When the group of five
ascetics1
abandoned the Buddha, he saw it as a stroke of luck,
because he would be able to continue his practice
unhindered. With the five ascetics living with him,
things weren't so peaceful, he had responsibilities. And
now the five ascetics had abandoned him because they
felt that he had slackened his practice and reverted to
indulgence. Previously he had been intent on his ascetic
practices and self-mortification. In regards to eating,
sleeping and so on, he had tormented himself severely,
but it came to a point where, looking into it honestly,
he saw that such practices just weren't working. It was
simply a matter of views, practicing out of pride and
clinging. He had mistaken worldly values and mistaken
himself for the truth.
For example if one
decides to throw oneself into ascetic practices with the
intention of gaining praise -- this kind of practice is
all "world-inspired," practicing for adulation and fame.
Practicing with this kind of intention is called
"mistaking worldly ways for truth."
Another way to practice
is "to mistake one's own views for truth." You only
believe yourself, in your own practice. No matter what
others say you stick to your own preferences. You don't
carefully consider the practice. this is called
"mistaking oneself for truth."
Whether you take the
world or take yourself to be truth, it's all simply
blind attachment. The Buddha saw this, and saw that
there was no "adhering to the Dhamma," practicing for
the truth. So his practice had been fruitless, he still
hadn't given up defilements.
Then he turned around
and reconsidered all the work he had put into practice
right from the beginning in terms of results. What were
the results of all that practice? Looking deeply into it
he saw that it just wasn't right. It was full of
conceit, and full of the world. There was no dhamma, no
insight into anatta (not self) no emptiness or
letting go. There may have been letting go of a kind,
but it was the kind that still hadn't let go.
Looking carefully at the
situation, the Buddha saw that even if he were to
explain these things to the five ascetics they wouldn't
be able to understand. It wasn't something he could
easily convey to them, because those ascetics were still
firmly entrenched in the old way of practice and seeing
things. The Buddha saw that you could practice like that
until your dying day, maybe even starve to death, and
achieve nothing, because such practice is inspired by
worldly values and by pride.
Considering deeply, he
saw the right practice, samma patipada: the mind
is the mind, the body is the body. The body isn't desire
or defilement. Even if you were to destroy the body you
wouldn't destroy defilements. That's not their source.
Even fasting and going without sleep until the body was
a shrivelled-up wraith wouldn't exhaust the defilements.
But the belief that defilements could be dispelled in
that way, the teaching of self-mortification, was deeply
ingrained into the five ascetics.
The Buddha then began to
take more food, eating as normal, practicing in a more
natural way. When the five ascetics saw the change in
the Buddha's practice they figured that he had given up
and reverted to sensual indulgence. One person's
understanding was shifting to a higher level,
transcending appearances, while the other saw that that
person's view was sliding downwards, reverting to
comfort. Self-mortification was deeply ingrained into
the minds of the five ascetics because the Buddha had
previously taught and practiced like that. Now he saw
the fault in it. By seeing the fault in it clearly, he
was able to let it go.
When the five ascetics
saw the Buddha doing this they left him, feeling that he
was practicing wrongly and that they would no longer
follow him. Just as birds abandon a tree which no longer
offers sufficient shade, or fish leave a pool of water
that is too small, too dirty or not cool, just so did
the five ascetics abandon the Buddha.
So now the Buddha
concentrated on contemplating the Dhamma. He ate more
comfortably and lived more naturally. He let the mind be
simply the mind, the body simply the body. He didn't
force his practice in excess, just enough to loosen the
grip of greed, aversion, and delusion. Previously he had
walked the two extremes: kamasukhallikanuyogo --
if happiness or love arose he would be aroused and
attach to them. He would identify with them and wouldn't
let go. If he encountered pleasantness he would stick to
that, if he encountered suffering he would stick to
that. These two extremes he called
kamasukhallikanuyogo and attakilamathanuyogo.
The Buddha had been
stuck on conditions. He saw clearly that these two ways
are not the way for a samana. Clinging to
happiness, clinging to suffering: a samana is not
like this. To cling to those things is not the way.
Clinging to those things he was stuck in the views of
self and the world. If he were to flounder in these two
ways he would never become one who clearly knew the
world. He would be constantly running from one extreme
to the other. Now the Buddha fixed his attention on the
mind itself and concerned himself with training that.
All facets of nature
proceed according to their supporting conditions, they
aren't any problem in themselves. For instance,
illnesses in the body. The body experiences pain,
sickness, fever and colds and so on. These all naturally
occur. Actually people worry about their bodies too
much. That they worry about and cling to their bodies so
much is because of wrong view, they can't let go.
Look at this hall here.
We build the hall and say it's ours, but lizards come
and live here, rats and geckoes come and live here, and
we are always driving them away, because we see that the
hall belongs to us, not the rats and lizards.
It's the same with
illnesses in the body. We take this body to be our home,
something that really belongs to us. If we happen to get
a headache or stomach-ache we get upset, we don't want
the pain and suffering. These legs are "our legs," we
don't want them to hurt, these arms are "our arms," we
don't want anything to go wrong with it. We've got to
cure all pains and illnesses at all costs.
This is where we are
fooled and stray from the truth. We are simply visitors
to this body. Just like this hall here, it's not really
ours. We are simply temporary tenants, like the rats,
lizards and geckoes...but we don't know this. This body
is the same. Actually the Buddha taught that there is no
abiding self within this body but we go and grasp on to
it as being our self, as really being "us" and "them."
When the body changes we don't want it to do so. No
matter how much we are told we don't understand. If I
say it straight you get even more fooled. "This isn't
yourself," I say, and you go even more astray, you get
even more confused and your practice just reinforces the
self.
So most people don't
really see the self. One who sees the self is one who
sees that "this is neither the self nor belonging to
self." He sees the self as it is in Nature. Seeing the
self through the power of clinging is not real seeing.
Clinging interferes with the whole business. It's not
easy to realize this body as it is because upadana
clings fast to it all.
Therefore it is said
that we must investigate to clearly know with wisdom.
This means to investigate the sankhara2
according to their true nature. Use wisdom. To know the
true nature of sankhara is wisdom. If you don't
know the true nature of sankhara you are at odds
with them, always resisting them. Now, it is better to
let go of the sankhara or to try to oppose or
resist them. And yet we plead with them to comply with
our wishes. We look for all sorts of means to organize
them or "make a deal" with them. If the body gets sick
and is in pain we don't want it to be, so we look for
various Suttas to chant, such as Bojjhango, the
Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta, the
Anattalakkhanasutta and so on. We don't want the
body to be in pain, we want to protect it, control it.
These Suttas become some form of mystical
ceremony, getting us even more entangled in clinging.
This is because they chant them in order to ward off
illness, to prolong life and so on. Actually the Buddha
gave us these teachings in order to see clearly but we
end up chanting them to increase our delusion. Rupam
aniccam, vedana anicca, sañña anicca,
sankhara anicca,viññanam aniccam...3
We don't chant these words for increasing our delusion.
They are recollections to help us know the truth of the
body, so that we can let it go and give up our longing.
This is called chanting
to cut things down, but we tend to chant in order to
extend them all, or if we feel they're too long we try
chanting to shorten them, to force nature to conform to
our wishes. It's all delusion. All the people sitting
there in the hall are deluded, every one of them. The
ones chanting are deluded, the ones listening are
deluded, they're all deluded! All they can think is "How
can we avoid suffering?" Where are they ever going to
practice?
Whenever illnesses
arise, those who know see nothing strange about it.
Getting born into this world entails experiencing
illness. However, even the Buddha and the Noble Ones,
contracting illness in the course of things, would also,
in the course of things, treat it with medicine. For
them it was simply a matter of correcting the elements.
They didn't blindly cling to the body or grasp at mystic
ceremonies and such. They treated illnesses with Right
View, they didn't treat them with delusion. "If it
heals, it heals, if it doesn't then it doesn't" --
that's how they saw things.
They say that nowadays
Buddhism in Thailand is thriving, but it looks to me
like it's sunk almost as far as it can go. The Dhamma
Halls are full of attentive ears, but they're attending
wrongly. Even the senior members of the community are
like this, so everybody just leads each other into more
delusion.
One who sees this will
know that the true practice is almost opposite from
where most people are going, the two sides can barely
understand each other. How are those people going to
transcend suffering? They have chants for realizing the
truth but they turn around and use them to increase
their delusion. They turn their backs on the right path.
One goes eastward, the other goes west -- how are they
ever going to meet? They're not even close to each
other.
If you have looked into
this you will see that this is the case. Most people are
lost. But how can you tell them? Everything has become
rites and rituals and mystic ceremonies. they chant but
they chant with foolishness, they don't chant with
wisdom. They study, but they study with foolishness, not
with wisdom. They know, but they know foolishly, not
with wisdom. So they end up going with foolishness,
living with foolishness, knowing with foolishness.
That's how it is. And teaching...all they do these days
is teach people to be stupid. They say they're teaching
people to be clever, giving them knowledge, but when you
look at it in terms of truth, you see that they're
really teaching people to go astray and grasp at
deceptions.
The real foundation of
the teaching is in order to see atta, the self,
as being empty, having no fixed identity. It's void of
intrinsic being. But people come to the study of Dhamma
to increase their self-view, so they don't want to
experience suffering or difficulty. They want everything
to be cozy. They may want to transcend suffering, but if
there is still a self how can they ever do so?
Just consider...Suppose
we came to possess a very expensive object. The minute
that thing comes into our possession our mind
changes..."Now, where can I keep it? If I leave it there
somebody might steal it"...We worry ourselves into a
state, trying to find a place to keep it. And when did
the mind change? It changed the minute we obtained that
object -- suffering arose right then. No matter where we
leave that object we can't relax, so we're left with
trouble. Whether sitting, walking, or lying down, we are
lost in worry.
This is suffering. And
when did it arise? It arose as soon as we understood
that we had obtained something, that's where the
suffering lies. Before we had that object there was no
suffering. It hadn't yet arisen because there wasn't yet
an object for it to cling to.
Atta,
the self, is the same. if we think in terms of "my
self," then everything around us becomes "mine."
Confusion follows. Why so? The cause of it all is that
there is a self, we don't peel off the apparent in order
to see the Transcendent. You see, the self is only an
appearance. You have to peel away the appearances in
order to see the heart of the matter, which is
Transcendence. Upturn the apparent to find the
Transcendent.
You could compare it to
unthreshed rice. Can unthreshed rice be eaten? Sure it
can, but you must thresh it first. Get rid of the husks
and you will find the grain inside.
Now if we don't thresh
the husks we won't find the grain. Like a dog sleeping
on the pile of unthreshed grain. Its stomach is rumbling
"jork-jork-jork," but all it can do is lie there,
thinking "Where can I get something to eat?" When it's
hungry it bounds off the pile of rice grain and runs off
looking for scraps of food. Even though it's sleeping
right in top of a pile of food it knows nothing of it.
Why? It can't see the rice. Dogs can't eat unthreshed
rice. The food is there but the dog can't eat it.
We may have learning but
if we don't practice accordingly we still don't really
know, just as oblivious as the dog sleeping on the pile
of rice grain. It's sleeping on a pile of food but it
knows nothing of it. When it gets hungry it's got to
jump off and go trotting around elsewhere for food. It's
a shame, isn't it?
Now this is the same:
there is rice grain but what is hiding it? The husk
hides the grain, so the dog can't eat it. And there is
the Transcendent. What hides it? The Apparent conceals
the Transcendent, making people simply "sit on top of
the pile of rice, unable to eat it," unable to practice,
unable to see the Transcendent. And so they simply get
stuck in appearances time and again. If you are stuck in
appearances suffering is in store, you will be beset by
becoming, birth, old age, sickness and death.
So there isn't anything
else blocking people off, they are blocked right here.
People who study the Dhamma without penetrating to its
true meaning are just like the dog on the pile of
unthreshed rice who doesn't know the rice. He might even
starve and still find nothing to eat. A dog can't eat
unthreshed rice, it doesn't even know there is food
there. After a long time without food it may even
die...on top of that pile of rice! People are like this.
No matter how much we study the Dhamma of the Buddha we
won't see it if we don't practice. If we don't see it
then we don't know it.
Don't go thinking that
by learning a lot and knowing a lot you'll know the
Buddha Dhamma. That's like saying you've seen everything
there is to see just because you've got eyes, or that
you've got ears. You may see but you don't see fully.
You see only with the "outer eye," not with the "inner
eye'; you hear with the "outer ear," not with the "inner
ear."
If you upturn the
apparent and reveal the Transcendent you will reach the
truth and see clearly. You will uproot the Apparent and
uproot clinging.
But this is like some
sort of sweet fruit: even though the fruit is sweet we
must rely on contact with and experience of that fruit
before we will know what the taste is like. Now that
fruit, even though no-one tastes it, is sweet all the
same. But nobody knows of it. The Dhamma of the Buddha
is like this. Even though it's the truth it isn't true
for those who don't really know it. No matter how
excellent or fine it may be it is worthless to them.
So why do people grab
after suffering? Who in this world wants to inflict
suffering on themselves? No-one, of course. Nobody wants
suffering and yet people keep creating the causes of
suffering, just as if they were wandering around looking
for suffering. Within their hearts people are looking
for happiness, they don't want suffering. Then why is it
that this mind of ours creates so much suffering? Just
seeing this much is enough. We don't like suffering and
yet why do we create suffering for ourselves? It's easy
to see...it can only be because we don't know suffering,
don't know the end of suffering. That's why people
behave the way they do. How could they not suffer when
they continue to behave in this way?
These people have
micchaditthi4
but they don't see that it's micchaditthi.
Whatever we say, believe in or do which results in
suffering is all wrong view. If it wasn't wrong
view it wouldn't result in suffering. We couldn't cling
to suffering, nor to happiness or to any condition at
all. We would leave things be their natural way, like a
flowing stream of water. We don't have to dam it up,
just let it flow along its natural course.
The flow of Dhamma is
like this, but the flow of the ignorant mind tries to
resist the Dhamma in the form of wrong view. And yet it
flies off everywhere else, seeing wrong view, that is,
suffering is there because of wrong view -- this people
don't see. This is worth looking into. Whenever we have
wrong view we will experience suffering. If we don't
experience it in the present it will manifest later on.
People go astray right
here. What is blocking them off? The Apparent blocks off
the Transcendent, preventing people from seeing things
clearly. People study, they learn, they practice, but
they practice with ignorance, just like a person who's
lost his bearings. He walks to the west but thinks he's
walking east, or walks to the north thinking he's
walking south. This is how far people have gone astray.
This kind of practice is really only the dregs of
practice, in fact it's a disaster. It's disaster because
they turn around and go in the opposite direction, they
fall from the objective of true Dhamma practice.
This state of affairs
causes suffering and yet people think that doing this,
memorizing that, studying such-and-such will be a cause
for the cessation of suffering. Just like a person who
wants a lot of things. He tries to amass as much as
possible, thinking if he gets enough his suffering will
abate. This is how people think, but their thinking is
astray of the true path, just like one person going
northward, another going southward, and yet believing
they're going the same way.
Most people are still
stuck in the mass of suffering, still wandering in
samsara, just because they think like this. If
illness or pain arise, all they can do is wonder how
they can get rid of it. They want it to stop as fast as
possible, they've got to cure it all costs. They don't
consider that this is the normal way of sankhara.
Nobody thinks like this. The body changes and people
can't endure it, they can't accept it, they've got to
get rid of it at all costs. However, in the end they
can't win, they can't beat the truth. It all collapses.
This is something people don't want to look at, they
continually reinforce their wrong view.
Practicing to realize
the Dhamma is the most excellent of things. Why did the
Buddha develop all the Perfections?5
So that he could realize this and enable others to see
the Dhamma, know the Dhamma, practice the Dhamma and be
the Dhamma -- so that they could let go and not be
burdened.
"Don't cling to things."
Or to put it another way: "Hold, but don't hold fast."
This is also right. If we see something we pick it
up..."Oh, it's this"...then we lay it down. We see
something else, pick it up...one holds, but not fast.
Hold it just long enough to consider it, to know it,
then to let it go. If you hold without letting go, carry
without laying down the burden, then you are going to be
heavy. If you pick something up and carry it for a
while, then when it gets heavy you should lay it down,
throw it off. Don't make suffering for yourself.
This we should know as
the cause of suffering. If we know the cause of
suffering, suffering cannot arise. For either happiness
or suffering to arise there must be the atta, the
self. There must be the "I" and "mine," there must be
this appearance. If when all these things arise the mind
goes straight to the Transcendent, it removes the
appearances. It removes the delight, the aversion and
the clinging from those things. Just as when something
that we value gets lost...when we find it again our
worries disappear.
Even before we see that
object our worries may be relieved. At first we think
it's lost and suffer over it, but there comes a day when
we suddenly remember, "Oh, that's right! I put it over
there, now I remember!" As soon as we remember this, as
soon as we see the truth, even if we haven't laid eyes
on that object, we feel happy. This is called "seeing
within," seeing with the mind's eye, not seeing with the
outer eye. If we see with the mind's eye then even
though we haven't laid eyes on that object we are
already relieved.
This is the same, When
we cultivate Dhamma practice and attain the Dhamma, see
the Dhamma, then whenever we encounter a problem we
solve the problem instantly, right then and there. It
disappears completely, laid down, released.
Now the Buddha wanted us
to contact the Dhamma, but people only contact the
words, the books and the scriptures. This is contacting
that which is about Dhamma, not contacting the
actual Dhamma as taught by our Great Teacher. How can
people say they are practicing well and properly? They
are a long way off.
The Buddha was known as
lokavidu, having clearly realized the world.
Right now we see the world all right, but not clearly.
The more we know the darker the world becomes, because
our knowledge is murky, it's not clear knowledge. It's
faulty. This is called "knowing through darkness,"
lacking in light and radiance.
People are only stuck
here but it's no trifling matter. It's important. Most
people want goodness and happiness but they just don't
know what the causes for that goodness and happiness
are. Whatever it may be, if we haven't yet seen the harm
of it we can't give it up. No matter how bad it may be,
we still can't give it up if we haven't truly seen the
harm of it. However, if we really see the harm of
something beyond a doubt then we can let it go. As soon
as we see the harm of something, and the benefit of
giving it up, there's an immediate change.
Why is it we are still
unattained, still cannot let go? It's because we still
don't see the harm clearly, our knowledge is faulty,
it's dark. that's why we can't let go. If we knew
clearly like the Lord Buddha or the arahant disciples we
would surely let go, our problems would dissolve
completely with no difficulty at all.
When your ears hear
sound, then let them do their job. When your eyes
perform their function with forms, then let them do so.
When your nose works with smells, let it do its job.
When your body experiences sensations, then let it
perform its natural functions where will problems arise?
There are no problems.
In the same way, all
those things which belong to the Apparent, leave them
with the Apparent. And acknowledge that which is the
Transcendent. Simply be the "One Who Knows," knowing
without fixation, knowing and letting things be their
natural way. All things are just as they are.
All our belongings, does
anybody really own them? Does our father own them, or
our mother, or our relatives? Nobody really gets
anything. That's why the Buddha said to let all those
things be, let them go. Know them clearly. Know then by
holding, but not fast. Use things in a way that is
beneficial, not in a harmful way by holding fast to them
until suffering arises.
To know Dhamma you must
know in this way. That is, to know in such a way as to
transcend suffering. This sort of knowledge is
important. Knowing about how to make things, to use
tools, knowing all the various sciences of the world and
so on, all have their place, but they are not the
supreme knowledge. The Dhamma must be known as I've
explained it here. You don't have to know a whole lot,
just this much is enough for the Dhamma practicer -- to
know and then let go.
It's not that you have
to die before you can transcend suffering, you know. You
transcend suffering in this very life because you know
how to solve problems. You know the apparent, you know
the Transcendent. Do it in this lifetime, while you are
here practicing. You won't find it anywhere else. Don't
cling to things. Hold, but don't cling.
You may wonder, "Why
does the Ajahn keep saying this?" How could I teach
otherwise, how could I say otherwise, when the truth is
just as I've said it? Even though it's the truth don't
hold fast to even that! If you cling to it blindly it
becomes a falsehood. Like a dog...try grabbing its leg.
If you don't let go the dog will spin around and bite
you. Just try it out. All animals behave like this. If
you don't let go it's got no choice but to bite. The
Apparent is the same. We live in accordance with
conventions, they are here for our convenience in this
life, but they are not things to be clung to so hard
that they cause suffering. Just let things pass.
Whenever we feel that we
are definitely right, so much so that we refuse to open
up to anything or anybody else, right there we are
wrong. It becomes wrong view. When suffering arises,
where does it arise from? The cause is wrong view, the
fruit of that being suffering. If it was right view it
wouldn't cause suffering.
So I say, "Allow space,
don't cling to things." "Right" is just another
supposition, just let it pass. "Wrong" is another
apparent condition, just let it be that. If you feel you
are right and yet others contend the issue, don't argue,
just let it go. As soon as you know, let go. This is the
straight way.
Usually it's not like
this. People don't often give in to each other. That's
why some people, even Dhamma practicers who still don't
know themselves, may say things that are utter
foolishness and yet think they're being wise. They may
say something that's so stupid that others can't even
bear to listen and yet they think they are being
cleverer than others. Other people can't even listen to
it and yet they think they are smart, that they are
right. They are simply advertising their own stupidity.
That's why the wise say,
"Whatever speech disregards aniccam is not the
speech of a wise person, it's the speech of a fool. It's
deluded speech. it's the speech of one who doesn't know
that suffering is going to arise right there." For
example, suppose you had decided to go to Bangkok
tomorrow and someone were to ask, "Are you going to
Bangkok tomorrow?"
"I hope to go to
Bangkok. If there are no obstacles I'll probably go."
This is called speaking with the Dhamma in mind,
speaking with aniccam in mind, taking into
account the truth, the transient, uncertain nature of
the world. You don't say, "Yes, I'm definitely going
tomorrow." If it turns out you don't go what are you
going to do, send news to all the people who told you
were going to? You'd be just talking non-sense.
There's still much more
to it, the practice of Dhamma becomes more and more
refined. But if you don't see it you may think you are
speaking right even when you are speaking wrongly and
straying from the true nature of things with every word.
And yet you may think you are speaking the truth. To put
it simply: anything that we say or do that causes
suffering to arise should be known as micchaditthi.
It's delusion and foolishness.
Most practicers don't
reflect in this way. Whatever they like they think is
right and they just go on believing themselves. For
instance, they may receive some gift or title, be it an
object, rank or even words of praise, and they think
it's good. They take it as some sort of permanent
condition. So they get puffed up with pride and conceit,
they don't consider, "Who am I? Where is this so-called
"goodness"? Where did it come from? Do others have the
same things?"
The Buddha taught that
we should conduct ourselves normally. If we don't dig
in, chew over and look into this point it means it's
still sunk within us. It means these conditions are
still buried within our hearts -- we are still sunk in
wealth, rank and praise. So we become someone else
because of them. We think we are better than before,
that we are something special and so all sorts of
confusion arises.
Actually, in truth there
isn't anything to human beings. Whatever we may be it's
only in the realm of appearances. If we take away the
apparent and see the Transcendent we see that there
isn't anything there. There are simply the universal
characteristics -- birth in the beginning, change in the
middle and cessation in the end. This is all there is.
If we see that all things are like this then no problems
arise. If we understand this we will have contentment
and peace.
Where trouble arises is
when we think like the five ascetic disciples of the
Buddha. They followed the instruction of their teacher,
but when he changed his practice they couldn't
understand what he thought or knew. They decided that
the Buddha had given up his practice and reverted to
indulgence. If we were in that position we'd probably
think the same thing and there'd be no way to correct
it. Holding on to the old ways, thinking in the lower
way, yet believing it's higher. We'd see the Buddha and
think he'd given up the practice and reverted to
indulgence, just like he'd given up the practice and
reverted to indulgence, just like those Five Ascetics:
consider how many years they had been practicing at that
time, and yet they still went astray, they still weren't
proficient.
So I say to practice and
also to look at the results of your practice. Especially
where you refuse to follow, where there is friction.
Where there is no friction, there is no problem, things
flow. If there is friction, they don't flow, you set up
a self and things become solid, like a mass of clinging.
There is no give and take.
Most monks and
cultivators tend to be like this. However they've
thought in the past they continue to think. They refuse
to change, they don't reflect. They think they are right
so they can't be wrong, but actually "wrongness" is
buried within "rightness," even though most people don't
know that. How is it so? "This is right"...but if
someone else says it's not right you won't give in,
you've got to argue. What is this? Ditthi
mana...Ditthi means views, mana is the
attachment to those views. If we attach even to what is
right, refusing to concede to anybody, then it becomes
wrong. To cling fast to rightness is simply the arising
of self, there is no letting go.
This is a point which
gives people a lot of trouble, except for those Dhamma
practicers who know that this matter, this point, is a
very important one. they will take not of it. If it
arises while they're speaking, clinging comes racing on
to the scene. Maybe it will linger for some time,
perhaps one or two days, three or four months, a year or
two. This is for the slow ones, that is. For the quick
response is instant...they just let go. Clinging arises
and immediately there is letting go, they force the mind
to let go right then and there.
You must see these two
functions operating. Here there is clinging. Now who is
the one who resists that clinging? Whenever you
experience a mental impression you should observe these
two functions operating. There is clinging, and there is
one who prohibits the clinging. Now just watch these two
things. Maybe you will cling for a long time before you
let go.
Reflecting and
constantly practicing like this, clinging gets lighter,
becomes less and less. Right view increases as wrong
view gradually wanes. Clinging decreases, non-clinging
arises. This is the way it is for everybody. That's why
I say to consider this point. Learn to solve problems in
the present moment.
Notes
1. The pañcavaggiya, or "group of five,"
who followed the Buddha-to-be (Bodhisatta) when he was
cultivating ascetic practices, and who left him when he
renounced them for the Middle Way, shortly after which
the Bodhisatta attained Supreme Enlightenment.
2. Sankhara: conditioned phenomena. The
Thai usage of this term usually refers specifically to
the body, though sankhara also refers to mental
phenomena.
3. Form is impermanent, feeling is impermanent,
perception is impermament, volition is impermanent,
consciousness is impermanent.
4. micchaditthi: Wrong-view.
5. The ten paramita (perfections):
generosity, morality, renunciation, wisdom, effort,
patience, truthfulness, resolution, goodwill and
equanimity.
Copyright © 1992 The
Sangha, Wat Pah Nanachat
Copyright © 1999 Wat
Pah Nanachat