THE WAY TO ULTIMATE CALM
Selected Discourses of Webu Sayādaw
Translated from the Burmese by Roger Bischoff
Contents
Introduction 1
PART ONE: Eight Discourses on Dhamma
I. What Really Matters 7
II. Extinguishing the Fires Within 13
III. Keep Your Mind on the Spot 16
IV. A Roof That Does Not Leak 29
V. The Flight of an Arrow 36
VI. Work Without Wavering! 53
VII. To Light a Fire 69
VIII. A Happiness That Ever Grows 80
PART TWO: Further Discourses of Webu Sayādaw
The Power of Forbearance 95
How Mahā-Kassapa Was Deceived 101 Dhamma-Asokafs Younger Brother 105 Mahosadha and King Videha 107 Donft Destroy Yourselves! 109
Going Home 114 Words of Wisdom 116
The Path to Be Followed in This World 118 Practising a Brief Teaching 120
PART THREE: Webu Sayādaw and Sayagyi U Ba Khin 125 Notes 149
Pāli-English Glossary 155
PART ONE EIGHT DISCOURSES ON DHAMMA
DISCOURSE ONE WHAT REALLY MATTERS
!
Introduction
Webu Sayadaw
Myanmar is one of the few countries in the world where Theravada Buddhism still survives in its original form. The bhikkhus (monks) of Myanmar make every effort to preserve the Theravada Buddhist teachings. Buddha Gotamafs Teachings deal mainly with the way the human mind works and the relationship between the mind and body. The nature of the human mind has not changed since the Buddha discovered the path leading to the understanding of the absolute truth about mind and matter. This ultimate reality and the practice leading to its realization are, and will always remain, the same, regardless of economic or social conditions, so people today who put into practice what the Buddha taught can discover this reality for themselves. If one aspires to the end of suffering as taught by the Buddha, it is essential not to add or subtract anything from his teachings so that they may remain as effective today as they were during the time of the Buddha.
The foundation of the teachings is the Four Noble Truths: (1) the truth that all conditioned phenomena (physical and mental) are unsatisfactory, (2) the truth that there is a cause for this, (3) the truth that there is an end to this unsatisfactoriness or suffering, and (4) the truth that there is a path leading to the end of suffering. The path to the end of suffering is called the Noble Eightfold Path, divided into eight parts grouped under the threefold training of sila (morality), samadhi (control over the mind, concentration), and panna (insight, wisdom).
In Buddhism, morality is conceived differently than in other religious traditions. There are actions that are called skillful because they support an individualfs progress towards Nibbana, and there are unskillful actions that have the contrary effect. All actions based on greed, aversion, and ignorance of the law of kamma are unskillful. The most unskillful actions are: (1) to kill a sentient being, (2) to steal, (3) to have unlawful sexual relations, (4) to speak untruth, and (5) to take intoxicants. Generally, the Buddhist lay person undertakes to abstain from these five courses of action by taking the five precepts.
Once an action has been done, there is no way to avoid its effect, but it can be counteracted to some extent through a powerful action of the opposite type. There is, however, no one, not even the Buddha, who can grant gabsolution from sin,h as effects are determined by the law of kamma, which is applicable to all sentient beings.
Venerable Webu Sayadaw emphasized the practice of meditation as the only way to bring the teachings of the Buddha to fulfillment. The study of the scriptures, though helpful, is not essential for the realization of Nibbana, the supreme goal of Buddhism. Venerable Webu Sayadaw was believed to be an Arahat, i.e., a person who has in practice understood the Four Noble Truths and attained the end of suffering.
The technique of meditation taught by Venerable Webu Sayadaw is one of forty techniques mentioned in the scriptures for the development of samadhi or concentration. It is called anapana-sati and requires that the meditator be aware: (1) that he is breathing in while he is breathing in, (2) that he is breathing out while he is breathing out, and (3) of the spot or area in the region of the nostrils where the stream of air touches while he is breathing in and out. Though anapana-sati is basically a way of developing samatha (tranquility of mind), samadhi (concentration of mind to one-pointedness), and jhana (absorption states), Venerable Webu Sayadaw said that when concentration is developed to a sufficient degree, the meditator automatically gains insight into the three characteristics of nature: anicca (impermanence), dukkha (unsatisfactory nature), and anatta (non-self). If his mind is open to recognize them, anicca means impermanence, instability, or change, and is characteristic of all conditioned phenomena, be they physical or mental. Dukkha denotes the unsatisfactory nature of all these phenomena: nothing that is impermanent or changing can ever give lasting satisfaction. Anatta means non-self, non-soul, and applies to all phenomena conditioned and unconditioned. According to the Buddha, there is no permanent ego, soul, or personal entity, but only interrelated physical and mental phenomena. In Buddhism, the understanding of these three characteristics of anicca, dukkha, and anatta is called panna or wisdom, and panna is the quality that enables a meditator to reach Nibbana.
It is significant that a monk of such high standing as Venerable Webu Sayadaw, rather than teach Abhidhamma philosophy, which is intellectually fascinating and taxing, spent his life teaching the basics of practical Buddhism to all who were inclined to listen. U Hte Hlain, the collector of some of the discourses contained in this book, writes: gVenerable Webu Sayadaw preached sometimes five, sometimes ten times a day. Seven main points were always included in his discourses. If Venerable Webu Sayadaw gave 10,000 discourses in his life, then these points were expounded by him 10,000 times. He always included them, even if he had to repeat them again and again. He always explained the teachings in simple terms so that the ordinary person could understand. He tried to explain the Dhamma in such a way that the most difficult thing became easy.h
The seven points are: (1) One can only expect the fulfillment of onefs aspirations if one is perfect in morality. (2) When practicing generosity (dana) in the religion of the Buddha, the mental attitude and volition involved are very important. (3) Believing in the law of cause and effect (i.e., the law of kamma), one should always act with an upright mind. (4) One should not aspire to any happiness of either the human or celestial worlds, which are impermanent, but only to Nibbana. (5) Because of the arising of the Buddha, we have the opportunity to practice right conduct (carana) and wisdom (panna) fully and therefore benefit greatly. (6) From the moment we are born to the moment we die, there is the in-breath and the out-breath. This is easy for everybody to understand. Every time we breathe in or out, the breath touches near the nostrils. Every time it touches we should be aware of it. (7) While we are walking, working, doing anything, we should always be aware of the in-breath and out-breath.
These seven points illustrate that in practical Buddhism faith does not play such a major role. Paramount importance is given to right action and the experience and understanding drawn from it. As we shall see in the discourses, Venerable Webu Sayadaw wants his audience to realize the teachings through their own experience, for themselves, rather than through hearing them. He says that in this way, as they begin to see the teachings as a reality, people can pass beyond doubt.
Venerable Webu Sayādaw was born on the sixth day of the waxing moon of Tabaung of the year 1257 of the Burmese Era (February 17, 1896) in Ingyinbin, a small village near Shwebo in upper Burma. He was ordained as a novice at the age of nine and was given the name Shin Kumāra. All boys in Buddhist Burma become novices at their local monastery at some time in their teens or even earlier, but usually return home after a predetermined span of time. Shin Kumāra, however, decided to stay at the monastery to receive a religious education. At the age of twenty, he was ordained as a full member of the Saṅgha, the order of Buddhist monks, receiving the Upasampadā ordination, and was thereafter addressed as U Kumāra.
U Kumāra went to Mandalay to study at the famous Masoyein monastery, the leading monastic university of the time. In the seventh year after his full ordination, he abandoned the study of the Pali scriptures and left the monastery to put into practice what he had learned about meditation.
Buddhist monks can choose between two activities: the study of the scriptures (pariyatti), or the practice of meditation (paṭipatti). While scholarly monks tend to live in centres of learning in order to be able to pass on their knowledge to younger monks, meditating monks leave the busy atmosphere of the monasteries to retire to a solitary life in the jungle. They often live in caves or simply under trees and come into contact with people only on the occasion of their morning alms-rounds.
After leaving the Masoyein monastery in Mandalay at the age of twenty- seven, U Kumāra spent four years in solitude. Then he went to his native village of Ingyinbin for a brief visit. His former teacher at the village monastery requested U Kumāra to teach him the technique of meditation he had adopted and U Kumāra did so. gThis is a shortcut to Nibbāna,h he said, ganyone can use it. It stands up to investigation and is in accordance with the teachings of the Buddha as conserved in the scriptures. It is the straight path to Nibbāna.h
There is a set of thirteen ascetic practices called the dhutaṅga that are often taken up by monks living in solitude.3 They are designed to combat laziness and indulgence. One practice is never to lie down, not even to sleep. Monks taking up this practice spend the nights sitting and meditating or walking and meditating to rid themselves of sleepiness. The thirteen dhutaṅga may be taken up individually or together.
Venerable Webu Sayādaw is said to have followed this practice of never lying down all his life. He taught that effort was the key to success, not only in worldly undertakings, but also in meditation, and that sleeping was a waste of time. I was told by one of his disciples that on the occasion of his ordination under Venerable Webu Sayādaw, he had a mosquito net and a pillow, in addition to the monksf requisites. Venerable Webu Sayādaw, pointing at them, asked him what they were. gA pillow and a mosquito net, sir.h gAre these part of the monksf requisites?h4 gNo, sir.h And the newly ordained monk decided to give these gluxuriesh back to his family.
Venerable Webu Sayādaw undertook pilgrimages to the Buddhist sites of India and Sri Lanka. He passed away on June 26, 1977, in the meditation centre at Ingyinbin, his native village.
The Setting
Most of these discourses were given before large audiences during Venerable Webu Sayādawfs travels in lower Burma. The person or persons answering Venerable Webu Sayādaw are lay people sitting up front and close to him.
Some of the discourses are translated from a collection of discourses collected and introduced by U Hte Hlain and published by the Ministry of Religious Affairs of Burma. Others have been transcribed from tape by the translator and then rendered into English.
Because they were delivered extemporaneously, the discourses are repetitive and were edited slightly so that they lend themselves better to reading. Care was taken, however, to edit only obvious repetitions and only when they had merely rhetorical value. The reader may still find the discourses repetitive, but with some patience and gmindfulnessh he will discover in them many insights into practical Buddhism.
Venerable Webu Sayādaw was not a scholar and his discourses are not meant for the intellectual who prefers the study of Buddhist philosophy to the practice. His refreshing simplicity, his patience, his lovely sense of humour, and his humility—all of which are revealed in the dialogues with his audience—illumine a side of Buddhism that cannot be perceived by reading treatises and texts. Moreover, the statements of the people in the audience offer us a glimpse of how Buddhism is practised in Burma today.
PART
ONE@@@@@@@EIGHT DISCOURSES ON DHAMMA
DISCOURSE
ONE@@@@
What
really matters
VEN. WEBU SAYÁDAW: You have taken up moral conduct (sīla). Now that you have undertaken to perfect yourselves in the perfection of morality (sīla-pāramī), fulfil it to the utmost. Only if you fulfil sīla to the utmost will all your aspirations be met. You will be happy now and in the future. Only the teachings of the Buddha can give you real happiness—in the present and in the remainder of saṃsāra.1 The teachings of the Buddha are enshrined in the Three Collections, or the canonical Tipiṭaka.2 The Tipiṭaka is very extensive. If we take the essence out of the Tipiṭaka we shall find the thirty-seven Factors of Awakening (bodhipakkhiyādhammā)? 3 The essence of the thirty-seven Factors of Awakening is the eight constituents of the Noble Eightfold Path (maggaṅgas). The essence of the Noble Eightfold Path is the threefold training (sikkhā): higher morality, higher mindfulness, and higher wisdom (adhisīla, adhicitta, adhipaññā). The essence of the threefold training is the unique Universal Law (eko dhammo).4 If your body and mind are under control, as they are now, there can be no roughness of physical or verbal action. This is adhisīla or perfect morality.
If adhisīla becomes strong, the mind will become peaceful and tranquil and lose its harshness. This is called adhicitta.5
If adhicitta (samādhi) becomes strong and the mind stays one-pointed for a long period, then you will realize that in a split second matter arises and dissolves billions and billions of times. If mind (nāma) knows matter (rūpa), it knows that matter becomes and disintegrates billions and billions of times in the wink of an eye.6 This knowledge of arising and disintegration is called adhipaññā.
Whenever we breathe in or out, the in-coming and the out-going air touches somewhere in or near the nostrils. The sensitive matter (kāya- pasāda) registers the touch of air.7 In this process, the entities touching are matter, and the entity knowing the touch is mind. So do not go around asking others about mind and matter, observe your breathing and you will find out about them for yourselves.
When the air comes in, it will touch. When the air goes out, it will touch. If you know this touch continuously, then wanting (lobha), dislike (dosa), and delusion (moha) do not have the opportunity to arise, and the fires of greed, anger, and delusion will subside.
You cannot know the touch of air before it actually occurs. After it has gone, you cannot know it any more. Only while the air moves in or out can you feel the sensation of touch. This we call the present moment.
While we feel the touch of air, we know that there are only mind and matter. We know for ourselves that there is no gI,h no other person, no man and woman, and we realize for ourselves that what the Buddha said is indeed true. We neednft ask others. While we know in-breath and out- breath, there is no I or attā.8
When we know this, our view is pure; it is right view. We know in that moment that there is nothing but nāma and rūpa, mind and matter. We also know that mind and matter are two different entities. If we thus know how to distinguish between nāma and rūpa, we have attained the ability to distinguish between mind and matter (nāma-rūpa-pariccheda-ñāṇa).
If we know the touch of air as and when it occurs, our mind is pure and we get the benefits thereof. Do not think that the benefits you get thus, even in a split second, are few. Do not think that those who meditate do not get any advantages from their practice. Now that you are born in a happy plane and encounter the teachings of a Buddha, you can obtain great benefits. Do not worry about eating and drinking, but make all the effort you can.
SAYÁDAW: Is this present time not auspicious?
DISCIPLE: Yes sir, it is.
S: Yes, indeed! Canft those good people attain their aspiration to Nibbāna who, with an open mind, receive and practise the teachings of the Buddha, just like the noble people of the past who received the instructions from the Buddha himself?
D: Yes sir, they can.
S: So, how long does the Buddhafs Sāsana (teaching) last? 9
D: For five thousand years, sir.
S: And now tell me, how many of these five thousand years have passed? D: Sir, about half this time span has gone.
S: So, how much remains still?
D: About two thousand five hundred years, sir. S: What is the life span of a human being now?10 D: About one hundred years, sir.
S: How old are you?
D: I am thirty-seven years old, sir.
S: So, how much longer do you have to live? D: Sixty-three years, sir.
S: But can you be sure that you will live that long? D: That I donft know, sir.
S: You donft know yourself how long you are going to live? D: No, sir, it isnft possible to know this for sure.
S: But even as we are born we can be sure to have to suffer old age, disease, and death.
D: Yes, sir.
S: Can we request old age, pain, and death to desist for some time, to go away for some time?
D: No, sir.
S: No, they never rest. Can we ask them to stop their work? D: No, sir, we cannot.
S: In that case we can be certain that we have to die? D: Yes, sir, it is certain that we all have to die.
S: It is certain that all have to die. What about living? D: We canft be sure how long we have left to live, sir.
S: Someone whose life span is thirty years dies when the thirty years are up. If your life span is forty or fifty years, you will die when you are forty or fifty years old. Once someone is dead, can we get him back?
D: No, sir, we canft.
S: However many years of your life have passed, they have passed.
What is it that you have not accomplished yet?
D: The happiness of the Paths and Fruition States, Nibbāna.
S: Yes, inasmuch as you havenft attained the Paths and Fruition States yet, you have been defeated. Have you used the years that have passed well or have you wasted your time?
D: I have wasted my time, sir.
S: Then do not waste the time that you have got left. This time is there for you to strive steadfastly with energy. You can be sure that you will die, but you canft be sure how much longer you have got to live. Some live very long. Venerable Mahā-Kassapa and Venerable Mahā-Kaccāyana lived to over one hundred years of age. Some live for eighty years. To be able to live that long we have to be full of respect for those who deserve respect, and we have to be very humble. Do you pay respects to your father and mother?
D: We do, sir.
S: Do you pay respects to people who are older than you or of a higher standing than you?
D: We do pay respects to people who are older than us or are holding a higher position than we do. Even if someone is just one day older or even just half a day older, we pay respects, sir.
S: When do you pay respects to them?
D: At night, before we go to bed, we pay respects to the Buddha, and at that time we also pay respects to our seniors.
S: What about other times?
D: At other times we do not pay respects, sir.
S: You say that you pay respects to your seniors after you have paid respects to the Buddha. But do you show respect to those who live with you and to those who are of the same age? If I were to put parcels of money worth $1000 each along the road for anyone to take, would you fellows take one?
D: Of course we would, sir.
S: And if you found a second one, would you take that too? D: Of course we would, sir.
S: And if you found a third bundle of bank notes, would you take that as well?
D: We would take it, of course, sir.
S: After having got one, wouldnft you want someone else to have one? D: We wouldnft think that way, sir.
S: If you happened to be with a friend, would you let him find one bundle of notes thinking, gI shall pretend not to see that one. After all, I have one alreadyh? Would you let him have one or would you grab them all and run for it?
D: I would grab all I could get and run for it, sir.
S: Yes, yes, you fellows are not very pleasant. When it comes to money, you are unable to give to anyone. But then you say that you are respectful and humble just because you pay respects to the Buddha in the evenings. If you cherish thoughts such as, gWhy is he better off than I am? Is his understanding greater than mine?,h then your mind is still full of pride. If you pay respects to your parents and teachers, to those older, wiser, or of higher standing, without pride, then you will live to more than one hundred years. If you show respect to such people, will you get only $1000? Will you get only money?
D: It will be more than just money.
S: Yes, indeed! And though you know what really matters, you wouldnft even give $1000 to someone else, but would rather run and get it for yourselves. When the Buddha, out of compassion, taught the Dhamma, did everybody understand it?
D: No, sir, not everyone understood it.
S: Why is this so?
D: Some didnft listen to the Buddha, sir.
S: Only if you take the teachings of the Buddha for yourselves can you attain sammā-sam-bodhi (Buddhahood), pacceka-bodhi (Pacceka- Buddhahood), agga-sāvaka-bodhi (chief-discipleship), mahā-sāvaka-bodhi (leading-discipleship), pakati-sāvaka-bodhi (Arahatship). If you want to attain one of these forms of awakening, you can. Through the teachings of the Buddha you can attain happiness now, a happiness that will stay with you also in the future.
How long does it take for a paddy seed to sprout? D: Only overnight, sir.
S: It takes only a day for it to sprout. Now, if you keep the seed, a good quality seed of course, after sprouting and do not plant it, will it grow?
D: No, sir, it wonft.
S: Even though you have a good quality seed, if you do not plant it, it will not grow. It is just the same with the teachings of the Buddha; only if you accept them will you understand them. If you learn how to live with the awareness of mind and matter arising, what do you achieve ?
D: This awareness is called vijjā sir.
S: If one lives without the teachings of the Buddha, what do you call that? D: That is avijjā, sir, ignorance.
S: If you live all your life with vijjā, understanding of the Buddha- Dhamma, then where will you go after death?
D: To some good existence, sir.
S: What will happen after a life full of ignorance? D: One will go to the lower realms, sir.
S: Now, say an old man about seventy years old is paying respects to the Buddha. While doing so, he cannot keep his mind focused on the Dhamma, but he allows it to wander here and there. If this old man dies at that moment, where will he be reborn?
D: He will go to the lower worlds, sir.
S: Really? Think carefully before you answer. He is paying respects to the Buddha, and he is meditating. So, where will he go if he dies at that moment?
D: He will go to the lower worlds, sir. S: But why?
D: Because his mind is wandering all over, sir.
S: Yes. What are the qualities arising in the mind of a person living in ignorance?
D: They are greed (lobha), aversion (dosa), and delusion (moha).11 S: What is lobha?
D: Lobha is to want something, sir.
S: Lobha includes any liking, being attracted by something, wanting. One who dies with any liking or wanting in his mind is said to be reborn as a ghost.
But what is dosa?
D: Dosa is enmity, sir.
S: Yes, dosa is the cause for your fighting. Dosa arises because you do not get what you want and what you get you donft want. Dislike is dosa. If you die with dislike in your mind, you are reborn in hell. Moha is ignorance about benefits derived from being charitable, being moral and practising meditation. If you die with delusion in your mind, you will be reborn as an animal. Nobody, no god, no deva or brahmā has created body and mind. They are subject to the law of nature, to arising and dissolution, just as the Buddha taught. If a person dies concentrating on the awareness of mind and matter and knowing about arising and dissolution of these, then, according to the teaching of the Buddha, he will be reborn as a man, deva, or brahmā. If someone is going where he wants to go, does he need to ask others for the way?
D: No, sir.
S: Does one have to ask others, gDo I live with knowledge or in ignoranceh? D: No, sir.
S: No. Indeed not. Therefore, work hard to bring the perfections (pāramī) you have accumulated in the whole of saṃsāra to fruition. Be steadfast in your effort.
Act as the wise people of the past did after receiving the teachings directly from the Buddha; they worked for Nibbāna. Knowing that you too have been born in a favourable plane of existence, nothing can stop you from working up to the attainment of the eight stages of Nibbāna.
Practise with strong effort and with steadfastness, and make sure that not even a little time is wasted. Advise and urge others to practise too. Strive with happiness in your heart and when you are successful, be truly happy.
DISCOURSE
TWO
Extinguishing
the Fires Within
WEBU SAYÁDAW: There are duties towards the pagoda compound (cetiyaṅgaṇa)12 and the Bodhi tree compound (bodhiyaṅgaṇa),13 towards onefs teachers, parents, wife, and children. If we fulfil these duties, we practise good conduct (caraṇa), and this is virtue (sīla).
While we are fulfilling our duties, is it not possible to practise mindfulness of breathing too? If we do not fulfil these duties, can we say that our sīla is complete? If our sīla is not perfect, can we expect to experience the happiness we aspire for? If we are not happy, if we canft get good concentration, and if our mind is not concentrated, we canft attain insight wisdom (paññā).
[Ven. Webu Sayādaw assembled the monks in the ordination hall to recite the 227 monksf rules (the Pātimokkha) and to attend to other matters of the community. At the completion of this meeting, he used to give a discourse to the lay people present.]
SAYÁDAW: Today is the Uposatha day.14 At dawn you all got up with the thought, gToday is the Uposatha day,h and you undertook to keep the eight precepts. Have you been mindful continuously since then?
DISCIPLE: No, sir, we havenft.
S: How much of this time have you spent being aware of in-breath and out-breath?
D: At times we are aware, at times we are not, sir.
S: How long did your mind stay with the object and how much time did you lose?
D: (No reply.)
S: As you remain silent, I assume that you have been able to keep up your awareness all the time.
D: No, sir, we havenft.
S: In that case I have to ask you some more questions. How many times does your mind dissolve in a flash of lightning?
D: Billions and billions of times, sir.
S: So it arises and disintegrates billions of times. Every time the mind arises it takes some object, pleasant or unpleasant, liked or disliked. Is there a time when this constant, continuous stream of mental objects is cut or interrupted?
D: No, sir, the mind always takes an object.
S: Yes, and these good and bad friends arise in your mind due to the skilful and unskilful deeds or kamma you have done in the past. Now, if a pleasant object, which we call a good friend, enters the stream of consciousness, what happens?
D: Liking or lobha arises, sir.
S: If liking arises, is this good or bad? D: It is bad (akusala), sir.
S: But if a bad friend, an unpleasant mind-object arises, what happens then? D: Dislike or dosa arises, sir.
S: If we allow dislike to arise, are we skilful or unskilful? Is this action
kusala or akusala?
D: It is unskilful, sir.
S: So, if we accept the agreeable mind-objects, liking, craving, wanting, and lust arise, and we are creating unskilful acts which lead to the four lower planes of existence. But if unpleasant thoughts or images arise and we take possession of them, then worry, grief, suffering, anger, and aversion arise, and these mental states lead to the lower planes too. Now, when is the time at which no pleasant or unpleasant thought or image or sound or sight or taste or touch arises?
D: There is no such time, sir. The mind always takes an object.
S: And all these objects arising in our minds are the results of the deeds we have done in the past, in saṃsāra. If an object is pleasant or unpleasant, when it arises what do you normally do?
D: We react unskilfully and create akusala-kamma for ourselves, sir.
S: If a pleasant object arises in the mind, liking, craving, wanting arise. This craving, this lobha, what is it like? Is it not like a fire? Lobha is like a fire. What about dosa, disliking, aversion, and hatred?
D: Dosa is also like a fire, sir.
S: So, whatever arises, we have to suffer the burning of fire, donft we? D: Yes, sir.
S: But, of course, if lobha and dosa have to arise, let them arise. If we are practising the teachings of the Buddha, can they affect us? While we are practising Ánānapāna meditation, lobha and dosa donft get an opportunity to possess our minds.
The teachings of the Buddha resemble the great lake Anottata.15 If the fires of lobha or dosa or any other fires fall into this lake, they are extinguished, and we donft have to suffer their scorching heat any longer. Only if we know each arising of the mind in the billions of times it arises in a split second, can we justly say that we have achieved adhipaññā, real wisdom and insight.
Mind and body arise billions of times in the wink of an eye, and with it your good and bad friends. If you are not watchful, these good and bad deeds of yours will again be accumulated in you billions of times. Now, who is responsible for the pleasant and unpleasant sensations that continuously arise in your body?
D: We ourselves are responsible for them, sir.
S: The debts you have accumulated in the incalculably long period of saṃsāra are with you. If you donft apply the Buddhafs teachings and practise them, you will accumulate the same debts again and again, billions of times in every split second. Are you able to count these debts?
D: No, sir, they are incalculable.
S: Therefore, you should apply this practice the Buddha taught. If you donft accept what arises and disintegrates of its own accord, then your accumulated debts will diminish and no new debts will accumulate. If you realize this arising and vanishing for yourselves, then you donft make new debts and you get rid of the old ones. Thus you attain to real wisdom.
This technique of being aware of in-breath and out-breath can be practised anywhere. You can practise it while you are alone or in company, while you are sitting, walking, standing, or lying down. Wherever you are, you can practise it. Now, do you have to spend money in order to practise Ánāpāna?
D: No, sir.
S: Do you have to take time off work to practise? D: No, sir.
S: In that case, what is so difficult about it? Will this practice make you feel tired?
D: No, sir.
S: If you make great profits with your business and people ask you, gHow much gold, how much silver have you got?h, will you tell them?
D: No, sir.
S: And why not?
D: One shouldnft tell others such things, sir.
S: Now, which jewel is more precious, gold and silver, or the Dhamma? D: The Dhamma is more precious, sir.
S: Then donft talk to others about your achievements. What is the time now? D: Seven P.M., sir.
S: How much time have you got left until sunrise? D: About ten hours, sir.
S: Do you think that you can practise meditation for that long without a break? Work hard to rid yourselves of your debts. The efforts of the past and meritorious deeds performed in the past are giving their good results.
DISCOURSE THREE
Keep
Your Mind on the Spot
WEBU SAYÁDAW: You have undertaken to keep sīla. Having taken up the training in sīla, practise it to the utmost. Only if you really practise morality will the aspirations you treasure in your heart be fulfilled completey.
Once you are established in moral conduct, the skilful actions you undertake will result in the fulfilment of your noble aspirations. You believe in the benefits accruing to you from giving charity, and you respect the receiver of your gift. So, straighten your mind and give to the Dhamma which has no peer. Prepare your donations yourselves and prepare them well, without employing others for the purpose.
Giving your gift, you ought to aspire to awakening by saying: gI desire to attain Nibbānah (idaṃ me puññaṃ nibbānassa paccayo hotu). The noble ones who attained Nibbāna according to their aspirations are so numerous that they cannot be counted.
The reality one realizes and knows for oneself after penetrating the Four Noble Truths is called bodhi. There are different types of bodhi: sammā- sam-bodhi (the supreme self-awakening of a teaching Buddha), pacceka- bodhi (the self-awakening of a non-teaching Buddha), and sāvaka-bodhi (the awakening of a disciple of a teaching Buddha). The sāvaka-bodhi is divided into three levels: agga-sāvaka-bodhi (attained by the two chief- disciples), mahā-sāvaka-bodhi (attained by the eighty leading disciples) and pakati-sāvaka-bodhi (attained by all other Arahats). All of us have to aspire to Nibbāna, the highest blessing. Why can you bring your aspirations to Nibbāna to fulfilment now? Because the time is right, your form of existence16 is right, and because of the fact that all virtuous people who put forth effort can fulfil their aspirations.
The right time is the time when a Buddha arises and the time during
which his teachings are available. All those who are born in the human plane or in a celestial plane are said to have the right birth. Now you have to fulfil your aspirations through your own effort.
See to it that you bring your work to a conclusion in the way so many before you have done. Once they reached their goal they were truly happy not only for a short time, or for one lifetime, but for all the remaining lives.17 Now that you do have this aspiration for Nibbāna, do not think that you canft attain to such happiness or that you canft fulfil such a high aspiration.
Establish energy and effort sufficiently strong for you to reach the goal. If you do so, you will beyond all doubt realize your aspiration at the right time.
What will you know once you have done the work that has to be done? At the time of the Buddha, people, devas, and brahmās went to him to pay their respects. But no human being, deva, or brahmā was satisfied just by being in the presence of the Buddha and by paying homage to him. So, the Buddha out of compassion wanted to teach them what he had discovered and understood for himself. This communicating of his knowledge we call preaching. When the Buddha preached, in one split second many people, devas, and brahmās attained what they had been aspiring to.
Knowing that this is the right time and the right form of existence, we should establish awareness as the wise people did before us and thus we can experience the fulfilment of our aspirations.
What are the teachings of the Buddha? The monks and the wise people have passed on the teachings of the Buddha to you out of great compassion. Every time you were instructed, you understood some of it, according to your capability to understand. You know that the teachings are enshrined in the Tipiṭaka, the Three Baskets. You know: gThis is from the Sutta- piṭaka. This is from the Vinaya-piṭaka. This is from the Abhidhamma- piṭaka.h All of you know a lot about the teachings.
The holy scriptures are very extensive. Even though the wise read, study, and teach these scriptures without interruption, they are too extensive for one person to study and understand them completely. It is impossible for one person to master the whole of the scriptures because these contain all the teachings of the Buddha. They are complete, wanting in nothing. They represent what the Buddha has penetrated and understood for himself. The teachings contained in the Tipiṭaka are the only way of escape from suffering, and the monks, having understood this for themselves, out of compassion point this out to you again and again. But can the wise people expound all of the sacred scriptures to you, so that not a single aspect is left out?
DISCIPLE: No, sir, this is impossible.
SAYÁDAW: How long would it take to expound all the teachings of the noble ones? How many days would you have to sit and talk in order to cover all the teachings of the noble ones that are remembered?
The purpose of all these teachings is to show the path to the end of suffering. You know quite enough of the teachings of the Buddha. In all these manifold aspects of the teachings you have to take up one and study it with perseverance. If you focus your mind on one single object, as the wise of old did, does it not stay with that object?
D: It does, sir.
S: So, select one instruction for meditation out of the many different ones the Buddha gave, and work with it, being aware always. Work with as much effort and determination as the disciples of the Buddha did in the past. If you focus your mind on one object, it will give up its habit of wandering off to objects it desires. When you are thus capable of keeping your mind on one single object, can there still be greed which is the cause of unhappiness?
D: When the mind is stable, there is no greed, sir. S: Is there aversion?
D: No, sir.
S: Can there be delusion? D: No, sir.
S: If there is no liking, disliking, and delusion, can there be fear, worry, and agitation?
D: No, sir.
S: If there is no fear, worry, and agitation, will you be happy or unhappy? D: There will be happiness, sir.
S: If you choose an object of meditation given by the Buddha and practise with strong effort, will the viriya-iddhipāda factor18 hesitate to arise in you?
D: It will not fail to come, sir.
S: As soon as you establish yourselves in effort, the viriya-iddhipāda factor will arise. But we are good at talking about the teachings. Let us instead put forth effort right away. The viriya-iddhipāda factor will arise immediately. This is called akāliko, the immediate result that arises here and now. It doesnft arise because we think or know about it, but only because of practice. So then, focus your entire attention at the spot below the nose above the upper lip. Feel your in-breath and your out-breath, and feel how it touches at the spot below the nose and above the upper lip.
I think you had your mindfs attention focused on the spot even before I finished giving the instructions?
D: I donft think all were able to do that, sir. S: Well, all understood what I said.
D: Some donft know yet how they have to practise, sir.
S: Oh my dear c you all have learned so much in the past. The monks taught you with great compassion time and time again, and you have grasped their instructions intelligently. When I told you to concentrate on the spot with strong determination and not to let your mind wander, you said it did stay with the breath, didnft you?
D: Those who had focused their mind on the spot answered, gIt does stay, sir,h but there are young people in the audience who have never heard the Dhamma before.
S: Did I say anything you havenft heard before? All of you are great lay disciples and have come so many times. All of you are capable of preaching the Dhamma yourselves.
D: Not all are, sir. Some donft know anything yet. S: Can you others accept what he just told me?
D: Sir, Ifm not talking about those people over there, Ifm talking about some people not known to me.
S: In what I tell you there is nothing I have found out myself. I am
only repeating to you what the Buddha preached. What the Buddha taught is
.without exception perfect, complete. What I preach is not complete. What
the Buddha preached includes everything. His teachings are wanting in nothing, but what I am able to convey may be lacking in many aspects. Would I be able to give you all the teachings in their completeness?
D: No, sir, you canft tell us everything.
S: Well, all of you understand what the Suttas are, what the Vinaya is, and what the Abhidhamma is. Because your teachers have instructed you out of great compassion, you also understand the short and the more extensive explanation of samatha19 and vipassanā. But whether you know all this or not, all of you breathe, big and small, men and women. One may know all about the Pāḷi scriptures, but nothing about his own breath. Donft all of you breathe in and out?
D: We do breathe, sir.
S: When do you start breathing in and out? D: When we are born, sir.
S: Do you breathe when you sit? D: Yes, sir.
S: Do you breathe in and out when you stand upright? D: Yes, sir.
S: When you are walking?
D: We breathe in and out then too, sir.
S: Do you breathe when you are eating, drinking, and working to make a living?
D: Yes, sir.
S: Do you breathe when you go to sleep? D: Yes, sir.
S: Are there times when you are so busy that you have to say, gSorry, I have no time to breathe now, Ifm too busyh?
D: There isnft anybody who can live without breathing, sir.
S: In that case all of you can afford to breathe in and out. If you pay close attention, can you feel where the breath touches when you breathe? Can you feel where the air touches when it comes out of the nostrils?
D: I can feel where it touches, sir.
S: And when the the air enters, canft you feel at which point this feeble stream of air touches?
D: I can, sir.
S: Now, try to find out for yourselves at which spot the air touches gently when it goes in and when it comes out. Where does it touch?
D: It touches at a small spot at the entrance of the nostrils when it enters, sir.
S: Does the air also touch there when it comes out?
D: Yes, sir, it touches at the same spot when it comes out.
S: Wise people of the past have practised this awareness of the breath as the Buddha instructed them, and because they passed on the teachings, you too have understood now.
If you were to put your finger on the small spot under the nose, could you then feel that spot?
D: Yes, sir, I can feel it.
S: You can actually feel it when you touch it. Do you still have to talk about it?
D: No, sir, we can feel it even without talking about it.
S: As you can feel the spot when you touch it with your finger, you can also feel it when the breath touches there when it enters and leaves the nostrils. If you can feel it for yourselves, do you still have to talk about it?
D: No, sir, we donft have to.
S: If you put your finger on the spot, do you feel the touch sensation with interruptions or continuously?
D: It is a continuous touch, sir.
S: Is the stream of air entering or leaving ever interrupted? D: No, sir.
S: As the air streams in and out we know its continuous flow and the continuous touch resulting from it. Donft follow the air to that side.
D: What do you mean by that, sir?
S: Donft let go of the sensation produced by the breath touching the skin. Remain with the awareness of touch. Donft follow the stream of air inside or outside. And why? If you do that, you wonft be able to feel the touch sensation. So, letfs stay with the awareness of the spot without a break.
D: Do we have to be aware of the touch of air in both nostrils or just in one? S: Feel only one. If you try to feel two places your attention will be split.
Put your undivided attention on one spot. Does your mind stay at the spot?
D: Most of the time it does, sir. S: But not all the time?
D: Most of the time it stays, but at times the sound of coughing interrupts the continuity.
S: Is it your own coughing or is it someone elsefs?
D: Itfs someone else coughing, sir.
S: Does this disturb you because you put in too little effort or too much effort? Is the person who coughs to be blamed?
D: Well, sir, to be honest, I get a little bit angry.
S: Letfs have a look at this. You have come to the Buddha to escape from suffering. Having received his teachings you begin to practise. Then someone coughs and you are upset. But of course, if you meditate, as you are doing now, people will consider you to be a good person and they will praise you. But tell me, if this good person becomes angry just before he dies, where will he be reborn?
D: He will fall into the four lower planes.
S: Yes, you should not allow this to happen. You shouldnft be impatient and short tempered. You are practising in order to escape from suffering. Hearing this coughing you should be very happy. You should say gthank you.h After all, the person who is coughing shows you that your effort isnft firm enough. If you want to escape from suffering, you have to do better than this. With this type of effort, you wonft make it.
We should immediately put in more effort. If we work with more determination, will we still hear this coughing?
D: No, sir, not with good effort.
S: And if there are many people, all talking loudly, will we still hear them? D: If our effort is not of the right type, we will, sir.
S: Should we become angry at them if we hear them? D: Most times I do get angry, sir.
S: You should not allow this to happen. You should not be short tempered. You should think of the people who disturb you as being your friends: gThey are concerned with my welfare, I should thank them. I donft want everyone to know that my effort is so weak. I will meditate and improve myself and if they begin to talk still louder, I have to put in even more effort.h If we improve ourselves until we are equal in effort to the wise who have practised before us, we will attain the goal to which we aspired.
If you donft hear any sounds at all, you become filled with pride, thinking that your effort is perfect. That is why we should be very happy if someone disturbs us. If we go to another place, there may be disturbances again. If we change from one place to another, we just lose time. But if we establish our mindfulness firmly, do we still have to change place or complain to others?
D: No, sir.
S: Is it not proper to say gthank youh to those who disturb us? They help us to learn how to overcome our wishes and desires, and we have to thank all who are our friends. If our effort becomes as strong as that of our teachers, we will not hear anything any more. We will be aware of one thing only: this small spot and the touch sensation. Once we have gained good awareness of this, we will apply our attention fully to this awareness. If we attain to the happiness to which we aspire through this practice,
are the contents of the Tipiṭaka, the ten pāramīs, the three
fold training, the aggregates, the sense bases, and the relative and ultimate truths not all contained in this awareness?
D: Yes, sir, the awareness of this touch sensation contains everything that the Buddha taught.
. S: You have been talking about the three Piṭaka, about the Four Noble
Truths, about mind and matter, and other technical terms. But do you actually know how to distinguish between mind and matter? Is the small spot under your nose mind or matter?
D: It is matter, sir.
S: And what is the awareness of the spot? D: That is mind, sir.
S: And if you are as clearly aware of this spot under your nose as when you touch it with your finger?
D: Then we are aware of mind and matter, sir.
S: Is it good or bad to be aware of mind and matter simultaneously? D: It is good, sir.
S: Is this called understanding or ignorance? D: It is understanding, sir.
S: And what if we donft have this awareness? D: Then we live in ignorance, sir.
S: Which is more powerful, knowledge or ignorance? D: Knowledge has more power, sir.
S: Yes, it is understanding that has power. The whole of the cycle of birth and death is full of ignorance, but now that you have received the teachings of the Buddha, be aware. Skilful people gain awareness because they are able to accept the teachings of the Buddha and direct their attention here only. As they gain awareness, knowledge comes to them. When you are aware in this way, what happens to ignorance?
D: It is cut off and disappears, sir.
S: Where can we find it, if we look out for it? D: It is gone, sir.
S: Though ignorance has had so much power over you in the past of saṃsāra, when you receive the teachings of the Buddha and achieve understanding, you donft even know where your ignorance has gone. So, really, understanding has much more power than ignorance, and still you complain that ignorance has such a strong hold over your minds.
D: But, sir, we have been associated with ignorance for so long that we are reluctant to let go of it.
S: Still, if you apply the teachings of the Buddha, ignorance will disappear. Which of the two is more agreeable to you?
D: For us, sir, ignorance is more agreeable.
S: Would you like to sustain a state of understanding? D: Yes, sir, but we canft let go of ignorance.
S: Does ignorance force its way into your mind? D: We call it into our minds by force, sir.
S: All of you have had an education, and you know many things about the teachings of the Buddha, and you can talk about them, and you practise them. You meditate and keep up your awareness all the time. But tell me, what preparations do you have to make in order to meditate?
D: We have to take a cushion and a mat to lie down, sir.
S: If you have all these things, will your meditation be good as a matter of course?
D: We have to stay away from other people too, sir. S: What happens if you are negligent?
D: We fall asleep, sir.
S: You are disciples of the Buddha. You know that ignorance is your enemy. And though you know that, you start meditating only after preparing a bed for yourself. After meditating for some time you will become bored, and sloth and torpor will creep in. What will you do then?
D: We will endure them.
S: And if sloth and sleepiness are very strong, will you still resist? D: No, sir, we will say to them, gNow only you come!h
S: Yes, thatfs just like you! gNow only do you come! I have had the bed ready for a long time.h Thatfs what you are going to think, arenft you?
D: Yes, sir.
S: When will you wake up again after going to sleep?
D: We will get up when it is day and time for breakfast, sir.
S: If you go on speaking in this way, this will have the effect that the dangers of ignorance will never be overcome. You donft praise understanding and wisdom, but ignorance. If you work like this, will you ever obtain the happiness to which you have aspired?
D: No, sir.
S: Will you just pretend to work then?
D: If we just pretend, we wonft get anywhere, sir.
S: So, if you canft achieve your goal, what will you do?
D: I think we will have to continue with this practice until we reach the goal, sir.
S: Good. Yes, you know the difference between understanding and ignorance. Knowing what to do to achieve understanding, focus your attention on the spot and then keep it there. If you live with this awareness, do you still have to fear and be worried about the moment of death?
D: No, sir.
S: Tell me, what happens if you die without this awareness? D: I will be reborn in one of the four lower planes.
S: Do you want this to happen? D: No, sir.
S: Do you really not want to go, or are you telling me a lie?
D: You are right, sir, I have fallen into telling lies. I am walking on the path that leads straight to the lower worlds. I am speaking only empty words when I say that I donft want to go to hell and am still staying on the broad highway leading downwards.
S: Very good. You have understood. If you know for yourself whether you have got some understanding or not, then you are on the right path. If you know when you donft understand, you have understood. But if you think you have understood though you havenft understood a thing, then there is not the slightest hope for you to acquire any understanding.
You see, he knows that he is lazy when he is lazy; he knows that he is useless when he is useless. If you can see yourself in the correct light, then you will achieve understanding, because you are able to correct yourselves.
gI donft want to go to the lower worlds. Well, with all the meditation Ifm doing Ifll be alright. After all it doesnft take that much.h Do you still think in this way, assuming that you neednft work much anymore, when really you do?
D: No, sir, I donft take what is wrong to be right and what is right to be wrong.
S: If you firmly fix your attention on the spot and are aware of mind and matter, you practise understanding. If you have no awareness, you are living in ignorance. If you die with your mind steeped in ignorance, you will go down, even if you are observing the Uposatha precepts.20 Tell me, where would you be reborn if you happened to be at a pagoda or under a Bodhi tree when you die?
D: Wherever I am, if I canft concentrate my mind when I die, I will go down, sir.
S: What about monks? Suppose I think, gHa, my stock of merit is quite great, much greater than the merit of those lay people,h and then I wander about here and there with a smile on my face. If I were to die, where would I be reborn?
D: We donft dare to say anything about monks, sir.
S: You neednft say anything about monks, just take me as an example.
D: Sir, we would dare even less say anything about you.
S: Ifm assuming that my mind wouldnft stay with any object and I had to die, what would happen, my disciple?
D: Sir, I donft think there is a time when you are not aware of this spot. S: But if I were to die without this awareness?
D: If it were me, I would fall into the lower planes.
S: Whoever it is, if there is no awareness at the moment of death, the result will be rebirth in hell. Therefore, establish your mindfulness so that you never forget this small spot. If I were to wish to be reborn in hell after having reached complete understanding due to this awareness, would there be a possibility of my going to hell?
D: Such a wish couldnft come true, sir.
S: If we donft understand what should be understood, and then start praying for Nibbāna, will we get it?
D: No, sir. However long we pray for Nibbāna, we will go down.
S: Ignorance leads to the four lower worlds. But if you take up this training of awareness of in-breath and out-breath, you will gradually develop towards the attainment of Nibbāna to which you have aspired. So, place your attention at this small spot steadfastly so that it doesnft budge.
Isnft it possible for you to fix your mind on this small spot while you are sitting in front of me?
D: It is, sir.
S: Can it be done while standing and walking? D: Yes, sir.
S: Can you practise while eating, drinking, or working? D: It is possible, sir.
S: Can you practise ānāpānasati when you are alone? D: Yes, sir.
S: Or when you are in a crowd?
D: Even then it is possible to keep up the awareness, sir.
S: Do you get tired if you keep your attention at the spot all the time? D: No, sir, it is not tiresome.
S: Does it cost you anything?
D: No, sir, it doesnft cost anything.
S: Is your work interrupted or disturbed? D: No, sir, it isnft.
S: Are you more efficient in your work if you let your mind wander here and there or if you keep your attention focused on the spot?
D: It takes the same amount of time, sir.
S: Who is more efficient, the one with a wandering mind or the one who keeps his mind under control?
D: The one who keeps his attention at the spot does his job, and at the same time he is working for the attainment of Nibbāna.
S: One may earn one hundred thousand, but the one who works and practises awareness at the same time earns twice as much. From now on you will earn two hundred thousand. But, tell me, when we make our mind firm and tranquil, will our reward be only this much?
D: No, sir, when the mind is clear it becomes stable, firm, and strong.
S: The housewives here are surely all experienced in cooking. You have to cook at times though you are very tired.
D: Yes, sir, at times we just stare into the fire and nod from fatigue.
Then the rice is burned sometimes, sir.
S: Why does this happen?
D: Because our mind is not on the job, sir. Just yesterday I was thinking of some scene I had seen in a show and I burned the rice, sir. If my mind didnft wander, I would be able to do my work more quickly, and I wouldnft burn the food.
S: What happens if you eat rice that isnft properly cooked? D: Some people get an upset stomach, sir.
S: If you cook in a haphazard manner, you are slow, you get tired easily, and the food isnft good. The fire burns down, and you have to kindle it anew. The water for the rice cools down, and you have to bring it to a boil again. Nothing is improved by not being attentive. When we improve our awareness, so many other things improve. I am only telling you what the Buddha taught, but of course I canft tell you all he taught. There are many more advantages resulting from this practice. The Buddhafs teachings are complete and without a flaw. It is impossible to teach every aspect of the Dhamma. But if you keep your attention focused on the spot and are aware from moment to moment, then you will reach your goal. The Buddha did teach this, and the wise people of old did reach their goal by this practice, and yet there are many things the Buddha realized that are not contained in this. But you can reach your goal if you keep knowing in- breath and out-breath at the spot. You will become really happy.
I am talking only about this little spot. You know all the theories about
meditation for tranquillity (samatha) and insight meditation (vipassanā) and how they come about. Yes, there is samatha and there is vipassanā, but the Buddha did say that you have to establish yourselves well in one practice:
If you practise one, you accomplish one. If you practise one, you accomplish two. If you practise one, you accomplish three.
But these are mere words. We have to practise with effort equal to the effort of the wise people of old.
When we teach the Dhamma we have to distinguish between Sutta, Abhidhamma, and Vinaya according to the established order, but only after having practised meditation to the same extent and with the same effort as the noble disciples of the Buddha will you really be able to explain the teachings.
Though I have explained the technique to you in the proper way, some of you may remain closed to it and without understanding. If I ask you about the house in which you are living, you will describe it to me accurately. If I were to think and ponder about your house, would I be able to visualize how it really is?
D: No, sir.
S: If I were to think and ponder all day and all night without even sleeping, would I find out about your house?
D: No, sir.
S: Tell me then, how can I find out for myself what your house looks like?
D: If you come to my house yourself, you will immediately know all about it even if no one says a word to you.
S: So, you too should proceed in such a way that you reach your goal. When you get there you will know, gAh, this is it.h Will you continue to put off practising? No, of course not. You can attain the Dhamma here and now. Understanding all this, practise, make effort. You told me just now that meditation doesnft tire you. You said that it didnft cost anything, it didnft disrupt your work, and that you were able to practise it while alone and while you are with your family. Can you still find excuses for not practising, or are you going to continue living in the same way as you have been,
without even trying to find excuses?
D: Most of the time we just carry on as usual, sir.
S: Those who take up this practice will receive the answers to their questions. So, keep your mind focused and your cooking will be done quickly; the rice is not going to be burned, and no wood is wasted. Your whole life will improve, and the time will simply fly.
There is right conduct, and there is understanding. Both are important. Right conduct is the fulfilment of your manifold duties and your giving of the four requisites for the support and furthering of the Buddhafs teaching. The control over your mind gives you understanding.
There are these two elements of training, and you have to train yourselves in both simultaneously. Is it not possible to be aware of the breath while you are preparing and giving the four requisites to the community of monks?
D: It is possible, sir.
S: Under which of the two disciplines does sweeping fall? D: Sweeping is part of right conduct.
S: Canft you keep your attention at the spot while you are sweeping? D: We can, sir.
S: Under which of the two trainings does serving your parents fall, to whom you are deeply indebted for the love, compassion, and support they
ve given you?
D: That is right conduct, sir.
S: What do you accomplish if you keep your attention focused at the spot while you are serving and helping your parents?
D: We develop our understanding, sir.
S: So you can train yourselves both in right conduct and understanding at the same time. Sometimes you may say that you canft meditate, though you would like to, because you canft ignore your old father and mother. Does this happen to you?
D: Young people often think in this way and put off meditation, sir. S: What about older people?
D: They often say they canft meditate because they have to look after their children, sir.
S: To fulfil our duties is part of moral conduct. If you donft fulfil your duties, your conduct is not perfect. At the same time that you fulfil your duties, admonishing your children, for example, you can train yourself in the awareness of the spot. Isnft this wonderful? Now you have the time to train yourselves in both moral conduct and understanding.
Venerate and respect your benefactors—your parents, your teachers, and the community of monks—without ever resting. From now on work without ever resting, with firm effort, as the wise of old did before you. Your aspirations will be realized as were the aspirations of the wise disciples of the Buddha.
DISCOURSE
FOUR
A
Roof That Does Not Leak
SAYÁDAW: The contents of the Tipiṭaka taught by the Buddha are so vast that it is impossible to know all they contain. Only if you are intelligent will you be able to understand clearly what the monks have been teaching you out of great compassion. You have to pay attention only to this.
DISCIPLE: Sir, we donft quite understand what you mean by: gYou have to pay attention only to this.h
S: Let me try to explain in this way. If you build a house, you put a roof on it, donft you?
D: Yes, sir, we cover our houses with roofs.
S: When you put the roof on you make sure that it is watertight, donft you? If you cover your house well and it rains a little, will the roof leak?
D: No, sir, it wonft.
S: And if it rains very hard, will the roof leak? D: No, sir.
S: And when the sun burns down, will it still give you good shelter? D: It will, sir.
S: Why is this so? Because your roof is well built. Will you be able to know whether your roof is leaking or not after it rains?
D: Yes, sir, when it rains it is easy to find out.
S: You see, you think that the teachings of the Buddha are vast and varied, but really they are just one single way of escape from suffering. Only if you take up one object of meditation given by the Buddha and pursue it with steadfast effort to the end can you justly claim that your roof is not leaking any more. If your roof is not rain-proof yet, you have to be aware of this. There must be many houses in your neighborhood and they all have roofs. What are the materials used for roofing?
D: There are corrugated iron roofs, there are tiled roofs, there are houses roofed with palm leaves or bamboo.
S: Yes, of course. Now, if a palm-leaf roof is well built, is it reliable? D: Oh yes, sir, it wonft leak.
S: If a tin roof is well assembled, is it rain proof? D: Yes, sir, it is.
S: What about a well-made tile roof? D: No rain will come through, sir.
S: What about bamboo roofs or roofs made out of planks? D: If they are well done, they are watertight, sir.
S: So, if you take the roofing material you like best and build a good roof, will it give you shelter when it rains and when the sun shines?
D: If we build it well, it will not leak, sir.
S: We are building roofs because we donft want to get wet when it rains, and we want to avoid the scorching sun. The teachings of the Buddha are available now. Take up one of the techniques the Buddha taught, establish steadfast effort and practise. Only if you are steadfast does your practice resemble a roof, and greed, anger, and ignorance cannot leak through. Only if the roof is not leaking can we say that we are sheltered. If the roof is still leaking rain, is this because it is good or is not so good?
D: Because it is not so good, sir.
S: Is it leaking because the palm leaves are not a good roofing material? D: No, sir, palm leaves are a good roofing material.
S: Or is it because corrugated iron, or tiles, or bamboo, or planks are not suitable as roofing materials?
D: No, sir, all these are quite okay. S: Then why is the roof leaking? D: Because it isnft well built, sir.
S: But, of course, the mistake is made now. Is it difficult to repair it? D: If one is skilful, it is quite easy, sir.
S: Tell me then, if it leaks in a certain place, what do you have to do? D: We have to patch up the leak, sir.
S: It is just the same in meditation. Now that you exert effort, there is no leak; you are safe. If greed, anger, and ignorance still drip in, in spite of your practising the teachings of the Buddha, you have to be aware of the fact that your roof is not yet rain-proof. You have to know whether the roof you built for your own house is keeping the rain out or not.
D: Sir, we have all the roofing materials, but the roof is still leaking. We would like to know the technique of building a good roof.
S: Donft build a thin, shaky roof; build a thick, strong roof.
D: How are we to build a strong roof, sir? While we are sitting here like this, we still have to endure being drenched by the rain.
S: The wise people of old practised the teachings without allowing their efforts to diminish in any of the four postures,21 and they kept up such a perfect continuity of awareness that there never was any gap. You too have to practise in this way. The disciples of the Buddha established awareness of the spot and then did not allow their minds to shift to another object. Now, can the rains of greed, anger, and ignorance still affect those who are steadfast?
D: No, sir, they canft.
S: If you establish the same quality of awareness whether sitting, standing, or walking, will the rain still be able to penetrate your protecting roof?
D: Sir, please teach us the technique which will give us shelter. S: Tell me, all of you are breathing, arenft you?
D: Oh yes, sir, all are breathing.
S: When do you first start breathing?
D: Why, when we are born of course, sir. S: Are you breathing when you are sitting? D: Yes, sir.
S: Are you breathing while you are standing, walking, and working? D: Of course, sir.
S: When you are very busy and have a lot to do, do you stop breathing, saying, gSorry, no time to breathe now, too much work!h
D: No, sir, we donft.
S: Are you breathing while asleep? D: Yes, sir, we are.
S: Then, do you still have to search for this breath? D: No, sir, itfs there all the time.
S: There is no one, big or small, who doesnft know how to breathe.
Now, where does this breath touch when you breathe out?
D: Somewhere below the nose or above the upper lip, sir. S: And when you breathe in?
D: At the same spot, sir.
S: If you pay attention to this small spot and the touch of air as you breathe in and out, canft you be aware of it?
D: It is possible, sir.
S: When you are thus aware, is there still wanting, aversion, ignorance, worry, and anxiety?
D: No, sir.
S: You see, you can come out of suffering immediately. If you follow the teachings of the Buddha, you instantly become happy. If you practise and revere the Dhamma, you remove the suffering of the present moment and also the suffering of the future. If you have confidence in the monks and teachers, this confidence will result in the removal of present and future suffering. The only way out of suffering is to follow the teachings of the Buddha,
and at this moment you are revering the teachings by establishing awareness. Do you still have to go and ask others how the Dhamma, if practised, brings immediate relief from suffering?
D: We have experienced it ourselves, so we donft have to go and ask others any more.
S: If you know for yourselves, is there still doubt and uncertainty? D: No, sir, there isnft.
S: By keeping your attention at the spot for a short time only, you have understood this much. What will happen if you keep your mind focused for a long time?
D: Understanding will become deeper, sir.
S: If your time were up and you were to die while your attention is focused on the spot, would there be cause for worry?
D: There is no need to worry about onefs destiny if one dies while the mind is under control.
S: This frees us from suffering in the round of rebirths, and having discovered this for ourselves, we need not ask others about it. If we establish strong and steadfast effort in accordance with our aspiration for awakening, is there still cause for doubt: gShall I get it or shall I not?h
D: No, sir, we have gone beyond doubt.
S: So, then you have full confidence in what you are doing and due to your effort the viriya-iddhipāda factor arises. Suppose people come and say to you, gYou havenft got the right thing yet; how could you ever succeed?h Will doubt arise in you?
D: No, sir.
S: You know that though you are certain that you will be able to reach the goal with your practice, other people might tell you that you will not.
D: Sir, knowing for oneself, one will not have doubts, whatever people may say.
S: What if not just a hundred people or a thousand people come to tell you that what you are doing is no good, but say the whole town?
D: Even if the whole town comes, no doubt will arise, sir. S: Suppose the whole country came to contradict you?
D: Even so, sir, there will be no space for doubt to arise, because we realized this happiness for ourselves.
S: Yes, you know how much effort you have established. But donft think that your effort is perfect yet. You are only at the beginning. There is still much room for improvement. While you sit, walk, stand, and work it is always possible to be aware of the in-breath and the out-breath, isnft it?
D: Yes, sir.
S: If you focus your attention on the spot, are you unhappy? D: No, sir.
S: Does it cost you anything? D: No, sir.
S: The people, devas and brahmās who received the teachings after the Buddhafs awakening practised continuously, and therefore their respective aspirations for awakening were fulfilled.
What the Buddha taught is enshrined in the Tipiṭaka. If you keep your attention focused on the spot and on the in-breath and the out-breath, the whole of the Tipiṭaka is there.
D: We donft quite understand this, sir.
S: Oh dear. Why shouldnft you understand this? Of course, you understand. D: But we would like to be certain that we understand this in detail, sir.
S: You have understood already. Have you checked whether all of the Buddhafs teaching is contained in this awareness?
D: But, sir, our awareness is not deep enough to check this.
S: But you can talk about the Buddhafs discourses, the monksf rules, and Abhidhamma philosophy.
D: When we discuss these, we just talk without really knowing.
S: Talking into the blue. Now, if you keep your attention at this spot, can you tell me whether the whole of the teaching is present there?
D: We donft know, sir.
S: Are you not telling me because you are tired?
D: No, sir, we arenft tired. We would like to answer.
S: If we want to make an end to suffering we have to observe the behaviour of mind and matter. Everyone says this. Matter is composed of eight basic elements. There are fifty-three mental concomitants.22 All of you can tell me this off the top of your head.
You are intelligent. When others discuss the teachings you correct them and tell them where they went wrong and where they left something out. You refute them and criticize them. You are debating like this, arenft you? We said just now that the thing that doesnft know is matter and the entity that knows is mind. These two entities must be evident to you. Under
which of the two comes the spot below the nose; is it mind or matter?
D: I think that the spot is matter, sir. The kāya-pasāda (sensitive matter) through which we feel touch sensation is rūpa. But those who study Abhidhamma philosophy tell us that we are just concepts (paññatti) and that the spot too is but a concept, sir.c When we have debates with people who are proficient in the Abhidhammattha-saṅgaha23 we become angry and agitated and get little merit.
S: If you canft keep your attention on the spot, you will of course get involved in discussions.
D: But, sir, if we donft answer, we have to admit defeat. S: Tell me, what do you have to do when you are hungry? D: We have to eat rice, sir.
S: What about monks, what do you have to give them to still their hunger? D: We have to give them oblation rice,24 sir.
S: Are the oblation rice they eat and the rice you eat two completely different things?
D: They arenft different, sir. In order to show respect to the monks we call their rice goblation riceh, but it is the same as we eat.
S: So, whether we call it griceh or goblation rice,h it will satisfy our hunger. D: Yes, sir, both fill the stomach.
S: Now what about the nose, the spot? You can call it by its conventional name, or you can talk about sensitive matter. Itfs just the same as with rice and oblation rice. Is it worth arguing about?
D: No, sir, there is no need for long discussions.
S: Having understood this, will you stop arguing, or will you carry on with your debates?
D: No, sir, we shall not debate, but those Abhidhamma students will.
S: In that case you just donft take part in the discussion of such issues. You have known all along that rice and oblation rice are the same, but we have to talk about it so that you understand. Now, what do we call the entity that is aware?
D: It is called mind, sir.
S: Only if you have gained such control over your mind that it doesnft jump from one object to another are you able to distinguish clearly between mind (nāma) and matter (rūpa).
D: Yes, sir, now we are able to distinguish between mind and matter.
S: Is this knowledge of mind and matter you have gained called understanding (vijjā) or ignorance (avijjā)?
D: It is understanding, sir.
S: Is there still ignorance present when you are able to distinguish clearly between mind and matter?
D: No, sir, ignorance has run away.
S: When you concentrate at the spot there is understanding, and ignorance has been banned. Now, if we continue to concentrate on the spot, will ignorance spring back up again?
D: No, sir, it wonft.
S: Yes, you see, you have to establish understanding in this way. You have found it now; donft allow it to escape again. Can you again suddenly be overpowered by delusion if your understanding keeps growing moment by moment? Do good people still have to moan and complain, saying that it is difficult to get rid of ignorance once they have been given the teachings of the Buddha, which are the tools to overcome and defeat ignorance?
D: No, sir, they shouldnft complain. All they need to do is to put forth effort. S: So, you realize that all the Buddha taught is contained in this meditation. If you put forth effort, establish yourselves in perfect effort, then you will reach full understanding. You told me that many types of material are suitable to build a good roof. Not only a tin roof or a palm leaf roof are safe; you can choose from many different materials. I think you have collected quite a variety of good roofing materials. Now you have to build a roof that really protects you against rain. Once you have built a good shelter, you wonft get wet, and you wonft have to suffer the heat of the sun anymore. If you build your shelter in the jungle, will it be good?
D: Yes, sir, it will.
S: If you build your roof in a city? D: It will be safe, sir.
S: Does it make any difference whether you build your shelter in this country or in any other country?
D: Sir, it will give shelter here and there.
S: Are you happy if youfre drenched by rain or if you have to live under the scorching sun?
D: No, sir, I would be unhappy.
S: In that case, put forth full effort so that you wonft have to suffer sun and rain ever again.
DISCOURSE FIVE
The
Flight of an Arrow
SAYÁDAW: You have taken sīla. Having taken sīla, practise it. Only if you fulfil the perfection of morality completely can you be successful in attaining all the various aspirations for awakening without exception.
Now that you have understood that you have been born at an auspicious time and into a good existence, take up the practice of the teachings of the Buddha with all your strength and establish yourselves in them. The noble disciples of the Teacher practised without slackening in their effort and were mindful in all the four postures of the body, without ever resting. They worked with steadfastness, and they all attained the goal they desired. You too should take up this practice with this strong will to reach your goal.
What is this practice without break or rest to be compared to? It is like the flight of an arrow. If we shoot an arrow with a bow, we take aim according to our desire. Now tell me, does the arrow at times slow down and then speed up again after we shoot it? Does it at times take rest and then again proceed toward the target?
DISCIPLE: Sir, it flies fast and at a steady speed. S: And when does it stop?
D: It stops only when it hits the target, sir.
S: Yes, only when it hits its aim, its target, does it stop. In just the same way did the direct disciples of the Buddha strive to attain the goal they had taken as their target. Moving at a steady pace without a break, without interruption, they finally attained that type of awakening (bodhi) they desired in their hearts.
Of course, there are various types of awakening. All of them can be attained if you work without resting. If you work for sammā-sam-bodhi (Buddhahood), you have to work continuously. If you work for pacceka- bodhi (Non-teaching Buddhahood), you have to keep up the continuity of practice. If you aim for sāvaka-bodhi (Arahatship), you have to practise steadily, just as an arrow flies steadily. If you practise with steadfastness you will be able to attain your goal.
Though you practise without interruption, you will not get tired or exhausted. As you take up the teachings of the Buddha, incomparable happiness will come to you.
Some people think that the Buddha taught many different things. You all remember some parts of the holy scriptures as the monks out of great compassion taught them to you. At times you may think, gThe teachings of the Buddha are so vast and manifold. I canft follow and understand all this and therefore I canft attain my goal.h Or some people say, gWhat is true for oneself one can only know oneself.h Or others, gI canft work because I canft feel the breath yet.h Now tell me what is your excuse?
D: Saying that we have to make a living to maintain our body, we postpone meditation from the morning to the evening and from the evening to the morning. In this way we keep delaying the work of putting forth effort.
S: And what else do people tend to say?
D: Some say they canft meditate because of old age and some are afraid that it will make them ill.
S: What do those say who are still young?
D: That they canft meditate because they have to study. While they are young and healthy they want to enjoy themselves.
S: And if you are unwell and ill?
D: Then, sir, we worry. We call the doctor and think about medicine, but we still donft practise.
S: And when you have recovered?
D: We somehow manage to postpone meditation day by day and let time pass.
S: But you do actually want to attain happiness, donft you? D: Yes, sir.
S: So, if you really want it, why then postpone striving for it? D: I donft want it really, sir.
S: Does this apply to you only or to all of you here?
D: There must be some in this audience who really aspire to attain happiness and others like me who are not so serious about it.
S: If you put forth effort as you are doing now, you will of course get it. But thoughts and doubts may come up in your minds, gWill I have to suffer? Will this practice be trying?h You have already acquired some knowledge of the Buddhafs teachings according to your individual capabilities. Thinking about these, however, will slow down your progress. So listen well to the teachings now and practise. If you practise, you will arrive at your goal, and the reality of it may or may not correspond with your thoughts about it.
Only when you know for yourselves will you also know that your thoughts and speculations about the goal were not correct. All of you know from Dhamma lectures25 that if you follow the teachings of the Buddha, you will get great happiness in the present and in the future. In fact, you are all preachers of the Dhamma yourselves. Donft you think that thinking and speculating will slow your progress down? If you think and analyse, will every thought be correct?
D: No, sir.
S: If you establish your goal as I told you and keep thinking about wanting to attain it, will this help?
D: No, sir.
S: So, will you continue to think and ponder?
D: If we analyse and think all the time we shall go the wrong way, sir.
S: Once we start thinking there will be very many thoughts. Will much of what we think be of use to us?
D: It is difficult to think useful thoughts. Thoughts often become quite useless and misleading.
S: The community of noble monks has expounded the teachings which are real and true to you and still your thoughts are apt to mislead you. How is this possible?
But tell me, where are you from?c You are from Kemmendine. Your house must have a garden and a fence around it.
D: Yes, sir, this is correct.
S: On which side of the compound is the gate?
D: I have one gate opening to the south and one opening to the north, sir. S: How many stories does your house have?
D: It is a single storey house, sir.
S: On which side do you have your door?
D: There are two doors, sir, one in the west wall and one in the south wall. S: So, now we know that you live in Kemmendine, that you have a fence around your garden with gates to the north and south. Your house is a one storey building and has two doors facing south and west respectively. You see, because you told me, I know everything about your place. Now my knowledge and your knowledge about your house are about the same, arenft they?
D: They cannot be, sir.
S: But why? You know your village, your garden, and your house; you told me that you live in Kemmendine; and you described your garden and your house to me as you know them. Therefore I know your village, your garden, and your house. I know the reality about it, as you do.
D: You donft know it in the same way I know it, sir.
S: My dear friend, why should what I know be different from what you know? Just ask me where you live and I shall reply that you live in Kemmendine. Furthermore, I know about your garden and house just as you do. What is there that you can tell me that I donft know already?
D: Even if I told you the house number and the street, you wouldnft be able to find the house, sir.
S: Tell me then what you know more about this matter than I do.
D: I canft tell you more about it, sir, but I know more because I have actually been there.
S: In that case I shall think about it and figure out where Kemmendine is. D: You canft find out by thinking about it, sir.
S: I shall think a lot and for a long time. Some of it is bound to be right. I will think about a house in Kemmendine with two gates, two doors, one storey. Will some of my findings about your house be correct?
D: I donft think so, sir.
S: Is it that difficult then? Well, Ifll think in many different ways; some of it will turn out right. I shall ponder over this problem for about one year. Will I find the answer then?
D: If you just think about it, sir, you wonft find it. But if you come and look, you will really know for yourself.
S: Now, what if I were to think about it really deeply for about forty or fifty years? Or c better, if I donft just think but also talk about it. Will I come to know it then?
D: Even if you think and talk about it, sir, you will never get there. S: Then please tell me where Kemmendine is.
D: From here you would have to walk towards the south-west. S: So, if I walk in a southwesterly direction, will I get there? D: Yes, sir, you will, but you will still not find my house.
S: Well Ifll begin now. Ifll think very deeply and at the same time Ifll recite (your instructions and descriptions). In this way Ifll come to know.
D: No, sir, I donft think so.
S: You tell me that you know all this about your house, but if I repeat what I know from you, then you tell me that I am talking into the blue. I cannot bear this.
D: Sir, you simply repeat what you heard, but you donft actually know.
S: So, all I say about this house is correct, but he claims that I still donft know it the way he does. I donft know whether this is true c But now if I were to think about it deeply and recite my thoughts, would there still be a difference in understanding? Or if I were to recite all you said day and night, would it still not be possible for me to really know?
D: Sir, you would still not know it in the same way you would if you went there yourself.
S: Before you told me about your house I didnft know anything about it, but now I know something.
D: Yes, sir, this is true, but if you came to see it you would know everything about it.
S: Tell me, if I were to walk according to your directions, would I arrive at your house?
D: Yes, sir.
S: And if I didnft know the house number? D: You would wander aimlessly, sir.
S: And if you go there?
D: I head straight for my house, sir.
S: Will you worry about how to get there and whether you are on the right road?
D: If you come with me, sir, you canft get lost, because I have been there before.
S: The Buddha taught what he had realized for himself. Now, all of you are able to accept good advice. The Buddhafs teachings are vast. There is the Suttanta, the Vinaya, and the Abhidhamma. You need not study all these. Choose one object of meditation, one technique that suits you, and then work with firm determination. Once you have established yourselves in this way and arrive at the goal, you will understand deeply and completely. But even now, before I finish speaking, you do get some understanding.
This immediate understanding is called akāliko,26 immediate understanding. Our teachers and parents, who instruct us out of great compassion and love, tell us: gLearn this and that c,h and when we go to bed at night they call us and say: gWhy didnft you pay respects to the Buddha before going to bed? Come, pay respects.h If we donft follow their instructions, they may even have to beat us. They have to do this even though they donft wish to do it. Through their help these resistances in us are overcome. But, of course, we get immediate knowledge of the Buddha-Dhamma only if we are interested in it ourselves. When does it actually become akāliko, immediate?
D: Only when we really find the Dhamma, sir. S: And when will we really find the Dhamma? D: After having worked for it, sir.
S: At what particular time do we have to practise in order to be successful?
D: The hour of the day or night is of no importance. If we practise and then reach the goal we shall gain immediate knowledge, sir.
S: It is very easy. You have received the teachings of the Buddha. All you have to do is to make efforts in the same way that the disciples of the Buddha did. It is easy. This is not my own knowledge. I too have learned the teachings of the Buddha and I am passing them on to you. All of you are very intelligent and bright. What I am telling you, you know already. Why do you think the Buddha taught the Dhamma?
D: He taught people to be continuously aware of mind and matter.
S: He taught so that people who desire to attain the goal may be able to do so. He taught because he wished them to be able to travel on the path. But some of you may say that this is not a good time to practise. The mind is not settled with all this coming and going of people. gWe shall meditate when the mind is tranquil,h you may decide. And if the mind becomes tranquil after some time, what will happen?
D: When the mind is calm, we will go to sleep, sir. S: Oh really, and this you call meditation?
D: Sir, we are only perfect in talking about meditation.
S: And then, when you have a bad conscience about not having practised and decide to go to a meditation centre, what do you take along?
D: We take food with us, sir.
S: Tell me, after having taken the precepts, do you stuff yourselves?
D: Yes, sir. The ladies offer food, and we just eat. We start early, and then we continue eating right up until twelve noon.27
S: Do you eat more than on ordinary days? D: Oh yes, sir, much more.
S: Tell me now, do you stop eating at noon?
D: Well, you see, sir, some say that even then it is all right to continue eating. Once one stops, then one canft start again after twelve noon, but if I started before noon I can continue eating even after midday. So Ifve heard.
S: What about you? Do you carry on eating?
D: I continue eating even while we are talking like this, sir. S: And what do you do after you have finished eating?
D: Then my stomach is full, sir, so I lie down flat on my back. S: And then?
D: Then I sleep, sir.
S: And when do you wake up again? D: At about 3.00 or 4.00 P.M., sir.
S: Do you meditate then, being fully awake and alert? D: No, sir, then I ask for some juice and lemonade.27 S: Do you drink a lot or just a little?
D: I drink to the full, sir.
S: Even if you drink a lot, some will be left over. Do you share that with others?
D: No, sir, I drink it all myself because I like to keep it for myself. S: But do you feel good if you drink too much?
D: No, sir, not very good.
S: Tell me, do you meditate then?
D: Well, sir, as I donft feel very well I have to lie down. S: And then what happens?
D: I sleep again, sir.
S: And when do you get up?
D: The following morning, sir, when the sun rises. I say to myself, gWell, look, the sun has risen,h and I get up and have breakfast.
S: Now tell me, if you donft attain Nibbāna, do you think that it is because there is no such person as a fully awakened Buddha and that Nibbāna doesnft exist?
D: No, sir, itfs because I eat too much.
S: Well, you do make some efforts, but this greed is still a little strong, I think. Tell me, when you start to meditate and someone whispers near your ear, do you hear it or not?
D: If the concentration is not so good, we prick up our ears and listen to what is being whispered, sir.
S: When you hear this whispering, do you accept it and respect the people who are whispering?
D: Sir, when the determination to meditate is strong, then I do get angry at the people who are whispering.
S: Meditators get angry?
D: If people come and whisper in the place where Ifm meditating, of course I will get angry, sir.
S: Is it skilful to get angry and think, gDo they have to whisper here? Where is this chap from anyway? Who is he?h Will a meditator who reacts in this way attain his goal quicker? If he becomes angry and then dies, where will he be reborn?
D: He will be reborn in the lower worlds, sir.
S: Even if he is observing the eight Uposatha precepts?
D: If he becomes angry, he will go to the lower worlds even then, sir.
S: How should we approach the problem of being disturbed by whispers while we are meditating? We should reflect in the following way: gI have come here to meditate. My fellow meditators are whispering and I hear them. If the others find out that I pay attention to whispers, I will feel ashamed because all will know then that I donft make sufficient effort. I shall make more effort.h We should be grateful to the people who show us through their whispering that our effort isnft sufficient. If your effort is good, your concentration will be good, and you wonft hear anything. Being grateful, you should hope that these people continue talking, and you should continue to meditate. There is no need to go up to them and actually say, gThank you.h Simply continue to meditate, and as your awareness of the object of meditation becomes continuous, you donft hear disturbances any more. Would you hear people if they spoke quite loudly?
D: If they spoke loudly, I think I would hear them, sir.
S: Again we have to be grateful. gThey are telling me to improve my efforts.h Being grateful to those people, I steady my mind and focus on the spot again. To meditate means to be so closely aware of the object that it never escapes our attention.
D: Please, sir, explain to us how to be so closely aware of the object.
S: You just have to keep your attention fully collected, concentrated on the spot. All of you have been breathing ever since the moment you were born. Can you feel where the air touches as you breathe in and out?
D: Sir, for me the touch sensation is most evident under the right nostril. S: Not in two places?
D: No, sir, only in one place.
S: Yes, it touches at this small spot when you breathe in and when you breathe out. Tell me, does it enter with intervals or is it a continuous flow?
D: There are intervals, sir.
S: Is it the stream of air that is interrupted or the awareness of it? Is the touch of air continuous while you breathe in and out?
D: It is uninterrupted, sir.
S: Then you have to know this flow of air without interruption. Donft look elsewhere. Just know this touch of the breath. If you canft feel it, then try touching the spot of contact with your finger. When you know the sensation of touch, then take your finger away and stay with the awareness of touch-feeling at the spot. You have to become aware of the touch of air which is continuous as being continuous. If you are aware of this spot without a gap in the continuity of awareness, will you still hear whispers?
D: No, sir, I donft think so.
S: If the attention is firmly and steadfastly anchored at this spot, will you hear loud voices?
D: No, sir.
S: You know this spot below the nose above the upper lip so exclusively that you donft hear sounds any more. Is this spot matter (rūpa) or mind (nāma)?
D: It is matter, sir.
S: And the entity that knows it, that which is aware, what is it? D: That is mind, sir.
S: So, if you are aware of the spot without interruption, you are continuously aware of mind and matter, are you not?
D: Yes, sir, this is true, sir.
S: If you are aware of mind and matter in this way, you know that there is no self, there is no man, there is no woman, there are no human beings or devas or brahmās? This is what the Buddha taught. If we are aware of mind and matter, do we still think in terms of human beings, devas, and brahmās?
D: No, sir, we donft.
S: Is it easy to be thus aware? D: Yes, sir, it is easy.
S: This is knowing things as they are. Mind and matter arise without interruption. They arise and then disintegrate. How many times do they disintegrate in a flash of lightning?
D: I have heard that they disintegrate one hundred billion times in the wink of an eye, sir.
S: Tell me then, how can you count to one hundred billion in the wink of an eye?
D: I canft, sir.
S: Suppose you were given one hundred billion gold coins and would have to count them, how long would it take you?
D: I think it would take about a month, sir. Even if I were to count greedily day and night, it would take about that long.
S: The peerless Buddha penetrated all this with his own super-knowledge and then was able to teach it. But what can we know for ourselves? We can know mind and matter simultaneously. And what will we get from this awareness? We will be able to understand the characteristic of their behaviour. You neednft do anything special. Just practise as you are practising now. Keep your attention focused on the spot and as you gain the ability to keep your attention with the awareness of breathing and the spot, mind and matter will talk to you.
D: Do we have to think of anicca (impermanence) when one in-breath comes to an end, sir?
S: It is good if you think of anicca as a breath comes to an end. If you know anicca in this way, will you be able to attain Nibbāna?
D: Not yet, sir.
S: So if you canft get Nibbāna yet, keep concentrating on the spot and you will come to know.
D: What do we have to know as being impermanent, sir?
S: You say that sugar is sweet, donft you? But if I have never before tasted sugar, how are you going to explain sweetness to me?
D: It is much better than even palm sugar, sir, but we canft explain it so that you will really know.
S: But you have tasted it, so why canft you tell me about it?
D: Well, sir, sugar looks like salt, but ants donft go for salt while they do like sugar. But this wonft help you very much, sir. You have to taste it, sir.
S: So salt and sugar look similar. Now, if I eat some salt, calling it sugar, will I taste sugar?
D: No, sir, salt will remain salty.
S: In that case Ifll think that sugar is salty.
D: This is just the same as us not knowing how to recognize impermanence, sir.
S: When we talk about the outer appearance of sugar, there are many possibilities of mistaking something else for sugar. Only if you explain the taste of sugar properly can I understand.
D: We would like to advise you to eat some sugar, sir.
S: Will you have to sit next to me while Ifm eating it and say, gIt is sweet, it is sweet ch?
D: If I recited this, it would just bother you, and it isnft necessary to do this for sugar to be sweet. As soon as you put sugar into your mouth, you will be able to taste its sweetness, sir.
S: But letfs say there is a jungle bhikkhu who wants to taste sugar. Will the sugar think: gThis is a jungle bhikkhu. I wonft be fully sweet for him. I shall be only half as sweet for him as I am for people in townsh?
D: Sugar isnft partial, sir; it is as sweet for one as for the other.
S: It is just the same with the awareness of mind and matter. If you keep up this awareness you will taste the Dhamma immediately, just as you taste sweetness when you eat sugar. Is it possible that you still mistake salt for sugar? You go to the market so many times, and you can easily distinguish between salt and sugar. You are not going to buy salt for sugar. The peerless Buddha penetrated the truth and really knew it. He can distinguish between what is liberation and what is suffering, and therefore he gave this liberation to human beings, devas, and brahmās alike. He just asked them to geat.h Just eat, itfs real. Will you remain here without eating,afraid that it could turn out not to be true liberation?
D: We havenft reached that point yet, sir. We are just listening to your words. S: Eat as I told you. You will not go wrong. And why canft you go wrong? Because mind and matter are actually arising and disintegrating
continuously.
Why should you concentrate on the spot, though you donft know liberation yet? If you donft eat something, will you ever know what it tastes like? You know a lot about the Dhamma. You know about nāma and rūpa; you know what the Suttas are and you know about the Vinaya and the Abhidhamma. You know this is samatha, this is vipassanā.
D: But, sir, all this is mixed up in our head like a giant hodgepodge.
S: Let it be a mix up. Pay attention to this spot only, as I taught you. Later this mix up will be disentangled, everything will fall into place. If we go east we will get to a place in the east; if we go west we will arrive at a place in the west. The spot is like a vehicle. If you want to go to Mandalay, you have to board a train to Mandalay and stay on it. The spot is like the train; donft leave it. Keep your attention focused on it very closely. This is all I have to say. There is nothing to be said apart from this.
Do you know the eight constituents of the Noble Eightfold Path? How do you think they apply to this practice of concentrating on the spot?
D: If one concentrates on the spot with right concentration then one attains the knowledge of right view, sir.
S: Are the other elements of the Noble Eightfold Path pertinent to this practice? D: Sir, the eight constituents of the Noble Eightfold Path are: 28 (1) right view, (2) right thought, (3) right speech, (4) right action, (5) right livelihood, (6) right effort, (7) right mindfulness, (8) right concentration. When our mind is fixed on the spot, we donft think unskilful thoughts in any way. Therefore right thought is there, sir. As we are not talking at all, we donft speak lies and therefore there is right speech. As awareness of breathing is a good action, right action is included in this practice. There is right livelihood too, as we are not trying to make a living by deceiving others, sir. We are putting our entire effort into keeping our attention on the spot, so there is right effort. Because we focus our attention on the breath without letting go, we have right mindfulness, and as the attention remains at the spot without wandering here and there, we have attained
right concentration.
S: So, do you think this is like a boat or a train?
D: Yes, sir, it is like a boat, a train, or a cart or car that takes a person to his goal.
S: Do not leave this vehicle, do you understand? Keep your attention firmly focused here, on the spot, and never leave this spot. In this way you will reach your goal.
Sometimes you may become impatient travelling on the train to Mandalay and think, gI want to go to Mandalay, but is this train really going there or is it going to Rangoon?h If this happens, will you get off? Donft! Continue on your journey and you will see that you will eventually arrive in Mandalay. If you get fed up and bored, donft leave the train. When you are enjoying yourselves, donft get down. When you are ill, stay on the train, and stay also when you are strong and healthy. When you have plenty of company, stay. When you are all alone, donft leave. When people say unpleasant things to you, persist, and when they speak to you respectfully, donft get off your train. What would you do if people were to hit you because they
donft like you?
D: Sir, I think I would run away.
S: Just keep your attention on the spot. Even if robbers hit you, they canft strike down this awareness.
D: True, sir, but I think this awareness would go if they struck me.
S: Not necessarily. Our Bodhisatta, in one of his lives, became the king of monkeys.29 One day he found a brahman who had fallen down a precipice in the jungle and was helpless and certainly going to die down there. This brahman was lamenting his fate and crying, gOh poor me, I have fallen into a chasm a hundred yards deep. I shall certainly die down here. Oh poor me, oh, oh, ohc My relatives and friends, my wife and children, donft know about my misfortune. Nobody is here to help me. Oh, oh c,h and he cried. Now, noble beings are always concerned with the welfare of all beings, without exception. And as the Bodhisatta was such a noble being, he who was then the monkey king felt pity for the brahman in the same way he would have felt pity for his own children. And so he climbed down the precipice and went up to the brahman. gDo not fear, do not despair, I wonft let you die. I shall take you back to the place you want to go,h he said to the brahman to reassure him and to cheer him up. And he meant it too. But he wasnft ready yet to put him on his shoulders and carry him up the rocks, because he was afraid that he might fall and that the brahman might be hurt. He took a big rock of about the same weight as the brahman, put it on one shoulder and tried to carry it up the precipice, jumping from rock to rock.
Only after having passed this test did he carefully take the brahman on his
shoulders and climbed back up jumping from one boulder to the next.
After this great effort, the monkey king was exhausted. He was happy while performing this good action, but he was still happier when he had accomplished it and had saved a life. He was confident that the brahman he had saved from certain death was trustworthy, and said, gAfter carrying you up, I am a little tired. Please keep watch for a while so that I can rest.h Then he placed his head in the brahmanfs lap thinking himself well protected from all the dangers of the jungle. But while the king of the monkeys slept, the brahman thought, gI shall go back home soon, but I have nothing to give to my wife and children. I shall kill this big monkey and give his flesh to them as a gift.h He took the rock the Bodhisatta had carried up for the test-run and dealt the Bodhisattafs head a deadly blow. He didnft do this hesitatingly, feeling sorry for his saviour, but he hit him hard, so as to kill him with the first blow.
When the Bodhisatta felt the pain of the blow, he quickly climbed the next tree, and he asked himself who or what had attacked him. He then saw that there was no enemy around, but that the brahman himself had tried to kill him. He thought to himself: gYes, there are people like this in the world too.h As the Bodhisatta was thinking this, the brahman started lamenting again, exclaiming that he was lost in this big jungle and that he would perish after all. But the monkey king said to him, speaking from the tree, gDonft worry; donft be afraid. I have promised to take you back to your home and I shall not break this promise. I shall take you home. I canft carry you on my shoulder any more, but as you opened my skull, there is blood dripping to the ground continuously. Just follow the track of blood I shall make for you from up in the trees.h
This is how the Bodhisatta acted. He took all this on himself because his goal was Omniscience, Buddhahood. He worked on all the ten pāramīs.
Did the Bodhisatta turn away from accomplishing the good deed he had undertaken to complete because he was afraid that the man who had attempted to take his life might again try to kill him? Did he abandon him in the jungle?
D: No, sir, the Bodhisatta led the brahman home with great loving kindness, in order to perfect his pāramīs.
S: You see, if one aspires to omniscient Buddhahood, one has to fulfil the perfections, the ten pāramīs in this way, without ever taking a break, without ever resting. Otherwise one canft attain Buddhahood. Do you understand? One never rests, one never becomes lax, but works on the ten perfections all the time.
You told me only a moment ago that you couldnft keep up your awareness if robbers attacked you and tried to kill you?
D: I couldnft keep it up as yet, sir.
S: But you are aspiring to awakening, arenft you? D: Yes, sir, I am.
S: If you want it you can achieve it. If you keep your attention focused as I taught you, you will get much out of it, even if people should hit you, pound you, and destroy you. Have you heard the story of Tissa Thera?30
D: No, sir, I havenft.
S: Tissa Thera received the teachings of the Buddha and appreciating their value he thought: gNow I canft continue living in this grand style.h So he gave all his possessions to his younger brother. He became a monk and went to live and meditate in the jungle with his begging bowl and his set of three robes.
Now his brotherfs wife thought: gIt is very enjoyable to possess all the riches of my husbandfs older brother. If he remains a monk we shall have these riches for the rest of our life. But maybe he will not attain awakening, and then he may possibly return to lay life. So, I had best have him killed.h And she gave money to some robbers and said to them, gGo and kill Tissa Thera. I shall give you more money after you have completed the job.h
So, the robbers went to the forest where Tissa Thera lived and grabbed him. He said, gI donft possess anything, but if you want to take my bowl and my robes, please do so.h
gWe only want to kill you,h the robbers replied. gYour brotherfs wife gave us money to kill you, and she will give us more still after we have completed the job. That is why we have to kill you.h
Tissa Thera thought, gI am not emancipated from suffering yet,h and he felt ashamed of himself. He said to the robbers, gYes, yes, you have to kill me, but please give me until dawn and then only make an end to my life.h
The bandits replied, gEveryone is afraid of death, and if this monk escapes, we shall not get our money.h
gYou donft trust me?h Tissa Thera asked. gWell, I shall make you trust me.h And he took a rock and smashed both his legs. Then he said, gNow I canft run away any more, so please donft kill me until dawn.h
Though the robbers were very rough people, due to the loving kindness of Tissa Thera they felt compassion and decided to let him live until daybreak. Tissa Thera admonished himself: gVenerable Tissa, there is not much time left, dawn is close. Put forth effort!h He put forth strong effort in the practice of the Buddhafs teachings, and as he worked with a steady mind, dawn arrived. As the sun rose, he fulfilled his aspiration and attained happiness. gI have attained release from the cycle of birth and death!h he rejoiced. He then woke the robbers and said, gThe day has dawned, rise and come!h And he was full of
joy. Now, was Tissa Thera a real disciple of the Buddha, an Arahat?
D: Yes, sir, he was.
S: Who has faster development do you think, someone who meditates with both legs broken, or someone who meditates as you do?
D: Sir, I would prefer to meditate without first breaking my legs.
S: Tissa Thera got it before dawn even with both his legs broken. Will you get it before the day breaks?
D: I donft think that I could get it, sir. It will take me longer than that. We take it easy, sir. If one doesnft have to break onefs legs, effort is less, and progress therefore slower.
S: In that case, you are not so eager to attain your goal quickly? D: Sir, we like to go slowly, slowly.
S: Well, then maybe you should break your legs and then meditate. D: I donft have the courage to do that, sir. I say that I aspire to Nibbāna,
but in my mind I am still fearful. I donft have the strength to accept being killed after breaking my own legs.
S: In that case, work just the same, but without breaking your legs. D: We shall work hard in the way you taught us, sir. We are emulating
Visākha and Anāthapiṇðika, sir.31 It says in the scriptures that they are enjoying a good life in the deva planes now and we would like to have that same type of enjoyment also, sir.
S: They are enjoying a good life after having attained a lot. But you have not attained to the same stage yet, have you? Are you really doing as they did? Anāthapiṇðika went to Rājagaha as a banker on business. Only when he reached there did he come to know that a Buddha had arisen in the world. He didnft go to Rājagaha to meditate or to pay respects to the Buddha. But when he was told about the Buddha, he went to him immediately, in the middle of the night. He had to leave the city walls to go to the place where the Buddha resided. When he stood before the Buddha, he attained what he had aspired for. If someone drops everything and hurries to the Buddha in the middle of the night, is the effort of that person great or small? Do you think he ever let go of the Buddha as the object of his mind while on the way to him?
D: No, sir, he didnft.
S: Now, tell me about yourselves.
D: We lose the awareness of the object while we walk, or while we think and so on, sir.
S: If you want to become like Anāthapiṇðika, you have to strive as he strove.
D: Anāthapiṇðika had to go through a cemetery32 on his way to the Buddha, sir. That much we can do too, sir.
S: It is said that Anāthapiṇðika began his meditation in the first watch of the night and attained stream-entry (sotāpatti-magga-phala)33 when the day broke. But if you canft get it by daybreak, never mind. It is good enough if you can get it by the time the sun has risen and it is light. Tell me, will you work so that you can attain the goal by tomorrow?
D: Sir, we too shall go through a cemetery to come to your monastery and in this way we shall emulate Anāthapiṇðika.
S: Did he allow the continuity of awareness to be interrupted?
D: He didnft, sir, but we are doing the same as he did only as far as the way is concerned.
S: If you really want to become like Anāthapiṇðika, you have to work. If you work, you can fulfil your aspiration. If you donft work, you wonft achieve anything. Is it not possible for you to concentrate on the spot where the air touches?
D: It is possible, sir.
S: To become like Anāthapiṇðika you have to practise as I taught you.
Will you tell me tomorrow that you attained your goal? D: I shall tell you that I havenft attained it yet, sir.
S: Do you know how much Anāthapiṇðika did after he had attained the first stage of awakening? He thought, gThis is incomparable! My king, my people, my relatives, my sons and daughters, the city dwellers and country folk, all of them have not yet heard that a Buddha has arisen. I want them to experience the same bliss I have experienced. Now, how can I accomplish this? I have to invite the Buddha and make him stay for some time in my city, Sāvatthī, and all can go and meet him. The Buddha, out of great compassion, will teach them, and at the end of the teaching human beings and gods alike will attain the bliss I have attained.h
Anāthapiṇðika understood the ultimate truth, and he knew the reason he understood it. He invited the Buddha in order to help others to understand too. He had rest houses built every ten miles along the road from Rājagaha to his native city. In Sāvatthī he built the Jetavana monastery for the Buddha, and he arranged everything in such a way that there was a place for everyone. He provided everything, giving to all, from beggar to the king. Thanks to Anāthapiṇðikafs arrangements, the people who met the Buddha on his journey to Sāvatthī gained benefits also. During the the Buddhafs journey, many people, devas, and brahmās attained what they had aspired to. How many do you think were those who benefited?
D: We donft know, sir.
S: How many human beings, how many celestial beings attained Nibbāna then?
D: A great many, sir.
S: How many beings fulfilled their aspiration in the wink of an eye? It was 180 millions of brahmās and one asaṅkheyyā4 of devas. How many beings attained awakening as time went by?
D: They must be innumerable, sir.
S: Anāthapiṇðika continued to support the teaching of the Buddha and due to his effort many attained the Deathless. Understanding this, you have to make a lot of effort to attain your goal by tomorrow. Will you do this?
D: Do not think too highly of me, sir. I donft think I am able to get it by tomorrow.
S: You are hungry and your wife offers you food, but still you donft eat? D: When it comes to food, I will even force my way to the table, sir. S: Do you eat even though you donft want to eat or because you want to eat? D: Because I want to eat, sir.
S: For how long is your hunger appeased if you eat once? D: For about half a day, sir.
S: For how long will your hunger be stilled if you eat the way Anāthapiṇðika ate?
D: For the remainder of the cycle of birth and death, sir.
S: Tell me, what is the best for you? The food your wife offers you and that keeps you satisfied for half a day, or what the Buddha offers you that keeps you satisfied for the remainder of the cycle of birth and death?
D: I have to answer that what the Buddha offers is best for me, sir.
S: You eat what your wife offers you. What then do you do with the food the Buddha offers?
D: Ifm hesitant about that, sir. Thatfs why I donft approve of myself, sir. S: Good, good. Work hard. You put so much effort into doing all these other things because you donft view mind and matter properly. But you do feel respect for the Buddha. Having decided to meditate, meditate. As you meditate you may find that your limbs ache and become stiff. Now, donft think: gWhy do I get this pain? Is it dangerous?h But make a resolve: gLet it be dangerous! If I have to die, so be it. I have died in the past too.h How many times have you died, do you think?
D: Innumerable times, sir.
S: Tell me, have you ever died while you were meditating?
D: No, sir, I have died while being unskilful only. That is why I am still so agitated.
S: So, if we have to die, how should we look at it? gI have never died so far while meditating. I shall not wait until dawn. Let me even die right now, so that I can get the experience of dying while meditating.h You should think in this way. If you die while meditating, will you become miserable?
D: No, sir.
S: If you live a life of laziness and sloth, will you become happy?
D: No, sir. I shall continue going round in the cycle of birth and death, saṃsāra, sir.
S: gI have never, in the whole of saṃsāra, had stiff and aching limbs because of meditation. It is good if I experience these troubles now.h Thus should you look at your pains. Even though your limbs ache, do not give up. Know that wise people of the past have walked on the same path. You have to work. If you only talk about putting forth effort, you will not attain anything. Only if you meditate can you come to understand. Now you are probably thinking: gWe want to meditate, but this venerable monk is talking for a long time.h So, focus your mind now as the Buddha taught you to, and meditate with firm effort and perseverance.
Discourse Six
Work
Without Wavering!
WEBU SAYÁDAW: You have taken the precepts. Now that you have undertaken the practice of the perfection of morality, fulfil it.
What you realize when you penetrate the Four Noble Truths is called bodhi. You are born at a good time and in a good form of existence. Now then, emulate the wise disciples of the Buddha and put forth effort as strong as theirs, so that you may attain the awakening to which you aspired. Those who received the teachings from the Buddha himself worked ceaselessly in all four postures35 and thus attained enlightenment.
The human beings, devas, and brahmās who achieved their aspiration [to awakening] on just one occasion cannot be counted in hundreds, thousands, hundred of thousands, or millions. Sometimes in one split second, an incalculably large number of beings achieved their aspirations. From the time the Buddha attained full awakening, beings have been able to attain Nibbāna. But it is not only during the lifetime of the Buddha that beings can attain Nibbāna; Nibbāna can be attained as long as the teachings of the Buddha are available.
The attainment of Nibbāna is not blissful just for a brief moment. It will have lasting effects for the rest of the round of birth and death (saṃsāra). What the Buddha taught is the way out of suffering. You donft have to know a vast amount. If you practise one technique properly, with strong and steadfast effort, you will come to know for yourselves that you are people of great strength. You will not have to ask others about the teachings, and you will not even have to tell others that you are practising.
Once you have established effort, you will not only know what good teachers told you, but you will clearly know for yourselves how the viriya- iddhipāda factor36 arises in a split second.
You have the good quality of being able to follow the good advice of the Buddha as his disciples did in the past.
When I increase effort, then the viriya-iddhipāda factor will increase also. And then what will happen? I will think gWith just this much effort, the viriya-iddhipāda factor has arisen to this extent. But my energy is not exhausted yet. There is still more. I shall increase my effort further.h And the will to increase effort will arise. At this same instant, effort increases. As effort increases, the viriya-iddhipāda factor becomes stronger. When these factors have thus risen to a very high standard, then all your aspirations can be fulfilled.
Do not take rest. Do not take breaks or time off. Work continuously. If you develop continuously, you will become happier and happier. In this way the disciples of the Buddha became very happy, never getting enough of this happiness. Do you understand?
If a king rules over a country, does he say complacently, gThis one country is enough for meh?
DISCIPLE: No, sir, he doesnft remain satisfied.
S: And if he rules a whole continent and has become emperor, is he satisfied then?
D: No, sir, he isnft.
S: If he isnft satisfied, what will he do?
D: He will try to acquire more and more territory, sir.
S: When a man is emperor over a continent, he wants the whole world. When he gets the whole world, he wants to become a universal monarch.37 Once he is a universal monarch will he say, gThis is enoughh and be satisfied?
D: No, sir, he will not be satisfied.
S: All those who are perfect in their faith and have performed the highest form of generosity and demonstrated the greatest form of respect canft be satisfied. They will practise meditation and will gradually attain the stages of awakening (samāpatti). Once they are able to enter into the states of Nibbāna, only this happiness will count for them.
Nibbāna is the highest and noblest form of happiness there is. It is said that one can never experience enough of the highest and noblest form of happiness. And not only the direct disciples of the Buddha were able to achieve it. If you put forth continuous effort to the same extent that the wise of old did, you too will experience this highest happiness, even now. Then you will know, gI experienced a happiness that doesnft last only for a moment, or just for a lifetime, but for the remainder of the cycle of birth and death. And why did I attain this happiness? Because I was born into the right form of existence, because I was born at the right time, because I put forth strong effort.h
At any time when human beings, devas, and brahmās accepted and practised the teachings, they were successful. In this context, gAt any timeh means that whenever one undertakes this practice, one obtains understanding. The time span in which the teachings of the Buddha are available is very important and special: if you want to attain Nibbāna you can do so at any time; it is easy now.
Donft say, gThis isnft my cup of tea. This isnft suitable for me. I wonft get anything out of this.h You have noble aspirations and you can fulfil them now. So if you say to yourselves, gI shall take up the practice right now,h donft you think you can get real understanding? You can get it
practising in a group or by yourself. Seek for yourself. Take up one of the techniques the Buddha taught and practise it with one-pointedness and strong effort. Establish awareness of in-breath and out-breath and the spot where the air touches while you are breathing in and out.
When you are thus aware of the spot, can there still be worry, anxiety, and fear? Can there still be greed, aversion, and delusion? And, when you concentrate your mind in this way, you revere the teachings, donft you?
D: Yes, sir.
S: You will understand that the degree to which you come out of suffering depends on how much effort you put in and on how strongly the viriya-iddhipāda factor arises out of this effort.
D: We understand, sir.
S: There will be no more room for doubt because you have now practised the technique and experienced it for yourselves, and so you know it. You will think, gEven in such a short time I am able to come out of suffering immediately to such an extent, but my strength is not yet exhausted.h And the will to exert yourself still more arises, and you will become happy with a happiness of which you never tire.
Now, tell me. There is such a thing as a universal monarch in the world, isnft there?
D: Yes, sir, there is.
S: When the time is right for a universal monarch to arise, will no one notice this fact?
D: We donft know, sir.
S: About one hundred years before the universal monarch arises the good news goes around and a commotion takes place. Then all are setting their hopes and yearnings on the universal monarch. They are happy, and when he is born they rejoice.
What are the circumstances necessary for a universal monarch to arise?
D: Only when the gjewel of the wheelh arrives, sir, can someone become a universal monarch.
S: Yes, before the jewel of the wheel arises he is called the embryo universal monarch, but even then his authority, wealth, and power are considerable. Will he say, gLet the jewel of the wheel not arise; what I have got is quite enough for me!h?
D: No, sir, he wonft. S: And why not?
D: Because he wants to become still greater through the arising of the jewel of the wheel.
S: So, when will the jewel of the wheel come? D: It will come at the right time, sir.
S: The jewel of the wheel arises due to the merit the embryo universal monarch has accumulated. But there are still duties for him, and having understood these duties and keeping them in mind, he has to fulfil them. Now say there is an embryo universal monarch. His merit is ripe, but he doesnft fulfil the duties that are the final cause for his becoming a universal monarch. Will the jewel of the wheel arise of its own accord?
D: No, sir, it will not arise by itself, I think. He will have to exercise himself further.
S: Now letfs say you were the embryo universal monarch waiting for the jewel of the wheel to arise so that you will reign over the whole world. You will still have to practise further. You have to keep sīla. But would you say, gWell, I donft need the jewel of the wheel any more. I am quite satisfied with the riches and splendour I have attainedh?
D: No, sir.
S: You will not give up at this point, because if you become a universal monarch you will be able to reign according to the Dhamma so that the whole world will be happy. Do you think the people of your provinces will say to you, gOh embryo universal monarch, you have got enough powerh?
D: No, sir, certainly not.
S: So, what will the people say?
D: gWork hard and fulfil your duties,h they will say, sir. S: And why is this?
D: Because they want the jewel of the wheel to arise, sir.
S: Yes, you see, because of the power of the wheel of the universal monarch, all will experience many different types of happiness. But when one has become a universal monarch, will this give him results for the rest of the cycle of birth and death? How long can he be universal monarch?
D: Only as long as the jewel of the wheel is there, sir.
S: Yes, even a universal monarch can be on his throne at best for one life span, but now the Buddhafs teachings are available. If all the good beings who have taken birth in a happy existence take up the practice of the Buddhafs teachings, they can attain awakening—as they aspired to in the past. But it is as with the embryo universal monarch: he doesnft become a universal monarch by just enjoying the royal splendour that he has already achieved; he will only become a universal ruler when he has fulfilled the duties and disciplines necessary to obtain the jewel of the wheel.
Now, approximately when do you want to attain Nibbāna? D: Very soon, sir.
S: What does that mean? D: Now, immediately, sir.
S: So, you are going to attain it right now?
D: If itfs possible, sir.
S: Well, at the time you accept it, you will reach it.
D: One can get it only when the ten perfections (pāramīs) are completed, fulfilled, sir.
S: You still donft understand. We were talking about the embryo universal monarch just now. He attained that point because of his fulfilling the ten pāramīs. This fulfilment of the pāramīs means that he can become a universal monarch for certain. But when will he become a universal monarch? When he has fulfilled the practices and duties that cause the arising of the jewel of the wheel. So, if he undertakes these, the jewel will arise. Now, donft tell me you want Nibbāna. If you practise now, you will realize it now. Will you take up practising? But then donft get up after some time and run away.
If you want to become sovereign rulers, what do you have to do? You have to master all the arts that are required of an accomplished prince and princess. So what do you think you have to master as sons and daughters of the Buddha?
D: We have to master sīla, samādhi, and paññā, sir.
S: What do you have to do to become a king? You have to study and practise the eighteen arts a king has to master. You have to learn about war-elephants, strategy, how to overcome enemies, and so forth. Once you have learned all this, what will you do when you encounter enemies?
D: Wefll attack them, sir.
S: There are enemies who obstruct our progress towards Nibbāna, and if we want to get there, we have to fight them. Will you fight them after having equipped yourselves with weapons?
D: Yes, sir.
S: You will have to sit for a long time. Once the battle starts, you have to fight for real. Once you have deployed your troops in the battlefield, you will have to go ahead. Only if you prevail will you become a king.
D: We shall fight, sir.
S: Good, go ahead. Donft get up and run away, even if time seems long. If you fight well, you will become a sovereign king.
During the time of the Buddha, people learned the teachings from the Buddha himself. The Buddha simply taught how to defeat all forms of ignorance. Do you think that all those who listened to his words and then practised accordingly repulsed ignorance? They really refuted all forms of ignorance and therefore they were victorious. They attained supreme happiness. Establish yourselves in effort and all your aspirations will be realized. You are well equipped with weapons for the battle, arenft you?
D: Yes, sir.
S: And you will fight, wonft you? Your enemies do attack, and they attack often and with full force. Are sloth, torpor, and laziness friends or enemies? What do you do when they come? I think it has been some time since you fought a battle?
D: Quite some time, sir.
S: Tell me about the weapons you will have to use, and how you have to fight.
D: We have to fight for one hour every day, sir. S: Only one hour a day?
D: We canft even always manage that much, sir.
S: Look here! Is this because the weapons are soft or because the warriors are soft?
D: We are soft, sir.
S: Are princes and princesses who want to become rulers soft too? D: No, sir. They canft be because soft princes are defeated.
S: But these princes here, are they people with strength and fortitude or are they soft?
D: We are soft, sir.
S: As sons and daughters of the Buddha do you want to become sovereigns of Nibbāna, or do you want to remain princes and princesses?
D: We all want to become rulers, sir.
S: The weapon you have is good, so attack! But only if you hold the weapons properly will the enemy fear you. I think you donft hold the weapon properly.
D: We do attack, sir, but our way of attack is weak. Out of compassion give us a powerful weapon, sir.
S: I can only give you the weapon. This weapon will not do anything; only if you take this weapon and make use of it can you win. No weapon is weak, and you donft have just one. You have a whole store of weapons. If I were to enumerate them, it would become a long list.
D: Sir, we fail because we have so many weapons.
S: No, itfs because you donft fight. You have to fight. Do you understand? Donft you want to become sovereign kings? Do you want to stay princes and princesses?
D: We try hard, sir, but we never succeed.
S: Yes, yes, but the weapon is all right. You donft succeed because you donft fight. You are talking like most people. You meditate, you put forth effort, but in spite of that you sound as if there was no effort. There is so much energy in you, but you donft use it. You do have energy. If you put all your stock of energy to use, you will assuredly become real sons and daughters of the Buddha, become kings by attaining Nibbāna. Sons and daughters of the Buddha have the ability to accept instructions, make effort, and follow the teachings of the Buddha. All who practise the teachings, be they humans, devas, or brahmās, can fulfil their different aspirations for Nibbāna. Even if you keep up the awareness of in-breath and out-breath throughout only one day, you will understand much. You may say that you have been meditating for so many years, but have you really ever been able to keep your mind focused for a full day?
D: No, sir.
S: By one day I mean a day and a night, twenty-four hours. Now, do this: practise the teachings of the Buddha to the full for one day and one night. If you have done this once, you will all be able to appreciate the value of just one single day. Some of you may have been practising for twenty or thirty years and some even longer. But just examine yourselves. Have you really, having established yourselves in complete effort, fulfilled one single day in practice? Have you?
D: No, sir, we havenft.
S: And why have you never devoted yourselves fully for one whole day? You do have the energy required, donft you?
D: Yes, sir.
S: You donft use the energy you have in the right place. You waste it for no purpose. Are you still going to shows and entertainments?
D: Yes, sir. We watch a pwe38 all night until dawn, without sleeping. S: How many nights in a row do you do this?
D: About two or three nights, sir.
S: How many shows have you seen in all? D: I canft remember, sir.
S: You see; there you have plenty of energy. Day and night. There your effort is strong. Now, how many times have you observed the Uposatha precepts?
D: Many times, sir.
S: I mean, how many days have you observed the eight Uposatha precepts day and night?
D: We have observed them ever since we were children, sir.
S: How many days altogether? A day I call a day and a night, twenty- four hours. Do you get a full day of Uposatha observances, if you look at it like this?
D: No, sir, we donft. We observe them about half a day at a time, sir. S: Have you fulfilled them to the utmost during that half day?
D: We are unable to do that, sir. We started this morning, sir, and shall keep it up until tomorrow.
S: You do have the will to work, but you donft usually use it for this noble purpose, but rather to watch pwes. If you die while watching a pwe, where will you go?
D: To the lower world, sir. S: Do you want that?
D: No, sir.
S: Even if you donft want it, it has great power over you, doesnft it? If you were to really observe the Uposatha day, with full effort for the whole day, could you not fulfil your aspirations? If you keep up the practice on an Uposatha day, you will understand, you will come to know something. The real disciples of the Buddha take sīla on Uposatha days, and then they immediately take the object and firmly keep their attention fixed on it.
Now if your attention is so firmly fixed on an object, can sloth, torpor, or laziness disturb you?
D: No, sir, they canft.
S: If our attention is firmly established on in-breath and out-breath and the point of contact, do we still hear other peoplefs conversation?
D: No, sir.
S: What if someone speaks very loudly? D: It doesnft disturb us, sir.
S: There is no greed, aversion, or delusion. If our minds are thus purged of greed, aversion, and delusion, will there still be loneliness, depression, and laziness?
D: No, sir.
S: Do we still miss company? D: No, sir.
S: Do we still want to know what others are saying? D: No, sir.
S: If someone comes and invites us out, are we excited? D: No, sir.
S: We shall not jealously guard what we have. Good people are not like that. We share it with those with whom we live. gMay they also get what I have got.h Now, what will happen if all of you establish strong effort from sunrise to sunset, without a break. This is a long time-span, from sunrise to sunset. But will you feel it to be long?
D: No, sir.
S: You will think, gToday the time went so quickly! We observed Uposatha and the time just flew! And I really donft know why this day was so short.h And after sunset you will again establish awareness of the object, and then day will break, and you still continue with the awareness of the spot below the nose, above the upper lip until it is light. Without interruption. And you will wonder, gHow did this night pass so quickly? Now it is day again!h
This is how they used to practise on Uposatha days. When the direct disciples of the Buddha undertook to practise for a day, they practised for twenty-four hours. And when day came, they were still not satisfied and said, gIn the long cycle of birth and death we have been doing all those other things for a long time, but not this.h And they continued their work without wavering. Do you have days like this?
D: Our days contain some interruptions, sir.
S: If someone keeps Uposatha, and his mind wanders here and there— just anybody, I donft mean you—so his mind flits around here and there. But he is at a pagoda or under a holy Bodhi tree, and say he dies at that moment. What will happen to this worshipper?
D: He will go to the lower worlds, sir. S: How many lower planes are there? D: There are four lower planes, sir.
S: What are they?
D: Hell, the animal world, the plane of the hungry ghosts, and the demon world.
S: Now, who wants to go to hell or the animal world? D: I donft, sir.
S: What about the ghost world or the demon world? D: I donft want to go there, sir.
S: If you take sīla and donft firmly put your mind to observing the teachings of the Buddha, is that skilful or not?
D: It is unskilful, sir.
S: If someone observes the Uposatha days without keeping his mind focused, where will he be reborn when he dies?
D: In the lower planes of existence, sir. S: Are you sure?
D: Yes, sir, Ifm sure.
S: If I talk about someone who doesnft keep his mind fixed on the object, I am not talking about you people; Ifm talking about that (fictional) worshipper.
D: Sir, out of compassion show us the good road out of the lower worlds. S: Do you remember how you focused your mind as the Buddha taught? D: Yes, sir, I remember.
S: So then, let us keep the mind on the spot. What do you think? D: Yes, sir.
S: But, of course, now you canft do a full day any more. But if you practise until it is light, you will have done half a day. What do you think?
D: We will keep our minds at the spot, sir.
S: What other things do you have to do tonight?
D: There is nothing to do at night, sir.
S: You have eaten, so you donft have to cook any more, and there is nothing else to do. Very good. Will you stay here now that you have undertaken to keep the Uposatha days? Wonft you want to go away?
D: We shall do our best, sir.
S: If you say, gWe shall do our best,h will there be no disturbances coming in? Will no enemy attack? Only if you really mean it are the enemies afraid. If you are firm, they run. You know about Mahā-Kassapa, donft you?
D: Yes, sir, we have heard about him.
S: He met the Buddha and then practised what the Buddha taught in order to escape from suffering. There are four bodily postures: sitting, standing, walking, and lying down. Which of these is prone to let in the enemy? Laziness and sloth come in while lying down, and they come to stay, donft they? If we indulge in laziness and sloth, shall we be able to develop in morality, concentration, and wisdom?
D: No, sir, we wonft.
S: Laziness and torpor are our enemies. Therefore Mahā-Kassapa reacted this posture in which the enemy attacks and adopted the other three postures in which the enemy canft remain for long.
There are thirteen ascetic practices and Mahā-Kassapa practised all thirteen. Only those among the disciples of the Buddha with the strongest determination practised the sitterfs practice, that is, did not lie down at all, twenty-four hours a day. If one takes up the sitterfs practice and makes the strong determination not to sleep, this sloth and laziness canft overpower him. Though these noble disciples of the Buddha did not lie down or sleep, they lived long and were very healthy.
Do you fight wars? D: Yes, sir, we do.
S: Now, you are going to start your meditation. What preparations do you have to make?
D: We have to spread out our mat.39
S: If you spread out your mat before starting your meditation, soon someone will come along. Who do you think that will be? Do you think laziness and sleepiness will come your way?
D: If they come, sir, I shall lie down and sleep. S: What will you say to them?
D: I wonft say anything, sir.
S: You will say, gHa, now only you come; I got the mat ready a long time ago.h And what are you going to do then? You are going to lie down flat on your back and sleep. If you do this, will you be able to fulfil your aspiration for Nibbāna?
D: No, sir.
S: If you practise without sleeping, you are establishing full effort and are always keeping your attention firmly fixed on the object, day and night. If you practise in this way, your morality, your concentration and control over the mind, and your insight and wisdom will become stronger and stronger. They will develop from moment to moment.
If you watch a pwe all night, you will feel tired in the morning. But if you practise the teachings of the Buddha all night, you will experience happiness and joy without end, and you will not feel sleepy. Do you understand? ... The Buddha taught this; it is not my teaching. If you follow the teaching of the Buddha and donft rest until you understand it completely, you will really know.
If people tell you, gThis shade is cool,h donft simply believe them, but try it out for yourselves. If you just repeat, gIt is cool, it is cool c,h because others say so, you donft really know about its coolness; you merely talk about it. If someone just babbles along, he doesnft show appreciation. But if someone speaks from experience, then wonft he be able to speak with deep appreciation and radiant happiness and love?
So pay attention and practise. If you practise, you will reach your goal. Not just hundreds, not thousands, not tens of thousands, not hundreds of thousands; all who follow the teachings will master them.
When you start to meditate you still have to check: Is everything arranged? Is there a place to sleep at night and one to rest during the day? Only when all this is in order, will you meditate. Isnft that so?
If you act in this way, you nourish your enemy, you call him a friend; you love him. Once you recognize your enemy as such, do you still associate with him?
D: No, sir.
S: What do you do if he comes?
D: We check him and defend ourselves.
S: How do you defend yourselves? Will you attack him? Will you mount a full attack?
D: We shall repulse him, sir.
S: How do you repulse him? Softly, so that he doesnft get hurt?
D: We shall ward him off immediately so that he can never come back. S: Yes, carry on. Cut him off and throw him overboard so that he canft ever come back. Well then, what will you do when tiredness and laziness
really arise?
D: I shall probably fall asleep, sir.
S: What about others in the audience? D: I donft know, sir.
S: Will you recognize the enemy and destroy him?
D: Just so, sir.
S: Very good. I shall give you a simile. If a man sleeps a deep sleep and you wake him up, he will awake quickly. If you try to wake up someone who pretends to sleep, you will not be successful. Why is this so?
D: The more one works on him the more he pretends to sleep.
S: Yes. Now what about you; are you really fast asleep or do you pretend to sleep?
D: I donft know, sir.
S: If you are really asleep, you will simply get up when I wake you up.
Will you get up? D: Yes, sir.
S: Yes, and after getting up, you will go back to sleep, I think. But Ifm not sure about that. I only think so.
D: I shall work hard as you instruct me, sir.
S: Put forth effort and you will become perfect. You have all you need. All of you have acquired the elements of insight and renunciation.
Because of this, you now esteem the teachings of the Buddha; you want to fulfil and practise them. If the accumulation of the perfection of renunciation is small, your ears will be blocked to the teachings of the Buddha. For instance, if somebody tells you to come to this place, you donft want to come because you are bored by this. But now you are attracted by this teaching. All you need now is the same amount of effort that the noble disciples of the Buddha made.
When you begin to practise you may worry, gIf I sit just for one or two hours, I am aching and stiff. How can I possibly sit for a whole day and night? I think thatfs quite impossible.h Donft you worry like this?
D: No, sir, I donft.
S: Though you may not worry now, it will come up. But donft worry in this way. The Buddha didnft teach suffering. He taught the way leading to happiness. You may not believe this because you think your own thoughts. But you have to work with full effort and without wavering. Now, when you meditate with full effort, the viriya-iddhipāda factor will arise. You will understand this. But when you sit, all of you feel some discomfort, donft you?
D: Yes, sir, we do.
S: Even if you are aching and stiff, there is a place where there is no pain. There is sleepiness, and there is also a place where there is no sleepiness. What do you do when you are drowsy?
D: I go to sleep, sir.
S: Do you ever get enough sleep? D: Yes, sir, I do.
S: But you sleep every day, and now you want to sleep again? So you havenft actually had enough yet. If you sleep every day, you will never get enough sleep. So when you feel sleepy, make an effort to reach the place where there is no sleepiness, and then you will need no more sleep. Get up and walk up and down. Keep your attention at the spot where the air touches when you breathe in and out. If you keep it fixed on this spot with full effort, at some time you will find the place of no sleep. There is no gI wonft find it,h there is only a gI havenft got there yet.h You will get it.
If you sleep and postpone meditation until you are rested, you will wake up when it is light and there will be no time left to meditate. I am just telling you what the Buddha taught. There is nothing I know. Everything the Buddha taught is true.
All of you have to make a living, work, toil, and shoulder burdens, donft you?
D: Yes, sir.
S: So let us be simple. You breathe, donft you? D: Yes, sir, we do.
S: So, simply be aware of the in-breath, the out-breath, and the point below the nose where the air touches. It goes in and out without interruption, doesnft it?
D: Yes, sir, thatfs right.
S: Only when your attention wanders away is the continuity broken. And then, donft allow your attention to follow the breath. Your attention should always remain with this small spot. When you keep your attention there at the spot, your respiration will become soft and subtle. Once it has become subtle, you donft have to make it rough again. The Buddha taught that we have to make the rough and harsh subtle and fine. The Buddha didnft say that we should make the subtle rough. When you feel the spot, touching it with your finger, your attention will not wander to other objects. Canft you fix your attention firmly on the spot with the breathing?
D: I can, sir.
S: Will greed, aversion, and delusion still arise when your attention is focused on the spot? When you are well concentrated, even for a short moment, your mind is cleansed of greed, aversion, and delusion for that short moment. Canft you keep your attention fixed on the spot for a longer time-span?
D: Yes, sir, I can.
S: So, make a strong effort and keep your attention here. If you keep it there, is there any drowsiness or laziness disturbing you?
D: They donft come up, sir.
S: But what will happen if you reduce your effort? D: Laziness will come in, sir.
S: Sloth and laziness will come, and your concentration will become weak. This is because youfre at the beginning; later it will improve. And then you should view this laziness as a friend, not as an enemy, and you will get used to it. Though it comes, you will not get lazy any more. When we feel sleepy, we say, gThis is good. Now I want to find the place where one doesnft feel sleepy quickly. Then there will be an end to sleeping.h Work, fix your attention firmly on the spot as I just instructed you, and when your limbs ache, know: gThe only way out of this is to get to a place where there is no pain.h Now, if the discomfort becomes very intense, is it too difficult then? It is not difficult. Donft worry about all this. Simply keep your attention on the spot. Put it back on the spot. Donft allow it to go away! If it runs away, you will never get to the place I just told you about.
Though we canft avoid being offered food and having to eat it, donft
you think that we can keep our attention at the spot and eat? Do you think you will make comments like, gToo much salt, too little salt,h about the food that your wife, daughter, granddaughter brought from home?
D: I wouldnft make that sort of comment, sir.
S: So, if they offered you food that was far too salty, would you become angry?
D: No, sir, I wouldnft.
S: Do you think you would even notice that the food had too much salt? D: No, sir.
S: Why? Because you are aware of something far better, so you donft notice their food. If you get upset and angry about food, even though you are observing the eight precepts, and you die at that moment of anger, where will you go?
D: To the lower worlds, sir.
S: If you work with proper effort, not just superficially, will you even know whether the food tastes good or bad?
D: No, sir.
S: Keep your mind steadfastly focused on the spot. Your daily work neednft suffer. It doesnft cost you anything. Others wonft know about it. Will you practise the sitterfs practice tonight?40 Keep your attention on the spot and you will find it very easy. If you feel drowsy, or if you are aching, say: gGood, it has come early,h and then concentrate still harder on the spot.
If you reach the goal before drowsiness and discomfort come up, so much the better. If these disturbances donft manifest themselves, donft stop working, thinking, gIf they donft even come up now, there is no need to work to get to a place where they donft exist.h Just keep working.
Will you undertake the sitterfs practice? Or will you, when sleepiness and tiredness set in, change to another (of the four) postures and reduce your effort?
D: We wonft reduce our effort, sir.
S: All of you, or just a few among you? D: All of us, sir.
S: So, if you keep each other company, so much the better. Now, then, undertake to carry out the sitterfs practice!
Ifll say it in Pāḷi, you repeat after me:
Seyyaṃ paṭikkhippami, nesajjikaṅgaṃ samādiyāmi.41
(I shall abstain from lying down. I undertake the sitterfs practice.)
You may think, gIt wasnft right that we just gave in to sleepiness in the past.h Well, now you have undertaken the sitterfs practice, and I think it is for the first time isnft it?
D: Yes, sir, the first time.
S: This is the weapon. With this weapon you can fight your battle. With this weapon you will be victorious. If you fight with a pillow as a weapon, you cannot win.
I shall tell you a story you probably already know. At the time of the Buddha, there was a rich lady who owned a big estate. When she became old, she distributed the inheritance among her children. But the children, after receiving the money, didnft care for their mother any more. She was not treated well in the houses of her sons and daughters and she was in distress. When she was about eighty or ninety years old, the neighbours had her ordained as a nun (bhikkhunī), as they couldnft bear to see her poverty and suffering. When the nuns of her nunnery were invited for alms food to a house one day, they all went. Only Soṇā Therī,42 our old woman, had to
stay back because she was too old to go along.
Before they left the nunnery they said to Soṇā Therī, gYou are very old, you canft come with us. But fill the water pots for drinking water, and those for washing hands and feet, so that everything is ready when we return, and also prepare some hot water.h
But this nun was very old. To carry the water she had to use a small pot, and as she was working away, she got very tired. But she didnft rest. She forced herself to do what she had been ordered to do. Because she overworked herself, she fell down between the water pots, and couldnft lift herself up. She wasnft pretending; she was exhausted from carrying water. She had been given the teachings of the Buddha. So she thought, gWell...
I canft fill the pots any more. There is more water to be carried and I havenft prepared any hot water yet either. But I canft even get up. I will take up an object of meditation given by the Buddha.h And she started meditating as we did. She fixed her attention firmly on the spot. She focused her attention so that it stayed there, whatever happened. Thatfs all! And as she was meditating with strong effort, she did what had to be done and made an end to suffering.
Of course she was full of the bliss of emancipation. When the others came back, they couldnft find her. gWhere could this old nun have gone?h they said and looked all over the nunnery. Eventually they found her lying between the water pots, and they all gathered around her and abused her. gNow what about our orders? You didnft fill the pots, and there is no hot water either. You are so lazy that you just lie down and sleep.h
But the old nun was absorbed in bliss. The other nuns were worldlings, of course, and they stood there blaming her. gLook how lazy she is. No water pot is full, no hot water. Just lying around!h
You too can talk like that, canft you? Not pleasant talk. But this nun was an Arahat. She had attained Arahatship along with the super-normal powers. She said: gAll that you desire will be done. There will be water in the pots and there will be hot water too.h And after saying this, she made a strong determination, and the water pots were filled to the brim and the hot water was boiling over.
This nun was very old, and in exhaustion she fell down and could not get up again. She practised as you are doing now. Do you hear this? How long will it take you to reach the goal, you who are healthy and strong?
D: We shall work hard.
S: Will you still say, gOh, we are old; we canft practise any moreh? Soṇā Therī was eighty or ninety years old and she still carried the water as she had been told to do. When she fell down in exhaustion she just meditated. The disciples of Buddha attained the goal because their power of effort was great.
You have the teachings, the technique. All you need now is effort. And why do you need effort? Because during meditation the enemies will come to disturb you.
Keep your attention on this small spot. If your limbs ache, work so that you reach the state where there is no aching. When you are drowsy, work so that you reach the state where there is no drowsiness. Good, good c establish effort and meditate, work to make an end to all suffering.
DISCOURSE
SEVEN
To
Light a Fire
SAYÁDAW: You have taken the moral precepts; now practise them. Only when your practice of morality (sīla) is perfect can you fulfil your aspirations for awakening. Having perfected yourselves in sīla, you have to perform various other meritorious practices, and these can take you to the pinnacle and the fulfilment of your aspirations.
The teachings of the Buddha are enshrined in the Tipiṭaka. These teachings were not given by the Buddha just to be preached and studied. You are good people; you have to practise the teachings with unwavering effort from the time you obtain them in order to escape from this suffering. Do not get confused about the teachings. We donft have to know many techniques, only one; but that we should know clearly. If we establish one technique with strong effort and get rid of all doubts, then, without asking
anyone else, we shall find the answers.
Choose one technique and practise it steadfastly. If you focus your mind at the small spot where the air touches when you breathe in and out, then there will be no greed, no aversion, no delusion, and as these three are absent, you are immediately out of suffering. So, for a short moment your mind is pure. Now, if your last mind-moment came up at this time and you died, would there be anything to be worried about or to be afraid of?43
The benefits accruing to you from this practice donft last for just a short moment or one lifetime. This short moment of purity will bring benefits for the remainder of the cycle of birth and death. And why can you accomplish this? Because the time is right, your form of existence is right, and you are putting forth right effort.
The disciples of the Buddha took the practice from the Teacher and worked with unwavering perseverance. Therefore, they achieved the awakening they had aspired for.
How did they work? In the same way as a man who wants to light a fire with a fire stick, as in the olden days. They rubbed two pieces of wood together, and heat was produced. Eventually the wood started to glow, and then they could light a fire. So, if a man wants to start a fire in this way and rubs two pieces of wood together does he count: gOne rub, two rubs, three rubs ch?
DISCIPLE: No, sir, that wouldnft work very well. S: How would he have to do it then?
D: He would have to rub continuously until he got a flame.
S: Yes, when they wanted to start a fire in those days, this was the only way to do it. They had to rub with strong determination and without taking breaks. Now, if one were to rub two pieces of wood together in this way, how long would it take for the fire to start?
D: When it gets hot enough, the fire will start, sir. S: Will that take long?
D: Not very long, sir.
S: No, if this man works with determination, it doesnft take long. It is just the same with this practice here. You want fire. You know that if you rub these two pieces of wood together you can have it. Now, if you count, gOne rub, two rubs ch it will become a little hot. And then you take rest for a while. Will you start a fire?
D: No, sir.
S: Okay, so you start again, once, twice, three times c and again heat is produced. Then you lay back again and take a bit of rest. Will you start a fire?
D: No, sir.
S: And if you continue in this way for a whole month? D: We wonft get fire.
S: And if you continue for a whole year?
D: It will just get warm, sir, but there will be no fire.
S: Now, what if you were to work like this for one hundred years? D: It will just become warm, sir.
S: In that case, there is no fire in these two pieces of wood?
D: There is fire, sir, but the effort and perseverance are not sufficient.
S: It is just the same with our work. You have to work as the fire maker does, without taking rest. Soon it will become hot and then, before long, a fire will start.
Only then will you be able to use the fire in the way you want. You should all make the effort to fulfil your aspiration for awakening. You have received the teachings of the Buddha. Now you have to work so that your efforts are equal to the efforts of those wise men of old who attained their goal. The teachings of the Buddha are the only path out of suffering, and you can practise them only when a Buddha has arisen, and as long as his teachings are available. When a Buddhafs teachings are unavailable, you cannot fulfil your aspiration for Nibbāna. But when a Buddha arises in the world, he expounds right conduct (caraṇa) and understanding (vijjā), which lead out of suffering. If you use the opportunity and put them into practice, you will become perfect. Right conduct can also be practised when there are no teachings of a Buddha, but insight or understanding is not available. What exactly does right conduct mean? Now that the teachings of a Buddha are available, all of you untiringly give the four requisites of food, robes, shelter, and medicine to the monks. When you give, you offer the best you can afford. But still you are not satisfied yet; you want to do more and more. This is good conduct (caraṇa)?
To practise the teachings of the Buddha to the point of being able to escape from all suffering, we have to be aware of one single object continuously, without break or interruption. If we are thus aware, we are practising understanding (vijjā). Practising both together and being perfect in effort, the wise men of old attained to the awakening to which they aspired.
You may think, gWell, we make offerings to the teachings by giving food, clothing, shelter, and medicine to the monks. To realize the teachings for ourselves we would have to practise insight. We shall do that if we have some free time after preparing our offerings.h Now if you work like this, are you practising right conduct or insight?
D: It is right conduct, sir.
S: When you have fulfilled your duties and keep your mind steadfastly focused on one single object, what are you practising then?
D: Wisdom, sir.
S: So, what happened to right conduct? When you keep your attention focused on the spot, are you still practising right conduct?
D: Yes, sir, then we are practising right conduct (caraṇa) and understanding (vijjā) at the same time.
S: Yes, you can practise the two jointly. First you prepare food and then you meditate. Thus we have to perfect ourselves in both practices, in right conduct and understanding. But you practise right conduct first, and only then do you practise understanding. Is it not possible to practise these emancipating teachings of the Buddha simultaneously? Is it not possible to be aware of the in-breath and the out-breath even while preparing food or while building a monastery?
D: Itfs possible, sir.
S: You see, this is the way the wise disciples of the Buddha used to practise. They had the ability to accept good advice and instructions. Do you think they might have thought, gOur parents, who are our highest possessions and to whom we owe an infinite debt of gratitude, are getting old. We have to serve them day and night, therefore we canft meditateh?
D: Sir, some must have thought in this way.
S: Is the fulfilment of onefs duties towards parents included in right conduct or in understanding?
D: It is right conduct, sir.
S: Isnft it possible to be aware of mind and matter while you look after your parents?
D: Itfs possible, sir.
S: Now that you know that the wise men of old practised right conduct and understanding simultaneously, do you still consider it impossible to practise understanding while serving your children and grandchildren? Canft you train your mind in the awareness of mind and matter at the same time that you are fulfilling all your duties? Wherever you are, whatever you do, you can practise right conduct and meditation at the same time. When your children are good, you can be aware of the in-breath and out-breath, and when they are naughty and you have to correct them, then too you can practise. Tell me, what element of the training is your correcting the children?
D: It is right conduct, sir.
S: So, if you practise awareness while scolding them, what are you practising? D: Understanding, sir.
S: If we practise awareness while we do what we have to do, will we suffer? Does it cost us anything? Does it disturb our work?
D: No, sir. If one works with awareness the work is completed more quickly. S: If you donft allow yourselves to be distracted, you will work faster,
and you will earn more money. Your aspiration to Nibbāna too will be fulfilled more quickly. All the beings who practise in this way can fulfil their aspirations. There is not a single second in which it isnft possible to fulfil your aspiration. How about those human beings, devas, and brahmās who donft practise the teachings of the Buddha, though the time is good? Do they attain the fulfilment of their aspirations?
D: Those who donft make effort canft fulfil their aspirations, sir.
S: Why? Is it because they arenft reborn in the right plane of existence or because it isnft the right time?
D: No, sir, but without effort nothing can be accomplished. S: Maybe they donft have sufficient pāramīs?
D: Maybe some canft grasp the teachings because they havenft completed their perfections sufficiently in the past, sir.
S: But if you donft put forth effort, can you still claim that you donft understand because of missing pāramīs?
D: Those who have accumulated perfections in the past attain the stages of Nibbāna when they listen to the teachings. But we, sir, because we have no perfections, we listen to the Dhamma again and again, and we remain just the same.
S: The wise men of old were just like thirsty people. They were thirsty, so they looked for water. And when they found it, what did they do? Did they look up at the sky and say, gWell, we donft want to drink this water yeth? No, they were people who were really thirsty. What about you? You have the teachings of Buddha, do you drink them right away?
D: Sir, we linger and wait.
S: In that case it isnft true that you donft have any pāramīs. If you donft drink, your thirst will not be quenched. What will you do if you find yourselves sitting right next to the water pot?
D: Because we donft have a sufficient amount of pāramī, we just sit there, sir.
S: What will you do if you walk into a lake full of water?
D: When we walk down into the water we stretch out our neck and turn our face up towards the sky, sir. And if we should dive, sir, we shall keep our mouth firmly shut.
S: Now, are you still telling me that you are thirsty, but that you donft have the necessary understanding to be able to drink?
D: Sir, because we donft have the necessary conditioning, we donft open our mouth in the water.
S: If you really wanted to drink, would you still keep your mouth shut? D: If one really wanted to drink, one wouldnft, of course.
S: So you are saying, gThough I do want to drink, I do not want to drink!h Arenft you contradicting yourselves?
D: It is as if we pretended not to want to drink, sir.
S: Tell me then, if you are thirsty and just bear it, are you happy or unhappy? D: Unhappy, sir.
S: So, if you are unhappy, will you keep sitting near the water pot without drinking?
D: Sir, we see this kind of suffering as happiness.
S: Did the Buddha teach that this thirst is happiness? D: No, sir, he said it was suffering.
S: Now, tell me, what do you think is true, what the Buddha said or what you think?
D: Our view, that this is happiness, is wrong, sir. S: Do you want to be happy or unhappy?
D: Though we would like to be happy, we continue to create unhappiness for ourselves.
S: What is better, to listen to the Buddha or not to listen to the Buddha?
D: Sir, we know that we should follow the word of the Buddha, but still we continue to create suffering for ourselves.
S: In that case it seems as if you knew your own good, but that you are simply lazy.
D: Because our pāramīs are weak, we have to suffer from our own ignorance, sir.
S: Now, if there is water and you donft quench your thirst with it, is that because you have not perfected your pāramīs?
D: It is because of the lack of perfections that the power of ignorance is so overwhelming, sir.
S: Tell me, what is more powerful, understanding (vijjā) or ignorance (āvijjā)? D: Sir, understanding is more powerful for human beings.
S: Then you know that the understanding the Buddha taught is powerful. D: Sir, we know that understanding is a good thing.
S: So, just associate yourselves with understanding. Whether you think that the power of ignorance is strong or whatever c You have learned now to distinguish between mind and matter. While you are aware of mind and matter in the way the Buddha taught, is there still ignorance prevailing?
D: While we are aware, sir, there is no ignorance.
S: Now, let us concentrate at the spot below the nose above the upper lip with the awareness of mind and matter (nāma and rūpa), just as the Buddha taught. When we anchor our attention thus, can ignorance stay? If you look out for it, will you be able to find it?
D: It will be completely gone, sir.
S: Are you still aware when it has gone? D: Sir, it has disappeared completely.
S: In that case, is the power of understanding greater or that of ignorance? D: The power of ignorance is great, sir.
S: Oh dear, how is it great? The poor thing just ran as fast as it could; you couldnft even see it any more.
D: But it comes back again and again, sir.
S: This is so because you allow it back in. If you allow only understanding and knowledge in, ignorance canft come back. But if you allow it back, then slowly your understanding will break up and ignorance takes over once more. It is like the electric lights in here. What do you need to switch on the lights?
D: Switches, sir.
S: What happens inside the switches so that we get light? D: Electricity flows through them, sir.
S: What happens if the flow is interrupted? D: It will become dark, sir.
S: What do you have to do to turn the darkness into light? D: We have to feed electricity to the bulbs, sir.
S: And where does the darkness go when the lights are lit? D: It disappears, sir.
S: Is any of the darkness left behind? D: No, sir.
S: When understanding shines, is there any ignorance left? D: No, sir.
S: In that case, is the power of ignorance great?
D: No, sir, it isnft.
S: Is it difficult to do what we did just now? D: Not very difficult, sir.
S: Donft we see the reality when light suddenly comes? D: We do, sir.
S: Will you still be able to go wrong? D: No, sir.
S: It is so easy! What did the wise disciples of the Buddha connect? If you want to switch on the light, you have to connect the wires inside the switch so that electricity flows. So, gently keep your attention on the spot; it will connect. Do you understand?
D: We would like to give this up, sir.
S: Just concentrate your attention there. Gently. Do you become tired if you focus your mind in this way?
D: No, sir.
S: Does it cost you anything? D: No, sir.
S: Do you have to stop your work? D: No, sir.
S: Isnft this wonderful? You can practise in all the four postures: sitting, standing, walking, and lying down. Can you keep your attention at the spot with the awareness of the in-breath and out-breath even while you are eating, drinking, and working?
D: Please, sir, teach us how to be aware of the breath while we are moving about and working.
S: You know about many different techniques, but you donft have to practise them all. Choose one and work with it. If you keep your mind steadfastly focused on one object, you will immediately be aware of what you have not been aware of before, just as you see light as soon as you turn on the switch. Can there still be wrong view and delusion in your mind while you are thus aware?
D: No, sir, but as we donft know where the light switches are, we have to remain sitting in the dark.
S: Oh dear, youfve got so many switches! Whichever you turn on, the light will come.
D: Sir, because there are so many switches, I donft know which one to turn on. S: Any one will do; the results will be immediate.
D: When I press that switch, sir, the light bulb immediately burns up.
Thatfs why I thought it was the wrong switch.
S: It doesnft burn up; it will light the bulb. Even if it shorts out one day; when you try again, it will certainly burn.
D: But I donft know where to press the switch, sir.
S: You know the switches; you have been taught so many techniques by the monks who have compassion for you. Now, do not try them all. Select one only.
D: Sir, please teach us this one technique!
S: Every technique the Buddha taught will work as a switch to turn on the light.
D: We would like to learn a technique by which we can perfect our conduct and train ourselves in understanding while we work, walk, or sit, sir.
S: Well then, tell me: do not all of you, big and small, breathe? D: Yes, sir, we do.
S: So, there is no one here who doesnft know how to breathe. Can you say sometimes, gSorry, I am very busy now. I donft have time to breatheh?
D: No, sir.
S: So then, it is very easy for you to breathe, isnft it? Now just try to find out where the air comes out when you breathe out.
D: It comes out of the nose, sir.
S: Is there any other place where it comes out? D: No, sir, there is only one place.
S: Yes, there is only one place. So, donft come and tell me that there are so many switches that you donft know which one to press. You are all breathing, arenft you? Where does this air touch when you breathe out?
D: It touches at a point at the base of the nose, sir.
S: What happens when the air enters? Where does it touch? D: It touches again there, at the same spot, sir.
S: So, this is quite obvious to you: The air brushes over a small spot at the base of the nose as you breathe in and out. You are aware of this, arenft you?
D: Yes, sir.
S: Donft allow the mind to wander away to other objects. Can you feel the spot where the air touches just as if you were touching it with your finger? Put your attention there and keep it there. Donft follow the breath outside the nostrils. Keep your attention quietly and calmly at the spot, and you will be able to know how the air goes in and out. The flow of air is continuous, isnft it?
D: Yes, sir, it is.
S: You can be aware of it without the slightest interruption. If you keep your attention there, there is only the awareness of mental properties and physical properties (nāma and rūpa). Now under which of the two do the nostrils come, under mind or under matter?
D: Sir, as far as I know, the nostrils are matter.
S: What is the entity that knows the touch sensation? D: Sir, that which knows is mind (nāma).
S: So you are aware of mind and matter at the same time. If you are aware of mind and matter, are there still some more other entities of which you arenft aware?
D: No, sir, there is nothing apart from mind and matter.
S: Is being aware of mind and matter ignorance or knowledge? D: It is knowledge, sir.
S: If one has no awareness of mind and matter, what do we call that? D: That we call ignorance, sir.
S: Can ignorance still influence us while we are training ourselves in understanding?
D: No, sir, it canft.
S: Is there still cause for worry and fear about the present and the future? D: No, sir, there isnft.
S: Even if you are aware for just one short moment, you benefit. How much will you receive if you can keep up this awareness for a longer period?
D: The benefits must be many, sir.
S: Will there still be doubt in your mind about your own ability to attain the awakening to which you have aspired?
D: No, sir.
S: You can reach your goal even quicker than you thought. Of course you still have to fulfil your duties towards your teachers, parents, and children. You have to support the teachings of the Buddha. You have to make a living. If you donft fulfil all these duties, is your sīla perfect?
D: It isnft, sir.
S: If your moral conduct isnft perfect, can you attain your goal? D: No, sir, it is impossible.
S: Tell me: When or where is it not possible to practise right conduct and meditation simultaneously?
D: It is never too difficult, sir, even if one is ill.
S: If your insight develops through your practice, do you still need to tell others that you have become happy through the Buddha-Dhamma?
D: It isnft necessary to tell others, sir.
S: And if you donft talk about it, does it mean that you donft know about your own happiness?
D: Even if we donft tell everyone, we still know for ourselves, sir.
S: In just the same way noble people know. You know for yourselves how much you have got now, and when you reach the goal, then you will know. If you write on a piece of paper that salt is salty and someone reads this, he knows that salt is salty, doesnft he?
D: Of course, sir.
S: And if you just tell someone that salt is salty, will he know? D: Why, certainly, sir.
S: But tell me, will salt become salty just by your writing so or saying so? D: No, sir, of course not.
S: If you read that salt is salty, do you actually know that this is so?
D: Though one understands that it is salty, one doesnft actually know how salt tastes. Only if we put some salt on our tongue and taste it shall we actually know what gsaltyh means.
S: If you have tasted it and know it is salty, do you still have to read about it? Do you still have to make declarations about its taste?
D: No, sir.
S: If we tell our neighbour about its taste, will he know then? D: He will just have heard about it, sir.
S: What do we have to do to make him know?
D: We have to give him some salt and make him taste. Otherwise, what he knows is just hearsay, sir.
S: Do you know for sure that right conduct and insight and wisdom constitute the path to the release from suffering?
D: Yes, sir, we know.
S: If you read that salt is salty and consider this knowledge to be quite sufficient, then that is where you stop. But if you want to make sure, you have to taste for yourselves. Is it sufficient to read that salt is salty and then have this confirmed by me?
D: Sir, you wouldnft lie. If you tell me it is salty, that is quite sufficient for me. S: Now you are going back on what you said earlier. You know salt is salty from hearing and reading about it, but only if you really know for yourselves will you become happy. If you tell somebody that salt is salty and he blindly accepts what you say, then he wonft even feel the desire to taste for himself. After all, he thinks he knows. With this notion in mind, he wonft see the need to taste it. It is not easy to know for oneself that salt is salty. Salt does exist. Take it, taste it. Then you will know for yourselves
and there will be no need to ask others.
D: Sir, yesterday I did taste a little bit of salt.
S: Really? Why only a little? Did the salt run out? D: No, sir, there is plenty of it.
S: Then take it! Donft just taste a little bit. Use as much as you need.
Every single one of you has got some salt, havenft you?
D: Yes, sir. We havenft eaten our full yet, sir, but we are satisfied with tasting just a little.
S: But, of course, you are not thinking of leaving it at that, are you?
D: Well, sir, not actually, but as time goes by everything changes. We planned something last year and already a year has passed c
S: Now, this time, donft merely think. How many gthinkersh were there at the time of the Buddha?
D: They were as numerous as grains of sand on the beach, sir.
S: You still have to make effort and meditate. You still have to strive to understand the teachings of the Buddha. You are planning to do that, arenft you? Will you only think about putting forth effort in this life also?
D: If we only think about it, sir, we shall again be left behind in the cycle of birth and death.
S: Now then, there is no problem. gIn the past we missed out because we were only thinking about making effort, but now we know that there is fire in the two pieces of wood. We shall rub them together.h Thinking in this way, there will be effort and also the desire to fight the battle c Have you got hold of the two pieces of wood? If I continue talking, you will think, gThis monk is talking for a long time.h I shall stop now. Only if you work can you make an end of it.
If you have the desire to work, then meditate, work hard, apply yourselves with the same effort and determination as did the Noble Ones of old.
DISCOURSE
EIGHT
A
Happiness That Ever Grows
WEBU SAYÁDAW:44 Be perfect in the practice of sīla. Only if your practice is perfect will all your aspirations of the present time and of the future be fulfilled without exception. Because this is true, the aspirations of the good people of the past who practised and strove were fulfilled completely. You too have to take up the practice of that sīla that brought about their happiness. Work hard and perfect yourselves in it.
Being perfect in sīla, keep your mind straight and practise generosity (dāna) as it pleases you, giving your possessions yourselves with sincerity to those who are worthy. Approach and give your offerings and your respect to the peerless Buddha and his teaching, keeping in mind your aspiration for awakening, Nibbāna. This type of aspiration is called right aspiration. What you realize when you penetrate the Four Noble Truths is called bodhi. There are different types of bodhi: sammā-sambodhi (Buddhahood), pacceka-bodhi (Non-teaching Buddhahood), sāvaka-bodhi (Arahatship). There are different types of Arahatship: agga-sāvaka (chief discipleship), mahā-sāvaka (leading discipleship), pakati-sāvaka (simple discipleship as an Arahat). You
have always to keep in mind your aspirations for Nibbāna, the highest goal.
Aspirations thus taken are well taken. After having perfected yourself according to your aspiration, attain Nibbāna. The noble persons who have attained Nibbāna are innumerable. Why could they bring their various aspirations for bodhi to fruition? Because they had been born into the right form of existence at the right time and because they exerted proper effort. When is the time that these aspirations can be brought to fruition?
From the moment the Buddha attained awakening, many human beings, devas, and brahmās came to the Buddha to pay respects and to show their devotion. But no human being, no deva, and no brahmā was satisfied by merely being in the presence of the Buddha and having the opportunity to pay respects. The Buddha observed them through his mindfs eye and taught them the truth that he had penetrated through his own super-knowledge, his omniscience. As soon as they received the instructions of the Buddha, they began to practise, to exert themselves with unwavering energy in all the four postures of the body. This effort, which is continuous without break or pause and full of joy, is called good effort. When their effort was perfect and equal to the effort of the wise men of old, they arrived at their goal in due time and all the aspirations of their hearts came to an end. Because they had achieved this state they were exceedingly happy and blissful.
What was the nature of their happiness, their bliss? It was not happiness or bliss that lasted for only a moment or a single lifetime; it was that happiness that is so great it is able to last for the remainder of saṃsāra. Even if you are born in the human plane for only one life, you are able to to rise above the suffering of the cycle of birth and death.
In this way happiness and bliss come to you. When one has attained this happiness, when one has received the sign of bliss, when one has reached the goal, there is no jealous guarding of a secret. No, you will want all human beings, devas, and brahmās to attain this bliss and happiness. As you know for yourself how to attain this happiness, the actions of body, speech, and mind will always be in harmony with the cause of attaining Nibbāna. You will act with joy as your base.
How could so many human beings, devas, and brahmās attain such high states of bliss? Only because they knew that they were going to bring the aspirations of their heart to fruition.
What are the things that support the Buddhafs teachings? They are the donation of shelter, robes, alms food, and medicine for the monks. Having understood this, they practised it. With these four requisites the wise supported the teachings of the Buddha. While they supported the teachings of the Buddha by donating the four requisites, many human beings devas, and brahmās received the instructions of the Buddha. They were endowed with the ability to understand and follow the instructions and they practised with a joyful mind without taking rest as the wise of old. When they thus practised they attained their goal without delay. In just one moment innumerable human beings, devas, and brahmās fulfilled the wish of their heart. The energetic people saw this and supported the teachings of the Buddha and established them in a very short time. But they didnft do only this; this didnft satisfy them yet. In order to strengthen and make firm the teachings they would also meditate. So they were full of good volition, and they were accordingly endowed with unwavering effort and faith. Since the time of the Buddha there have been such noble people who supported and carried out the teachings of Buddha with supreme effort, and ever since the days of the Buddha human beings, devas, and brahmās have been attaining Nibbāna. The number of those who have reached the goal in just a short moment canft be reckoned, let alone the number of all who have attained Nibbāna.
Now the good time for all the various noble people has come. This is
so because the time when a Buddha and his teachings blossom is the good time. The existences of human beings, devas, and all the happy abodes are good. Having been born into one of these, people accepted the teachings as you are doing now. They practised with full effort and arrived at the goal.
After his awakening the Buddha honoured Rājagaha before any other country with his presence. The king of this great city, Bimbisāra, came to the Buddha and because he received the teachings and followed them, he attained the goal. He was full of bliss. He wanted others to attain the same bliss, and understanding the reason, the cause for his happiness, he donated the four requisites. He did this so that his mother, father, grandmother, and grandfather could fulfil their aspirations completely. The Buddha, out of his great compassion, dwelt in the kingfs delightful garden. Humans, devas, and brahmās came to revere him there and with great compassion he taught them what he had realized himself. In just one short moment innumerable humans, devas, and brahmās achieved their aspirations. And after this it went on and on. The good time for all the people with noble aspirations had come! The time at which there is a Buddha or his teaching is the good time. Human life, life as a deva or a brahmā, is a good life. Good effort is called the effort that is established after one has received the teachings. And what are the Buddhafs teachings? Everything in the Tipiṭaka preached and explained by noble disciples out of loving kindness and compassion is the Buddhafs teaching. They are very extensive, profound, and difficult to understand. Though they are extensive, profound, and difficult to understand, they really are just one thing: the way of escape from suffering. They are expounded by the wise in brief and in full as time permits, and everyone has knowledge of them according to his capability. You all have some understanding of the Tipiṭaka in accordance with your capabilities.
If you were to talk about what you know it would never end.
But you have to establish strong effort and focus your mind on one object according to the teachings of the Buddha, as I said, and keep out all other objects. When you fix your mind on one object exclusively with strong and stable effort, then you will be established in the teachings. Isnft that so?
U BA KHIN: Yes, sir.
S: To establish your attention thus is effort (viriya). When you fix your attention on one object and no other object enters your mind and your attention is stable, you reach viriya-iddhipāda.45 Because the teachings are so extensive you may think it tiresome to practise them. That is why I instruct you in this way, that you can reach the goal quickly.
What happens to the causes of suffering—lobha, dosa, and moha (greed, aversion, and delusion)—when you control your mind in this way?
U: They are cut out and become quiet.
S: People write and preach a lot about greed, aversion, and delusion, donft they? When they debate, they talk only to win the debate, whoever they are talking to. But if they establish awareness of breathing and make their minds stable, they acquire real merit. Why donft we try to do this?
U: Yes, sir.
S: Will there be worry, fear, and greed at that time? U: There wonft be.
S: No, there wonft; there wonft be any worry, fear, or greed. If there is worry, fear, or greed, are you happy or unhappy?
U: Unhappy, sir.
S: And if there is no worry, fear, or greed? U: Then one is happy.
S: If one establishes effort only for one split second the viriya-iddhipāda arises. It excludes worry, fear, and greed, and there is happiness. There are types of happiness which are not related to the happiness achieved through the Buddhafs teachings, but people still call them happiness. What sort of happiness am I talking about? I am talking about the happiness of becoming a human being or deva, of becoming a king, a rich man, a universal monarch, a deva king, a Sakka, or a brahmā. Of course their enjoyment is also called happiness c But let me give an example. If you were asked to bear the golden royal insignia and live in the golden palace of a country that abounded with gold, silver, gems, rice, water, and paddy, that was plentiful in everything, would you accept this offer or not?
U: Of course I would accept.
S: Of course you would accept. This country is so rich that there is absolutely nothing missing. So you would live wearing your crown in your golden palace smiling all the time. So I think, smiling like that all the time, you would enjoy yourself; you would be happy, wouldnft you? Would this happiness keep worry, fear, and wanting away?
U: No, it wouldnft. S: Oh, really?
U: It wouldnft, sir.
S: I mean at that moment, you see. U: It wouldnft.
S: Why are they all smiling and happy then?
U: Somebody could try to usurp the kingdom. If something happens in his territory he would have duties to fulfil.
S: There is nothing like that. This country is so good that there is no danger or worry of that kind. It is a very peaceful country. There is no problem at all; everything is calm and quiet. It is that kind of country. No troubles at all; you just have to live in the golden palace wearing your crown. You simply live there with your ministers, troops, concubines, and wives. You live always with a smile on your face. Will worry, fear, greed, and anxiety be kept at bay in these circumstances? You are always smiling and happy. So, do you think there is any worry?
D: There will be, sir.
S: Why?
D: Because there is the fear of death.
S: Yes, there will still be the fear of death. But you are smiling still.
What is this smiling? What are greed, aversion and delusion?
U: They wonft be kept away.
S: Even smiles donft keep them away? U: No, sir.
S: What do smiles mean?
U: They indicate that the object of mind is lobha (greed). S: Really? Is one happy if there is lobha?
U: No, sir.
S: Is lobha cool and pleasant? U: No, it isnft.
S: Is it kusala (skilful) or akusala (unskilful)? U: It is akusala.
S: Are you happy when you are smiling as we just said? U: No, sir.
S: But you are smiling great smiles, arenft you? But you arenft happy yet. You are king, arenft you? Maybe you arenft happy because you rule only one country? Ifll give you another one. So?
U: Even then I wonft be any happier.
S: Are you going to tell me that you donft want another country? U: No, sir, I would take it.
S: You would take it, but still not be happy. Well, I wonft give you just another country; Ifll give you the whole continent. Will you tell me that you donft want it?
U: No, sir.
S: So, will you be happier then? U: I wonft be happier.
S: Really? All right, I wonft give you just another continent, but the whole planet and the jewel of the wheel of the universal monarch. Now, there wonft be any worry or fear. With the turning of the jewel of the wheel you will become a universal monarch. Will you be happy now?
U: I wonft, sir.
S: Will you feel calm and cool? U: I wonft.
S: Why not, disciple?
U: There is still the burning of greed, aversion and delusion? S: Oh, is it still there?
U: Itfs still there.
S: So you arenft happy yet. Well now, what about Sakka, the brahmās, and the deva kings?
U: The same applies to them too.
S: We said they were happy and now you tell me the contrary? U: The objects of their minds are greed, aversion and delusion?
S: Oh really? Let it be. If one lives to a ripe old age always smiling and then dies smilingly, will he find peace in the cycle of births and deaths?
U: He wonft find peace.
S: Where will this smiling fellow go?
U: When the (good) kamma of this smiling person comes to an end, his fate will turn.
S: Yes, and where will this smiling fellow end up?
U: Because of his smiling, the mind will be controlled by greed and he is destined for the lower worlds.
S: Oh really c I thought that being happy was good, disciples. Is it not good? I have to ask you, gIs it good?h
U: (Laughing) No, it isnft.
S: Okay, we are not happy yet. But when I asked whether we would be happy later on, you said no. There was no peace, you said.
U: There is no peace.
S: So, now there is no peace; what about later? Will it become just a little bit better?
U: It wonft improve, sir.
S: What will happen, in the lower planes c U: We will go to the lower planes.
S: Really? So, there is no peace now; there wonft be any after. Which is worse?
U: It will be worse later.
S: Oh c We all thought we were quite all right, but not so. But now wefve got the teachings of the Buddha and we can have as much of it as we want, canft we?
U: We can.
S: Endowed with the ability to accept the teachings we can take up one technique with steadfastness. Will the happiness that derives from this practice become less the more we use it, the more we practise?
U: It wonft.
S: Will it ever be exhausted? U: It wonft.
S: Oh, really? My word, this thing is good. Isnft it, my dear disciples? And if we use it all the time, continuously, will it then get used up, will it come to an end?
U: It will neither diminish nor get used up.
S: Wait a minute. We shall keep our attention focused while we are sitting like this, but while we are standing, can we still practise this?
U: We can.
S: And when we are walking? U: We can.
S: Yes, we have to carry the burden of our body. It is not the same as other worldly possessions. When you work hard to acquire various jewels and gold and are successful, you will store them away in a certain place, I think. But having acquired our body and mind, the five khandhas, is it possible to live with ease, happily and without making great efforts?
U: It isnft possible.
S: We have to shoulder our burden. We canft rest for a short moment even, can we? And for whom do we have to shoulder the burden of our bodies without ever taking rest?
U: For ourselves.
S: For the five aggregates.
U: For the five aggregates, sir.
S: Yes, we have to work, disciples. If I practise this awareness a lot, then I donft want to miss the happiness that derives from it. Isnft it possible to practise this all the time?
U: It is possible, sir.
S: This is very good. Will it diminish? U: No, sir, it wonft.
S: Is it tiresome to keep up this awareness? U: It isnft tiresome.
S: Will you use up material goods you have saved up? U: No, sir.
S: You wonft. What about your work; will it be disturbed? U: It wonft be disturbed.
S: Will others know about our practice? U: They wonft notice.
S: Oh, the other people wonft notice? Yes, disciple, when we have the teachings of the Buddha and practise them continuously, when we are able to focus our mind on the object, we wonft get tired, will we?
U: We wonft, sir.
S: We wonft spend anything; our work wonft be disrupted, and others wonft even notice. You receive the teachings in no time and then you say to yourself, gNow I shall follow these teachings.h When you have this volition and put forth effort then the viriya-iddhipāda factor will arise and you will arrive at the goal in no time. If you take up the practice now, will your progress be slow or fast, my disciples?
U: According to circumstances, sir, sometimes it will be slow, sometimes c
S: No! Wait, wait c U: Yes, sir.
S: Never mind about this. If I focus my attention according to the teachings and keep it with the awareness of respiration, isnft this much possible?
U: It is possible.
S: Is this quick or slow? U: It is quick, sir.
S: You see. If you establish effort, the viriya-iddhipāda factor arises.
Can you say how quick this is?
U: Yes, sir.
S: Have you put your attention there and does it stay? U: Yes, sir.
S: As I decide to put it there, it stays, doesnft it? U: It does.
S: So if it stays, you have reached happiness. Are you able to speak as quickly as this happiness is able to arise?
U: I am not, sir.
S: It is easy to achieve happiness if you want it. U: Yes, sir.
S: This is the highest sort of kusala. Do you hear? This is the highest, the highest. Only if you have pāramī can you be born as a human and receive the Buddha-Dhamma. This type of kusala cannot be put in numbers. Do you understand? Then, the six qualities of the Dhamma are there; the qualities of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Saṅgha. When the Buddha taught this, people understood. Among the six qualities of the Dhamma, akāliko is one, isnft it? What does akāliko mean?
U: Immediateness.
S: Immediateness means that as soon as you fix your attention the results come. So, if you establish effort with intelligence the results come so quickly that you canft say gthereh quicker than they come. Or you canft even think that fast. Is it so? If you establish awareness now, if you keep it here with your effort, happiness arises in the very same moment. This is immediate; who would have to question this any more?
U: Who would have to doubt his own experience?
S: Yes, when happiness has arisen there is no looking for it any more. The answer comes by itself, doesnft it? It doesnft take any time. All of you are bright people, and you have understood the teachings of the wise and compassionate Buddha while still young, even before the words of instruction were complete. Though you understood, at times your mind will think as it pleases, but let us practise. What happens in the mind when we plan to practise to acquire kusala? gIfll perform kusala later on; now I have to do this quickly.h Doesnft this happen to you?
U: It does.
S: Is it good to think and speak like this? U: No, sir.
S: And then you make efforts and the viriya-iddhipāda factor has arisen.
What is the right thing to do?
U: The right thing to do is to practise.
S: Yes. If you want to become happier and happier, you have to put forth effort as soon as you have received the instructions of the Buddha and have accepted them. Then the viriya-iddhipāda factor will arise. When you make use of this factor that arises in a split second, does it get consumed?
U: It doesnft.
S: Does it diminish? U: It doesnft.
S: If you decide that the happiness you have is quite sufficient for now and the future and say, gI donft want to progress,h can you practise and not progress?
U: One will progress.
S: If you practise not just for a short time, but longer, will you achieve only as much as you get out of a short period of practice?
U: One will get more.
S: This is good, disciple. This is possible because we are now in an auspicious era, because we are born into the right form of existence, and because you make right efforts. The energetic get the true answer even without asking others. Very good. Do you hear? Isnft this so?
U: It is so.
S: So, even if we live with this happiness all the time, it wonft diminish; it wonft be used up. And what happens if one doesnft want to progress?
U: It isnft possible not to progress, sir.
S: Yes. If you aspire to this there must be many different troubles. Is it possible to attain bodhi or not?
U: It is possible.
S: It is possible now and in the future. So let us say, gI donft want to progress,h and then focus our minds. Is this possible?
U: It isnft possible not to progress if we work.
S: Do we achieve greater happiness the more we work? U: We do, sir.
S: We can attain bodhi and we can also choose the time and the place of birth. We can then choose a good existence as we wish. When you attain the happiness you desire, what else do you need.
U: Nothing else, sir.
S: You donft need anything; you just have to choose. Is choosing tiresome? U: It isnft, sir.
S: You can attain it at any time. There are four stages to Nibbāna. Is it possible only for certain types of Ariyas (individuals who have attained one of the four stages)? Do we have to choose the state of Nibbāna?
U: No, sir.
S: What about the place? U: It isnft necessary.
S: Yes. All by yourself, without any help? U: Itfs possible.
S: And in a crowd? If you go outside the pagoda it wonft be possible, I think. It is easy, isnft it? The Buddha, the all-compassionate and omniscient, taught many humans, devas, and brahmās the knowledge that he had attained by penetrating the truth himself. These beings, full of confidence after receiving the teachings, were able to fulfil their aspirations.
As you establish awareness you should establish continuous effort. There are many different types of people. Some are good at reciting or reading or preaching or explaining. I have no doubt about you, disciples, with whomever you compete you will win.
U: Yes, sir.
S: Yes, though others are victorious in their talk, will they achieve anything if they donft practise?
U: No.
S: So, whatfs the difficulty? Talking is tiresome, isnft it? All we have to do is to make efforts to bring to fruition the aspirations we have made and work as the wise ones of old. Understanding that we have to take up this work our minds will be focused. You are very busy. You may say, gWe will practise later when we are free.h Does this thought come up still?
U: It does.
S: Sometimes the mind is like that. But I think you donft actually say so? U: We might, sir.
S: You even speak your mind? U: We do.
S: Well, if you want to say this, never mind. But for the future canft you burn these impurities out? You have the teachings of the Buddha. When this happens to you, [when you want to procrastinate,] get rid of your doubts. Strive to find the answers without asking others. If you focus right now, wonft you get the answers immediately? Isnft this possible?
U: Yes, it is possible, sir.
S: It is possible to focus as you sit here.
U: Yes sir, it is.
S: Is it also possible to maintain the happiness you achieve in this way when you are standing up?
U: It is, sir.
S: Yes. And when you walk? U: Itfs possible then, too.
S: Yes, see, it is always possible.
U: If a person is able to maintain awareness, itfs possible.
S: What ability do you need? There is nothing difficult in it. Or is it difficult after all?
U: Once a person has acquired proficiency in this, it isnft difficult anymore.
S: He says that it is not possible to simply focus here. Just put your attention here. Thatfs all. Well, isnft that easy?
U: It is easy, sir.
S: It is ever so easy c The Buddha is incomparable. He accumulated virtues without ever resting. He completed his pāramīs on his own, working for the welfare of all, didnft he?
U: Yes, he did.
S: And because he could fulfil the pāramīs it is easy for us now, isnft it? It is easy. How is it today? You have to raise yourself up happily and complete your work. Then, depending on what your aspirations are, you simply take the bliss you desire. It is very easy. Donft be modest. Donft allow yourselves to think, gThis is not possible for me,h gThis is not suitable for us,h gThis is not proper for us,h gThis is not for me.h Aim at what you desire. You will get it. Isnft this so?
U: Yes, it is, sir.
S: In the days of the Buddha, too, devas, and brahmās came to the Buddha, worshipped him, and after they received his teachings, they achieved everything. They completed all their various aspirations, didnft they?
U: They did.
S: Isnft it possible to fulfil your aspiration by establishing unwavering effort while you are a king? Can we count the names of kings who attained complete understanding of the Dhamma?
U: They are without number, sir.
S: Many wealthy people made efforts and attained understanding while continuing their work in business, didnft they?
U: They did.
S: Isnft this possible? U: It is, sir.
S: Can you count how many wealthy people have done this? U: No, sir.
S: What about the people who were neither kings nor rich people.
U: They are innumerable.
S: All those who received the teachings and who followed them assiduously fulfilled their wishes, didnft they?
U: They did.
S: Humans and devas alike, all of them, lay disciple! What about today, lay disciple? The period is the same, the occasion is the same, the plane of existence is the same. If we simply establish our effort and accept the teachings, do we still have to choose certain times to practise?
U: There is no need for that. S: Really?
U: That is correct, sir.
S: Yes! The time and the form of existence is right. You can achieve your aspirations when you wish, canft you?
U: That is correct sir.
S: Yes! Do you understand? Before, they didnft practise because they were busy. How is it with this gIfll practise when Ifm freeh? Do we still have to set times like this?
U: It is not necessary to set aside certain times.
S: What happens if we practise only when we are free? If we stop the practice, then we wonft attain what we ought to attain. But now, we do our work and something else as well: we also fulfil our aspirations. We get two things done at the same time, donft we, lay disciples? What is better: to get one thing done or to get two things done at the same time?
U: It is better to get two things done at the same time, sir.
S: You see? Itfs worth keeping yourself busy. But, even though I say itfs worth keeping yourself busy, donft start enjoying being busy just for the sake of being busy—if you want to realize the teachings, I mean. Donft just keep running around all the time. If you establish viriya at the same time, the viriya-iddhipāda factor will arise. Make yourselves firm in this. If you say that you want to do this work but go on distracting yourselves here and there, your progress will be slow. On the other hand, if you establish this awareness and keep it up, working happily, then you will make progress. What about this work that you canft avoid having to do?
U: We will also make progress with that.
S: Yes, lay disciples. Not only do you get results in this noble work, you get much more besides. What I say is what the Buddha taught. Ifm not adding anything. Now, you are all people making great effort, arenft you? I just wanted to warn you. What I just mentioned [about being too busy] can happen at times. When you have holidays, you decide to come here and meditate for a few days. Then you have to go back to work and donft get time off anymore.
You donft come back. Does this happen sometimes?
U: Yes, it does.
S: Then you abandon the meditation, I think, donft you? Donft abandon it. Carry on with this awareness and at the same time do your work. Then you get two things in one go. You get two. If you postpone the work until your hours of leisure, you get only one benefit. The aspirations you are fulfilling are not ordinary ones, are they? You can attain to the highest, noblest bliss.
Now, what are these aspirations you are going to fulfil? There are the different forms of bodhi. Bodhi means the penetrative understanding of the Four Noble Truths. If you establish effort, saying that you want to get it, you can fulfil all your various aspirations for bodhi right now. This is not ordinary.
How are you going to fulfil your aspirations? Each type of bodhi has to be fulfilled in its own way: sammā-sambodhi as sammā-sambodhi, pacceka-bodhi as pacceka-bodhi. We must understand it in this way if we are to understand it correctly. It is like planting a mature seed. When it rains, a plant springs up. Here, the plant is nursed well, when you go back home, it has deep roots and is strong.
Is it possible to describe how good this period, this time, is? It is so easy now, lay disciples! Tell me, is this a period when one is oppressed by worries and has to groan and moan?
U: No, sir.
S: Is it a period when we can only stare resignedly? U: No, sir.
S: It is a period when we can be happy and blissful immediately, when we can never get enough of this joy. You get even more than you wanted. You get even more than you aspired to, donft you, disciple?
U: Yes, sir.
S: Oh yes! You never get tired, not in the present and not in the remainder of saṃsāra. What are the teachings of the Buddha? There is nothing in the teachings that causes stress and misery, is there? There isnft! It is pure happiness! There is one thing, however: the mind may get confused with many thoughts, and I donft think that these thoughts are very pertinent. Now, if you determine to establish this practice, then I donft think that thoughts of doubt will remain at the back of your mind. Can you not be successful in this way? The mind will think what it wills. Let it! Follow the teachings.
Do you understand? When you arrive at the goal, you will probably find that it isnft what you expected it to be. Doesnft this happen to people?
U: It has happened many times, sir.
S: Yes, it happens. Dear lay disciples, I am telling you only a little. Those among you who work hard will think, gThis monk is reluctant to tell us everything. He is stingy with giving away his knowlegde.h [Everybody laughs.] You will think, gThis is much greater than he said.h When you strive for real happiness and in this way arrive at the goal, then you experience something that you cannot describe with all the words there are. Once youfve decided, gIfll strive so that I will know for myself,h then donft procrastinate. Donft delay. Do you hear? This is so elevated. It is so good, lay disciples. Work hard. Do you understand? You are all people of great effort, arenft you?
U: Almost all of us, sir.
S: Yes. Good, good. Work hard, wonft you? You see, when you yourselves arrive at the goal—and for many of you even before that time— you can give this happiness to others. You will never feel reluctant to give.You will want to give a great deal of it, a great deal.
U: This is true, sir. In the course we are conducting now there are three or four students who, after about three days, cry with great sobs because they regret not having come here earlier.
S: Yes, it is like that.
U: They think, gI should have come earlier!h
S: Yes, this happens! Work hard in order to attain the highest. This place is very good.
U: It is a place to which you gave your blessings, Venerable Sayādaw!
S: This is the beginning. I also started from this place.45 Do you hear me? May this happiness spread slowly out from this place. Yes, yes, you must work hard, strive diligently. Working means that you must meditate at times, and then, at times, you will want to take rest. Does this also happen here?
U: It doesnft, sir. S: It doesnft?
U: If the students start to meditate at 12.30 P.M. they come out of their meditation cells only at 5.00 P.M. At the beginning, they do take breaks, but after two or three days, they donft come out for breaks anymore.
S: Yes, you see! Itfs like that! The highest bliss cannot be described in words. But the mind is like a magician. Even though you may be meditating here like this, even though you may be meditating calmly, negative thoughts may arise: gOh, meditation is so tiring! How can I achieve anything? I canft.h Isnft it like that?
U: It is just as you say, sir. They do think that way.
S: Yes. Your mind may be cheating you, but after having established right effort, there is no cheating yourself—or is that still possible?
U: No, sir, it isnft.
S: It is only during the period before you really know that you can cheat yourself.
U: Yes, sir.
S: Even so, you may be saying to yourself that you meditate too long— so take rest now.
Part
Two FURTHER DISCOURSES OF
WEBU SAYÁDAW
The
Power of Forbearance
WEBU SAYÁDAW: At one time Vepacitta, the king of the asuras, and Sakka, the king of the Tāvatiṃsa deva world, were at war.1 The asuras were defeated and Sakka captured their king, bound him with five ropes around his neck, and confined him in the meeting hall of the devas. Of course the king of the asuras could not bear this and was overcome with anger. When he saw Sakka enter his royal palace, Vepacitta vilified, defamed, and reviled him from his prison. When Sakka came out of the royal palace again, Vepacitta couldnft refrain from bad-mouthing, slandering, and abusing the king of the devas. But Sakka remained calm and serene.
When Sakkafs charioteer, Mātali, saw this, he said to Sakka, gSire, this king of the asuras insults you over and over again. Do you accept this so calmly because you are afraid of him?h
Sakka answered, gYoung friend, this king of the asuras is in my power.
I can do with him as I like.h
gThen why do you accept this kind of behaviour from him, sire?h Mātali asked.
gHe is in my power,h Sakka answered. gI can punish him any way I choose, but in spite of this, I forbear with his harangues, defamation, and aspersions.h
Why did Sakka act in this way? Because he understood the great benefits that forbearance brings. Though he knew that he could do anything he wanted to his prisoner and that his prisoner would not be able to pay him back, he remained calm and patient. The Buddha said that this is the highest form of patience: to forbear even though you do not have to, even though you could change the situation. Of course it is also good to practise forbearance when you have no other choice, but to forbear voluntarily is the highest and best sort of forbearance.
Sakka has great power, but if he should react to such insults without being the stronger one, what would happen to him?
DISCIPLE: Just like the king of the asuras, he would be defeated and have to endure imprisonment. He would have to suffer.
S: Yes, indeed. Whoever tries to be something he is not has to suffer a lot, doesnft he?
So, even though he could have taken action, he observed this practice of developing forbearance in his mind, and that is very noble. The noble ones of old practised this at all times. Sakka practised this, as I have just told you, and the Bodhisattas practise this too, donft they?
When our Bodhisatta was reborn as the nāga king Bhūridatta, he was very rich.2 He possessed as many treasures as Sakka.
Having put all his riches aside, he decided to observe the Uposatha precepts. But while he was observing the Uposatha, a snake charmer came along and found the Bodhisatta. Now, compared with the Bodhisatta, he had no power at all. Was our Bodhisatta endowed with power?
D: I donft know this Jātaka story, sir.
S: You know it all right. You are just afraid youfll get tired if you have to tell it.
Now the Bodhisattafs power was so great he could turn someone to ashes by just looking at them sideways. So what use would this snake charmerfs spell be against the Bodhisatta? Of no use at all! But the Bodhisatta did not budge because he was afraid of breaking the moral precepts. He did not even open his eyes. So the snake charmer used his tricks on him and brought him under his power. Then he did many things to him. If the Bodhisatta had not wanted to be bothered, he could have flown up into the sky, or dived into the ground, or given the snake charmer a sideways glance. He also could have assumed the appearance of Sakka or a great brahmā, couldnft he?
D: He could have, sir.
S: But he didnft do any of these things. So the snake charmer took him by force and put powerful poisons in his mouth. As he did so, our Bodhisatta practised divine purity of mind and did not react, even to this. Was this because he was weaker than the snake charmer?
D: No. He was strong, but he was forbearing. S: Why was he forbearing?
D: He was a noble person who had aspired to Buddhahood, and he was fulfilling the perfections (pāramīs), sir.
S: If this should happen to you while you are observing the Uposatha, would you act in the same way?
D: I wouldnft be able to endure that, sir. If the person doing it was weaker than me, as in this case, I would flatten him.
S: And if you were someone with great powers? D: I would certainly use them, sir.
S: Would you remain quiet, not even opening your eyes? D: Oh no, sir. I would open them very wide.
S: If you act like that, will you get what you want? D: No, sir.
S: Yes, you see what I mean. The Bodhisatta acted that way. But that was not the end. He was beaten the way washermen beat cloth when they do the laundry, but he didnft react or even move. The Bodhisatta followed the snake charmerfs commands for quite some time, remaining calm. He did what the snake charmer told him and even more. And he did all this in order to attain what he aspired to. This is the fulfilling of the perfections. He fulfilled them to the utmost. And did he get results that are inferior to what others get?
D: No, sir. He got results that are higher and nobler.
S: He practised in order to reach a high level of perfection. Now, if a person is forbearing because he has no choice, that is also good, but if a person doesnft endure when he has to, what will happen?
D: He will suffer, sir.
S: Yes. I have explained a little bit about forbearance now. If I were to explain it fully, there would be no end. Forbearance gives benefits now and for the rest of saṃsāra. If you want to be happy in the present, you must work on your patience. If you want to be happy in the future, you must work on your patience. If you want to do something, to accomplish something in your present life, then develop forbearance and patience. Didnft the nāga king accomplish this?
D: He did, sir.
S: Yes, he did. The nāga king Bhūridatta established himself in and observed morality (sīla). If he had simply avoided the difficulty, would he have gained anything?
D: No, sir.
S: If he had escaped into the sky when the snake charmer came, would he have met him and been able to gain perfection in patience and forbearance?
D: No, sir.
S: And if he had assumed the appearance of Sakka?
D: He would not have been able to get results then either, sir.
S: But he didnft use his powers in that way. If hefd just blinked at him, thinking, gThis man is bothering me,h what would have happened then?
D: The snake charmer would have turned to ashes, sir.
S: But he did none of these things. Even though the snake charmer had absolutely no power over him, he put up with him calmly in order to attain perfection. He didnft even want to budge. He went there to observe the Uposatha and determined that the snake charmer could do with him whatever he wanted. So he endured everything. Once he had made his determination, he carried it through.
How about you? When you undertake the Uposatha observances, when you decide to observe the Uposatha, you keep it, donft you?
D: Yes, sir. We observe the Uposatha.
S: When you take the moral precepts, you observe them for the full day, donft you?
D: We do, sir.
S: After establishing yourselves in the moral precepts, do you keep them, whatever comes your way, no matter what happens?
D: We donft accept everything, sir.
S: But donft you get a full day of practice? D: No, sir. We donft put in a full day.
S: How much do you get out of one day?
D: After taking the Uposatha precepts, we try to progress for one day, but sometimes we actually regress by more than a day, sir.
S: How much more?
D: Maybe one and a half days, sir.
S: So you take this sīla for one day, and then you regress in one day by one and a half days. Is that effort good enough?
D: No, it isnft, sir.
S: Having established ourselves in energy (viriya) we can accomplish everything with our patience and forbearance. Is it not possible to apply this everywhere? When you return home from here, you will encounter objects of the senses that you like and objects that you donft like. You constantly encounter these two types of objects. Do you agree that you are confronted with one or the other of these two kinds of objects all the time?
D: There is always either a sense object that we like or one that we donft like, sir. One of the two is always there.
S: When you encounter either kind, forbear! If you live a life of patience and forbearance, what happens when you encounter these sense objects?
D: If we encounter pleasant objects, we reject them through our efforts. And if we encounter unpleasant objects, we establish our efforts more strongly and throw them out.
S: Really? Now, if you meet with pleasant sense impressions, will unskilful states of mind flow in?
D: It is because this might happen, in order to keep them from flowing in that we must establish effort and endure.
S: And if many of these impressions come towards you? D: Then we have to forbear more, sir.
S: And if you encounter only a few?
D: Then we only need a little forbearance, sir.
S: Now, when you go home and the children talk and make noise—
only a little noise, but enough for you to find it intolerable, what do you do?
D: In that case I will have to make an effort to be patient. S: If you do that, donft you gain?
D: I do, sir.
S: What if they become noisier and more intolerable?
D: Then I will have to make a lot of effort and forbear, sir. S: Is that so? Will you really do that?
D: I said that in order to give the right answer, sir.
S: You havenft gone home yet, but you have started this practice now. When you practise this you will be strong. It is not tiresome at all. Or do you think you will get tired by living with patience?
D: No, sir, it is not tiresome. S: Does it cost you anything? D: It doesnft cost anything, sir. S: Do you lose anything?
D: Through patience and forbearance we gain much, sir. We donft lose anything. But we are lacking in faith, effort, skill, and wisdom, sir.
S: If you are confused by such thoughts you will think, gShould I do this now? Should I do that?h Then you will be confused. Just remember that you have to be forbearing. Thoughts may come like, gShould I apply this or that? Should I look for this or for that? If this is not there, everything will be in vain.h But you should do as we have just said, think only about this one thing.
D: Do you mean that we should just be forbearing, sir?
S: Yes. If you do that, through forbearance everything will go well.
Whatever it is, it will be alright.
When I was still a young monk, the Burmese in this country were not very civil, but the Indians were. When I went on my alms round, there was an old Indian man who came running to offer a gift as soon as he saw me. In spite of his old age, this old Indian staggered through the streets selling things, and when he saw me, he came running, even from afar, to give dāna.
Now, how is it that our Burmese people were not civil? The parents gave money to the children and they bought sweets and snacks with it. This old Indian was selling what they could afford to buy. Now, how did they call him over? They shouted, gHey, Indian dog!h They called him that! Did you hear?
So, the children were calling him from every side, and what did he do? He went to them, smiling. He continued to smile, and whoever called to him like that first, he would go to them first. He came to them and they kept calling him gIndian dog.h He did not think, gNow, can these boys call me like this to buy something worth a penny—me, an old man who is their senior?h No, he just made the effort to go to those boys.
What would you do if young children called you what they called this old man?
D: We would be angry, of course, sir.
S: Would you just be angry and remain silent?
D: I would not remain silent, sir. Maybe I would even hit those children. S: Would you get their penny, then? And aside from that what would happen? D: The Burmese would hit me, sir.
S: Yes, you see, this didnft happen to him. He didnft create any unskilful state of mind, either. He didnft get angry. This is what I encountered when I went on my alms round as a young monk. Even though they called to him like that, he didnft get angry.
If he had been angry, would that have been wholesome (kusala) or unwholesome (akusala) as an action?
D: Unwholesome, sir.
S: Now, you all want to be forbearing, according to the teachings of the Buddha, donft you?
D: Even though we wish to practise the teachings to some degree, we arenft forbearing to that extent, sir.
S: Donft be distracted by other things. Do just one thing: be forbearing. Do you understand? No matter how much the people living with you upset you, just practise this fully for yourself. What if other people always did the right thing?
D: Then I would be very pleased. But even if they should be chaotic, I should remain calm and pleasant, knowing that if greed arises it will be unwholesome for me, sir.
S: But what will you do if it gets to be too much? D: Ifll be forbearing.
S: Yes. Remember just this. Donft worry about anything else. If you look into this book or that book to see what they say, then your own practice will suffer. Just practise forbearance. If you exert yourself in just this one thing, you can achieve anything.
How Mahā-Kassapa Was Deceived
SAYÁDAW: There is a king of the Tāvatiṃsa deva plane called Sakka, isnft there?
DISCIPLE: Yes, sir.
S: Yes, he is there alright. Sakka, the king of the Tāvatiṃsa world, does exist. Now, how did he become Sakka, the lord of the Tāvatiṃsa devas? What merit did he accumulate?
D: He accumulated merit in a former life, sir.3
S: It is one thing to accumulate merit in the time when a Buddhafs teachings are available, but Sakkafs efforts were strong even during the time when the teachings were not there; he depended on his own efforts alone. He was a wealthy man. He didnft have to worry at all about eating and drinking, and he didnft even have to spend a kyat or half a kyat for a nourishing meal. So he was without any burdens. What did he do? He employed skilled tradesmen and labourers and worked day and night with them without resting. What was he doing? He was working for the welfare of the people. He dug wells and tanks in places where there were none. He built good roads for the travellers and thus spent his life working for the happiness of others. When he worked near his home he stayed at his house, but when his project was in a far off place he worked without even going home. He was happy when others were upright and there were many people working alongside him. Having worked like this without a break, one can face the present and the future. Sakka worked without ever resting until the
end of his life span, and because of this he became Sakka.
After the Buddha was awakened and the Triple Gem arose in the world, beings were reborn in the Tāvatiṃsa world at the end of their allotted life span through the force of the merit they attained by revering the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Saṅgha. As Sakka is the king of that plane, the other devas have to go to show him their respects and venerate him. And what happened? Now these devas and devīs who had come to the Tāvatiṃsa world as a result of just a small amount of service to the Triple Gem also came to pay respects to Sakka, but their clothes, their bodies, their means of transport and palaces were shining so brightly and splendidly that King Sakkafs clothes, body, and palace faded and could hardly be seen in the dazzling light—thatfs what happened.4
Now Sakkafs splendid colours and his splendour had not disappeared, but they were outshone by these devas and therefore faded. It wasnft apparent any more. It was just like the stars and the moon. When they shine and sparkle at night you look and you can see them. You see them and admire their brightness. But when dawn comes, the sky becomes light. Then then sun comes out, and what happens? Is the light of the stars and the moon still there?
D: The light is still there, sir. S: Can you see it?
D: The light of the sun outshines them, sir.
S: But can you still see the moon and the stars? Where have they gone?
D: They havenft gone anywhere, sir. They are still there, but because the sunlight is so bright we canft see them, sir.
S: The same was true for Sakka. The devas and devīs who had been reborn in the Tāvatiṃsa world due to the merit they had gained by showing their respect for the Buddha and his teachings were like the rising sun, and the colours and the glow coming from Sakka faded into obscurity. Now— dear, oh dear!—he was so ashamed he didnft know how to act surrounded by these devas. He wished his head would split into many pieces. Thatfs how humiliated he was by all this.
When these devas arrived near Sakkafs palace, the shine from his clothes, his body, and his surroundings just faded away—so enormous is the difference between merit accumulated within the Sāsana and merit accumulated outside the Sāsana.
Now Sakka was so embarrassed and put out by this that he didnft dare go out any more, and he seems to have remained in hiding.
D: I think Sakka must have been very upset, sir. S: Wouldnft you be?
D: I would also be very depressed, sir.
S: Even though he was a king, he was in deep trouble. You see, both are good (kusala) actions and give merit, but if you apply just a little bit of effort within the Sāsana you get a great deal. Thatfs the difference. But Sakka couldnft change what had happened in the past. Only later did he become powerful again. He understood, gIndeed, the good deeds of charity and other virtuous actions performed within the Sāsana are exceedingly great. They are so much greater than actions performed outside the Sāsana.h But even though he understood this, he couldnft do anything about it. He had to continue living as he was.
Once he understood the importance of doing meritorious deeds during the Sāsana, he told the devas and devīs in his entourage to do good deeds, and they immediately went off to act. They went to where Venerable Mahā- Kassapa lived, and the monk asked them, gWhere do you come from?h They replied, gWe come from the Tāvatiṃsa world with the intention of performing meritorious deeds, venerable sir.h
Mahā-Kassapa, however, said, gToday, I intend to give suffering beings the opportunity to rise above their condition by performing good (kusala) deeds. As for you, you are privileged beings. You may return to where you came from.h So they had to return to the Tāvatiṃsa world without gaining any merit.
When they reported back to Sakka, he thought to himself, gBut I have to get this special merit somehow.h Well, he knew that it was good to pay respects to the noble monks when they came out of the cessation state (nirodha-samāpatti), so he transformed himself into an old man near Rājagaha—an old man who was very, very poor, without any sons or daughters or grandchildren to look after him. He had to work for a living, even though his body was frail and trembling. He also created a shaky little hut where he lived without any comfort. Sakkafs queen, Sujātā, also transformed herself into a decrepit old woman with drooping eyelids and wrinkled skin. And they both lived out in the countryside.
Well, when Mahā-Kassapa saw them, he thought, gThese poor old people are poverty stricken and pitiable. They have to work for food and drink, even at the advanced age of eighty or ninety. Today, Ifll give these two suffering people an opportunity to rise above their condition.h And he stopped at a discreet distance from their hut. Sakka and Sujātā, of course, were only pretending. Still keeping up their deception, they slowly opened their eyes and shielded them with their hands, as if they were trying to see better. Then they approached Mahā-Kassapa.
gVenerable sir,h they asked, gare you Venerable Mahā-Kassapa? We are very poor and still have to spend our time working for our daily upkeep. Since you have come, venerable sir, we as disciples will be able to render you a service. Please let us gain merit.h
It was necessary for them to deceive him, you see, because if the lie was found out, they wouldnft be able to accomplish what they wanted to do. So they approached Mahā-Kassapa very shyly, very humbly, and then placed celestial food in his bowl. They placed the food in the bowl in the proper manner, and they gave ample portions. As Sakka was offering the food, he said, gBecause we venerate generosity and those who receive generous gifts, we offer this with our own hands and with deep respect, sir.h The celestial food, of course, gave off a very pleasant odour. Mahā- Kassapa investigated the matter and realized what Sakka and Sujātā had done. He had not realized before as a matter of course. It was only when he looked into the matter that he knew what had happened. How could he have known before he investigated? Even though he was an Arahat, endowed with great power and supernormal knowledge, he did not know things
automatically.
D: Did he not know because he had not concentrated on this matter, sir? S: When Mahā-Kassapa did not concentrate on a given matter, he did not know about it.
D: Thatfs why he was deceived, sir.
S: But now, Mahā-Kassapa said, gYou are Sakka, arenft you?h
gThat is correct, sir.h Sakka replied. gWe did this, sir, because we had to endure so much suffering and distress.h
gYou are living in a blissful existence with great riches and all sorts of pleasures, arenft you?h Mahā-Kassapa said.
gYes,h Sakka said, gas Sakka I enjoy all these things, sir. I obtained all this power and these pleasures because of the merit I performed when a Buddha-Sāsana was not available. Now that a Buddha has arisen, beings are reborn in the Tāvatiṃsa world as a result of very small deeds they have done. When they come to worship me, they shine so brightly that my own splendour fades away into nothing. Not only that, when they come near my palace, I have to hide, sir.h
He had to hide because he was ashamed, you see. He suffered a great deal. He was a powerful king, but he suffered when his subjects came to wait on him. He was powerless to change the situation, and his whole world collapsed. gIt would be better if my head split into pieces,h he thought. His suffering was that great. That is why he told Mahā-Kassapa, gWe are also suffering beings.h
Well, once he was successful in performing more merit, he too began to shine. Then poor Sakka could smile and enjoy himself again.
You see, he had accumulated merit in the past, but the merit acquired outside a Buddha-Sāsana and the merit acquired during one are vastly different. I canft stress this enough. So now is the right time; this is a good existence, isnft it?
Dhamma-Asokafs
Younger Brother
The emperor Dhamma-Asoka received the Buddhafs teachings, and because he was given these instructions and respected and followed them, he could spread them throughout the whole Indian subcontinent.5 He made sure that the Buddhafs religion was foremost, incomparable. His younger brother, the crown prince, however, lived as he pleased. One day, being bored and discontented, he went to the forest for a walk and observed how the deer played and enjoyed themselves in a carefree mood. As he watched them, the following thought arose in him, gThese deer enjoy life, happily eating just grass and leaves from the trees, but my brother the emperor donates only the best, most refined food to the monks. The seats he offers them are also the best and the highest. These monks, to whom he gives all these excellent things, whom he venerates and to whom he gives the best living quarters, must also play and enjoy themselves exceedingly well if even the deer, who eat only grass and leaves, have such a good time.h
When he went back to the royal palace, he approached the emperor
and related his thoughts to him. The emperor thought, gWell, there is no point in explaining this matter to him as he wonft understand anyway. Letfs wait for a while. Slowly, slowly, I will make him understand.h And the emperor remained silent.
Later on, a matter came up with regard to the crown prince which the emperor didnft like at all. He pretended to be angry and had his younger brother called. gYou are my younger brother, and as my brother, you will now enjoy the splendour and happiness of an emperor for seven days. When the seven days are up, I shall have you killed.h And he issued the appropriate orders. Then he handed his royal power over to the crown prince and repeated that he was going to be on the throne for just seven days and would be killed after that. So the prince was to die in seven daysf time.
After this royal order was issued, the crown prince was terribly afraid. He was so afraid he wasnft able to swallow his food. He wasnft able to sleep because he constantly trembled with terror. He kept thinking, gIfll die in seven days.h
When the seven days were over, Asoka had his brother called again, and when he saw him, he exclaimed, gGood gracious, you have become thin and haggard and your veins are standing out!h And that was what had happened. Now the emperor said to his brother, gYou are not the same as before.
You used to have a handsome appearance. You were strong and good looking. What happened to you now that you have been living in the luxury of an emperor?h
gI was terrified, lord,h the prince replied.
gHow can this be?h Dhamma-Asoka asked. gYou have all the luxuries of the life of an emperor, you should have enjoyed yourself beyond measure, no? What happened?h
gSire,h the prince said, gI wasnft able to enjoy myself at all. Every night I lay awake without being able to sleep for one moment. And what frightened me? I kept thinking that I would have to die without fail when the seven days were up.h
So he couldnft enjoy himself. He couldnft even sleep because of the fear of death. His terror was so intense he was unable to enjoy his good fortune in having all the luxuries life can offer. He had only the best of everything. He had the royal insignia and the royal palace, but his fear prevented him from enjoying any of it.
Emperor Asoka said, gWell, little brother, were you as afraid as all that, even though you didnft have to die until seven days were up?h
gThat is so, your majesty,h the crown prince replied. gI am terrified.h gWell,h Asoka said, gyou had all the luxuries of an emperor to enjoy,
and yet you did nothing but fear your death which was seven days away. The venerable monks live with the knowledge that this mind and body arise and disappear, die and are reborn, billions of times in the wink of an eye. Having understood this, they live in constant dread of these (i.e., mind and matter, nāma and rūpa). So, did you have to fear your death so much since it was seven days away? The venerable monks who are my masters live as I have just explained. In one instant, as quick as a bolt of lightning striking, mind and matter break up and arise again. There is nothing else for them. Since the monks have experienced this and have seen this for themselves, they are continuously wary of mind and matter.h
Now the crown prince understood that the monks could not derive happiness from anything material.
gYou were to die after only seven days,h the emperor told his young brother, gbut my noble teachers go from death to death—they die every moment, not after seven days like you.h It was only then that the crown prince understood, and respect for the monks arose in him.
Mahosadha And King Videha
SAYÁDAW: You all know about the life in which the Bodhisatta was Mahosadha.6 The Bodhisatta took it upon himself to make all beings happy. Videha, the king, loved the Bodhisatta very much and employed him in his services. Even so, did King Videha recognize the lies of those who were close to him?
DISCIPLE: No, sir, he didnft.
S: Devinda lied to the king, who didnft realize he was lying. He didnft know he was lying because he was lacking in vijjā (knowledge). He hadnft worked to acquire understanding in the past when he was developing his pāramī, therefore he couldnft even see through the deceptions practised by other countries. Now, did he understand when those close to him explained things to him?
D: No, sir, he didnft.
S: He couldnft see through the deceptions of others. He really couldnft see through them, and his associates knew that no matter how much they tried to clarify things for him, he wouldnft understand. But a Bodhisatta is concerned with the welfare of all beings. He has a mind that is intent only on making all beings happy, no matter who they are, both now and in the future. He has to make an effort to keep people who lie free from danger, and he makes an effort to protect those who are lied to.
Mahosadha had to accept that the king would not listen to him. Even though the king loved Mahosadha as a son, he listened to other peoplefs lies. Mahosadha didnft like it when the king ignored his advice time after time, but this was due to the kingfs ignorance. The Bodhisatta had to take care of everything. He had to look after what was happening in the present and what would happen in the future. Only he could take responsibility for the welfare of all beings. He never tired of taking care of others because he did this in order to be perfect in his conduct and in his understanding. Thus he could attain the goal. It was easy for him, but the king couldnft understand.
No matter how much the people around the king explained to him that his adversary had invited him in order to kill him, the king wouldnft believe it. Then the Bodhisatta thought, gBy talking to him, trying to make him understand, I am only creating akusala for myself. I will make him understand later.h So the Bodhisatta pretended to agree with the king and went on ahead of the king. He was happy to do that since in that way he could make sure that there was no danger for the king. He could arrange everything in such a way that the king would eventually see the dangers with his own eyes.
Only when he was already in trouble did the king understand. Devinda did not see through the deception until that moment. When the king was in distress, our Bodhisattafs preparations bore fruit, and everything worked out according to his plans. In this Jātaka, we clearly see who possesses right conduct and right understanding and who doesnft. It is easy to complete both trainings: the training in right conduct (caraṇa) and the training in right understanding (vijjā).
Donft
Destroy Yourselves!
SAYÁDAW: If we take away even a little bit from the Buddhafs teaching rather than preserving it as it is, or, if we add just a few little things, do we further the Sāsana or do we destroy it?
DISCIPLE.: This would destroy the Sāsana, sir.
S: If the teachings are thus altered, do they perish? Or does the person who alters them perish?
D: Only the person who alters them is hurt, sir.
S: Yes, disciples, if the Buddha said, gPractise in this way,h then practise only in that way. Donft destroy yourselves.
We have to look after ourselves. We have to look after our sons and daughters, grandsons and granddaughters. It is not possible to just stop looking after ourselves or others. Didnft the Buddha preach that we had to fulfil all our duties towards children and relatives? Where does the fulfilment of these duties belong? It is part of sīla, right conduct. Is your sīla complete if you donft fulfil your duties?
D: No, sir.
S: Will you be happy if your sīla isnft complete? D: No, sir.
S: Can you fulfil your aspiration for the highest goal if you arenft satisfied with yourselves?
D: Itfs not possible to make progress in that case, sir.
S: Only if the mind is serene can we attain samādhi and only if there is samādhi can we really understand. The Buddha preached samāhito yathābhūtaṃ. But this you know very well—and not just one aspect of it, but all the different aspects. If we fulfil our duties, in the way we just mentioned, we fulfil sīla. We will be happy if we do this. It is easy to attain samādhi if we are happy, and samādhi is yathābhūtaṃ, gas things really are.h
You know all this. How do you know this? Through practice. If you know because someone else tells you, you only know words. If you practise, you donft just carry out your duties towards your children and grandchildren, you practise sīla. This is caraṇa-kusala, the meritorious actions of right conduct. Is it not possible to keep your mind focused, unwavering, below the nostrils, at the spot you touched with your finger just now, while you practise right conduct? If you practise as we mentioned just now, you fulfil right conduct. What do you practise if you keep your mind focused?
D: Understanding, vijjā, sir.
S: I think you will say that you have other things to do now, but that later on, when you are free, you will do it. But we have to really face it; we have to accept it just the way the Buddha explained it for us. We will understand that if we do this [fulfil our duties], it will not be in vain. If we neglect to do this, however, our minds will be unsettled. You know enough if you know this. You will be calm. If your mind is calm, you can attain samādhi. You may answer that it is easy for monks to do this since they donft have anything else to worry about, but that you are disturbed by your children and grandchildren. Donft you think like that sometimes?
D: We think like that every day, sir.
S: The disciples of the Buddha practised right action and right understanding simultaneously. This is work. If we donft do this, nothing will come to fruition. If you exert effort, things will fall into place. If you strive with right effort, nothing needs to oppose you.
D: Tell me, sir, if a child cries and we sing it a song and the child smiles again, is singing right conduct in that case?
S: You sing a song because you want to sing. Now, is the child crying because of happiness or because of displeasure?
D: Because of displeasure, sir.
S: His distress is due to your lack of care. If he cries, itfs up to you to make him happy. Thatfs all. Does this child cry because he is bad or because he wants to cry or because he is happy or because he hurts?
D: Because he hurts, sir.
S: Does he want his mother or father to help him? D: Yes, sir, either one of them.
S: So, all you have to do is gently satisfy the child. If you can help the little child in this way, will you be happy or unhappy?
D: If the element of loving kindness (mettā) is present we perform a good action, sir.
S: If you are happy, the childfs crying will subside. Not only that, the child will start to smile. This is right conduct, disciples. When the child is laughing again, will his mother or father or grandparents still be unhappy?
D: They will be very happy, sir. But, sir, this is vedayita-sukha, pleasant sensations, and that is akusala.
S: No, it isnft. If you act out of the desire to make the child happy, it is mettā. You know much more than I do about all these things that you do in order to make other people happy. You could tell us much more about them. I donft know all that much about it, but even so, Ifll tell you a story. A long time ago, a mother cow in Sri Lanka was separated from her little calf. Do you think that this cow was happy or unhappy about the
separation? I think she was very miserable. And what about the calf?
D: He must have been unhappy, too, sir.
S: This cow went in search of her calf. She looked everywhere. The calf was also looking for the mother. Eventually they found each other and immediately they felt deep affection. Before, the little calf had been crying with hunger. The cow had also been crying because of her intense longing for her calf. Do you think that they enjoyed themselves and were happy?
D: This is suffering, sir. And suffering makes us cry.
S: And when they finally found each other, did they smile? D: Because they had been suffering, they cried, sir.
S: When they found each other, they talked to each other, and only then could the mother give her milk to her hungry calf, her mind full of love. This is mettā, disciples—mettā that is one-pointed. There was no other thought in her mind aside from her love for her calf. At that moment a hunter threw a spear at her. Does it say in the story that the spear pierced her?
D: It didnft pierce her, sir.
S: It didnft pierce her. Thatfs right. Do you hear? Do you think the cow knew about these advantages, these benefits, that come through mettā?
D: She didnft know about them, sir.
S: Was she unable to develop loving kindness because she didnft know these things?
D: She was practising loving kindness, sir.
S: Because she had this mettā, she couldnft be killed by this spear. If you throw a spear, you throw it to kill, and this hunter had a very sharp spear. As this cow was full of loving kindness, it seems she only felt as thought a little palm leaf had pricked her. If you throw a palm leaf at a cow, does it penetrate deeply into the flesh? What happens?
D: The palm leaf will bounce off the cow, sir.
S: Yes, you see? It is said that this spear bounced off just like it was a palm leaf. You all know about the advantages and benefits of a mind full of loving kindness. You can explain all this.
D: But we canft, sir.
S: Of course you can. Why? Because the Noble Ones who are the masters of loving kindness and compassion have explained the benefits of mettā to you, both in detail and in brief. You have all become proficient in this. But letfs not talk about spears and things like that. Letfs just take the example of a tiny mosquito that pricks you with its little stinger. Will it penetrate your skin or not?
D: As far as Ifm concerned, sir, it will. S: Youfll send it mettā, wonft you?
D: Giving mettā is something I do only with my mouth, sir. S: So, what happens when a little mosquito stings you?
D: I donft really want to talk about this, sir. Itfs a little embarrassing to have to answer this in front of everyone else, sir. I usually hit the mosquito and brush it off.
S: But you do practise non-hatred, donft you?
D: My non-hatred is not very perfect, sir. I just hit it.
S: This is called sending mettā, isnft it? Is it difficult to practise mettā?
To remember mettā?
D: For us, sir, it is fairly difficult.
S:Wait. Ifll ask you another question. What would you say? Which is higher, a man or a cow?
D: Human beings are much higher than cows, sir.
S: Really? What about pāramī? Would you say that a man has more
pāramī than a cow?
D: We became human beings because of our pāramī, sir.
S: The poor cow doesnft understand anything. But you send mettā, reciting sabbe sattā averā hontu (gMay all beings be free of enmityh). The cow just experienced mettā for her little calf, and that is why the spear did not penetrate her. You understand this clearly, profoundly, and you can explain it to others.
D: We canft, sir.
S. Yes, yes, you are able to explain this. Now, among lower forms of life such as bovines, which are not endowed with pāramī, which is higher, the males or the females?
D: They are both the same, sir.
S: If we had to decide which of these is more powerful, which would you choose?
D: The bull is more powerful, sir. S: So—they are not the same?
D: The bull is the leader, sir. The cow canft lead.
S: We have just been talking about a mere cow, havenft we? And yet, this [higher power of mettā] was possible for her.
D: She could do this because she was a mother. We have never collected our minds to that extent in mettā, sir.
S: If I should say that the cow is therefore happier than man, what would you reply?
D: In this example, the cow has a very clear mind, sir.
S: Do you accept this? Do you accept what this disciple said? gWefre not as developed as this cowh? You others—you may not want to accept this.
D: I alone am responsible for what has been said, sir. I donft know. Maybe they will beat me up when I leave this assembly. These are just my personal views.
S: So, who is happier?
D: Wefll have to leave it like that, sir.
S: So, if I say, gThis disciple doesnft even have as much understanding as a cow,h are you happy with that?
D: I donft like it, sir, but since itfs the truth, Ifll have to accept it.
S. What if I call you gThe disciple who is equal to a cowh?
D: Thatfs a bit better, sir, as in this case at least Ifm on the same level with a cow.
S: The cow wasnft pierced by the spear because of her loving kindness.
How about you? Would the lance enter your body?
D: It probably would, sir.
S: Then can we say that you are equal to the cow? It is true. You all have pāramī. What are you deficient in, then? You need effort (viriya). Do you hear? What is effort? It means to determine: gHey, Ifll work!h With this attitude, nothing is difficult. Yes, what you need is effort, determination. You know that, of course. Will you find things difficult if you make the following determination: gIfll establish effort that is equal to the effort put forth by the disciples of the Buddhah? Even a cow could do it. The Buddhafs teachings are there, but the cow didnft need to know them. There was no knowledge of the Buddhafs teachings in the cow. Tell me, was she born in a good plane of existence?
D: She wasnft, sir.
S: Her mind was one-pointed through mettā. If we practise in the same way, wonft we become even more tranquil than this cow? If we reach the necessary calm and are able to maintain it, wonft we be able to practise right action? Once purity of action is established, we can proceed to concentrate on the touch sensation of the breath at the nostrils. Canft we attain understanding in this way and proceed to fulfil our aspiration for awakening.
Going
Home
A Discourse at the IMC–Yangon [Extract]
WEBU SAYÁDAW: Now that you have exerted much effort on meditation, you have had some positive achievement. Now, when you go home, do you have to give this to your wife?
ANSWER: No, sir, I do not have to give it. But she would scowl at me and say I have done this only for my own good and that I was selfish.
S: Well then, from here you have experienced the beneficial effects of the Dhamma, and when you meet your wife and children at home I think you have failed to mention how the practice of the Dhamma has produced positive results in you.
A: I did not get a chance to explain at all, sir. The moment I reached home she greeted me with a scowl.
S: Well, now after you have taken the precepts (sīla) what did I say? I said that now that you have taken sīla you must observe and practice this sīla to the fullest extent. This is in accordance with the Buddhafs teachings. If you practice in this manner, all your wishes will be fulfilled in this lifetime as well as in the future. That was how I reminded you. In practising sīla you must perform all those acts required of a layman. A person who has a sound and complete sīla is indeed a wholesome person. In the case of the Saṅgha, the Buddha also laid down the relevant rules of conduct. Only when you practice and observe sīla to the fullest extent can it be said that your sīla is complete.
Now when you go home, if you have experienced joy that arises from the full observance of sīla, you would have mettā for your wife at home and you would, accordingly, have greeted her with such feelings. But since you did not greet her so, she scowled at you. That is why when you return from here this time, you must greet her, talk to her, and treat her in a manner which will be agreeable to her and in accordance with sīla. Even before reaching your house you should have mettā for her and the wish that she may also enjoy the peace that you yourself have achieved. When you reach home it should be you who greets her pleasantly and with mettā.
A: Sir, when I returned home from here, my mind was so occupied with thoughts about nāma and rūpa (mind and matter) that I failed to smile at her.
S: Well, nāma-rūpa is of course nāma-rūpa. But since you did not greet her with a smile as you did before, she scowled at you. What you should have done was to greet her in the way I explained just now. This is also sīla. She should also have the peace that you have had. Now, although you have greeted her suitably and she is still not pleased, in such a case, who is still lacking in sīla? Here you must regard yourself as still lacking in the fulfilment of your sīla. You should then remember that you must make her happy and that you are still wanting in sīla. So you greet her again or call her again agreeably.
Now, when you first greet her, if you wish that she should also enjoy the fruits of Dhamma that you have experienced and if you have mettā for her, merit has already accrued to you for that action. So you are, in a way, the gainer. If your greeting meets with success, so much the better. But suppose it does not meet with success and you have to try again. In that case, have you lost or gained anything by your first actions? You know you have lost nothing. In fact, by having to try again you will be gaining more merit, and so you should be happy for it.
So you must try again and again, making changes in yourself until you succeed. But the change must come from you. Donft be angry; donft be short-tempered if there is no success. You must regard yourself as still wanting in this respect.
Now suppose I tell you that there is a big water pot that is used by many and that you should fill this pot with water. You know that the more water there is in the pot, the greater will be the number of people who can use it. So you will no doubt fill it to the brim. So it will not be necessary for me to tell you whether it is full or not. You will know yourself. So you see, if your wife smiles when you greet her, then you will know that the water pot is full.
Words
of Wisdom
ALways Spoken by Ven. Webu Sayādaw7
After you have taken the vow of sīla (morality), fulfil it. Once you have fulfilled it, all your wishes will be fulfilled. It will bring happiness to you now and also in the future.
There is nothing besides the words of the Buddha that will bring peace and happiness to one in the present existence as well as in onefs future lives in saṃsāra. The words of the Buddha are embodied in the Tipiṭaka, the three baskets of knowledge. The Tipiṭaka is voluminous, so we must take the essence of it. The essence of the Tipiṭaka is the thirty-seven factors of awakening (bodhi-pakkhiya-dhamma). The essence of the bodhi-pakkhiya- dhammā is the Noble Eightfold Path. The essence of the Noble Eightfold Path is the three sikkhās (trainings), and the essence of the three sikkhās is eko dhammo or the gone and only Dhamma.h
The three sikkhās are: adhisīla (higher morality), adhicitta (higher mentality), and adhipaññā (higher wisdom).
When one is mindful of nāma and rūpa (mind and matter), there will be no physical and mental violence. This is called adhisīla (higher morality).
When adhisīla develops, the mind becomes concentrated and tranquil.
This is called adhicitta (higher mentality, higher concentration)
When adhicitta (samādhi) develops, one gains insight into the real nature of nāma-rūpa. In a flash of lightning, nāma-rūpa undergoes incessant change billions of times. This ever-changing process is beyond the control of any deva or brahmā. One who knows by insight the process of becoming and cessation achieves adhipaññā (higher wisdom).
The most obvious thing to one and all is the breathing process. The nose is a prominent part of the body. The out-breath and the in-breath are always touching the nostrils.
The nostrils are the sensitive part of the nose which the out-breaths and the in-breaths touch as they come out or go in. In other words, the wind element or element of motion comes into contact with the nostrils, producing a sensation. Both the wind element and the nostrils are rūpa, and it is nāma that knows the contact or sensation. Ask no one what rūpa and nāma are. Be mindful of the nostrils. One knows the sensation of breathing in. One knows the sensation of breathing out. Keep on knowing the in-breath and the out-breath and there will be no chance for greed, hatred, and delusion (lobha, dosa, and moha) to arise. The fires of greed, hatred, and delusion are extinguished and the result is calm and peace of mind.
One cannot know the sensation before contact is made. One can no longer know the sensation when the contact has disappeared. One must take notice of the actual contact. This is called the immediate present.
Be mindful of the present continuously. If you can keep on knowing the present for twenty-four hours at a stretch, the good results will be evident. If you cannot be mindful of what is taking place at every moment continuously, you will fail to notice what happens in a flash of lightning and find yourself on the debit side.
If you are mindful of the contact of the breath on the nostrils, you will realize that there is only nāma and rūpa. Besides nāma and rūpa, there is no such thing as I, he, or you; there is no self, no man, no woman. You will know for yourself that the Buddhafs teaching is the truth, only the truth, nothing but the truth. You will not need to ask anyone about it. Awareness of the contact between the wind element and the tip of the nose produces there and then the knowledge that there is no such thing as attā: self or soul.
At these moments of awareness, onefs comprehension or insight (ñāṇa) is clear. That is called sammā-diṭṭhi: right understanding or right view. There is nothing else besides nāma and rūpa. This is called analytical knowledge of mind and body (nāma-rūpa-pariccheda-ñāṇa).
The continuous practise of this contemplation eliminates the notion of attā or self, and produces a clear vision or knowledge. This benefit is the result of momentary contemplation. Do not think it is not much. Do not think that nothing is known, that no benefit accrues during meditation. Such benefits can be gained only during the Buddha Sāsana. While meditating, forget about food and other necessities. Strive with diligence for progress in gaining the insight that will end in the realization of knowledge of the path (magga-ñāṇa), knowledge of the fruition state (phala- ñāṇa), and Nibbāna.
The
Path To Be Followed
1. The teachings of the Buddha contained in the Tipiṭaka have but one object: liberation from suffering. Methods vary but the objective is the same. It is not necessary to follow all the methods. Choose one of them, and then put it into practice with adequate energy and in a steadfast manner.
2. Vijjā (knowledge) and caraṇa (conduct) must be developed simultaneously. Two things can be done at the same time.
3. Follow the teaching of the Buddha as well as that of the teacher. Be respectful. Be humble. Khanti (patience) and mettā (loving kindness) must be practised assiduously.
4. Vipassanā means to see what really is. Meditators must see things as they really are, otherwise it is not vipassanā.
5. What really is, is not to be sought elsewhere; it is in onefs own body. It is ever present there. It is unavoidable. It is nāma-rūpa (mind-matter).
6. Of all the manifestations of nāma and rūpa in the body, the in-breath and out-breath are not easily recognizable but they are easy to contemplate.
7. The process of breathing in and out begins with birth and ends only with death. It goes on without any pause or break. It is always there, whether one is working, talking, studying, or sleeping.
8. Although the process of breathing in and out is continuous, it is hardly noticed by unmindful people. As the Burmese saying goes, gThose who are unmindful would not notice a cave. Those who are mindful would notice even the mist.h Only those who are mindful will be aware of the breathing process.
9. Here, awareness means that the meditator takes note of the in-breath as it touches the nostrils and of the out-breath as it touches the nostrils. As breathing is continuous, so awareness must be continuous too. Only then can awareness be properly called vipassanā meditation.
10. There are twenty-four hours in a day. If your awareness can be continuous for twenty-four hours, the beneficial results will be very clear. If possible, the ascetic practice of always sitting (nesajjika-dhutaṅga) should be performed. What the Buddha teaches is not suffering but the cessation of suffering. In the Buddhafs lifetime, those who performed this ascetic practice of always sitting were healthier and lived longer. If you give in to sleepiness and go to sleep, you are likely to sleep forever in the round of rebirths (saṃsāra). If you wish to sleep, go to that place where no sleep is necessary.
11. Being mindful of what really is, or seeing things as they really are, that is the main purpose of the three sikkhās, the Noble Eightfold Path, the thirty-seven bodhipakkhiyas, in short, of the entire Tipiṭaka. They are all covered, as it were, in one stroke.
12. Touch or contact is rūpa. Knowing or awareness is nāma.
13. Appearance and disappearance of vibrating manifestations are the process of becoming and cessation.
14. As meditators notice the swiftly changing process of appearance and disappearance of contact sensations at the nostrils, concentrated insight (vipassanā-samādhi) develops in due course, that is to say, after a considerable length of time. The concentration developed in this way becomes more and more intense until a meditator becomes aware of swiftly sweeping changes all over the body.
15. When these swiftly sweeping changes are seen with insight, the characteristic of anicca becomes most obvious, and accordingly the characteristics of dukkha and anattā are also seen. It is not necessary to utter them by word of mouth. Vipassanā meditation means being mindful of what actually happens. Mindfulness develops day by day, and consequently, meditators gain penetrating insight.
16. As meditators develop concentration, their insight develops as well, culminating in the realization of path knowledge (magga-ñāṇa) and fruition knowledge (phala-ñāṇa). This realization is as evident and satisfying as quenching your thirst by drinking water. The meditator who has realized the path and fruition has realized it by himself in this present lifetime, not hereafter. Therefore, the result of his practice is gseen by himself and in selfh (sandiṭṭhiko).
17. After the knowledge of the path and the fruition is attained, if someone wishes to regain the attainment of the fruition (phala-samāpatti), he has to return to the practice of vipassanā and progressive realization. The attainment of the fruition (phala-samāpatti) can be compared to onefs own dwelling.
18. With firm faith and unflagging energy, be mindful of the contact of the breath with the nostrils without any letup or break. Do not waver. Do not procrastinate. Do it now, and the sustained practice will yield results forthwith. The result is the end of being tormented by passions and the enjoyment of indescribable bliss. Therefore, the results of the practice are immediate (akāliko).
How
to Fulfil Sīla
Do meritorious deeds such as cleaning a pagoda or watering the Bodhi tree, or by serving your teacher or parents, or even by attending to the needs of your family—all these will go into the credit side of your fulfilment of sīla. While doing these things, you can still meditate. If you neglect any of these duties, can you say for certain that you have fulfilled sīla? If sīla is unfulfilled, can you acquire the happiness you are looking for? If there is no happiness, no peace, you cannot get samādhi. Without samādhi you cannot acquire paññā.
Practising a Brief Teaching
A Discourse to Western Students9
SAYAGYI U CHIT TIN: These are the disciples of Sayagyi U Ba Khin—fifteen foreign disciples, men and women. Today is the fifth anniversary of Sayagyi U Ba Khinfs death. Fifty monks were offered breakfast very early this morning, and about 150 disciples were invited to the feeding ceremony. These disciples have been coming for the whole month for their vipassanā courses at the Centre. These people can stay in Burma for only seven days. So they do meditation for seven days, leave for Bangkok or Calcutta, then come back here again. Some of them are on their second trip. More will be coming for a third trip. The meditation course is arranged for the whole of this month to commemorate the passing away of Sayagyi. Some of the students are from America, some from England, France, and New Zealand— very far away places, representing many nationalities. Some have come from Australia, and there is one disciple from Malaysia.
WEBU SAYÁDAW: This is just like the time of our Lord Buddha. Then
also they arrived in the presence of the Buddha all at the same time. Not from the same country, not from the same town, the same place, but from different countries, different towns—all men of noble hearts, arriving simultaneously at the same place to pay respects to the Lord Buddha. Noble beings, whether human or celestial, never tired in giving homage to the Lord Buddha. Glad in their heart, they worshipped the Buddha in great adoration. The Buddha, having unbounded love, pity, and compassion for all beings, showed them the way. They followed and practised his teachings with meekness and in all humility, being good and disciplined students. Wandering forlornly thoughout the whole of saṃsāra (continued rebirths), looking for a way out, they have now reached the end of their journey. They have now found what they have been searching for during the whole of saṃsāra. Innumerable were those who attained Nibbāna by following the Buddhafs advice.
Now you are all just like those seekers of the old days. And just like
them, if you are determined to acquire what they did and if you are equipped with noble zeal and earnestness, having now reached a place of sanctity, where the Buddhafs teachings are kept alive, doing all that it is necessary to do, following the teachings with meekness and humility, without wasting time, working hard in this way—being able to work hard in this way, you will achieve what you have been working for: the supreme goal of the holy life. This is something you should all feel happy about.
Do they understand what I have said? I wonder if they do.
SAYAGYI U CHIT TIN: One or two might understand, sir. They have learned some Burmese in America.
WEBU SAYÁDAW: Have they? Well, very good. I am glad. The ones who understand can then pass on the teachings of the Buddha to the others, thus benefiting many. Isnft that so? Who is the one who can speak Burmese fluently? So, disciple, you understand Burmese. Do you understand me? Only a little? Well, a little will be useful. Understanding only a little of what the Buddha taught will be of great help. Just a few of the Buddhafs words are not really a little. They mean a great deal. There is something that you have longed for and worked for throughout saṃsāra. When you understand the teachings of the Buddha and follow his advice, you will achieve what you have been looking for.
Now, what is it you wish to gain, for now and for always, throughout endless saṃsāra? What do I mean by now? I mean the immediate present. Right this moment. You all want happiness, relief from suffering right now. Donft all of you want that? And you all want to be assured of happiness in saṃsāra, too. Well, during all your rebirths in saṃsāra you are all the time subjected to old age, illness, and death. It means great suffering. You are all afraid of old age, illness, and death, arenft you? Yes, you all are, Ifm sure. Being frightened, you donft want to have anything to do with them, do you? What you really long for is a place where these sufferings donft exist—a place of happiness where these things are absent, where old age, illness, and death are unknown, where all these sufferings cease—in short, Nibbāna. This is what you are striving for. If you will follow the Buddhafs instructions with all meekness and due humility, you will achieve your goal, wonft you? You will have accomplished all your work, having gained success, having gained what you have always longed for.
So, what you understand may be very little: only a short brief teaching.
But if you follow it diligently, the achievement will not be small. It is what you have been striving for throughout the ages. Can that be regarded as only a small reward? Not at all. It is indeed a big reward. Once you understand the instruction, however brief and concise, and follow it carefully, without ceasing, happiness will be yours. There will be happiness for all the universe, for all humans, devas, and brahmās. Although the teaching may be only a few words, the achievement will be great. All you want is achieved. Is that not so? Indeed it is.
So, disciple, can you manage to follow and practise that short instruction? Can you? Very good. Like you all, at the time of the Blessed One, there were people who wandered forth, looking for peace and happiness for all time. They were looking for it before the Awakened One had made his appearance yet. Who were they? Oh, you can say the whole world. But I will single out for you the example of Sāriputta and Moggallāna, the auspicious pair, who later became the two chief disciples of the Blessed One.10
Maybe you are acquainted with the story of their going forth. Sāriputta and Moggallāna were living the holy life as wanderers, looking for the Deathless. It was Sāriputta who first came into contact with one of the five disciples who had learned the Doctrine from the Blessed One. The wanderer Sāriputta saw him going around for food. Seeing his faculties serene, the colour of his skin clear and bright, Sāriputta at once knew that he possessed the knowledge of the way he had been looking for. Sāriputta followed the holy monk until he had finished his round and left the town with his alms food. The wanderer Sāriputta waited at a respectful distance while the holy monk ate his meal. Then, Sāriputta went up to him, paid courteous respects, and asked him about his Teacher and the Doctrine he taught.
All this is in the Piṭakas (Canon), but I will give you just a short summary. The holy monk replied that he had gone forth under the Blessed One, who was his Teacher, and that it was the Blessed Onefs Doctrine that he followed. When Sāriputta pressed for an exposition of the Doctrine, the holy monk said, gI have only recently gone forth. I have only just come to this Doctrine and Discipline. I cannot teach you the Doctrine in detail. I can only tell you its meaning in brief.h
This holy monk had actually reached the supreme goal, so he must have known the whole Doctrine, but out of humility, he confessed that he knew only a little. Then Sāriputta, who later became the chief exponent of the Blessed Onefs Doctrine, said that he did not want much. He only wanted to hear a little of what the Buddha taught. The holy monk granted his request. He gave him only a sketch of the Doctrine. How little was it? So little it was not even a whole stanza. When Sāriputta heard the short statement of the Doctrine, he said that it was sufficient for him. For the spotless, immaculate vision of the whole Dhamma had arisen in him after hearing just a little of it.
So the teaching was only a few words, but Sāriputtafs understanding was not little at all. He understood the whole Doctrine. So, disciple, you too understand a little, donft you? Well, if you do, and follow the Blessed Onefs advice, your achievement will be very great.
I, of course, cannot speak your language. So you, disciple, if you understand a little, pass it on to your friends so all of you will know a little of the Dhamma. Canft you do this? Ifm sure you can.
All of you have created, each one of you, great pāramīs. Thatfs why you are all here, coming from various countries, distant lands, far, far away from here. But because you have acquired sufficient pāramīs you all arrive here at the same time, simultaneously from different countries. And having reached here, you want to know the Doctrine. So you have heard the Doctrine. You have learned the Buddhafs advice. But you do not remain satisfied with just hearing the Doctrine and just remembering it. You want to practise it. So you strive energetically and begin to walk the path. You establish the necessary effort (viriya), and in time, you must surely enjoy the fruits of your effot. Even now you know, of course, donft you? Youfre getting results commensurate with your application and diligence.
You are all here now because you have acquired sufficient pāramīs to do so. The Blessed One said that if you stay with the Dhamma and follow the Doctrine you are dwelling near him although physically you may be at the other end of the universe. On the other hand, if you reside near him, so near, so close that you could hold the ends of his robes with your hands, yet, if you donft follow his advice and practise the Doctrine according to his instructions, there is the whole distance of the universe between him and you. So, you live in various countries—far, far away. And yet, you are all so close to the Blessed One. Following his advice diligently, with due meekness, you will achieve what you wish, you will win the goal that you have strived for throughout saṃsāra. Innumerable are the holy ones who have trodden the path and reached Nibbāna. So also, you, from different countries, different towns, all holy people, arriving simultaneously at the place of sanctity, if you set up sufficient effort (viriya) and work diligently with all humility you will also arrive at your goal.
This is really an occasion for happiness and joy. We all canft help
being buoyant in spirit, cheering and admiring you, seeing your wonderful devotion and zeal. I wish you all success. Well done! Well done!