In this chapter we shall
see how concentration may come about naturally on the
one hand, and as a result of organized practice on the
other. The end result is identical in the two cases: the
mind is concentrated and fit to be used for carrying out
close introspection. One thing must be noticed, however:
the intensity of concentration that comes about
naturally is usually sufficient and appropriate for
introspection and insight, whereas the concentration
resulting from organized training is usually excessive,
more than can be made use of. Furthermore, misguided
satisfaction with that highly developed concentration
may result. While the mind is fully concentrated, it is
likely to be experiencing such a satisfying kind of
bliss and well- being that the meditator may become
attached to it, or imagine it to be the Fruit of the
Path. Naturally occurring concentration, which is
sufficient and suitable for use in introspection, is
harmless, having none of the disadvantages inherent in
concentration developed by means of intensive training.
In the Tipitaka, there
are numerous references to people attaining naturally
all states of Path and Fruit. This generally came about
in the presence of the Buddha himself but also happened
later with other teachers. These people did not go into
the forest and sit, assiduously practicing concentration
on certain objects in the way described in later
manuals.
Clearly no organized
effort was involved when arahantship was attained by the
first five disciples of the Buddha on hearing the
Discourse on Non - selfhood, or by the one thousand
hermits on hearing the Fire Sermon. In these cases,
keen, penetrating insight came about quite naturally.
These examples clearly show that natural concentration
is liable to develop of its own accord while one is
attempting to understand clearly some question, and that
the resulting insight, as long as it is firmly
established must be quite intense and stable. It happens
naturally, automatically in just the same way as the
mind becomes concentrated the moment we set about doing
arithmetic. Likewise in firing a gun, when we take aim,
the mind automatically becomes concentrated and steady.
This is how naturally occurring concentration comes
about. We normally overlook it completely because it
does not appear the least bit magical, miraculous, or
awe inspiring. But through the power of just this
naturally occurring concentration, most of us could
actually attain liberation. We could attain the Fruit of
the Path, Nirvana, arahantship, just by means of natural
concentration.
So don't overlook this
naturally occurring concentration. It is something most
of us either already have, or can readily develop. We
have to do everything we can to cultivate and develop
it, to make it function perfectly and yield the
appropriate results, just as did most of the people who
succeeded in becoming arahants, none of whom knew
anything of modern concentration techniques.
Now let us have a look
at the nature of the states of inner awareness leading
up to full insight into "the world," that is, into the
five aggregates. The first stage is joy (piti), mental
happiness or spiritual well being. Doing good in some
way, even giving alms, considered the most basic form of
merit-making, can be a source of joy. Higher up, at the
level of morality, completely blameless conduct by way
of word and action brings an increase in joy. Then in
the case of concentration, we discover that there is a
definite kind of delight associated with the lower
stages of concentration.
This rapture has in
itself the power to induce tranquillity. Normally the
mind is quite unrestrained, continually falling slave to
all sorts of thoughts and feelings associated with
enticing things outside. It is normally restless, not
calm. But as spiritual joy becomes established, calm and
steadiness are bound to increase in proportion. When
steadiness has been perfected, the result is full
concentration. The mind becomes tranquil, steady,
flexible, manageable, light and at ease, ready to be
used for any desired purpose, in particular for the
elimination of the defilements.
It is not a case of the
mind's being rendered silent, hard and rocklike. Nothing
like that happens at all. The body feels normal, but the
mind is especially calm and suitable for use in thinking
and introspection. It is perfectly clear, perfectly
cool, perfectly still and restrained. In other words, it
is fit for work, ready to know. This is the degree of
concentration to be aimed for, not the very deep
concentration where one sits rigidly like a stone image,
quite devoid of awareness. Sitting in deep concentration
like that, one is in no position to investigate
anything. A deeply concentrated mind cannot practice
introspection at all. It is in a state of unawareness
and is of no use for insight. DEEP CONCENTRATION IS A
MAJOR OBSTACLE TO INSIGHT PRACTICE. To practice
introspection one must first return to the shallower
levels of concentration; then one can make use of the
power the mind has acquired. Highly developed
concentration is just a tool. In this developing of
insight by the nature method, we don't have to attain
deep concentration and sit with the body rigid. Rather,
we aim at a calm, steady mind, one so fit for work that
when it is applied to insight practice, it gains right
understanding with regard to the entire world. Insight
so developed is natural insight, the same sort as was
gained by some individuals while sitting listening to
the Buddha expounding Dhamma. It is conducive to thought
and introspection of the right kind, the kind that
brings understanding. And it involves neither ceremonial
procedures nor miracles.
This doesn't mean,
however, that insight will arise instantaneously. One
can't be an arahant straight off. The first step in
knowledge may come about at any time, depending once
again on the intensity of the concentration. It may
happen that what arises is not true insight, because one
has been practicing wrongly or has been surrounded by
too many false views. But however it turns out, the
insight that does arise is bound to be something quite
special, for instance extraordinarily clear and
profound. If the knowledge gained is right knowledge,
corresponding with reality, corresponding with Dhamma,
then it will progress, developing ultimately into right
and true knowledge of all phenomena. If insight develops
in only small measure, it may convert a person into an
Aryian at the lowest stage; or if it is not sufficient
to do that, it will just make him a high- minded
individual, an ordinary person of good qualities. If the
environment is suitable and good qualities have been
properly and adequately established, it is possible to
become an arahant. It all depends on the circumstances.
But however far things go, as long as the mind has
natural concentration, this factor called insight is
bound to arise and to correspond more or less closely
with reality. Because we, being Buddhists, have heard
about, thought about and studied the world, the five
aggregates and phenomena, in the hope of coming to under
stand their true nature, it follows that the knowledge
we acquire while in a calm and concentrated state will
not be in any way misleading. It is bound to be always
beneficial.
The expression "insight
into the true nature of things" refers to seeing
transience, unsatisfactoriness and non-selfhood, seeing
that nothing is worth getting, nothing is worth being,
seeing that no object whatsoever should be grasped at
and clung to as being a self or as belonging to a self,
as being good or bad, attractive or repulsive. Liking or
disliking anything, even if it is only an idea or a
memory, is clinging. To say that nothing is worth
getting or being is the same as to say that nothing is
worth clinging to. "Getting" refers to setting one's
heart on property, position, wealth, or any pleasing
object. "Being" refers to the awareness of one's status
as husband, wife, rich man, poor man, winner, loser, or
human being, or even the awareness of being oneself. If
we really look deeply at it, even being oneself is no
fun, is wearisome, because it is a source of suffering.
If one can completely give up clinging to the idea of
being oneself, then being oneself will no longer be
suffering. This is what it is to see the worthlessness
of being anything, and is the gist of the statement that
being anything, no matter what, is bound to be suffering
in a way appropriate to that particular state of being.
Any state of being, if it is to continue as such, has to
be made to last, to endure. At the very least, it must
endure in one's mind in the form of a belief in that
particular state of being. When there exists "oneself,"
there are bound to exist things which are other than
that self and belong to it. Thus one has one's children,
one's wife, one's this, that and the other. Then one has
one's duty as husband or wife, master or servant, and so
on. All this points to the truth of the statement that
there is no state of being such that to maintain it will
not involve struggle. The trouble and struggle necessary
to maintain one's state of being are simply the result
of blind infatuation with things, of clinging to things.
If we were to give up trying to get or to be anything,
how could we continue to exist? This is bound to be a
major source of skepticism for anyone who has not given
much thought to the matter. The words "getting" and
"being" as used here refer to getting and being based on
mental defilements, on craving, on the idea of "worth
getting, worth being," so that the mind does get and be
in real earnest. This is bound to lead to depression,
anxiety, distress and upset, or at least a heavy burden
on the mind, right from beginning to end. Knowing this
truth, we shall be constantly on the alert, keeping
watch over the mind to see that it doesn't fall slave to
getting and being through the influence of grasping and
clinging. Aware that in reality things are just not
worth getting or being, we shall be smart enough to stay
aloof from them.
If, however, we are not
yet in a position to withdraw completely from having and
being, we must be mindful and wide awake, so that when
we do get or become something, we do so without
emotional upset. We must not be like those people who,
turning a blind eye and a deaf ear, go ahead brainlessly
and inexpertly getting or becoming, with the result that
they fall right into the pit of their own stupidity and
attachment, and end up having to commit suicide.
The world and all things
have the property of impermanence, of worthlessness and
of not belonging to anyone. Any individual who grasps at
and clings to anything will be hurt by it, in the very
beginning when he first desires to get it or to be it,
later while he is in the process of getting it and being
it, and then again after he has got it or been it. All
the time, before, during and after, when anyone grasps
and clings with deaf ear and blind eye, he will receive
his full measure of suffering, just as can be seen
happening to all deluded worldlings. It is the same even
with goodness, which everyone values highly. If anyone
becomes involved with goodness in the wrong way and
clings to it too much, he will derive just as much
suffering from goodness as he would from evil. In
becoming involved with goodness, we have to bear in mind
that it possesses this property.
A skeptic may ask: "If
nothing at all is worth getting or being, does it follow
that nobody ought to do any work or build up wealth,
position and property?" Anyone who comprehends this
subject can see that a person equipped with right
knowledge and understanding is actually in a far better
position to carry out any task than one who is subject
to strong desires, foolish, and lacking in
understanding. Very briefly, in becoming involved in
things, we must do so mindfully; our actions must not be
motivated by craving. The result will follow
accordingly.
The Buddha and all the
other arahants were completely free of desire, yet
succeeded in doing many things far more useful than what
any of us are capable of. If we look at accounts of how
the Buddha spent his day, we find that he slept for only
four hours and spent all the rest of the time working.
We spend more than four hours a day just amusing
ourselves. If the defilements responsible for the desire
to be and get things had been completely eliminated,
what was the force that motivated the Buddha and all
Arahants to do all this? They were motivated by
discrimination coupled with goodwill (metta). Even
actions based on natural bodily wants such as receiving
and eating alms food were motivated by discrimination
They were free of defilements, free of all desire to
keep on living in order to be this or to get that, but
they did have the ability to discriminate between what
was worthwhile and what was not as the motivating force
that sent their bodies out to find food. If they found
food, well and good; if not, never mind. When they were
suffering with fever, they knew how to treat it and did
so as well as possible on the basis of this knowledge.
If the fever was quite overpowering and they were not
strong, they recalled that to die is natural. Whether
they lived or died was of no significance to them; they
were of equal value in their eyes
If one is to be
completely free of suffering, this is the very best
attitude to have. There need not be any self as master
of the body. Discrimination alone enables the body to
carry on by its natural power. The example of the Buddha
shows that the power of pure discrimination and pure
goodwill alone is sufficient to keep an arahant living
in the world, and, what is more, doing far more good for
others than people still subject to craving. Defiled
people are likely to do only what benefits themselves
since they act out of selfishness. By contrast, the
deeds of arahants are entirely selfless and so are
perfectly pure. In desiring to get and be, one is acting
quite inappropriately, one is mistaking evil for good,
not knowing what is what. Let us all, then, go about
things intelligently, always bearing in mind that, in
reality, nothing is worth getting or being, nothing is
worth becoming infatuated with, nothing is worth
clinging to. Let us act in a manner in keeping with the
knowledge that things are by their very nature not worth
getting or being. If we do have to become involved in
things, then let us go about it the right way, acting
appropriately. This is the way to keep the mind always
pure, unobscured, tranquil and cool. It allows us to
become involved in the world, in things, without doing
ourselves any harm in the process. When the ordinary
worldly man hears that nothing is worth getting or
being, he is not convinced, he doesn't believe it. But
anyone who understands the real meaning of this
statement becomes emboldened and cheered by it. His mind
becomes master of things and independent of them. He
becomes capable of going after things sure in the
knowledge that he will not become enslaved by them. His
actions are not motivated by desire and he is not so
blind with passion that he comes to be a slave to
things. In getting anything or being anything, let us
always be aware that we are getting or being something
which, in terms of absolute truth, we cannot get or be
at all, because there is nothing that we can really get
or be as we might wish. All things are transient and
unsatisfactory and can never belong to us; and yet we go
foolishly ahead, grasping at them and craving for them.
In other words, we act inappropriately, or in a way
which does not accord with the true nature of things,
simply because we become involved in them while ignorant
of their true nature. The result is bound to be all
manner of suffering and trouble. The reason a person is
incapable of doing his job perfectly, faultlessly, is
that he is always far too concerned with getting
something and being something, always motivated entirely
by his own desires. As a result, he is not master of
himself and cannot be consistently good, honest and
fair. In every case of failure and ruin, the root cause
is slavery to desire. To come to know the true nature of
things is the true objective of every Buddhist. It is
the means by which we can liberate ourselves. Regardless
of whether we are hoping for worldly benefits, such as
wealth, position and fame; or for benefits in the next
world, such as heaven; or for the supra-mundane benefit,
the Fruit of the Path, Nirvana--whatever we are hoping
for, the only way to achieve it is by means of this
right knowledge and insight. We thrive on insight. In
the Texts it is said that we may become purified through
insight and not by any other means. Our path to freedom
lies in having the insight, the clear vision, that in
all things there neither is nor has ever been anything
at all that is worth grasping at or clinging to, worth
getting or being, worth risking life and limb for. We
have things and are things only in terms of worldly,
relative truth. In worldly language, we say we are this
or that, just because in any society it is expedient to
recognize by names and occupations. But we mustn't go
believing that we really are this or that, as is assumed
at the level of relative truth. To do so is to behave
like the crickets, which, when their faces become
covered with dirt, become disoriented and muddled, and
proceed to bite each other until they die. We humans,
when our faces become covered in dirt, when we are
subject to all sorts of delusions, become so bewildered
and disoriented that we do things no human being could
ever do under ordinary circumstances--killing for
instance. So let us not go blindly clinging to relative
truths; rather let us be aware that they are just
relative truths, essential in a society but nothing
more. We have to be aware of what this body and mind
really is, what its true nature is. In particular, we
have to be aware of its impermanence,
unsatisfactoriness, and non-selfhood, and make sure we
always remain independent of it.
As for the wealth,
position and so on, which we can't do without, let us
regard these too as relative truths so that we can break
free from the existing custom of saying, for instance:
"This belongs to So - and - so. That belongs to Such and
- such." The law watches over ownership rights for us;
there is no need for us to cling to the idea of "mine."
We ought to possess things purely and simply for the
sake of convenience and ease, and not so that they can
be master over our minds. When we have this clear
knowledge, things will become our servants and slaves
and we shall remain on top of them. If our thoughts go
the way of craving and attachment, so that we become
conscious of having such - and - such and being so - and
- so, clinging firmly to these ideas, things will get on
top of us, and we shall be the servants and slaves,
under their control instead. The tables can quite easily
be turned in this way, so we have to be careful. We have
to arrange things in such a way that we are sure of
staying independent and on top of things. If we don't,
we may find ourselves in a most pitiable position and
feel very sorry for ourselves indeed. When we have
really come to perceive clearly that nothing is worth
getting or being, disenchantment (nibbida) develops in
proportion to the intensity of the insight. It is a sign
that the clinging has become less firm and is starting
to give way. It is a sign that we have been slaves for
so long that the idea of trying to escape has at last
occurred to us. This is the onset of disenchantment and
disillusionment, when one becomes fed up with one's own
stupidity in grasping at and clinging to things,
believing things to be worth having and being. As soon
as disenchantment has set in, there is bound to come
about a natural, automatic process of disentanglement
(vimutti), as if a rope with which one had been tightly
bound were being untied; or a rinsing out, as when the
dye that had been firmly fixed in a piece of cloth is
washed out by soaking it in the appropriate substances.
This process whereby clinging gives way to a breaking
free from, or a dissolving out from the world, or from
the objects of that clinging, was called by the Buddha,
emancipation (vimutti). This state is most important.
Though not the final stage, it is a most important step
towards complete liberation. When one has broken free to
this extent, complete liberation from suffering is
assured.
Once broken free from
slavery, one need never again be a slave to the world.
One becomes pure and uncontaminated whereas previously
one was defiled in every way. To be enslaved to things
is to be defiled in body, speech and thought. To break
free from slavery to the delightful tastes of the world
is to achieve the pure condition and never be defiled
again. This real purity (Visuddhi), once it has been
attained, will give rise to a genuine calm and coolness
free from all turbulence, strife and torment. This state
of freedom from oppression and turbulence was called by
the Buddha simply peace (Santi), that is, stillness,
coolness in all situations, which is virtually the same
thing as Nirvana.
"Nirvana" has been
translated as "absence of any instrument of torture."
Taken another way, it means "extinction without
remainder." So the word "Nirvana" has two very important
meanings; firstly, absence of any source of torment and
burning, freedom from all forms of bondage and
constraint and secondly, extinction, with no fuel for
the further arising of suffering. The combination of
these meanings indicates a condition of complete freedom
from suffering. There are several other useful meanings
for the word "Nirvana." It can be taken to mean the
extinction of suffering, or the complete elimination of
defilements, or the state, realm, or condition that is
the cessation of all suffering, all defilements and all
karmic activity. Though the word "Nirvana" is used by
numerous different sects, the sense in which they use it
is often not the same at all. For instance, one group
takes it to mean simply calm and coolness, because they
identify Nirvana with deep concentration. Other groups
even consider total absorption in sensuality as Nirvana.
The Buddha defined
Nirvana as simply that condition of freedom from
bondage, torment and suffering which results from seeing
the true nature of the worldly condition and all things,
and so being able to give up all clinging to them. It is
essential, then, that we recognize the very great value
of insight into the true nature of things and endeavor
to cultivate this insight by one means or another. Using
one method, we simply encourage it to come about of its
own accord, naturally, by developing, day and night, the
joy that results from mental purity, until the qualities
we have described gradually come about. The other method
consists in developing mental power by following an
organized system of concentration and insight practice.
This latter technique is appropriate for people with a
certain kind of disposition, who may make rapid progress
with it if conditions are right. But we can practice the
development of insight by the nature method in all
circumstances and at all times just by making our own
way of daily living so pure and honest that there arise
in succession spiritual joy (piti and pamoda), calm
(passaddhi), insight into the true nature of things
(yathabhutananadassana), disenchantment (nibbida),
withdrawal (viraga), escape (vimutti), purification from
defilements (visuddhi), and coolness (santi), so that we
come to get a taste of freedom from suffering (nibbana)-
steadily, naturally, day by day, month by month, year by
year, gradually approaching closer and closer to
Nirvana.
Summing up, natural
concentration and insight, which enable a person to
attain the Path and the Fruit, consist in verifying all
day and every day the truth of the statement that
nothing is worth getting or being. Anyone who wishes to
get this result must strive to purify himself and to
develop exemplary personal qualities, so that he can
find perpetual spiritual joy in work and leisure. That
very joy induces clarity and freshness, mental calm and
stillness, and serves, naturally and automatically, to
give the mind ability to think and introspect. With the
insight that nothing is worth getting or being
constantly present, the mind loses all desire for the
things it once used to grasp at and cling to. It is able
to break free from the things it used to regard as "me
and mine," and all blind craving for things ceases.
Suffering, which no longer has anywhere to lodge,
dwindles right away, and the job of eliminating
suffering is done. This is the reward, and it can be
gained by anyone of us.
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