focused on
being aware of your mental stability. Even if there are any momentary
slips in
your mindfulness, you get right back to the stability of the mind.
Other than
that, there's nothing you have to do. The mind will let go without your
having
to do anything else. The way you used to like this, hate that, turn
left here,
turn right there, won't be able to happen. The mind will stay neutral,
equanimous, just right. If mindfulness lapses, you get right back to
your
focus, recognizing when the mind is centered and neutral toward its
objects and
then keeping it that way. The
pilings for the dam of mindfulness
have to be driven in so that they're solid and secure with your every
activity.
Keep working at this no matter what you're doing. If you can train the
mind so
that stability is its basic stance, it won't get into mischief. It
won't cause
you any trouble. It won't concoct thoughts. It will be quiet. Once it's
quiet
and centered, it'll grow more refined and probe in to penetrate within
itself,
to know its own state of concentration from within. As
for sensory contacts, those are
things outside--appearing only to disappear--so it's not interested.
This can
make cravings disband. Even when we change positions as pains arise in
the
body, the mind in that moment is stable, focused not on the pains but
on its
own stability. When you change positions, there will be physical and
mental
reactions as the circulation improves and pleasant feelings arise in
place of
the pains, but the mind won't get snagged on either the pleasure or the
pain.
It will simply stay stable: centered and firm in its neutrality. This
stability
can easily help you abandon the cravings that lie latent in connection
with all
feelings. But if you don't keep the mind centered in advance like this,
craving
will create issues, provoking the mind into a turmoil, wanting to
change things
so as to get this or that kind of happiness. If
we practice in this way repeatedly,
hammering at this point over and over again, it's like driving pilings
into the
ground. The deeper we can drive them, the more immovable they'll be.
That's
when you'll be able to withstand sensory contacts. Otherwise, the mind
will
start boiling over with its thought concoctions in pursuit of sights,
sounds,
smells, tastes, and tactile sensations. Sometimes it keeps concocting
the same
old senseless issues over and over again. This is because the pilings
of
mindfulness aren't yet firmly in place. The way we've been stumbling
through
life is due to the fact that we haven't really practiced to the point
where
mindfulness is continuous enough to make the mind firmly centered and
neutral.
So we have to make our dam of mindfulness solid and secure. This
centeredness of mind is something
we should develop with every activity, with every in-and-out breath.
This way
we'll be able to see through our illusions, all the way into the truths
of
inconstancy and not-self. Otherwise, the mind will go straying off here
and
there like a mischievous monkey--yet even monkeys can be caught and
trained to
perform tricks. In the same way, the mind is something that can be
trained, but
if you don't tie it to the post of mindfulness and give it a taste of
the
stick, it'll be very hard to tame. When
training the mind, you shouldn't
force it too much, nor can you simply let it go its habitual ways. You
have to
test yourself to see what gets results. If you don't get your
mindfulness
focused, it'll quickly go running out after preoccupations or easily
waver
under the impact of its objects. When people let their minds simply
drift along
with the flow of things, it's because they haven't established
mindfulness as a
solid stance. When this is the case, they can't stop. They can't grow
still.
They can't be free. This is why we have to start out by driving in the
pilings
for our dam so that they're good and solid, keeping the mind stable and
centered whether we're sitting, standing, walking, or lying down. This
stability will then be able to withstand everything. Your mindfulness
will stay
with its foundation, just like a monkey tied to a post: It can't run
off or get
into mischief. It can only circle the post to which its leash is tied. Keep
training the mind until it's tame
enough to settle down and investigate things, for if it's still
scattered
about, it's of no use at all. You have to train it until it's familiar
with
what inner stability is like, for your own instability and lack of
commitment
in training it is what allows it to get all entangled with
thought-concoctions,
with things that arise and then pass away. You have to get it to stop.
Why is
it so mischievous? Why is it so scattered? Why does it keep wandering
off? Get
in under control! Get it to stop, to settle down and grow centered! At
this stage you all have practiced
enough to gain at least a taste of centered concentration. The next
step is to
use mindfulness to maintain it in your every activity, so that even if
there are
any distractions, they last only for a moment and don't turn into long
issues.
Keep driving in the pilings until they're solid every time there's an
impact
from external objects, or so that the mental concoctions that go
straying out
from within are all brought to stillness in every way. This
training isn't really all that
hard. The important point is that, whichever of the many meditation
subjects
you choose, you stay mindful and aware of the mind state that's
centered and
neutral. If, when the mind goes straying out after objects, you keep
bringing
it back to its centeredness over and over again, the mind will
eventually be
able to stay firmly in its stance. In other words, its mindfulness will
become
constant, ready to probe and investigate, because when the
mind really
settles down, it gains the power to read the facts within itself
clearly. If
it's not centered, it can jumble everything up to
fool you, switching from this issue to that, from this role to that;
but if
it's centered, it can disband everything--all defilements, cravings,
and
attachments--on every side. So
what this practice comes down to is
how much effort and persistence you put into getting the mind firmly
centered.
Once it's firm, then when there arise all the sufferings and
defilements that
would otherwise get it soiled and worked up, it can withstand them just
as the
pilings of a dam can withstand windstorms without budging. You have to
be
clearly aware of this state of mind so that you won't go out liking
this or
hating that. This state will then become your point of departure for
probing
and investigating so as to gain the insight that sees clearly all the
way
through--but you have to make sure that this centeredness is
continuous. Then
you won't have to think about anything. Simply look right in, deeply
and
subtly. The
important point is that you get rid
of absentmindedness and distractions. This in itself gets rid of a lot
of
delusion and ignorance, and leaves no opening for craving to create any
issues
that will stir up the mind and set it wandering. This is because we've
established our stance in advance. Even if we lose our normal balance a
little
bit, we get right back to focusing on the stability of our
concentration. If we
keep at this over and over again, the stability of the mind with its
continuous
mindfulness will enable us to probe into the truths of inconstancy,
stress, and
not-self. In
the beginning, though, you don't have
to do any probing. It's better simply to focus on the stability of your
stance,
for if you start probing when the mind isn't really centered and
stable, you'll
end up scattered. So focus on making centeredness the basic level of
the mind
and then start probing in deeper and deeper. This will lead to insights
that
grow more and more telling and profound, bringing the mind to a state
of
freedom within itself, or to a state where it is no longer hassled by
defilement. This
in itself will bring about true
mastery over the sense doors. At first, when we started out, we weren't
able to
exercise any real restraint over the eyes and ears, but once the mind
becomes
firmly centered, then the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body are
automatically
brought under control. If there's no mindfulness and concentration, you
can't
keep your eyes under control, because the mind will want to use them to
look
and to see, it will want to use the ears to listen to all kinds of
things. So
instead of exercising restraint outside, at the senses, we exercise it
inside,
right at the mind, making the mind firmly centered and neutral at all
times.
Regardless of whether you're talking or whatever, the mind's focus
stays in
place. Once you can do this, you'll regard the objects of the senses as
meaningless. You won't have to take issue with things, thinking, "This
is
good, I like it. This is bad, I don't like it. This is pretty; that's
ugly." The same holds true with the sounds you hear. You won't take
issue
with them. You focus instead on the neutral, uninvolved centeredness of
the
mind. This is the basic foundation for neutrality. When
you can do this, everything becomes
neutral. When the eye sees a form, it's neutral. When the ear hears a
sound,
it's neutral--the mind is neutral, the sound is neutral, everything
is all
neutral--because
we've closed five of the
six sense doors and then settled ourselves in neutrality right at the
mind.
This takes care of everything. Whatever the eye may see, the ear may
hear, the
nose may smell, the tongue may taste, or the body may touch, the mind
doesn't
take issue with anything at all. It stays centered, neutral, and
impartial.
Take just this much and give it a try. For
the next seven days I want you to
make a special point of focusing mindfulness right at the mind, for
this is the
end of the rainy season, the period when the lotus and water lily bloom
after
the end of the Rains Retreat. In the Buddha's time he would have the
senior
monks train the new monks throughout the Rains Retreat and then meet
with him
when the lotuses bloom. I've mentioned this before and I want to
mention it
again as a way of encouraging you to develop a stable foundation for
the mind.
If its stability is continuous, then it too will have to bloom--to
bloom because
it's not burned, disturbed, or provoked by the defilements. So make a
special
effort during the next seven days to see how you can manage to observe
and
investigate the centered, neutral state of mind continuously at all
times. Of
course, if you fall asleep, you fall asleep; but even then, when you
lie down
to sleep, try to observe how you can keep the mind centered and neutral
at all
times until you doze off. When you wake up, the movements of the mind
will
still remain in that centered, neutral state. Give it a try, so that
your mind
will be able to grow calm and peaceful, disbanding its defilements,
cravings,
sufferings--everything. Then notice to see whether or not it's
beginning to
bloom. The
sense of refreshment bathing the
mind that comes as part of the peace of mind undisturbed by defilement
will
arise of its own accord without your having to do anything aside from
keeping the
mind stable and centered. This is your guarantee: If the mind is really
stable
in its concentration, the defilements won't be able to burn it or mess
with it.
In other words, desire won't be able to provoke it. When concentration
is
stable, the fires of passion, aversion, and delusion won't be able to
burn it.
Try to see within yourself how the stability of the mind can withstand
these
things, disbanding the stress, putting out the flames. But you'll have
to be
earnest in practicing, in making an effort to keep mindfulness truly
continuous. This isn't something to play at. You can't let yourself be
weak,
for if you're weak you won't be able to withstand anything. You'll
simply
follow the provocations of defilement and craving. The
practice is a matter of stopping so that the mind can settle
down and stand fast.
It's not a matter of getting into mischief, wandering around to look
and listen
and get involved in issues. Try to keep the mind stable; in all your
activities--eating, defecating, whatever--keep the mind centered
within. If you
know the state of the mind when it's centered, immovable, no longer
wavering,
no longer weak, then the basic level of the mind will be free and
empty--empty
of the things that would burn it, empty because there's no attachment.
This is
what enables you to ferret out the stability of the mind at every
moment. It
protects you from all sorts of things. All attachment to self, "me,"
and "them" is totally wiped out, cut away. The mind is entirely
centered. If you can keep this state stable for the entire seven days,
it will
enable you to reach insight all on your own. So
I ask each of you to see whether or
not you'll be able to make it all the way. Check to see how you're
doing each
day. And make sure you check things carefully. Don't let yourself be
lax,
sometimes stable, sometimes not. Get so that the mind is absolutely
solid.
Don't let yourself be weak. You have to be genuine in what you do if
you want
to reach the genuine extinguishing of suffering and stress. If you're
not
genuine, you'll end up letting yourself weaken in the face of the
provocation
of wanting this or wanting that, doing this or doing that, whatever, in
the
same way that you've been enslaved to desire, agitated by desire for
who knows
how long. Your
everyday life is where you can test
yourself--so get back to the battlefield! Take a firm stance in
neutrality. Then
the objects that come into contact with the mind will be neutral; the
mind
itself will feel centered in neutrality. There will be nothing to take
issue with
in terms of good or bad or whatever. Everything will come to a halt in
neutrality--because things in themselves aren't good or bad or self or
whatever,
simply that the mind has gone and made issues out of them. So
keep looking inward until you see the
mind's neutrality and freedom from "self" continuously, and then
you'll see how the lotus comes to bloom. If it hasn't bloomed yet,
that's
because it's withering and dry in the heat of the defilements,
cravings, and
attachments smoldering in the mind--things we'll have to learn to
ferret out
until we can disband them. If we don't, the lotus will wither away, its
petals
falling to the ground and simply rotting there. So make an effort to
keep the
lotus of the mind stable until it blooms. Don't wonder about what will
happen
as it blooms. Just keep it stable and make sure it isn't burned by the
defilements. Today
we are meeting as usual. From
what I've seen of your reports on
your special development of mindfulness to read the facts within
yourselves,
some of you have really benefited in terms of penetrating in to read
what's
going on inside, and you've come out with correct understanding. So now
I'd
like to give you a further piece of advice: In developing mindfulness
as a foundation
for probing in to know the truth within yourself, you have to apply a
level of
effort and persistence appropriate to the task. This is because, as we
all
know, the mind is cloaked in defilements and mental effluents. If we
don't
train it and force it, it'll turn weak and lax. It won't have any
strength. You
have to make your persistence more and more constant so that your
probing and
investigating will be able to see all the way through to clear insight. Clear
insight doesn't come from thinking
and speculating. It comes from investigating the mind while it's
gathered into
an adequate level of calm and stability. You look deeply into every
aspect of
the mind when it's neutral and calm, free from thought-formations or
likes and
dislikes for its preoccupations. You have to work at maintaining this
state and
at the same time probe deeply into it, because superficial knowledge
isn't true
knowledge. As long as you haven't probed deeply into the mind, you
don't really
know anything. The mind is simply calm on an external level, and your
reading
of the aspects of the wanderings of the mind under the influence of
defilement,
craving, and attachment isn't yet clear. So
you have to try to peer into yourself
until you reach a level of awareness that can maintain its balance and
let you
contemplate your way to sharper understanding. If you don't contemplate
so as
to give rise to true knowledge, your mindfulness will stay just on the
surface. The
same principle holds with
contemplating the body. You have to probe deeply into the ways in which
the
body is repulsive and composed of physical elements. This is what it
means to read
the body so as to understand it, so that you can
explore yourself in all your activities. This way you prevent your mind
from
straying off the path and keep it focused on seeing how it can burn
away the
defilements as they arise--which is very delicate work. Being
uncomplacent, not letting yourself
get distracted by outside things, is what will make the practice go
smoothly.
It will enable you to examine the germs in the mind in a skillful way
so that
you can eliminate the subtlest ones: ignorance and delusion. Normally,
we
aren't fully aware of even the blatant germs, but now that the blatant
ones are
inactivated because of the mind's solid focus, we can look into the
more
profound areas to catch sight of the deceits of craving and defilements
in
whatever way they move into action. We watch them, know them, and are
in a
position to abandon them as soon as they wander off in search of
sights, sounds,
smells, and delicious flavors. Whether they're looking for good
physical
flavors--bodily pleasure--or good mental flavors, we have to know them
from all
sides, even though they're not easy to know because of all the many
desires we
feel for physical pleasure. And on top of that, there are the desires
for
happiness imbued with pleasurable feelings, perceptions that carry
pleasurable
feelings, thought-formations that carry pleasurable feelings, and
consciousness
that carries pleasurable feelings. All of these are nothing but desires
for
illusions, for things that deceive us into getting engrossed and
distracted. As
a result, it isn't easy for us to understand much of anything at all. These
are subtle matters and they all
come under the term, "sensual craving"--the desire, lust, and love
that provoke the mind into wandering out in search of the enjoyment it
remembers from past sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile
sensations.
Even though these things may have happened long ago, our perceptions
bring them
back to deceive us with ideas of their being good or bad. Once we latch
onto
them, they make the mind unsettled and defiled. So
it isn't easy to examine and
understand all the various germs within the mind. The external things
we're
able to know and let go of are only the minor players. The important
ones have
gathered together to take charge in the mind and won't budge no matter
how you
try to chase them out. They're stubborn and determined to stay in
charge. If
you take them on when your mindfulness and discernment aren't equal to
the
fight, you'll end up losing your inner calm. So
you have to make sure that you don't
push the practice too much, without at the same time letting it grow
too slack.
Find the Middle Way that's just right. While you're practicing in this
way,
you'll be able to observe what the mind is like when it has mindfulness
and
discernment in charge, and then you make the effort to maintain that state and keep it
constant. That's when the
mind will have the opportunity to stop and be still, stable and
centered for
long periods of time until it's used to being that way. Now,
there are some areas where we have
to force the mind and be strict with it. If we're weak and lax, there's
no way
we can succeed, for we've given in to our own wants for so long
already. If we
keep giving in to them, it will become even more of a habit. So you
have to use
force--the force of your will and the force of your mindfulness and
discernment.
Even if you get to the point where you have to put your life on the
line, you've
got to be willing. When the time comes for you really to be serious,
you've got
to hold out until you come out winning. If you don't win, you don't
give up.
Sometimes you have to make a vow as a way of forcing yourself to
overcome your
stubborn desires for physical pleasure that tempt you and lead you
astray. If
you're weak and settle for whatever
pleasure comes in the immediate present, then when desire comes in the
immediate present you fall right for it. If you give in to your wants
often in
this way, it'll become habitual, for defilement is always looking for
the
chance to tempt you, to incite you. As when we try to give up an
addiction to
betel, cigarettes, or meat: It's hard to do because craving is always
tempting
us. "Take just a little," it says. "Just a taste. It doesn't
matter." Craving knows how to fool us, the way a fish is fooled into
getting caught on a hook by the bait surrounding the hook, screwing up
its
courage enough to take just a little, and then a little more, and then
a little
more until it's sure to get snagged. The demons of defilement have us
surrounded on all sides. Once we fall for their delicious flavors,
we're sure
to get snagged on the hook. No matter how much we struggle and squirm,
we can't
get free. You
have to realize that gaining victory
over your enemies--the cravings and defilements in the heart--is no
small matter,
no casual affair. You can't let yourself be weak or lax, but you also
have to
gauge your strength, for you have to figure out how to apply your
efforts at abandoning
and destroying to weaken the defilements and cravings that have had the
power
of demons overwhelming the mind for so long. It's not the case that you
have to
battle to the brink of death in every area. With some things--such as
giving up
addictions--you can mount a full-scale campaign and come out winning
without
killing yourself in the process. But with other things, more subtle and
deep,
you have to be more perceptive so as to figure out how to overcome them
over
the long haul, digging up their roots so that they gradually weaken to
the
point where your mindfulness and discernment can rise above them. If
there are
any areas where you're still losing out, you have to take stock of your
sensitivities to figure out why. Otherwise, you'll keep losing out, for
when
the defilements really want something, they trample all over your
mindfulness
and discernment in their determination to get what they're after:
"That's
what I want. I don't care what anyone says." They really are that
stubborn! So it's no small matter, figuring out how to bring them under
control. It's like running into an enemy or a wild beast rushing in to
devour
you. What are you going to do? When
the defilements arise right before
your eyes, you have to be wary. Suppose you're perfectly aware, and all
of a
sudden they spring up and confront you: What kind of mindfulness and
discernment are you going to use to disband them, to realize that,
"These
are the hordes of Mara, come to burn and eat me. How am I going to get
rid of
them?" In other words, how are you going to find a skillful way of
contemplating them so as to destroy them right then and there? We
have to do this regardless of whether
we're being confronted with physical and mental pain or physical and
mental
pleasure. Actually, pleasure is more treacherous than pain because it's
hard to
fathom and easy to fall for. As for pain, no one falls for it because
it's so
uncomfortable. So how are we going to contemplate so as to let go of both the pleasure and the pain? This is the problem
we're faced with at
every moment. It's not the case that when we practice we accept only
the
pleasure and stop when we run into pain. That's not the case at all. We
have to
learn how to read both sides, to
see that the pain is inconstant and stressful, and that the pleasure is
inconstant and stressful, too. We have to penetrate clear through these
things.
Otherwise, we'll be deluded by the deceits of the cravings that want
pleasure,
whether it's physical pleasure or whatever. Our every
activity--sitting, standing,
walking, lying down--is really for the sake of pleasure, isn't it? This
is why there are so many, many ways
in which we're deluded with pleasure. Whatever we do, we do for the
sake of
pleasure without realizing how deeply we've mired ourselves in
suffering and
stress. When we contemplate inconstancy, stress, and not-selfness, we
don't get
anywhere in our contemplation because we haven't seen through pleasure.
We
still think that it's a good thing. We have to probe into the fact that
there's
no real ease to physical or mental pleasure. It's all stress. When you
can see
it from this angle, that's when you'll come to understand inconstancy. Then
once the mind isn't focused on
wanting pleasure all the time, its stresses and pains will lighten. It
will be
able to see them as something common and normal, to see that if you try
to
change the pains to find ease, there's no ease to be found. In this
way, you
won't be overly concerned with trying to change the pains, for you'll
see that
there's no pleasure or ease to the aggregates, that they give nothing
but
stress and pain. As in the Buddha's teachings we chant every day: "Form
is
stressful, feeling, perception, thought-formations, and consciousness
are all
stressful." The problem is that we haven't investigated into
the truth
of our own form, feelings, perceptions, thought-formations, and
consciousness.
Our insight isn't yet penetrating because we haven't
looked from the angle of true knowing. And so we get deluded here and
lost
there in our search for pleasure, finding nothing but pain and yet
mistaking it
for pleasure. This shows that we still haven't opened our ears and
eyes; we
still don't know the truth. Once we do know the truth, though, the mind
will be
more inclined to grow still and calm than to go wandering off. The
reason it
goes wandering off is because it's looking for pleasure, but once it
realizes
there's no real pleasure to be found in that way, it settles down and
grows
still. All
the cravings that provoke and
unsettle the mind come down to nothing but the desire for pleasure. So
we have
to contemplate so as to see that the aggregates have no pleasure to
offer, that
they're stressful by their very nature. They're not us or ours. Take
them apart
and have a good look at them, starting with the body. Analyze the body
down to
its elements so that the mind won't keep latching onto it as "me" or
"mine." You have to do this over and over again until you really
understand. It's
the same as when we chant the
passage for Recollection while Using the Requisites--food, clothing, shelter, and
medicine--every day. We
do this so as to gain real understanding. If we don't do this every
day, we
forget and get deluded into loving and worrying about the body as "my
body," "my self." No matter how much we keep latching onto it
over and over again, it's not easy for us to realize what we're doing,
even
though we have the Buddha's teachings available, explaining these
things in
every way. Or we may have contemplated to some extent, but we haven't
seen
things clearly. We've seen only in a vague and blurry way and then
flitted off
oblivious without having probed in to see all the way through. This is
because
the mind isn't firmly centered. It isn't still. It keeps wandering off
to find
things to think about and get itself all agitated. This way it can't
really get
to know anything at all. All it knows are a few little perceptions.
This is the
way it has been for who knows how many years now. It's as if our vision
has
been clouded by spots that we haven't yet removed from our eyes. Those
who aren't interested in
exploring, who don't make an effort to get to the facts, don't wonder
about
anything at all. They're free from doubt, all right, but it's because
their
doubts have been smothered by delusion. If we start exploring and
contemplating,
we'll have to wonder about the things we don't yet know: "What's this?
What does it mean? How should I deal with it?" These are questions that
lead us to explore. If we don't explore, it's because we don't have any
intelligence. Or we may gain a few little insights, but we let them
pass so
that we never explore deeply into the basic principles of the practice.
What
little we do
know doesn't go anywhere,
doesn't penetrate into the Noble Truths, because our mindfulness and
discernment run out of strength. Our persistence isn't resilient
enough, isn't
brave enough. We don't dare look deeply inside ourselves. To
go by our own estimates of how far
is enough in the practice is to lie to ourselves. It keeps us from gaining
release from suffering and stress. If you
happen to come up with a few insights, don't go bragging about them, or
else
you'll end up deceiving yourself in countless ways. Those who really
know, even
when they have attained the
various stages of insight, are heedful to keep on exploring. They don't
get
stuck on this stage or that. Even when their insights are correct they
don't
stop right there and start bragging, for that's the way of a fool. Intelligent
people, even though they see
things clearly, always keep an eye out for the enemies lying in wait
for them
on the deeper, more subtle levels ahead. They have to keep penetrating
further
and further in. They have no sense that this or that level is plenty
enough--for
how can it be enough? The defilements are still burning away, so how
can you brag?
Even though your knowledge may be true, how can you be complacent when
your
mind has yet to establish a foundation for itself? As
you investigate with mindfulness and
discernment, complacency is the major problem. You have to be
uncomplacent in
the practice if you want to keep up with the fact that life is ebbing
away,
ebbing with every moment. And how should you live so that you can be
said to be
uncomplacent? This is an extremely important question, for if you're
not alive
to it, then no matter how many days or months you practice meditation
or
restraint of the senses, it's simply a temporary exercise. When you're
done,
you get back to your same old turmoil as before. And
watch out for your mouth. You'll
have trouble not bragging, for the defilements will provoke you into
speaking.
They want to speak, they want to brag, they won't let you stay silent. If
you force yourself in the practice
without understanding its true aims, you end up deceiving yourself and
go
around telling people, "I practiced in silence for so many days, so
many
months." This is deceiving yourself and others as well. The truth of
the
matter is that you're still a slave to stupidity, obeying the many
levels of
defilement and craving within yourself without realizing the fact. If
someone
praises you, you really prick up your ears, wag your tail and, instead
of
explaining the harm of the defilements and craving you were able to
find within
yourself, you simply want to brag. So
the practice of the Dhamma isn't
something that you can just muddle your way through. It's something you
have to
do with your intelligence fully alert--for when you contemplate in a
circumspect
way, you'll see that there's nothing worth getting engrossed in, that
everything--both inside and out--is nothing but an illusion. It's like
being
adrift, alone in the middle of the ocean with no island or shore in
sight. Can
you afford just to sit back and relax, to make a temporary effort and
then brag
about it? Of course not! As your investigation penetrates inwardly to
ever more
subtle levels of the mind, you'll have to become more and more calm and
reserved, in the same way that people become more and more circumspect
as they
grow from children to teenagers and into adults. Your mindfulness and
discernment have to keep growing more and more mature in order to
understand
the right and wrong, the true and false, in whatever arises: That's
what will
enable you to let go and gain release. And that's what will make your
life in
the true practice of the Dhamma go smoothly. Otherwise, you'll fool
yourself
into boasting of how many years you practiced meditation and will
eventually
find yourself worse off than before, with defilement flaring up in a
big way.
If this is the way you go, you'll end up tumbling head over heels into
fire--for
when you raise your head in pride, you run into the flames already
burning
within yourself. To
practice means to use the fire of
mindfulness and discernment as a counter-fire to put out the blaze of
the
defilements,
because the heart and mind are
burning with defilement, and when we use the fire of mindfulness and
discernment to put out the fire of defilement, the mind can cool down.
Do this
by being increasingly honest with yourself, without leaving an opening
for
defilement and craving to insinuate their way into control. You have to
be
alert. Circumspect. Wise to them. Don't fall for them! If you fall for
whatever
rationale they come up with, it means that your mindfulness and
discernment are
still weak. They lead you away by the nose, burning you with their fire
right
before your very eyes, and yet you're still able to open your mouth to
brag! So
turn around and take stock of
everything within yourself. Take stock of every aspect, because right
and
wrong, true and false, are all within you. You can't go finding them
outside.
The damaging things people say about you are nothing compared to the
damage
caused inside you when defilement burns you, when your feeling of
"me" and "mine" raises its head. If
you don't honestly come to your
senses, there's no way your practice of the Dhamma can gain you release
from
the great mass of suffering and stress. You may be able to gain a
little
knowledge and let go of a few things, but the roots of the problem will
still
lie buried deep down. So you have to dig them out. You can't relax
after little
bouts of emptiness and equanimity. That won't accomplish anything. The
defilements and mental effluents lie deep in the personality, so you
have to
use mindfulness and discernment to penetrate deep down to make a
precise and thorough
examination. Only then will you get results. Otherwise, if you stay
only on the
surface level, you can practice until your body lies rotting in its
coffin but
you won't have changed any of your basic habits. Those
who are scrupulous by nature, who
know how to contemplate their own flaws, will keep on the alert for any
signs
of pride within themselves. They'll try to control and destroy conceit
on every
side and won't allow it to swell. The methods we need to use in the
practice
for examining and destroying the germs within the mind aren't easy to
master.
For those who don't contemplate themselves thoroughly, the practice may
actually only increase their pride, their bragging, their desire to go
teaching
others. But if we turn within and discern the deceits and conceits of
self, a
profound feeling of disenchantment and dismay arises, causing us to
pity
ourselves for our own stupidity, for the amount to which we've deluded
ourselves all along, and for how much effort we'll still need to put
into the practice. So
however great the pain and anguish,
however many tears bathe your cheeks, persevere! The practice isn't
simply a
matter of looking for mental and physical pleasure. "Let tears bathe my
cheeks, but I'll keep on with my striving at the holy life as long as I
live!" That's the way it has to be! Don't quit at the first small
difficulty with the thought, "It's a waste of time. I'd do better to
follow my cravings and defilements." You can't think like that! You
have
to take the exact opposite stance: "When they tempt me to grab this,
take
a lot of that--I won't! However fantastic the object may be, I won't
take the
bait." Make a firm declaration! This is the only way to get results.
Otherwise, you'll never work yourself free, for the defilements have
all sorts
of tricks up their sleeves. If you get wise to one trick, they simply
change to
another, and then another. If
we're not observant to see how much
we've been deceived by the defilements in all sorts of ways, we won't
come to
know the truth within ourselves. Other people may fool us now and then,
but the
defilements fool us all of the time. We fall for them and follow them
hook,
line, and sinker. Our trust in the Lord Buddha is nothing compared to
our trust
in them. We're disciples of the demons of craving, letting them lead us
ever
deeper into their jungle. If
we don't contemplate to see this for
ourselves, we're lost in that jungle charnel ground where the demons
keep
roasting us to make us squirm with desires and every form of distress.
Even
though you have come to stay in a place with few disturbances, these
demons
still manage to tempt and draw you away. Just notice how the saliva
flows when
you come across anything delicious! So you have to decide to
be either a
warrior or a loser.
The practice requires
that you do battle with defilements and cravings. Always be on your
guard,
whatever the approach they take to seduce and deceive you. Other people
can't
come in to lead you away, but these demons of your own defilements can,
because
you're willing to trust them, to be their slave. You have to
contemplate
yourself carefully so that you're no longer enslaved to them and can
reach
total freedom within yourself. Make an effort to develop your
mindfulness and
discernment so as to gain clear insight and then let go until suffering
and
stress disband in every way. All
Things Are Unworthy of Attachment Today's
our day to discuss the practice. It's
very beneficial that we have
practiced the Dhamma by contemplating ourselves step by step and
have--to some
extent--come to know the truth. This is because each person has to find
the
truth within: the truths of stress, its cause, and the path leading to
its
disbanding. If we don't know these things, we fall into the same
sufferings as
the rest of the world. We may have come to live in a Dhamma center, yet
if we
don't know these truths we don't benefit from staying here. The only
way we
differ from living at home is that we're observing the precepts. If we
don't
want to be deluded in our practice, these truths are things we have to
know.
Otherwise, we get deluded into looking for our fun in the stresses and
sufferings offered by the world. Our
practice is to contemplate until we
understand stress and its cause, in other words, the defilements that
have
power and authority in the heart and mind. It's only because we have
this
practice that we can disband these defilements, that we can disband
stress
every day and at all times. This is something really marvelous. Those
who don't
practice don't have a clue, even though they live enveloped by
defilements and
stress. They simply get led around by the nose into more and more
suffering,
and yet none of them realize what's going on. If we don't make contact
with the
Dhamma, if we don't practice, we go through birth and death simply to
create kamma
with one another and to keep whirling around in
suffering and stress. We
have to contemplate until we really see stress: That's when we'll
become uncomplacent and
try to disband it or to gain release from it. The practice is thus a
matter of
struggling to gain victory over stress and suffering with better and
better
results each time. Whatever mistakes we make in whatever way, we have
to try
not to make them again. And we have to contemplate the harm and
suffering caused
by the more subtle defilements, cravings, and attachments within us.
This is
why we have to probe into the deeper, more profound parts of the
heart--for if
we stay only on the superficial levels of emptiness in the mind, we
won't gain
any profound knowledge at all. So
we train the mind to be mindful and
firmly centered, and to fix its focus on looking within, knowing
within. Don't
let it get distracted outside. When it focuses within, it will come to
know the
truth: the truth of stress and of the causes of stress--defilement,
craving, and
attachment--as they arise. It will see what they're like and how to
probe inward
to disband them When
all is said and done, the practice
comes down to one issue, because it focuses exclusively on one thing:
stress
together with its cause. This is the central issue in human life--even
animals
are in the same predicament--but our ignorance deludes us into latching
onto all
kinds of things. This is because of our misunderstandings or wrong
views. If we
gain Right View, we see things correctly. Whenever we see stress, we
see its
truth. When we see the cause of stress, we see its truth. We both know
and see
because we've focused on it. If you don't focus on stress,
you won't know
it; but as soon as you focus on it, you will.
It's because the mind hasn't focused here that it wanders out
oblivious,
chasing after its preoccupations. When
we try to focus it down, it
struggles and resists because it's used to wandering. But if we keep
focusing
it again and again, more and more frequently until we get a sense of
how to
bring it under control, then the task ultimately becomes easier because
the
mind no longer struggles to chase after its preoccupations as it did
before. No
matter how much it resists when we start training it, eventually we're
sure to
bring it under our control, getting it to settle down and be still. If
it
doesn't settle down, you have to contemplate it. You have to show it
that you
mean business. This is because defilement and craving are very strong.
You
can't be weak when dealing with them. You have to be brave, to have a
fight-to-the-death attitude, and to keep sustaining your efforts. If
you're
concerned only with finding comfort and pleasure, the day will never
come when
you'll gain release. You'll have to continue staying under their power. Their
power envelops everything in our
character, making it very difficult for us to find out the truth about
ourselves. What we do know is just a smattering, and so we play truant,
abandoning the task, and end up seeing that the practice of the Dhamma
isn't
really important. Thus we don't bother to be strict with ourselves, and
instead
involve ourselves in all kinds of things, for that's the path the
defilements
keep pointing out to us. We grope along weakly, making it harder and
harder to
see stress clearly because we keep giving in to the defilements and
taking
their bait. When they complain about the slightest discomfort, we
quickly
pander to them and take the bait again. It's because we're so addicted
to the
bait that we don't appreciate either the power of craving--as it
wanders out
after sights, sounds, smells, tastes, etc.--or the harm it causes in
making us
scattered and restless, unable to stay still and contemplate ourselves.
It's
always finding things for us to do, to think about, making ourselves
suffer,
and yet we remain blind to the fact. Now
that we've come to practice the
Dhamma, we begin to have a sense of what's going on. For this reason,
whoever
practices without being complacent will find that defilement and stress
will have
to grow lighter and lighter, step by step. The areas where we used to
be
defeated, we now come out victorious. Where we used to be burned by the
defilements, we now have the mindfulness and discernment to burn them instead. Only when we stop
groping around and really
come to our senses will we realize the benefits of the Dhamma, the
importance
of the practice. Then there is no way that we can abandon the practice,
for
something inside us keeps forcing us to stay with it. We've seen that
if we
don't practice to disband defilement and stress, the stress of the
defilements
will keep piling up. This is why we have to stay with the practice to
our last
breath. You
have to be firm in not letting
yourself be weak and easily led astray. Those who are mindful and
discerning
will naturally act it this way; those who aren't will keep on following
their
defilements, ending up back where they were when they hadn't yet
started
practicing to gain release from stress. They may keep on practicing,
but it's
hard to tell what they're practicing for--mostly for more stress. This
shows
that they're still groping around--and when they grope around in this
way, they
start criticizing the practice as useless and bad. When
a person submits readily to
defilement and craving, there's no way she can practice, for if you're
going to
practice, there are a lot of things you have to struggle with and
endure. It's
like paddling a boat against the stream--you have to use strength if
you want to
make any headway. It's not easy to go against the stream of the
defilements,
because they are always ready to pull you down to a lower level. If you
aren't
mindful and discerning, if you don't use the Lord Buddha's Dhamma to
examine
yourself, your strength will fail you, for if you have only a little
mindfulness
and discernment in the face of a lot of defilements, they'll make you
vacillate. And if you're living with sweet-talking sycophants, you'll
go even
further off the path, involved with all sorts of things and oblivious
to the
practice. To
practice the Dhamma, then, is to go against the flow, to go upstream
against suffering and
stress, because suffering and stress are the main problems. If you
don't really
contemplate stress, your practice will go nowhere. Stress is where you
start,
and then you try to trace out its root cause. You have to use your
discernment
to track down exactly where stress originates, for stress is a result.
Once you
see the result, you have to track down the cause. Those who are mindful
and
discerning are never complacent. Whenever stress arises they're sure to
search
out its causes so that they can eliminate them. This sort of
investigation can
proceed on many levels, from the coarse to the refined, and requires
that you
seek advice so that you don't stumble. Otherwise, you may think you can
figure
it all out in your head--which won't work at all! The
basic Dhamma principles that the
Lord Buddha proclaimed for us to use in our contemplation are many, but
there's
no need to learn them all. Just focusing on some of the more important
ones,
such as the five aggregates or name and form, will be very useful. But
you need
to keep making a thorough, all-round examination, not just an
occasional probe,
so that a feeling of dispassion and disengagement arises and loosens
the grip
of desire. Use mindfulness to keep constant and close supervision over
the
senses, and that mindfulness will come to be more present than your
tendency to
drift off elsewhere. Regardless of what you're doing, saying, or
thinking, be
on the lookout for whatever will make you slip, for if you're tenacious
in
sustaining mindfulness, that's how all your stresses and sufferings can
be
disbanded. So
keep at this. If you fall down 100
times, get back up 100 times and resume your stance. The reason
mindfulness and
discernment are slow to develop is because you're not really sensitive
to
yourself. The greater your sensitivity, the stronger your mindfulness
and
discernment will become. As the Lord Buddha said, "Bhavita
bahulikata"--which
means, "Develop
and maximize"--i.e., make the most of your mindfulness. The
way your practice has developed
through contemplating and supervising the mind throughout your daily
life has
already shown its rewards to some extent, so keep stepping up your
efforts.
Don't let yourself grow weak or lax. You've finally got this
opportunity: Can
you afford to be complacent? Your life is steadily ebbing away, so you
have to
compensate by building up more and more mindfulness and discernment
until you
become mature in the Dhamma. Otherwise, your defilements will remain
many and
your discernment crude. The older you grow, the more you have to watch
out--for
we know what happens to old people everywhere. So
seize the moment to develop the
faculties of conviction, persistence, mindfulness, concentration, and
discernment
in a balanced way. Keep contemplating and probing, and you'll protect
yourself
from wandering out after the world. No matter who tempts you to go with
them,
you can be sure within yourself that you won't go following them
because you no
longer have to go believing anyone else or hoping for the baits of the
world--because
the baits of the world are poison. The Dhamma has to be the refuge and
light of
your life.
Once you have this degree of
conviction in yourself, you can't help but stride forward without
slipping
back; but if you waver and wander, unsure of whether or not to keep
practicing
the Dhamma, watch out: You're sure to get pulled over the cliff and
into the
pit of fire. If
you aren't free within yourself, you
get pulled at from all sides because the world is full of things that
keep
pulling at you. But those who have the intelligence not to be gullible
will see
the stress and harm of those things distinctly for themselves. For this
reason
they're not headed for anything low; they won't have to keep suffering
in the
world. They feel dispassion. They lose their taste for all the various
baits
and lures the world has to offer. The
practice of the Dhamma is what
allows us to shake off whatever attractive things used to delude us
into
holding on. Realize that it won't be long before we die--we won't be
here much
longer!--so even if anyone offers us incredible wealth, why should we
want it?
Who could really own it? Who could really control it? If
you can read yourself in this matter,
you come to a feeling of dispassion. Disenchantment. You lose your
taste for
all the lures of the world. You no longer hold them in esteem. If you
make use
of them, it's for the sake of the benefits they give in terms of the
Dhamma,
but your disenchantment stays continuous. Even the name and form you've
been
regarding as "me" and "mine" have been wearing down and
falling apart continually. As for the defilements, they're still lying
in wait
to burn you. So how can you afford to be oblivious? First there's the
suffering
and stress of the five aggregates, and on top of that there's the
suffering and
stress caused by defilement, craving, and attachment, stabbing you,
slapping
you, beating you. The
more you practice and contemplate,
the more you become sensitive to this on deeper and deeper levels. Your
interest in blatant things outside--good and bad people, good and bad
things--gets swept away. You don't have to concern yourself with them,
for
you're concerned solely with penetrating yourself within, destroying
your pride
and conceit. Outside affairs aren't important. What's important is how
clearly
you can see the truth inside until the brightness appears. The
brightness that comes from seeing
the truth isn't at all like the light we see outside. Once you really
know it,
you see that it's indescribable, for it's something entirely personal.
It
cleans everything out of the heart and mind in line with the strength
of our
mindfulness and discernment. It's what sweeps and cleans and clears and
lets go
and disbands things inside. But if we don't have mindfulness and
discernment as
our means of knowing, contemplating, and letting go, then everything
inside is
dark on all sides. And not only dark, but also full of fire whose
poisonous
fuel keeps burning away. What could be more terrifying than the fuel
burning
inside us? Even though it's invisible, it flares up every time there's
sensory
contact. The
bombs they drop on people to wipe
them out aren't really all that dangerous, for you can die only once
per
lifetime. But the three bombs of passion, aversion, and delusion keep
ripping
the heart apart countless times. Normally we don't realize how serious
the
damage is, but when we come to practice the Dhamma we can take stock of
the
situation, seeing what it's like when sensory contact comes, at what
moments
the burning heat of defilement and craving arises, and why they're all
so very
quick. When
you contemplate how to disband
suffering and defilement, you need the proper tools and have to make
the effort
without being complacent. The fact that we've come to practice out here
without
any involvements or worldly responsibilities helps speed up the
practice. It's
extremely beneficial in helping us to examine our inner diseases in
detail and
to disband suffering and stress continually in line with our
mindfulness and
discernment. Our burdens grow lighter and we come to realize how much
our
practice of the Dhamma is progressing in the direction of the cessation
of
suffering. Those
who don't have the time to come
and rest here or to really stop, get carried away with all kinds of
distractions. They may say, "I can practice anywhere," but it's just
words. The fact of the matter is that their practice is to follow the
defilements until their heads are spinning, and yet they can still
boast that
they can practice anywhere! Their mouths aren't in line with their
minds, and
their minds--burned and beaten by defilement, craving, and
attachment--don't
realize their situation. They're like worms that live in filth and are
happy to
stay and die right there in the filth. People
with any mindfulness and
discernment feel disgust at the filth of the defilements in the mind.
The more
they practice, the more sensitive they become, the more their revulsion
grows.
Before, when our mindfulness and discernment were still crude, we
didn't feel
this at all. We were happy to play around in the filth within
ourselves. But
now that we've come to practice, to contemplate from the blatant to the
more
subtle levels, we sense more and more how disgusting the filth really
is.
There's nothing to it that's worth falling for at all, because it's all
inconstancy, stress, and not-self. So
what's there to want out of life?
Those who are ignorant say that we're born to gain wealth and be
millionaires,
but that kind of life is like falling into hell! If you understand the
practice
of the Dhamma in the Buddha's footsteps, you realize that nothing is
worth
having, nothing is worth getting involved with, everything has to be
let go. Those
who still latch onto the body,
feeling, perceptions, thought-formations, and consciousness as self
need to
contemplate until they see that the body is stressful, feelings are
stressful,
perceptions are stressful, thought-formations are stressful,
consciousness is
stressful--in short, name is stressful and so is form, or in even
plainer terms,
the body is stressful and so is the mind. You have to focus
on stress.
Once you see it thoroughly, from the blatant to the
subtle levels, you'll be able to rise above pleasure and pain because
you've
let them go. But if you have yet to fully understand stress, you'll
still yearn
for pleasure--and the more you yearn, the more you suffer. This
holds too for the pleasure that
comes when the mind is tranquil. If you let yourself get stuck on it,
you're
like a person addicted to a drug: Once there's the desire, you take the
drug
and think yourself happy. But as for how much suffering the repeated
desire
causes, you don't have the intelligence to see it. All you see is that
if you
take the drug whenever you want, you're okay. When
people can't shake off their
addictions, this is why. They get stuck on the sense of pleasure that
comes
when they take the drug. They're ingesting sensuality and they keep on
wanting
more, for only when they ingest more will their hunger subside. But
soon it comes
back again, so they'll want still more. They keep on ingesting
sensuality,
stirring up the mind, but don't see that there's any harm or suffering
involved. Instead, they say they're happy When the longing gets really
intense,
it feels really good to satisfy it. That's what they say. People who
have heavy
defilements and crude discernment don't see that desire and longing are
suffering, and so they don't know how to do away with them. As soon as
they
take what they want, the desire goes away. Then it comes back again, so
they
take some more. It comes back again and they take still more--over and
over like
this, so blind that they don't realize anything at all. |