The Four Commandments

My father had a very simple, clear and quite definite view on the aim of human life. He told me many times in my youth that the fundamental striving of every man should be to create for himself an inner freedom towards life and to prepare for himself a happy old age. He considered that the indispensability and imperative necessity of this aim in life was so obvious that it ought to be understandable to everyone without any wiseacring. But a man could attain this aim only if, from childhood up to the age of eighteen, he had acquired data for the unwavering fulfillment of the following four commandments:

First - To love one's parents.
Second - To remain chaste.
Third - To be outwardly courteous to all without distinction', whether they be rich or poor, friends or enemies, power-possessors or slaves, and to whatever religion they may belong, but inwardly to remain free and never to put much trust in anyone or anything.
Fourth - To love work for work's sake and not for its gain.

***

Movements and Breathing

(Gurdjieff - Quoted from ISOTM Chapter 18)

You must realize that there are three kinds of breathing. One is normal breathing. The second is 'inflation.' The third is breathing assisted by movements. What does this mean? It means that normal breathing goes on unconsciously, it is managed and controlled by the moving center. 'Inflation' is artificial breathing. If for instance a man says to himself that he will count ten inhaling and ten exhaling, or that he will inhale through the right nostril and exhale through the leftthis is done by the formatory apparatus.
...
But as I have already said, there is a third waybreathing through movements. This third way needs a great knowledge of the human machine and it is employed in schools directed by very learned people. In comparison all other methods are 'homemade' and unreliable.

The fundamental idea of this method consists in the fact that certain movements and postures can call forth any kind of breathing you like and it is also normal breathing, not 'inflation.' The difficulty is in knowing what movements and what postures will call forth certain kinds of breathing in what kind of people.

***

Here are some of the Movements that incorporate breathing:
Shouting Dervish
Hoya Dervish
Trembling Dervish
5th Obligatory / Counting
Slow Second Obligatory
Alif Lam Mim
Lord Have Mercy Canon
The Octave
Seven Greek Letters
I Wish I Can I Am
Forming Twos 
	  	
Regarding Movements As Preparation For Life

 

How can the Movements be used in preparation for the choreography of everyday life consciously danced?

There are several ways that the practice of the movements may assist us in our everyday life by applying the principles and techniques to our daily work efforts. While doing the movements we may experience a heightened sense of awareness, a sharpened attention, an inner quiet, an harmonization of the three centers, an overall increase in energy. These results of our efforts are the reconciliation's which feed our being and, if not creatively used in further work efforts, will be squandered thru mechanical habits such as wiseacring, gregariousness, inner considering, etc. In the long term the movements aid in the development of the will, in the the growth of the soul and in the recognition of the higher emotions. Some of the principles and techniques are enduring, imagination, visualization, relaxation, breathing, sightless gaze, sensing and others listed below. I hope that the following observations may serve co-seekers as guidelines for the creative construction of daily work agendas.

First, the Movements are a training ground for the attention.

As we all know from past experience with movements, we can loose the sequence if we let our attention wander to distracting stimuli such as thoughts, emotions, impressions, sensations or anything that lies on the "it" side the separation of "I and it". This process of discrimination starts with self-observation : separating "I" from "it" releasing ridgid identification with sensory traits observed to be associated with daily life. In life we can also loose the thread of the work and our daily activities. We will be unable to maintain an intention, aim or effort without sustained attention. Movements train us to keep our attention on the task at hand and also develop our will. Control of attention enables us to shift some of our mechanical, hypnotized attention and apply it instead to our inner work. With increased attention our work efforts will be stronger and more continuous. Slowly, with practice, we acquire the ability to hold more than one thing before a quiet mind. Doing a movement with vocalizations and inner work exercises requires a division of attention. This divided attention ability is invaluable in everyday life for with it we have gained the possibility of simultaneously engaging in inner work while we live our daily life in an expanded sense of awareness. Pondering requires holding a question before the mind for a prolonged period as well as an impartial noticing and setting aside of intruding thoughts and emotions.

Second, they are a medium for the cultivation of "doing".

Do the servants obey the master? Do the three centers harmonize and work in unison to carry out the wish of the master? We are fully present to the task at hand when I wish, I can, I am are working together towards an aim with an economy of movement and an abundance of conscience. We aren't really working until we are doing nothing. we assent to allow the total situation to elicit the appropriate harmonious pattern of action. We see what is necessary and it is done. We are neither active nor passive. We are relaxed and poised. Our lives can benefit from those moments when we are one with the movement and we can no longer say whether we are doing the movement or the movement is doing us; when there is no separation - no "I am doing this" or "this is doing me."

Thirdly, they are a tool for harvesting the Reconciliations which feed the soul.

Balanced being requires that our resistances become energy which enables greater affirmation. The soul is nourished out of the struggle and harmonization of the two great forces of god - creation and return , involution and evolution , holy denying and holy affirming. The process follows the law of three as expressed by Gurdjieff in his Holy Equation :

Holy-Affirming,
Holy-Denying,
Holy-Reconciling,
Transubstantiate in me,
For my Being.

Holy Affirming - Intention to do a movement, sustaining that intention. Effort involved in learning and later perfecting the positions. Enduring awkward postures

Holy Denying - Laziness, lethargy, pain, forgetfulness, emotions, thoughts, distractions.

Holy Reconciling - Those moments when it all comes together and we are "doing" the movement. Transubstantiation for being. Coatings on an inner being embryo. We must enter this gate a thousand times.

Practical suggestions :

Take daily activities and ritualize some of the postures and motions as a sequence to which may be added some inner exercise. 

Use the manifestation of holy denying traits as triggers for the adoption of a predetermined posture (internal or/and external). 

Observe and study the effects of various postures on the quality of ones presence. 

Try to discover if there are certain postures which assist the evocation of faith, love, hope, compassion, conscience.

***

"Rely not on the teacher/person, but on the teaching. Rely not on the words of the teaching, but on the spirit of the words. Rely not on theory, but on experience. Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. Do not believe anything because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything because it is written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and the benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it."

--The Buddha

In properly organized groups no faith is required; what is required is simply a little trust and even that only for a little while, for the sooner a man begins to verify all he hears the better it is for him Accept nothing you cannot verify for yourself.

--G.I. Gurdjieff



It really is something of a cottage industry, this attempt to trace the origins of Gurdjieffs variegated teachings and practices. Numerous books, essays, and articles have posited over the years this or that place or teaching as the one that started it all for the enigmatic G. He certainly left us many tantalizing clues himself and sometimes-contradictory indications as to the origins of his Fourth Way. 

Some assert that there was a single Ur-source, one primary repository of the Fourth Way, an ancient set of principles and practices that have come down to us only through fragments of this long-lost but once august tradition, which he then re-created to the needs of the students he assembled later in his life.

Some believe his path was from the beginning an ingenious amalgam of many different influences and teachings picked up over his years of searching for the Truth that would quench his inborn spiritual hunger. 

Still others have tried to steer a middle course between those two positions, believing that Gurdjieff had indeed found something remarkable, some distinct path that now existed only in scattered pieces onto which he then grafted, during different times and under differing circumstances, some of the collected wisdom and understanding hed gathered during his years of travels.

It is not the attempt of this little paper to resolve that discussion nor to contribute to the sometimes manic and, in this writers opinion, misdirected search for the final answer to the mysterious origins question, as if, by discovering such, we might be personally catapulted into higher consciousness or gain some greater legitimacy for our walk on this still widely misunderstood and often discredited Fourth Way. 

No, it is my belief that the ultimate value of the Fourth Way is in its fruits, not its roots, and we who journey on that path towards greater consciousness would be better served by diligent practice over scholarly wiseacre-ing, as G. might say. 

What I would like to do here instead is present a few questions based on parallel ideas between Buddhism, (primarily through the Kagyu tradition within Tibetan Buddhism), and Gurdjieffs teachings in the hope that this little effort might be regarded as a sincere contribution back to a set of teachings and a tradition that has contributed so much to my own life.

[Authors note: My own study and practice of Buddhism, first in the Zen tradition, began more than 30 years ago and continued in both the United States and Japan. Beginning in 1994 I finished my BA degree in Religious Studies and obtained an MA in Buddhist Studies, both from The Naropa Institute-now Naropa University- an institution founded by the late Chgyam Trungpa Rinpoche. While there I became a student of Dzogchen Pnlop Rinpoche, a lineage holder in both the Nyingma and Kagyu traditions. In October of last year, I became a Shin Buddhist priest. My Fourth Way studies began four years ago.]

Let us begin with the Kalama Sutta, one of the most well-known early teachings of the Buddha (quoted at length at the top) which expresses in a simple and direct way what might be considered the uniquely Buddhist approach to religion: Question everything, even the tradition itself, accepting nothing that one cannot verify for oneself within the teachings for their utility and wisdom. Is that not a fair summation of G.s verify admonition to his students? 

Also, let us note that the mere inclusion of Saint Lama and Saint Buddha, two quite easily recognizable accolades to Buddhism in his All and Everything Series, 3, Beelzebubs Tales to His Grandson, shows the high regard Gurdjieff accorded this tradition. That he chose the Buddha himself (rather than any other Buddhist figure) indicates as well his admiration for the historical Buddha, placing him high up in his hierarchy of our planets enlightened masters. 

That he also included a representative of Tibetan Buddhism in particular, clearly shows some familiarity and affinity with Vajrayana (the Tantric Buddhism of Tibet known also by its related Japanese cousin, Shingon). In fact, it is quite possible that the figure of Saint Lama is based on the widespread legends and stories of the wondrous Padmasambhava, popularly known as, Guru Rinpoche, the 8th century CE adept who introduced Vajrayana into Tibet. (Etymologically, guru in Tibetan is lama, and Rinpoche means lit., precious one but is sometimes translated, albeit quaintly, as saint). His birthplace was sometimes said to be in Amritsar Lake in India and his extraordinary life centered in Oddiyana, the present-day Swat Valley in what is now Pakistan, an area that teemed with the cross pollination of numerous invasions, various religious ideas and spiritual traditions.

Another fascinating connection might be contained in the name of the monastery wherein G. received what was suggested to be the bulk of his training: Sarmoun or Sarmung. Though the most often utilized explanation of this mysterious brotherhood suggest a reference to bees, an ancient esoteric symbol, another simpler possibility exists. 

Within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition four major divisions are recognized: the Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug. The Kagyu represent the older of the latter three schools, all of which derive their existence and much of their lineage through the original Nyingma (ancient ones) sect. One of the major proponents of the Kagyu in the west in recent years was Chgyam Trungpa Rinpoche (1940-1987). A number of interesting parallels exist between this fascinating Tibetan Buddhist pioneer and Gurdjieff.

Trungpa Rinpoche was trained at the Surmang Monastery, (actually a complex of nine monasteries founded about 600 years ago) the seat of the Trugmase Tulku (Tulkus are rebirthed lamas, this group originally emanate from the Mahasiddha-great adept-, Trugmase) of which Trungpa Rinpoche was one. It is a small leap to posit that the simple reversing of two vowelsSurmang, Sarmungmight have been an intentional guise is it not? But there is much more.

Surmang Monastery was known, and remains known to this day, for its beautiful, strenuous and esoteric sacred dances.

Trungpa Rinpoche introduced the lojong (literally, mind training) slogans to the west as techniques for regularly remembering the path one was undertaking. These slogans were to be regularly alternated or rotated keeping the teachings fresh in ones mind. The great Indian Buddhist master, Atisha (c. 11th cent. CE) used them discreetly and then later they were openly utilized by the original Kadampa tradition. Could this be the origin of the famous quotes posted along the walls of G.s Prieur in France?

Trungpa Rinpoche was said to be one of the holders of the crazy wisdom teachings, wherein, among much else, the teachers frequently resorted to highly unorthodox, exoterically questionable and sometimes bizarre behavior to administer shocks to the students. Is the way of the sly man another way of describing crazy wisdom?

Trungpa Rinpoche often described the Vajrayana path as one that accelerates the entire organism towards enlightenment. It was said to be dangerous and electric for it worked towards nothing less than enlightenment in this very body. But it was a way that was not restricted to the monasticsmany famous adepts were family men and women whose secret practices granted them this remarkable accomplishment. They were sadhakas, those who practiced the sadhanas, means for attainment. The word given the highest of them, siddha, literally means accomplished one or one who has the spiritual accomplishments. 

Is it not possible that, as described in In Search of the Miraculous (pps-195-196) the talk of speed[ing] up the evolutionary process derives from knowledge of some of these Tantric practices? And isnt the Fourth Way distinctly (ISOTM, pps 48-49) separated from all the other ways in that it can be done without leaving the everyday life of a householder? And what kinds of practices or teachings were spoken of?

G. tells us that first and foremost, we must remember ourselves. I have often felt on familiar ground as I studied G.s descriptions of how we were to do this, for the instructions throughout his writings (and those of his students) sound remarkably similar to the application of mindfulness (satipatthana) or attentiveness, sati, in Buddhism, which also is regarded as a primary practice, considered by many to be the anterior requirement for all the more advanced practices.

Another widely taught sentiment came from Shantideva (7th-8th cent. CE) who gave the admonition that one moment of anger can destroy ages of practice and acquired merit. G. taught that bad emotions consume fuel and we are advised to never give way to the expression of negative emotions for similar reasons. Is there a connection?

Identifying is the chief obstacle to remembering G. tells us on page 151. Trungpa Rinpoche eloquently taught that one of our deepest obstacles are our habitual patterns including identifying with our thoughts, which we are to dismiss during meditation practice by gently repeating or labeling to ourselves, just thinking. 

The Tantric adept is often given later a series of advanced practices, visualizations in which one imaginatively places above ones head ones guru or titular deity from which one is to later dissolve into oneself the qualities of this being. Masters were often able to manifest such for their students, producing a display above himself or herself of some vast and brilliantly detailed deity. Might this have some connection to the astral body G. describes on page 32, which he says, is obtained by means of fusion, that is by means of terribly hard inner work and struggle?

Several other similarities might be helpful here.

Practices in Vajrayana were repeatedly said to be of no ultimate value unless we dedicated the merit acquired to all sentient beings, giving back, so to speak, the fruits of our endeavors after each and every session. Is there a parallel between this and page 204 where G. says, What a man has received he must immediately give back; only then he can receive more? 

And when Trungpa Rinpoche taught that our possibility of development occurs best when we insert this refined ability of attentiveness into the gaps that happen between thoughts, or the gaps that occur in our lives when our habitual patterns are shaken up a bit, might this idea not be related to G.s description of intervals where a shock properly administered might successfully advance the right development of these octaves[p. 131]?

And lest we forget, Gurdjieff himself mentioned that hed been married to a Tibetan woman and the possibility of her being from a practitioner family or even being one herself should not be discounted.

These questions, and more, have regularly occurred to me during my study of Fourth Way ideas. Though a remarkable amount of what G. taught is not contained within the Kagyu tradition cited, and his cosmological teachings as well as numerous other ideas often appear quite dissimilar to anything remotely Buddhist, the similarities cited above indicate at least the possibility of some important Buddhist influences on Gurdjieffs Fourth Way system. 

Sources

1. A Handbook of Tibetan Culture, edited by Graham Coleman, Shambhala, Boston, 1994.

2. Buddhist Dictionary, Manual of Buddhist Terms and Doctrines, by Nyanatiloka, Frewin & Co., Ltd., Colombo, 1950.

3. In Search of the Miraculous, Fragments of an Unknown Teaching, P.D. Ouspensky, Harcourt Brace & Company, 1949.

4. Taming The Mind & Cultivating Loving-Kindness, Chgyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Shambhala, Boston & London, 1993.

5. The Lotus-Born, The Life Story of Padmasambhava, Yeshe Tsogyal

The Surmang Foundation website: www.surmang.org


Dharma Fellowship of His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa website: www.dharmafellowship.org

***

Here you will find articles on spiritual/religious topics.

As I am a Shin Buddhist priest, there will be things here of particular interest to those curious about Buddhism or Shin Buddhism.  But there will also be articles on Advaita, Gurdjieffs Fourth Way, and other articles related to western esotericism.

 
"The radiant light, unhindered and inconceivable, eradicates suffering and brings realization of joy; the excellent Name, perfectly embodying all practices, eliminates obstacles and dispels doubt. This is the teaching and practice for our latter age; devote yourself solely to it...  "

Shinran, Passages on the Pure Land Way

***

A "God"-less Path

[A shortened version of this article was submitted to Reykjavk Grapevine, Jan. 2005]

 

A fundamental mistake in the presentation of religions or spirituality is the presumption that a Supreme Being, better known as God, is essential.  What this rather loaded term has generally implied is a Person or Conscious Being that acts in the function of Creator, Judge or Final Arbiter of our actions, is the repository of all that is of Ultimate Good, and has a Final Resting Place for those who obey said Beings terms and conditions (sometimes known as rules or commandments) as a precondition to entry into His (generally, and unfortunately, a he) Paradise/Heaven.  

 

This operative definition fits the descriptions of God as contained in the three major monotheistic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) all their offshoots (Bahaiism or Sufism, for example) and two of the other world religions: Zoroastrianism and, with some important reservations, Hinduism.  

 

But Confucianism, Shintoism, Taoism and, the main subject of this article, Buddhism do not fit into such a category and might be more accurately called Godless paths.  

 

Buddhism has survived for over 2500 years providing immeasurable comfort, support, wisdom and compassion while never insisting upon belief in a God.  It has been variously described as being more a science of Mind or a path of Awakeningthan a religion and continues to confound those who insist directly or by omission, indirectly, that a religion as such must contain God.  

 

But it is partly our obsessive, near panicky predisposition to anthropomorphize Ultimate Reality as a super-human construct that, from a Buddhist perspective, keeps us from actually experiencing Ultimate Reality.  And here is where Buddhism in particular, of all religions differs most from them all: it is a religion of ortho-praxis not ortho-doxy.  That is, the actualization of Truth through practices such as meditation is more important than ones beliefs about it.

 

[Even the most superficially similar (in terms of language and popular depictions) of Buddhist sects, Pure Land Buddhism, is still firmly rooted within the Buddhist emphasis of interconnectedness, emptiness (sunyata), non-substantiality (no soul), and impermanence.]  

 

So what is Buddhism then, and how can it be approached?  The simplest answer might be contained in one of Buddhisms most famous stories.  When asked by a local King if he was a God, since he was so revered and beloved by all who came in contact with him, the Buddha answered, No. Are you a saint then?  No.  Are you a demon?  No.  Then what are you? asked the King.  I am awake, the Buddha simply said.  Buddhism then, is all about waking up.

 

Born around 563BCE, Siddhartha Gautama was a prince who was treated to all the advantages and benefits as befitted a warrior-prince in those days: shelter from suffering or its influences, innumerable servants, several palaces, a excellent, all-round education and an impressive inheritance due upon the death of his father.  But Siddhartha had shown a decidedly un-royal like attitude throughout his youth, apparently deeply troubled by the superficiality in his life and the suffering he witnessed (to his fathers displeasure) outside his palace walls.  Then he came upon the sight of a sunnyasin, a renunciant who, though clad in old, worn-out garments seemed quite happy to live his otherworldly, contemplative life, presenting a sharp and painful contrast to the Buddhas empty life of privilege.  

 

Renouncing everything, including his family, he spent the next 6 years committed to some of the most atrocious ascetic practices imaginable, thought to bring amazing mental and physical control and thus awakening to its practitioners.  (Actually, one of his contemporaries also eventually started his own religion, Jainism.) But Siddhartha found their ways led to little more than emaciated bodies and tightly wound up minds and all of them were still subject to suffering and death.  He left the ascetic route and determined to find his own way, somewhere between the paths of extreme indulgence that he grew up in and the ascetic path of self-mortification.  His would be Middle Way, one that would teach a way out of suffering and into the indescribable but awakened Reality known as Nirvana (literally, blowing out, i.e., the ceasing of all activities which keep us bound to the interminable cycle of birth, old age, disease, death and rebirth, ad infinitum, collectively known as samsara.)

 

Sometime during the evening of the full moon of the fifth month, Siddhartha Gautama, after years of extreme spiritual practices experienced a radical awakening known thereafter as Enlightenment and became from that point on, the Buddha, or the Awakened One.  He wandered northern India and what is now Nepal for the next 40 years teaching his path to all would listen, without concern as to caste, profession, gender or position.  His religion eventually took over the Brahminical proto-Hinduism that existed at the time and eventually spread from the shores of Egypt (influencing Greek philosophy) down to Sri Lanka, into the depths of Tibet, Russia and Mongolia, through China, Southeast Asia, Japan, and Korea.  

 

It has now reached the west where it has influenced modern psychology and books by such authors as Thich Nhat Hanh or the Dalai Lama regularly stay on the New York Times bestseller lists for months, even years at a time.  (Jungs notion of the collective unconsciousness is derived from the Buddhist idea of alaya-vijnana or Storehouse Consciousness.  In addirion, Buddhisms influence can be felt in the field of Depth psychology and in countless books, seminars and self-help workshops held regularly around the world.  Not to mention the amazingly diverse meditation training centers and paths that have sprung up almost everywhere in North and South America and Europe.)

 

So how is it possible that a Godless path can become so widespread and grant its believers spiritual comfort while speaking constantly of suffering, denying the existence of a soul and asserting that everything is connected to everything else through a timeless, beginningless and endless procession of causes and conditions?

 

It is not as if the question of an Ultimate God was not posed to him, (it was) nor that such was not a common test of religious leaders of his time, to see what their own particular view or description of such was.  The Buddha just responded by saying that those who would follow him only on condition of his answering such questions were like a soldier on a battlefield struck in the shoulder by a poisonous arrow and who, before allowing anyone to help him, insisted on knowing the caste of the enemy warrior who struck him, his name and rank, the type of plant that produced the poison, the tree which produced the arrow shaft, etc., etc.  This man would surely die before getting such answers he taught.  The key, the Buddha said, is simply to remove the poisonous arrow and get the poison out of the mans shoulder before it spread.  We all live like this, the Buddha suggested, struggling to get all kinds of answers but never looking directly at our situation, as-it-is.  Were we to do so, we would see that our constant craving for this or that, for ultimate answers even, was the main cause of the existential suffering that underlies all our lives.

 

No, what made Buddhism spread, what made this path a Path was its assurance that each of us can become enlightened too, if only we learned to see things as-they-really-are (yatham-bhutam).  This seeing, this dynamic experience of Ultimate Reality is in fact, Truth itself.  So what would we see?  

 

To describe Truth from a Buddhist perspective would be like the later Zen Buddhist schools metaphor of the finger pointing at the moon.  That is, any description of that would be simply a description, and not the thing itself, which must be actualized by each person individually, through practices collectively know as meditation but known in Sanskrit (the literary language of Buddhism and Hinduism) as bhavana, or, mental cultivation.  

 

In the most basic terms, Buddhist meditation can be divided into calming (samatha) and insight (vipasyana).  We cannot begin to understand the infinite complex of causes and conditions that make up who we are without first calming down the constant babbling that takes place within us.  Once this is achieved to a stable degree, we can then move into careful observation of the constant flow within us.  How everything, starting with our bodies themselves, the sensations on our bodies, our feelings about those sensations and the thoughts connected to those feelings, comes up, stays a little while and then fades away.  This process of arising, temporarily staying and passing can be said to apply to all things, animate or inanimate.  It is an infinite flux, a vibrant impermanence that initially threatens our limited self but eventually offers us complete freedom.  

 

In practical terms, we can actually experience this intimately, loosening our attachment to the habitual patterns that keep us tied into our own private little neuroses.  We can gradually free ourselves from the process of solidifying around one particular pattern we call me and learn to actually change ourselves.  We can experience the utmost freedom; a liberation sometimes described as luminous, energetic, ever-present and a pure awareness.  But all these good terms are only words and do not capture the liberation which is available to all of us, right now, even as we read these words.   Living always in this experience, is Awakening, and we can all have glimpses of this if we want.  And no need for any mention of God to begin...

 

 

Rev. Jos M. Tirado is a poet, writer and Green activist. He is also a Shin Buddhist priest teaching in Iceland. His articles have appeared in CounterPunch, Swans Commentary, Dissident Voice, the Magazine of Green Social Thought: Synthesis/Regeneration and Gurdjieff Internet Guide.  He can be reached via his website: www.thepathofmyexperience.com

***

Yogic Technique, Religious Freedom and Cognitive Liberty

by Jason Mierek

In American culture, the term religion has historically referred to Christianity (and to a lesser extent Judaism).  While the explicit American cultural understanding of religion becomes progressively inclusive as encounters with different religions increase, religion and religiosity are still implicitly understood primarily in Christian, particularly Protestant, terms of belief and faith.  In contrast, religions of Indian origin, particularly modern interpretations of Hinduism and Buddhism, provide us with a different understanding of religion, defined not solely in terms of belief, but also as liberation through investigation into and transformation of the self or the mind.  Many modern teachers within these traditions even refuse the label religion, preferring instead the word science.  I will explore this different understanding of religion as science, looking at some works of these teachers while elucidating their experimental character.   When religion is understood as science, i.e. in general terms of inner investigation and transformation, practice of ones religion mandates free access to alternative states of consciousness and techniques of consciousness modulation.  With this alternate understanding comes the concomitant awareness that one must possess cognitive liberty, i.e. the ability to experiment with the form and contents of ones consciousness, if one is to enjoy free practice of ones religion.

This essay is an attempt to establish philosophical grounds for an entirely different way of understanding religion and religiosity.  I shall not feign objectivity in this essay; a Lutheran upbringing familiarized me with the conflation of religion and belief, while my Buddhist practice makes me one whose religion is left potentially unprotected by the contemporary aegis of religious liberty.  It is my opinion that the tacit hegemony of Christianity (particularly Protestantism) has for too long held sway in our increasingly diversified nation, and this essay is an attempt to provide a model of religiosity that (hopefully) provides more people with the freedom to think about and follow whatever spiritual path they choose.  It is my hope that this model will encourage novel directions of scholarship and activism by those interested in history and/or jurisprudence who also share my desire to promote cognitive and religious liberty.          

Christian creeds, Protestant faith:  Religion understood as Belief

A bit of historical background is in order.  Political documents antedating the Bill of Rights reflect the early American cultural conception of religion as (exclusively) belief.  The Maryland Toleration Act of 1649 expressly prohibited the molestation of anyone professing to believe in Jesus Christ, while the Massachusetts Body of Liberties (1647) similarly protected anybody professing the true Christian Religion.  While the emphasis on the true Christian Religion is interesting, it is not what I wish to discuss here.  Instead, what I would point out is the importance that both documents place upon the act of professing (to believe).  It is belief, the profession of faith, which the liberal authors of these documents held to comprise religion in toto.  That religiosity could consist of factors other than belief may have simply been inconceivable to those for whom belief and religion (and Christianity) were synonymous.  Although heirs to the American cultural and legal legacies may not (all) be Christian, they have nonetheless inherited this implicit understanding of religion (and its free practice) as professing to believe.    

This Christian understanding of religion as belief (or belief in) can be clearly seen in three different facets of Christianity: the Christian scriptures, the Christian creeds, and the Protestant reliance on justification through faith. 

An example of the Christian scriptural foundation for religion as faith is to be seen on signs waving behind home plate at Wrigley Field or in the stands at college football games.  These ubiquitous banners read simply, John 3:16.  This code, cryptic to non-Christians, is immediately decipherable to the well-studied Catholic or Methodist: For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life (New Revised Standard Version).  This verse was affectionately described to those in my Lutheran catechism class as the gospel in a nutshell, underscoring that belief in Christ is a necessary condition for salvation.  The three synoptic Gospels emphasize faiths curative power, while according to John the theological importance of faith, wherein belief in Christ is the key to eternal life, cannot be stressed enough (see John 3:18, 3:36, 5:24, 6:35, 7:38 NRSV).  Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, explain Paul and Silas to their inquisitive jailer, who stands amazed at seeing his jail doors flung wide (Acts 16:31 NRSV).  Likewise, the Letter of Paul to the Romans (5:1 NRSV) proclaims that the Christian is justified by faith, a proclamation that stands at the heart of the doctrine of Gods grace and forgiveness.  Belief in Christ is, pardon the pun, the crux of the Christian faith as rendered by the authors of the New Testament.

With this crucial emphasis on belief, it was critical for the early Christian to discern what was to be believed from what was not, and so the early Christian church, in order to separate the wheat from the chaff, developed doctrinal formulations of faith, or creeds.  From the Latin credo, meaning I believe, the creeds outlined not only the tenets in which the true Christian must believe, but also served to highlight those doctrines which the Church deemed heretical.  The first, the Apostles Creed, was compiled in around the year 150, and was a means whereby Christians could distinguish true believers from those who followed the various heresies circulating at the time (Gonzalez 1984, 63).  The creeds also helped to pin down doctrines upon which the Bible was ambiguous.  In 325, responding to the Arian heresy, the First Ecumenical Council formulated the Nicene Creed.  After it soon became evident that by limiting itself to biblical texts the Council would find it very difficult to express its rejection of Arianism in unmistakable terms, the Council decided to agree on a creed that would express the faith of the church in such a way that Arianism was clearly excluded (Gonzalez 1984, 165).  The last of the creeds (and coincidentally the longest) is the Athanasian Creed, formulated in the late 4th or early 5th century.  In its opening passagewhosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he holds the catholic [universal] faiththe Athanasian Creed mandates faith in its particular doctrinal formulation as the necessary condition for salvation.

If the Christian scriptures promoted faith as a necessary condition for salvation, with various creeds establishing exactly what one was to have faith in if one was to be considered a Christian, then the theologians of the Protestant Reformation asserted that faith, and only faith, was sufficient for redemption from sin.  Protestant reformers throughout Europe took very seriously Pauls aforementioned Letter to the Romans, with its doctrine of justification through faith in Christ, in their reformulations of Christian dogma.  To many, including John Calvin and Martin Luther, faith was not merely the assertion of a particular formulation of tenets but also the heartfelt experience of Gods transforming grace through Christ  The principle of justification through faith was an intellectual statement of that which had been their experience  This [faith] was not a belief of the mind, it was an experience which was theirs in the depths of their spirits (Dunstan 1961, 90).  Belief in Christ and his redemptive grace is affirmed as the core of the (Protestant) Christian life; if such faith is lacking, all other facets of the Christian life (e.g. meritorious works, participation in the sacraments and religious rituals, contemplation and mystical experience, etc.) are understood as insufficient for salvation.  We hear echoes of this affirmation in a question from the Lutherans Augsburg Confession (IV.52): For why did Christ have to be offered for our sins if our own merits make satisfaction for them?  Because of this utter emphasis on faith, I feel it may be safely asserted without risk of over-generalizing, that belief is the sine qua non of the Christian religion as interpreted by its Protestant Reformers.  

This Christian (particularly Protestant) notion of religion equaling belief in is our cultural legacy.  We are told from an early age that our foreparents sailed to these shores to escape from religious persecution at home, the fate of those relatively new Protestants in a world without religious liberty or tolerance.  My childhood images of early Americans feasting on turkey, corn and squash with native peoples, are now recognizable as Protestant Quakers and Puritans.  Protestant Christianity, if not explicitly named as the predominant religious tradition of our progenitors, is implicitly described in our folk stories and popular culture.  Yet even in our secular post-modern consumer culture the vestiges of this Christian heritage are apparent, as when we look to the dictionary and find religion defined as the expression of belief in and reverence for a superhuman power recognized as the governor and creator of the universe (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, s.v. religion).  Not all religious people believe in a superhuman creator.  Nor do all who believe in a superhuman creator necessarily revere It.  This understanding of religion as belief in is simply not an adequate description, particularly when it is applied to the spiritual traditions of Indian origin.  In the next section I will explore a different understanding found in the traditions of India, that of religion as science.  

Hindu Yoga, Buddhist Yoga:  Religion understood as Science

Belief is an important ingredient in many of the varied Indian conceptions of religiosity, but it is not necessarily understood in the same way to a Hindu or Buddhist as it is to a Lutheran or Baptist.  Nor is religion necessarily understood as synonymous with belief.  Indeed, because of the aforementioned conflation of religion with belief, many contemporary teachers within these Indian traditions[1] have even denied that they practice a religion, preferring instead the term science as a more adequate description.  My own Buddhist teacher, The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, has commented on this application of the terms religion and science to Buddhism: 

We can say that Buddhadharma is not a religion.  Its a science  Fundamentally its the science of working with the very basic nature of our mind  Buddhadharma is not a religion in the everyday connotation of the word ... our regular mundane understanding of religion is somewhat simple: its a belief, a dogma that we have about some supernatural beings outside ourself  (Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche 1992).         

Is there some general accord that connects Rinpoche-las understanding of Buddhadharma as  science with other Buddhist and Hindu teachers use of the same term?  

I contend that the concept of yoga as technique for liberation provides the common ground we seek in the use of the term science, and further, that it is the practice of yoga that substantially differentiates religion as science from religion as belief.  The central position of yoga is evinced by historian of religion Mircea Eliade in his out line of the four kinetic ideas in Indian religion/cosmology.  As further support, several specific examples of Indian religious science will be examined to find points of convergence with Eliades outline (and to see if this outline reflects the actuality of the specific traditions).  Last, the correlation of yoga to science, and thus its relationship to science (in its standard usage, e.g. physics, neurobiology), will be explored through reference to Ken Wilbers idea of three threads of valid knowledge.          

As a point of departure for his groundbreaking study Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, Eliade presents an outline of Indian religion, averring four basic and interdependent concepts, four kinetic ideas, bring us directly to the core of Indian spirituality (Eliade 1969, 3).  Briefly, these four kinetic ideas are: 1) karmathe law of universal causality that condemns humans to ceaseless rebirth, and worse, re-death; 2) mayathe veil of illusion which is accorded validity by a humanity mired in ignorance and delusion; 3) nirvanathe unconditioned Truth, inseparable from the here and now but (seemingly) hidden behind the veil of illusion; and 4) yogavarious means of gaining knowledge and understanding of Truth (Eliade 1969).  In general, the Indian cosmos is conceived of as a ceaselessly spinning wheel to which one is bound solely by ones ignorance of ones true freedom.  All individuals actions and their effects keep them bound or help them attain liberation, ergo if someone seeks freedom she must cultivate the means by which she can penetrate the veil to the truth behind.  In Indian religion the knowledge of the truth will set us free; the practices of yoga are the means to achieve this knowledge.

Hindu teacher Sri Yukteswar (perhaps best known as the guru to Paramahansa Yogananda, author of Autobiography of a Yogi) describes his holy science in terms consonant with Eliades kinetic ideas.  The Eternal Father, God, Swami Parambrahma, is the only Real Substance, Sat [Being], and is all in all in the universe while the cause of the experience of the phenomenal world, the Atoms, are called en masse Maya, the Darkness, as they keep the Spiritual Light out of comprehension  (Yukteswar 1990, 21-5).  The Reality behind the phenomenal, created world is separated from an ignorant humanity, obscured by the shadow of maya, yet all is not lost.  One can enlighten this darkness and reveal the truth, obtaining emancipation, when one realizes the oneness of his Self with the Universal Self, the Supreme Reality (ibid., 41).  Having described the Gospel of Supreme Reality and the Goal of liberation, Swami Yukteswar explicates the Procedure for attaining this goal of liberation.  Preliminary exercises purify the mind and body, while devotional practices develop confidence, as one cultivates yogic disciplines of posture (asana), breath (pranayama), the senses (pratyahara), and the mind (smriti and samadhi).  Hence arises Samyama (restraint or overcoming the egoistic self), by which one experiences the Aum vibration that reveals God.This is the state of Divinity (ibid., 75).         Please note that nowhere here is salvation described as a matter of belief.  Instead, in order to attain liberation through the holy science, one cultivates an alternative mode of consciousness, characterized by egoic restraint, until the identity of ones Self with the Supreme Reality is made an actuality (realized).              

The founder-acarya for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (a.k.a. the Hare Krishnas, a sect of Vishnu-worshipping Hindus), A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, presents a different understanding of the same basic teachings: the Krishna consciousness movement is an authorized, scientific approach to the matter of our eternal necessity in relation with the Absolute Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Enjoyer (Prabhupada 1992, 2).  Likewise, the goal of the Krishna consciousness movement is similar to the goal outlined by Swami Yukteswaremancipation:  

One who is convinced of his spiritual identity and is freed from the material conception of existence, who is free from illusion and is transcendental to the modes of material nature, who constantly engages in understanding spiritual knowledge and who has completely severed himself from sense enjoyment can go back to Godhead (ibid., 7).

This freedom, according to Swami Prabhupada, consists in awakening (and awakening to) the Krishna consciousness that lies dormant inside everyones hearts.  Because all are like small particles of God, it is the realization of this divine identity that will bring true happiness.  Whereas the procedure described by Swami Yukteswar involved the cultivation of various yogic disciplines, the path of Krishna consciousness consists solely in the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra.  No other means are needed, nor are any regarded as efficacious.[2]  While this approach may appear like religion of belief because it is theistic, viewing the Absolute Reality in terms of Supreme Personality, it must be stressed that this religion does not have belief as its defining feature.  Belief in Krishna or faith that Krishna consciousness is at the core of ones being does not equal self-realization.  One must take up the practice of chanting Hare Krishna, and by virtue of this practice ones heart and mind will be purified.  According to Swami Prabhupada, it is only through this science of self-realization that ones own Krishna consciousness will be awakened.  

Transcendental Meditation, the yoga taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, is different from the preceding traditions because Maharishi (and his followers) steadfastly denies that this science of being is in any way religious.[3]   Transcendental Meditation is a technique, pure and simple.  It involves no religion, belief, philosophy, or change in lifestyle  (Roth 1994, 155).  This technique exists within a cosmology similar to that described above by Swami Yukteswar, albeit one that is secular in tone:

The Science of Being not only postulates a theory of one absolute element at the basis of the entire creation, but also provides a systematic way whereby any man [sic] may have direct experience of the essential nature of transcendental absolute Being  (Maharishi 1995, 44).  Absolute, unbounded, pure Being is held to underlie the existence of manifold phenomena, the evolution and continuation of which are perpetuated through the force of karma (action).  Phenomena may be transcended and the field of Being directly contacted and known through the regular practice of Transcendental Meditation, or TM.  When one regularly practices the technique, by sitting quietly with eyes closed and repeating a silent mantra, then the minds attention is gradually drawn away from the transient waves of thought to the profound depths of the ocean of awareness.  The technique is explicitly central to the TM philosophy (which, contrary to Roth, is a philosophy and worldview rooted in the Vedic religion).                    

Buddhism, too, holds liberation from ceaseless suffering and re-death as its ultimate aim.  As with the Hindu-derived traditions above, the various schools of Buddhism provide a multitude of meditative disciplines to achieve this goal.  The vipassana meditation practice of Theravada Buddhism (and its counterpart shamatha-vipashyana in the Tibetan schools) allows the meditator to simply sit in silence and pay attention to whatever arises in the mind, without judgment.  This technique is said to develop the mental faculty for focus and attention while also creating a sense of space and panoramic awareness.  Similar is the familiar Zen sitting meditation practice of zazen.  A technique for developing love and compassion is tonglen, which is usually practiced after one has cultivated focus and calmness through shamatha; in the practice of tonglen, one actively trades places with others, actively wishing them joy and peace while taking on their pain and suffering.  Still more liberative techniques include ngondro, the preliminaries to tantric initiation that are intense prostration and visualization practices intent on purifying the mind; the full-sensorium tantric sadhanas that combine mantras, postures, devotions, and visualizations; and the Pure Land practice of whole-heartedly chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha to be transformed and reborn in the Pure Land whence ultimate liberation is more easily achieved.  All are techniques for transforming the quality of ones consciousness, to make oneself more compassionate and wise, so that one may achieve liberation from suffering.  In the words of computer lover Ponlop Rinpoche, we are holding the keyboard; we ourselves are the programmer (Ponlop 1992); these various forms of meditation allow us to debug ourselves.     

As noted above, the presence of these myriad techniques for achieving lasting transmutation of consciousness, or yogas, are what distinguish scientific religion from religion as mere belief.  Though the goals of these manifold practices are similar --- the achievement of liberation or transformation --- the specific techniques are not necessarily similar in form, nor do they all manifest transformation in the same way.  Ancient Vedic scholars recognized many types of yoga, including jnana wisdom yoga (the recognition of ones ultimate nature), karma self-less action yoga, bhakti devotional yoga and mantra sacred sound yoga (Feuerstein 1996).  Buddhist scholars acknowledged still more.  As each person is unique, so to must be the yoga that they practice, hence the variety of methods for attaining liberation(s).  It must be emphasized again that all of these diverse techniques have as their purpose, in one way or another, the salvation of liberation through the transformation of consciousness.  Belief in liberation is impotent without the means to catalyze this necessary transformation, and the science of yoga, whatever its form, provides this catalyst.

The metaphor of science is appropriate here because of the weight the scientific enterprise places upon direct observation through experiment, as opposed to mere reliance on hearsay or dogma, in its validation of hypothetical truth claims.  Likewise, the yogic aspects of the Indian religions also place special emphasis on direct apprehension of truth through practice of particular methods.   Transpersonal theorist Ken Wilber, in The Marriage of Sense and Soul (his attempt to happily wed science and religion), divines a general scientific method that he applies to both science qua science and the inner sciences of the yogic/meditative traditions.  His outline of this general model, what he calls the three strands of valid knowledge, proceeds as follows:  the scientist first applies an (1) instrumental injunction to the phenomenon in question, by which she gains a (2) direct apprehension, after which the details of this apprehension are presented to her peers for (3) communal confirmation/rejection---repeat as necessary (Wilber 1998). 

The thrust of Wilbers model is that those religious practices and techniques whose aim is transformation via direct apprehension (what Eliade called nirvana) share with the scientific method an attitude that can only be described as experimental.  In approaching a new domain of knowledge, whether the heavens or the nature of our minds, if we want to know something about that domain, then we must take up a particular discipline such as looking through a telescope or sitting zazen.  The discipline so taken up is what Wilber calls an instrumental injunction.  As an example the Buddha provided countless instructions to his students on how to develop the understanding of mind that liberates from suffering.  Once we have taken up the injunction (here the Buddhas meditation instructions), we use it to observe directly the object of our inquiry.  The injunction of looking through a telescope provided Galileo with direct apprehension of the solar system (e.g., he saw moons orbiting Jupiter) and initiated a new understanding of the cosmos.  Similarly the Buddhist scriptures tell of those students who, after taking up meditations taught by the Buddha, were able to directly apprehend the same quality of mind, free from suffering and turbulence, that the Buddha characterized as being free from suffering.  For both Galileo and the Buddha, it was not enough to rely upon received opinion; instead methods had to be devised by which they could test this opinion for themselves.

This experimental quality that characterizes the various practices subsumed under the rubric yoga provides the essential distinction between religious paradigms (i.e. religion as belief versus religion as science).  Religion as belief may tell us that we need to believe in something, but it does not provide us with a means to experience that something for ourselves; religion as science is emphatic in its demand for such means.  Religion as belief is about doctrine---at worst the rote repetition of empty philosophical tenets and at best a heart-felt explanation of experience that cannot be otherwise transmitted; religion as science is about developing the means to allow others to experience first-hand what all the fuss is about.  Religion as science is about active internal exploration in the hope of effecting profound transformation.  This transformative, experimental understanding of religion and its free practice is crucial in the conception of cognitive liberty.   

Works Cited

Dunstan, J. Leslie, ed.  1961.  Protestantism.  New York: George Braziller, Inc.

Eliade, Mircea.  1969.  Yoga: Immortality and Freedom.  2d ed.  Translated by Willard R. Trask.  Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Feuerstein, Georg.  1996.  The Shambhala Guide to Yoga: An Essential Introduction to the Principles and Practice of an Ancient Tradition.  Boston: Shambhala Publications.

Gonzalez, Justo L.  1984.  The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation.  San Francisco: Harper Collins, HarperSanFransisco.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.  1995.  Reprint.  Science of Being and Art of Living: Transcendental Meditation  New York: Meridian.  Original edition, N.p.: Age of Enlightenment Publications, 1963.

Ponlop Rinpoche, The Dzogchen.  1992.  Khe-juk Teachings (Nova Scotia).  Available at http://www.nalandabhodi.org/science_of_mind.html. 

Prabhupada, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.  1992.  The Science of Self-Realization.  Los Angeles: The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.

Roth, Robert.  1994.  Maharishi Mahesh Yogis TM: Transcendental Meditation: A New Introduction to Maharishis Easy, Effective and Scientifically Proven Technique for Promoting Better Health, Unfolding Your Creative Potentialand Creating Peace in the World.  2d ed.  New York: Donald I. Fine, Inc.

  Wilber, Ken.  1998.  The Marriage of Sense and Soul: Integrating Science and Spirit.  New York: Random House.

Yukteswar Giri, Jnanavatar Swami Sri. 1990.  Kaivalya Darsanam: The Holy Science.  8th ed.  Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship.      

 

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[1] I must here note that my usage of the phrase Indian traditions includes Buddhism, which although Indian in origin, is mainly known in its contemporary non-Indian forms, having been all but wiped out in its native land.  Thus Tibetan teachers are here referred to as Indian teachers, etc.

[2] This emphatic difference in method has its origins in the Indian notion of the Kali Yuga, or degenerate age, in which it is thought that we now live.  Other systems of self-realization, the jnana process or yoga process, are also recognized [in the Vedas], but it is not possible to practice them in this age (Prabhupada, 1992, 172).  We just dont have the strength of character to achieve liberation any other way.

[3] Though Swamis Yukteswar and Prabhupada both affirm their traditions as sciences they do not simultaneously deny them as religions.  Perhaps it would be too dissonant to discuss God or Godhead on the one hand, and to thoroughly disclaim religiosity on the other.

***

"In reflecting on the great ocean of shinjin, I realize that there is no discrimination between noble and humble or black-robed monks and white-clothed laity, no differentiation between man and woman, old and young. The amount of evil one has committed is not considered; the duration of any performance of religious practices is of no concernIt is simply shinjin* that is inconceivable, inexplicable, and indescribable."  Shinran, Kyogyoshinsho Chapter 3, Verse 51

"The true religion ought to rise above and be applicable to any country and nationality and so assimilate with every state and nation.  The final object of Hongwanji is to plant the gospel of Buddha Amida in the true spirit of every nation in the corner of the world."  Bishop Yemyo Imamura

 

Because I now live in Iceland, without a Shin or Pure Land temple nearby or even a community to be with, I have depended quite a lot on the Internet for a developing "cyber-sangha."  Recently, I was engaged in a heated discussion on one of the online "lists" used by Shin Buddhists.  Well, it might be better to describe the exchanges as awkwardly polite, sometimes avoidant and sometimes quickly dismissive.  Like some embarrassing relative shuttled behind the scenes when wealthier friends visit, the topic causing all this fuss was simply a suggestion I made and some questions I raised.  

Imagine, I said, a Black or Latino Amida on an altar of a Shin church where all the other "accoutrements" and atmosphere were likewise representative of Black or Latino culture.  For example, perhaps the liturgy was said in Spanish or the hymns sung in enthusiastic gospel tunes.  Perhaps the emotions and expressiveness inside, from the minister's sermon to the audience responses were characteristic of Black or Latino spirituality.  The monthly potlucks, the parking lot festivities, the ethnic and racial makeup of the congregants, the music, the food, the language spoken and fellowship all reflected a tight-knit group comfortable with each other and confident enough to be tolerant of interested visitors.  Would you attend such a church, I then asked?  

How many of us would join such a community seeing how so many of the "externals" were unfamiliar or dissimilar to our own cultural "comfort zone?" The answers I received were sadly negative and made me wonder if the draw of Shin Buddhism is still too dependent upon an "exotic" Asian context which, if removed, would weaken its grip on many followers and possibly be abandoned?  

These are just some of the questions I hope to raise here in the interest of proactively expanding the discussion of Shin Buddhism into realms that may not typically be broached.  It is also a call for a new and revitalized Shin Buddhism, not so bound to particular cultural forms and flexible enough to allow itself growth in areas traditionally not considered.  I believe that unless fundamentally different approaches are soon taken to expand Shin Buddhism, bringing its message of universal salvation to more and different peoples, it may perish or be relegated as just one of many "Japanese" Buddhist sects that came and went.     

The history of Jodo Shinshu in the west has been fairly well-documented as a common immigrant experience of holding fast to one's traditions and cultural expressions even while attempting to assimilate into the broader culture.  Japanese immigrants and their children managed this tension fairly well but were also afflicted by a particularly vicious racism, which, during the Second World War disenfranchised, imprisoned and expropriated the property of tens of thousands of American citizens of Japanese descent.  This remains one of the most shameful periods in American history.  Over the years, Jodo Shinshu had made certain changes in order to better "fit" in such an environment (for example, use of the word "church," inclusion and adoption of pews, hymnals, etc.) but its reach has extended little beyond those Japanese American (JA) enclaves, where it served a dual purpose:  

It retained its distinctive Japanese atmosphere as a method for cultural preservation while at the same time carrying on the missionary spirit of Jodo Shinshu, so recognized as crucial for it's universal message.  

The history of Buddhism in general however, was a bit different where as a movement for spiritual liberation it regularly adapted itself into the cultural streams of vastly different cultures stretching from Russia to Southeast Asia, from Pakistan to Korea and Japan.  Remarkable adaptations to different cultural contexts around the world created an exquisite explosion in the variety of statuary, paintings, imagery, architecture, gardens, liturgies and other outward expressions of Buddhadharma in people's lives. 

Another part of what generated my interest in this topic was a set of conversations I have had with some Latino and African-American friends over the years about Shin Buddhism, their curiosity piqued as I became more seriously involved with it.  While other forms of Buddhism have made inroads into the African-American and Latino communities, (though still by-and-large retaining the Asian forms mentioned) Jodo-Shinshu, or Shin Buddhism remains largely entwined within the Japanese-American experience.  The "set-up" of church life generally revolves around the JA community and its culture, immersed in, as I once wrote  "teriyaki, taiko and tatami. "  Though I love all those things and spent years in Japan, they limit the attractiveness of Shin to those only comfortable with such.  Some of those African-American and Latino friends who have been exposed to Shin find the totality of the above somewhat constraining and unrelated to their own preferred cultural expressions, driving them away from Shin despite their sincere interest in it.  

In all fairness, the situation is gradually changing and regular discussions have been occurring as to how to nurture the demographical changes into something that maintains the "integrity" of Shin while welcoming new input, ideas and members.  (The near future however, looks mixed in this regard.  While in Japan for my own ordination last October I heard some ministerial trainees lament that even the growing mixed-race makeup of Shin congregations these days was "sad" and might "change our [sic] church."  I also noted that one Nishi Hongwanji representative disagreed saying, without worry or displeasure that "change is going to come.")  Apparently even the new BCA Bishop is committed to making efforts to extend the ministry and message beyond the present cultural borders.  

Yet, though many articles have been written and lectures held bemoaning the loss of membership, the declining interest among second and third generation JAs in Shin, the growing rates of intermarriage and the lack of new ministerial candidates, still little seems to change.  Thus some recognition that reliance upon those institutions whose faithful work over hundreds of years preserved the tradition safely, is not going to do it, needs to be acknowledged.  And likewise some latitude from those very institutions, to "let a thousand flowers bloom" so to speak, should be given, without doctrinaire fear of heresy.  Perhaps this process can begin by us, here and now, in a call to reinterpret Shin for the world.

Jaroslav Pelikan s "Jesus Through The Centuries" is one book that may have some helpful information for us here.  It shows how the evolving nature of Jesus' representation in art has reflected more than simply theological debates.  It has also demonstrated that part of Jesus' enduring legacy is the remarkable transformation viewpoints and visuals underwent as Christianity moved from era to era, country to country, viewed by different classes and different people.  Christianity, whether willingly or not, under the auspices or approval of the various ecclesiastical authorities or not, developed a remarkable flexibility that, across the planet expressions of Christianity are as now as diverse as the cultures that make it up.  As Shin likewise moves cross-culturally around the world, what changes will it undergo?  And what should we do to nurture that process so that it becomes available to all while preserving some "core" that carries the label "Shin" or "Jodo Shinshu"?  And what precisely, is that "core"?  

Many articles have been written concerning the universal nature of Shin beliefs and doctrines but how much has been said about the smaller, but more tangible nature of Shin in terms of race or culture?  In the chapter entitled, "Is Our God Listening?" Diana Eck, in her book "Encountering God, From Bozeman to Banaras" examines a set of positions to the challenge of diversity adopted when people are faced with inter religious dialog: inclusivism, exclusivism and pluralism.

She refers to "inclusivism" as the belief or mind-set that suggests there is no significant difference between us since we believe ultimately in the same basic thing, yet it always looks like "my thing."  "For the inclusivist" she writes, "our God" is indeed listening, but it is our God as we understand God who does the listening."  [Encountering God, p.168]

In Shin, the statuary, kanji, altar arrangements and implements, liturgies and orientations are all Japanese-related, or east Asian.  What if they were not?  When I posed some of these questions to test the waters out over the web, the majority of responses were defensive or suggested that "it doesn't matter" what Amida looks like (so long as it "looked" like what they are used to).  Yet when pressed no one wanted to respond further about a Black or Brown looking Amida and the discomfort led the subject to be changed quickly with little satisfaction for me.  

Perhaps then this should be the place to put out a call for artists, composers and others to help (re)define Shin for the future by stretching all boundaries, depicting an Amida who reflects different races and cultures while visualizing new and innovative churches, altars, liturgies and approaches to Amida him (her?) self.  What would happen then?  Indeed, what might happen?  

I remember as a child hearing about tennis pro Arthur Ashe praying before a white Jesus image and asking "Is God on my side?"  For a number of years now, many African-Americans have been engaged in a spirited debate over Jesus color and depictions in media and throughout churches.  Altar spaces, popular artwork, book covers and posters have all been designed to reflect a growing sense that the pride and joy instilled by seeing depictions of one's spiritual tradition in forms that look like oneself, one's family and culture, is invaluable.  

I too had a similar experience.  I remember watching "The Greatest Story Ever Told" one Easter evening with my family and my father, a short, stocky, very dark-skinned Puerto Rican man pointed out with what I felt was some bitterness, that if Jesus existed then he probably looked more like him than the 6 foot plus, blond, blue-eyed, Max Von Sydow.  The comment left a deep impression on me, making me later wonder about the use of imagery and its power to inspire confidence or instill a sense of inferiority.

In Mexico, Christianity took a giant leap forward when The Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to a native Mexican, speaking Nahuatl, dressed like an Aztec woman and with the brown-red skin of native Amerindians throughout Central and Latin America.  It might be said that no sermonizing, no mass conversions (forced or voluntary), no grand theological arguments or reasoned discussions carried Christianity into the hearts and minds of the people there more than that single image.  Is it too much to imagine that should Shin be presented in like fashion in say, Africa or South America, that its appeal and possibilities might grow equally a thousand fold and reach the great potential we all believe Shin can have for the future?  

Modern icon artist Robert Lentz has made an admirable career out of redesigning the traditional art of Icons and has included such diverse figures as Hildegaard of Bilgen, Cesar Chavez, Mohandas Gandhi, Oscar Romero, Albert Einstein and Mother Theresa in powerful and beautiful ways.  His art respectfully addresses the desire to bring to all the most powerful symbols of devotional art and redo them for contemporary audiences.  Why can t such be done for Shinran, modern-day myokyonin or for Amida, Kannon, and others?  Why is "tradition" held so tightly, like some locked-in-a-vacuum-sealed, historical time capsule that while carefully preserving the past breathes nothing of the present or future?  Isn't there room for a nembutsu life that breathes and pulses, dances and celebrates, speaks in different languages, sings in various melodies and looks like different people of the world?  

We see already the creeping influx of Zen and other forms of meditation into Shin churches, despite the almost constant admonition by Shinran that all such efforts are for naught, filled with calculation and indicative that we are not even approaching the true entrusting that is the sine qua non of Jodo Shinshu life.  If, with little shame or remorse we can do something explicitly proscribed by Shinran himself, then what is the difficulty in imagining Amida and Shin in forms that are presently unfamiliar to ourselves and our common spiritual heritage?  Are Asian forms and expressions value-neutral, without implicit or explicit assumptions contained within them?  And by extension, are non-Asian forms and expressions value-negative?  Is Shin so weak that some of us would leave it rather than see its message disseminated in a way that is different from what we are normally used to?  And what does that say about our faith? 

In the end, it may be a matter of prudent necessity to acknowledge that a new Shin Buddhism, one not tied to particular cultural forms or expressions needs to be developed.  If Hongwanji, through its representatives in BCC/BCA deem it necessary, through formal writ, informal consensus, or passive indecision, to remain primarily an ethno-centric Buddhist institution that, though generally welcoming of "outsiders" intends to preserve its particular ethno-racial emphasis, should there then be created a non-ethnic based, "generic" Shin church/temple that continues the Jodo Shinshu line but functions independently of Japanese institutional direction?  This question may be one of the most important questions for Jodo Shinshu or Shin Buddhism as it enters the 21st century.  Perhaps a collection of Independent Shin Churches/Temples needs to be established, one whose relationship to Hongwanji is as an independent child, created by the love of particular parents but free to express itself in ways unlike those very parents.  

And what would be the relationship between Hongwanji and such independent Shin churches in the future?  In this regard, is the model of the Anglican Communion and its relationship to the Episcopal Churches one that might have some answers for us?  And what of the European Shin churches, their histories and traditions?  Can they be at the forefront of a Shin for the future or are they too still locked into a dominant ethos derived mostly by mediaeval Japanese cultural forms and expressions?

The saving Light of Amida is said to be of the purest, most inconceivable brightness, but why can't Amida be as Brown or Black as the peoples of the world?  When depictions of Amida (as well as rituals and other aspects of religious life) are given in forms more akin to that of the different races and cultures on the planet, Shin, with its universal message might just become more alluring.  And when the institutions of Shin Buddhism, in the universal spirit of Shinran and former Bishop Imamura embrace such adaptation rather than avoiding it or fearing it, then perhaps we can say with truth, that Shin's promise of deliverance into the embrace of Infinite Light and Infinite Life is truly a religious message for all people as well as for all times. 

Rev. Jos M. Tirado is a writer, poet and Green activist whose articles have appeared in Counterpunch, Dissident Voice, Swans Commentary, the Gurdjieff Internet Guide and the Magazine of Green Social Thought: Synthesis/Regeneration.  He is also a Shin Buddhist priest teaching in Iceland and welcomes correspondence at www.thepathofmyexperience.com

***

There are, I believe, six major tendencies that characterize American Buddhists that foster misunderstandings of Buddhists in CPE: (over) intellectualization; iconoclastic rejection of intellectuality; impersonalization of suffering; speaking of ones emotional life in third-person terms; downplaying negative emotions; and an inability to express in soteriologically positive ways the outcome of a Buddhist life.  I will address each of these tendencies at some length.

1.  Tendency towards [over] intellectualization.

Buddhism has gone through several popular phases in North American history, the first in the early 1900s and the second, more famous one, was during the Beat period of the 1950s.  It was also a time when after the Second World War, many soldiers returned from Asia with tales of Buddhist temples they'd seen and doctrines they'd been exposed to that were intriguing.  My own father was one of this group.  It was this group that also first gave the west it's most popular early expressions of Buddhism; from Jack Kerouacs Dharma Bums to Allen Ginsbergs collaborative work with Trungpa Rinpoche.  The more widespread dissemination of Buddhist thought thereafter seemed to come from and influence most the intellectual elite of the U.S., and they were primarily white, well-educated, and solidly upper-middle or upper class.  This group widely disenchanted with their own irrational spiritual heritage, made acceptance of a more rational religiosity a prime motivator in their spiritual journey.  [Shin or Pure Land Buddhists, whose doctrines and expression bear an ostensible resemblance to Christianity, represent a challenge to this tendency.]

Many of the students who flocked to lectures, retreats or even large, public talks were quickly treated to some of the most abstruse aspects of Abhidharma [3] or Madhyamaka [4] philosophy, teachings that many Buddhists in eastern countries might not be exposed to so quickly, if at all.  There was a pervasive feeling that that somehow we were special.  Some of the greatest Buddhist teachers were now in the west, giving away in weeks or months what in their home countries had taken centuries to be absorbed into the intellectual milieu and only then (perhaps) given to the public.  This attitude that the West had a special karmic connection to Buddhism, was promoted by many of the teachers themselves who said as much directly.

The result was often a richly trained group of lay practitioners whose vocabulary was riddled with abstract Sanskrit and Pali terminology supplanted with Sino-Japanese interpretations of ancient Indian concepts.  This group became known for their writings and their establishment of Zen, Vipassana or other Buddhist centers, (a term perhaps deliberately chosen to avoid the traditional connotations of church or temple) places where Buddhism was practiced and taught.  Many of us who frequented these centers received a first class education in Dzogchen, Mahamudra [5] or other Buddhist practices that represented the particular specialized content our sect or tradition offered.  The difficulty later on was in translating to the outside world in practical, less theoretical (and jargon-laden) ways the soteriological and personal benefits we received in our involvement with such an intellectual religion.  I frequently observed that practitioners often feigned a hyper intellectuality to give them an air of superior abilities in being able to discuss the deeper, finer points of Buddhist doctrine.  This hyper-intellectual tendency was used to further distinguish us from the faith-based orientations of the religions most of us came from and rejected.  In addition, the word practitioner was often used to distinguish Buddhists from adherents of other religions who were mere believers,  the implication being that practicing was more intellectually legitimate than simply believing.

2.  Tendency towards iconoclastic rejection of intellectuality.  

Just as there arose the adoption of hyper-intellectuality as a barometer of spiritual attainment, an equally widespread yet diametrically opposed response found support in Zen's longstanding rejection of conceptualization, reasoning and conventional thought processes as tools for enlightenment.  If you meet the Buddha on the road-kill him!  or What is the sound of one hand clapping?  were two of the better known conundrums designed to break the seeker from viewing reality conventionally and getting trapped in concepts on the spiritual path.  That's so Zen!  remains, for example, a commonly heard expression embodying the glib rejection of theorizing or logical reasoning in a coolly distant, affected manner.  One result of this tendency was the dismissive attitude of many Buddhists to put into any words descriptions of the power of their spiritual practice, its doctrines and its ability to positively transform their lives.  This was all a part of Zen's mystique and attractiveness; Zen was somehow a different animal from other faiths in its rejection of intellectualizing and its beautiful, mysteriously affecting influence in the arts.

3.  Tendency towards impersonalising suffering.  

This is perhaps the most easily identifiable tendency I have noticed among Buddhists in CPE.  It is deeply rooted in the core differences between Buddhism and most other religions and it possibly reflects the culturally Eastern influence of downplaying individual concerns by universalizing the individual's plight.

One example of this was related to me several years ago.  When the late Dr. Elisabeth Targ visited H.H. the Karmapa, the titular leader of Tibetan Buddhism's Kagyu sect (then recently arrived as a refugee in India), she asked what would be the most effective and compassionate prayer for an individual who was suffering illness (she was researching the power of prayer and its relationship to healing).  Pray for the relief of all sentient beings was his reply.  Thinking an error occurred in the translation, she repeated her question several times only to receive the same answer each time.  In effect the Karmapa said that as suffering is the lot of all beings, to pray for only one individual's release would not-could not by definition-be truly compassionate.  To pray for all beings who suffer is the most effective prayer as well as the most compassionate practice bringing the greatest possible benefit.

Another example concerns one of the most famous and influential stories regarding suffering in Buddhism, about Kisa Gotami, a woman struck mad with grief over the death of her child.  She refused to bury the infant and went from house to house begging for assistance until she was told to see the Buddha who might be able to help her.  The Buddha told her that he could help if only she procured one mustard seed from a household where there had never been death.  Racing from one village to the next, Kisa Gotami eventually came see for herself that death came to every household and that grief over the death of a loved one was universal and so was finally able to bury her child.  This story epitomizes the Buddhist teaching that suffering, no matter how horrible to oneself personally, must be seen as intrinsic to existence and thus shared by all beings.  The Buddha's compassionate concern was demonstrated neither by ignoring her own immense personal pain, nor by responding to it in isolating it but by pointing out and helping her to find out for herself, the universal quality of grief (and all other forms of suffering).  

I believe the difficulty in expressing, in personal ways, ones own suffering arises, in part because it has been so often taught that to do so betrays this panoramic outlook of universal compassion.

4.  Tendency to speak of one's emotional life in third-person terms.  

It is a common practice to refer to Buddhism as being as much a science as a religion (though both terms are relatively modern ones.)  This is part of the legacy of the sadhus, the renunciants  who choose (often but not exclusively at the end of their lives) to abandon all ties to family, friends and commerce in order to pursue the path of God/ Truth through very specific yogic disciplines.  The Buddha himself embodied this path, though he abandoned its more extreme forms for a Middle Way (as he later characterized his teaching) between ascetism and hedonism.  Within the Gangetic traditions of Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism a set of experimental and experientially confirmable practices were devised to explore the depths of consciousness and are seen as the primary spiritual methodologies.  One might say that in contrast to Western religions these faiths are more oriented towards orthopraxy versus orthodoxy. [6] Thus, the practiced, dispassionate observation of thoughts and emotions are seen as the primary indicator of advanced spiritual abilities.  By extension the pretense of such abilities may practitioners in question a measure of respect and veneration among their a spiritual cachet perhaps otherwise lacking.

The difficulty here is that in pretending to be able to observe and understand one's inner life, one may instead cultivate a disjointed, alienated awareness making the person appear unhealthily separated from his/her deepest self.  In stark contrast is the true goal of these practices: an integrated awareness.  Such awareness is said to lead one to living a more awakened life, most characterized by wisdom (the result of the insight gained into the nature of phenomena and one's understanding of it) and compassion (the emotional outgrowth of and active response to witnessing others still caught up in the illusory entanglements of passion, aggression and ignorance.)  

What I have often observed instead is that many honest, sincere Buddhists, having received their first, profound glimpses of awareness often wear them like badges, displaying their shallow understanding in such a way as to suggest that a deeper awakening has taken place.  This can be a psychological and spiritual pitfall in that it may lead to a reluctance to speak of their emotional lives too personally for fear that to do so would betray a lack of meditative insight and instead they end up referring to the content of their inner life as something over there.    

5.  Tendency to deliberately downplay "negative emotions, particularly anger.

At CPMC when I interviewed potential students to our site, one of the most telling questions I learned to ask was, What makes you angry and how do you deal with it?   Most Buddhist students quickly understood why I asked and why their replies were important.  In the Buddhist tradition, there are many teachings about the expression of anger as having disastrous consequences on the religious journey to enlightenment.  Whole books have been written on the subject, including one recently penned by H.H. the Dalai Lama.  Perhaps the most famous teaching on this topic, frequently cited is the following:

Whatever wholesome deeds
Such as venerating the Buddhas, and generosity,
That have been amassed over a thousand aeons
Will all be destroyed in one moment of anger.  [7] [Emphasis added]

The rather recent, psychoanalytically influenced notion of giving voice to one's anger in order to understand it has no counterpart in Buddhism.  On the contrary, though there exist many teachings associated with exploring the psycho-spiritual roots of anger, nowhere in the massive corpus of Buddhist literature is anger given anything but a low and dangerous place on the scale of human emotions.  Anger is held in such regard because it severely restrains the ability of a person to remain mindfully engaged with the world.  Its passion and intensity are said to interfere with the moment-by-moment awareness seen as crucial to meditative acuity.  Thus any action taken during or after the experience of anger might be one that causes unhealthy and unforeseeable repercussions extending in all directions, out towards others as well as back to oneself.  

6.  Inability to express in soteriologically positive ways the outcome of the Buddhist life.  

It appears to me that built into the very system of what is generally thought of as pastoral" is a pointing to a positive end and a holding out of hope for the patient or client.  Though this does not imply that all pastoral work is oriented thus, I think it fair to say that it does represent a normative trend.  However, this is not necessarily the Buddhist way.

Now, there are probably few words as used, and used positively, within the literature of pastoral care as hope.  In contrast, Chgyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the late Tibetan teacher and founder of Naropa University frequently taught that the two major obstacles on the spiritual path were hope and fear.  Fear, because it kept us locked in the past, anxious about repeating an unpleasant experience.  Hope, because it kept us focused on the future.  Both served to distract us from an awareness of our present, the activities of which are considered the best indicators of who we really are and therefore the gateway to real transformation.  The emphasis therefore, has been on the here and now which has lent Buddhism a near-exotic philosophical bent to those yearning for a de-emphasis on discarded other-worldly orientations or traditions.  This understanding is not limited to Tibetan Buddhism; Zen, for example is replete with koans [8], sayings, stories and artwork that emphasize the importance of a present centered awareness and focus.  

In addition, the soteriological end of Buddhist practice, Nirvana, is also more frequently referred to in negative terms than positive ones.  (Nirvana means literally, to blow out and is used to refer to the condition where the causes of suffering are completely extinguished and an uncharacterizable freedom attained.)  This is an historical trend developed partly to inhibit the reification of nirvana into some solid, conceptual formulation that might minimize its experiential orientation.  When asked by a patient however, what is the result of Buddhist practice or what is the final end,  to say the extinction of suffering,  though technically quite correct, might not appear to be the most pastoral reply.  

These two trends together are said to make Buddhism appear a dour and bleak faith.  But to be able to embody the Buddhadharma[9] in such a way as to present such freedom in the present moment, infused with an integrated awareness of oneself and others in an interdependent relationship and a compassionate but realistic appraisal of the fundamental condition of existence seem to this author to represent more accurately the Buddhist ideal of pastoral care.[10]   Sadly, the number of Buddhists in CPE who are able to express such is, in this writer's opinion, few. 

Now, if any of these tendencies are used to hide from honest relationships, or to distance one from patients, peers or supervisors, then certainly they do a disservice to pastoral work.  I know because I too, in varying degrees have embodied these tendencies and have witnessed their occasionally deleterious effects on my own journey in CPE.  These tendencies sometimes serve to misinform and confuse many who might otherwise be sympathetic to Buddhism's message of wisdom and compassion.  Those who have met him, for example, quickly grasp that part of H.H. the Dalai Lama's uniqueness is his remarkable ability to joyfully envelope the person or group before him in an atmosphere of complete acceptance and concern.  One would certainly regard this as a pastoral skill, right?  Yet there are many thousands of Buddhists, priests, monks, nuns and laity who provide what we describe as pastoral care to so many suffering people around the world and are not encumbered by these tendencies.  Thus we should not assume that they are impossible to overcome.

Are there are some valuable, if distorted, teachings contained therein?  Is so, then it might be wise to explore them a bit and see not only where they come from but also if there is anything to be learned there.

***

Notes

[1] Theravada, the broad name for the oldest surviving tradition and its branches; Mahayana which includes Zen, Pure Land, and Nichiren (most known through Soka Gakkai), the three most represented traditions in the west; and Vajrayana or Tantric Buddhism represented by the various Tibetan schools and Japanese Shingon.

[2] Charles S. Prebish and Kenneth K. Tanaka (Eds.), The Faces of Buddhism in America (University of California Press, Berkeley, 1998), pps. 183-195.

[3] Literally, higher Dharma, this massive work is a collection of teachings on the classification of the minutiae of mental phenomena, their formation and their dispersion through meditative discipline.

[4] Middle Way teaching expounded by Nagarjuna, (c. 2nd cent. C.E.), stressing, through strict logical negations, the ultimately empty nature of all concepts and thus all attempts to characterize ultimate reality.

 

[5] Dzogchen, lit., Great Perfection and Mahamudra, lit., Great Seal refer to the highest, most advanced teachings and practices in the Tibetan Buddhist paths of the Nyingma and Kagyu sects, respectively.

 

[6] A very interesting article on this topic written by someone trained in both Christian theology and Buddhist practice can be found in the Journal of Cognitive Liberties, vol. III, No. 2, entitled, Yogic Technique, Religious Freedom and Cognitive Liberty by Jason Mierek.

 

[7] Shantideva, A Guide to the Bodhisattvas Way of Life, translated by Stephen Batchelor (Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala, India, 1979), page 57.

 

[8] Literally public notice, originally used in China to describe a government decree; in Zen it is an account of a masters action or statements, including questions and answers, and is used as an object of meditation for the attainment of enlightenment, Hisao Inagaki, A Dictionary of Japanese Buddhist Terms (Nagata Bunsho, Kyoto, Japan, 1984), p. 181.

 

[9] With variant spellings, this term is more and more used to describe what otherwise is referred to as Buddhism.

 

[10] This author is presently at work completing a book-length expansion of much of this material entitled, Towards a Buddhist Language of Pastoral Care.

 

[11] Sangha is the Buddhist word for community and while at first referring exclusively to the community of monks, and later nuns, now is used to refer as well to the broader lay community of followers of the Buddhadharma.

 

[12] F.L. Woodward, translator, Some Sayings of the Buddha, (Oxford University Press, London, Oxford, New York, 1973) p. 85.

 

[13] Hiroyuki Itsuki, Tariki: Embracing Despair, Discovering Peace translated by Joseph Robert (Kodansha, Tokyo, New York, London, 2001), p. 82.

***

The Parable of the White Path 

And to all those who wish to be reborn in the Pure Land, I now tell a parable for the sake of those who would practice the True Way, as a protection for their faith and a defense against the danger of heretical views. What is it? It is like a man who desires to travel a hundred thousand 'li' to the West. Suddenly in the midst of his route he sees two rivers. One is a river of fire stretching South. The other is a river of water stretching North. Each of the two rivers is a hundred steps across and unfathomably deep. They stretch without end to the North and South. Right between the fire and water, however, is a white path barely four or five inches wide. Spanning the East and West banks, it is one hundred steps long. The waves of water surge and splash against the path on one side while the flames of fire scorch it on the other. Ceaselessly, the fire and water come and go. 

The man is out in the middle of a wasteland and none of his kind are to be seen. A horde of vicious ruffians and wild beasts see him there alone, and vie with one another in rushing to kill him. Fearing death he runs straightway to the West, and then sees these great rivers. Praying, he says to himself: "To the North and South I see no end to these rivers. Between them I see a white path, which is extremely narrow. Although the two banks are not far apart, how am I to traverse from one to the other? Doubtless today I shall surely die. If I seek to turn back, the horde of vicious ruffians and wild beasts will come at me. If I run to the North or South, evil beasts and poisonous vermin will race toward me. If I seek to make my way to the West, I fear that I may fall into these rivers." 

Thereupon he is seized with an inexpressible terror. He thinks to himself: "Turn back now and I die. Stay and I die. Go forward and I die. Since death must be faced in any case, I would rather follow this path before me and go ahead. With this path I can surely make it across." Just as he thinks this, he hears someone from the east bank call out and encourage him: "Friend, just follow this path resolutely and there will be no danger of death. To stay here is to die." And on the west bank. there is someone calling out, "Come straight ahead, single-mindedly and with fixed purpose. I can protect you. Never fear falling into the fire or water!" 

At the urging of the one and the calling of the other, the man straightens himself up in body and mind and resolves without any lingering doubts or hesitations. Hardly has he gone a step or two when from the east bank the horde of vicious ruffians calls out to him: "Friend, come back! That way is perilous and you will never get across. Without a doubt you are bound to die. None of us means to harm you." Though he hears them calling, the man still does not look back but single-mindedly and straightway proceeds on the path. In no time he is at the west bank, far from all troubles forever. He is greeted by his good friend and there is no end of joy.

That is the parable and this is the meaning of it: what we speak of as the "east bank" is comparable to this world, a house in flames. What we speak of as the "west bank" is symbolic of the precious land of highest bliss. The ruffians, wild beasts, and seeming friends are comparable to the Six Sense Organs, Six Consciousnesses, Six Dusts, Five Components, and Four Elements [that constitute the "self"]. 

The lonely wasteland is the following of bad companions and not meeting with those who are truly good and wise. The two rivers of fire and water are comparable to human greed and affection, like water, and anger and hatred, like fire. The white path in the center, four or five inches wide, is comparable to the pure aspiration for rebirth in the Pure Land which arises in the midst of the passions of greed and anger. Greed and anger are powerful, and thus are likened to fire and water; the good mind is infinitesimal, and thus is likened to a white path [of a few inches in width]. 

The waves inundating the path are comparable to the constant arising of affectionate thoughts in the mind which stain and pollute the good mind. And the flames which scorch the path are comparable to thoughts of anger and hatred which burn up the treasures of dharma and virtue. 

The man proceeding on the path toward the West is comparable to one who directs all of his actions and practices toward the West[ern Paradise]. The hearing of voices from the East bank encouraging and exhorting him to pursue the path straight to the West, is like Shakyamuni Buddha, who has already disappeared from the sight of men but whose teachings may still be pursued and are therefore likened to "voices." The calling out of the ruffians after he has taken a few steps is comparable to those of different teachings and practices and of evil views who wantonly spread their ideas to lead people astray and create disturbances, thus falling themselves into sin and losing their way. 

To speak of someone calling from the West bank is comparable to the vow of Amitabha. Reaching the West bank, being greeted by the good friend and rejoicing there, is comparable to all those beings sunk long in the sea of birth and death, floundering and caught in their own delusions, without any means of deliverance, who accept Shakyamuni's testament directing them to the West and Amitabha's compassionate call, and obeying trustfully the will of the two Buddhas while paying no heed to the rivers of fire and water, with devout concentration mount the road of Amitabha's promised power and when life is o'er attain the other Land, where they meet the Buddha and know unending bliss. 


[From Taisho daizokyo, XXXVII, 272-3]
selected from William Theodore de Bary, The Buddhist Tradition in India, China and Japan, Vintage, Random House, NY: 1972. ISBN: 0-394-71696-5, pp. 204-207

***



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All work begins with the control of attention, and in this connection much can be learned from the Movements.
(Mme. Ouspensky)

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Northeon Forest - Work Philosophy - Work Exercises - Gurdjieff's Legacy - Objective Science - Contact - On-line Work Group
The Search at Northeon Forest

From: Kathleen Riordan Speeth, The Gurdjieff Work.
New York: Tarcher/Perigree, 1989. Page 109.

Paul Henry Beidler, who in 1973 began a group he called The Search at Northeon Forest, represents the melding of the lines of transmission among the Foundation, Bennett, and Taliesin. A brochure for the group describes Beidler as a native Pennsylvanian who came under the influence of Sufis in Egypt, Iraq, and Pakistan. For two years he lived among the Yezidi priests in Kurdistan and was admitted to the mysteries of Sheik Adi. Shortly afterward he met Gurdjieff, who became a prime influence in his life. Beidler spent 25 years in Asia, first as an archeologist with the University of Pennsylvania Museum, then as a private architect, and finally as a regional engineer in the US Foreign Service. 

Northeon Forest is a tree farm and wildlife refuge where students who wish to use everyday life there as a means to self-transformation form a community in which "higher aspirations" are approached through concentrated inner effort under rigorous conditions. The questions to be confronted are: 

Why are so few called upon to search for ways to inner transformation?

Why should we try to disengage from conventional values and beliefs rooted in contemporary society?

What is the real significance of organic life in general and of one's own life in particular?

What responsibility do we bear for the maintenance of organic life on earth?

What goals in life are fitting and feasible?

There is intentionally no commercial or academic aspect to life at Northeon Forest so that freedom from fiscal dependence is possible. Paul Beidler also leads groups in Tucson and elsewhere. 

*** 

An Interview with Dr. Kathleen Speeth 

***

Paul Beidler and J.G. Bennett in Babylon

Excerpts from: J.G. Bennett, Witness, The Story of a Search. 
London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1962. Chapter 24. 

I must return to March 1955, when I received an invitation from Paul Beidler, an American architect and former pupil of Gurdjieff, to visit him and his wife Margaret in Baghdad where he was stationed. By then, my wife had recovered sufficiently to make it safe to leave her for a short trip to the East. I decided to go for a fortnight with Elizabeth Howard, profiting by cheap excursion tickets available via Cyprus. 

We left by night on 11 May, expecting to arrive in Cyprus in the early morning, but were diverted to Benghazi where, for a few hours, we tasted the sights and sounds and smells of Africa. We did not reach Cyprus till evening and had barely time to transfer to a plane for Beirut. We were met by friends, Ronimund von Bissing and his wife. They told me that a Turkish dervish had been waiting all day to give me a message. I spoke to the young man, who asked me to visit his murshid, Sheikh Abdullah Daghestani, who lived in the Kurdish quarter of Damascus. I said that it would not be possible, as we were to leave early in the morning for Baghdad. He did not insist but said that the sheikh would expect to see me. 

...

At this point Paul Beidler, who had been speaking animatedly in Arabic to two of the dervishes, came up to us and said that he had been told that there was in the village a dervish tekke of the Djellalis, that is, the Order of the Perfectionists. I asked Ahmad Tebrizi's opinion, and he said: "These brotherhoods are good. They call constantly upon the name of God. In my opinion such practices are unnecessary, for God's angels constantly watch over us and they know the secrets of our heart. Nevertheless I advise you to go and visit them. You will see for yourself who and what they are." 

... 

When we reached Cyprus, we unexpectedly met Rodney Collin-Smith and his wife. They had made a quick journey in the Near East, impelled it seems by much the same need as mine, to find evidence that the ancient traditional wisdom had not been lost.

***

Summary

"I leave you all in a fine mess."

Sicut Superius Sicut Inferius

Being transforms the suffering through which it arises

Endless Search  Being transforms the suffering through which it arises

Northeon Forest - Work Philosophy - Work Exercises - Gurdjieff's Legacy - Objective Science - Contact - On-line Work Group
The Search at Northeon Forest

THE CHALLENGE

Intentional striving for the capacity to understand one's own and mankind's true significance is undertaken at Northeon Forest by applying an integrated set of practices derived in part from ancient traditions. These practices were introduced to western society through the initiative of Gurdjieff and were transmitted by an oral tradition throughout Middle Asia, Europe, and more recently America. Although these practices were never popular, serious seekers were attracted to them, recognizing that their force originated from a higher than ordinary source. Convinced that mankind was destined for a transcendent purpose, seekers took up this exploratory inner journey and began to combat the disharmony and impediments they found within themselves. 


GURDJIEFF - THE PRIME INFLUENCE
 

Georges I. Gurdjieff (1867-1949) was raised in the Caucasus by a Greek father and an Armenian mother. While still a young man, he and a group of other remarkable men set out in search of "real universal Knowledge." For Gurdjieff, the hardships and dangers encountered on their journeys were the true stuff of Existence. In 1922, Gurdjieff and a group of followers established themselves at the Chateau du Prieure near the Forest of Fountainbleau in Central France. 


Gurdjieff never disclosed the exact source of his inspiration. It is possible to discover parallels in various traditions, but the fundamental features of his method have not been traced to any one source. He recommended a special kind of inner struggle that sought to destroy complacency and made adherents aware of the limitations of their present levels of existence. 


THE WORK ACCORDING TO GURDJIEFF 

Only by what Gurdjieff called "conscious labors and intentional sufferings" was it possible to bring about inner development. "The Work," as his method came to be called, was only too accurately named. Direction was given in fragments - and his followers had to learn to put the pieces together through personal observations and experiences. An intrepid few were placed into special bands, each member depending upon the others, much like mountain climbers upon a rope. He occupied each with a different work "according to the state of their preparation and their powers." By the very nature of his search he could not have many followers, and, for many, the special nourishment that was offered was too hard to digest. 


Each aspect of Gurdjieff's last days was a reminder that "man must live until he dies." To "live" in Gurdjieff's sense was to labor consciously and to suffer intentionally. He practiced this in his own life with constancy and deliberateness until the 29th of October, 1949. Gurdjieff's grave near the Forest of Fountainbleau bears no name or epitaph. Since his death The Search has continued under an authority springing from the influences which The Search itself invokes. 


PAUL H. BEIDLER - FOUNDER
 

Paul H. Beidler (1906-1998), a native Pennsylvanian of early Swiss-German ancestry, has devoted much of his adult life to the study of Eastern systems for inner transformation. Early in his archaeological career, Beidler had come under the influence of Sufi dervishes in Egypt, Iraq, and Persia. For two years, he lived among Yezidi priests in Kurdistan, where he was admitted to the hidden mysteries of Sheikh Adi. In the mid-1920s, as a young architectural student with Le Corbusier in Paris, he met Gurdjieff at the Prieure. He also spent some time with Gurdjieff at Taliesin in Wisconsin during Gurdjieff's visits to Frank Lloyd Wright and Olgivanna. 

Then, impelled by the force that Gurdjieff and his predecessors represented, Beidler set out on a series of four distinct careers, abandoning each one after he had reached its plateau of accomplishment. These careers were external patterns within which the precepts of Gurdjieff were applied. 


A FOCAL POINT 

In 1949 Beidler associated himself with the newly formed Gurdjieff Foundation. Six years later, as a member of the U.S. Foreign Service, he left for Asia to prepare himself for his eventual role. In 1973, after a quarter century of exploration in selected regions of Asia, he returned to undertake The Search at Northeon Forest. He had confirmed that "work on himself" was best sought under the disruptive and trying conditions of everyday life, but that the deterrent influences that normally prevail under these conditions are powerful enough to overwhelm even the most ardent searchers unless their efforts are reinforced by energies generated at a focal point of higher striving. Northeon Forest is becoming that focal point. 


Beidler's approach encourages personal verification by emphasizing that seekers must individually search, labor, and suffer. Practices and exercises are created by the seekers of Northeon Forest around programs, written by Beidler, as well as their own discoveries in the search. Seminars, sacred dances, meditation, and rhythmic movements with music complement the work at Northeon forest. 


THE FABRIC OF DAILY LIFE 

A basic premise of The Search at Northeon Forest is that systematic inner inquiry can lead to transcendent fulfillments when pursued within the fabric of everyday activities. Efforts toward inner transformation will be especially productive when carried out around a focal point of supportive influences and sustained by the vital energy generated by individuals working toward shared higher goals. Inner tasks, performed while confronting the trials and frustrations encountered in normal vocational and domestic environments, are reinforced with new energy when parallel activities take place in the sanctuary provided at Northeon Forest. Important threefold outcomes, however provisional, can be derived while carrying out customary house-holding responsibilities. 

Northeon Forest as a focus of high endeavor was founded for - and is nurtured by - those who have chosen to search for inner transformation within the normal context of their daily lives. The seeker's efforts toward coordinated levels of mind, spirit, and body are strengthened and invigorated by the nurturing conditions found at Northeon Forest. No aspect of external life is overlooked as a fruitful outer framework for parallel inner effort. The hours spent in making a living, eating, sleep, and home life are constantly examined for their potential to provide opportunities for inner work. 


THE SETTING OF NORTHEON FOREST 
 

Northeon Forest, in its outward appearance, is a tree farm and wildlife refuge. The forest terrain and turbulent streams offer an environment especially fertile for the practice of inner tasks. This inner work serves to reinforce the conscious labor performed amidst the diverting influences that prevail elsewhere. Using materials and situations indigenous to the land, projects such as forestry, gardening, building, woodworking, wood gathering, cooking, and beekeeping are undertaken. 


Activities that result in a useful product are favored in preference to those that bear no useful purpose. Competitiveness is discouraged since it does not contribute to those higher emotional levels on which Being rests. 


HIGHER ASPIRATIONS 

Existence can be seen to be organized and leading toward the fulfillment of a higher purpose. It is necessary to try to understand the constraints within which transformation may be earned. By concerted inner effort, intercession from higher powers may be sought, and there is evidence that assistance in sincere effort is provided in tangible ways. 


Enlightened messengers gifted with transcendent insight have stressed the special benefits to be derived from stress, poverty, humility, hardship, risk, and danger, when creatively endured. The rigors encountered in a natural life are to be valued as occasions to be used, rather than avoided. 


Truths are revealed according to each individual's own level of comprehension. As the seeker's Being evolves, the perception of truth emerges correspondingly. Although accidental patterns of life are usually fertile enough, other alternatives are sometimes advisable to eliminate conditions too overwhelming for the beginner. There is an implicit obligation to use the gift of life in a manner designed to extend one's given capacities far beyond what is expected by the accepted standards of the day. To assist mankind toward its ultimate destiny becomes both a reasonable goal and a compelling responsibility. 


THE QUESTIONS 

Those who embark on this journey of inner inquiry and conscious labor, accompanied by sacrifice, are inevitably confronted by these questions: 
Why are so few called upon to search for ways to inner transformation? 
Why should we try to disengage from conventional values and beliefs rooted in contemporary society? 
What is the real significance of organic life in general and of one's own life in particular? 
What responsibility do we bear for the maintenance of organic life on earth? 
What goals in life are fitting and feasible?


These and other questions are addressed at Northeon Forest. Answers are deemed provisional, pending the expansion of our understanding. Then, when underlying meanings begin to emerge, segments of insight formerly disconnected begin to fall into place. This may then be interpreted as preparation for a conscious function within a cosmic pattern of supreme scope and importance. 


UNCOMPROMISING POLICY 

The Search at Northeon Forest is not intended to and will never become popular. Its integrity is preserved by avoiding, to the extent possible, its becoming defiled by the institutions of society. It does not court popular acceptance but attracts those few individuals who can find no lasting meaning in mundane goals and who find that they must search for truth within themselves. Deeply dissatisfied with much of what is available to them in contemporary society they must often "risk everything," only to find that it is mainly their illusions that were risked. Their Search opens paths to new perception when such common pursuits as pleasure, comfort, satisfaction, and happiness are found to be illusory dead ends. The forces that are generated at Northeon Forest counteract the abundant diversions in contemporary society. 


SUSTAINING FACTORS 

The seminars and meetings are attended not only by the resident core but also by other committed seekers commuting from various towns and countries. They comprise an important element in the sum of energies generated. Their individual life-styles vary considerably, providing opportunities to search, labor, and confirm their experiences under conditions vastly different from those that exist at Northeon Forest. The rays of influence that they represent extend out into the surrounding areas. 

 

When types of inner exploration are taking place, the reading of books concerning "The Work" is discouraged. Participants are advised to see themselves as the "best book," where truth is to be sought without distortion from association with something previously read. On those occasions when books are read, Gurdjieff's own three series are preferred. Books by his acquaintances and "pupils" are recognized as personal interpretations. 


Conversation and social intercourse not clearly essential are minimized in deference to higher aspirations. Altering social behavior among participants illuminates the true purpose of The Search. Emphasis is always upon vertical aspirations unhampered by ordinary relationships with one another. 


A WAY OF LIFE 

Only by self-generated effort within oneself and by sincere individual service to the ultimate destiny of humanity can genuine payment be made. In order to stress these requisites, there is no monetary payment for engaging in The Search at Northeon Forest. Money is relegated to a place more appropriate to house-holding affairs. This discourages those who cannot recognize intrinsic value unless marked by a definite price. It may also temporarily attract individuals who undertake nothing that requires sacrifice but who soon tire under the relentless pressure of The Search. This curb on commercial enterprise closes an avenue leading to spiritual deterioration and corruption. The absence of monetary concerns promotes feelings of reverence for and kinship with all mankind. 


There are intentionally no commercial or academic endeavors at Northeon Forest that require fiscal support. Genuine payment in the form of substantive inner work - as a way of life - is stressed. The continued functioning of Northeon Forest is not dependent upon the support of "students" or "donors." 


AN OBLIGATION 

There is a profound obligation to respond to the needs of those rare individuals who are genuinely drawn to the goals of The Search at Northeon Forest. The epic quality of The Search - with the value given to hardship and difficulty - will challenge the hardy seeker who had the strength to persist along the arduous path of service and sacrifice despite impediments along the way. 

The Search at Northeon Forest

THE EXPLORATION 

Years ago a young architect attached to his University's archaeological expeditions was impressed by the ideas of anagogic adepts he met in Asia. Later, while engaged as a foreign service engineer, he inquired further into the teachings of specific Asian mystics. Eventually, he became attached to an obscure band of Agents who, for centuries, have represented the common source and ascendant purposes underlying the provincial differences of middle and far eastern traditions. He actively retains this delicate connection. He also came into contact with Gurdjieff whose ideas became reflected in the patterns chosen for architect Beidler's part in the transmission of ascendant influences. 

THE RESEARCH 

After a quarter century in Asia, Beidler returned to his tree farm in Pennsylvania where the forest terrain offered a fertile environment for what was to become The Search at Northeon Forest with adherents world wide. A core of hardy seekers now live in the colonial buildings at the edge of the forest. Assisted by a growing number of adherents they maintain the dynamics found stimulating for individual research beyond conventional expectations. Reality is to be found under the attractive, often disruptive, conditions of normal vocational and domestic activities when reinforced by influences from a reliable source. These influences are transmitted orally and by handwritten transcripts heard at periodic gatherings of intrepid seekers who comprise important links in the chain of forces generated worldwide. 

THE ADHERENTS 

Adherents, scattered in small bands, include farmers, Buddhists, janitors, Christians, doctors, Jews, waiters, architects, teachers, nurses, entrepreneurs, engineers, journalists, musicians, artists, writers, officials, taxi drivers, dish washers, horse trainers, salesmen, ministers, etc. Seeking an awareness of their own significance in a cosmic order they embark on an exploratory inner journey and begin to contend with what they find. Gradually they reach a deeper participation in a transformation from what is found to be a largely involuntary life denying reality, to a life affirming an involvement in a universal integer of ultimate stability. In time, individual realizations replace beliefs previously implanted. 

THE CHALLENGE 

The epic character of the Search - with emphasis given to intrinsic values - challenges those who have had little difficulty in meeting the ordinary demands of a responsible life and who have found no lasting meaning in mundane goals. The recommended practices tend to upset complacency and make adherents more aware of their actual condition. Seekers need their co-seekers support, somewhat like forest climbers on a rope. The Search attracts those who find that they must look for truth within themselves without overt distortion of the normal context of their daily lives.


The Gurdjieff movement deserves renewed attention by sociologists, historians and philosophers of religion who might find in the data a new axis for organizing their analysis of the contemporary religious scene in America. Such attention will, to some degree, have to be carried out in the status of participant-observer. 

Scholarly efforts to date to classify the twentieth-century Gurdjieff phenomena have not met with much success.[1] There is the understandable wish to put Gurdjieff into an ethnic or religious tradition, or, failing this, to classify his ideas according to generally known philosophical orientations.[2] This essay seeks to report on field interviews conducted mainly in the San Francisco area during the period 1977-92 and point the reader to historical and philosophical accounts dealing with the subject, with an emphasis on Gurdjieff's influence in America. 
History
George I. Gurdjieff was born in the area between Greece and the Caspian Sea in the late 1860s or early 1870s. He grew up in a Christian home (Greek or Russian Orthodox), but, as a child, was exposed to a variety of religious practices by local populations. Aside from such generalizations, nothing about his first forty years that can be corroborated independently from his philosophically instructive autobiography, Meetings with Remarkable Men (1963), is available.[3] What is reliably known about Gurdjieff's life dates from the time of his arrival in Moscow at the beginning of the First World War.[4] 

Two accounts provide parallel chronologies of Gurdjieff's activities during the period 1917-1929. One of these is that of the Russian polymath, P. D. Ouspensky, whose work, In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching, was first published, posthumously, in 1949. The second is that of Thomas and Olga de Hartmann, whose Our Life with Mr. Gurdjieff, first published in 1964, was reissued in expanded editions in 1983 and 1992. 

Gurdjieff was in the Russian cities of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Essentuki, and Tiflis, among others, until 1920, then briefly in Constantinople and Berlin. He arrived in Paris in 1922, where, at first, he rented a house in the Auteuil district that was divided into three flats. Gurdjieff lived on the ground floor, women on the second, men on the third. "Every morning, after breakfast," Butkowsky recalled, "we all went by tram to Jacques Dalcrose's studio, which Gurdjieff had rented, to practice our dancing for several hours. . . . Our evenings were spent with Gurdjieff, listening either to him or to two of his pupils discussing various problems, followed by general questions in which everyone would join."[5] 

In October 1922 Gurdjieff and his followers moved to Fountainbleau, located south of Paris.[6] In each of these places he put in motion his experimental center for the study of consciousness. Gurdjieff's system of ideas and values was so complex and interconnected that, looking back, it is difficult to select a single aspect or idea as the "basic" one.[7] Common to the several approaches Gurdjieff employed was the principle that his ideas needed to be reinvented, rediscovered, in the experience of the pupil. For this reason he said, as Ouspensky later put it, that "the study of psychology begins with the study of oneself." Self-study, as pupils were to learn quickly, was never a matter of quiet contemplation in a cell; it was just the opposite. Gurdjieff threw his people into unexpected, often strenuous, activities reminiscent of the style of Marpa, the thirteenth-century Tibetan teacher of Milarepa 

The most elaborate of these research centers, called the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man,[8] was that at Fountainbleau, which operated from 1922 to 1934[9] on the grounds of a mansion that had belonged to a member of the French aristocracy of the eighteenth century. One of the characteristic activities pursued at these institutes was the study of Gurdjieff's original choreographed dances, which, during the years in Russia, were called "Sacred Gymnastics," and which, after the arrival of Gurdjieff in France, were called "Movements."[10] 

Financial support for Gurdjieff's activities in Western Europe came initially from England, where his ideas found a receptive audience, and where, from the early 1920s to his death in 1947, Ouspensky made his principal residence.[11] Later, with Gurdjieff's tour of New York and Chicago in 1924, a considerable American following developed, thanks in large measure to the successful efforts of A. R. Orage in attracting American writers and artists. Gurdjieff returned to the United States on several occasions during the periods 1929-35,[12] 1939 and 1948-49.[13] 

Gurdjieff was in France for over a decade before prospective French pupils expressed interest in his ideas and methods.[14] From 1925 to 1935, while Gurdjieff was absorbed by his writing projects, his ideas and Movements were being introduced to French circles quietly by Alexandre and Jeanne de Salzmann, two pupils who had initially joined Gurdjieff in Russia. 

After Ouspensky died in 1947, his widow Sophia, disregarding her deceased husband's wishes, told followers in England and America to make direct contact with Gurdjieff, who was still alive in Paris. The final period of Gurdjieff's life, 1948-49, became the harvest years when former and new pupils came to Paris and were introduced to Gurdjieff, who, by all accounts was very ill-and who was just recovering from a recent automobile accident. Some of the new pupils, such as Rina Hands, from John G. Bennett's group in London, were invited to become part of Gurdjieff's extended household. A typical day in Gurdjieff's crowded apartment began at 12:30 or 1:00 p.m. with a one- or two-hour reading from one of Gurdjieff's then unpublished manuscripts. The reading was followed by a highly ceremonialized mid-afternoon meal. After the meal guests left, only to return about 9:30 or 10 o'clock p.m. for another reading and a late supper and, often, music played on a harmonium by Gurdjieff himself. Typically, guests would leave at 2:30 a.m.[15] 

The year following Gurdjieff's death in Paris in 1949, the first volume of his three-volume work, All and Everything, was published.[16] The first volume was entitled Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson: An Impartial Criticism of the Life of Man. The book, written in the format of an epic science fiction novel, treats the Fall of man and the initial arising of civilizations and customs that evoke in the individual impulses and associations becoming to creatures made in the image of God. The book is meant to upset the world view of the reader; in the end, it evokes in the reader feelings of compassion and hope--for himself, if not for humanity at large.[17] 

The use to which Gurdjieff societies have made of Beezelbub's Tales varies. Some of the smaller, independent groups view the book as a canonical text that, like the New Testament in Christian churches, is the object of paraphrase and interpretation. The groups associated with the Gurdjieff Foundations, however, generally eschew discussion of the meaning of the passages of Gurdjieff's principal book. It is as if they believed that the impact of the book has to be received directly and individually, and that attempts to restate the arguments of the book would, paradoxically, make Gurdjieff's ideas and message less accessible.[18] It may be, then, that the less said here about the ideas of Beelzebub's Tales the better; yet, it would be wrong to conclude that every attempt to apply social scientific standards to the interpretation of religious texts--including the one under discussion--is bound to reduce the transcendental to the mundane. 

Consider Chapter 27 in Beelzebub's Tales: here, in the literary vehicle of a grandfather's instructive reflections to his grandson, Gurdjieff describes how, in a prehistoric period, a great saint brought about a transformation of the religious, social and political outlooks of his people. He accomplished this aim by a reorganization of the psyche of his countrymen, as a result of which the feeling of conscience, normally scarcely noticed in the course of everyday life, came to participate more richly and organically in the social, political and, even, economic transactions of society. As a result of this transformation of outlook, long-standing moral scourges of society such as slavery and social castes briefly disappeared. 

In digesting this account the reader is left with multiple impressions: one is that were it ever the case that everyday human relationships were to be governed by feelings other than those typically associated with the presence (or absence) of political and economic power, then such a remarkable change surely would have to be the work of a very great saint indeed. Gurdjieff observes, at the end of this chapter, that contemporary people have only the vaguest notions of a remote "priestly organization" of society, which they mistakenly assume to have been a period of religious tyranny. Perhaps, then, these scraps of information that have been preserved about some ancient civilizations should be given another interpretation. Finally, the reader may experience a half-felt question about how, in his own life, feelings of conscience appear.[19] 

Although there are differences in the status accorded to Gurdjieff's books by Gurdjieff groups, there is less variation in the interest shown in the biography of the founder of their movement. Generally, there seems to be only a minimal curiosity about the details of Gurdjieff's life--as if to say that, because Gurdjieff taught that life was to be lived in the present moment, only the ideas, music and sacred gymnastics were important. Unlike Christian churches in which every detail of the life of Jesus is made the object of commentary and interpretation, in the Gurdjieff society the historical Gurdjieff is seldom even mentioned. If the tendency in new religious movements toward a cult of the personality could be measured, the Gurdjieff movement would surely score at the very bottom of the scale. 

Some Gurdjieff pupils, however, say that reading about how Gurdjieff interacted with society and with individuals of different temperaments is subtly instructive; the instructive quality, they say, is indirect. Although Gurdjieff could not be imitated, still, they say, the harmonic of his fearless and uncompromising attitude still sounds in first-hand accounts of episodes in his life. 
Gurdjieff's Key Pupils
Gurdjieff recruited[20] six or seven key persons who, as followers, made lasting contributions to the preservation of his teaching. These early followers were in large measure responsible for the transmission of his ideas, music, movements and sacred texts. 

The Gurdjieff pupil who is best known in the West is P. D. Ouspensky, who expounded "the System" in England and America from the early 1920s until his death in the late 40's.[21] Ouspensky's book, In Search of the Miraculous, which narrates the years from 1915 to 1924, was published posthumously with Gurdjieff's authorization. Ouspensky succeeded in capturing on paper Gurdjieff's system of interconnected ideas that had been explained, perhaps, for Ouspensky's ears alone. None of Gurdjieff's other pupils remotely came close to expressing, in writing, the power of Gurdjieff's way of working with people through ideas. Ouspensky was key pupil in the spreading of Gurdjieff's ideas in the United States, where he and his wife took refuge during the Second World War.[22] 

A second key pupil was Thomas de Hartmann, a composer who had performed for the Russian aristocracy prior to the First World War. Gurdjieff worked with de Hartmann in the 1920s to compose what was later published as the Gurdjieff/de Hartman music,[23] and which set the framework within which the music for the Gurdjieff Movements are performed. 

It is doubtful that the sacred gymnastics of Gurdjieff would have been preserved without Jeanne de Salzmann. A choreographer and dancer, de Salzmann on her own initiative continued teaching the Movements when, in the late '20s and early '30s, Gurdjieff had turned to other pursuits. Only later in the 1930s did she succeed in getting Gurdjieff to renew his interest in teaching his singular exercises for developing inner faculties.[24] 

Gurdjieff's writings in three volumes would not have materialized without the administrative and editorial collaboration of Olga de Hartmann, the aristocratic wife of the Russian composer, and a long-time Gurdjieff follower, and Alfred R. Orage, a prominent English editor. Mme. de Hartmann was the person to whom Gurdjieff dictated much of his writings and who worked with Orage and others to render the Russian text into English.[25] 

Orage (d. 1934) was a highly regarded English stylist, author, editor and long-time student of philosophy.[26] Orage was in residence at Gurdjieff's center in Fountainbleau in the early '20s, prior to being "stationed" in New York for seven years as Gurdjieff's first "representative" in the United States.[27] Orage, who did not know Russian himself, served as the senior editor in charge of the translation of the Russian text of Beelzebub and Meetings with Remarkable Men into publishable English.[28] 

Another Gurdjieff pupil was Sophia Ouspensky, who was associated with Gurdjieff from the Russian period and who had special influence on the development of interest in America in the Gurdjieff teaching. Mme. Ouspensky was a resident of the United States from the Second World War to her death in the early 1960s.[29] She directed the Gurdjieff studies at Mendham, New Jersey. 

All of these pupils were Europeans. What, then, of American pupils? In the 1920s and 30s there were numerous persons with public careers who became followers of Gurdjieff's ideas and who would seek to carry his message to others. In large measure because of Orage's literary reputation, at first there was a disproportionate representation of writers and editors, such as Jane Heap, Jean Toomer and Gorham Munson. Some American writers in this period, such as as Margaret Anderson, Janet Flanner and Solita Solano (n Sarah Wilkinson), were in contact with Gurdjieff mainly in France.[30] 

Jane Heap (1887-1964), born in Kansas, read Ouspensky's Tertium Organum when the American edition appeared in 1920, met Orage, then Gurdjieff, in 1923-24, and first visited Gurdjieff's institute near Paris in 1925. During the period 1927-1936 she lived in the Montparnasse district of Paris, where she was the center of a group of women that included Gertrude Stein, Georgette Leblanc, Kathryn Hulme and, when she was in Paris, Margaret Anderson. In 1936, at Gurdjieff's request, Heap moved to London and there directed Gurdjieff groups until shortly before her death in 1964. 

Most contemporary Gurdjieff followers, as would be expected, are not writers, artists or public figures of any sort. At the same time, a sociological slice of the population of Gurdjieffians would not yield a cross-section of American society: the membership in the United States is made up, with few exceptions, of white, middle-class, college-educated people who live in large metropolitan centers.[31] 
Post-Gurdjieff developments
By the mid-1950s the Gurdjieff Foundation of New York was formally established, under the guidance of senior American and European pupils of Ouspensky, Gurdjieff and other Gurdjieff followers.[32] The Foundation faced the difficult task of bringing together the followers of Orage, Ouspensky and Gurdjieff himself. Soon, other Gurdjieff centers were set up in cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. 

Jeanne de Salzmann gave structure and direction to Gurdjieff centers worldwide. As one aspect of her activities, she conceived of and initiated work on a feature film, Meetings with Remarkable Men, with director Peter Brook, which was released in 1978 and which was based on Gurdjieff's autobiography.[33] The film itself is remarkable in giving the viewer an impression of the energy of Gurdjieff's spiritual quest.[34] 

The president of the New York and California Gurdjieff Foundations, meanwhile, was, from its beginning to his death in 1984, Henry Sinclair (Lord Pentland), a Scotsman and Christ College graduate whose father had been Governor of Madras and who had spent some of his childhood in India. Pentland had been an Ouspensky pupil in England prior to the Second World War, and emigrated to America with Ouspensky in 1940. Pentland, who met Gurdjieff only in the last two years of Gurdjieff's life, was very much the junior of other pupils in New York who had worked with Gurdjieff and Orage from the 1920s. 

Gurdjieff, recognizing Pentland's singular qualities,[35] facilitated his coming to have a position of authority among Gurdjieff pupils in New York. Pentland was closely involved with the publication of Gurdjieff's and Ouspensky's posthumous works, although not principally as an editor. 

As of mid-1992, several of Gurdjieff's own pupils remained actively involved in the centers that bear his name; much of the responsibility for the day-to-day activities of these Gurdjieff-oriented centers was in the hands of "second-generation" followers who studied with Gurdjieff's pupils but who never worked with Gurdjieff himself. In addition, there are a number of organizations that invoke Gurdjieff's name but have no connection with either the Gurdjieff Foundations or any pupil who worked directly with Gurdjieff.[36] 
Methodology
It may seem, in an essay reporting on research on new religious groups and trends, that to use the term "research center" to describe a Gurdjieff-oriented institution is to invite confusion.[37] In the general area of religion and spirituality, social scientists and humanistic scholars do research, the people whom they study are devotees, followers, practitioners or, simply, members. The members, in turn, have beliefs, values, customs and conventions, all of which can be classified and studied comparatively. A "Gurdjieff follower," then, can be distinguished from a "Zen practitioner" by certain empirically verifiable traits. 

Unfortunately, as was said at the beginning, such scholarly exercises, at least those reported in the literature to date, have not yielded much substance.[38] Further, the extent to which academic reporting may capture the nature of the Gurdjieff approach to a religious life is questionable. There seem to be two problems: one, already alluded to, is the tendency of what might be called the taxonomic mind in every scholar, the natural expression of which is the formulation of a new matrix or linear explanation of his topic under study. The second problem might be called that of the false cognate.[39] Numerous interviews with Gurdjieff followers on the nature of the Gurdjieff teaching produces one, nearly uniform, empirical finding, namely, that Gurdjieff followers believe that the ideas in the Gurdjieff oral tradition cannot be communicated accurately outside of the conditions of the activities of the Gurdjieff Foundations. It as if Gurdjieff followers believed that a term like "inner work" as used in the Gurdjieff oral tradition were a false cognate to the term "inner work" as used by the general public. They believe that little is to be gained from discussing with outsiders the ideas and activities of the Gurdjieff Work in the terms that are common in its oral tradition. On the contrary, such discussions could put at risk the specificity of meaning of the Gurdjieff language. They cite the use of the term "enneagram" that Gurdjieff first used (to Western pupils) in the 1916-17 period, and that, subsequently, in the 1970's and '80's was indiscriminately incorporated into new-age psychology and spirituality.[40] Gurdjieffians believe that the further incorporation of terminology from the oral tradition into general public use could have the unwanted effect of creating new and needless confusion about the ideas themselves. 

Three conclusions follow. One, some Heisenberg-like Uncertainty Principle may be at work in research on the Gurdjieff phenomena: that is, the reliability of field interview data may vary inversely with the specificity of the content of the data. Two, for reasons already explained, it may not be appropriate to approach the data in the manner of a descriptive linguist bent on capturing the idiom and syntax of the speech acts of communities under study. Three, it may be better to concentrate on Gurdjieff-oriented issues instead of trying to classify the beliefs and practices of Gurdjieff followers. 
Gurdjieff issues
The principal Gurdjieff "issue" is the the study of the underlying conditions of one's life from the point of view of the possibility of inner unity. In his book Beelzebub Gurdjieff observes that although man has the function of conscience that at moments serves the invididual as a kind of North Star in life, this function is only rarely active in the individual's daily life. How, then, to intensify the rhythm and life of the organism (that is, the individual) so that his half-buried conscience might come to participate in the ordinary exchanges and engagements that his life brings? 

As with a number of teachings, a study of "the way" begins with a study of what is not the way. Gurdjieff taught that an individual must make a microscopic examination of moments of awareness of the intersection of thought (or what was taken for thought), feeling and the presence of the body. This examination was not of the sort that required the individual to reconstruct his childhood or any other part of his past, nor was he expected to come to any psychological conclusions as to the reasons for his behavior. 

Gurdjieff said that one's life, at the time of an individual's initial contact with his work (as he called it), offered the best material for the study of the core issues of the human condition. Unlike other traditions that require that an individual make some real or ceremonial "break" with his past (such as the rite of Baptism in Christianity), in the Gurdjieff world one's present life is exactly what an individual needs to meet himself in an inner way. 

Gurdjieff himself gave a few close pupils a number of spiritual exercises intended to increase their sense of self-presence. One Gurdjieff exercise described by several sources in the 1948-49 period entailed a pupil's saying to himself the words "I AM." Gurdjieff instructed the pupil that when he said the word "I" to be aware of his state of feeling, and, in saying the word "am" to be aware of his total state of sensation. Gurdjieff said a pupil should attempt to carry out this exercise at least once an hour.[41] This exericse, as with most of Gurdjieff's exercises, is either incomprehensible or impossible to re-experience outside of the unique context of the teacher-pupil relationship. For this reason, Gurdjieff pupils generally allude to Gurdjieff's exercises, but generally insist that only in context of oral tradition can their inner sense be communicated. 

Gurdjieff students are encouraged to read Ouspensky's principal work, but are cautioned that all teachings will have to be re-verified in the individual's own experience. An example is Gurdjieff's radical position on human volition. Gurdjieff insisted, at least in the Russian period, that an individual, except in rare moments, cannot "do" at all, has no volition of his own. On the contrary, everything is "done" through him, that is, as a result of the promptings of childhood and cultural conditioning, adult instinctive needs, and the idiosyncratic workings of the personality. Only rarely is anything ever felt or done by the individual in a way that authentically expresses, in one gesture, his body, feelings and mind. The Gurdjieff pupil is asked (although not in so many words), Is this an accurate description of his everyday experience or not? That is, he is asked to verify, and re-verify, the basic ideas of the Gurdjieff teaching with his own experience.[42] 

A well-known Korean Zen teacher in the United States, Seung-Sahn, is fond of advising his pupils "Only go straight." Familiarity with Gurdjieff's ideas gives a basis for a critique of such injunctions. What does "only go" mean? The part of ourselves that can respond to orders like "[you may] only go straight" is passive and authoritarian. Further, there is nothing in experience that corresponds to "straight." 

Another matter is the importance of undertaking the study of Gurdjieff issues in company and association with others.[43] The group serves as a forum for verifying one's study of one's experience with the Gurdjieff ideas and spiritual exercises. Gurdjieff believed that the context of working in a group is beneficial to the individual seeker and to the person responsible for guiding the group's activities. At Gurdjieff centers in North America (the United States, Canada and Mexico) special attention is given to the study and practice of traditional crafts and disciplines, such as weaving, pottery, carpentry, gardening and translations. 

Finally, Gurdjieff Foundations stress the study of what might be called the "presence" of the body. For Gurdjieff followers, the age-old philosophical paradox of the mind-body problem is addressed in a practical way through a many-layered study of the attentiveness, or presence, of the human body.[44] Awareness of the presence of the body is, in the Gurdjieff world, a profoundly rich subject for individual experimentation and discussion. For the human body to serve as a vehicle for the expression of the Will of God (that is, as a communication link between the cosmos and human psychology) it must be sensed and felt in a new way, and its parts or elements must be in the right relation to the others. When Gurdjieff spoke of the "harmonious" development of man, he evidently referred to the possibility of a momentary state of balance between mind, feeling and presence-of-the-body. In Gurdjieffian micro-existential theory, being available at any given moment to receive higher or divine influences requires a progressively more sensitive awareness of nuances of one's physical existence.[45] 
Liturgy
It's not entirely clear that the sum of what we have called "Gurdjieff issues" points to religion. A brief discussion of liturgical time[46] in Gurdjieff societies might make the religious character of the phenomena clearer. 

Perhaps, from a Gurdjieffian point of view, it would make sense to think of religion as the art of invoking liturgical order in human affairs. That is, the claim to religious status by Gurdjieff followers[47] would not be made on the basis of belief in spirits (or any other belief), but on the basis of an oral tradition that addresses the subjects of sacred time, space and order. 

We may consider two time dimensions of liturgical order, the year and the day. The Gurdjieff teaching has been adapted to many cultures and societies. In the United States, where, perhaps, there are 5,000 Gurdjieff followers,[48] the Gurdjieffian "year" in the Northern hemisphere follows the cycle of the public schools, from early September to sometime in June. In the summer months, with the exception of special retreats, institutional activities are suspended. During the active months a Gurdjieff-oriented study center will typically offer members the opportunity to participate in a number of weekly activities, such as Movements classes,[49] group meetings,[50] sitting meditation,[51] group craft work,[52] and a lecture-discussion seminar.[53] 

With such a program, a member[54] of a Gurdjieff society may be invited to activities four or five nights a week and all day on Saturday or Sunday.[55] In contrast to the liturgical year,[56] which has a period of inactivity, the liturgical day in the Gurdjieff world is every day of the year. The Gurdjieff follower is enjoined to practice a regular discipline of individual meditational sittings in the morning.[57] 

Special topics: There are numerous places where the Gurdjieff approach to spiritual direction can be compared to the terminology and orientation of mainline religions and human potential movements. While a systematic comparison will not be undertaken here, it may be useful to give one or two points of similiarity and contrast. The sacred lexicon of the Gurdjieff movement is similar to that of two Middle Eastern religions of nomadic origins (Judaism and Islam) in that there is a strong emphasis on spatial metaphors for religious and spiritual ideas. The use of terms like "path," "way," "direction," "higher," "lower" and "balance" is common. 

A common expression used in Gurdjieff circles from the earliest documented period in Russia is "remembering oneself," by which he meant the occurrence of moments in which thought, feeling and sensation of one's physical presence were in an unmistakable relationship. Gurdjieff said that a core problem in modern life is that people do not remember (that is, have experiences of themselves in this reintegrated state). His teaching was intended, in large part, to provide people the needed special conditions in which such reintegrative moments would come to be increasingly possible. these special moments were ones of "I am."[58] 

An outsider might regard an individual's unique-I as the capability to create a literary whole from one's lifetime of memories; that is, to be able to connect one's present circumstances with everything that came before in one's life. Consider the account of neurosurgeon Oliver Sacks in his story of Jimmy G., the partial amnesiac. Jimmy could not remember his actions from one minute to the next, the ability to tell a roughly accurate, coherent story of one's life is likely to be an inadequate measure of the meaning of one's personal life. Jimmy could remember himself in a moment, but the content of one moment would not be remembered in the next moment. (Example: Jimmy has a normal conversation with Sacks, but afterwards, when Sacks leaves the examination room and re-enters ten minutes later, Jimmy insists that, previously, they had never met.) Dr. Sacks concluded, after observing Jimmy at Mass, that Jimmy found some measure of fulfillment and meaning the nature of which was beyond medical science's ability to describe.[59] 

An imperfect analogy exists between the issues that Dr. Sacks described in Jimmy G.'s life and the issues that Gurdjieff followers regard as important in their spiritual quest. Whereas Jimmy did not remember himself from one moment to the next, the ordinary person is likely to remember mainly his tensions, anxieties and goals--the micropolitics of everyday life. To paraphrase Gurdjieff, "An individual begins with 'I' in talking about everything he does, but he mainly refers to his habits and fears ingrained in him from childhood, plus his newly acquired resentments and petty conquests; he has all but forgotten the possibility of a sense of 'I' that impartially accepts his life as it is." An individual, in other words, falsely represents to himself his actual ability to stay connected with his deeper self, which, occasionally, is expressed in impressions of impartiality and feelings of compassion in relation to his own life and its circumstances. At this deeper level, then, modern life is much more like Jimmy's than one would ordinarily believe. 

Gurdjieffians believe that no ordered, institutionalized set of words or ceremonies can help the modern person remember himself at this deeper level. There is, therefore, no Book of Common Prayer at Gurdjieff Foundations. At the same time, Gurdjieffians reject the idea that, since everyone is on his own, life offers no help in this morally crucial area. Gurdjieffians, then, seem to be taking a middle ground between ethical nihilism and religious orthodoxy: "It's not true," they seem to say, "that there is no basis for ethical or moral philosophy, but that basis cannot be codified in ways that religion and philosophy have tried in modern times. The experience that we are looking for is at the intersection of the personal and impersonal lines of life, of inquiry. The Gurdjieff teaching gives us tools for studying the impersonal." 

Our problem, as Gurdjieff said repeatedly from the beginning of the Russian period, is that we do not have a language in which to express ourselves accurately.[60] 

Quite different meanings are given to the term "dream" by Gurdjieff and C. G. Jung, the eclectic Swiss psychologist. Jungian-oriented thinkers use the word "dream" as a technical term that refers to a manifestation or expression of the deeper, unconscious self. The Jungian psychotherapist will encourage a patient to record, and report on, during sessions, interesting dreams that the patient has had during the week. The dream is interpreted, or commented on, in the light of what the therapist understands to be the unresolved issues and natural strivings of the individual at a deeper level of awareness. In contrast, Gurdjieffian-oriented theorists, who also use the word "dream" as a technical term," stress the idea of awakening from dreams, with the implication that, in general, dreaming is a function of the organism in its most passive state (sleep) and that, therefore, there is no possibility of obtaining in this state the specific benefits from the effort of collected attention. In a Gurdjieff institutional context it would almost never be the case that the occurrence or details of a nighttime dream would be mentioned; on the contrary, since Gurdjieff insisted that day-dreaming was of the same order as dreaming at night, the day (including its dreams) offers all the material needed for the study of oneself.[61] 
Conclusion
All religious systems say that man lives from two sources of energy: natural and divine. To use contemporary language, it could be said that man lives from both chemical and alchemical sources of energy. Chemical energy comes from eating, sleeping and impressions of oneself making love and money. Religious systems seem to differ on the fluid dynamics of alchemical energy flows. 

The great debate in religion seems to be the nature and activation-mechanism of alchemical energy. Christians warn us, and rightly so, that alchemical energy is wholly other than normal chemical energy. Christians speak of the Grace of God and the Holy Spirit as if to tell us that such energy must never be thought of as something that can be packaged and mass-marketed.[62] The phrase from the prayer attributed to Jesus "and lead us not into temptation," may refer to the temptation to regard the peak experiences of one's ordinary chemical life as if they were of alchemical origin. Religion, then, seems to be about the basis of discernment between what Christians call ordinary life, the life of sin, and the life, or footsteps, of Christ. 

There are probably two characteristics common to many new religious movements: one is an initial intuitive discernment that the established forms of religion have, in some central way, mixed gold with alloy. It is an intuition that what originally had been an insight into the basis of discernment between what we have called the alchemical and chemical sides of life, but which, over time, had degenerated into mere instruments of personal or institutional power. The second characteristic is probably a willingness to say, in relation to the Christian warning, "But we can make an exception in our individual case." Such movements would tell us that such-and-such a technique, practice, or set of ideals or articles of spiritual surrender will lead us out of the maze of sensory and mental impulses that make up our lives. 

What is interesting about the Gurdjieff teaching is its unusual quietness, approaching silence, about what awaits the spiritual seeker who would ask, What do I have to do?, What is up to me? For what am I responsible? 

With the problem expressed in this way, the aims of the Gurdjieff teaching may be expressed in two or three essential points: one, the individual is in profound need of purification in his understanding of the difference between the flows of chemical and alchemical energy in his life; he needs years of impressions of discovering how chemical energy can disguise itself in a beguiling outer form suggestive of the presence of alchemical energy. Second, the individual is responsible for undertaking and maintaining working relationships with others who, also, seek verification of the inner and outer conditions in which contact with alchemical energy becomes more likely. Finally, the probability that an individual will succeed in gaining even a partial discrimination between the two rivers of life, as Gurdjieff called them, will directly vary with the intensity of his association with others similarly embarked on the path of verification. 

It's difficult to know what, then, is the specific gravity of the Gurdjieff phenomena. To listen between the lines, Gurdjieff followers seem to be saying that their approach t offers a new basis for spiritual self-interest, a new reason for living, that did not previously exist in their lives. The Gurdjieff society provides opportunities to associate with others on a new basis of sincerity and inner relaxation not elsewhere found in American society. Gurdjieff followers claim (although not in so many words) to have rediscovered in a practical way the possibility of contact with the sacred mystery of one's own life and, by extension, that of the lives of others. 

Gurdjieff seems to have foreseen much of the present state of confusion in religious inquiry in the West. His teaching invites the religious seeker to develop in himself a moral sensitivity that is nourished, not by techniques or metaphysical answers, but by an ineffable opening to himself and others. 
Sources and References
Anonymous (1987). Jane Heap 

Anthony, Dick and Bruce Ecker (1987). "The Anthony Typology: A Framework for Assessing Sprititual and Conscious Groups," in Dick Anthony, Bruce Ecker and Ken Wilber, eds. Spiritual Choices: The Problem of Recognizing Authentic Paths to Inner Transformation . New York: Paragon House, 1987, pp. 35-105. 

Baker, George (1982). "The Ethics and Psychology of Media Consumption," in Eileen Barker, ed., New Religious Movements: A Perspective for Understanding Society . New York: Edwin Mellen Press, pp. 312-323. 

________ . (1978). "Language and Mind in New Religious Movements" in Jacob Needleman and George Baker, eds. Understanding the New Religions (New York, Seabury). 

________. "Gurdjieff and the Line of Silence." In preparation. 

Bennett, John G. and Elizabeth Bennett (1991). Idiots in Paris: Diaries of J.G. Bennett and Elizabeth Bennett, 1949. Samuel Weiser, Inc., Box 612, York Beach, Maine 03910. 

Butkowsky-Hewitt, Anna (1978). With Gurdjieff in St. Petersburg and Paris. New York: Samuel Weiser. 

de Ropp, Robert S. (1974). Conversations with Madame Ouspensky, 1939-40, at Lyne (San Francisco: Far West Press, 22p. 

Driscoll, Walter and the Gurdjieff Foundation of California (1985). Gurdjieff: A Bibliography, New York: Garland. 

[Edmonds, Richard], comp. 1987. Jane Heap, 1987-1964: A Monograph; also, The Aphorisms. Printed by Richard Edmonds at the Phene Press, Haslemere, Surrey, England. 

Gurdjieff, G. I. (1950) All and Everything: Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson. New York: E. P. Dutton; Arkana, 1992. 

________ (1963). Meetings with Remarkable Men. New York: Dutton 

________ (1963a). "The Material Question," published as an appendix to his book, Meetings with Remarkable Men (1963). 

________ (1973). Views from the Real World: Early Talks in Moscow, Essentuki, Tiflis, Berlin, London, Paris, New York and Chicago, as Recollected by His Pupils. Foreword by Jean de Salzmann. New York: E. P. Dutton. 

________ (1975). Life is Real Then, When "I Am." New York, privately printed. 

Hands, Rina (1991). Diary of Mme. Egout Pour Sweet: With Mr. Gurdjieff in Paris, 1948-49, 1991. Aurora, Oregon: Two Rivers Press; limited edition of 500 copies. 

Kherdian, David (1990). On a Spaceship with Beelzebub by a Grandson of Gurdjieff. 

Moore, James (1991). Gurdjieff: Anatomy of a Myth. London: Element. 

Munson, Gorham (1985). The Awakening Twenties: A Memoir-History of a Literary Period. Batan Rouge and London: Louisiana State University Press. 

Ouspensky, Peter D. (1949). In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching. New York. 

________. (1974). The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution (1st ed., 1950; 2nd ed., enlarged, New York: Vintage, 1974. 

Palmer, Helen (1988). The Enneagram: Understanding yourself and the Others in Your Life. Preface by Charles T. Tart. San Francisco: Harper & Row. 

Patterson, Wm. Pat (1992). Eating the "I." San Anselmo, Calif.: Arete Publications. 

Peters, Fritz (1964). Boyhood with Gurdjieff. New York: Victor Gollancz, 

________ (1965). Gurdjieff Remembered . New York: Victor Gollancz, 1965, Samuel Weiser, 1971. 

Popoff, Irmis B. (1969). Gurdjieff: His Work on Myself, with Others, For the Work . New York: Vantage Press. 

Sacks, Oliver (1987). "The Lost Mariner," in The ManWho Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales, pp. 23-42. New York: Harper & Row. 

Speeth, Kathleen (1989) . The Gurdjieff Work . 2nd ed., Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher. 

Tracol, Henri (1967). George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff: Man's Awakening and the Practice of Remembering Oneself [Driscoll bibliography #1007] 

Vaysse, Jean (1978). Toward Awakening : An Approach to the Teaching Left by Gurdjieff. San Francisco: Far West, 1978; Harper & Row, 1979. 

Webb, James (1980). The Harmonious Circle: 

Wineapple, Brenda (1989). Gent: A Biography of Jannet Flanner . Lincoln, University of Nebraska Press.



Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson

[Categories: Philosophy books, 1950 books]

This is the first of a three volume set written by 


G. I. Gurdjieff. It was intended to be a 

firewall and teaching tool for the Gurdjieff Work. The trilogy is collectively known as 


All and Everything.

The trilogy includes 


Meetings with Remarkable Men (first published in 1963) and 

Life is Real Only Then, When 'I Am' (first privately printed in 1974).

The First Series (as Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson is also known) was first published in 1950 after the death of Gurdjieff. The publication was authorised and approved by him before his death. In he prospectus for 


All and Everything, printed at the beginning of each part of the trilogy Gurdjieff states his aim in publishing these texts:

FIRST SERIES: Three books under the title of An Objectively Impartial Criticism of the Life of Man, or, Beelzebubs Tales to His Grandson.

SECOND SERIES: Three books under the common title of Meetings with Remarkable Men.

THIRD SERIES: Four books under the common title of Life is Real Only Then, When I Am.

All written according to entirely new principles of logical reasoning and strictly directed towards the solution of the following three cardinal problems:

FIRST SERIES: To destroy, mercilessly, without any compromises whatsoever, in the mentation and feelings of the reader, the beliefs and views, by centuries rooted in him, about everything existing in the world.

SECOND SERIES: To acquaint the reader with the material required for a new creation and to prove the soundness and good quality of it.

THIRD SERIES: To assist the arising, in the mentation and in the feelings of the reader, of a veritable, non-fantastic representation not of that illusory world which he now perceives, but of the world existing in reality.

Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson was retranslated and republished in the 1990s. It was first published in 1950 by Harcourt, Brace & Company (New York); Routledge & Kegan Paul (London). This first translation was made under the personal direction of the author by a group of translators chosen by him and specially trained according to their defined individualities. Later republished in 1964 by E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., and again republished in 1973 by E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. in paperback (3 volumes), then republished in 1993 by Two Rivers Press. Finally republished in 1999 by Penguin Arkana, in paperback which contains correction of errata and insertion of two paragraphs omitted from page 568 of Chapter 32 "Hypnotism" in earlier editions.

The revised translation was first published in 1992 by Arkana, an imprint of Viking Penguin, a division of Penguin Books USA. This newer translation was begun on the initiative of 


Jeanne de Salzmann. The translation team included members of the Gurdjieff Foundation of New York, aided by members of the Gurdjieff Society (London) and the Institut Gurdjieff (Paris), as well as Triangle Editions, the holder of the copyright of the new translation.

Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson is the ruminations of a horned space alien known as 


Beelzebub to his grandson Hussein as they travel on the spaceship Karnak falling through space. It recounts the adventures and travails of Beelzebub amongst the 'three brained beings' of the planet Earth and their strange behaviors and customs.

In his introduction to the book Gurdjieff states the following:

Friendly Advice
[Written impromptu by the author on delivering this book, already prepared for publication, to the printer.]

ACCORDING TO the numerous deductions and conclusions made by me during experimental elucidations concerning the productivity of the perception by contemporary people of new impressions from what is heard and read, and also according to the thought of one of the sayings of popular wisdom I have just remembered, handed down to our days from very ancient times, which declares: Any prayer may be heard by the Higher Powers and a corresponding answer obtained only if it is uttered thrice:

Firstlyfor the welfare or the peace of the souls of ones parents.
Secondlyfor the welfare of ones neighbor.
And only thirdlyfor oneself personally.

I find it necessary on the first page of this book, quite ready for publication, to give the following advice:

Read each of my written expositions thrice:

* Firstly: at least as you have already become mechanized to read all your contemporary books and newspapers. 

* Secondly: as if you were reading aloud to another person.

* And only thirdly: try and fathom the gist of my writings.

Only then will you be able to count upon forming your own impartial judgment, proper to yourself alone, on my writings. And only then can my hope be actualized that according to your understanding you will obtain the specific benefit for yourself which I anticipate, and which I wish for you with all my being.

This is some of the most difficult reading you could ever take upon yourself. At times it may appear dry, longwinded, and seemingly ridiculous. But there is a purpose to the style and content of this work. The fact that it was translated from Armenian and Russian does not make the task of understanding the text any easier.

There is a Guide and Index to Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson published by The Traditional Studies Press of Toronto, Ontario that helps explain the nomenclature developed by Gurdjieff (many of his words are made up out of terms from foreign languages and esoteric concepts).
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The book will serve as a firewall...

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KAPITEL ETT TILL NIO:

Gurdjieff International Review
Chapter I
Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson
by G. I. Gurdjieff

The Arousing of Thought
 
AMONG other convictions formed in my common presence during my responsible, peculiarly composed life, there is one such alsoan indubitable convictionthat always and everywhere on the earth, among people of every degree of development of understanding and of every form of manifestation of the factors which engender in their individuality all kinds of ideals, there is acquired the tendency, when beginning anything new, unfailingly to pronounce aloud or, if not aloud, at least mentally, that definite utterance understandable to every even quite illiterate person, which in different epochs has been formulated variously and in our day is formulated in the following words: "In the name of the Father and of the Son and in the name of the Holy Ghost, Amen." 

That is why I now, also, setting forth on this venture quite new for me, namely, authorship, begin by pronouncing this utterance and moreover pronounce it not only aloud, but even very distinctly and with a full, as the ancient Toulousites defined it, "wholly-manifested-intonation"of course with that fullness which can arise in my entirety only from data already formed and thoroughly rooted in me for such a manifestation; data which are in general formed in the nature of man, by the way, during his preparatory age, and later, during his responsible life engender in him the ability for the manifestation of the nature and vivifyingness of such an intonation. 

Having thus begun, I can now be quite at ease, and should even, according to the notions of religious morality existing among contemporary people, be beyond all doubt assured that everything further in this new venture of mine will now proceed, as is said, "like a pianola." 

In any case I have begun just thus, and as to how the rest will go I can only say meanwhile, as the blind man once expressed it, "we shall see." 

First and foremost, I shall place my own hand, moreover the right one, whichalthough at the moment it is slightly injured owing to the misfortune which recently befell meis nevertheless really my own, and has never once failed me in all my life, on my heart, of course also my ownbut on the inconstancy or constancy of this part of all my whole I do not find it necessary here to expatiateand frankly confess that I myself have personally not the slightest wish to write, but attendant circumstances, quite independent of me, constrain me to do soand whether these circumstances arose accidentally or were created intentionally by extraneous forces, I myself do not yet know. I know only that these circumstances bid me write not just anything "so-so", as, for instance, something of the kind for reading oneself to sleep, but weighty and bulky tomes. 

However that may be, I begin 

But begin with what? 

Oh, the devil! Will there indeed be repeated that same exceedingly unpleasant and highly strange sensation which it befell me to experience when about three weeks ago I was composing in my thoughts the scheme and sequence of the ideas destined by me for publication and did not know then how to begin either? 

This sensation then experienced I might now formulate in words only thus: "the-fear-of-drowning-in-the-overflow-of-my-own-thoughts." 

To stop this undesirable sensation I might then still have had recourse to the aid of that maleficent property existing also in me, as in contemporary man, which has become inherent in all of us, and which enables us, without experiencing any remorse of conscience whatever, to put off anything we wish to do "till tomorrow." 

I could then have done this very easily because before beginning the actual writing, it was assumed that there was still lots of time; but this can now no longer be done, and I must, without fail, as is said, "even though I burst", begin. 

But with what indeed begin ? 

Hurrah!  Eureka! 

Almost all the books I have happened to read in my life have begun with a preface. 

So in this case I also must begin with something of the kind. 

I say "of the kind", because in general in the process of my life, from the moment I began to distinguish a boy from a girl, I have always done everything, absolutely everything, not as it is done by other, like myself, biped destroyers of Nature's good. Therefore, in writing now I ought, and perhaps am even on principle already obliged, to begin not as any other writer would. 

In any case, instead of the conventional preface I shall begin quite simply with a Warning. 

Beginning with a Warning will be very judicious of me, if only because it will not contradict any of my principles, either organic, psychic, or even "willful", and will at the same time be quite honestof course, honest in the objective sense, because both I myself and all others who know me well, expect with indubitable certainty that owing to my writings there will entirely disappear in the majority of readers, immediately and not gradually, as must sooner or later, with time, occur to all people, all the "wealth" they have, which was either handed down to them by inheritance or obtained by their own labor, in the form of quieting notions evoking only nave dreams, and also beautiful representations of their lives at present as well as of their prospects in the future. 

Professional writers usually begin such introductions with an address to the reader, full of all kinds of bombastically magniloquent and so to say "honeyed" and "inflated" phrases. 

Just in this alone I shall follow their example and also begin with such an address, but I shall try not to make it very "sugary" as they usually do, owing particularly to their evil wiseacring by which they titillate the sensibilities of the more or less normal reader. 

Thus 

My dear, highly honored, strong-willed and of course very patient Sirs, and my much-esteemed, charming and impartial Ladiesforgive me, I have omitted the most importantand my in no wise hysterical Ladies! 

I have the honor to inform you that although owing to circumstances that have arisen at one of the last stages of the process of my life, I am now about to write books, yet during the whole of my life I have never written not only not books or various what they are called "instructive articles", but also not even a letter in which it has been unfailingly necessary to observe what is called "grammaticality", and in consequence, although I am now about to become a professional writer, yet having had no practice at all either in respect of all the established professional rules and procedures or in respect of what is called the "bon ton literary language", I am constrained to write not at all as ordinary "patented-writers" do, to the form of whose writings you have in all probability become as much accustomed as to your own smell. 

In my opinion the trouble with you, in the present instance, is perhaps chiefly due to the fact that while still in childhood, there was implanted in you and has now become ideally well harmonized with your general psyche, an excellently working automatism for perceiving all kinds of new impressions, thanks to which "blessing" you have now, during your responsible life, no need of making any individual effort whatsoever. 

Speaking frankly, I inwardly personally discern the center of my confession not in my lack of knowledge of all the rules and procedures of writers, but in my nonpossession of what I have called the "bon ton literary language", infallibly required in contemporary life not only from writers but also from every ordinary mortal. 

As regards the former, that is to say, my lack of knowledge of the different rules and procedures of writers, I am not greatly disturbed. 

And I am not greatly disturbed on this account, because such "ignorance" has already now become in the life of people also in the order of things. Such a blessing arose and now flourishes everywhere on Earth thanks to that extraordinary new disease of which for the last twenty to thirty years, for some reason or other, especially the majority of those persons from among all the three sexes fall ill, who sleep with half-open eyes and whose faces are in every respect fertile soil for the growth of every kind of pimple. 

This strange disease is manifested by this, that if the invalid is somewhat literate and his rent is paid for three months in advance, he (she or it) unfailingly begins to write either some "instructive article" or a whole book. 

Well knowing about this new human disease and its epidemical spread on Earth, I, as you should understand, have the right to assume that you have acquired, as the learned "medicos" would say, "immunity" to it, and that you will therefore not be palpably indignant at my ignorance of the rules and procedures of writers. 

This understanding of mine bids me inwardly to make the center of gravity of my warning my ignorance of the literary language. 

In self-justification, and also perhaps to diminish the degree of the censure in your waking consciousness of my ignorance of this language indispensable for contemporary life, I consider it necessary to say, with a humble heart and cheeks flushed with shame, that although I too was taught this language in my childhood, and even though certain of my elders who prepared me for responsible life, constantly forced me "without sparing or economizing" any intimidatory means to "learn by rote" the host of various "nuances" which in their totality compose this contemporary "delight", yet, unfortunately of course for you, of all that I then learned by rote, nothing stuck and nothing whatsoever has survived for my present activities as a writer. 

And nothing stuck, as it was quite recently made clear to me, not through any fault of mine, nor through the fault of my former respected and nonrespected teachers, but this human labor was spent in vain owing to one unexpected and quite exceptional event which occurred at the moment of my appearance on God's Earth, and which wasas a certain occultist well known in Europe explained to me after a very minute what is called "psycho-physico-astrological" investigationthat at that moment, through the hole made in the windowpane by our crazy lame goat, there poured the vibrations of sound which arose in the neighbor's house from an Edison phonograph, and the midwife had in her mouth a lozenge saturated with cocaine of German make, and moreover not "Ersatz", and was sucking this lozenge to these sounds without the proper enjoyment. 

Besides from this event, rare in the everyday life of people, my present position also arose because later on in my preparatory and adult lifeas, I must confess, I myself guessed after long reflections according to the method of the German professor, Herr StumpsinschmausenI always avoided instinctively as well as automatically and at times even consciously, that is, on principle, employing this language for intercourse with others. And from such a trifle, and perhaps not a trifle, I manifested thus again thanks to three data which were formed in my entirety during my preparatory age, about which data I intend to inform you a little later in this same first chapter of my writings. 

However that may have been, yet the real fact, illuminated from every side like an American advertisement, and which fact cannot now be changed by any forces even with the knowledge of the experts in "monkey business", is that although I, who have lately been considered by very many people as a rather good teacher of temple dances, have now become today a professional writer and will of course write a great dealas it has been proper to me since childhood whenever "I do anything to do a great deal of it" nevertheless, not having, as you see, the automatically acquired and automatically manifested practice necessary for this, I shall be constrained to write all I have thought out in ordinary simple everyday language established by life, without any literary manipulations and without any "grammarian wiseacrings." 

But the pot is not yet full!  For I have not yet decided the most important question of allin which language to write. 

Although I have begun to write in Russian, nevertheless, as the wisest of the wise, Mullah Nassr Eddin, would say, in that language you cannot go far. 

(Mullah Nassr Eddin, or has he is also called, Hodja Nassr Eddin, is, it seems, little known in Europe and America, but he is very well known in all countries of the continent of Asia; this legendary personage corresponds to the American Uncle Sam or the German Till Eulenspiegel. Numerous tales popular in the East, akin to the wise sayings, some of long standing and others newly arisen, were ascribed and are still ascribed to this Nassr Eddin.) 

The Russian language, it cannot be denied, is very good. I even like it, but  only for swapping anecdotes and for use in referring to someone's parentage. 

The Russian language is like the English, which language is also very good, but only for discussing in "smoking rooms", while sitting on an easy chair with legs out-stretched on another, the topic of Australian frozen meat or, sometimes, the Indian question. 

Both these languages are like the dish which is called in Moscow "Solianka", and into which everything goes except you and me, in fact everything you wish, and even the "after dinner Cheshma"* of Sheherazade. 

It must also be said that owing to all kinds of accidentally and perhaps not accidentally formed conditions of my youth, I have had to learn, and moreover very seriously and of course always with self-compulsion, to speak, read, and write a great many languages, and to such a degree of fluency, that if in following this profession unexpectedly forced on me by Fate, I decided not to take advantage of the "automatism" which is acquired by practice, then I could perhaps write in any one of them. 

But if I set out to use judiciously this automatically acquired automatism which has become easy from long practice, then I should have to write either in Russian or in Armenian, because the circumstances of my life during the last two or three decades have been such that I have had for intercourse with others to use, and consequently to have more practice in just these two languages and to acquire an automatism in respect to them. 

O the dickens!  Even in such a case, one of the aspects of my peculiar psyche, unusual for the normal man, has now already begun to torment the whole of me. 

And the chief reason for this unhappiness of mine in my almost already mellow age, results from the fact that since childhood there was implanted in my peculiar psyche, together with numerous other rubbish also unnecessary for contemporary life, such an inherency as always and in everything automatically enjoins the whole of me to act only according to popular wisdom. 

In the present case, as always in similar as yet indefinite life cases, there immediately comes to my brainwhich is for me, constructed unsuccessfully to the point of mockery, and is now as is said, "running through" itthat saying of popular wisdom which existed in the life of people of very ancient times, and which has been handed down to our day formulated in the following words: "every stick always has two ends." 

In trying first to understand the basic thought and real significance hidden in this strange verbal formulation, there must, in my opinion, first of all arise in the consciousness of every more or less sane-thinking man the supposition that, in the totality of ideas on which is based and from which must flow a sensible notion of this saying, lies the truth, cognized by people for centuries, which affirms that every cause occurring in the life of man, from whatever phenomenon it arises, as one of two opposite effects of other causes, is in its turn obligatorily molded also into two quite opposite effects, as for instance: if "something" obtained from two different causes engenders light, then it must inevitably engender a phenomenon opposite to it, that is to say, darkness; or a factor engendering in the organism of a living creature an impulse of palpable satisfaction also engenders without fail nonsatisfaction, of course also palpable, and so on and so forth, always and in everything. 

Adopting in the same given instance this popular wisdom formed by centuries and expressed by a stick, which, as was said, indeed has two ends, one end of which is considered good and the other bad, then if I use the aforesaid automatism which was acquired in me thanks only to long practice, it will be for me personally of course very good, but according to this saying, there must result for the reader just the opposite; and what the opposite of good is, even every nonpossessor of haemorrhoids must very easily understand. 

Briefly, if I exercise my privilege and take the good end of the stick, then the bad end must inevitably fall "on the reader's head." 

This may indeed happen, because in Russian the so to say "niceties" of philosophical questions cannot be expressed, which questions I intend to touch upon in my writings also rather fully, whereas in Armenian, although this is possible, yet to the misfortune of all contemporary Armenians, the employment of this language for contemporary notions has now already become quite impracticable. 

In order to alleviate the bitterness of my inner hurt owing to this, I must say that in my early youth, when I became interested in and was greatly taken up with philological questions, I preferred the Armenian language to all others I then spoke, even to my native language. 

This language was then my favorite chiefly because it was original and had nothing in common with the neighboring or kindred languages. 

As the learned "philologists" say, all of its tonalities were peculiar to it alone, and according to my understanding even then, it corresponded perfectly to the psyche of the people composing that nation. 

But the change I have witnessed in that language during the last thirty or forty years has been such, that instead of an original independent language coming to us from the remote past, there has resulted and now exists one, which though also original and independent, yet represents, as might be said, a "kind of clownish potpourri of languages", the totality of the consonances of which, falling on the ear of a more or less conscious and understanding listener, sounds just like the "tones" of Turkish, Persian, French, Kurd, and Russian words and still other "indigestible" and inarticulate noises. 

Almost the same might be said about my native language, Greek, which I spoke in childhood and, as might be said, the "taste of the automatic associative power of which" I still retain. I could now, I dare say, express anything I wish in it, but to employ it for writing is for me impossible, for the simple and rather comical reason that someone must transcribe my writings and translate them into the other languages. And who can do this? 

It could assuredly be said that even the best expert of modern Greek would understand simply nothing of what I should write in the native language I assimilated in childhood, because, my dear "compatriots", as they might be called, being also inflamed with the wish at all costs to be like the representatives of contemporary civilization also in their conversation, have during these thirty of forty years treated my dear native language just as the Armenians, anxious to become Russian intelligentsia, have treated theirs. 

That Greek language, the spirit and essence of which were transmitted to me by heredity, and the language now spoken by contemporary Greeks, are as much alike as, according to the expression of Mullah Nassr Eddin, "a nail is like a requiem." 

What is now to be done? 

Ah  me! Never mind, esteemed buyer of my wiseacrings. If only there be plenty of French armagnac and "Khaizarian bastourma", I shall find a way out of even this difficult situation. 

I am an old hand at this. 

In life, I have so often got into difficult situations and out of them, that this has become almost a matter of habit for me. 

Meanwhile in the present case, I shall write partly in Russian and party in Armenian, the more readily because among those people always "hanging around" me there are several who "cerebrate" more or less easily in both these languages, and I meanwhile entertain the hope that they will be able to transcribe and translate from these languages fairly well for me. 

In any case I again repeatin order that you should well remember it, but not as you are in the habit of remembering other things and on the basis of which are accustomed to keeping your word of honor to others or to yourselfthat no matter what language I shall use, always and in everything, I shall avoid what I have called the "bon ton literary language." 

In this respect, the extraordinarily curious fact and one even in the highest degree worthy of your love of knowledge, perhaps even higher than your usual conception, is that from my earliest childhood, that is to say, since the birth in me of the need to destroy birds' nests, and to tease my friends' sisters, there arose in my, as the ancient theosophists called it, "planetary body", and moreover, why I don't know, chiefly in the "right half", an instinctively involuntary sensation, which right up to that period of my life when I became a teacher of dancing, was gradually formed into a definite feeling, and then, when thanks to this profession of mine I came into contact with many people of different "types", there began to arise in me also the conviction with what is called my "mind", that these languages are compiled by people, or rather "grammarians", who are in respect of knowledge of the given language exactly similar to those biped animals whom the esteemed Mullah Nassr Eddin characterizes by the words: "All they can do is to wrangle with pigs about the quality of oranges." 

This kind of people among us who have been turned into, so to say, "moths" destroying the good prepared and left for us by our ancestors and by time, have not the slightest notion and have probably never even heard of the screamingly obvious fact that, during the preparatory age, there is acquired in the brain functioning of every creature, and of man also, a particular and definite property, the automatic actualization and manifestation of which the ancient Korkolans called the "law of association", and that the process of the mentation of every creature, especially man, flows exclusively in accordance with this law. 

In view of the fact that I have happened here accidentally to touch upon a question which has lately become one of my so to speak "hobbies", namely, the process of human mentation, I consider it possible, without waiting for the corresponding place predetermined by me for the elucidation of this question, to state already now in this first chapter, at least something concerning that axiom which has accidentally become known to me, that on Earth in the past it has been usual in every century that every man, in whom there arises the boldness to attain the right to be considered by others and to consider himself a "conscious thinker", should be informed while still in the early years of his responsible existence that man has in general two kinds of mentation: one kind, mentation by thought, in which words, always possessing a relative sense, are employed; and the other kind, which is proper to all animals as well as to man, which I would call "mentation by form." 

The second kind of mentation, that is, "mentation by form", by which, strictly speaking, the exact sense of all writing must be also perceived, and after conscious confrontation with information already possessed, be assimilated, is formed in people in dependence upon the conditions of geographical locality, climate, time, and, in general, upon the whole environment in which the arising of the given man has proceeded and in which his existence has flowed up to manhood. 

Accordingly, in the brains of people of different races and conditions dwelling in different geographical localities, there are formed about one and the same thing or even idea, a number of quite independent forms, which during functioning, that is to say, association, evoke in their being some sensation or other which subjectively conditions a definite picturing, and which picturing is expressed by this, that, or the other word, that serves only for its outer subjective expression. 

That is why each word, for the same thing or idea, almost always acquires for people of different geographical locality and race a very definite and entirely different so to say "inner-content." 

In other words, if in the entirety of any man who has arisen and been formed in any locality, from the results of the specific local influences and impressions a certain "form" has been composed, and this form evokes in him by association the sensation of a definite "inner content", and consequently of a definite picturing or notion for the expression of which he employs one or another word which has eventually become habitual, and as I have said, subjective to him, then the hearer of that word, in whose being, owing to different conditions of his arising and growth, there has been formed concerning the given word a form of a different "inner content", will always perceive and of course infallibly understand that same word in quite another sense. 

This fact, by the way, can with attentive and impartial observation be very clearly established when one is present at an exchange of opinions between persons belonging to two different races or who arose and were formed in different geographical localities. 

And so, cheerful and swaggering candidate for a buyer of my wiseacrings, having warned you that I am going to write not as "professional writers" usually write but quite otherwise, I advise you, before embarking on the reading of my further expositions, to reflect seriously and only then to undertake it. If not, I am afraid for your hearing and other perceptive and also digestive organs which may be already so thoroughly automatized to the "literary language of the intelligentsia" existing in the present period of time on Earth, that the reading of these writings of mine might affect you very, very cacophonously, and from this you might loose your you know what?  your appetite for your favorite dish and for your psychic specificness which particularly titillates your "inside" and which proceeds in you on seeing your neighbor, the brunette. 

For such a possibility, ensuing from my language, or rather, strictly speaking, from the form of my mentation, I am, thanks to oft-repeated past experiences, already quite as convinced with my whole being as a "thoroughbred donkey" is convinced of the right and justice of his obstinacy. 

Now that I have warned you of what is most important, I am already tranquil about everything further. Even if any misunderstanding should arise on account of my writings, you alone will be entirely to blame, and my conscience will be as clear as for instance the ex-Kaiser Wilhelm's. 

In all probability you are now thinking that I am, of course, a young man with an auspicious exterior and, as some express it, a 'suspicious interior', and that, as a novice in writing, I am evidently intentionally being eccentric in the hope of becoming famous and thereby rich. 

If you indeed think so, then you are very, very mistaken. 

First of all, I am not young; I have already lived so much that I have been in my life, as it is said, "not only through the mill but through all the grindstones"; and secondly, I am in general not writing so as to make a career for myself, or so as to plant myself, as is said, "firm-footedly", thanks to this profession, which, I must add, in my opinion provides many openings to become a candidate d-i-r-e-c-t for "Hell"assuming of course that such people can in general by their Being, perfect themselves even to that extent, for the reason that knowing nothing whatsoever themselves, they write all kinds of "claptrap" and thereby automatically acquiring authority, they become almost one of the chief factors, the totality of which steadily continues year by year, still further to diminish the, without this, already extremely diminished psyche of people. 

And as regards my personal career, then thanks to all forces high and low and, if you like, even right and left, I have actualized it long ago, and have already long been standing on "firm-feet" and even maybe on very good feet, and I moreover am certain that their strength is sufficient for many more years, in spite of all my past, present, and future enemies. 

Yes, I think you might as well be told also about an idea which has only just arisen in my madcap brain, and namely, specially to request the printer, to whom I shall give my first book, to print this first chapter of my writings in such a way that anybody may read it before cutting the pages of the book itself, whereupon, on learning that it is not written in the usual manner, that is to say, for helping to produce in one's mentation, very smoothly and easily, exciting images and lulling reveries, he may, if he wishes, without wasting words with the bookseller, return it and get his money back, money perhaps earned by the sweat of his own brow. 

I shall do this without fail, moreover, because I just now again remember the story of what happened to a Transcaucasian Kurd, which story I heard in my quite early youth and which in subsequent years, whenever I recalled it in corresponding cases, engendered in me an enduring and inextinguishable impulse of tenderness. I think it will be very useful for me, and also for you, if I relate this story to you somewhat in detail. 

It will be useful chiefly because I have decided already to make the "salt", or as contemporary pure-blooded Jewish businessmen would say, the "Tzimus" of this story, one of the basic principles of that new literary form which I intend to employ for the attainment of the aim I am now pursuing by means of this new profession of mine. 

This Transcaucasian Kurd once set out from his village on some business or other to town, and there in the market he saw in a fruiterer's shop a handsomely arranged display of all kinds of fruit. 

In this display, he noticed one "fruit", very beautiful in both color and form, and its appearance so took his fancy and he so longed to try it, that i spite of his having scarcely any money, he decided to buy without fail at least one of these gifts of Great Nature, and taste it. 

Then, with intense eagerness, and with a courage not customary to him, he entered the shop and pointing with his horny finger to the "fruit" which had taken his fancy he asked the shopkeeper its price. The shopkeeper replied that a pound of the "fruit" would cost two cents. 

Finding that the price was not at all high for what in his opinion was such a beautiful fruit, our Kurd decided to buy a whole pound. 

Having finished his business in town, he set off again on foot for home the same day. 

Walking at sunset over the hills and dales, and willy-nilly perceiving the exterior visibility of those enchanting parts of the bosom of Great Nature, the Common Mother, and involuntarily inhaling a pure air uncontaminated by the usual exhalations of industrial towns, our Kurd quite naturally suddenly felt a wish to gratify himself with some ordinary food also; so sitting down by the side of the road, he took from his provision bag some bread and the "fruit" he had bought which had looked so good to him, and leisurely began to eat. 

But  horror of horrors!  very soon everything inside him began to burn. But in spite of this he kept on eating. 

And this hapless biped creature of our planet kept on eating, thanks only to that particular human inherency which I mentioned at first, the principle of which I intended, when I decided to use it as the foundation of the new literary form I have created, to make, as it were, a "guiding beacon" leading me to one of my aims in view, and the sense and meaning of which moreover you will, I am sure, soon graspof course according to the degree of your comprehensionduring the reading of any subsequent chapter of my writings, if, of course, you take the risk and read further, or, it may be that even at the end of this first chapter you will already "smell" something. 

And so, just at the moment when our Kurd was overwhelmed by all the unusual sensations proceeding within him from this strange repast on the bosom of Nature, there came along the same road a fellow villager of his, one reputed by those who knew him to be very clever and experienced; and, seeing that the whole face of the Kurd was aflame, that his eyes were streaming with tears, and that in spite of this, as if intent upon the fulfillment of his most important duty, he was eating real "red pepper pods", he said to him: 

"What are you doing, you Jericho jackass? You'll be burnt alive! Stop eating that extraordinary product, so unaccustomed for your nature." 

But our Kurd replied: "No, for nothing on Earth will I stop. Didn't I pay my last two cents for them? Even if my soul departs from my body I shall still go on eating." 

Whereupon our resolute Kurdit must of course be assumed that he was suchdid not stop, but continued eating the "red pepper pods." 

After what you have just perceived, I hope there may already be arising in your mentation a corresponding mental association which should, as a result, effectuate in you, as it sometimes happens to contemporary people, that which you call, in general, understanding, and that in the present case you will understand just why I, well knowing and having many a time commiserated with this human inherency, the inevitable manifestation of which is that if anybody pays money for something, he is bound to use it to the end, was animated in the whole of my entirety with the idea, arisen in my mentation, to take every possible measure in order that you, as is said "my brother in appetite and in spirit"in the event of your proving to be already accustomed to reading books, though of all kinds, yet nevertheless only those written exclusively in the aforesaid "language of the intelligentsia"having already paid money for my writings and learning only afterwards that they are not written in the usual convenient and easily read language, should not be compelled as a consequence of the said human inherency, to read my writings through to the end at all costs, as our poor Transcaucasian Kurd was compelled to go on with his eating of what he had fancied for its appearance alonethat "not to be joked with" noble red pepper. 

And so, for the purpose of avoiding any misunderstanding through this inherency, the data for which are formed in the entirety of contemporary man, thanks evidently to his frequenting of the cinema and thanks also to his never missing an opportunity of looking into the left eye of the other sex, I wish that this commencing chapter of mine should be printed in the said manner, so that everyone can read it through without cutting the pages of the book itself. 

Otherwise the bookseller will, as is said, "cavil", and will without fail again turn out to act in accordance with the basic principle of booksellers in general, formulated by them in the words: "You'll be more of a simpleton than a fisherman if you let go of the fish which has swallowed the bait", and will decline to take back a book whose pages you have cut. I have no doubt of this possibility; indeed, I fully expect such lack of conscience on the part of the booksellers. 

And the data for the engendering of my certainty as to this lack of conscience on the part of these booksellers were completely formed in me, when, while I was a professional "Indian Fakir", I needed, for the complete elucidation of a certain "ultraphilosophical" question also to become familiar, among other things, with the associative process for the manifestation of the automatically constructed psyche of contemporary booksellers and of their salesmen when palming off books on their buyers. 

Knowing all this and having become, since the misfortune which befell me, habitually just and fastidious in the extreme, I cannot help repeating, or rather, I cannot help again warning you, and even imploringly advising you, before beginning to cut the pages of this first book of mine, to read through very attentively, and even more than once, this first chapter of my writings. 

But in the event that notwithstanding this warning of mine, you should, nevertheless, wish to become acquainted with the further contents of my expositions, then there is already nothing else left for me to do but to wish you with all my "genuine soul" a very, very good appetite, and that you may "digest" all that you read, not only for your own health but for the health of all those near you. 

I said "with my genuine soul" because recently living in Europe and coming in frequent contact with people who on every appropriate and inappropriate occasion are fond of taking in vain every sacred name which should belong only to man's inner life, that is to say, with people who swear to no purpose, I being, as I have already confessed, a follower in general not only of the theoreticalas contemporary people have becomebut also of the practical sayings of popular wisdom which have become fixed by the centuries, and therefore of the saying which in the present case corresponds to what is expressed by the words: "When you are in Rome do as Rome does", decided, in order not to be out of harmony with the custom established here in Europe of swearing in ordinary conversation, and at the same time to act according to the commandment which was enunciated by the holy lips of Saint Moses "not to take the holy names in vain", to make use of one of those examples of the "newly baked" fashionable languages of the present time, namely English, and so from then on, I began on necessary occasions to swear by my "English soul." 

The point is that in this fashionable language, the words "soul" and the bottom of your foot, also called "sole", are pronounced and even written almost alike. 

I do not know how it is with you, who are already partly candidate for a buyer of my writings, but my peculiar nature cannot, even with a great mental desire, avoid being indignant at the fact manifested by people of contemporary civilization, that the very highest in man, particularly beloved by our COMMON FATHER CREATOR, can really be named, and indeed very often before even having made clear to oneself what it is, can be understood to be that which is the lowest and dirtiest in man. 

Well, enough of "philologizing." Let us return to the main task of this initial chapter, destined, among other things, on the one hand to stir up the drowsy thoughts in me as well as in the reader, and, on the other, to warn the reader about something. 

And so, I have already composed in my head the plan and sequence of the intended expositions, but what form they will take on paper, I, speaking frankly, myself do not as yet know with my consciousness, but with my subconsciousness I already definitely feel that on the whole it will take the form of something which will be, so to say, "hot", and will have an effect on the entirety of every reader such as the red pepper pods had on the poor Transcaucasian Kurd. 

Now that you have become familiar with the story of our common countryman, the Transcaucasian Kurd, I already consider it my duty to make a confession and hence before continuing this first chapter, which is by way of an introduction to all my further predetermined writings, I wish to bring to the knowledge of what is called your "pure waking consciousness" the fact that in the writings following this chapter of warning I shall expound my thoughts intentionally in such sequence and with such "logical confrontation", that the essence of certain real notions may of themselves automatically, so to say, go from this "waking consciousness"which most people in their ignorance mistake for the real consciousness, but which I affirm and experimentally prove is the fictitious oneinto what you call the subconscious, which ought to be in my opinion the real human consciousness, and there by themselves mechanically bring about that transformation which should in general proceed in the entirety of a man and give him, from his own conscious mentation, the results he ought to have, which are proper to man and not merely to single- or double-brained animals. 

I decided to do this without fail so that this initial chapter of mine, predetermined as I have already said to awaken your consciousness, should fully justify its purpose, and reaching not only your, in my opinion, as yet only fictitious "consciousness", but also your real consciousness, that is to say, what you call your subconscious, might, for the first time, compel you to reflect actively. 

In the entirety of every man, irrespective of his heredity and education, there are formed two independent consciousnesses which in their functioning as well as in their manifestations have almost nothing in common. One consciousness is formed from the perception of all kinds of accidental, or on the part of others intentionally produced, mechanical impressions, among which must also be counted the "consonances" of various words which are indeed as is said empty; and the other consciousness is formed from the so to say, "already previously formed material results" transmitted to him by heredity, which have become blended with the corresponding parts of the entirety of a man, as well as from the data arising from his intentional evoking of the associative confrontations of these "materialized data" already in him. 

The whole totality of the formation as well as the manifestation of this second human consciousness, which is none other than what is called the "subconscious", and which is formed from the "materialized results" of heredity and the confrontations actualized by one's own intentions, should in my opinion, formed by many years of my experimental elucidations during exceptionally favorably arranged conditions, predominate in the common presence of a man. 

As a result of this conviction of mine which as yet doubtlessly seems to you the fruit of the fantasies of an afflicted mind, I cannot now, as you yourself see, disregard this second consciousness and, compelled by my essence, am obliged to construct the general exposition even of this first chapter of my writings, namely, the chapter which should be the preface for everything further, calculating that it should reach, and in the manner required for my aim "ruffle", the perceptions accumulated in both these consciousnesses of yours. 

Continuing my expositions with this calculation, I must first of all inform your fictitious consciousness that, thanks to three definite peculiar data which were crystallized in my entirety during various periods of my preparatory age, I am really unique in respect of the so to say "muddling and befuddling" of all the notions and convictions supposedly firmly fixed in the entirety of people with whom I come in contact. 

Tut! Tut! Tut!  I already feel that in your "false"but according to you "real"consciousness, there are beginning to be agitated, like "blinded flies", all the chief data transmitted to you by heredity from your uncle and mother, the totality of which data, always and in everything, at least engenders in you the impulsenevertheless extremely goodof curiosity, as in the given case, to find out as quickly as possible why I, that is to say, a novice at writing, whose name has not even once been mentioned in the newspapers, have suddenly become so unique. 

Never mind! I personally am very pleased with the arising of this curiosity even though only in your "false" consciousness, as I already know from experience that this impulse unworthy of man can sometimes even pass from this consciousness into one's nature and become a worthy impulsethe impulse of the desire for knowledge, which, in its turn, assists the better perception and even the closer understanding of the essence of any object on which, as it sometimes happens, the attention of a contemporary man might be concentrated, and therefore I am even willing, with pleasure, to satisfy this curiosity which has arisen in you at the present moment. 

Now listen and try to justify, and not to disappoint, my expectations. This original personality of mine, already "smelled out" by certain definite individuals from both choirs of the Judgement Seat Above, whence Objective justice proceeds, and also here on Earth, by as yet a very limited number of people, is based, as I already said, on three secondary specific data formed in me at different times during my preparatory age. The first of these data, from the very beginning of its arising, became as it were the chief directing lever of my entire wholeness, and the other two, the "vivifying-sources", as it were, for the feeding and perfecting of this first datum. 

The arising of this first datum proceeded when I was still only, as is said, a "chubby mite." My dear now deceased grandmother was then still living and was a hundred and some years old. 

When my grandmothermay she attain the kingdom of Heavenwas dying, my mother, as was then the custom, took me to her bedside, and as I kissed her right hand, my dear now deceased grandmother placed her dying left hand on my head and in a whisper, yet very distinctly, said: 

"Eldest of my grandsons! Listen and always remember my strict injunction to you: In life never do as others do." 

Having said this, she gazed at the bridge of my nose and evidently noticing my perplexity and my obscure understanding of what she had said, added somewhat angrily and imposingly: 

"Either do nothingjust go to schoolor do something nobody else does." 

Whereupon she immediately, without hesitation, and with a perceptible impulse of disdain for all around her, and with commendable self-cognizance, gave up her soul directly into the hands of His Truthfulness, the Archangel Gabriel. 

I think it will be interesting and even instructive to you to know that all this made so powerful an impression on me at that time that I suddenly became unable to endure anyone around me, and therefore, as soon as we left the room where the mortal "planetary body" of the cause of the cause of my arising lay, I very quietly, trying not to attract attention, stole away to the bin where during Lent the bran and potato skins for our "sanitarians", that is to say, our pigs, were stored, and lay there, without food or drink, in a tempest of whirling and confused thoughtsof which, fortunately for me, I had then in my childish brain still only a very limited numberright until the return from the cemetery of my mother, whose weeping on finding me gone and after searching for me in vain, as it were "overwhelmed" me, I then immediately emerged from the bin and standing first of all on the edge, for some reason or other with outstretched hand, ran to her and clinging fast to her skirts, involuntarily began to stamp my feet and why, I don't know, to imitate the braying of the donkey belonging to our neighbor, a bailiff. 

Why this produced such a strong impression on me just then, and why I almost automatically manifested so strangely, I cannot until now make out; though during recent years, particularly on the days called "Shrovetide", I pondered a good deal, trying chiefly to discover the reason for it. 

I then had only the logical supposition that it was perhaps only because the room in which this sacred scene occurred, which was to have tremendous significance for the whole of my further life, was permeated through and through with the scent of a special incense brought from the monastery of "Old Athos" and very popular among followers of every shade of belief of the Christian religion. Whatever it may have been, this fact still now remains a bare fact. 

During the days following this event, nothing particular happened in my general state, unless there might be connected with it the fact that during these days, I walked more often than usual with my feet in the air, that is to say, on my hands. 

My first act, obviously in discordance with the manifestations of others, though truly without the participation not only of my consciousness but also of my subconsciousness, occurred on exactly the fortieth day after the death of my grandmother, when all our family, our relatives and all those by whom my dear grandmother, who was loved by everybody, had been held in esteem, gathered in the cemetery according to custom, to perform over her mortal remains, reposing in the grave, what is called the "requiem service", when suddenly without any rhyme or reason, instead of observing what was conventional among people of all degrees of tangible and intangible morality and of all material positions, that is to say, instead of standing quietly as if overwhelmed, with an expression of grief on one's face and even if possible with tears in one's eyes, I started skipping round the grave as if dancing and sang: 

"Let her with the saints repose,
Now that she's turned up her toes,
Oi! oi! oi!
Let her with the saints repose,
Now that she's turned up her toes."

 and so on and so forth. 

And just from this it began, that in my entirety a "something" arose which in respect of any kind of so to say "aping", that is to say, imitating the ordinary automatized manifestations of those around me, always and in everything engendered what I should now call an "irresistible urge" to do things not as others do them. 

At that age I committed acts such as the following. 

If for example when learning to catch a ball with the right hand, my brother, sisters and neighbors' children who came to play with us, threw the ball in the air, I, with the same aim in view, would first bounce the ball hard on the ground, and only when it rebounded would I, first doing a somersault, catch it, and then only with the thumb and middle finger of the left hand; or if all the other children slid down the hill head first, I tried to do it, and moreover each time better and better, as the children then called it, "backside-first"; or if we children were given various kinds of what are called "Abaranian pastries", then all the other children, before putting them in their mouths, would first of all lick them, evidently to try their taste and to protract the pleasure, but  I would first sniff one on all sides and perhaps even put it to my ear and listen intently, and then though only almost unconsciously, yet nevertheless seriously, muttering to myself "so and so and so you must, do not eat until you bust", and rhythmically humming correspondingly, I would only take one bite and without savoring it, would swallow itand so on and so forth. 

The first event during which there arose in me one of the two mentioned data which became the "vivifying sources" for the feeding and perfecting of the injunction of my deceased grandmother, occurred just at that age when I changed from a chubby mite into what is called a "young rascal" and had already begun to be, as is sometimes said, a "candidate for a young man of pleasing appearance and dubious content." 

And this event occurred under the following circumstances which were perhaps even specially combined by Fate itself. 

With a number of young rascals like myself, I was once laying snares for pigeons on the roof of a neighbor's house, when suddenly, one of the boys who was standing over me and watching me closely, said: 

"I think the noose of the horsehair ought to be so arranged that the pigeon's big toe never gets caught in it, because, as our zoology teacher recently explained to us, during movement it is just in that toe that the pigeon's reserve strength is concentrated, and therefore if this big toe gets caught in the noose, the pigeon might of course easily break it." 

Another boy, leaning just opposite me, from whose mouth, by the way, whenever he spoke saliva always splashed abundantly in all directions, snapped at this remark of the first boy and delivered himself, with a copious quantity of saliva, of the following words: 

"Shut your trap, you hopeless mongrel offshoot of the Hottentots! What an abortion you are, just like your teacher! Suppose it is true that the greatest physical force of the pigeon is concentrated in that big toe, then all the more, what we've got to do is to see that just that toe will be caught in the noose. Only then will there be any sense to our aimthat is to say, for catching these unfortunate pigeon creaturesin that brain-particularity proper to all possessors of that soft and slippery 'something' which consists in this, that when, thanks to other actions, from which its insignificant manifestability depends, there arises a periodic requisite law conformable what is called 'change of presence', then this small so to say 'law conformable confusion' which should proceed for the animation of other acts in its general functioning, immediately enables the center of gravity of the whole functioning, in which this slippery 'something' plays a very small part, to pass temporarily from its usual place to another place, owing to which there often obtains in the whole of this general functioning, unexpected results ridiculous to the point of absurdity." 

He discharged the last words with such a shower of saliva that it was as if my face were exposed to the action of an "atomizer"not of "Ersatz" productioninvented by the Germans for dyeing material with aniline dyes. 

This was more than I could endure, and without changing my squatting position, I flung myself at him, and my head, hitting him with full force in the pit of his stomach, immediately laid him out and made him as is said "lose consciousness." 

I do not know and do not wish to know in what spirit the result will be formed in your mentation of the information about the extraordinary coincidence, in my opinion, of life circumstances, which I now intend to describe here, though for my mentation, this coincidence was excellent material for the assurance of the possibility of the fact that this event described by me, which occurred in my youth, proceeded not simply accidentally but was intentionally created by certain extraneous forces. 

The point is that this dexterity was thoroughly taught me only a few days before this event by a Greek priest from Turkey, who, persecuted by Turks for his political convictions, had been compelled to flee from there, and having arrived in our town had been hired by my parents as a teacher for me of the modern Greek language. 

I do not know on which data he based his political convictions and ideas, but I very well remember that in all the conversations of this Greek priest, even while explaining to me the difference between the words of exclamation in the ancient and in modern Greek, there were indeed always very clearly discernible his dreams of getting as soon as possible to the island of Crete and there manifesting himself as befits a true patriot. 

Well, then, on beholding the effect of my skill, I was, I must confess, extremely frightened, because, knowing nothing of any such reaction from a blow in that place, I quite thought I had killed him. 

At the moment I was experiencing this fear, another boy, the cousin of him who had become the first victim of my so to say "skill in self-defense", seeing this, without a moment's pause, and obviously overcome with a feeling called "consanguinity", immediately leaped at me and with a full swing struck me in the face with his fist. 

From this blow, I, as is said, "saw stars", and at the same time my mouth became as full as if it had been stuffed with the food necessary for the artificial fattening of a thousand chickens. 

After a little time when both these strange sensations had calmed down within me, I then actually discovered that some foreign substance was in my mouth, and when I pulled it out with my fingers, it turned out to be nothing less than a tooth of large dimensions and strange form. 

Seeing me staring at this extraordinary tooth, all the boys swarmed around me and also began to stare at it with great curiosity and in a strange silence. 

By this time the boy who had been laid out flat recovered and, picking himself up, also began to stare at my tooth with the other boys, as if nothing had happened to him. 

This strange tooth had seven shoots and at the end of each of them there stood out in relief a drop of blood, and through each separate drop there shone clearly and definitely one of the seven aspects of the manifestation of the white ray. 

After this silence, unusual for us "young rascals", the usual hubbub broke out again, and in this hubbub it was decided to go immediately to the barber, a specialist in extracting teeth, and to ask him just why this tooth was like that. 

So we all climbed down from the roof and went off to the barber's. And I, as the "hero of the day", stalked at the head of them all. 

The barber, after a casual glance, said it was simply a "wisdom tooth" and that all those of the male sex have one like it, who until they first exclaim "papa" and "mamma" are fed on milk exclusively from their own mother, and who on first sight are able to distinguish among many other faces the face of their own father. 

As a result of the whole totality of the effects of this happening, at which time my poor "wisdom tooth" became a complete sacrifice, not only did my consciousness begin, from that time on, constantly absorbing, in connection with everything, the very essence of the essence of my deceased grandmother's behestGod bless her soul but also in me at that time, because I did not go to a "qualified dentist" to have the cavity of this tooth of mine treated, which as a matter of fact I could not do because our home was too far from any contemporary center of culture, there began to ooze chronically from this cavity a "something" whichas it was only recently explained to me by a very famous meteorologist with whom I chanced to become, as is said, "bosom friends" owing to frequent meetings in the Parisian night restaurants of Montmartrehad the property of arousing an interest in, and a tendency to seek out the causes of the arising of every suspicious "actual fact"; and this property, not transmitted to my entirely by heredity, gradually and automatically led to my ultimately becoming a specialist in the investigation of every suspicious phenomenon which, as it so often happened, came my way. 

This property newly formed in me after this eventwhen I, of course with the co-operation of our ALL-COMMON MASTER THE MERCILESS HEROPASS, that is the "flow of time", was transformed into the young man already depicted by mebecame for me a real inextinguishable hearth, always burning, of consciousness. 

The second of the mentioned vivifying factors, this time for the complete fusion of my dear grandmother's injunction with all the data constituting my general individuality, was the totality of impressions received from information I chanced to acquire concerning the event which took place here among us on Earth, showing the origin of that "principle" which, as it turned out according to the elucidations of Mr. Alan Kardec during an "absolutely secret" spiritualistic seance, subsequently became everywhere among beings similar to ourselves, arising and existing on all the other planets of our Great Universe, one of the chief "life principles." 

The formulation in words of this new "all-universal principle of living" is as follows: 

"If you go on a spree then go the whole hog including the postage." 

As this "principle", now already universal, arose on that same planet on which you too arose and on which, moreover, you exist almost always on a bed of roses and frequently dance the fox trot, I consider I have no right to withhold from you the information known to me, elucidating certain details of the arising of just that universal principle. 

Soon after the definite inculcation into my nature of the said new inherency, that is the unaccountable striving to elucidate the real reasons for the arising of all sorts of "actual facts", on my first arrival in the heart of Russia, the city of Moscow, where, finding nothing else for the satisfaction of my psychic needs, I occupied myself with the investigation of Russian legends and sayings, I once happenedwhether accidentally or as a result of some objective sequence according to law I do not knowto learn by the way the following: 

Once upon a time a certain Russian, who in external appearance was to those around him a simple merchant, had to go from his provincial town on some business or other to this second capital of Russia, the city of Moscow, and his son, his favorite onebecause he resembled only his motherasked him to bring back a certain book. 

When this great unconscious author of the "all-universal principle of living" arrived in Moscow, he together with a friend of his becameas was and still is usual there"blind drunk" on genuine "Russian vodka." 

And when these two inhabitants of this most great contemporary grouping of biped breathing creatures had drunk the proper number of glasses of this "Russian blessing" and were discussing what is called "public education", with which question it has long been customary always to begin one's conversation, then our merchant suddenly remembered by association his dear son's request, and decided to set off at once to a bookshop with his friend to buy the book. 

In the shop, the merchant, looking through the book he had asked for and which the salesman handed him, asked its price. 

The salesman replied that the book was sixty kopecks. 

Noticing that the price marked on the cover of the book was only forty-five kopecks, our merchant first began pondering in a strange manner, in general unusual for Russians, and afterwards, making a certain movement with his shoulders, straightening himself up almost like a pillar and throwing out his chest like an officer of the guards, said after a little pause, very quietly but with an intonation in his voice expressing great authority: 

"But it is marked here forty-five kopecks. Why do you ask sixty?" 

Thereupon the salesman, making as is said the "oleaginous" face proper to all salesmen, replied that the book indeed cost only forty-five kopecks, but had to be sold at sixty because fifteen kopecks were added for postage. 

After this reply to our Russian merchant who was perplexed by these two quite contradictory but obviously clearly reconcilable facts, it was visible that something began to proceed in him, and gazing up at the ceiling, he again pondered, this time like an English professor who has invented a capsule for castor oil, and then suddenly turned to his friend and delivered himself for the first time on Earth of the verbal formulation which, expressing in its essence an indubitable objective truth, has since assumed the character of a saying. 

And he then put it to his friend as follows: 

"Never mind, old fellow, we'll take the book. Anyway we're on a spree today, and 'if you go on a spree then go the whole hog including the postage'. " 

As for me, unfortunately doomed, while still living, to experience the delights of "Hell", as soon as I had cognized all this, something very strange, that I have never experienced before or since, immediately began, and for a rather long time continued to proceed in me; it was as if all kinds of, as contemporary "Hivintzes" say, "competitive races" began to proceed in me between all the various-sourced associations and experiences usually occurring in me. 

At the same time, in the whole region of my spine there began a strong almost unbearable itch, and a colic in the very center of my solar plexus, also unbearable, and all this, that is these dual, mutually stimulating sensations, after the lapse of some time suddenly were replaced by such a peaceful inner condition as I experienced in later life once only, when the ceremony of the great initiation into the Brotherhood of the "Originators of making butter from air" was performed over me; and later when "I", that is, this "something-unknown" of mine, which in ancient times one crankcalled by those around him, as we now also call such persons, a "learned man"defined as a "relatively transferable arising, depending on the quality of the functioning of thought, feeling, and organic automatism", and according to the definition of another also ancient and renowned learned man, the Arabian Mal- el-Lel, which definition by the way was in the course of time borrowed and repeated in a different way by a no less renowned and learned Greek, Xenophon, "the compound result of consciousness, subconsciousness, and instinct"; so when this same "I" in this condition turned my dazed attention inside myself, then firstly it very clearly constated that everything, even to each single word, elucidating this quotation that has become an "all-universal life principle" became transformed in me into some special cosmic substance, and merging with the data already crystallized in me long before from the behest of my deceased grandmother, changed these data into a "something" and this "something" flowing everywhere through my entirety settled forever in each atom composing this entirety of mine, and secondly, this my ill-fated "I" there and then definitely felt and, with an impulse of submission, became conscious of this, for me, sad fact, that already from that moment I should willy-nilly have to manifest myself always and in everything without exception, according to this inherency formed in me, not in accordance with the laws of heredity, nor even by the influence of surrounding circumstances, but arising in my entirety under the influence of three external accidental causes, having nothing in common, namely: thanks in the first place to the behest of a person who had become, without the slightest desire on my part, a passing cause of the cause of my arising; secondly, on account of a tooth of mine knocked out by some ragamuffin of a boy, mainly on account of somebody else's "slobberiness"; and thirdly, thanks to the verbal formulation delivered in a drunken state by a person quite alien to mesome merchant of "Moscovite brand." 

If before my acquaintance with this "all-universal principle of living" I had actualized all manifestations differently from other biped animals similar to me, arising and vegetating with me on one and the same planet, then I did so automatically, and sometimes only half consciously, but after this event I began to do so consciously and moreover with an instinctive sensation of the two blended impulses of self-satisfaction and self-cognizance in correctly and honorably fulfilling my duty to Great Nature. 

It must even be emphasized that although even before this event I already did everything not as others did, yet my manifestations were hardly thrust before the eyes of my fellow countrymen around me, but from the moment when the essence of this principle of living was assimilated in my nature, then on the one hand all my manifestations, those intentional for any aim and also those simply, as is said, "occurring out of sheer idleness", acquired vivifyingness and began to assist in the formation of "corns" on the organs of perception of every creature similar to me without exception who directed his attention directly or indirectly toward my actions, and on the other hand, I myself began to carry out all these actions of mine in accordance with the injunctions of my deceased grandmother to the utmost possible limits; and the practice was automatically acquired in me on beginning anything new and also at any change, of course on a large scale, always to utter silently or aloud: 

"If you go on a spree then go the whole hog including the postage." 

And now, for instance, in the present case also, since, owing to causes not dependent on me, but flowing from the strange and accidental circumstances of my life, I happen to be writing books, I am compelled to do this also in accordance with that same principle which has gradually become definite through various extraordinary combinations created by life itself, and which has blended with each atom of my entirety. 

This psycho-organic principle of mine I shall this time begin to actualize not by following the practice of all writers, established from the remote past down to the present, of taking as the theme of their various writings the events which have supposedly taken place, or are taking place, on Earth, but shall take instead as the scale of events for my writingsthe whole Universe. Thus in the present case also, "If you take then take!"that is to say, "If you go on a spree then go the whole hog including the postage." 

Any writer can write within the scale of the Earth, but I am not any writer. 

Can I confine myself merely to this, in the objective sense, "paltry Earth" of ours? To do this, that is to say, to take for my writings the same themes as in general other writers do, I must not, even if only because what our learned spirits affirm might suddenly indeed prove true; and my grandmother might learn of this; and do you understand what might happen to her, to my dear beloved grandmother? Would she not turn in her grave, not once, as is usually said, butas I understand her, especially now when I can already quite "skillfully" enter into the position of anothershe would turn so many times that she would almost be transformed into an "Irish weathercock." 

Please, reader, do not worry  I shall of course also write of the Earth, but with such an impartial attitude that this comparatively small planet itself and also everything on it shall correspond to that place which in fact it occupies and which, even according to your own sane logic arrived at, thanks of course to my guidance, it must occupy in our Great Universe. 

I must, of course, also make the various what are called "heroes" of these writings of mine not such types as those which in general the writers of all ranks and epochs on Earth have drawn and exalted, that is to say, types such as any Tom, Dick, or Harry, who arise through a misunderstanding, and who fail to acquire during the process of their formation up to what is called "responsible life", anything at all which it is proper for an arising in the image of God, that is to say a man, to have, and who progressively develop in themselves to their last breath only such various charms as for instance: "lasciviousness", "slobberiness", "amorousness", "maliciousness", "chickenheartedness", "enviousness", and similar vices unworthy of man. 

I intend to introduce in my writings heroes of such type as everybody must, as is said, "willy-nilly" sense with his whole being as real, and about whom in every reader data must inevitably be crystallized for the notion that they are indeed "somebody" and not merely "just anybody." 

During the last weeks, while lying in bed, my body quite sick, I mentally drafted a summary of my future writings and thought out the form and sequence of their exposition, and I decided to make the chief hero of the first series of my writings  do you know whom?  the Great Beelzebub Himselfeven in spite of the fact that this choice of mine might from the very beginning evoke in the mentation of most of my readers such mental associations as must engender in them all kinds of automatic contradictory impulses from the action of that totality of data infallibly formed in the psyche of people owing to all the established abnormal conditions of our external life, which data are in general crystallized in people owing to the famous what is called "religious morality" existing and rooted in their life, and in them, consequently, there must inevitably be formed data for an inexplicable hostility towards me personally. 

But do you know what, reader? 

In case you decide, despite this Warning, to risk continuing to familiarize yourself with my further writings, and you try to absorb them always with an impulse of impartiality and to understand the very essence of the questions I have decided to elucidate, and in view also of the particularity inherent in the human psyche, that there can be no opposition to the perception of good only exclusively when so to say a "contact of mutual frankness and confidence" is established, I now still wish to make a sincere confession to you about the associations arisen within me which as a result have precipitated in the corresponding sphere of my consciousness the data which have prompted the whole of my individuality to select as the chief hero for my writings just such an individual as is presented before your inner eyes by this same Mr. BEELZEBUB. 

This I did, not without cunning. My cunning lies simply in the logical supposition that if I show him this attention he infalliblyas I already cannot doubt any morehas to show himself grateful and help me by all means in his command in my intended writings. 

Although Mr. Beelzebub is made, as is said, "of a different grain", yet, since He also can think, and, what is most important, hasas I long ago learned, thanks to the treatise of the famous Catholic monk, Brother Foolona curly tail, then I, being thoroughly convinced from experience that curls are never natural but can be obtained only from various intentional manipulations, conclude, according to the "sane-logic" of hieromancy formed in my consciousness from reading books, that Mr. Beelzebub also must possess a good share of vanity, and will therefore find it extremely inconvenient not to help one who is going to advertise His name. 

It is not for nothing that our renowned and incomparable teacher, Mullah Nassr Eddin, frequently says: 

"Without greasing the palm not only is it impossible to live anywhere tolerably but even to breathe." 

And another also terrestrial sage, who has become such, thanks to the crass stupidity of people, named Till Eulenspiegel, has expressed the same in the following words: 

"If you don't grease the wheels the cart won't go." 

Knowing these and many other sayings of popular wisdom formed by centuries in the collective life of people, I have decided to "grease the palm" precisely of Mr. Beelzebub, who, as everyone understands, has possibilities and knowledge enough and to spare for everything. 

Enough, old fellow! All joking even philosophical joking aside, you, it seems, thanks to all these deviations, have transgressed one of the chief principles elaborated in you and put in the basis of a system planned previously for introducing your dreams into life by means of such a new profession, which principle consists in this, always to remember and take into account the fact of the weakening of the functioning of the mentation of the contemporary reader and not to fatigue him with the perception of numerous ideas over a short time. 

Moreover, when I asked one of the people always around me, who are "eager to enter Paradise without fail with their boots on", to read aloud straight through all that I have written in this introductory chapter, what is called my "I"of course, with the participation of all the definite data formed in my original psyche during my past years, which data gave me among other things understanding of the psyche of creatures of different type but similar to me constated and cognized with certainty that in the entirety of every reader without exception there must inevitably, thanks to this first chapter alone, arise a "something" automatically engendering definite unfriendliness towards me personally. 

To tell the truth, it is not this which is now chiefly worrying me, but the fact that at the end of this reading I also constated that in the sum total of everything expounded in this chapter, the whole of my entirety in which the aforesaid "I" plays a very small part, manifested itself quite contrary to one of the fundamental commandments of that All-Common Teacher whom I particularly esteem, Mullah Nassr Eddin, and which he formulated in the words: "Never poke your stick into a hornets' nest." 

The agitation which pervaded the whole system affecting my feelings, and which resulted from cognizing that in the reader there must necessarily arise an unfriendly feeling towards me, at once quieted down as soon as I remembered the ancient Russian proverb which states: "There is no offence which with time will not blow over." 

But the agitation which arose in my system from realizing my negligence in obeying the commandment of Mullah Nassr Eddin, not only now seriously troubles me, but a very strange process, which began in both of my recently discovered "souls" and which assumed the form of an unusual itching immediately I understood this, began progressively to increase until it now evokes and produces an almost intolerable pain in the region a little below the right half of my already, without this, overexercised "solar plexus." 

Wait! Wait!  This process, it seems, is also ceasing, and in all the depths of my consciousness, and let us meanwhile say "even beneath my subconsciousness", there already begins to arise everything requisite for the complete assurance that it will entirely cease, because I have remembered another fragment of life wisdom, the thought of which led my mentation to the reflection that if I indeed acted against the advice of the highly esteemed Mullah Nassr Eddin, I nevertheless acted without premeditation according to the principle of that extremely sympatheticnot so well known everywhere on earth, but never forgotten by all who have once met himthat precious jewel, Karapet of Tiflis. 

It can't be helped  Now that this introductory chapter of mine has turned out to be so long, it will not matter if I lengthen it a little more to tell you also about this extremely sympathetic Karapet of Tiflis. 

First of all I must state that twenty or twenty-five years ago, the Tiflis railway station had a "steam whistle." 

It was blown every morning to wake the railway workers and station hands, and as the Tiflis station stood on a hill, this whistle was heard almost all over the town and woke up not only the railway workers, but the inhabitants of the town of Tiflis itself. 

The Tiflis local government, as I recall it, even entered into a correspondence with the railway authorities about the disturbance of the morning sleep of the peaceful citizens. 

To release the steam into the whistle every morning was the job of this same Karapet who was employed in the station. 

So when he would come in the morning to the rope with which he released the steam for the whistle, he would, before taking hold of the rope and pulling it, wave his hand in all directions and solemnly, like a Mohammedan mullah from a minaret, loudly cry: 

"Your mother is a , your father is a , your grandfather is more than a ; may your eyes, ears, nose, spleen, liver, corns " and so on; in short, he pronounced in various keys all the curses he knew, and not until he had done so would he pull the rope. 

When I heard about this Karapet and of this practice of his, I visited him one evening after the day's work, with a small boordook of 'Kakheteenian' wine, and after performing this indispensable local solemn "toasting ritual", I asked him, of course in a suitable form and also according to the local complex of "amenities" established for mutual relationship, why he did this. 

Having emptied his glass at a draught and having once sung the famous Georgian song, "Little did we tipple", inevitably sung when drinking, he leisurely began to answer as follows: 

"As you drink wine not as people do today, that is to say, not merely for appearances but in fact honestly, then this already shows me that you do not wish to know about this practice of mine out of curiosity, like our engineers and technicians, but really owing to your desire for knowledge, and therefore I wish, and even consider it my duty, sincerely to confess to you the exact reason of these inner, so to say, 'scrupulous considerations' of mine, which led me to this, and which little by little instilled in me such a habit." 

He than related the following: 

"Formerly I used to work in this station at night cleaning the steam boilers, but when this steam whistle was brought here, the stationmaster, evidently considering my age and incapacity for the heavy work I was doing, ordered me to occupy myself only with releasing the steam into the whistle, for which I had to arrive punctually every morning and evening. 

"The first week of this new service, I once noticed that after performing this duty of mine, I felt for an hour or two vaguely ill at ease. But when this strange feeling, increasing day by day, ultimately became a definite instinctive uneasiness from which even my appetite for 'Makhokh' disappeared, I began from then on always to think and think in order to find out the cause of this. I thought about it all particularly intensely for some reason or other while going to and coming from my work, but however hard I tried I could make nothing whatsoever, even approximately, clear to myself. 

"It thus continued for almost two years and, finally, when the calluses on my palms had become quite hard from the rope of the steam whistle, I quite accidentally and suddenly understood why I experienced this uneasiness. 

"The shock for my correct understanding, as a result of which there was formed in me concerning this an unshakable conviction, was a certain exclamation I accidentally heard under the following, rather peculiar, circumstances. 

"One morning when I had not had enough sleep, having spent the first half of the night at the christening of my neighbor's ninth daughter and the other half in reading a very interesting and rare book I had by chance obtained and which was entitled Dreams and Witchcraft, as I was hurrying on my way to release the steam, I suddenly saw at the corner a barber-surgeon I knew, belonging to the local government service, who beckoned me to stop. 

"The duty of this barber-surgeon friend of mine consisted in going at a certain time through the town accompanied by an assistant with a specially constructed carriage and seizing all the stray dogs whose collars were without the metal plates distributed by the local authorities on payment of the tax and taking these dogs to the municipal slaughterhouse where they were kept for two weeks at municipal expense, feeding on the slaughterhouse offal; if, on the expiration of this period, the owners of the dogs had not claimed them and paid the established tax, then these dogs were, with a certain solemnity, driven down a certain passageway which lead directly to a specially built oven. 

"After a short time, from the other end of this famous salutary oven, there flowed, with a delightful gurgling sound, a definite quantity of pellucid and ideally clean fat to the profit of the fathers of our town for the manufacture of soap and also perhaps of something else, and, with a purling sound, no less delightful to the ear, there poured out also a fair quantity of very useful substance for fertilizing. 

"This barber-surgeon friend of mine proceeded in the following simple and admirably skillful manner to catch the dogs. 

"He somewhere obtained a large, old, and ordinary fishing net, which, during these peculiar excursions of his for the general human welfare through the slums of our town, he carried, arranged in a suitable manner on his strong shoulders, and when a dog without its 'passport' came within the sphere of his all-seeing and, for all the canine species, terrible eye, he without haste and with the softness of a panther, would steal up closely to it and seizing a favorable moment when the dog was interested and attracted by something it noticed, cast his net on it and quickly entangled it, and later, rolling up the carriage, he disentangled the dog in such a way that it found itself in the cage attached to the carriage. 

"Just when my friend the barber-surgeon beckoned me to stop, he was aiming to throw his net, at the opportune moment, at his next victim, which at that moment was standing wagging his tail and looking at a bitch. My friend was just about to throw his net, when suddenly the bells of a neighboring church rang out, calling the people to early morning prayers. At such an unexpected ringing in the morning quiet, the dog took fright and springing aside flew off like a shot down the empty street at his full canine velocity. 

"Then the barber-surgeon so infuriated by this that his hair, even beneath his armpits, stood on end, flung his net on the pavement and spitting over his left shoulder, loudly exclaimed: 

" 'Oh, Hell! What a time to ring!' 

"As soon as the exclamation of the barber-surgeon reached my reflecting apparatus, there began to swarm in it various thoughts which ultimately led, in my view, to the correct understanding of just why there proceeded in me the aforesaid instinctive uneasiness. 

"The first moment after I had understood this there even arose a feeling of being offended at myself that such a simple and clear thought had not entered my head before. 

"I sensed with the whole of my being that my effect on the general life could produce no other result than that process which had all along proceeded in me. 

"And indeed, everyone awakened by the noise I make with the steam whistle, which disturbs his sweet morning slumbers, must without doubt curse me 'by everything under the sun', just me, the cause of this hellish row, and thanks to this, there must of course certainly flow towards my person from all directions, vibrations of all kinds of malice. 

"On that significant morning, when, after performing my duties, I, in customary mood of depression, was sitting in a neighboring 'Dukhan' and eating 'Hachi' with garlic, I, continuing to ponder, came to the conclusion that if I should curse beforehand all those to whom my service for the benefit of certain among them might seem disturbing, then, according to the explanation of the book I had read the night before, however much all those, as they might be called, 'who lie in the sphere of idiocy', that is, between sleep and drowsiness, might curse me, it would haveas explained in that same bookno effect on me at all. 

"And in fact, since I began to do so, I no longer feel the said instinctive uneasiness." 

Well, now, patient reader, I must really conclude this opening chapter. It has now only to be signed. 

He who 

Stop! Misunderstanding formation! With a signature there must be no joking, otherwise the same will be done to you as once before in one of the empires of Central Europe, when you were made to pay ten years' rent for a house you occupied only for three months, merely because you had set your hand to a paper undertaking to renew the contract for the house each year. 

Of course after this and still other instances from life experience, I must in any case in respect of my own signature, be very, very careful. 

Very well then. 

He who in childhood was called "Tatakh"; in early youth "Darky"; later the "Black Greek"; in middle age, the "Tiger of Turkestan"; and now, not just anybody, but the genuine "Monsieur" or "Mister" Gurdjieff, or the nephew of "Prince Mukransky", or finally, simply a "Teacher of Dancing." 


* Cheshma means veil. 

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Gurdjieff International Review
Chapter II
Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson
by G. I. Gurdjieff

Why Beelzebub Was in Our Solar System
 
It was in the year 223 after the creation of the world, by objective time-calculation, or, as it would be said here on the "Earth", in the year 1921 after the birth of Christ. 

Through the Universe flew the ship Karnak of the "transspace" communication. 

It was flying from the spaces "Assooparatsata", that is, from the spaces of the "Milky Way", from the planet Karatas to the solar system "Pandetznokh," the sun of which is also called the "Pole Star." 

On the said "transspace" ship was Beelzebub with his kinsmen and near attendants. 

He was on his way to the planet Revozvradendr to a special conference in which he had consented to take part, at the request of his friends of long standing. 

Only the remembrance of these old friendships had constrained him to accept this invitation, since he was no longer young, and so lengthy a journey, and the vicissitudes inseparable from it, were by no means an easy task for one of his years. 

Only a little before this journey Beelzebub had returned home to the planet Karatas where he had received his arising and far from which, on account of circumstances independent of his own essence, he had passed many years of his existence in conditions not proper to his nature. 

This many-yeared existence, unsuited to him, together with the perceptions unusual for his nature and the experiences not proper to his essence involved in it, had not failed to leave on his common presence a perceptible mark. 

Besides, time itself had by now inevitably aged him, and the said unusual conditions of existence had brought Beelzebub, just that Beelzebub who had had such an exceptionally strong, fiery, and splendid youth, to an also exceptional old age. 

Long, long before, while Beelzebub was still existing at home on the planet Karatas, he had been taken, owing to his extraordinarily resourceful intelligence, into service on the "Sun Absolute", where our LORD SOVEREIGN ENDLESSNESS has the fundamental place of HIS Dwelling; and there Beelzebub, among others like himself, had become an attendant upon HIS ENDLESSNESS. 

It was just then that, owing to the as yet unformed Reason due to his youth, and owing to his callow and therefore still impetuous mentation with unequally flowing associationthat is, owing to a mentation based, as is natural to beings who have not yet become definitely responsible, on a limited understandingBeelzebub once saw in the government of the World something which seemed to him "illogical", and having found support among his comrades, beings like himself not yet formed, interfered in what was none of his business. 

Thanks to the impetuosity and force of Beelzebub's nature, his intervention together with his comrades then soon captured all minds, and the effect was to bring the central kingdom of the Megalocosmos almost to the edge of revolution. 

Having learned of this, HIS ENDLESSNESS, notwithstanding his All-lovingness and All-forgiveness, was constrained to banish Beelzebub with his comrades to one of the remote corners of the Universe, namely, to the solar system "Ors" whose inhabitants call it simply the "Solar System", and to assign as the place of their existence one of the planets of that solar system, namely, Mars, with the privilege of existing on other planets also, though only of the same solar system. 

Among these exiles, besides the said comrades of Beelzebub, were a number of those who merely sympathized with him, and also the attendants and subordinates both of Beelzebub and of his comrades. 

All, with their households, arrived at this remote place and there in a short time on the planet Mars a whole colony was formed of three-centered beings from various planets of the central part of our Great Universe. 

All this population, extraordinary for the said planet, accommodated itself little by little to its new dwelling place, and many of them even found one or another occupation for shortening the long years of their exile. 

They found occupations either on this same planet Mars or upon the neighboring planet, namely, on those planets that had been almost entirely neglected on account of their remoteness from the center and the poverty of all their formations. 

As the years rolled by, many either on their own initiative or in response to needs of general character, migrated gradually from the planet Mars to other planets; but Beelzebub himself, together with his near attendants, remained on the planet Mars, where he organized his existence more or less tolerably. 

One of his chief occupations was the arranging of an "observatory" on the planet Mars for the observation both of remote points of the Universe and of the conditions of existence of beings on neighboring planets; and this observatory of his it may here be remarked, afterwards became well known and even famous everywhere in the Universe. 

Although the solar system "Ors" had been neglected owing to its remoteness from the center and to many other reasons, nevertheless our LORD SOVEREIGN had sent from time to time HIS Messengers to the planets of this system, to regulate, more or less, the being- existence of the three-brained beings arising on them, for the co- ordination of the process of their existence with the general World Harmony. 

And thus, to a certain planet of this solar system, namely, the planet Earth, there was once sent as such a Messenger from our ENDLESSNESS, a certain Ashiata Shiemash, and as Beelzebub had then fulfilled a certain need in connection with his mission, the said Messenger, when he returned once more to the "Sun Absolute", earnestly besought HIS ENDLESSNESS to pardon this once young and fiery but now aged Beelzebub. 

In view of this request of Ashiata Shiemash, and also of the modest and cognoscent existence of Beelzebub himself, our MAKER CREATOR pardoned him and gave him permission to return to the place of his arising. 

And that is why Beelzebub, after a long absence, happened now to be again in the center of the Universe. 

His influence and authority had not only not declined during his exile, but, on the contrary, they had greatly increased, since all those around him were clearly aware that, thanks to his prolonged existence in the aforementioned unusual conditions, his knowledge and experience must inevitably have been broadened and deepened. 

And so, when events of great importance occurred on one of the planets of the solar system "Pandetznokh", Beelzebub's old friends had decided to intrude upon him and to invite him to the conference concerning these events. 

And it was as the outcome of this that Beelzebub was now making the long journey on the ship Karnak from the planet Karatas to the planet Revozvradendr. 

On this big space-ship Karnak, the passengers included the kinsmen and attendants of Beelzebub and also many beings who served on the ship itself. 

During the period to which this tale of ours refers, all the passengers were occupied either with their duties, or simply with the actualization of what is called "active being mentation." 

Among all the passengers aboard the ship one very handsome boy was conspicuous; he was always near Beelzebub himself. 

This was Hassein, the son of Beelzebub's favorite son Tooloof. 

After his return home from exile, Beelzebub had seen this grandson of his, Hassein, for the first time, and, appreciating his good heart, and also, owing to what is called "family attraction", he took an instant liking to him. 

And as the time happened to coincide with the time when the Reason of little Hassein needed to be developed, Beelzebub, having a great deal of free time there, himself undertook the education of his grandson, and from that time on took Hassein everywhere about with him. 

That is why Hassein also was accompanying Beelzebub on this long journey and was among the number around him. 

And Hassein, on his side, so loved his grandfather that he would not stir a step without him, and he eagerly absorbed everything his grandfather either said or taught. 

At the time of this narrative, Beelzebub with Hassein and his devoted old servant Ahoon, who always accompanied him everywhere, were seated on the highest "Kasnik", that is, on the upper deck of the ship Karnak under the "Kalnokranonis", somewhat resembling what we should call a large "glass bell", and were talking there among themselves while observing the boundless space. 

Beelzebub was talking about the solar system where he had passed long years. 

And Beelzebub was just then describing the peculiarities of the nature of the planet called Venus. 

During the conversation it was reported to Beelzebub that the captain of their ship wished to speak with him and to this request Beelzebub acceded. 

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Gurdjieff International Review
Chapter III
Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson
by G. I. Gurdjieff

The Cause of the Delay in the Falling of the Ship Karnak
 
THE captain soon afterward entered and having performed before Beelzebub all the ceremonies appropriate to Beelzebub's rank, said: 

"Your Right Reverence, allow me to ask your authoritative opinion upon an 'inevitability' that lies in the line of our course, and which will hinder our smooth falling by the shortest route. 

"The point is that if we follow our intended course, then our ship, after two 'Kilprenos'* will pass through the solar system 'Vuanik.' 

"But just through where our ship must pass, there must also pass, about a 'Kilpreno' before, the great comet belonging to that solar system and named 'Sakoor', or, as it is sometimes called, the 'Madcap.' 

"So if we keep to our proposed course, we must inevitably traverse the space through which this comet will have to pass. 

"Your Right Reverence of course knows that this 'Madcap' comet always leaves in its track a great deal of 'Zilnotrago'* which on entering the planetary body of a being disorganizes most of its functions until all the 'Zilnotrago' is volatilized out of it. 

"I thought at first," continued the captain, "of avoiding the 'Zilnotrago' by steering the ship around these spheres, but for this a long detour would be necessary which would greatly lengthen the time of our passage. On the other hand, to wait somewhere until the 'Zilnotrago' is dispersed would take still longer. 

"In view of the sharp distinction in the alternatives before us, I cannot myself decide what to do, and so I have ventured to trouble you, your Right Reverence, for your competent advice." 

The captain having finished speaking, Beelzebub thought a little and then said as follows: 

"Really, I do not know how to advise you, my dear Captain. Ah yes  in that solar system where I existed for a long time, there is a planet called Earth. On that planet Earth arose, and still continue to arise, very strange three-centered beings. And among the beings of a continent of that planet called 'Asia', there arose and existed a very wise three-brained being whom they called there 'Mullah Nassr Eddin.' 

"For each and every peculiar situation great and small in the existence of the beings there," Beelzebub continued, "this same terrestrial sage Mullah Nassr Eddin had an apt and pithy saying. 

"As all his sayings were full of the sense of truth for existence there, I also always used them there as a guide, in order to have a comfortable existence among the beings of that planet. 

"And in the given case too, my dear Captain, I intend to profit by one of his wise sayings. 

"In such a situation as has befallen us, he would probably say: 

" 'You cannot jump over your knees and it is absurd to try to kiss your own elbow.' 

"I now say the same to you, and I add: there is nothing to be done; when an event is impending which arises from forces immeasurably greater than our own, one must submit. 

"The only question is, which of the alternatives you mentioned should be chosenthat is, to wait somewhere or to add to our journey by a 'detour.' 

"You say that to make a detour will greatly lengthen our journey but that waiting will take still longer. 

"Good, my dear Captain. Suppose that by making the detour we should save a little time, what do you think: Is the wear and tear of the parts of our ship's machinery worth while for the sake of ending our journey a little sooner? 

"If the detour should involve even the most trifling damage to our ship, then in my opinion we ought to prefer your second suggestion, that is, to stop somewhere until the path is cleared of the noxious 'Zilnotrago.' By that means we should spare our ship useless damage. 

"And we will try to fill the period of this unforeseen delay with something useful for us all. 

"For instance, it would give me personally great pleasure to talk with you about contemporary ships in general and about our ship in particular. 

"Very many new things, of which I still know nothing, have been done in this field during my absence from these parts. 

"For example, in my time these big transspace ships were so complicated and cumbersome that it took almost half their power to carry the materials necessary to elaborate their possibility of locomotion. 

"But in their simplicity and the freedom on them these contemporary ships are just embodiments of 'Bliss-stokirno.' 

"There is such a simplicity for beings upon them and such freedom in respect of all being-manifestations that at times you forget that you are not on one of the planets. 

"So, my dear Captain, I should like very much to know how this boon was brought about and how the contemporary ships work. 

"But now go and make all arrangements necessary for the required stopping. And then, when you are quite free, come to me again and we will pass the time of our unavoidable delay in conversation useful for us all." 

When the captain had gone, Hassein suddenly sprang to his feet and began to dance and clap his hands and shout: 

"Oh, I'm glad, I'm glad, I'm glad of this." 

Beelzebub looked with affection on these joyous manifestations of his favorite, but old Ahoon could not restrain himself and, shaking his head reproachfully, called the boyhalf to himselfa "growing egoist." 

Hearing what Ahoon called him, Hassein stopped in front of him, and, looking at him mischievously, said: 

"Don't be angry with me, old Ahoon. The reason of my joy is not egoism but only the coincidence which chances to be happy for me. You heard, didn't you? My Dear grandfather did not decide only just to make a stop, but he also promised the captain to talk with him. 

"And you know, don't you, that the talks of my dear grandfather always bring out tales of places where he has been, and you know also how delightfully he tells them and how much new and interesting information becomes crystallized in our presences from these tales. 

"Where is the egoism? Hasn't he himself, of his own free will, having weighed with his wise reason all the circumstances of this unforeseen event, decided to make a stop which evidently doesn't upset his intended plans very much? 

"It seems to me that my dear grandfather has no need to hurry; everything necessary for his rest and comfort is present on the Karnak and here also are many who love him and whom he loves. 

"Don't you remember he said recently 'we must not oppose forces higher than our own' and added that not only one must not oppose them, but even submit and receive all their results with reverence, at the same time praising and glorifying the wonderful and providential works of Our Lord Creator? 

"I am not glad because of the misadventure but because an unforeseen event issuing from above has occurred, owing to which we shall be able to listen once more to the tales of my dear grandfather. 

"Is it my fault that the circumstances are by chance most desirable and happy for me? 

"No, dear Ahoon, not only should you not rebuke me, but you should join me in expressing gratitude to the source of all beneficent results that arise." 

All this time Beelzebub listened attentively and with a smile to the chatter of his favorite, and when he had finished said: 

"You are right, dear Hassein, and for being right I will tell you, even before the captain's arrival, anything you like." 

Upon hearing this, the boy at once ran and sat at the feet of Beelzebub and after thinking a little said: 

"My dear Grandfather, you have told me so much about the solar system where you spent so many years, that now perhaps I could continue just by logic alone to describe the details of the nature of that peculiar corner of our Universe. 

"But I am curious to know whether there dwell three-brained beings on the planets of that solar system and whether higher 'being-bodies' are coated in them. 

"Please tell me now about just this, dear Grandfather," concluded Hassein, looking affectionately up at Beelzebub. 

"Yes," replied Beelzebub, "on almost all the planets of that solar system also, three-brained beings dwell, and in almost all of them higher being-bodies can be coated. 

"Higher being-bodies, or as they are called on some planets of that solar system, souls, arise in the three-brained beings breeding on all the planets except those before reaching which the emanations of our 'Most Holy Sun Absolute', owing to repeated deflections, gradually lose the fullness of their strength and eventually cease entirely to contain the vivific power for coating higher being-bodies. 

"Certainly, my boy, on each separate planet of that solar system also, the planetary bodies of the three-brained beings are coated and take an exterior form in conformity with the nature of the given planet, and are adapted in their details to the surrounding nature. 

"For instance, on that planet on which it was ordained that all we exiles should exist, namely, the planet Mars, the three-brained beings are coated with planetary bodies having the formhow shall I tell youa form like a 'karoona', that is to say, they have a long broad trunk, amply provided with fat, and heads with enormous protruding and shining eyes. On the back of this enormous 'planetary body' of theirs are two large wings, and on the under side two comparatively small feet with very strong claws. 

"Almost the whole strength of this enormous 'planetary body' is adapted by nature to generate energy for their eyes and for their wings. 

"As a result, the three-brained beings breeding on that planet can see freely everywhere, whatever the 'Kal-da-zakh-tee', and they can also move not only over the planet itself but also in its atmosphere and some of them occasionally even manage to travel beyond the limits of its atmosphere. 

"The three-brained beings breeding on another planet, a little below the planet Mars, owing to the intense cold there are covered with thick soft wool. 

"The external form of these three-centered beings is like that of a 'Toosook', that is, it resembles a kind of 'double sphere', the upper sphere serving to contain the principal organs of the whole planetary body, and the other, the lower sphere, the organs for the transformation of the first and second being-foods. 

"There are three apertures in the upper sphere, opening outwards; two serve for sight and the third for hearing. 

"The other, the lower sphere, has only two apertures: one in front for taking in the first and second being-foods, and the other at the back for the elimination from the organism of residues. 

"To the lower sphere are also attached two very strong sinewy feet, and on each of these is a growth that serves the purpose of fingers with us. 

"There is still another planet, a quite small one, bearing the name Moon, in that solar system, my dear boy. 

"During its motion this peculiar little planet often approached very near to our planet Mars and sometimes during whole 'Kilprenos' I took great pleasure in observing through my 'Teskooano'* in my observatory the process of existence of the three-brained beings upon it. 

"Though the beings of this planet have very frail 'planetary bodies', they have on the other hand a very 'strong spirit', owing to which they all possess an extraordinary perseverance and capacity for work. 

"In exterior form they resemble what are called large ants; and, like these, they are always bustling about, working both on and within their planet. 

"The results of their ceaseless activity are now already plainly visible. 

"I once happened to notice that during two of our years they 'tunnelled', so to say, the whole of their planet. 

"They were compelled to undertake this task on account of the abnormal local climatic conditions, which are due to the fact that this planet arose unexpectedly, and the regulation of its climatic harmony was therefore not prearranged by the Higher Powers. 

"The 'climate' of this planet is 'mad', and in its variability it could give points to the most highly strung hysterical women existing on another of the planets of that same solar system, of which I shall also tell you. 

"Sometimes there are such frosts on this 'Moon' that everything is frozen through and through and it becomes impossible for beings to breathe in the open atmosphere; and then suddenly it becomes so hot there that an egg can be cooked in its atmosphere in a jiffy. 

"For only two short periods on that peculiar little planet, namely, before and after its complete revolution about its neighbor another planet nearbythe weather is so glorious that for several rotations the whole planet is in blossom and yields the various products for their first being-food greatly in excess of their general need during their existence in that peculiar intraplanetary kingdom which they have arranged and where they are protected from all the vagaries of this 'mad' climate inharmoniously changing the state of the atmosphere. 

"Nearest to that small planet is another, a larger planet, which also occasionally approaches quite close to the planet Mars and is called Earth. 

"The said Moon is just a part of this Earth and the latter must now constantly maintain the Moon's existence. 

"On the just mentioned planet Earth, also, three-brained beings are formed; and they also contain all the data for coating higher being-bodies in themselves. 

"But in 'strength of spirit' they do not begin to compare with the beings breeding on the little planet aforementioned. The external coatings of the three-brained beings of that planet Earth closely resemble our own; only, first of all, their skin is a little slimier than ours, and then, secondly, they have no tail, and their heads are without horns. What is worst about them is their feet, namely, they have no hoofs; it is true that for protection against external influences they have invented what they call 'boots' but this invention does not help them very much. 

"Apart from the imperfection of their exterior form, their Reason also is quite 'uniquely strange.' 

"Their 'being-Reason', owing to very many causes about which also I may tell you sometime, has gradually degenerated, and at the present time, is very, very strange and exceedingly peculiar." 

Beelzebub would have said still more, but the captain of the ship entering at that moment, Beelzebub, after promising the boy to tell him about the beings of the planet Earth on another occasion, began to talk with the captain. 

Beelzebub asked the captain to tell him, first, who he was, how long he had been captain, and how he liked his work, and afterwards to explain some of the details of the contemporary cosmic ships. 

Thereupon the captain said: 

"Your Right Reverence, I was destined by my father, as soon as I reached the age of a responsible being, for this career in the service of our ENDLESS CREATOR. 

"Starting with the lowest positions on the transspace ships, I ultimately merited to perform the duties of captain, and it is now eight years that I have been captain on the long-distance ships. 

"This last post of mine, namely, that of captain of the ship Karnak, I took, strictly speaking, in succession to my father, when after his long years of blameless service to HIS ENDLESSNESS in the performance of the duties of captain from almost the very beginning of the World-creation, he had become worthy to be promoted to the post of Ruler of the solar system 'Kalman.' 

"In short", continued the captain, "I began my service just when your Right Reverence was departing for the place of your exile. 

"I was still only a 'sweeper' on the long-distance ships of that period. 

"Yes  a long, long time has passed by. 

"Everything has undergone change and is changed since then; only our LORD AND SOVEREIGN remains unchanged. The blessings of 'Amenzano' on HIS UNCHANGEABLENESS throughout Eternity! 

"You, your Right Reverence, have condescended to remark very justly that the former ships were very inconvenient and cumbersome. 

"Yes, they were then, indeed, very complicated and cumbersome. I too remember them very well. There is an enormous difference between the ships of that time and the ships now. 

"In our youth all such ships both for intersystem and for interplanetary communication were still run on the cosmic substance 'Elekilpomagtistzen', which is a totality consisting of two separate parts of the omnipresent Okidanokh. 

"And it was to obtain this totality that just those numerous materials were necessary which the former ships had to carry. 

"But these ships did not remain in use long after you flew from these parts, having soon thereafter been replaced by ships of the system of Saint Venoma." 

~  ~

* The word "Kilpreno" in the language of Beelzebub means a certain period of time, equal approximately to the duration of the flow of time which we call an "hour." 

* The word "Zilnotrago" is the name of a special gas similar to what we call "cyanic acid." 

* 'Teskooano' means 'telescope.' 

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Gurdjieff International Review
Chapter IV
Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson
by G. I. Gurdjieff

The Law of Falling
 
THE Captain continued: 

"This happened in the year 185, by objective time-calculation. 

"Saint Venoma had been taken for his merits from the planet 'Soort' to the holy planet 'Purgatory,' where, after he had familiarized himself with his new surroundings and new duties, he gave all his free time to his favorite work. 

"And his favorite work was to seek what new phenomena could be found in various combinations of already existing, law-conformable phenomena. 

"And sometime later, in the course of these occupations, this Saint Venoma first constated in cosmic laws what later became a famous discovery, and this discovery he first called the 'Law of Falling.' 

"This cosmic law which he then discovered, St. Venoma himself formulated thus: 

" 'Everything existing in the World falls to the bottom. And the bottom for any part of the Universe is its nearest "stability," and this said "stability" is the place or the point upon which all the lines of force arriving from all directions converge. 

"The centers of all the suns and of all the planets of our Universe are just such points of 'stability.' They are the lowest points of those regions of space upon which forces from all directions of the given part of the Universe definitely tend and where they are concentrated. In these points there is also concentrated the equilibrium which enables suns and planets to maintain their position. 

"In this formulation of his, Saint Venoma said further that everything when dropped into space, wherever it may be, tends to fall on one or another sun or on one or another planet, according to which sun or planet the given part of space belongs to, where the object is dropped, each sun or planet being for the given sphere the 'stability' or bottom. 

"Starting from this, Saint Venoma reasoned in his further researches as follows: 

" 'If this be so, may it not therefore be possible to employ this cosmic particularity for the locomotion we need between the spaces of the Universe?' 

"And from then on, he worked in this direction. 

"His further saintly labors showed that although in principle this was in general possible, yet it was impossible fully to employ for this purpose this 'Law of Falling' discovered by him. And it would be impossible owing solely to the atmospheres around most of the cosmic concentrations, which atmospheres would hinder the straight falling of the object dropped in space. 

"Having constated this, Saint Venoma then devoted his whole attention to discovering some means of overcoming the said atmospheric resistance for ships constructed on the principle of Falling. 

"And after three 'Looniases' Saint Venoma did find such a possibility, and later on when the building of a suitable special construction had been completed under his direction, he proceeded to practical trials. 

"This special construction had the appearance of a large enclosure all the walls of which were made of a special material something like glass. 

"Then to every side of that large enclosure were fitted things like 'shutters' of a material impervious to the rays of the cosmic substance 'Elekilpomagtistzen,' and these shutters, although closely fitted to the walls of the said inclosure, could yet freely slide in every direction. 

"Within the enclosure was placed a special 'battery,' generating and giving this same substance 'Elekilpomagtistzen.' 

"I myself, your Right Reverence, was present at the first trials made by Saint Venoma according to the principles he had discovered. 

"The whole secret lay in this, that when the rays of 'Elekilpomagtistzen' were made to pass through this special glass, then in all the space they reached, everything usually composing the atmosphere itself of planets, such as 'air,' every kind of 'gas,' 'fog,' and so on, was destroyed. This part of space became indeed absolutely empty and had neither resistance nor pressure, so that, if even an infant-being pushed this enormous structure, it would move forward as easily as a feather. 

"To the outer side of this peculiar structure there were attached appliances similar to wings, which were set in motion by means of this same substance 'Elekilpomagtistzen,' and served to give the impetus to move all this enormous construction in the required direction. 

"The results of these experiments having been approved and blessed by the Commission of Inspection under the presidency of Archangel Adossia, the construction of a big ship based on these principles was begun. 

"The ship was soon ready and commissioned for service. And in a short time, little by little, ships of this type came to be used exclusively, on all the lines of intersystem communication. 

"Although later, your Right Reverence, the inconveniences of this system gradually became more and more apparent, nevertheless it continued to displace all the systems that had existed before. 

"It cannot be gainsaid that although the ships constructed on this system were ideal in atmosphereless spaces, and moved there almost with the speed of the rays 'Etzikolnianakhnian' issuing from planets, yet when nearing some sun or planet it became real torture for the beings directing them, as a great deal of complicated maneuvering was necessary. 

"The need for this maneuvering was due to the same 'Law of Falling.' 

"And this was because when the ship came into the medium of the atmosphere of some sun or planet which it had to pass, it immediately began to fall towards that sun or planet, and as I have already intimated, very much care and considerable knowledge were needed to prevent the ship from falling out of its course. 

"While the ships were passing near any sun or planet whatsoever, their speed of locomotion had sometimes to be reduced hundreds of times below their usual rate. 

"It was particularly difficult to steer them in those spheres where there was a great aggregation of 'comets.' 

"That is why great demands were then made upon the beings who had to direct these ships, and they were prepared for these duties by beings of very high Reason. 

"But in spite of the said drawbacks of the system of Saint Venoma, it gradually, as I have already said, displaced all the previous systems. 

"And the ships of this system of Saint Venoma had already existed for twenty-three years when it was first rumored that the Angel Hariton had invented a new type of ship for intersystem and interplanetary communication." 

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Gurdjieff International Review
Chapter V
Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson
by G. I. Gurdjieff

The System of Archangel Hariton
 
AND indeed, soon after this rumor, practical experiments open to all, again under the superintendence of the Great Archangel Adossia, were made with this new and later very famous invention. 

"This new system was unanimously acknowledged to be the best, and very soon it was adopted for general Universal service and thereafter gradually all previous systems were entirely superseded. 

"That system of the Great Angel, now Archangel, Hariton is now in use everywhere at the present day. 

"The ship on which we are now flying also belongs to this system and its construction is similar to that of all the ships built on the system of the Angel Hariton. 

"This system is not very complicated. 

"The whole of this great invention consists of only a single 'cylinder' shaped like an ordinary barrel. 

"The secret of this cylinder lies in the disposition of the materials of which its inner side is made. 

"These materials are arranged in a certain order and isolated from each other by means of 'Amber'. They have such a property that if any cosmic gaseous substance whatever enters the space which they enclose, whether it be 'atmosphere', 'air', 'ether', or any other 'totality' of homogeneous cosmic elements, it immediately expands, owing to the mentioned disposition of materials within the cylinder. 

"The bottom of this cylinder-barrel is hermetically sealed, but its lid, although it can be closely shut, yet is so arranged on hinges that at a pressure from within it can be opened and shut again. 

"So, your Right Reverence, if this cylinder-barrel is filled with atmosphere, air, or any other such substance, then from the action of the walls of this peculiar cylinder-barrel, these substances expand to such an extent that the interior becomes too small to hold them. 

"Striving to find an outlet from this, for them constricted, interior, they naturally press also against the lid of the cylinder-barrel, and thanks to the said hinges the lid opens and, having allowed these expanded substances to escape, immediately closes again. And as in general Nature abhors a vacuum, then simultaneously with the release of the expanded gaseous substances the cylinder-barrel is again filled with fresh substances from outside, with which in their turn the same proceeds as before, and so on without end. 

"Thus the substances are always being changed, and the lid of the cylinder-barrel alternately opens and shuts. 

"To this same lid there is fixed a very simple lever which moves with the movement of the lid and in turn sets in motion certain also very simple 'cogwheels' which again in their turn revolve the fans attached to the sides and stern of the ship itself. 

"Thus, your Right Reverence, in spaces where there is no resistance, contemporary ships like ours simply fall towards the nearest 'stability'; but in spaces where there are any cosmic substances which offer resistance, these substances, whatever their density, with the aid of this cylinder enable the ship to move in any desired direction. 

"It is interesting to remark that the denser the substance is in any given part of the Universe, the better and more strongly the charging and discharging of this cylinder-barrel proceed, and in consequence of course, the force of the movement of the levers is also changed. 

"But nevertheless, I repeat, a sphere without atmosphere, that is, a space containing only World Etherokrilno, is for contemporary ships also the best, because in such a sphere there is no resistance at all, and the 'Law of Falling' can therefore be fully employed in it without any assistance from the work of the cylinder. 

"Further than this, the contemporary ships are also good because they contain such possibilities that in atmosphereless spaces an impetus can be given to them in any direction, and they can fall just where desired without the complicated manipulations necessary in ships of the system of Saint Venoma. 

"In short, your Right Reverence, the convenience and simplicity of the contemporary ships are beyond comparison with former ships, which were often both very complicated and at the same time had none of the possibilities of the ships we use now." 

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Gurdjieff International Review
Chapter VI
Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson
by G. I. Gurdjieff

Perpetual Motion
 
"WAIT! Wait!" Beelzebub interrupted the captain. "Thiswhat you have just told usmust surely be just that short-lived idea which the strange three-brained beings breeding on the planet Earth called 'perpetual motion' and on account of which at one period a great many of them there went quite, as they themselves say, 'mad', and many even perished entirely. 

"It once happened there on that ill-fated planet that somebody in some way or another got into his head the, as they say, 'crazy notion' that he could make a 'mechanism' that would run forever without requiring any material from outside. 

"This notion so took everybody's fancy that most of the queer fellows of that peculiar planet began thinking about it and trying to realize this miracle in practice. 

"How many of them paid for this short-lived idea with all the material and spiritual welfare which they had previously with great difficulty acquired! 

"For one reason or another they were all quite determined to invent what in their opinion was a 'simple matter'. 

"External circumstances permitting, many took up the invention of this 'perpetual motion' without any inner data for such work; some from reliance upon their 'knowledge', others upon 'luck', but most of them just from their already complete psychopathy. 

"In short, the invention of 'perpetual motion' was, as they say, 'the rage', and every crank felt obliged to be interested in this question. 

"I was once in one of the towns there where models of every kind and innumerable 'descriptions' of proposed 'mechanisms' for this 'perpetual motion' were assembled. 

"What wasn't there? What 'ingenious' and complicated machines did I not see? In any single one of these mechanisms I saw there, there must have been more ideas and 'wiseacrings' than in all the laws of World-creation and World-existence. 

"I noted at the time that in these innumerable models and descriptions of proposed mechanisms, the idea of using what is called the 'force of weight' predominated. And the idea of employing the 'force of weight' they explained thus: a very complicated mechanism was to lift 'some' weight and this latter was then to fall and by its fall set the whole mechanism in motion, which motion would again lift the weight, and so on, and so on. 

"The result of it all was, that thousands were shut up in 'lunatic asylums', thousands more, having made this idea their dream, either began to fail altogether to fulfill even those being-duties of theirs which had somehow or other in the course of many years been established there, or to fulfill them in such a way as 'couldn't be worse'. 

"I don't know how it would all have ended if some quite demented being there, with one foot already in the grave, such a one as they themselves call an 'old dotard', and who had previously somehow acquired a certain authority, had not proved by 'calculations' known only to himself that it was absolutely impossible to invent 'perpetual motion'. 

"Now, after your explanation, I can well understand how the cylinder of the system of Archangel Hariton works. It is the very thing of which these unfortunates there dreamed. 

"Indeed, of the 'cylinder' of the system of the Archangel Hariton it can safely be said that, with atmosphere alone given, it will work perpetually without needing the expenditure of any outside materials. 

"And since the world without planets and hence without atmospheres cannot exist, then it follows that as long as the world exists and, in consequence, atmospheres, the cylinder-barrels invented by the great Archangel Hariton will always work. 

"Now just one question occurs to meabout the material from which this cylinder-barrel is made. 

"I wish very much, my dear Captain, that you would roughly tell me what materials it is made of and how long they can last", requested Beelzebub. 

To this question of Beelzebub's the captain replied as follows: 

"Although the cylinder-barrel does not last forever, it can certainly last a very long time. 

"Its chief part is made of 'amber' with 'platinum' hoops, and the interior panels of the walls are made of 'anthracite', 'copper', and 'ivory', and a very strong 'mastic' unaffectable either by (1) 'paischakir' or by (2) 'tainolair' or by (3) 'saliakooriapa'* or even by the radiations of cosmic concentrations. 

"But the other parts," the captain continued, "both the exterior 'levers' and the 'cogwheels', must certainly be renewed from time to time, for though they are made of the strongest metal, yet long use will wear them out. 

"And as for the body of the ship itself, its long existence can certainly not be guaranteed." 

The captain intended to say still more, but at that moment a sound like the vibrations of a long minor chord of a far-off orchestra of wind instruments resounded through he ship. 

With an apology the captain rose to leave, explaining as he did so that he must be needed on very important business, since everybody knew that he was with his Right Reverence and would not venture to trouble the ears of his Right Reverence for anything trifling. 

~  ~

* (1) Cold, (2) heat, and (3) water 

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Gurdjieff International Review
Chapter VII
Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson
by G. I. Gurdjieff

Becoming aware of genuine being-duty
 
AFTER the captain had gone, Beelzebub glanced at his grandson and, noticing his unusual state, asked him solicitously and with some anxiety: 

"What is the matter, my dear boy? What are you thinking so deeply about?" 

Looking up at his Grandfather with eyes full of sorrow, Hassein said thoughtfully: 

"I don't know what is the matter with me, my dear Grandfather, but your talk with the captain of the ship has brought me to some exceedingly melancholy thoughts. 

"Things of which I have never before thought are now a-thinking in me. 

"Thanks to your talk, it has gradually become very clear to my consciousness that in the Universe of our ENDLESSNESS everything has not always been such as I now see and understand. 

"Formerly, for instance, I should never have allowed such thoughts associatively to proceed in me, as that this ship on which we are now flying has not always been as it is at this moment. 

"Only now have I come very clearly to understand that everything we have at the present time and everything we usein a word, all the contemporary amenities and everything necessary for our comfort and welfarehave not always existed and did not make their appearance so easily. 

"It seems that certain beings in the past have during very long periods labored and suffered very much for this, and endured a great deal which perhaps they even need not have endured. 

"They labored and suffered only in order that we might now have all this and use it for our welfare. 

"And all this they did, either consciously or unconsciously, just for us, that is to say, for beings quite unknown and entirely indifferent to them. 

"And now not only do we not thank them, but we do not even know a thing about them, but take it all as in the natural order, and neither ponder nor trouble ourselves about this question at all. 

"I, for instance, have already existed so many years in the Universe, yet the thought has never even entered my head that perhaps there was a time when everything I see and have did not exist, and that everything was not born with me like my nose. 

"And so, my dear and kind Grandfather, now that owing to your conversation with the captain, I have gradually, with all my presence, become aware of all this, there has arisen in me, side by side with this, the need to make clear to my Reason why I personally have all the comforts which I now use, and what obligations I am under for them. 

"It is just because of this that at the present moment there proceeds in me a 'process-of-remorse'." 

Having said this, Hassein drooped his head and became silent; and Beelzebub, looking at him affectionately, began to speak as follows: 

"I advise you, my dear Hassein, not to put such questions to yourself yet. Do not be impatient. Only when that period of your existence arrives which is proper for your becoming aware of such essence-questions, and you actively mentate about them, will you understand what you must do in return. 

"Your present age does not yet oblige you to pay for your existence. 

"The time of your present age is not given you in which to pay for your existence, but for preparing yourself for the future, for the obligations becoming to a responsible three-brained being. 

"So in the meantime, exist as you exist. Only do not forget one thing, namely, at your age it is indispensably necessary that every day, at sunrise, while watching the reflection of its splendor, you bring about a contact between your consciousness and the various unconscious parts of your general presence. Try to make this state last and to convince the unconscious partsnot as if they were consciousthat if they hinder your general functioning, they, in the period of your responsible age, not only cannot fulfill the good that befits them, but your general presence of which they are part, will not be able to be a good servant of our COMMON ENDLESS CREATOR and by that will not even be worthy to pay for your arising and existence. 

"I repeat once more, my dear boy, try in the meantime not to think about these questions, which at your age it is still early for you to think about. 

"Everything in its proper time! 

"Now ask me to tell you whatever you wish, and I will do so. 

"As the captain has not yet returned, he must be occupied there with his duties and will not be coming back so soon." 

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Gurdjieff International Review
Chapter IX
Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson
by G. I. Gurdjieff

The Cause of the Genesis of the Moon
 
BEELZEBUB began his tale as follows: 

"After we arrived on the planet Mars where we were directed to exist, we began slowly to settle down there. 

"We were still fully absorbed in the bustle of organizing everything externally necessary for a more or less tolerable existence in the midst of that Nature absolutely foreign to us, when suddenly, on one of the very busiest days, the whole planet Mars was shaken, and a little later such an 'asphyxiating stink' arose that at first it seemed that everything in the Universe had been mixed up with something, one might say 'indescribable.' 

"Only after a considerable time had passed and when the said stink had gone, did we recover and gradually make out what had happened. 

"We understood that the cause of this terrible phenomenon was just that same planet Earth which from time to time approached very near to our planet Mars and which therefore we had possibilities of observing clearly, sometimes even without a 'Teskooano.' 

"For reasons we could not yet comprehend, this planet, it transpired, had 'burst' and two fragments detached from it had flown off into space. 

"I have already told you that this solar system was then still being formed and was not yet 'blended' completely with what is called 'The-Harmony-of-Reciprocal-Maintenance-of-All- Cosmic-Concentrations.' 

"It was subsequently learned that in accordance with this said 'General-Cosmic-Harmony- of-Reciprocal-Maintenance-of-All-Cosmic-Concentrations' there had also to function in this system a comet of what is called 'vast orbit' still existing and named the comet 'Kondoor.' 

"And just this very comet, although it was then already concentrated, was actualizing its 'full path' for only the first time. 

"As certain competent Sacred Individuals also later confidentially explained to us, the line of the path of the said comet had to cross the line on which the path of that planet Earth also lay; but as a result of the erroneous calculations of a certain Sacred individual concerned with the matters of World-creation and World-maintenance, the time of the passing of each of these concentrations through the point of intersection of the lines of their paths coincided, and owing to this error the planet Earth and the comet 'Kondoor' collided, and collided so violently that from this shock, as I have already told you, two large fragments were broken off from the planet Earth and flew into space. 

"This shock entailed these serious consequences because on account of the recent arising of this planet, the atmosphere which might have served as a buffer in such a case, had not yet had time to be completely formed upon it. 

"And my boy, our ENDLESSNESS was also immediately informed of this general cosmic misfortune. 

"In consequence of this report, a whole commission consisting of Angels and Archangels, specialists in the work of World-creation and World-maintenance, under the direction of the Most Great Archangel Sakaki, was immediately sent from the Most Holy Sun Absolute to that solar system 'Ors.' 

"The Most High Commission came to our planet Mars since it was the nearest to the planet Earth and from this planet of ours began its investigations. 

"The sacred members of this Most High Commission at once quieted us by saying that the apprehended danger of a catastrophe on a great cosmic scale had already passed. 

"And the Arch-Engineer Algamatant was good enough to explain to us personally that in all probability what had happened was as follows: 

" 'The broken off fragments of the planet Earth had lost the momentum they received from the shock before they had reached the limit of that part of space which is the sphere of this planet, and hence, according to the "Law of Falling" these fragments had begun to fall back towards their fundamental piece. 

" 'But they could no longer fall upon their fundamental piece, because in the meantime they had come under the cosmic law called "Law-of-Catching-up" and were entirely subject to its influence, and they would therefore now make regular elliptic orbits around their fundamental piece, just as the fundamental piece, namely, the planet Earth made and makes its orbit around its sun "Ors." 

" 'And so it will always continue, unless some new unforeseen catastrophe on a large scale changes it in one way or another. 

" 'Glory to Chance ' concluded His Pantemeasurability, 'the harmonious general-system movement was not destroyed by all this, and the peaceful existence of that system "Ors" was soon re-established.' 

"But nevertheless, my boy, this Most High Commission, having then calculated all the facts at hand, and also all that might happen in the future, came to the conclusion that although the fragments of the planet Earth might maintain themselves for the time being in their existing positions, yet in view of certain so-called 'Tastartoonarian-displacements' conjectured by the Commission, they might in the future leave their position and bring about a large number of irreparable calamities both for this system 'Ors' and for other neighboring solar systems. 

"Therefore the Most High Commission decided to take certain measures to avoid this eventuality. 

"And they resolved that the best measure in the given case would be that the fundamental piece, namely, the planet Earth, should constantly send to its detached fragments, for their maintenance, the sacred vibrations 'askokin.' 

"This sacred substance can be formed on planets only when both fundamental cosmic laws operating in them, the sacred 'Heptaparaparshinokh', and the sacred 'Triamazikamno', function, as this is called, 'Ilnosoparno', that is to say, when the said sacred cosmic laws in the given cosmic concentration are deflected independently and also manifest on its surface independentlyof course independently only within certain limits. 

"And so, my boy, inasmuch as such a cosmic actualization was possible only with the sanction of HIS ENDLESSNESS, the Great Archangel Sakaki, accompanied by several other sacred members of that Most High Commission, set off immediately to HIS ENDLESSNESS to beseech Him to give the said sanction. 

"And afterwards, when the said Sacred Individuals had obtained the sanction of HIS ENDLESSNESS for the actualization of the Ilnosoparnian process on that planet also, and when this process had been actualized under the direction of the same Great Archangel Sakaki, then from that time on, on that planet also, just as on many others, there began to arise the 'Corresponding', owing to which the said detached fragments exist until now without constituting a menace for a catastrophe on a great scale. 

"Of these two fragments, the larger was named 'Loonderperzo' and the smaller 'Anulios'; and the ordinary three-brained beings who afterwards arose and were formed on this planet also, at first called them by these names; but the beings of later times called them differently at different periods, and in most recent times the larger fragment has come to be called Moon, but the name of the smaller has been gradually forgotten. 

"As for the beings there now, not only have they no name at all for this smaller fragment, but they do not even suspect its existence. 

"It is interesting to notice here that the beings of a continent on that planet called 'Atlantis', which afterwards perished, still knew of this second fragment of their planet and also called it 'Anulios', but the beings of the last period of the same continent, in whom the results of the consequences of the properties of that organ called 'Kundabuffer'about which, it now seems, I shall have to explain to you even in great detailhad begun to be crystallized and to become part of their common presences, called it also 'Kimespai', the meaning of which for them was 'Never-Allowing-One-to-Sleep-in-Peace.' 

"Contemporary three-brained beings of this peculiar planet do not know of this former fragment of their planet, chiefly because its comparatively small size and the remoteness of the place of its movement make it quite invisible to their sight, and also because no 'grandmother' ever told them that once upon a time any such little satellite of their planet was known. 

"And if any of them should by chance see it through their good, but nevertheless child's, toy of theirs called a telescope, he would pay no attention to it, mistaking it simply for a big aerolite. 

"The contemporary beings will probably never see it again, since it has become quite proper to their nature to see only unreality. 

"Let us give them their due; during recent centuries they have really most artistically mechanized themselves to see nothing real. 

"So, my boy, owing to all the aforesaid, there first arose on this planet Earth also, as there should, what are called 'Similitudes-of-the-Whole', or as they are also called, 'Microcosmoses', and further, there were formed from these 'Microcosmoses', what are called 'Oduristelnian' and 'Polormedekhtic' vegetations. 

"Still further, as also usually occurs, from the same 'Microcosmoses' there also began to be grouped various forms of what are called 'Tetartocosmoses' of all three brain-systems. 

"And among these latter there first arose just those biped 'Tetartocosmoses' whom you a while ago called 'slugs.' 

"About how and why upon planets, during the transition of the fundamental sacred laws into 'Ilnosoparnian', there arise 'Similitudes-of-the-Whole' and about what factors contribute to the formation of one or another of these, as they are called, 'systems of being-brains', and also about all the laws of World-creation and World-maintenance in general, I will explain to you specially some other time. 

"But meanwhile, know that these three-brained beings arising on the planet Earth who interest you, had in them in the beginning the same possibilities for perfecting the functions for the acquisition of being-Reason as have all other form of 'Tetartocosmoses' arising throughout the whole Universe. 

"But afterwards, just in the period when they also, as it proceeds on other similar planets of our great Universe, were beginning gradually to be spiritualized by what is called 'being instinct', just then, unfortunately for them, there befell a misfortune which was unforeseen from Above and most grievous for them." 

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MULLAH

By teaching others you will learn yourself.
The 86 Sayings of Mullah Nassr Eddin
"Over his face spread his customary benevolent and as always enchanting grimace, which nevertheless had a slight shade of contempt." (1) 

"I teach that when it rains the pavements get wet." (2)

"Mullah Nassr Eddin, or as he is also called, Hodja Nassr Eddin, is, it seems, little known in Europe and America, but he is very well known in all countries of the continent of Asia; this legendary personage corresponds to the American Uncle Sam or the German Till Eulerspiegel. Numerous tales popular in the East, akin to the wise sayings, some of long standing and others newly arisen, were ascribed and are still ascribed to this Nassr Eddin." (3)

Gurdjieff, speaking through Beelzebub, lavishes endless praise on the 'incomparable Teacher Mullah Nassr Eddin', the 'Teacher above all teachers'.

This lofty praise might seem excessive when we consider all of Gurdjieff's talk about pre-sand Egypt, ancient secret Brotherhoods and Messengers sent from Above. But of course, Mullah Nassr Eddin is himself a mythical personage and his presence in the Tales occupies a key corner of Gurdjieff's jig-saw puzzle.

Many of us in the Work might consider the simple sayings of popular wisdom to be 'B' or 'A' influences, but in the person of Mullah Nassr Eddin, Gurdjieff has raised them to the status of Conscious Influences. Amidst the complexities of the Laws of Three and Seven and the other elements of Beelzebub's Cosmology are strewn Mullah Nassr Eddin's pearls of popular wisdom. Why this contrast of simple and complex; of heart and head; experience and speculation? What is Gurdjieff trying to show us?

Gurdjieff's own words may help in illuminating our understanding:

"To know means to know all. Not to know all means not to know. In order to know all, it is only necessary to know a little. But, in order to know this little, it is first necessary to know pretty much."

What is this little we need to know - that when it rains the ground gets wet? The audacity of such a statement strains our credulity, yet we cannot discount Gurdjieff's sincerity in making such a statement. Certainly many have broken under this strain and fallen victim to the complexity of Gurdjieff's teaching. On the other hand, many of his followers have sought to distill the wine of Gurdjieff's teaching and present us with the armagnac of a purified understanding. Unfortunately, this armagnac is too strong for many people to swallow. But then, Gurdjieff's Toast to the Idiots was designed to separate the 'men' from the 'boys'.

In contrast to the intricate and profound teachings of Ashiata Shiemash, Buddha and Jesus, we have the stark simplicity of a street-wise Mullah whose pithy, and sometimes even crude, pearls of wisdom shocks us out of our complacency, turns our world upside down and sets us face to face with our own personal demons. In Mullah Nassr Eddin we see a portrait of Gurdjieff himself.
The Sayings

About the Russian language: In that language you cannot go far.

About the Greek language: A nail is like a requiem.

All they can do is to wrangle with pigs about the quality of oranges.

Without greasing the palm not only is it impossible to live anywhere tolerably but even to breathe.
(Till Eulenspiegel: If you don't grease the wheels the cart wont go.)

Never poke your stick into a hornets' nest.
(Russian proverb: There is no offence which with time will not blow over.)

You cannot jump over your knees and it is absurd to try to kiss your own elbow.

Like a Jericho-trumpet-in-crescendo.

You wouldn't have recovered your senses before the next crop of birches.

About books written by contemporary writers: Stuff and nonsense.

Just roses, roses.

Able to see no further then his nose.

'Struth! What might not happen in this world! A flea might swallow an elephant.

No more hokeypokey about it.

They are as much alike as the beard of the famous English Shakespeare and the no less famous French Armagnac.

Nevertheless, there's more reality in it than in the wiseacrings of an 'expert' in monkey-business.

Like-a-puppy-who-has-fallen-into-a-deep-pond.

He-is-already-sitting-in-an-old-American-galosh.

Giving-one's-word-of-honor-not-to-poke-one's-nose-into-the-affairs-of-the-authorities.

Only-information-about-its-specific-smell.

They were both very successful, though of course not without luck, in finding the authentic godmother of the incomparable Scheherazade on an old dunghill.

The cause of every misunderstanding must be sought only in woman.

Neither one thing nor the other.

Happy is that father whose son is even busy with murder and robbery, for he himself will then have no time to get accustomed to occupy himself with "titillation."

What a good husband he is, or what a good wife she is, whose whole inner world is not busy with the constant 'nagging of the other half.'

Show me the elephant the blind man has seen, and only then will I believe that you have really seen a fly.

There is everything in it except the core or even the kernel.

Everybody talks as if our learned know that half a hundred is fifty.

Only the tail-and-mane-and-food-for-Scheherazade.

A flea exists in the World just for one thing - that when it sneezes, that deluge should occur with the description of which our learned beings love so much to busy themselves.

Every-real-happiness-for-man-can-arise-exclusively-only-from-some-unhappiness-also-real-which-he-has-already-experienced.

Reason of contemporary beings: A-real-mill-for-nonsense.

Even-without-any-economizing.

As-long-as-everything-looks-fine-and-dandy-to-me-what-does-it-matter-if-the-grass-doesn't-grow.

Better-pull-ten-hairs-a-day-out-of-your mother's-head-than-not-help-Nature.

Not-life-but-free-jam.

Just roses, roses.

A thousand-tongued hydra.

The dead camel of the merchant Vermassan-Zeroonitn-Alaram is buried.

For our sins, God has sent us two kinds of physicians, one kind to help us die, and the other to prevent us living.

So-and-so-and-so-must-be; do-not-do-what-must-not-be.

Zrrt!

Bird Turkey : Half-with-a-quarter-plus-three-quarters.

So-and-so-this-must-be-it; don't-sit-long-where-voti-shouldn't-sit.

To dance in everything to his tune.

The-very-greatest-happiness-consists-in-obtaining-the-pleasurable-with-the-profitable.

If a father likes to ride though it be but a child's sled, his son must obligatorily be prepared to drag the great village sleigh up the mountainside.

A thousand-tongued hydra; varied-titillating-titillations.

A resplendent Terasakhaboora from the fairy tale Kasoaadjy.

Eh!... get along with you.

What is most important is to have plenty of money, and then even our Nammus may creak.

Dooniyninishi, pakmazli pighi, geyann purnundah pussar eshahi dishi.
(Which saying in English means: World deeds are like honey-cakes, from which the eater must grow an ass's tooth)

Shooroomooroomnian.

About contemporary science: Twaddle!

Chrkhrta-Zoorrt!

Kmalkanatonashaeliermacher.

Glory to Thee, Lord Creator, for having made the teeth of wolves not like the horns of my dear buffalo, for now I can make several excellent combs for my dear wife.

Ekh!... you Koorfooristanian pantaloons, isn't it all the same to you whether you have a mule or a hare for your farm work? Haven't both of these animals four legs?

The limit of full satiety is bursting.

A soap bubble that lasts a long time only in a quiet medium.

That man will become a friend of the cloven-hoofed who perfects himself to such Reason and such being that he can make an elephant out of a fly.

He is as irritable as a man who has just undergone full treatment by a famous European nerve specialist.

Ekh, Brother! Here on the Earth if you speak the truth youre a great fool, whereas if you wriggle with your soul you are only a 'scoundrel', though also a big one. So it is best of all to do nothing, but just recline on your divan and learn to sing like the sparrow that had not yet turned into an American canary.

He will blink only if you poke his eye with a rafter.

Isn't it all the same if I sing like a donkey as long as they call me a nightingale.

Ekh! People, people! Why are you people? If only you were not people, you might perhaps be clever.
(Uncle Sam: When nothing's right, only then it's all right.)

Pieces of pressed meat.

To look specially with the most powerful electric arc lamps.

Hasnamusses: Nullities with an atmosphere of unendurable vibrations.

The degree of the importance of these people depends only on the number of their corns.

Look! Look! He already begins to distinguish mama from papa!

Past centuries have shown us that Karabaghian asses will never sing like nightingales, nor will they refrain from indulging their noble taste for real Shooshoonian thistles.

This is the highest punishment: pull at the tail the mane gets stuck, pull at the mane and the tail gets stuck.

Isn't it all one to the poor flies how that are killed? By a kick of the hooves of horned devils, or by a stroke of the beautiful wings of divine angels?

The very corns turn pedicures.

Thanks be to Thee, Great and Just CREATOR, that by Thy abundant and just grace it is so ordained that cows do not fly like pretty little birds.

Ekh! My dear friend! Is there such a thing anywhere on Earth as a wise legal examination of men's guilt?

Plague and cholera are, at any rate, less ignoble than human honesty, since people with a conscience can at least live at peace with them.

Neither a candle for the Angel, nor a poker for the devil.

The purpose of their existence is to be the victims of leeches.

Ekh!... if you're unlucky in life, you may even be infected by your godmother with venereal disease.

Oh, you unfortunate creature! Your mother must have sung an Armenian ballad while you were being born.
(Kusma Prutkoff: The unluckiest among us is the fir cone, because every Makkar stumbles over it.)

As to this, nothing doing! Even a donkey can understand that peasant flesh costs nothing in peacetime.

One can never know who might help you to get out of galoshes.

Never will he understand the sufferings of another who has not experienced them himself, though he may have divine Reason and the nature of a genuine Devil!

As soon as anything is needed, it seems that it is filthy and eaten by mice.

Don't shed tears in vain like the poor crocodile that snapped at the fisherman and missed biting off his lower left half.

***

1. Beelzebub's Tales, G I Gurdjieff, 1950, Chapter 34, Russia, p. 404; v2-p.190 

2. Gurdjieff - The Anatomy of a Myth, James Moore, Element Books Ltd, 1991, p. 41 

3. Beelzebub's Tales, G I Gurdjieff, 1950, Chapter 1, The Arousing of Thought, p.9; v.1-p.9

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"In the temples for men, namely in the 'agoorokhrostinis,' males of the given region or district performed in turn appropriate 'mysteries' while in a particular state called 'self-remembering.' (40)

Self Remembering

All-Brains-Balanced-Being-Perception

In Gurdjieff's own words, Self Remembering could be described thus - "There are moments when you become aware not only of what you are doing but also of yourself doing it. You see both I and the here of I am here- both the anger and the I that is angry. Call this self-remembering if you like." (Views From the Real World)

Here is another description of Self Remembering attributed to Gurdjieff - "What is the first characteristic of self-remembering? In this state (the individual person) is not the center. He or she is not 'separate'. Sitting in a room... they are aware of the WHOLE ROOM, of them-self as only one of the objects in it. They are likewise aware of others and do not put them-self above others, or criticize or judge. This is not love but is the beginning of love. In this state a person has no 'self' as they usually are aware of it. It is quite impossible for them to consider or become negative, for the moment they do, the state will vanish." 

Here is a quote from Beelzebub's Tales - "And just as nothing could be accomplished by the beings of their planet of former epochs, who, becoming responsible beings had even attained in respect of Being at least to what is called self-remembering, then all the more, nothing effective can be done, devised, or actualized by beings with that Reason which the beings of this contemporary society possess and who in respect of Being are only perfected to the degree which our dear Mullah Nassr Eddin defines by the notion expressed in the following words: Look! Look! He already begins to distinguish mama from papa!" (41)

Self Remembering is a three centered state of being in which the Attention is divided or expanded to include our three centers and our surroundings in a global state of awareness.  Three-centered meditation is one of the simplest forms of Self Remembering. According to Gurdjieff, Self Remembering should be our normal state of consciousness.

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Paul Beidler and Ajaan Chah in Thailand

During the late 1960s to  early 1970s, Paul was resident at Wat Pa Pong Buddhist monastery in northern Thailand where Ajaan Chah was the Abbot. Ajaan Chah was a great admirer of Gurdjieff and had studied all his books. Paul became an ordained Buddhist monk under Ajaan Chah's direction. 

*** 

Phra Ajaan Chah (1918-1992) 

Ajaan Chah was born in 1918 in a village in the northeastern part of Thailand. He became a novice at a young age and received higher ordination at the age of twenty. He followed the austere Forest Tradition for years, living in forests and begging for alms food as he wandered about on mendicant pilgrimage. 
He practiced meditation under a number of masters, among whom was Ajaan Mun, a highly respected and accomplished meditation teacher of the time. Ajaan Mun had an indelible influence on Ajaan Chah, giving his meditation the direction and clarity that it lacked. Ajaan Chah later became an accomplished meditation teacher in his own right, sharing his realization of the Dhamma with those who sought it. The essence of the teaching was rather simple: be mindful, don't hang on to anything, let go and surrender to the way things are. 

Ajaan Chah's simple yet profound teaching style had a special appeal to Westerners, and in 1975 he established Wat Pah Nanachat, a special training monastery for the growing number of Westerners who sought to practice with him. In 1979 the first of several branch monasteries in Europe was established in Sussex, England by his senior Western disciples (among them Ajaan Sumedho, who is presently senior incumbent at the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery, England). Today there are ten branch monasteries in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. 

Ajaan Chah passed away in January, 1992 following a long illness. 

These biographical notes were adapted from A Tree in a Forest (Chungli, Taiwan: Dhamma Garden, 1994) and Bodhinyana (Ampher Warin, Thailand: Bung Wai Forest Monastery, 1982) 

*** 

A Still Forest Pool, The Insight meditation of Achaan Chah, compiled by Jack Kornfield & Paul Breiter, Quest Books, Theosophical Publishing House, 1985, ISBN 0-8356-0597-3
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Our Real Home
A Talk to an Aging Lay Disciple 
Approaching Death
by 
Ajaan Chah
Buddhist Publication Society
Bodhi Leaves BL 111 

Copyright  1987 Buddhist Publication Society 

For free distribution only.
You may print copies of this work for your personal use.
You may re-format and redistribute this work for use on computers and computer networks,
provided that you charge no fees for its distribution or use.
Otherwise, all rights reserved. 

Buddhist Publication Society
P.O. Box 61
54, Sangharaja Mawatha
Kandy, Sri Lanka 
Now determine in your mind to listen with respect to the Dhamma. During the time that I am speaking, be as attentive to my words as if it was the Lord Buddha himself sitting in front of you. Close your eyes and make yourself comfortable, compose your mind and make it one-pointed. Humbly allow the Triple Gem of wisdom, truth and purity to abide in your heart as a way of showing respect to the Fully Enlightened One. 

Today I have brought nothing material of any substance to offer you, only Dhamma, the teachings of the Lord Buddha. Listen well. You should understand that even the Buddha himself, with his great store of accumulated virtue, could not avoid physical death. When he reached old age he relinquished his body and let go of its heavy burden. Now you too must learn to be satisfied with the many years you've already depended on your body. You should feel that it's enough. 

You can compare it to household utensils you've had for a long time -- your cups, saucers, plates and so on. When you first had them they were clean and shining, but now after using them for so long, they're starting to wear out. Some are already broken, some have disappeared and those that are left are deteriorating; they have no stable form, and it's their nature to be like that. Your body is the same way -- it's been continually changing right from the day you were born, through childhood and youth, until now it's reached old age. You must accept that. The Buddha said that conditions (sankharas), whether they are internal conditions, bodily conditions, or external conditions, are not-self, their nature is to change. Contemplate this truth until you see it clearly. 

This very lump of flesh that lies here in decline is saccadhamma, the truth. The truth of this body is saccadhamma, and it is the unchanging teaching of the Buddha. The Buddha taught us to look at the body, to contemplate it and come to terms with its nature. We must be able to be at peace with the body, whatever state it is in. The Buddha taught that we should ensure that it's only the body that is locked up in jail and not let the mind be imprisoned along with it. Now as your body begins to run down and deteriorate with age, don't resist that, but don't let your mind deteriorate with it. Keep the mind separate. Give energy to the mind by realizing the truth of the way things are. The Lord Buddha taught that this is the nature of the body, it can't be any other way: having been born it gets old and sick and then it dies. This is a great truth you are presently encountering. Look at the body with wisdom and realize it. 

Even if your house is flooded or burnt to the ground, whatever the danger that threatens it, let it concern only the house. If there's a flood, don't let it flood your mind. If there's a fire, don't let it burn your heart. Let it be merely the house, that which is external to you, that is flooded and burnt. Allow the mind to let go of its attachments. The time is ripe. 

You've been alive a long time. Your eyes have seen any number of forms and colors, your ears have heard so many sounds, you've had any number of experiences. And that's all they were -- just experiences. You've eaten delicious foods, and all the good tastes were just good tastes, nothing more. The unpleasant tastes were just unpleasant tastes, that's all. If the eye sees a beautiful form, that's all it is, just a beautiful form. An ugly form is just an ugly form. The ear hears an entrancing, melodious sound and it's nothing more than that. A grating, disharmonious sound is simply so. 

The Buddha said that rich or poor, young or old, human or animal, no being in this world can maintain itself in any one state for long, everything experiences change and estrangement. This is a fact of life that we can do nothing to remedy. But the Buddha said that what we can do is to contemplate the body and mind so as to see their impersonality, see that neither of them is "me" or "mine." They have a merely provisional reality. It's like this house: it's only nominally yours, you couldn't take it with you anywhere. It's the same with your wealth, your possessions and your family -- they're all yours only in name, they don't really belong to you, they belong to nature. Now this truth doesn't apply to you alone; everyone is in the same position, even the Lord Buddha and his enlightened disciples. They differed from us in only one respect and that was in their acceptance of the way things are; they saw that it could be no other way. 

So the Buddha taught us to scan and examine this body, from the soles of the feet up to the crown of the head and then back down to the feet again. Just take a look at the body. What sort of things do you see? Is there anything intrinsically clean there? Can you find any abiding essence? This whole body is steadily degenerating, and the Buddha taught us to see that it doesn't belong to us. It's natural for the body to be this way, because all conditioned phenomena are subject to change. How else would you have it be? Actually, there's nothing wrong with the way the body is. It's not the body that causes you suffering, it's your wrong thinking. When you see the right wrongly, there's bound to be confusion. 

It's like the water of a river. It naturally flows down the gradient, it never flows against it; that's its nature. If a person were to go and stand on a river bank and, seeing the water flowing swiftly down its course, foolishly want it to flow back up the gradient, he would suffer. Whatever he was doing his wrong thinking would allow him no peace of mind. He would be unhappy because of his wrong view, thinking against the stream. If he had right view he would see that the water must inevitably flow down the gradient, and until he realized and accepted that fact, the person would be agitated and upset. 

The river that must flow down the gradient is like your body. Having been young your body has become old and now it's meandering towards its death. Don't go wishing it was otherwise, it's not something you have the power to remedy. The Buddha told us to see the way things are and then let go of our clinging to them. Take this feeling of letting go as your refuge. 

Keep meditating, even if you feel tired and exhausted. Let your mind dwell with the breath. Take a few deep breaths, and then establish the mind on the breath using the mantra "Buddho." Make this practice habitual. The more exhausted you feel, the more subtle and focused your concentration must be, so that you can cope with the painful sensations that arise. When you start to feel fatigued then bring all your thinking to a halt, let the mind gather itself together and then turn to knowing the breath. Just keep up the inner recitation: "Bud-dho, Bud-dho." 

Let go of all externals. Don't go grasping at thoughts of your children and relatives, don't grasp at anything whatsoever. Let go. Let the mind unite in a single point and let that composed mind dwell with the breath. Let the breath be its sole object of knowledge. Concentrate until the mind becomes increasingly subtle, until feelings are insignificant and there is great inner clarity and wakefulness. Then when painful sensations arise they will gradually cease of their own accord. Finally, you'll look on the breath as if it was a relative come to visit you. 

When a relative leaves, we follow him out and see him off. We watch until he's walked or driven out of sight and then we go back indoors. We watch the breath in the same way. If the breath is coarse, we know that it's coarse, if it's subtle we know that it's subtle. As it becomes increasingly fine we keep following it, while simultaneously awakening the mind. Eventually the breath disappears altogether and all that remains is the feeling of wakefulness. This is called meeting the Buddha. We have that clear wakefulness that is called "Buddho," the one who knows, the one who is awake, the radiant one. It is meeting and dwelling with the Buddha, with knowledge and clarity. For it was only the historical flesh-and-blood Buddha that entered parinibbana; the true Buddha, the Buddha that is clear radiant knowing, we can still experience and attain today, and when we do so the heart is one. 

So let go, put everything down, everything except the knowing. Don't be fooled if visions or sounds arise in your mind during meditation. Put them all down. Don't take hold of anything at all. Just stay with this non-dual awareness. Don't worry about the past or the future, just be still and you will reach the place where there's no advancing, no retreating and no stopping, where there's nothing to grasp at or cling to. Why? Because there's no self, no "me" or "mine." It's all gone. The Buddha taught us to be emptied of everything in this way, not to carry anything with us. To know, and having known, let go. 

Realizing the Dhamma, the path to freedom from the round of birth and death, is a job that we all have to do alone. So keep trying to let go, and to understand the teachings. Really put effort into your contemplation. Don't worry about your family. At the moment they are as they are, in the future they will be like you. There's no one in the world who can escape this fate. The Buddha told us to put down everything that lacks a real abiding substance. If you put everything down you will see the truth, if you don't you won't. That's the way it is and it's the same for all, so don't worry and don't grasp at anything. 

Even if you find yourself thinking, well that's all right too, as long as you think wisely. Don't think foolishly. If you think of your children, think of them with wisdom, not with foolishness. Whatever the mind turns to, then think and know that thing with wisdom, aware of its nature. If you know something with wisdom, then you let it go and there's no suffering. The mind is bright, joyful and at peace, and turning away from distractions it is undivided. Right now what you can look to for help and support is your breath. 

This is your own work, nobody else's. Leave others to do their own work. You have your own duty and responsibility and you don't have to take on those of your family. Don't take anything else on, let it all go. That letting go will make your mind calm. Your sole responsibility right now is to focus your mind and bring it to peace. Leave everything else to others. Forms, sounds, odurs, tastes -- leave them to others to attend to. Put everything behind you and do your own work, fulfill your own responsibility. Whatever arises in your mind, be it fear of pain, fear of death, anxiety about others or whatever, say to it: "Don't disturb me. You're not my business any more." Just keep saying this to yourself when you see those dhammas arise. 

What does the word "dhamma" refer to? Everything is a dhamma. There is nothing that is not a dhamma. And what about "world"? The world is the very mental state that is agitating you at this moment. "What will this person do? What will that person do? When I'm dead, who will look after them? How will they manage?" This is all just "the world." Even the mere arising of a thought of fearing death or pain is the world. 

Throw the world away! The world is the way it is. If you allow it to arise in the mind and dominate consciousness then the mind becomes obscured and can't see itself. So, whatever appears in the mind, just say: "This isn't my business. It's impermanent, unsatisfactory and not-self." 

Thinking you'd like to go on living for a long time will make you suffer. But thinking you'd like to die right away or die very quickly isn't right either; it's suffering, isn't it? Conditions don't belong to us, they follow their own natural laws. You can't do anything about the way the body is. You can prettify it a little, make it look attractive and clean for a while, like the young girls who paint their lips and let their nails grow long, but when old age arrives, everyone's in the same boat. That's the way the body is, you can't make it any other way. But what you can improve and beautify is the mind. 

Anyone can build a house of wood and bricks, but the Buddha taught that that sort of home is not our real home, it's only nominally ours. It's a home in the world and it follows the ways of the world. Our real home is inner peace. An external material home may well be pretty, but it is not very peaceful. There's this worry and then that, this anxiety and then that. So we say it's not our real home, it's external to us, sooner or later we'll have to give it up. It's not a place we can live in permanently because it doesn't truly belong to us, it's part of the world. Our body is the same; we take it to be self, to be "me" and "mine," but in fact it's not really so at all, it's another worldly home. Your body has followed its natural course from birth until now it's old and sick and you can't forbid it from doing that, that's the way it is. Wanting it to be different would be as foolish as wanting a duck to be like a chicken. When you see that that's impossible, that a duck has to be a duck, that a chicken has to be a chicken and that bodies have to get old and die, you will find strength and energy. However much you want the body to go on and last for a long time, it won't do that. 

The Buddha said: 
Anicca vata sankhara
Uppada vayadhammino
Uppajjhitva nirujjhanti
Tesam vupasamo sukho. 
Conditions are impermanent,
subject to rise and fall.
Having arisen they cease -- 
their stilling is bliss. 
The word "sankhara" refers to this body and mind. Sankharas are impermanent and unstable, having come into being they disappear, having arisen they pass away, and yet everyone wants them to be permanent. This is foolishness. Look at the breath. Having come in, it goes out; that's its nature, that's how it has to be. The inhalation and exhalation have to alternate, there must be change. Sankharas exist through change, you can't prevent it. Just think: could you exhale without inhaling? Would it feel good? Or could you just inhale? We want things to be permanent, but they can't be, it's impossible. Once the breath has come in, it must go out; when it's gone out, it comes in again, and that's natural, isn't it? Having been born, we get old and sick and then we die, and that's totally natural and normal. It's because sankharas have done their job, because the in-breaths and out-breaths have alternated in this way, that the human race is still here today. 

As soon as we're born, we're dead. Our birth and death are just one thing. It's like a tree: when there's a root there must be twigs. When there are twigs there must be a root. You can't have one without the other. It's a little funny to see how at a death people are so grief-stricken and distracted, tearful and sad, and at a birth how happy and delighted. It's delusion, nobody has ever looked at this clearly. I think if you really want to cry, then it would be better to do so when someone's born. For actually birth is death, death is birth, the root is the twig, the twig is the root. If you've got to cry, cry at the root, cry at the birth. Look closely: if there was no birth there would be no death. Can you understand this? 

Don't think a lot. Just think: "This is the way things are." It's your work, your duty. Right now nobody can help you, there's nothing that your family and your possessions can do for you. All that can help you now is the correct awareness. 

So don't waver. Let go. Throw it all away. 

Even if you don't let go, everything is starting to leave anyway. Can you see that, how all the different parts of your body are trying to slip away? Take your hair: when you were young it was thick and black, now it's falling out. It's leaving. Your eyes used to be good and strong, and now they're weak and your sight is unclear. When the organs have had enough they leave, this isn't their home. When you were a child your teeth were healthy and firm; now they're wobbly, perhaps you've got false ones. Your eyes, ears, nose, tongue -- everything is trying to leave because this isn't their home. You can't make a permanent home in a sankhara; you can stay for a short while and then you have to go. It's like a tenant watching over his tiny little house with failing eyes. His teeth aren't so good, his ears aren't so good, his body's not so healthy, everything is leaving. 

So you needn't worry about anything, because this isn't your real home, it's just a temporary shelter. Having come into this world, you should contemplate its nature. Everything there is, is preparing to disappear. Look at your body. Is there anything there that's still in its original form? Is your skin as it used to be? Is your hair? It's not the same, is it? Where has everything gone? This is nature, the way things are. When their time is up, conditions go their way. This world is nothing to rely on -- it's an endless round of disturbance and trouble, pleasures and pains. There's no peace. 

When we have no real home we're like an aimless traveler out on the road, going this way for a while and then that way, stopping for a while and then setting off again. Until we return to our real home we feel ill-at-ease whatever we're doing, just like the one who's left his village to go on a journey. Only when he gets home again can he really relax and be at ease. 

Nowhere in the world is any real peace to be found. The poor have no peace and neither do the rich. Adults have no peace, children have no peace, the poorly educated have no peace and neither do the highly-educated. There's no peace anywhere. That's the nature of the world. 

Those who have few possessions suffer and so do those who have many. Children, adults, the aged, everyone suffers. The suffering of being old, the suffering of being young, the suffering of being wealthy, and the suffering of being poor -- it's all nothing but suffering. 

When you've contemplated things in this way you'll see anicca, impermanence, and dukkha, unsatisfactoriness. Why are things impermanent and unsatisfactory? It's because they're anatta, not-self. 

Both your body that is lying here sick and painful, and the mind that is aware of its sickness and pain, are called dhammas. That which is formless, the thoughts, feelings and perceptions, is called namadhamma. That which is racked with aches and pains is called rupadhamma. The material is dhamma and the immaterial is dhamma. So we live with dhammas, in dhamma, we are dhamma. In truth there's no self anywhere to be found, there are only dhammas continually arising and passing away, as is their nature. Every single moment we're undergoing birth and death. This is the way things are. 

When we think of the Lord Buddha, how truly he spoke, we feel how worthy he is of salutation, reverence and respect. Whenever we see the truth of something, we see his teachings, even if we've never actually practice Dhamma. But even if we have a knowledge of the teachings, have studied and practice them, but still haven't seen their truth, then we're still homeless. 

So understand this point that all people, all creatures, are about to leave. When beings have lived an appropriate time they go their way. The rich, the poor, the young, the old, all beings must experience this change. 

When you realize that that's the way the world is, you'll feel that it's a wearisome place. When you see that there's nothing stable or substantial you can rely on, you'll feel wearied and disenchanted. Being disenchanted doesn't mean you're averse though. The mind is clear. It sees that there's nothing to be done to remedy this state of affairs, it's just the way the world is. Knowing in this way, you can let go of attachment, let go with a mind that is neither happy nor sad, but at peace with sankharas through seeing with wisdom their changing nature. 

Anicca vata sankhara -- all sankharas are impermanent. To put it simply: impermanence is the Buddha. If we see an impermanent phenomenon really clearly, we'll see that it's permanent, permanent in the sense that its subjection to change is unchanging. This is the permanence that living beings possess. There is continual transformation, from childhood through youth to old age, and that very impermanence, that nature to change, is permanent and fixed. If you look at it like that your heart will be at ease. It's not just you that has to go through this, it's everyone. 

When you consider things thus, you'll see them as wearisome, and disenchantment will arise. Your delight in the world of sense-pleasures will disappear. You'll see that if you have a lot of things, you have to leave a lot behind; if you have few you will leave behind few. Wealth is just wealth, long life is just long life, they're nothing special. 

What's important is that we should do as the Lord Buddha taught and build our own home, building it by the method that I've been explaining to you. Build your home. Let go. Let go until the mind reaches the peace that is free from advancing, free from retreating and free from stopping still. Pleasure is not our home, pain is not our home. Pleasure and pain both decline and pass away. 

The Great Teacher saw that all sankharas are impermanent, and so he taught us to let go of our attachment to them. When we reach the end of our life, we'll have no choice anyway, we won't be able to take anything with us. So wouldn't it be better to put things down before that? They're just a heavy burden to carry around; why not throw off that load now? Why bother to drag them around? Let go, relax, and let your family look after you. 

Those who nurse the sick grow in goodness and virtue. One who is sick and giving others that opportunity shouldn't make things difficult for them. If there's a pain or some problem or other, let them know, and keep the mind in a wholesome state. One who is nursing parents should fill his or her mind with warmth and kindness, not get caught in aversion. This is the one time when you can repay the debt you owe them. From your birth through your childhood, as you've grown up, you've been dependent on your parents. That we are here today is because our mothers and fathers have helped us in so many ways. We owe them an incredible debt of gratitude. 

So today, all of you children and relatives gathered here together, see how your parents become your children. Before, you were their children; now they become yours. They become older and older until they become children again. Their memories go, their eyes don't see so well and their ears don't hear, sometimes they garble their words. Don't let it upset you. All of you nursing the sick must know how to let go. Don't hold on to things, just let go and let them have their own way. When a young child is disobedient, sometimes the parents let it have its own way just to keep the peace, to make it happy. Now your parents are like that child. Their memories and perceptions are confused. Sometimes they muddle up your names, or you ask them to give you a cup and they bring a plate. It's normal, don't be upset by it. 

Let the patient remember the kindness of those who nurse and patiently endure the painful feelings. Exert yourself mentally, don't let the mind become scattered and agitated, and don't make things difficult for those looking after you. Let those who nurse the sick fill their minds with virtue and kindness. Don't be averse to the unattractive side of the job, to cleaning up mucus and phlegm, or urine and excrement. Try your best. Everyone in the family give a hand. 

These are the only parents you've got. They gave you life, they have been your teachers, your nurses and your doctors -- they've been everything to you. That they have brought you up, taught you, shared their wealth with you and made you their heirs is the great beneficence of parents. Consequently the Buddha taught the virtues of katau and katavedi, of knowing our debt of gratitude and trying to repay it. These two virtues are complementary. If our parents are in need, if they're unwell or in difficulty, then we do our best to help them. This is katau-katavedi, it is a virtue that sustains the world. It prevents families from breaking up, it makes them stable and harmonious. 

Today I have brought you the Dhamma as a gift in this time of illness. I have no material things to give you; there seem to be plenty of those in the house already, and so I give you Dhamma, something which has a lasting worth, something which you'll never be able to exhaust. Having received it from me you can pass it on to as many others as you like and it will never be depleted. That is the nature of Truth. I am happy to have been able to give you this gift of Dhamma, and I hope it will give you strength to deal with your pain. 
Ajahn Chah
Ajahn Chah was born into a large and comfortable family in a rural village in Northeast Thailand. He ordained as a novice in early youth and on reaching the age of twenty took higher ordination as a monk. As a young monk he studied some basic Dhamma, Discipline and scriptures. Later he practice meditation under the guidance of several of the local meditation masters in the ascetic forest tradition. He wandered for a number of years in the style of an ascetic monk, sleeping in forests, caves and cremation grounds, and spent a short but enlightening period with Ajahn Mun, one of the most famous and respected Thai meditation masters of this century. 

After many years of travel and practice, he was invited to settle in a thick forest grove near the village of his birth. This grove was uninhabited, known as a place of cobras, tigers and ghosts, thus being, as he said, the perfect location for a forest monk. Around Ajahn Chah a large monastery formed as more and more monks, nuns and lay people came to hear his teachings and stay on to practice with him. Now there are more than forty mountain and forest branch temples throughout Thailand and in England and Australia as well. 

On entering Wat Pah Pong one is likely to encounter monks drawing water from a well, and a sign on the path that says: "You there, be quiet! We're trying to meditate." Although there is a group meditation twice a day, the heart of the meditation is the way of life. Monks do manual work, dye and sew their own robes, make most of their own requisites and keep the monastery buildings and grounds in immaculate shape. Monks here live extremely simply following the ascetic precepts of eating once a day from the alms bowl and limiting their possessions and robes. Scattered throughout the forest are individual huts where monks live and meditate in solitude, and where they practice walking meditation on cleared paths under the trees. 

Discipline is extremely strict enabling one to lead a simple and pure life in a harmoniously regulated community where virtue, meditation and understanding may be skillfully and continuously cultivated. 

Ajahn Chah's simple yet profound style of teaching has a special appeal to Westerners, and many have come to study and practice with him, quite a few for many years. In 1975 Wat Pah Nanachat was established near Wat Pah Pong as a special training monastery for the growing number of Westerners interested in undertaking monastic training. Since then Ajahn Chah's large following of senior Western disciples has begun the work of spreading the Dhamma in the West. Ajahn Chah has himself traveled twice to Europe and North America, and he has established a thriving branch monastery in Sussex, England. 

Wisdom is a way of living and being, and Ajahn Chah has endeavored to preserve the simple lifestyle of the monks in order that people may study and practice Dhamma in the present day. 

Ajahn Chah's wonderfully simple style of teaching can be deceptive. It is often only after one has heard something from him many times that suddenly one's mind is ripe and somehow the teaching takes on a much deeper meaning. His skillful means in tailoring his explanations of Dhamma to time and place, and to the understanding and sensitivity of his audience, is marvellous to see. Sometimes on paper, though, it can make him seem inconsistent or even self-contradictory! At such times the reader should remember that these words are a record of living experience. Similarly, if the teaching may seem to vary at times from tradition, it should be borne in mind that the venerable Ajahn speaks always from the heart, from the depths of his own meditative experience.
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Help | Home  Library  Thai Forest Traditions  Ajaan Chah 
A Taste of Freedom
by
Ajahn Chah 
Copyright  1991 The Sangha, Bung Wai Forest Monastery 

For free distribution only.
Any reproduction, in whole or part, in any form,
for sale, profit or material gain, is prohibited.
However, copies of this book, or permission to reprint
for free distribution, may be obtained upon notification.


The Abbot
Wat Pah Nanachat
Bungwai
Warinchumrab, Ubolrajadhani 34110, Thailand 

1st. published 1980; 2nd. impression (revised) 1982; 3rd. impression (revised) 1991. This electronic edition was transcribed from the print edition in 1994 by W.D. Savage & Jane Yudelman under the auspices of the DharmaNet Dharma Book Transcription Project, with the kind permission of the copyright holder. 
Contents
Acknowledgments 
Introduction 
About This Mind... 
On Meditation. (An informal talk given in the Northeastern dialect, taken from an unidentified tape.) 
The Path in Harmony (A composite of two talks given in England in 1979 and 1977, respectively.) 
The Middle Way Within (Given in the Northeastern dialect to an assembly of monks and laypeople in 1970.) 
The Peace Beyond (A condensed version of a talk given to the Chief Provy Councillor of Thailand, Mr. Sanya Dharmasakti, at Wat Nong Pah Pong, 1978). 
Opening the Dhamma Eye (Given at Wat Nong Pah Pong to the assembly of monks and novices in october, 1968.) 
Convention and Liberation (An informal talk given in the Northeastern dialect, taken from an unidentified tape.) 
No Abiding (A talk given to the monks, novices, and laypeople of Wat Pah Nanachat on a visit to Wat Nong Pah Pong during the rains of 1980.) 
Right View -- The Place of Coolness (Given to the assembly of monks and novices at Wat Pah Nanachat, during the rains retreat, 1978.) 
Epilogue 
About the Author 
Notes 
Acknowledgments 
The production manager would like to thank Venerable Ajahn Puriso, the translator, who kindly not only revised the text for this edition, but also helped with the final proof reading. 

This book has come into existence with the help of many devoted people. Khun Vanee Lamsam, along with her brother Khun Parl Na Pombejra, raised the Fund to support all costs of publication. Khun Thanu Malakul Na Ayudhaya supplied us a slide of his beautiful painting for the cover. Khun Panya Vijinthanasarn helped with the cover design and illustrations. Khun Chutima Thanapura helped with the first proof-reading. Khun Pansak Panpak-deeddisakul supplied us an invaluable photograph of Luang Por Chah (Phra Bodhinyana Thera). Khun Karoon Hansachainand helped with the pasting some parts of the artwork and saw the book through the press. May the kind meritorious deeds of the above-mentioned people help them experience the supreme bliss, Nibbana. 
Introduction 
The talks translated in this book were all taken from old cassette tape recordings of Venerable Ajahn Chah, some in Thai and some in the North-Eastern dialect, most recorded on poor quality equipment under less than optimum conditions. This presented some difficulty in the work of translation, which was overcome by occasionally omitting very unclear passages and at other times asking for advice from other listeners more familiar with those languages. Nevertheless there has inevitably been some editing in the process of making this book. Apart from the difficulties presented by the lack of clarity of the tapes, there is also the necessity of editing when one is taking words from the spoken to the written medium. For this, the translator takes full responsibility. 

Pali words have occasionally been left as they are, in other cases translated. The criteria here has been readability. Those Pali words which were considered short enough or familiar enough to the reader already conversant with Buddhist terminology have generally been left untranslated. This should present no difficulty, as they are generally explained by the Venerable Ajahn in the course of the talk. Longer words, or words considered to be probably unfamiliar to the average reader, have been translated. Of these, there are two which are particularly noteworthy. They are Kamasukhallikanuyogo and Attakilamathanuyogo, which have been translated as Indulgence in Pleasure and Indulgence in Pain respectively. These two words occur in no less than five of the talks included in this book and although the translations provided here are not those generally used for these word, they are nevertheless in keeping with the Venerable Ajahn's use of them. 

Venerable Ajahn Chah always gave his talks in simple, everyday language. His objective was to clarify the Dhamma, not to confuse his listeners with an overlog of information. Consequently the talks presented here have been rendered into correspondingly simple English. The aim has been to present Ajahn Chah's teaching in both the spirit and the letter. 

In this third printing of A Taste of Freedom, a number of corrections have been made to clumsily worded passages, of which there are now hopefully less than in the first editions. For such inadequacies the translator must also take responsibility, and hopes the reader will bear with any literary shortcomings in order to receive the full benefit of the teachings contained herein. 

The translator 
About This Mind... 
About this mind... In truth there is nothing really wrong with it. It is intrinsically pure. Within itself it's already peaceful. That the mind is not peaceful these days is because it follows moods. The real mind doesn't have anything to it, it is simply (an aspect of) Nature. It becomes peaceful or agitated because moods deceive it. The untrained mind is stupid. Sense impressions come and trick it into happiness, suffering, gladness and sorrow, but the mind's true nature is none of those things. That gladness or sadness is not the mind, but only a mood coming to deceive us. The untrained mind gets lost and follows these things, it forgets itself. Then we think that it is we who are upset or at ease or whatever. 

But really this mind of ours is already unmoving and peaceful... really peaceful! Just like a leaf which is still as long as no wind blows. If a wind comes up the leaf flutters. The fluttering is due to the wind -- the "fluttering" is due to those sense impressions; the mind follows them. If it doesn't follow them, it doesn't "flutter." If we know fully the true nature of sense impressions we will be unmoved. 

Our practice is simply to see the Original Mind. So we must train the mind to know those sense impressions, and not get lost in them. To make it peaceful. Just this is the aim of all this difficult practice we put ourselves through. 
"... That which "looks over" the various factors which arise in meditation is 'sati', mindfulness. Sati is life. Whenever we don't have sati, when we are heedless, it's as if we are dead... This sati is simply presence of mind. It's cause for the arising of self-awareness and wisdom... Even when we are no longer in samadhi, sati should be present throughout..." 


On Meditation 
To calm the mind means to find the right balance. If you try to force your mind too much it goes too far; if you don't try enough it doesn't get there, it misses the point of balance. 

Normally the mind isn't still, it's moving all the time, it lacks strength. Making the mind strong and making the body strong are not the same. To make the body strong we have to exercise it, to push it, in order to make it strong, but to make the mind strong means to make it peaceful, not to go thinking of this and that. For most of us the mind has never been peaceful, it has never had the energy of samadhi, [1] so we establish it within a boundary. We sit in meditation, staying with the One who knows. 

If we force our breath to be too long or too short we're not balanced, the mind won't become peaceful. It's like when we first start to use a pedal sewing machine. At first we just practice pedaling the machine to get our co-ordination right, before we actually sew anything. Following the breath is similar. We don't get concerned over how long or short, weak or strong it is, we just note it. We simply let it be, following the natural breathing. 

When it's balanced, we take the breathing as our meditation object. When we breathe in, the beginning of the breath is at the nose tip, the middle of the breath at the chest and the end of the breath at the abdomen. This is the path of the breath. When we breathe out, the beginning of the breath is at the abdomen, the middle at the chest and the end at the nose tip. We simply take note of this path of the breath at the nose tip, the chest and the abdomen, then at the abdomen, the chest and the tip of the nose. We take note of these three points in order to make the mind firm, to limit mental activity so that mindfulness and self-awareness can easily arise. 

When we are adept at noting these three points we can let them go and note the in and out breathing, concentrating solely at the nose-tip or the upper lip where the air passes on its in and out passage. We don't have to follow the breath, just establish mindfulness in front of us at the nose-tip, and note the breath at this one point -- entering, leaving, entering, leaving. There's no need to think of anything special, just concentrate on this simple task for now, having continuous presence of mind. There's nothing more to do, just breathing in and out. 

Soon the mind becomes peaceful, the breath refined. The mind and body become light. This is the right state for the work of meditation. 

When sitting in meditation the mind becomes refined, but whatever state it's in we should try to be aware of it, to know it. Mental activity is there together with tranquillity. There is vitakka. Vitakka is the action of bringing the mind to the theme of contemplation. If there is not much mindfulness, there will be not much vitakka. Then vicara, the contemplation around that theme, follows. Various "weak" mental impressions may arise from time to time but our self-awareness is the important thing -- whatever may be happening we know it continuously. As we go deeper we are constantly aware of the state of our meditation, knowing whether or not the mind is firmly established. Thus, both concentration and awareness are present. 

To have a peaceful mind does not mean that there's nothing happening, mental impressions do arise. For instance, when we talk about the first level of absorption, we say it has five factors. Along with vitakka and vicara, piti (rapture) arises with the theme of contemplation and then sukha (happiness). These four things all lie together in the mind established in tranquillity. They are as one state. 

The fifth factor is ekaggata or one-pointedness. You may wonder how there can be one-pointedness when there are all these other factors as well. This is because they all become unified on that foundation of tranquillity. Together they are called a state of samadhi. They are not everyday states of mind, they are factors of absorption. There are these five characteristics, but they do not disturb the basic tranquillity. There is vitakka, but it does not disturb the mind; vicara, rapture and happiness arise but do not disturb the mind. The mind is therefore as one with these factors. The first level of absorption is like this. 

We don't have to call it First Jhana, [2] Second Jhana, third Jhana and so on, let's just call it "a peaceful mind." As the mind becomes progressively calmer it will dispense with vitakka and vicara, leaving only rapture and happiness. Why does the mind discard vitakka and vicara? This is because, as the mind becomes more refined, the activity of vitakka and vicara is too coarse to remain. At this stage, as the mind leaves off vitakka and vicara, feelings of great rapture can arise, tears may gush out. But as the samadhi deepens rapture, too, is discarded, leaving only happiness and one-pointedness, until finally even happiness goes and the mind reaches its greatest refinement. There are only equanimity and one-pointedness, all else has been left behind. The mind stands unmoving. 

Once the mind is peaceful this can happen. You don't have to think a lot about it, it just happens by itself. This is called the energy of a peaceful mind. In this state the mind is not drowsy; the five hindrances, sense desire, aversion, restlessness, dullness and doubt, have all fled. 

But if mental energy is still not strong and mindfulness weak, there will occasionally arise intruding mental impressions. The mind is peaceful but it's as if there's a "cloudiness" within the calm. It's not a normal sort of drowsiness though, some impressions will manifest -- maybe we'll hear a sound or see a dog or something. It's not really clear but it's not a dream either. This is because these five factors have become unbalanced and weak. 

The mind tends to play tricks within these levels of tranquillity. "Imagery" will sometimes arise when the mind is in this state, through any of the senses, and the meditator may not be able to tell exactly what is happening. "Am I sleeping? No. Is it a dream? No, it's not a dream..." These impressions arise from a middling sort of tranquillity; but if the mind is truly calm and clear we don't doubt the various mental impressions or imagery which arise. Questions like, "Did I drift off then? Was I sleeping? did I get lost?..." don't arise, for they are characteristics of a mind which is still doubting. "Am I asleep or awake?"... Here, it's fuzzy! This is the mind getting lost in its moods. It's like the moon going behind a cloud. You can still see the moon but the clouds covering it render it hazy. It's not like the moon which has emerged from behind the clouds -- clear, sharp and bright. 

When the mind is peaceful and established firmly in mindfulness and self-awareness, there will be no doubt concerning the various phenomena which we encounter. The mind will truly be beyond the hindrances. We will clearly know as it is everything which arises in the mind. We do not doubt it because the mind is clear and bright. The mind which reaches samadhi is like this. 

However some people find it hard to enter samadhi because it doesn't suit their tendencies. There is samadhi, but it's not strong or firm. But one can attain peace through the use of wisdom, through contemplating and seeing the truth of things, solving problems that way. This is using wisdom rather than the power of samadhi. To attain calm in practice it's not necessary to sit in meditation, for instance. Just ask yourself, "Ehh, what is that?..." and solve your problem right there! A person with wisdom is like this. Perhaps he can't really attain high levels of samadhi, although he develops some, enough to cultivate wisdom. It's like the difference between farming rice and farming corn. One can depend on rice more than corn for one's livelihood. Our practice can be like this, we depend more on wisdom to solve problems. When we see the truth, peace arises. 

The two ways are not the same. Some people have insight and are strong in wisdom but do not have much samadhi. When they sit in meditation they aren't very peaceful. They tend to think a lot, contemplating this and that, until eventually they contemplate happiness and suffering and see the truth of them. Some incline more towards this than samadhi. Whether standing, walking, sitting or lying, [3] enlightenment of the Dhamma can take place. Through seeing, through relinquishing, they attain peace. They attain peace through knowing the truth without doubt, because they have seen it for themselves. 

Other people have only little wisdom but their samadhi is very strong. They can enter very deep samadhi quickly, but not having much wisdom, they cannot catch their defilements, they don't know them. They can't solve their problems. 

But regardless of whichever approach we use, we must do away with wrong thinking, leaving only Right View. We must get rid of confusion, leaving only peace. Either way we end up at the same place. There are these two sides to practice, but these two things, calm and insight, go together. We can't do away with either of them. They must go together. 

That which "looks over" the various factors which arise in meditation is 'sati', mindfulness. This sati is a condition which, through practice, can help other factors to arise. Sati is life. Whenever we don't have sati, when we are heedless, it's as if we are dead. If we have no sati, then our speech and actions have no meaning. This sati is simply recollection. It's a cause for the arising of self-awareness and wisdom. Whatever virtues we have cultivated are imperfect if lacking in sati. Sati is that which watches over us while standing, walking, sitting and lying. Even when we are no longer in samadhi, sati should be present throughout. 

Whatever we do we take care. A sense of shame [4] will arise. We will feel ashamed about the things we do which aren't correct. As shame increases, our collectedness will increase as well. When collectedness increases, heedlessness will disappear. Even if we don't sit in meditation, these factors will be present in the mind. 

And this arises because of cultivating sati. Develop sati! This is the dhamma which looks over the work we are doing or have done in the past. It has usefulness. We should know ourselves at all times. If we know ourselves like this, right will distinguish itself from wrong, the path will become clear, and cause for all shame will dissolve. Wisdom will arise. 

We can bring the practice all together as morality, concentration and wisdom. To be collected, to be controlled, this is morality. The firm establishing of the mind within that control is concentration. Complete, overall knowledge within the activity in which we are engaged is wisdom. The practice in brief is just morality, concentration and wisdom, or in other words, the path. There is no other way. 
"...With right samadhi, no matter what level of calm is reached, there is awareness. There is full mindfulness and clear comprehension. This is the samadhi which can give rise to wisdom, one cannot get lost in it. Practitioners should understand this well..." 


The Path in Harmony 
Today I would like to ask you all. "Are you sure yet, are you certain in your meditation practice?" I ask because these days there are many people teaching meditation, both monks and laypeople, and I'm afraid you may be subject to wavering and doubt. If we understand clearly, we will be able to make the mind peaceful and firm. 

You should understand "the Eightfold Path" as morality, concentration and wisdom. The path comes together as simply this. Our practice is to make this path arise within us. 

When sitting meditation we are told to close the eyes, not to look at anything else, because now we are going to look directly at the mind. When we close our eyes, our attention comes inwards. We establish our attention on the breath, center our feelings there, put our mindfulness there. When the factors of the path are in harmony we will be able to see the breath, the feelings, the mind and its mood for what they are. Here we will see the "focus point," where samadhi and the other factors of the Path converge in harmony. 

When we are sitting in meditation, following the breath, think to yourself that now you are sitting alone. There is no-one sitting around you, there is nothing at all. Develop this feeling that you are sitting alone until the mind lets go of all externals, concentrating solely on the breath. If you are thinking, "This person is sitting over here, that person is sitting over there," there is no peace, the mind doesn't come inwards. Just cast all that aside until you feel there is no-one sitting around you, until there is nothing at all, until you have no wavering or interest in your surroundings. 

Let the breath go naturally, don't force it to be short or long or whatever, just sit and watch it going in and out. When the mind lets go of all external impressions, the sounds of cars and such will not disturb you. Nothing, whether sights or sounds, will disturb you, because the mind doesn't receive them. Your attention will come together on the breath. 

If the mind is confused and won't concentrate on the breath, take a full, deep breath, as deep as you can, and then let it all out till there is none left. Do this three times and then re-establish your attention. The mind will become calm. 

It's natural for it to be calm for a while, and then restlessness and confusion may arise again. When this happens, concentrate, breathe deeply again, and them re-establish your attention on the breath. Just keep going like this. When this has happened many times you will become adept at it, the mind will let go of all external manifestations. External impressions will not reach the mind. Sati will be firmly established. As the mind becomes more refined, so does the breath. Feelings will become finer and finer, the body and mind will be light. Our attention is solely on the inner, we see the in-breaths and out-breaths clearly, we see all impressions clearly. We will see the coming together of Morality, Concentration and Wisdom. This is called the Path in harmony. When there is this harmony our mind will be free of confusion, it will come together as one. This is called samadhi. 

After watching the breath for a long time, it may become very refined; the awareness of the breath will gradually cease, leaving only bare awareness. The breath may become so refined it disappears! Perhaps we are "just sitting," as if there is no breathing at all. Actually there is breathing, but it seems as if there's none. This is because the mind has reached its most refined state, there is just bare awareness. It has gone beyond the breath. The knowledge that the breath has disappeared becomes established. What will we take as our object of meditation now? We take just this knowledge as our object, that is, the awareness that there's no breath. 

Unexpected things may happen at this time; some people experience them, some don't. If they do arise, we should be firm and have strong mindfulness. Some people see that the breath has disappeared and get a fright, they're afraid they might die. Here we should know the situation just as it is. We simply notice that there's no breath and take that as our object of awareness. This, we can say, is the firmest, surest type of samadhi. There is only one firm, unmoving state of mind. Perhaps the body will become so light it's as if there is no body at all. We feel like we're sitting in empty space, all seems empty. Although this may seem very unusual, you should understand that there's nothing to worry about. Firmly establish your mind like this. 

When the mind is firmly unified, having no sense impressions to disturb it, one can remain in that state for any length of time. There will be no painful feelings to disturb us. When samadhi has reached this level, we can leave it when we choose, but if we come out of this samadhi we do so comfortably, not because we've become bored with it or tired. We come out because we've had enough for now, we feel at ease, we have no problems at all. 

If we can develop this type of samadhi, then if we sit, say, thirty minutes or an hour, the mind will be cool and calm for many days. When the mind is cool and calm like this, it is clean. Whatever we experience, the mind will take up and investigate. This is a fruit of samadhi. 

Morality has one function, concentration has another function and Wisdom another. These factors are like a cycle. We can see them all within the peaceful mind. When the mind is calm it has collectedness and restraint because of wisdom and the energy of concentration. As it becomes more collected it becomes more refined, which in turn gives morality the strength to increase in purity. As our morality becomes purer, this will help in the development of concentration. When concentration is firmly established it helps in the arising of wisdom. Morality, concentration and wisdom help each other, they are inter-related like this. In the end the Path becomes one and functions at all times. We should look after the strength which arises from the path, because it is the strength which leads to Insight and Wisdom. 

* * *

On The Dangers Of Samadhi 
Samadhi is capable of bringing much harm or much benefit to the meditator, you can't say it brings only one or the other. For one who has no wisdom it is harmful, but for one who has wisdom it can bring real benefit, it can lead him to Insight. 

That which can be most harmful to the meditator is Absorption Samadhi (Jhana), the samadhi with deep, sustained calm. This samadhi brings great peace. Where there is peace, there is happiness. When there is happiness, attachment and clinging to that happiness arise. The meditator doesn't want to contemplate anything else, he just wants to indulge in that pleasant feeling. When we have been practicing for a long time we may become adept at entering this samadhi very quickly. As soon as we start to note our meditation object, the mind enters calm, and we don't want to come out to investigate anything. We just get stuck on that happiness. This is a danger to one who is practicing meditation. 

We must use Upacara Samadhi. Here, we enter calm and then, when the mind is sufficiently calm, we come out and look at outer activity. [5] Looking at the outside with a calm mind gives rise to wisdom. This is hard to understand, because it's almost like ordinary thinking and imagining. When thinking is there, we may think the mind isn't peaceful, but actually that thinking is taking place within the calm. There is contemplation but it doesn't disturb the calm. We may bring thinking up in order to contemplate it. Here we take up the thinking to investigate it, it's not that we are aimlessly thinking to investigate it, it's not that we are aimlessly thinking or guessing away; it's something that arises from a peaceful mind. This is called "awareness within calm and calm within awareness." If it's simply ordinary thinking and imagining, the mind won't be peaceful, it will be disturbed. But I am not talking about ordinary thinking, this is a feeling that arises from the peaceful mind. It's called "contemplation." Wisdom is born right here. 

So, there can be right samadhi and wrong samadhi. Wrong samadhi is where the mind enters calm and there's no awareness at all. One could sit for two hours or even all day but the mind doesn't know where it's been or what's happened. It doesn't know anything. There is calm, but that's all. It's like a well-sharpened knife which we don't bother to put to any use. This is a deluded type of calm, because there is not much self-awareness. The meditator may think he has reached the ultimate already, so he doesn't bother to look for anything else. Samadhi can be an enemy at this level. Wisdom cannot arise because there is no awareness of right and wrong. 

With right samadhi, no matter what level of calm is reached, there is awareness. There is full mindfulness and clear comprehension. This is the samadhi which can give rise to wisdom, one cannot get lost in it. Practitioners should understand this well. You can't do without this awareness, it must be present from beginning to end. This kind of samadhi has no danger. 

You may wonder where does the benefit arise, how does the wisdom arise, from samadhi? When right samadhi has been developed, wisdom has the chance to arise at all times. When the eye sees form, the ear hears sound, the nose smells odor, the tongue experiences taste, the body experiences touch or the mind experiences mental impressions -- in all postures -- the mind stays with full knowledge of the true nature of those sense impressions, it doesn't "pick and choose." In any posture we are fully aware of the birth of happiness and unhappiness. We let go of both of these things, we don't cling. This is called Right Practice, which is present in all postures. These words "all postures" do not refer only to bodily postures, they refer to the mind, which has mindfulness and clear comprehension of the truth at all times. When samadhi has been rightly developed, wisdom arises like this. This is called "insight," knowledge of the truth. 

There are two kinds of peace -- the coarse and the refined. The peace which comes from samadhi is the coarse type. When the mind is peaceful there is happiness. The mind then takes this happiness to be peace. But happiness and unhappiness are becoming and birth. There is no escape from samsara [6] here because we still cling to them. So happiness is not peace, peace is not happiness. 

The other type of peace is that which comes from wisdom. Here we don't confuse peace with happiness; we know the mind which contemplates and knows happiness and unhappiness as peace. The peace which arises from wisdom is not happiness, but is that which sees the truth of both happiness and unhappiness. Clinging to those states does not arise, the mind rises above them. This is the true goal of all Buddhist practice. 
"...The Buddha laid down Morality, Concentration and Wisdom as the Path to peace, the way to enlightenment. But in truth these things are not the essence of Buddhism. They are merely the Path... The essence of Buddhism is peace, and that peace arises from truly knowing the nature of all things..." 


The Middle Way Within 
The teaching of Buddhism is about giving up evil and practicing good. Then, when evil is given up and goodness is established, we must let go of both good and evil. We have already heard enough about wholesome and unwholesome conditions to understand something about them, so I would like to talk about the Middle Way, that is, the path to escape from both of those things. 

All the Dhamma talks and teachings of the Buddha have one aim -- to show the way out of suffering to those who have not yet escaped. The teachings are for the purpose of giving us the right understanding. If we don't understand rightly, then we can't arrive at peace. 

When the various Buddhas became enlightened and gave their first teachings, they all declared these two extremes -- indulgence in pleasure and indulgence in pain. [7] These two ways are the ways of infatuation, they are the ways between which those who indulge in sense pleasures must fluctuate, never arriving at peace. They are the paths which spin around in samsara. 

The Enlightened One observed that all beings are stuck in these two extremes, never seeing the Middle Way of Dhamma, so he pointed them out in order to show the penalty involved in both. Because we are still stuck, because we are still wanting, we live repeatedly under their way. The Buddha declared that these two ways are the ways of intoxication, they are not the way of a meditator, nor the ways to peace. These ways are indulgence in pleasure and indulgence in pain, or, to put it simply, the way of slackness and the way of tension. If you investigate within, moment by moment, you will see that the tense way is anger, the way of sorrow. Going this way there is only difficulty and distress. Indulgence in Pleasure -- if you've escaped from this, it means you've escaped from happiness. These ways, both happiness and unhappiness, are not peaceful states. The Buddha taught to let go of both of them. This is right practice. This is the Middle Way. 

These words, "the Middle Way," do not refer to our body and speech, they refer to the mind. When a mental impression which we don't like arises, it affects the mind and there is confusion. When the mind is confused, when it's "shaken up," this is not the right way. When a mental impression arises which we like, the mind goes to indulgence in pleasure -- that's not the way either. 

We people don't want suffering, we want happiness. But in fact happiness is just a refined form of suffering. Suffering itself is the coarse form. You can compare them to a snake. The head of the snake is unhappiness, the tail of the snake is happiness. The head of the snake is really dangerous, it has the poisonous fangs. If you touch it, the snake will bite straight away. But never mind the head, even if you go and hold onto the tail, it will turn around and bite you just the same, because both the head and the tail belong to the one snake. 

In the same way, both happiness and unhappiness, or pleasure and sadness, arise from the same parent -- wanting. So when you're happy the mind isn't peaceful. It really isn't! For instance, when we get the things we like, such as wealth, prestige, praise or happiness, we become pleased as a result. But the mind still harbors some uneasiness because we're afraid of losing it. That very fear isn't a peaceful state. Later on we may actually lose that thing and then we really suffer. Thus, if you aren't aware, even if you're happy, suffering is imminent. It's just the same as grabbing the snake's tail -- if you don't let go it will bite. So whether it's the snake's tail or its head, that is, wholesome or unwholesome conditions, they're all just characteristics of the Wheel of Existence, of endless change. 

The Buddha established morality, concentration and wisdom as the path to peace, the way to enlightenment. But in truth these things are not the essence of Buddhism. They are merely the path. The Buddha called them "Magga," which means "path." The essence of Buddhism is peace, and that peace arises from truly knowing the nature of all things. If we investigate closely, we can see that peace is neither happiness nor unhappiness. Neither of these is the truth. 

The human mind, the mind which the Buddha exhorted us to know and investigate, is something we can only know by its activity. The true "original mind" has nothing to measure it by, there's nothing you can know it by. In its natural state it is unshaken, unmoving. When happiness arises all that happens is that this mind is getting lost in a mental impression, there is movement. When the mind moves like this, clinging and attachment to those things come into being. 

The Buddha has already laid down the path of practice fully, but we have not yet practiced, or if we have, we've practiced only in speech. Our minds and our speech are not yet in harmony, we just indulge in empty talk. But the basis of Buddhism is not something that can be talked about or guessed at. The real basis of Buddhism is full knowledge of the truth of reality. If one knows this truth then no teaching is necessary. If one doesn't know, even if he listens to the teaching, he doesn't really hear. This is why the Buddha said, "The Enlightened One only points the way." He can't do the practice for you, because the truth is something you cannot put into words or give away. 

All the teachings are merely similes and comparisons, means to help the mind see the truth. If we haven't seen the truth we must suffer. For example, we commonly say "sankharas" [8] when referring to the body. Anybody can say it, but in fact we have problems simply because we don't know the truth of these sankharas, and thus cling to them. Because we don't know the truth of the body, we suffer. 

Here is an example. Suppose one morning you're walking to work and a man yells abuse and insults at you from across the street. As soon as you hear this abuse your mind changes from its usual state. You don't feel so good, you feel angry and hurt. That man walks around abusing you night and day. When you hear the abuse, you get angry, and even when you return home you're still angry because you feel vindictive, you want to get even. 

A few days later another man comes to your house and calls out, "Hey! That man who abused you the other day, he's mad, he's crazy! Has been for years! He abuses everybody like that. Nobody takes any notice of anything he says." As soon as you hear this you are suddenly relieved. That anger and hurt that you've pent up within you all these days melts away completely. Why? Because you know the truth of the matter now. Before, you didn't know, you thought that man was normal, so you were angry at him. Understanding like that caused you to suffer. As soon as you find out the truth, everything changes: "Oh, he's mad! That explains everything!" When you understand this you feel fine, because you know for yourself. Having known, then you can let go. If you don't know the truth you cling right there. When you thought that man who abused you was normal you could have killed him. But when you find out the truth, that he's mad, you feel much better. This is knowledge of the truth. 

Someone who sees the Dhamma has a similar experience. When attachment, aversion and delusion disappear, they disappear in the same way. As long as we don't know these things we think, "What can I do? I have so much greed and aversion." This is not clear knowledge. It's just the same as when we thought the madman was sane. When we finally see that he was mad all along we're relieved of worry. No-one could show you this. Only when the mind sees for itself can it uproot and relinquish attachment. 

It's the same with this body which we call sankharas. Although the Buddha has already explained that it's not substantial or a real being as such, we still don't agree, we stubbornly cling to it. If the body could talk, it would be telling us all day long, "You're not my owner, you know." Actually it's telling us all the time, but it's Dhamma language, so we're unable to understand it. For instance, the sense organs of eye, ear, nose, tongue and body are continually changing, but I've never seen them ask permission from us even once! Like when we have a headache or a stomachache -- the body never asks permission first, it just goes right ahead, following its natural course. This shows that the body doesn't allow anyone to be its owner, it doesn't have an owner. The Buddha described it as an empty thing. 

We don't understand the Dhamma and so we don't understand these sankharas; we take them to be ourselves, as belonging to us or belonging to others. This gives rise to clinging. When clinging arises, "becoming" follows on. Once becoming arises, then there is birth. Once there is birth, then old age, sickness, death... the whole mass of suffering arises. This is the Paticcasamuppada. [9] We say ignorance gives rise to volitional activities, they give rise to consciousness and so on. All these things are simply events in mind. When we come into contact with something we don't like, if we don't have mindfulness, ignorance is there. Suffering arises straight away. But the mind passes through these changes so rapidly that we can't keep up with them. It's the same as when you fall from a tree. Before you know it -- "Thud!" -- you've hit the ground. Actually you've passed many branches and twigs on the way but you couldn't count them, you couldn't remember them as you passed them. You just fall, and then "Thud!" 

The Paticcasamuppada is the same as this. If we divide it up as it is in the scriptures, we say ignorance gives rise to volitional activities, volitional activities give rise to consciousness, consciousness gives rise to mind and matter, mind and matter give rise to the six sense bases, the sense bases give rise to sense contact, contact gives rise to feeling, feeling gives rise to wanting, wanting gives rise to clinging, clinging gives rise to becoming, becoming gives rise to birth, birth gives rise to old age, sickness, death, and all forms of sorrow. But in truth, when you come into contact with something you don't like, there's immediate suffering! That feeling of suffering is actually the result of the whole chain of the Paticcasamuppada. This is why the Buddha exhorted his disciples to investigate and know fully their own minds. 

When people are born into the world they are without names - once born, we name them. This is convention. We give people names for the sake of convenience, to call each other by. The scriptures are the same. We separate everything up with labels to make studying the reality convenient. In the same way, all things are simply sankharas. Their original nature is merely that of things born of conditions. The Buddha said that they are impermanent, unsatisfactory and not-self. They are unstable. We don't understand this firmly, our understanding is not straight, and so we have wrong view. This wrong view is that the sankharas are ourselves, we are the sankharas, or that happiness and unhappiness are ourselves, we are happiness and unhappiness. Seeing like this is not full, clear knowledge of the true nature of things. The truth is that we can't force all these things to follow our desires, they follow the way of nature. 

A simple comparison is this: suppose you go and sit in the middle of a freeway with the cars and trucks charging down at you. You can't get angry at the cars, shouting, "Don't drive over here! Don't drive over here!" It's a freeway, you can't tell them that! So what can you do? You get off the road! The road is the place where cars run, if you don't want the cars to be there, you suffer. 

It's the same with sankharas. We say they disturb us, like when we sit in meditation and hear a sound. We think, "Oh, that sound's bothering me." If we understand that the sound bothers us then we suffer accordingly. If we investigate a little deeper, we will see that it's we who go out and disturb the sound! The sound is simply sound. If we understand like this then there's nothing more to it, we leave it be. We see that the sound is one thing, we are another. One who understands that the sound comes to disturb him is one who doesn't see himself. He really doesn't! Once you see yourself, then you're at ease. The sound is just sound, why should you go and grab it? You see that actually it was you who went out and disturbed the sound. This is real knowledge of the truth. You see both sides, so you have peace. If you see only one side, there is suffering. Once you see both sides, then you follow the Middle Way. This is the right practice of the mind. This is what we call "straightening out our understanding." 

In the same way, the nature of all sankharas is impermanence and death, but we want to grab them, we carry them about and covet them. We want them to be true. We want to find truth within the things that aren't true! Whenever someone sees like this and clings to the sankharas as being himself, he suffers. The Buddha wanted us to consider this. 

The practice of Dhamma is not dependent on being a monk, a novice, or a layman; it depends on straightening out your understanding. If our understanding is correct, we arrive at peace. Whether you are ordained or not it's the same, every person has the chance to practice Dhamma, to contemplate it. We all contemplate the same thing. If you attain peace, it's all the same peace; it's the same Path, with the same methods. 

Therefore the Buddha didn't discriminate between laymen and monks, he taught all people to practice to know the truth of the sankharas. When we know this truth, we let them go. If we know the truth there will be no more becoming or birth. How is there no more birth? There is no way for birth to take place because we fully know the truth of sankharas. If we fully know the truth, then there is peace. Having or not having, it's all the same. Gain and loss are one. The Buddha taught us to know this. This is peace; peace from happiness, unhappiness, gladness and sorrow. 

We must see that there is no reason to be born. Born in what way? Born into gladness: When we get something we like we are glad over it. If there is no clinging to that gladness there is no birth; if there is clinging, this is called "birth." So if we get something, we aren't born (into gladness). If we lose, then we aren't born (into sorrow). This is the birthless and the deathless. Birth and death are both founded in clinging to and cherishing the sankharas. 

So the Buddha said. "There is no more becoming for me, finished is the holy life, this is my last birth." There! He knew the birthless and the deathless! This is what the Buddha constantly exhorted his disciples to know. This is the right practice. If you don't reach it, if you don't reach the Middle Way, then you won't transcend suffering. 
"...Meditation means to make the mind peaceful in order to let wisdom arise... To put it shortly, it's just a matter of happiness and unhappiness. Happiness is pleasant feeling in the mind, unhappiness is just unpleasant feeling. The Buddha taught to separate this happiness and unhappiness from the mind..." 


The Peace Beyond 
It's of great importance that we practice the Dhamma. If we don't practice, then all our knowledge is only superficial knowledge, just the outer shell of it. It's as if we have some sort of fruit but we haven't eaten it yet. Even though we have that fruit in our hand we get no benefit from it. Only through the actual eating of the fruit we really know its taste. 

The Buddha didn't praise those who merely believe others, he praised the person who knows within himself. Just as with that fruit, if we have tasted it already, we don't have to ask anyone else if it's sweet or sour. Our problems are over. Why are they over? Because we see according to the truth. One who has realized the Dhamma is like one who has realized the sweetness or sourness of the fruit. All doubts are ended right here. 

When we talk about Dhamma, although we may say a lot, it can usually be brought down to four things. They are simply to know suffering, to know the cause of suffering, to know the end of suffering and to know the path of practice leading to the end of suffering. This is all there is. All that we have experienced on the path of practice so far comes down to these four things. When we know these things, our problems are over. 

Where are these four things born? They are born just within the body and the mind, nowhere else. So why is the Dhamma of the Buddha so broad and expansive? This is so in order to explain these things in a more refined way, to help us to see them. 

When Siddhattha Gotama was born into the world, before he saw the Dhamma, he was an ordinary person just like us. When he knew what he had to know, that is the truth of suffering, the cause, the end and the way leading to the end of suffering, he realized the Dhamma and became a perfectly Enlightened Buddha. 

When we realize the Dhamma, wherever we sit we know Dhamma, wherever we are we hear the Buddha's teaching. When we understand Dhamma, the Buddha is within our mind, the Dhamma is within our mind, and the practice leading to wisdom is within our own mind. Having the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha within our mind means that whether our actions are good or bad, we know clearly for ourselves their true nature. It was thus that the Buddha discarded worldly opinions, he discarded praise and criticism. When people praised or criticized him he just accepted it for what it was. These two things are simply worldly conditions so he wasn't shaken by them. Why not? Because he knew suffering. He knew that if he believed in that praise or criticism they would cause him to suffer. 

When suffering arises it agitates us, we feel ill at ease. What is the cause of that suffering? It's because we don't know the Truth, this is the cause. When the cause is present, then suffering arises. Once arisen we don't know how to stop it. The more we try to stop it, the more it comes on. We say, "Don't criticize me," or "Don't blame me". Trying to stop it like this, suffering really comes on, it won't stop. 

So the Buddha taught that the way leading to the end of suffering is to make the Dhamma arise as a reality within our own minds. We become one who witnesses the Dhamma for himself. If someone says we are good we don't get lost in it; they say we are no good we don't get lost in it; they say we are no good and we don't forget ourselves. This way we can be free. "Good" and "evil" are just worldly dhammas, they are just states of mind. If we follow them our mind becomes the world, we just grope in the darkness and don't know the way out. If it's like this then we have not yet mastered ourselves. We try to defeat others, but in doing so we only defeat ourselves; but if we have mastery over ourselves then we have mastery over all -- over all mental formations, sights, sounds, smells, tastes and bodily feelings. 

Now I'm talking about externals, they're like that, but the outside is reflected inside also. Some people only know the outside, they don't know the inside. Like when we say to "see the body in the body." Having seen the outer body is not enough, we must know the body within the body. Then, having investigated the mind, we should know the mind within the mind. 

Why should we investigate the body? What is this "body in the body"? When we say to know the mind, what is this "mind"? If we don't know the mind then we don't know the things within the mind. This is to be someone who doesn't know suffering, doesn't know the cause, doesn't know the end and doesn't know the way. The things which should help to extinguish suffering don't help, because we get distracted by the things which aggravate it. It's just as if we have an itch on our head and we scratch our leg! If it's our head that's itchy then we're obviously not going to get much relief. In the same way, when suffering arises we don't know how to handle it, we don't know the practice leading to the end of suffering. 

For instance, take this body, this body that each of us has brought along to this meeting. If we just see the form of the body there's no way we can escape suffering. Why not? Because we still don't see the inside of the body, we only see the outside. We only see it as something beautiful, something substantial. The Buddha said that only this is not enough. We see the outside with our eyes; a child can see it, animals can see it, it's not difficult. The outside of the body is easily seen, but having seen it we stick to it, we don't know the truth of it. Having seen it we grab onto it and it bites us! 

So we should investigate the body within the body. Whatever's in the body, go ahead and look at it. If we just see the outside it's not clear. We see hair, nails and so on and they are just pretty things which entice us, so the Buddha taught to see the inside of the body, to see the body within the body. What is in the body? Look closely within! We will see many things inside to surprise us, because even though they are within us, we've never seen them. Wherever we walk we carry them with us, sitting in a car we carry them with us, but we still don't know them at all! 

It's as if we visit some relatives at their house and they give us a present. We take it and put it in our bag and then leave without opening it to see what is inside. When at last we open it -- full of poisonous snakes! Our body is like this. If we just see the shell of it we say it's fine and beautiful. We forget ourselves. We forget impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and not-self. If we look within this body it's really repulsive. If we look according to reality, without trying to sugar things over, we'll see that it's really pitiful and wearisome. Dispassion will arise. This feeling of "disinterest" is not that we feel aversion for the world or anything; it's simply our mind clearing up, our mind letting go. We see things are naturally established just as they are. However we want them to be, they just go their own way regardless. Whether we laugh or cry, they simply are the way they are. Things which are unstable are unstable; things which are not beautiful are not beautiful. 

So the Buddha said that when we experience sights, sounds, tastes, smells, bodily feelings or mental states, we should release them. When the ear hears sounds, let them go. When the nose smells an odor, let it go... just leave it at the nose! When the bodily feelings arise, let go of the like or dislike that follow, let them go back to their birth-place. The same for mental states. All these things, just let them go their way. This is knowing. Whether it's happiness or unhappiness, it's all the same. This is called meditation. 

Meditation means to make the mind peaceful in order to let wisdom arise. This requires that we practice with body and mind in order to see and know the sense impressions of form, sound, taste, smell, touch and mental formations. To put it shortly, it's just a matter of happiness and unhappiness. Happiness is pleasant feeling in the mind, unhappiness is just unpleasant feeling. The Buddha taught to separate this happiness and unhappiness from the mind. The mind is that which knows. Feeling [10] is the characteristic of happiness or unhappiness, like or dislike. When the mind indulges in these things we say that it clings to or takes that happiness and unhappiness to be worthy of holding. That clinging is an action of mind, that happiness or unhappiness is feeling. 

When we say the Buddha told us to separate the mind from the feeling, he didn't literally mean to throw them to different places. He meant that the mind must know happiness and know unhappiness. When sitting in samadhi, for example, and peace fills the mind, then happiness comes but it doesn't reach us, unhappiness comes but doesn't reach us. This is to separate the feeling from the mind. We can compare it to oil and water in a bottle. They don't combine. Even if you try to mix them, the oil remains oil and the water remains water. Why is this so? Because they are of different density. 

The natural state of the mind is neither happiness nor unhappiness. When feeling enters the mind then happiness or unhappiness is born. If we have mindfulness then we know pleasant feeling as pleasant feeling. The mind which knows will not pick it up. Happiness is there but it's "outside" the mind, not buried within the mind. The mind simply knows it clearly. 

If we separate unhappiness from the mind, does that mean there is no suffering, that we don't experience it? Yes, we experience it, but we know mind as mind, feeling as feeling. We don't cling to that feeling or carry it around. The Buddha separated these things through knowledge. Did he have suffering? He knew the state of suffering but he didn't cling to it, so we say that he cut suffering off. And there was happiness too, but he knew that happiness, if it's not known, is like a poison. He didn't hold it to be himself. Happiness was there through knowledge, but it didn't exist in his mind. Thus we say that he separated happiness and unhappiness from his mind. 

When we say that the Buddha and the Enlightened Ones killed defilements, [11] it's not that they really killed them. If they had killed all defilements then we probably wouldn't have any! They didn't kill defilements; when they knew them for what they are, they let them go. Someone who's stupid will grab them, but the Enlightened Ones knew the defilements in their own minds as a poison, so they swept them out. They swept out the things which caused them to suffer, they didn't kill them. One who doesn't know this will see some things, such as happiness, as good, and then grab them, but the Buddha just knew them and simply brushed them away. 

But when feeling arises for us we indulge in it, that is, the mind carries that happiness and unhappiness around. In fact they are two different things. The activities of mind, pleasant feeling, unpleasant feeling and so on, are mental impressions, they are the world. If the mind knows this it can equally do work involving happiness or unhappiness. Why? Because it knows the truth of these things. Someone who doesn't know them sees them as equal. If you cling to happiness it will be the birth-place of unhappiness later on, because happiness is unstable, it changes all the time. When happiness disappears, unhappiness arises. 

The Buddha knew that because both happiness and unhappiness are unsatisfactory, they have the same value. When happiness arose he let it go. He had right practice, seeing that both these things have equal values and drawbacks. They come under the Law of Dhamma, that is, they are unstable and unsatisfactory. Once born, they die. When he saw this, right view arose, the right way of practice became clear. No matter what sort of feeling or thinking arose in his mind, he knew it as simply the continuous play of happiness and unhappiness. He didn't cling to them. 

When the Buddha was newly enlightened he gave a sermon about indulgence in Pleasure and Indulgence in Pain. "Monks! Indulgence in Pleasure is the loose way, Indulgence in Pain is the tense way." These were the two things that disturbed his practice until the day he was enlightened, because at first he didn't let go of them. When he knew them, he let them go, and so was able to give his first sermon. 

So we say that a meditator should not walk the way of happiness or unhappiness, rather he should know them. Knowing the truth of suffering, he will know the cause of suffering, the end of suffering and the way leading to the end of suffering. And the way out of suffering is meditation itself. To put it simply, we must be mindful. 

Mindfulness is knowing, or presence of mind. Right now what are we thinking, what are we doing? What do we have with us right now? We observe like this, we are aware of how we are living. When we practice like this wisdom can arise. We consider and investigate at all times, in all postures. When a mental impression arises that we like to know it as such, we don't hold it to be anything substantial. It's just happiness. When unhappiness arises we know that it's Indulgence in Pain, it's not the path of a meditator. 

This is what we call separating the mind from the feeling. If we are clever we don't attach, we leave things be. We become the 'one who knows'. The mind and feeling are just like oil and water; they are in the same bottle but they don't mix. Even if we are sick or in pain, we still know the feeling as feeling, the mind as mind. We know the painful or comfortable states but we don't identify with them. We stay only with peace: the peace beyond both comfort and pain. 

You should understand it like this, because if there is no permanent self then there is no refuge. You must live like this, that is, without happiness and without unhappiness. You stay only with the knowing, you don't carry things around. 

As long as we are still unenlightened all this may sound strange but it doesn't matter, we just set our goal in this direction. The mind is the mind. It meets happiness and unhappiness and we see them as merely that, there's nothing more to it. They are divided, not mixed. If they are all mixed up then we don't know them. It's like living in a house; the house and its occupant are related, but separate. If there is danger in our house we are distressed because we must protect it, but if the house catches fire we get out of it. If painful feeling arises we get out of it, just like that house. When it's full of fire and we know it, we come running out of it. They are separate things; the house is one thing, the occupant is the other. 

We say that we separate mind and feeling in this way but in fact they are by nature already separate. Our realization is simply to know this natural separateness according to reality. When we say they are not separated it's because we're clinging to them through ignorance of the truth. 

So the Buddha told us to meditate. This practice of meditation is very important. Merely to know with the intellect is not enough. The knowledge which arises from practice with a peaceful mind and the knowledge which comes from study are really far apart. The knowledge which comes from study is not real knowledge of our mind. The mind tries to hold onto and keep this knowledge. Why do we try to keep it? Just lose it! And then when it's lost we cry! 

If we really know, then there's letting go, leaving things be. We know how things are and don't forget ourselves. If it happens that we are sick we don't get lost in that. Some people think, "This year I was sick the whole time, I couldn't meditate at all." These are the words of a really foolish person. Someone who's sick and dying should really be diligent in his practice. One may say he doesn't trust his body, and so he feels that he can't meditate. If we think like this then things are difficult. The Buddha didn't teach like that. He said that right here is the place to meditate. When we're sick or almost dying that's when we can really know and see reality. 

Other people say they don't have the chance to meditate because they're too busy. Sometimes school teachers come to see me. They say they have many responsibilities so there's no time to meditate. I ask them, "When you're teaching do you have time to breathe?" They answer, "Yes." "So how can you have time to breathe if the work is so hectic and confusing? Here you are far from Dhamma." 

Actually this practice is just about the mind and its feelings. It's not something that you have to run after or struggle for. Breathing continues while working. Nature takes care of the natural processes -- all we have to do is try to be aware. Just to keep trying, going inwards to see clearly. Meditation is like this. 

If we have that presence of mind then whatever work we do will be the very tool which enables us to know right and wrong continually. There's plenty of time to meditate, we just don't fully understand the practice, that's all. While sleeping we breathe, eating we breathe, don't we? Why don't we have time to meditate? Wherever we are we breathe. If we think like this then our life has as much value as our breath, wherever we are we have time. 

All kinds of thinking are mental conditions, not conditions of body, so we need simply have presence of mind, then we will know right and wrong at all times. Standing, walking, sitting and lying, there's plenty of time. We just don't know how to use it properly. Please consider this. 

We cannot run away from feeling, we must know it. Feeling is just feeling, happiness is just happiness, unhappiness is just unhappiness. They are simply that. So why should we cling to them? If the mind is clever, simply to hear this is enough to enable us to separate feeling from the mind. 

If we investigate like this continuously the mind will find release, but it's not escaping through ignorance. The mind lets go, but it knows. It doesn't let go through stupidity, not because it doesn't want things to be the way they are. It lets go because it knows according to the truth. This is seeing nature, the reality that's all around us. 

When we know this we are someone who's skilled with the mind, we are skilled with mental impressions. When we are skilled with mental impressions we are skilled with the world. This is to be a "Knower of the World." The Buddha was someone who clearly knew the world with all its difficulty. He knew the troublesome, and that which was not troublesome was right there. This world is so confusing, how is it that the Buddha was able to know it? Here we should understand that the Dhamma taught by the Buddha is not beyond our ability. In all postures we should have presence of mind and self-awareness -- and when it's time to sit meditation we do that. 

We sit in meditation to establish peacefulness and cultivate mental energy. We don't do it in order to play around at anything special. Insight meditation is sitting in samadhi itself. At some places they say, "Now we are going to sit in samadhi, after that we'll do insight meditation." Don't divide them like this! Tranquillity is the base which gives rise to wisdom; wisdom is the fruit of tranquillity. To say that now we are going to do calm meditation, later we'll do insight -- you can't do that! You can only divide them in speech. Just like a knife, the blade is on one side, the back of the blade on the other. You can't divide them. If you pick up one side you get both sides. Tranquillity gives rise to wisdom like this. 

Morality is the father and mother of Dhamma. In the beginning we must have morality. Morality is peace. This means that there are no wrong doings in body or speech. When we don't do wrong then we don't get agitated; when we don't become agitated then peace and collectedness arise within the mind. So we say that morality, concentration and wisdom are the path on which all the Noble Ones have walked to enlightenment. They are all one. Morality is concentration, concentration is morality. Concentration is wisdom, wisdom is concentration. It's like a mango. When it's a flower we call it a flower. When it becomes a fruit we call it a mango. When it ripens we call it a ripe mango. It's all one mango but it continually changes. The big mango grows from the small mango, the small mango becomes a big one. You can call them different fruits or all one. Morality, concentration and wisdom are related like this. In the end it's all the path that leads to enlightenment. 

The mango, from the moment it first appears as a flower, simply grows to ripeness. This is enough, we should see it like this. Whatever others call it, it doesn't matter. Once it's born it grows to old age, and then where? We should contemplate this. 

Some people don't want to be old. When they get old they become regretful. These people shouldn't eat ripe mangoes! Why do we want the mangoes to be ripe? If they're not ripe in time, we ripen them artificially, don't we? But when we become old we are filled with regret. Some people cry, they're afraid to get old or die. If it's like this then they shouldn't eat ripe mangoes, better eat just the flowers! If we can see this then we can see the Dhamma. Everything clears up, we are at peace. Just determine to practice like that. 

So today the Chief Privy Councillor and his party have come together to hear the Dhamma. You should take what I've said and contemplate it. If anything is not right, please excuse me. But for you to know whether it's right or wrong depends on your practicing and seeing for yourselves. Whatever's wrong, throw it out. If it's right then take it and use it. But actually we practice in order to let go both right and wrong. In the end we just throw everything out. If it's right, throw it out; wrong, throw it out! Usually if it's right we cling to rightness, if it's wrong we hold it to be wrong, and then arguments follow. But he Dhamma is the place where there's nothing -- nothing at all. 
"...The Buddha was enlightened in the world, he contemplated the world. If he hadn't contemplated the world, if he hadn't seen the world, he couldn't have risen above it. The Buddha's enlightenment was simply enlightenment of this very world. The world was still there: gain and loss, praise and criticism, fame and disrepute, happiness and unhappiness were all still there. If there weren't these things there would be nothing to become enlightened to..." 


Opening the Dhamma Eye 
Some of us start to practice, and even after a year or two, still don't know what's what. We are still unsure of the practice. When we're still unsure, we don't see that everything around us is purely Dhamma, and so we turn to teachings from the Ajahns. But actually, when we know our own mind, when there is sati to look closely at the mind, there is wisdom. All times and all places become occasions for us to hear the Dhamma. 

We can learn Dhamma from nature, from trees for example. A tree is born due to causes and it grows following the course of nature. Right here the tree is teaching us Dhamma, but we don't understand this. In due course, it grows until it buds, flowers and fruit appear. All we see is the appearance of the flowers and fruit; we're unable to bring this within and contemplate it. Thus we don't know that the tree is teaching us Dhamma. The fruit appears and we merely eat it without investigating: sweet, sour or salty, it's the nature of the fruit. And this Dhamma, the teaching of the fruit. Following on, the leaves grow old. They wither, die and then fall from the tree. All we see is that the leaves have fallen down. We step on them, we sweep them up, that's all. We don't investigate thoroughly, so we don't know that nature is teaching us. Later on the new leaves sprout, and we merely see that, without taking it further. We don't bring these things into our minds to contemplate. 

If we can bring all this inwards and investigate it, we will see that the birth of a tree and our own birth are no different. This body of ours is born and exists dependent on conditions, on the elements of earth, water, wind and fire. It has its food, it grows and grows. Every part of the body changes and flows according to its nature. It's no different from the tree; hair, nails, teeth and skin -- all change. If we know the things of nature, then we will know ourselves. 

People are born. In the end they die. Having died they are born again. Nails, teeth and skin are constantly dying and re-growing. If we understand the practice then we can see that a tree is no different from ourselves. If we understand the teaching of the Ajahns, then we realize that the outside and the inside are comparable. Things which have consciousness and those without consciousness do not differ. They are the same. And if we understand this sameness, then when we see the nature of a tree, for example, we will know that it's no different from our own five khandhas [12] -- body, feeling, memory, thinking and consciousness. If we have this understanding then we understand Dhamma. If we understand Dhamma we understand the five khandhas, how they constantly shift and change, never stopping. 

So whether standing, walking, sitting or lying we should have sati to watch over and look after the mind. When we see external things it's like seeing internals. When we see internals it's the same as seeing externals. If we understand this then we can hear the teaching of the Buddha. If we understand this, then we can say that Buddha-nature, the 'One who knows', has been established. It knows the external. It knows the internal. It understands all things which arise. Understanding like this, then sitting at the foot of a tree we hear the Buddha's teaching. Standing, walking, sitting or lying, we hear the Buddha's teaching. Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and thinking, we hear the Buddha's teaching. The Buddha is just this 'One who knows' within this very mind. It knows the Dhamma, it investigates the Dhamma. It's not that the Buddha-nature, the 'one who knows', arises. The mind becomes illumined. 

If we establish the Buddha within our mind then we see everything, we contemplate everything, as no different from ourselves. We see various animals, trees, mountains and vines as no different from ourselves. We see poor people and rich people -- they're no different! They all have the same characteristics. One who understands like this is content wherever he is. He listens to the Buddha's teaching at all times. If we don't understand this, then even if we spend all our time listening to teachings from the various Ajahns, we still won't understand their meaning. 

The Buddha said that enlightenment of the Dhamma is just knowing Nature, [13] the reality which is all around us, the Nature which is right here! If we don't understand this Nature we experience disappointment and joy, we get lost in moods, giving rise to sorrow and regret. Getting lost in mental objects is getting lost in Nature. When we get lost in Nature then we don't know Dhamma. The Enlightened One merely pointed out this Nature. 

Having arisen, all things change and die. Things we make, such as plates, bowls and dishes, all have the same characteristic. A bowl is molded into being due to a cause, man's impulse to create, and as we use it, it gets old, breaks up and disappears. Trees, mountains and vines are the same, right up to animals and people. 

When Aa Kondaa, the first disciple, heard the Buddha's teaching for the first time, the realization he had was nothing very complicated. He simply saw that whatever thing is born, that thing must change and grow old as a natural condition and eventually it must die. Aa Kondaa had never thought of this before, or if he had it wasn't thoroughly clear, so he hadn't yet let go, he still clung to the khandhas. As he sat mindfully listening to the Buddha's discourse, Buddha-nature arose in him. He received a sort of Dhamma "transmission," which was the knowledge that all conditioned things are impermanent. Any thing which is born must have aging and death as a natural result. 

This feeling was different from anything he'd ever known before. He truly realized his mind, and so "Buddha" arose within him. At that time the Buddha declared that Aa Kondaa had received the Eye of Dhamma. 

What is it that this Eye of Dhamma sees? This Eye sees that whatever is born has aging and death as a natural result. "Whatever is born" means everything! Whether material or immaterial, it all comes under this "whatever is born." It refers to all of Nature. Like this body for instance -- it's born and then proceeds to extinction. When it's small it "dies" from smallness to youth. After a while it "dies" from youth and becomes middle-aged. Then it goes on to "die" from middle-age and reach old-age, finally reaching the end. Trees, mountains and vines all have this characteristic. 

So the vision or understanding of the 'One who knows' clearly entered the mind of Aa Kondaa as he sat there. This knowledge of "whatever is born" became deeply embedded in his mind, enabling him to uproot attachment to the body. This attachment was sakkayaditthi. This means that he didn't take the body to be a self or a being, or in terms of "he" or "me." He didn't cling to it. He saw it clearly, thus uprooting sakkayaditthi. 

And the vicikiccha (doubt) was destroyed. Having uprooted attachment to the body he didn't doubt his realization. Silabbata paramasa [14] was also uprooted. His practice became firm and straight. Even if his body was in pain or fever he didn't grasp it, he didn't doubt. He didn't doubt, because he had uprooted clinging. This grasping of the body is called silabbata paramasa. When one uproots the view of the body being the self, grasping and doubt are finished with. If just this view of the body as the self arises within the mind then grasping and doubt begin right there. 

So as the Buddha expounded the Dhamma, Aa Kondaa opened the Eye of Dhamma. This Eye is just the "One who knows clearly." It sees things differently. It sees this very nature. Seeing Nature clearly, clinging is uprooted and the 'One who knows' is born. Previously he knew but he still had clinging. You could say that he knew the Dhamma but he still hadn't seen it, or he had seen the Dhamma but still wasn't one with it. 

At this time the Buddha said, "Kondaa knows." What did he know? He just knew Nature! Usually we get lost in Nature, as with this body of ours. Earth, water, fire and wind come together to make this body. It's an aspect of Nature, a material object we can see with the eye. It exists depending on food, growing and changing until finally it reaches extinction. 

Coming inwards, that which watches over the body is consciousness -- just this 'One who knows', this single awareness. If it receives through the ear it's called hearing; through the nose it's called smelling; through the tongue, tasting; through the body, touching; and through the mind, thinking. This consciousness is just one but when it functions at different places we call it different things. Through the eye we call it one thing, through the ear we call it another. But whether it functions at the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body or mind it's just one awareness. Following the scriptures we call it the six consciousness, but in reality there is only one consciousness arising at these six different bases. There are six "doors" but a single awareness, which is this very mind. 

This mind is capable of knowing the truth of Nature. If the mind still has obstructions, then we say it knows through ignorance. It knows wrongly and it sees wrongly. Knowing wrongly and seeing wrongly, or knowing and seeing rightly, it's just a single awareness. We say wrong view and right view but it's just one thing. Right and wrong both arise from this one place. When there is wrong knowledge we say that Ignorance conceals the truth. When there is wrong knowledge then there is wrong view, wrong intention, wrong action, wrong livelihood -- everything is wrong! And on the other hand the path of right practice is born in this same place. When there is right then the wrong disappears. 

The Buddha practiced enduring many hardships and torturing himself with fasting and so on, but he investigated deeply into his mind until finally he uprooted ignorance. All the Buddhas were enlightened in mind, because the body knows nothing. You can let it eat or not, it doesn't matter, it can die at any time. The Buddhas all practiced with the mind. They were enlightened in mind. 

The Buddha, having contemplated his mind, gave up the two extremes of practice -- indulgence in pleasure and indulgence in pain -- and in his first discourse expounded the Middle Way between these two. But we hear his teaching and it grates against our desires. We're infatuated with pleasure and comfort, infatuated with happiness, thinking we are good, we are fine -- this is indulgence in pleasure. It's not the right path. Dissatisfaction, displeasure, dislike and anger -- this is indulgence in pain. These are the extreme ways which one on the path of practice should avoid. 

These "ways" are simply the happiness and unhappiness which arise. The "one on the path" is this very mind, the 'One who knows'. If a good mood arises we cling to it as good, this is indulgence in pleasure. If an unpleasant mood arises we cling to it through dislike- this is indulgence in pain. These are the wrong paths, they aren't the ways of a meditator. They're the ways of the worldly, those who look for fun and happiness and shun unpleasantness and suffering. 

The wise know the wrong paths but they relinquish them, they give them up. They are unmoved by pleasure and displeasure, happiness and unhappiness. These things arise but those who know don't cling to them, they let them go according to their nature. This is right view. When one knows this fully there is liberation. Happiness and unhappiness have no meaning for an Enlightened One. 

The Buddha said that the Enlightened Ones were far from defilements. This doesn't mean that they ran away from defilements, they didn't run away anywhere. Defilements were there. He compared it to a lotus leaf in a pond of water. The leaf and the water exist together, they are in contact, but the leaf doesn't become damp. The water is like defilements and the lotus leaf is the Enlightened Mind. 

The mind of one who practices is the same; it doesn't run away anywhere, it stays right there. Good, evil, happiness, and unhappiness, right and wrong arise, and he knows them all. The meditator simply knows them, they don't enter his mind. That is, he has no clinging. He is simply the experiencer. To say he simply experiences is our common language. In the language of Dhamma we say he lets his mind follow the Middle Way. 

These activities of happiness, unhappiness and so on are constantly arising because they are characteristics of the world. The Buddha was enlightened in the world, he contemplated the world. If he hadn't contemplated the world, if he hadn't seen the world, he couldn't have risen above it. The Buddha's Enlightenment was simply enlightenment of this very world. The world was still there: gain and loss, praise and criticism, fame and disrepute, happiness and unhappiness were still there. If there weren't these things there would be nothing to become enlightened to! What he knew was just the world, that which surrounds the hearts of people. If people follow these things, seeking praise and fame, gain and happiness, and trying to avoid their opposites, they sink under the weight of the world. 

Gain and loss, praise and criticism, fame and disrepute, happiness and unhappiness -- this is the world. The person who is lost in the world has no path of escape, the world overwhelms him. This world follows the Law of Dhamma so we call it worldly dhamma. He who lives within the worldly dhamma is called a worldly being. He lives surrounded by confusion. 

Therefore the Buddha taught us to develop the path. We can divide it up into morality, concentration and wisdom -- develop them to completion! This is the path of practice which destroys the world. Where is this world? It is just in the minds of beings infatuated with it! The action of clinging to praise, gain, fame, happiness and unhappiness is called "world." when it is there in the mind, then the world arises, the worldly being is born. The world is born because of desire. Desire is the birthplace of all worlds. To put an end to desire is to put an end to the world. 

Our practice of morality, concentration and wisdom is otherwise called the Eightfold Path. This Eightfold Path and the eight worldly dhammas are a pair. How is it that they are a pair? If we speak according to the scriptures, we say that gain and loss, praise and criticism, fame and disrepute, happiness and unhappiness are the eight worldly dhammas. Right view, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration, this is the Eightfold Path. These two eightfold ways exist in the same place. The eight worldly dhammas are right here in this very mind, with the 'One who knows' but this 'One who knows' has obstructions, so it knows wrongly and thus becomes the world. It's just this one 'One who knows', no other! The Buddha-nature has not yet arisen in this mind, it has not yet extracted itself from the world. The mind like this is the world. 

When we practice the path, when we train our body and speech, it's all done in that very same mind. It's the same place so they see each other; the path sees the world. If we practice with this mind of ours we encounter this clinging to praise, fame, pleasure and happiness, we see the attachment to the world. 

The Buddha said, "You should know the world. It dazzles like a king's royal carriage. Fools are entranced, but the wise are not deceived." It's not that he wanted us to go all over the world looking at everything, studying everything about it. He simply wanted us to watch this mind which is attached to it. When the Buddha told us to look at the world he didn't want us to get stuck in it, he wanted us to investigate it, because the world is born just in this mind. sitting in the shade of a tree you can look at the world. When there is desire the world comes into being right there. Wanting is the birth place of the world. To extinguish wanting is to extinguish the world. 

When we sit in meditation we want the mind to become peaceful, but it's not peaceful. Why is this? We don't want to think but we think. It's like a person who goes to sit on an ant's nest: the ants just keep on biting him. When the mind is the world then even sitting still with our eyes closed, all we see is the world. Pleasure, sorrow, anxiety, confusion -- it all arises. Why is this? It's because we still haven't realized Dhamma. If the mind is like this the meditator can't endure the worldly dhammas, he doesn't investigate. It's just the same as if he were sitting on an ants' nest. The ants are going to bite because he's right on their home! So what should he do? He should look for some poison or use fire to drive them out. 

But most Dhamma practitioners don't see it like that. If they feel content they just follow contentment, feeling discontent they just follow that. Following the worldly dhammas the mind becomes the world. Sometimes we may think, "Oh, I can't do it, it's beyond me...", so we don't even try! This is because the mind is full of defilements, the worldly dhammas prevent the path from arising. We can't endure in the development of morality, concentration and wisdom. It's just like that man sitting on the ants' nest. He can't do anything, the ants are biting and crawling all over him, he's immersed in confusion and agitation. He can't rid his sitting place of the danger, so he just sits there, suffering. 

So it is with our practice. The worldly dhammas exist in the minds of worldly beings. When those beings wish to find peace the worldly dhammas arise right there. When the mind is ignorant there is only darkness. When knowledge arises the mind is illumined, because ignorance and knowledge are born in the same place. When ignorance has arisen, knowledge can't enter, because the mind has accepted ignorance. When knowledge has arisen, ignorance cannot stay. 

So the Buddha exhorted his disciples to practice with the mind, because the world is born in this mind, the eight worldly dhammas are there. The Eightfold Path, that is, investigation through calm and insight meditation, our diligent effort and the wisdom we develop, all these things loosen the grip of the world. Attachment, aversion and delusion become lighter, and being lighter, we know them as such. If we experience fame, material gain, praise, happiness or suffering we're aware of it. We must know these things before we can transcend the world, because the world is within us. 

When we're free of these things it's just like leaving a house. When we enter a house what sort of feeling do we have? We feel that we've come through the door and entered the house. When we leave the house we feel that we've left it, we come into the bright sunlight, it's not dark like it was inside. The action of the mind entering the worldly dhammas is like entering the house. The mind which has destroyed the worldly dhammas is like one who has left the house. 

So the Dhamma practitioner must become one who witnesses the Dhamma for himself. He knows for himself whether the worldly dhammas have left or not, whether or not the path has been developed. When the path has been well developed it purges the worldly dhammas. It becomes stronger and stronger. Right view grows as wrong view decreases, until finally the path destroys defilements -- either that or defilements will destroy the path! 

Right view and wrong view, there are only these two ways. Wrong view has its tricks as well, you know, it has its wisdom -- but it's wisdom that's misguided. The meditator who begins to develop the path experiences a separation. Eventually it's as if he is two people -- one in the world and the other on the path. They divide, they pull apart. Whenever he's investigating there's this separation, and it continues on and on until the mind reaches insight, vipassana. 

Or maybe it's vipassanu! [15] Having tried to establish wholesome results in our practice, seeing them, we attach to them. This type of clinging comes from our wanting to get something from the practice. This is vipassanu, the wisdom of defilements (i.e., "defiled wisdom"). Some people develop goodness and cling to it, they develop purity and cling to that, or they develop knowledge and cling to that. The action of clinging to that goodness or knowledge is vipassanu, infiltrating our practice. 

So when you develop vipassana, be careful! Watch out for vipassanu, because they're so close that sometimes you can't tell them apart. But with right view we can see them both clearly. If it's vipassanu there will be suffering arising at times as a result. If it's really vipassana there's no suffering. There is peace. Both happiness and unhappiness are silenced. This you can see for yourself. 

This practice requires endurance. Some people, when they come to practice, don't want to be bothered by anything, they don't want friction. But there's friction the same as before. We must try to find an end to friction through friction itself! So, if there's friction in your practice, then it's right. If there's no friction it's not right, you just eat and sleep as much as you want. When you want to go anywhere or say anything you just follow your desires. The teaching of the Buddha grates. The supermundane goes against the worldly. Right view opposes wrong view, purity opposes impurity. The teaching grates against our desires. 

There's a story in the scriptures about the Buddha, before he was enlightened. At that time, having received a plate of rice, he floated that plate on a stream of water, determining in his mind, "If I am to be enlightened, may this plate float against the current of the water." The plate floated upstream! That plate was the Buddha's right view, or the Buddha-nature that he became awakened to. It didn't follow the desires of ordinary beings. It floated against the flow of his mind, it was contrary in every way. 

These days, in the same way, the Buddha's teaching is contrary to our hearts. People want to indulge in greed and hatred but the Buddha won't let them. They want to be deluded but the Buddha destroys delusion. So the mind of the Buddha is contrary to that of worldly beings. The world calls the body beautiful, he says it's not beautiful. They say the body belongs to us, he says not so. They say it's substantial, he says it's not. Right view is above the world. Worldly beings merely follow the flow of the stream. 

Continuing on, when the Buddha got up from there, he received eight handfuls of grass from a brahman. The real meaning of this is that the eight handfuls of grass were the right worldly dhammas -- gain and loss, praise and criticism, fame and disrepute, happiness and unhappiness. The Buddha, having received this grass, determined to sit on it and enter samadhi. The action of sitting on the grass was itself samadhi, that is, his mind was above the worldly dhammas, subduing the world until it realized the transcendent. The worldly dhammas became like refuse for him, they lost all meaning. He sat over them but they didn't obstruct his mind in any way. The various maras came to try to overcome him, but he just sat there in samadhi, subduing the world, until finally he became enlightened to the Dhamma and completely defeated Mara. [16] That is, he defeated the world. So the practice of developing the path is that which kills defilements. 

People these days have little faith. Having practiced a year or two they want to get there, and they want to go fast. They don't consider that the Buddha, our Teacher, had left home a full six years before he became enlightened. This is why we have "freedom from dependence." [17] According to the scriptures, a monk must have at least five rains [18] before he is considered able to live on his own. By this time he has studied and practiced sufficiently, he has adequate knowledge, he has faith, his conduct is good. Someone who practices for five years, I say he's competent. But he must really practice, not just "hang out" in the robes for five years. He must really look after the practice, really do it! 

Until you reach five rains you may wonder, "What is this 'freedom from dependence' that the Buddha talked about?" You must really try to practice for five years and then you'll know for yourself the qualities he was referring to. After that time you should be competent, competent in mind, one who is certain. At the very least, after five rains, one should be at the first stage of enlightenment. This is not just five rains in body but five rains in mind as well. That monk has fear of blame, a sense of shame and modesty. He doesn't dare to do wrong either in front of people or behind their backs, in the light or in the dark. Why not? Because he has reached the Buddha, 'The One who knows'. He takes refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. 

To depend truly on the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha we must see the Buddha. What use would it be to take refuge without knowing the Buddha? If we don't yet know the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, our taking refuge in them is just an act of body and speech, the mind still hasn't reached them. Once the mind reaches them we know what the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha are like. Then we can really take refuge in them, because these things arise in our minds. Wherever we are we will have the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha with us. 

One who is like this doesn't dare to commit evil acts. This is why we say that one who has reached the first stage of enlightenment will no longer be born in the woeful states. His mind is certain, he has entered the Stream, there is no doubt for him. If he doesn't reach full enlightenment today it will certainly be some time in the future. He may do wrong but not enough to send him to Hell, that is, he doesn't regress to evil bodily and verbal actions, he is incapable of it. So we say that person has entered the Noble Birth. He cannot return. This is something you should see and know for yourselves in this very life. 

These days, those of us who still have doubts about the practice hear these things and say, "Oh, how can I do that?" Sometimes we feel happy, sometimes troubled, pleased or displeased. For what reason? Because we don't know Dhamma. What Dhamma? Just the Dhamma of Nature, the reality around us, the body and the mind. 

The Buddha said, "Don't cling to the five khandhas, let them go, give them up!" Why can't we let them go? Just because we don't see them or know them fully. We see them as ourselves, we see ourselves in the khandhas. Happiness and suffering, we see as ourselves, we see ourselves in happiness and suffering. We can't separate ourselves from them. When we can't separate them it means we can't see Dhamma, we can't see Nature. 

Happiness, unhappiness, pleasure and sadness -- none of them is us but we take them to be so. These things come into contact with us and we see a lump of 'atta', or self. Wherever there is self there you will find happiness, unhappiness and everything else. So the Buddha said to destroy this "lump" of self, that is to destroy sakkaya ditthi. When atta (self) is destroyed, anatta (non-self) naturally arises. 

We take Nature to be us and ourselves to be Nature, so we don't know Nature truly. If it's good we laugh with it, if it's bad we cry over it. But Nature is simply sankharas. As we say in the chanting, Tesam vupasamo sukho -- pacifying the sankharas is real happiness. How do we pacify them? We simply remove clinging and see them as they really are. 

So there is truth in this world. Trees, mountains and vines all live according to their own truth, they are born and die following their nature. It's just we people who aren't true! We see it and make a fuss over it, the Nature is impassive, it just is as it is. We laugh, we cry, we kill, but Nature remains in truth, it is truth. No matter how happy or sad we are, this body just follows its own nature. It's born, it grows up and ages, changing and getting older all the time. It follows Nature in this way. Whoever takes the body to be himself and carries it around with him, will suffer. 

So Aa Kondaa recognized this "whatever is born" in everything, be it material or immaterial. His view of the world changed. He saw the truth. Having got up from his sitting place he took that truth with him. The activity of birth and death continued but he simply looked on. Happiness and unhappiness were arising and passing away but he merely noted them. His mind was constant. He no longer fell into the woeful states. He didn't get over-pleased or unduly upset about these things. His mind was firmly established in the activity of contemplation. 

There! Aa Kondaa had received the Eye of Dhamma. He saw Nature, which we call sankharas, according to truth. Wisdom is that which knows the truth of sankharas. This is the mind which knows and sees Dhamma, which has surrendered. 

Until we have seen the Dhamma we must have patience and restraint. We must endure, we must renounce! We must cultivate diligence and endurance. Why must we cultivate diligence? Because we're lazy! Why must we develop endurance? Because we don't endure! That the way it is. But when we are already established in our practice, have finished with laziness, then we don't need to use diligence. If we already know the truth of all mental states, if we don't get happy or unhappy over them, we don't need to exercise endurance, because the mind is already Dhamma. The 'One who knows' has seen the Dhamma, he is the Dhamma. 

When the mind is Dhamma, it stops. It has attained peace. There's no longer a need to do anything special, because the mind is Dhamma already. The outside is Dhamma, the inside is Dhamma. The 'One who knows' is Dhamma. The state is Dhamma and that which knows the state is Dhamma. It is one. It is free. 

This Nature is not born, it does not age nor sicken. This Nature does not die. This Nature is neither happy nor sad, neither big nor small, heavy nor light; neither short nor long, black nor white. There's nothing you can compare it to. No convention can reach it. This is why we say Nirvana has no color. All colors are merely conventions. The state which is beyond the world is beyond the reach of worldly conventions. 

So the Dhamma is that which is beyond the world. It is that which each person should see for himself. It is beyond language. You can't put it into words, you can only talk about ways and means of realizing it. The person who has seen it for himself has finished his work. 
"...Regardless of time and place, the whole practice of Dhamma comes to completion at the place where there is nothing. It's the place of surrender, of emptiness, of laying down the burden..." 


Convention and Liberation 
The things of this world are merely conventions of our own making. Having established them we get lost in them, and refuse to let go, giving rise to clinging to our personal views and opinions. This clinging never ends, it is samsara, flowing endlessly on. It has no completion. Now, if we know conventional reality then we'll know Liberation. If we clearly know Liberation, then we'll know convention. This is to know the Dhamma. Here there is completion. 

Take people, for instance. In reality people don't have any names, we are simply born naked into the world. If we have names, they arise only through convention. I've contemplated this and seen that is you don't know the truth of this convention it can be really harmful. It's simply something we use for convenience. Without it we couldn't communicate, there would be nothing to say, no language. 

I've seen the Westerners when they sit in meditation together in the West. When they get up after sitting, men and women together, sometimes they go and touch each other on the head! [19] When I saw this I thought, "Ehh, if we cling to convention it gives rise to defilements right there." If we can let go of convention, give up our opinions, we are at peace. 

Like the generals and colonels, men of rank and position, who come to see me. When they come they say, "Oh, please touch my head." [20] If they ask like this there's nothing wrong with it, they're glad to have their heads touched. But if you tapped their heads in the middle of the street it'd be a different story! This is because of clinging. So I feel that letting go is really the way of peace. Touching a head is against our customs, but in reality it is nothing. When they agree to having it touched there's nothing wrong with it, just like touching a cabbage or a potato. 

Accepting, giving up, letting go -- this is the way of lightness. Wherever you're clinging there's becoming and birth right there. There's danger right there. The Buddha taught about convention and he taught to undo convention in the right way, and so reach Liberation. This is freedom, not to cling to conventions. All things in this world have a conventional reality. Having established them we should not be fooled by them, because getting lost in them really leads to suffering. This point concerning rules and conventions is of utmost importance. One who can get beyond them is beyond suffering. 

However, they are a characteristic of our world. Take Mr. Boonmah, for instance; he used to be just one of the crowd but now he's been appointed the District Commissioner. It's just a convention but it's a convention we should respect. It's part of the world of people. If you think, "Oh, before we were friends, we used to work at the tailor's together," and then you go and pat him on the head in public, he'll get angry. It's not right, he'll resent it. So we should follow the conventions in order to avoid giving rise to resentment. It's useful to understand convention, living in the world is just about this. Know the right time and place, know the person. 

Why is it wrong to go against conventions? It's wrong because of people! You should be clever, knowing both convention and Liberations. Know the right time for each. If we know how to use rules and conventions comfortably then we are skilled. But if we try to behave according to the higher level of reality in the wrong situation, this is wrong. Where is it wrong? It's wrong with people's defilements, nothing else! People all have defilements. In one situation we behave one way, in another situation we must behave in another way. We should know the ins and outs because we live within conventions. Problems occur because people cling to them. If we suppose something to be, then it is. It's there because we suppose it to be there. But if you look closely, in the absolute sense these things don't really exist. 

As I have often said, before we were laymen and now we are monks. We lived within the convention of "layman" and now we live within the convention of "monk." We are monks by convention, not monks through Liberation. In the beginning we establish conventions like this, but if a person merely ordains, this doesn't mean he overcomes defilements. If we take a handful of sand and agree to call it salt, does this make it salt? It is salt, but only in name, not in reality. You couldn't use it to cook with. It's only use is within the realm of that agreement, because there's really no salt there, only sand. It becomes salt only through our supposing it to be so. 

This word "Liberation" is itself just a convention, but it refers to that beyond conventions. Having achieved freedom, having reached liberation, we still have to use convention in order to refer to it as liberation. If we didn't have convention we couldn't communicate, so it does have its use. 

For example, people have different names but they are all people just the same. If we didn't have names to differentiate between them, and we wanted to call out to somebody standing in a crowd, saying, "Hey, Person! Person!", that would be useless. You couldn't say who would answer you because they're all "person." But if you called, "Hey, John!", then John would come, the others wouldn't answer. Names fulfill just this need. Through them we can communicate, they provide the basis for social behavior. 

So you should know both convention and liberation. Conventions have a use, but in reality there really isn't anything there. Even people are non-existent! They are merely groups of elements, born of causal conditions, growing dependent on conditions, existing for a while, or control it. But without conventions we would have nothing to say, we'd have no names, no practice, no work. Rules and conventions are established to give us a language, to make things convenient, and that's all. 

Take money, for example. In olden times there weren't any coins or notes, they had no value. People used to barter goods, but those things were difficult to keep, so they created money using coins and notes. Perhaps in the future we'll have a new king decree that we don't have to use paper money, we should use wax, melting it down and pressing it into lumps. We say this is money and use it throughout the country. Let alone wax, it may even happen that they decide to make chicken dung the local currency -- all the other things can't be money, just chicken dung! Then people would fight and kill each other over chicken dung! This is the way it is. You could use many examples to illustrate convention. What we use for money is simply a convention that we have set up, it has its use within that convention. Having decreed it to be money, it becomes money. But in reality, what is money? Nobody can say. When there is a popular agreement about something, then a convention comes about to fulfill the need. The world is just this. 

This is convention, but to get ordinary people to understand liberation is really difficult. Our money, our house, our family, our children and relatives are simply conventions that we have invented, but really, seen in the light of Dhamma, they don't belong to us. Maybe if we hear this we don't feel so good, but in reality is like that. These things have value only through the established conventions. If we establish that it doesn't have value, then it doesn't have value. This is the way it is, we bring convention into the world to fulfill a need. 

Even this body is not really ours, we just suppose it to be so. It's truly just a supposition. If you try to find a real, substantial self within it, you can't. There are merely elements which are born, continue for a while and then die. Everything is like this. There's no real, true substance to it, but it's proper that we use it. It's a tool for your use. If it breaks there is trouble, so even though it must break, you should try your utmost to preserve it. And so we have the four supports [21] which the Buddha taught again and again to contemplate. They are the supports on which a monk depends to continue his practice. As long as you live you must depend on them, but you should understand them. Don't cling to them, giving rise to craving in your mind. 

Convention and liberation are related like this continually. Even though we use convention, don't place your trust in it as being the truth. If you cling to it, suffering will arise. The case of right and wrong is a good example. Some people see wrong as being right and right as being wrong, but in the end who really knows what is right and what is wrong? We don't know. Different people establish different conventions about what's right and what's wrong, but the Buddha took suffering as his guide-line. If you want to argue about it there's no end to it. One says, "right," another says, "wrong." One says "wrong," another says "right." In truth we don't really know right and wrong at all! But at a useful, practical level, we can say that right is not to harm oneself and not to harm others. This way fulfills a use. 

So, after all, both rules and conventions and liberation are simply dhammas. One is higher than the other, but they go hand in hand. There is no way that we can guarantee that anything is definitely like this or like that, so the Buddha said to just leave it be. Leave it be as uncertain. However much you like it or dislike it, you should understand it as uncertain. 

Regardless of time and place, the whole practice of Dhamma comes to completion at the place where there is nothing. It's the place of surrender, of emptiness, of laying down the burden. This is the finish. It's not like the person who says, "Why is the flag fluttering in the wind? I say it's because of the wind." Another person say's it's because of the flag. The other retorts that it's because of the wind. There's no end to this! The same as the old riddle, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" There's no way to reach a conclusion, this is just Nature. 

All these things we say are merely conventions, we establish them ourselves. If you know these things with wisdom then you'll know impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and not-self. This is the outlook which leads to enlightenment. 

You know, training and teaching people with varying levels of understanding is really difficult. Some people have certain ideas, you tell them something and they don't believe you. You tell them the truth and they say it's not true. "I'm right, you're wrong..." There's no end to this. If you don't let go there will be suffering. I've told you before about the four men who go into the forest. They hear a chicken crowing, "Kak-ka-dehhh!" One of them wonders, "Is that a rooster or a hen?" Three of them say together, "It's a hen," but the other doesn't agree, he insists it's a rooster. "How could a hen crow like that?" he asks. They retort, "Well, it has a mouth, hasn't it?" They argue till the tears fall, really getting upset over it, but in the end they're all wrong. Whether you say a hen or a rooster, they're only names. We establish these conventions, saying a rooster is like this, a hen is like that; a rooster cries like this, a hen cries like that... and this is how we get stuck in the world! Remember this! Actually, if you just say that really there's no hen and no rooster then that's the end of it. In the field of conventional reality one side is right and the other side it wrong, but there will never be complete agreement. Arguing till the tears fall has no use! 

The Buddha taught not to cling. How do we practice non-clinging? We practice simply to give up clinging, but this non-clinging is very difficult to understand. It takes keen wisdom to investigate and penetrate this, to really achieve non-clinging. When you think about it, whether people are happy or sad, content or discontent, doesn't depend on their having little or having much -- it depends on wisdom. All distress can be transcended only through wisdom, through seeing the truth of things. 

So the Buddha exhorted us to investigate, to contemplate. This "contemplation" means simply to try to solve these problems correctly. This is our practice. Like birth, old age, sickness and death -- they are the most natural and common of occurrences. The Buddha taught to contemplate birth, old age, sickness and death, but some people don't understand this. "What is there to contemplate?" they say. They're born but they don't know birth, they will die but they don't know death. 

A person who investigates these things repeatedly will see. Having seen he will gradually solve his problems. Even if he still has clinging, if he has wisdom and sees that old age, sickness and death are the way of Nature, then he will be able to relieve suffering. We study the Dhamma simply for this -- to cure suffering. There isn't really much as the basis of Buddhism, there's just the birth and death of suffering, and this the Buddha called the truth. Birth is suffering, old age is suffering, sickness is suffering and death is suffering. People don't see this suffering as the truth. If we know truth, then we know suffering. 

This pride in personal opinions, these arguments, they have no end. In order to put our minds at rest, to find peace, we should contemplate our past, the present, and the things which are in store for us. Like birth, old age, sickness and death. What can we do to avoid being plagued by these? Even though we may still have a little worry, if we investigate till we know according to the truth, all suffering will abate, we will no longer cling to it. 
"...The worldly way is to do things for a reason, to get some return, but in Buddhism we do things without any gaining idea.. If we don't want anything at all, what will we get? We don't get anything! Whatever you get is just a cause for suffering, so we practice not getting anything... Just make the mind peaceful and have done with it!..." 


No Abiding 
We hear some parts of the teachings and can't really understand them. We think they shouldn't be the way they are, so we don't follow them, but really there is a reason to all the teachings. Maybe it seems that things shouldn't be that way, but they are. At first I didn't even believe in sitting meditation. I couldn't see what use it would be to just sit with your eyes closed. And walking meditation... walk from this tree, turn around and walk back again... "Why bother?" I thought, "What's the use of all that walking?" I thought like that, but actually walking and sitting meditation are of great use. 

Some people's tendencies make them prefer walking meditation, others prefer sitting, but you can't do without either of them. In the scriptures they talk about the four postures: standing, walking, sitting and lying. We live with these four postures. We may prefer one to the other, but we must use all four. 

They say to make these four postures even, to make the practice even in all postures. At first I couldn't figure out what this meant, to make them even. Maybe it means we sleep for two hours, then stand for two hours, then walk for two hours... maybe that's it? I tried it -- couldn't do it, it was impossible! That's not what it meant to make the postures even. "Making the postures even" refers to the mind, to our awareness. That is, to make the mind give rise to wisdom, to illumine the mind. This wisdom of ours must be present in all postures; we must know, or understand, constantly. Standing, walking, sitting or lying, we know all mental states as impermanent, unsatisfactory and not-self. Making the postures even in this way can be done, it is possible. Whether like or dislike are present in the mind we don't forget our practice, we are aware. 

If we just focus our attention on the mind constantly then we have the gist of the practice. Whether we experience mental states which the world knows as good or bad we don't forget ourselves, we don't get lost in good or bad. We just go straight. Making the postures constant in this way is possible. If we have constancy in our practice and we are praised, then it's simply praise; if we are blamed, then it's just blame. We don't get high or low over it, we stay right here. Why? Because we see the danger in all those things, we see their results. We are constantly aware of the danger in both praise and blame. Normally, if we have a good mood the mind is good also, we see them, as the same thing; if we have a bad mood the mind goes bad as well, we don't like it. This is the way it is, this is uneven practice. 

If we have constancy just to the extent of knowing our moods, and knowing we're clinging to them, this is better already. That is, we have awareness, we know what's going on, but we still can't let go. We see ourselves clinging to good and bad, and we know it. We cling to good and know it's still not right practice, but we still can't let go. This is 50% or 70% of the practice already. There still isn't release but we know that if we could let go that would be the way to peace. We keep going like that, seeing the equally harmful consequences of all our likes and dislikes, of praise and blame, continuously. Whatever there is, the mind is constant in this way. 

But for worldly people, if they get blamed or criticized they get really upset. If they get praised it cheers them up, they say it's good and get really happy over it. If we know the truth of our various moods, if we know the consequences of clinging to praise and blame, the danger of clinging to anything at all, we will become sensitive to our moods. We will know that clinging to them really causes suffering. We see this suffering, and we see our very clinging as the cause of that suffering. We begin to see the consequences of grabbing and clinging to good and bad, because we've grasped them and seen the result before -- no real happiness. So now we look for the way to let go. 

Where is this "way to let go"? In Buddhism we say "Don't cling to anything." We never stop hearing about this "don't cling to anything!" This means to hold, but not to cling. Like this flashlight. We think, "What is this?" So we pick it up, "Oh, it's a flashlight," then we put it down again. We hold things in this way. If we didn't hold anything at all, what could we do? We couldn't walk meditation or do anything, so we must hold things first. It's wanting, yes, that's true, but later on it leads to parami (virtue or perfection). Like wanting to come here, for instance... Venerable Jagaro [22] came to Wat Pah Pong. He had to want to come first. If he hadn't felt that he wanted to come he wouldn't have come. For anybody it's the same, they come here because of wanting. But when wanting arises don't cling to it! So you come, and then you go back... What is this? We pick it up, look at it and see, "Oh, it's a flashlight," then we put it down. This is called holding but not clinging, we let go. We know and then we let go. To put it simply we say just this, "Know, then let go." Keep looking and letting go. "This, they say is good; this, they say is not good"... know, and then let go. Good and bad, we know it all, but we let it go. We don't foolishly cling to things, but we "hold" them with wisdom. Practicing in this "posture" can be constant. You must be constant like this. Make the mind know in this way, let wisdom arise. When the mind has wisdom, what else is there to look for? 

We should reflect on what we are doing here. For what reason are we living here, what are we working for? In the world they work for this or that reward, but the monks teach something a little deeper than that. Whatever we do, we ask for no return. We work for no rewards. Worldly people work because they want this or that, because they want some gain or other, but the Buddha taught to work just in order to work, we don't ask for anything beyond that. If you do something just to get some return it'll cause suffering. Try it out for yourself! You want to make your mind peaceful so you sit down and try to make it peaceful -- you'll suffer! Try it. Our way is more refined. We do, and then let go; do, and then let go. 

Look at the brahman who makes a sacrifice: he has some desire in mind, so he makes a sacrifice. Those actions of his won't help him transcend suffering because he's acting on desire. In the beginning we practice with some desire in mind; we practice on and on, but we don't attain our desire. So we practice until we reach a point where we're practicing for no return, we're practicing in order to let go. This is something we must see for ourselves, it's very deep. Maybe we practice because we want to go to Nirvana -- right there, you won't get to Nirvana! It's natural to want peace, but it's not really correct. We must practice without wanting anything at all. If we don't want anything at all, what will we get? We don't get anything! Whatever you get is just a cause for suffering, so we practice not getting anything. 

Just this is called "making the mind empty." It's empty but there is still doing. This emptiness is something people don't usually understand, but those who reach it see the value of knowing it. It's not the emptiness of not having anything, it's emptiness within the things that are here. Like this flashlight: we should see this flashlight as empty, because of the flashlight there is emptiness. It's not the emptiness where we can't see anything, it's not like that. People who understand like that have got it all wrong. You must understand emptiness within the things are here. 

Those who are still practicing because of some gaining idea are like the brahman who makes a sacrifice just to fulfill some wish. Like the people who come to see me to be sprinkled with "holy water." When I ask them, "Why do you want this 'holy water'?" they say, "We want to live happily and comfortably and not get sick." There! They'll never transcend suffering that way. The worldly way is to do things for a reason, to get some return, but in Buddhism we do things without any gaining idea. The world has to understand things in terms of cause and effect, but the Buddha teaches us to go above cause, beyond effect; to go above birth and beyond death; to go above happiness and beyond suffering. Think about it... there's nowhere to stay. We people live in a "home." To leave home and go where there is no home... we don't know how to do it, because we've always lived with becoming, with clinging. If we can't cling we don't know what to do. 

So most people don't want to go to Nirvana, there's nothing there; nothing at all. Look at the roof and the floor here. The upper extreme is the roof, that's an "abiding." The lower extreme is the floor, and that's another "abiding." But in the empty space between the floor and the roof there's nowhere stand. One could stand on the roof, or stand on the floor, but not on that empty space. Where there is no abiding, that's where there's emptiness, and, to put it bluntly, we say that Nirvana is this emptiness. People hear this and they back up a bit, they don't want to go. They're afraid they won't see their children or relatives. 

This is why, when we bless the laypeople, we say "May you have long life, beauty, happiness and strength." This makes them really happy, "Sadhu!" [23] they all say. They like these things. If you start talking about emptiness they don't want it, they're attached to abiding. But have you ever seen a very old person with a beautiful complexion? Have you ever seen an old person with a lot of strength, or a lot of happiness?... No... But we say, "Long life, beauty, happiness and strength" and they're all really pleased, every single one says "Sadhu!" This is like the brahman who makes oblations to achieve some wish. In our practice we don't "make oblations," we don't practice in order to get some return. We don't want anything. If we still want something then there is still something there. Just make the mind peaceful and have done with it! But if I talk like this you may not be very comfortable, because you want to be "born" again. 

So all you lay practitioners should get close to the monks and see their practice. To be close to the monks means to be close to the Buddha, to be close to his Dhamma. The Buddha said, "Ananda, practice a lot, develop your practice! Whoever sees the Dhamma sees me, and whoever sees me sees the Dhamma." Where is the Buddha? We may think the Buddha has been and gone, but the Buddha is the Dhamma, the Truth. Some people like to say, "Oh, if I was born in the time the Buddha I would go to Nirvana." Here, stupid people talk like this. The Buddha is still here. The Buddha is truth. Regardless of whoever is born or dies, the truth is still here. The truth never departs from the world, it's there all the time. Whether a Buddha is born or not, whether someone knows it or not, the truth is still there. So we should get close to the Buddha, we should come within and find the Dhamma. When we reach the Dhamma we will reach the Buddha; seeing the Dhamma we will see the Buddha and all doubts will dissolve. 

To put it simply, it's like Teacher Choo. [24] At first he wasn't a teacher, he was just Mr. Choo. When he studied and passed the necessary grades he became a teacher, and became known as Teacher Choo. How did he become a teacher? Through studying the required things, thus allowing Mr. Choo to become Teacher Choo. When Teacher Choo dies, the study to become a teacher still remains, and whoever studies it will become a teacher. That course of study to become a teacher doesn't disappear anywhere, just like the Truth, the knowing of which enabled the Buddha to become the Buddha. So the Buddha is still here. Whoever practices and sees the Dhamma sees the Buddha. These days people have got it all wrong, they don't know where the Buddha is. They say, "If I was born in the time of the Buddha I would have become a disciple of his and become enlightened." That's just foolishness. You should understand this. 

Don't go thinking that at the end of the rains retreat you'll disrobe. Don't think like that! In an instant an evil thought can arise in the mind, you could kill somebody. In the same way, it only takes a split-second for good to flash into the mind, and you're there already. Don't think that you have to ordain for a long time to be able to meditate. Where the right practice lies is in the instant we make kamma. In a flash an evil thought arises... before you know it you've committed some really heavy kamma. And in the same way, all the disciples of the Buddha practiced for a long time, but the time they attained enlightenment was merely one thought moment. So don't be heedless, even in minor things. Try hard, try to get close to the monks, contemplate things and then you'll know about monks. Well, that's enough, huh? It must be getting late now, some people are getting sleepy. The Buddha said not to teach Dhamma to sleepy people. 
"...Our discontent is due to wrong view. Because we don't exercise sense restraint we blame our suffering on externals... The right abiding place for monks, the place of coolness, is just Right View itself. We shouldn't look for anything else..." 


Right View -- The Place of Coolness 
The practice of Dhamma goes against our habits, the truth goes against our desires, so there is difficulty in the practice. Some things which we understand as wrong may be right, while the things we take to be right may be wrong. Why is this? Because our minds are in darkness, we don't clearly see the Truth. We don't really know anything and so are fooled by people's lies. They point out what is right as being wrong and we believe it; that which is wrong, they say is right, and we believe that. This is because we are not yet our own masters. Our moods lie to us constantly. We shouldn't take this mind and its opinions as our guide, because it doesn't know the truth. 

Some people don't want to listen to others at all, but this is not the way of a man of wisdom. A wise man listens to everything. One who listens to Dhamma must listen just the same, whether he likes it or not, and not blindly believe or disbelieve. He must stay at the half-way mark, the middle point, and not be heedless. He just listens and then contemplates, giving rise to the right results accordingly. 

A wise man should contemplate and see the cause and effect for himself before he believes what he hears. Even if the teacher speaks the truth, don't just believe it, because you don't yet know the truth of it for yourself. 

It's the same for all of us, including myself. I've practiced before you, I've seen many lies before. For instance, "This practice is really difficult, really hard." Why is the practice difficult? It's just because we think wrongly, we have wrong view. 

Previously I lived together with other monks, but I didn't feel right. I ran away to the forests and mountains, fleeing the crowd, the monks and novices. I thought that they weren't like me, they didn't practice as hard as I did. They were sloppy. That person was like this, this person was like that. This was something that really put me in turmoil, it was the cause for my continually running away. But whether I lived alone or with others I still had no peace. On my own I wasn't content, in a large group I wasn't content. I thought this discontent was due to my companions, due to my moods, due to my living place, the food, the weather, due to this and that. I was constantly searching for something to suit my mind. 

As a dhutanga [25] monk, I went traveling, but things still weren't right. So I contemplated, "What can I do to make things right? What can I do?" Living with a lot of people I was dissatisfied, with few people I was dissatisfied. For what reason? I just couldn't see it. Why was I dissatisfied? Because I had wrong view, just that; because I still clung to the wrong Dhamma. Wherever I went I was discontent, thinking, "Here is no good, there is no good..." on and on like that. I blamed others. I blamed the weather, heat and cold, I blamed everything! Just like a mad dog. It bites whatever it meets, because it's mad. When the mind is like this our practice is never settled. Today we feel good, tomorrow no good. It's like that all the time. We don't attain contentment or peace. 

The Buddha once saw a jackal, a wild dog, run out of the forest where he was staying. It stood still for a while, then it ran into the underbrush, and them out again. Then it ran into a tree hollow, then out again. Then it went into a cave, only to run out again. One minute it stood, the next it ran, then it lay down, then it jumped up... That jackal had mange. When it stood the mange would eat into its skin, so it would run. Running it was still uncomfortable, so it would lie down. Then it would jump up again, running into the underbrush, the tree hollow, never staying still. 

The Buddha said, "Monks, did you see that jackal this afternoon? Standing it suffered, running it suffered, sitting it suffered, lying down it suffered. In the underbrush, a tree hollow or a cave, it suffered. It blamed standing for its discomfort, it blamed sitting, it blamed running and lying down; it blamed the tree, the underbrush and the cave. In fact the problem was with none of those things. That jackal had mange. The problem was with the mange." 

We monks are just the same as that jackal. Our discontent is due to wrong view. Because we don't exercise sense restraint we blame our suffering on externals. Whether we live at Wat Pah Pong, in America or in London we aren't satisfied. Going to live at Bung Wai or any of the other branch monasteries we're still not satisfied. Why not? Because we still have wrong view within us, just that! Wherever we go we aren't content. 

But just as that dog, if the mange is cured, is content wherever it goes, so it is for us. I reflect on this often, and I teach you this often, because it's very important. If we know the truth of our various moods we arrive at contentment. Whether it's hot or cold we are satisfied, with many people or with few people we are satisfied. Contentment doesn't depend on how many people we are with, it comes only from right view. If we have right view then wherever we stay we are content. 

But most of us have wrong view. It's just like a maggot! A maggot's living place is filthy, its food is filthy... but they suit the maggot. If you take a stick and brush it away from its lump of dung, it'll struggle to crawl back into it. It's the same when the Ajahn teaches us to see rightly. We resist, it makes us feel uneasy. We run back to our "lump of dung" because that's where we feel at home. We're all like this. If we don't see the harmful consequences of all our wrong views then we can't leave them, the practice is difficult. So we should listen. There's nothing else to the practice. 

If we have right view wherever we go we are content. I have practiced and seen this already. These days there are many monks, novices and laypeople coming to see me. If I still didn't know, if I still had wrong view, I'd be dead by now! The right abiding place for monks, the place of coolness, is just right view itself. We shouldn't look for anything else. 

So even though you may be unhappy it doesn't matter, that unhappiness is uncertain. Is that unhappiness your "self"? Is there any substance to it? Is it real? I don't see it as being real at all. Unhappiness is merely a flash of feeling which appears and then is gone. Happiness is the same. Is there a consistency to happiness? Is it truly an entity? It's simply a feeling that flashes suddenly and is gone. There! It's born and then it dies. Love just flashes up for a moment and then disappears. Where is the consistency in love, or hate, or resentment? In truth there is no substantial entity there, they are merely impressions which flare up in the mind and then die. They deceive us constantly, we find no certainty anywhere. Just as the Buddha said, when unhappiness arises it stays for a while, then disappears. When unhappiness disappears, happiness arises and lingers for a while and then dies. When happiness disappears, unhappiness arises again... on and on like this. 

In the end we can say only this -- apart from the birth, the life and the death of suffering, there is nothing. There is just this. But we who are ignorant run and grab it constantly. We never see the truth of it, that there's simply this continual change. If we understand this then we don't need to think very much, but we have much wisdom. If we don't know it, then we will have more thinking than wisdom -- and maybe no wisdom at all! It's not until we truly see the harmful results of our actions that we can give them up. Likewise, it's not until we see the real benefits of practice that we can follow it, and begin working to make the mind "good." 

If we cut a log of wood and throw it into the river, and that log doesn't sink or rot, or run aground on either of the banks of the river, that log will definitely reach the sea. Our practice is comparable to this. If you practice according to the path laid down by the Buddha, following it straightly, you will transcend two things. What two things? Just those two extremes that the Buddha said were not the path of a true meditator -- indulgence in pleasure and indulgence in pain. These are the two banks of the river. One of the banks of that river is hate, the other is love. Or you can say that one bank is happiness, the other unhappiness. The "log" is this mind. As it "flows down the river" it will experience happiness and unhappiness. If the mind doesn't cling to that happiness or unhappiness it will reach the "ocean" of Nirvana. You should see that there is nothing other than happiness and unhappiness arising and disappearing. If you don't "run aground" on these things then you are on the path of a true meditator. 

This is the teaching of the Buddha. Happiness, unhappiness, love and hate are simply established in Nature according to the constant law of nature. The wise person doesn't follow or encourage them, he doesn't cling to them. This is the mind which lets go of indulgence in pleasure and indulgence in pain. It is the right practice. Just as that log of wood will eventually flow to the sea, so will the mind which doesn't attach to these two extremes inevitably attain peace. 
Epilogue 
...Do you know where it will end? Or will you just keep on learning like this?... Or is there an end to it?... That's okay but it's the external study, not the internal study. For the internal study you have to study these eyes, these ears, this nose, this tongue, this body and this mind. This is the real study. The study of books is just the external study, it's really hard to get it finished. 

When the eye sees form what sort of things happens? When ear, nose, and tongue experience sounds, smells and tastes, what takes place? When the body and mind come into contact with touches and mental states, what reactions take place? Are there still greed, aversion and delusion there? Do we get lost in forms, sounds, smells, tastes, textures and moods? This is the internal study. It has a point of completion. 

If we study but don't practice we won't get any results. It's like a person who raises cows. In the morning he takes the cow out to eat grass, in the evening he brings it back to its pen -- but he never drinks the cow's milk. Study is alright, but don't let it be like this. You should raise the cow and drink it's milk too. You must study and practice as well to get the best results. 

Here, I'll explain it further. It's like a person who raises chickens, but he doesn't get the eggs. All he gets is the chicken dung! This is what I tell people who raise chickens back home! Watch out you don't become like that! This means we study the scriptures but we don't know how to let go of defilements, we don't know how to "push" greed, aversion and delusion from our mind. Study without practice, without this "giving up," brings no results. This is why I compare it to someone who raises chickens but doesn't collect the eggs, he just collects the dung. It's the same thing. 

Because of this, the Buddha wanted us to study the scriptures, and then to give up evil actions through body, speech and mind; to develop goodness in our deeds, speech and thoughts. The real worth of mankind will come to fruition through our deeds, speech and thoughts. But if we only talk well, without acting accordingly, it's not yet complete. Or if we do good deeds but the mind is still not good, this is still not complete. The Buddha taught to develop fine deeds, fine speech and fine thoughts. This is the treasure of mankind. The study and the practice must both be good. 

The Eightfold Path of the Buddha, the path of practice, has eight factors. These eight factors are nothing other than this very body: two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, one tongue and one body. This is the path. And the mind is the one who follows the path. Therefore both the study and the practice exist in our body, speech and mind. 

Have you ever seen scriptures which teach about anything other than the body, the speech and the mind? The scriptures only teach about this; nothing else. Defilements are born here. If you know them they die right here. So you should understand that the practice and the study both exist right here. If we study just this much we can know everything. It's like our speech: to speak one word of Truth is better than a lifetime of wrong speech. Do you understand? One who studies and doesn't practice is like a ladle of soup pot. It's in the pot every day but it doesn't know the flavor of the soup. If you don't practice, even if you study till the day you die, you won't know the taste of Freedom! 
About the Author 
Venerable Ajahn Chah (Pra Bhodinyana Thera) was born into a typical farming family in Bahn Gor village, in the province of Ubol Rachathani, N.E. Thailand, in 1917. He lived the first part of his life as any other youngster in rural Thailand, and, following the custom, took ordination as a novice in the local village Wat for a number of years, where he learned to read and write, in addition to some basic Buddhist teachings. After a number of years he returned to the lay life to help his parents, but, feeling an attraction to the monastic life, at the age of twenty he again entered a Wat, this time for higher ordination as a bhikkhu, or Buddhist monk. 

He spent the first few years of his bhikkhu life studying scriptures and learning Pali, but the death of his father awakened him to the transience of life and instilled in him a desire to find the real essence of the Buddha's teaching. He began to travel to other monasteries, studying the monastic discipline in detail and spending a very brief but significant time with Venerable Ajahn Mun, the most outstanding meditation Master of the ascetic, forest-dwelling tradition. Following his time with Venerable Ajahn Mun, he spent a number of years traveling around Thailand, spending his time in forests and charnel grounds, ideal places for developing meditation practice. 

At length he came within the vicinity of the village of his birth, and when word got around that he was in the area, he was invited to set up a monastery at the Pa Pong forest, a place at that time reputed to be the habitat of wild animals and ghosts. Venerable Ajahn Chah's impeccable approach to meditation, or Dhamma practice, and his simple, direct style of teaching, with the emphasis on practical application and a balanced attitude, began to attract a large following of monks and laypeople. 

In 1966 the first westerner came to stay at Wat Pa Pong, Venerable Sumedho Bhikkhu. From that time on, the number of foreign people who came to Ajahn Chah began to steadily increase, until in 1975, the first branch monastery for western and other non-Thai nationals, Wat Pa Nanachat, was set up with Venerable Ajahn Sumedho as the abbot. 

In 1976 Venerable Ajahn Chah was invited to England together with Ajahn Sumedho, the outcome of which was eventually the establishment of the first branch monastery of Wat Pa Pong outside of Thailand. Since then, further branch monasteries have been established in England, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand and Italy. 

In 1980 Venerable Ajahn Chah began to feel more acutely the symptoms of dizziness and memory lapse which he had been feeling for some years. This led to an operation in 1981, which, however, failed to reverse the onset of the paralysis which eventually rendered him completely bedridden and unable to speak. However this did not stop the growth of monks and laypeople who came to practice at his monastery, for whom the teachings of Ajahn Chah are a constant guide and inspiration. 
Notes 

1. Samadhi is the state of concentrated calm resulting from meditation practice. [Go back] 

2. Jhana is an advanced state of concentration or samadhi, wherein the mind becomes absorbed into its meditation subject. It is divided into four levels, each level progressively more refined than the previous one. [Go back] 

3. That is, at all times, in all activities. [Go back] 

4. This is a "shame" based on knowledge of cause and effect, rather than mere emotional guilt. [Go back] 

5. "Outer activity" refers to all manner of sense impressions. It is used in contrast to the "inner activity" of absorption samadhi (jhana), where the mind does not "go out" to external sense impressions. [Go back] 

6. Samsara, the wheel of Birth of Death, is the world of all conditioned phenomena, mental and material, which has the three-fold characteristic of Impermanence, Unsatisfactoriness, and Not-self. [Go back] 

7. See Introduction. [Go back] 

8. In the Thai language the word "sungkahn," from the Pali word sankhara (the name given to all conditioned phenomena), is a commonly used term for the body. The Venerable Ajahn uses the word in both ways. [Go back] 

9. Paticcasamuppada -- The Chain of Conditioned Arising, one of the central doctrines of Buddhist philosophy. [Go back] 

10. Feeling is a translation of the Pali word vedana, and should be understood in the sense Ajahn Chah herein describes it: as the mental states of like, dislike, gladness, sorrow, etc. [Go back] 

11. Defilements, or kilesa, are the habits born of ignorance which infest the minds of all unenlightened beings. [Go back] 

12. Khandhas. They are the five "groups" which go to make up what we call "a person." [Go back] 

13. Nature here refers to all things, mental and physical, not just trees, animals, etc. [Go back] 

14. Silabbata paramasa is traditionally translated as attachment to rites and rituals. Here the Venerable Ajahn relates it, along with doubt, specifically to the body. These three things, sakkayaditthi, vicikiccha, and silabbata paramasa, are, in the scriptures, the first three of the ten "fetters," which are given up on the first glimpse of Enlightenment, known as "stream-entry." At full Enlightenment all ten fetters are transcended. [Go back] 

15. I.e., vipassanupakkilesa -- the subtle defilements arising from meditation practice. [Go back] 

16. Mara (the Tempter), the Buddhist personification of evil. To the meditator it is all that obstructs the quest for enlightenment. [Go back] 

17. "Freedom from dependence," that is, he lives under the guidance of a senior monk, for the first five years. [Go back] 

18. "Rains" refers to the yearly three-month rains retreat by which monks count their age. Thus, a monk of five rains has been ordained for five years. [Go back] 

19. The head is regarded as sacred in Thailand, and to touch a person's head is considered an insult. Also, according to tradition, men and women do not touch each other in public. On the other hand, sitting in meditation is regarded as a "holy" activity. Perhaps here the Venerable Ajahn was using an example of Western behavior which particularly shock a Thai audience. [Go back] 

20. It is considered auspicious in Thailand to have one's head touched by a highly esteemed monk. [Go back] 

21. The four supports -- robes, alms-food, lodgings, and medicines. [Go back] 

22. Venerable Jagaro, the Australian abbot of Wat Pah Nanachat at that time, who brought his party of monks and laypeople to see Ajahn Chah. [Go back] 

23. Sadhu is the traditional Pali word used to acknowledge a blessing, dhamma teaching, etc. It means "it is well." [Go back] 

24. In Thailand the word "Teacher" is used as a title of address much like "Doctor" is used in English. "Teacher Choo" is one of four elderly local residents who came to spend the rains retreat at Wat Pah Nanachat, to whom the latter part of this talk was addressed. [Go back] 

25. Dhutanga properly means "ascetic." A Dhutanga monk is one who keeps some of the thirteen ascetic practices allowed by the Buddha. Dhutanga monks traditionally spend time traveling (often on foot) in search of quiet places for meditation, other teachers, or simply as a practice in itself. [Go back] 
Revised: Saturday 2005.01.29

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/chah/atasteof.html
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Help | Home  Library  Thai Forest Traditions  Ajaan Chah 
Food for the Heart
by 
Venerable Ajahn Chah
Copyright  1992 The Sangha, Wat Pah Nanachat 

For free distribution only.
Any reproduction, in whole or part, in any form,
for sale, profit or material gain, is prohibited.
However, copies of this book, or permission to reprint
for free distribution, may be obtained upon notification. 

The Abbot
Wat Pah Nanachat
Bahn Bung Wai
Warinchamrab
Ubol Rajathani 34310
Thailand 

First Impression 1992. This electronic edition was transcribed from the print edition in 1994 by David Savage under the auspices of the DharmaNet Dharma Book Transcription Project, with the kind permission of the copyright holder. 
Contents
Introduction 
Dhamma Fighting 
Understanding Vinaya 
Maintaining the Standard 
Right Practice -- Steady Practice 
Samma Samadhi -- Detachment Within Activity 
The Flood of Sensuality 
In the Dead of Night... 
Sense Contact -- the Fount of Wisdom 
"Not Sure!" -- The Standard of the Noble Ones 
Transcendence 
Notes 
Introduction 

One of the most notable features of Venerable Ajahn Chah's teaching was the emphasis he gave to the Sangha, the monastic order, and its use as a vehicle for Dhamma practice. This is not to deny his unique gift for teaching lay people, which enabled him to communicate brilliantly with people from all walks of life, be they simple farmers or University professors. But the results he obtained with teaching and creating solid Sangha communities are plainly visible in the many monasteries which grew up around him, both within Thailand and, later, in England, Australia, Europe and elsewhere. Ajahn Chah foresaw the necessity of establishing the Sangha in the West if long-term results were to be realized. 

This book is a collection of talks he gave to the monastic communities in Thailand. They are exhortations given to the communities of bhikkhus, or Buddhist monks, at his own monastery, Wat Ba Pong, and some of its branches. This fact should be born in mind by the lay reader. These talks are not intended to, and indeed cannot, serve as an introduction to Buddhism and meditation practice. They are monastic teachings, addressed primarily to the lifestyle and problems particular to that situation. A knowledge of the basics of Buddhism on the part of the listener was assumed. Many of the talks will thus seem strange and even daunting to the lay reader, with their emphasis on conformity and renunciation. 

For the lay reader, then, it is essential to bear in mind the environment within which these talks were given -- the rugged, austere, poverty-stricken North-East corner of Thailand, birth place of most of Thailand's great meditation teachers and almost its entire forest monastic tradition. The people of the North-East are honed by this environment to a rugged simplicity and gentle patience which make them ideal candidates for the forest monk's lifestyle. Within this environment, in small halls dimly lit by paraffin lamps, surrounded by the assembly of monks, Ajahn Chah gave his teachings. 

Exhortations by the master occurred typically at the end of the fortnightly recitation of the Patimokkha, the monks' code of discipline. Their content would be decided by the current situation -- slackness in the practice, confusion about the rules, or just plain "unenlightenment." In a lifestyle characterized by simplicity and contentment with little, complacency is an ongoing tendency, so that talks for arousing diligent effort were a regular occurrence. 

The talks themselves are spontaneous reflections and exhortations rather than systematic teachings as most Westerners would know them. The listener was required to give full attention in the present moment and to reflect back on his own practice accordingly, rather than to memorize the teachings by rote or analyze them in terms of logic. In this way he could become aware of his own shortcomings and learn how to best put into effect the skillful means offered by the teacher. 

Although meant primarily for a monastic resident -- be one a monk, nun or novice -- the interested lay reader will no doubt obtain many insights into Buddhist practice from this book. At the very least there are the numerous anecdotes of the Venerable Ajahn's own practice which abound throughout the book; these can be read simply as biographical material or as instruction for mind training. 

From the contents of this book, it will be seen that the training of the mind is not, as many believe, simply a matter of sitting with the eyes closed or perfecting a meditation technique, but is, as Ajahn Chah would say, a great renunciation. 

The translator 
Dhamma Fighting 

Fight greed, fight aversion, fight delusion... these are the enemy. In the practice of Buddhism, the path of the Buddha, we fight with Dhamma, using patient endurance. We fight by resisting our countless moods. 

Dhamma and the world are inter-related. Where there is Dhamma there is the world, where there is the world there is Dhamma. Where there are defilements there are those who conquer defilements, who do battle with them. This is called fighting inwardly. To fight outwardly people take hold of bombs and guns to throw and to shoot; they conquer and are conquered. Conquering others is the way of the world. In the practice of Dhamma we don't have to fight others, but instead conquer our own minds, patiently enduring and resisting all our moods. 

When it comes to Dhamma practice we don't harbor resentment and enmity amongst ourselves, but instead let go of all forms of ill-will in our own actions and thoughts, freeing ourselves from jealousy, aversion and resentment. Hatred can only be overcome by not harboring resentment and bearing grudges. 

Hurtful actions and reprisals are different but closely related. Actions once done are finished with, there's no need to answer with revenge and hostility. This is called "action" (kamma). "Reprisal" (vera) means to continue that action further with thoughts of "you did it to me so I'm going to get you back." There's no end to this. It brings about the continual seeking of revenge, and so hatred is never abandoned. As long as we behave like this the chain remains unbroken, there's no end to it. No matter where we go, the feuding continues. 

The Supreme Teacher [1] taught the world, he had compassion for all worldly beings. But the world nevertheless goes on like this. The wise should look into this and select those things which are of true value. The Buddha had trained in the various arts of warfare as a prince, but he saw that they weren't really useful, they are limited to the world with its fighting and aggression. 

Therefore, in training ourselves as those who have left the world, we must learn to give up all forms of evil, giving up all those things which are the cause for enmity. We conquer ourselves, we don't try to conquer others. We fight, but we fight only the defilements; if there is greed, we fight that; if there is aversion, we fight that; if there is delusion, we strive to give it up. 

This is called "Dhamma fighting." This warfare of the heart is really difficult, in fact it's the most difficult thing of all. We become monks in order to contemplate this, to learn the art of fighting greed, aversion and delusion. This is our prime responsibility. 

This is the inner battle, fighting with defilements. But there are very few people who fight like this. Most people fight with other things, they rarely fight defilements. They rarely even see them. 

The Buddha taught us to give up all forms of evil and cultivate virtue. This is the right path. Teaching in this way is like the Buddha picking us up and placing us at the beginning of the path. Having reached the path, whether we walk along it or not is up to us. The Buddha's job is finished right there. He shows the way, that which is right and that which is not right. This much is enough, the rest is up to us. 

Now, having reached the path we still don't know anything, we still haven't seen anything, so we must learn. To learn we must be prepared to endure some hardship, just like students in the world. It's difficult enough to obtain the knowledge and learning necessary for them to pursue their careers. They have to endure. When they think wrongly or feel averse or lazy they must force themselves before they can graduate and get a job. The practice for a monk is similar. If we determine to practice and contemplate, then we will surely see the way. 

Ditthimana is a harmful thing. Ditthi means "view" or "opinion." All forms of view are called ditthi: seeing good as evil, seeing evil as good... any way whatsoever that we see things. This is not the problem. The problem lies with the clinging to those views, called mana; holding on to those views as if they were the truth. This leads us to spin around from birth to death, never reaching completion, just because of that clinging. So the Buddha urged us to let go of views. 

If many people live together, as we do here, they can still practice comfortably if their views are in harmony. But even two or three monks would have difficulty if their views were not good or harmonious. When we humble ourselves and let go of our views, even if there are many of us, we come together at the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. [2] 

It's not true to say that there will be disharmony just because there are many of us. Just look at a millipede. A millipede has many legs, doesn't it? Just looking at it you'd think it would have difficulty walking, but actually it doesn't. It has its own order and rhythm. In our practice it's the same. If we practice as the Noble Sangha of the Buddha practiced, then it's easy. That is, supatipanno -- those who practice well; ujupatipanno -- those who practice straightly; anapatipanno -- those who practice to transcend suffering, and samicipatipanno -- those who practice properly. These four qualities, established within us, will make us true members of Sangha. Even if we number in the hundreds or thousands, no matter how many we are, we all travel the same path. We come from different backgrounds, but we are the same. Even though our views may differ, if we practice correctly there will be no friction. Just like all the rivers and streams which flow to the sea... once they enter the sea they all have the same taste and color. It's the same with people. When they enter the stream of Dhamma, it's the one Dhamma. Even though they come from different places, they harmonize, they merge. 

But the thinking which causes all the disputes and conflict is ditthi-mana. Therefore the Buddha taught us to let go of views. Don't allow mana to cling to those views beyond their relevance. 

The Buddha taught the value of constant sati, [3] recollection. Whether we are standing, walking, sitting or reclining, wherever we are, we should have this power of recollection. When we have sati we see ourselves, we see our own minds. We see the "body within the body," "the mind within the mind." If we don't have sati we don't know anything, we aren't aware of what is happening. 

So sati is very important. With constant sati we will listen to the Dhamma of the Buddha at all times. This is because "eye seeing forms" is Dhamma; "ear hearing sounds" is Dhamma; "nose smelling odors" is Dhamma; "tongue tasting flavors" is Dhamma; "body feeling sensations" is Dhamma; when impressions arise in the mind, that is Dhamma also. Therefore one who has constant sati always hears the Buddha's teaching. The Dhamma is always there. Why? Because of sati, because we are aware. 

Sati is recollection, sampajaa is self-awareness. This awareness is the actual Buddho, the Buddha. When there is sati-sampajaa, understanding will follow. We know what is going on. When the eye sees forms: is this proper or improper? When the ear hears sound: is this the appropriate or inappropriate? Is it harmful? Is it wrong, is it right? And so on like this with everything. If we understand we hear the Dhamma all the time. 

So let us all understand that right now we are learning in the midst of Dhamma. Whether we go forward or step back, we meet the Dhamma -- it's all Dhamma if we have sati? Even seeing the animals running around in the forest we can reflect, seeing that all animals are the same as us. They run away from suffering and chase after happiness, just as people do. Whatever they don't like they avoid; they are afraid of dying, just like people. If we reflect on this, we see that all beings in the world, people as well, are the same in their various instincts. Thinking like this is called "bhavana," [4] seeing according to the truth, that all beings are companions in birth, old age, sickness and death. Animals are the same as human beings and human beings are the same as animals. If we really see things the way they are our mind will give up attachment to them. 

Therefore it is said we must have sati. If we have sati we will see the state of our own mind. Whatever we are thinking or feeling we must know it. This knowing is called Buddho, the Buddha, the one who knows... who knows thoroughly, who knows clearly and completely. When the mind knows completely we find the right practice. 

So the straight way to practice is to have mindfulness, sati. If you are without sati for five minutes you are crazy for five minutes, heedless for five minutes. whenever you are lacking in sati you are crazy. Sati is essential. To have sati is to know yourself, to know the condition of your mind and your life. This is to have understanding and discernment, to listen to the Dhamma at all times. After leaving the teacher's discourse, you still hear the Dhamma, because the Dhamma is everywhere. 

So therefore, all of you, be sure to practice every day. Whether lazy or diligent, practice just the same. Practice of the Dhamma is not done by following your moods. If you practice following your moods then it's not Dhamma. Don't discriminate between day and night, whether the mind is peaceful or not... just practice. 

It's like a child who is learning to write. At first he doesn't write nicely -- big, long loops and squiggles -- he writes like a child. After a while the writing improves through practice. Practicing the Dhamma is like this. At first you are awkward... sometimes calm, sometimes not, you don't really know what's what. Some people get discouraged. Don't slacken off! You must persevere with the practice. Live with effort, just like the schoolboy: as he gets older he writes better and better. From writing badly he grows to write beautifully, all because of the practice from childhood. 

Our practice is like this. Try to have recollection at all times: standing, walking, sitting or reclining. When we perform our various duties smoothly and well, we feel peace of mind. When there is peace of mind in our work it's easy to have peaceful meditation, they go hand in hand. So make an effort. You should all make an effort to follow the practice. This is training. 
Understanding Vinaya 

This practice of ours is not easy. We may know some things but there is still much that we don't know. For example, when we hear teachings such as "know the body, then know the mind within the body"; or "know the mind, then know the mind within the mind." If we haven't yet practiced these things, then we hear them we may feel baffled. The Vinaya [5] is like this. In the past I used to be a teacher, [6] but I was only a "small teacher," not a big one. Why do I say a "small teacher"? Because I didn't practice. I taught the Vinaya but I didn't practice it. This I call a small teacher, an inferior teacher. I say an "inferior teacher" because when it came to the practice I was deficient. For the most part my practice was a long way off the theory, just as if I hadn't learned the Vinaya at all. 

However, I would like to state that in practical terms it's impossible to know the Vinaya completely, because some things, whether we know them or not, are still offenses. This is tricky. And yet it is stressed that if we do not yet understand any particular training rule or teaching, we must study that rule with enthusiasm and respect. If we don't know, then we should make an effort to learn. If we don't make an effort, that is in itself an offense. 

For example, if you doubt... suppose there is a woman and, not knowing whether she is a woman or a man, you touch her. [7] You're not sure, but still go ahead and touch... that's still wrong. I used to wonder why that should be wrong, but when I considered the practice, I realized that a meditator must have sati, he must be circumspect. Whether talking, touching or holding things, he must first thoroughly consider. The error in this case is that there is no sati, or insufficient sati, or a lack of concern at that time. 

Take another example: it's only eleven o'clock in the morning but at the time the sky is cloudy, we can't see the sun, and we have no clock. Now suppose we estimate that it's probably afternoon... we really feel that it's afternoon... and yet we proceed to eat something. We start eating and then the clouds part and we see from the position of the sun that it's only just past eleven. This is still an offense. [8] I used to wonder, "Eh? It's not yet past mid-day, why is this an offense?" 

An offense is incurred here because of negligence, carelessness, we don't thoroughly consider. There is a lack of restraint. If there is doubt and we act on the doubt, there is a dukkata [9] offense just for acting in the face of the doubt. We think that it is afternoon when in fact it isn't. The act of eating is not wrong in itself, but there is an offense here because we are careless and negligent. If it really is afternoon but we think it isn't, then it's the heavier pacittiya offense. If we act with doubt, whether the action is wrong or not, we still incur an offense. If the action is not wrong in itself it is the lesser offense; if it is wrong then the heavier offense is incurred. Therefore the Vinaya can get quite bewildering. 

At one time I went to see Venerable Ajahn Mun. [10] At that time I had just begun to practice. I had read the Pubbasikkha [11] and could understand that fairly well. Then I went on to read the Visuddhimagga, where the author writes of the Silanidesa (Book of Precepts), Samadhinidesa (Book of Mind-Training) and Paanidesa (Book of Understanding)... I felt my head was going to burst! After reading that, I felt that it was beyond the ability of a human being to practice. But then I reflected that the Buddha would not teach something that is impossible to practice. He wouldn't teach it and he wouldn't declare it, because those things would be useful neither to himself nor to others. The Silanidesa is extremely meticulous, the Samadhinidesa more so, and the Paanidesa even more so! I sat and thought, "Well, I can't go any further. There's no way ahead." It was as if I'd reached a dead-end. 

At this stage I was struggling with my practice... I was stuck. It so happened that I had a chance to go and see Venerable Ajahn Mun, so I asked him: "Venerable Ajahn, what am I to do? I've just begun to practice but I still don't know the right way. I have so many doubts I can't find any foundation at all in the practice." 

He asked, "What's the problem?" 

"In the course of my practice I picked up the Visuddhimagga and read it, but it seems impossible to put into practice. The contents of the Silanidesa, Samadhinidesa and Paanidesa seem to be completely impractical. I don't think there is anybody in the world who could do it, it's so detailed and meticulous. To memorize every single rule would be impossible, it's beyond me." 

He said to me: "Venerable... there's a lot, it's true, but it's really only a little. If we were to take account of every training rule in the Silanidesa that would be difficult... true... But actually, what we call the Silanidesa has evolved from the human mind. If we train this mind to have a sense of shame and a fear of wrong-doing, we will then be restrained, we will be cautious... 

"This will condition us to be content with little, with few wishes, because we can't possibly look after a lot. When this happens our sati becomes stronger. We will be able to maintain sati at all times. Wherever we are we will make the effort to maintain thorough sati. Caution will be developed. Whatever you doubt don't say it, don't act on it. If there's anything you don't understand, ask the teacher. Trying to practice every single training rule would indeed be burdensome, but we should examine whether we are prepared to admit our faults or not. Do we accept them?" 

This teaching is very important. It's not so much that we must know every single training rule, if we know how to train our own minds. 

"All that stuff that you've been reading arises from the mind. If you still haven't trained your mind to have sensitivity and clarity you will be doubting all the time. You should try to bring the teachings of the Buddha into your mind. Be composed in mind. Whatever arises that you doubt, just give it up. If you don't really know for sure then don't say it or do it. For instance, if you wonder, "Is this wrong or not?" -- that is, you're not really sure -- then don't say it, don't act on it, don't discard your restraint." 

As I sat and listened, I reflected that this teaching conformed with the eight ways for measuring the true teaching of the Buddha: Any teaching that speaks of the diminishing of defilements; which leads out of suffering; which speaks of renunciation (of sensual pleasures); of contentment with little; of humility and disinterest in rank and status; of aloofness and seclusion; of diligent effort; of being easy to maintain... these eight qualities are characteristics of the true Dhamma-vinaya, the teaching of the Buddha. anything in contradiction to these is not. 

"If we are genuinely sincere we will have a sense of shame and a fear of wrongdoing. We will know that if there is doubt in our mind we will not act on it nor speak on it. The Silanidesa is only words. For example, hiri-ottappa [12] in the books is one thing, but in our minds it is another." 

Studying the Vinaya with Venerable Ajahn Mun I learned many things. As I sat and listened, understanding arose. 

So, when it comes to the Vinaya I've studied considerably. Some days during the Rains Retreat I would study from six o'clock in the evening through till dawn. I understand it sufficiently. All the factors of apatti [13] which are covered in the Pubbasikkha I wrote down in a notebook and kept in my bag. I really put effort into it, but in later times I gradually let go. It was too much. I didn't know which was the essence and which was the trimming, I had just taken all of it. When I understood more fully I let it drop off because it was too heavy. I just put my attention into my own mind and gradually did away with the texts. 

However, when I teach the monks here I still take the Pubbasikkha as my standard. For many years here at Wat Ba Pong it was I myself who read it to the assembly. In those days I would ascend the Dhamma-seat and go on until at least eleven o'clock or midnight, some days even one or two o'clock in the morning. We were interested. And we trained. After listening to the Vinaya reading we would go and consider what we'd heard. You can't really understand the Vinaya just by listening to it. Having listened to it you must examine it and delve into it further. 

Even though I studied these things for many years my knowledge was still not complete, because there were so many ambiguities in the texts. Now that it's been such a long time since I looked at the books, my memory of the various training rules has faded somewhat, but within my mind there is no deficiency. There is a standard there. There is no doubt, there is understanding. I put away the books and concentrated on developing my own mind. I don't have doubts about any of the training rules. The mind has an appreciation of virtue, it won't dare do anything wrong, whether in public or in private. I do not kill animals, even small ones. If someone were to ask me to intentionally kill an ant or a termite, to squash one with my hand, for instance, I couldn't do it, even if they were to offer me thousands of baht to do so. Even one ant or termite! The ant's life would have greater value to me. 

However, it may be that I may cause one to die, such as when something crawls up my leg and I brush it off. Maybe it dies, but when I look into my mind there is no feeling of guilt. There is no wavering or doubt. Why? Because there was no intention. Silam vadami bhikkhave cetanaham: "Intention is the essence of moral training." Looking at it in this way I see that there was no intentional killing. Sometimes while walking I may step on an insect and kill it. In the past, before I really understood, I would really suffer over things like that. I would think I had committed an offense. 

"What? There was no intention." "There was no intention, but I wasn't being careful enough!" I would go on like this, fretting and worrying. 

So this Vinaya is something which can be disturb practicers of Dhamma, but it also has its value, in keeping with what the teachers say -- "Whatever training rules you don't yet know you should learn. If you don't know you should question those who do." They really stress this. 

Now if we don't know the training rules, we won't be aware of our transgressions against them. Take, for example, a Venerable Thera of the past, Ajahn Pow of Wat Kow Wong Got in Lopburi Province. One day a certain Maha, [14] a disciple of his, was sitting with him, when some women came up and asked, 

"Luang Por! We want to invite you to go with us on an excursion, will you go?" 

Luang Por Pow didn't answer. The Maha sitting near him thought that Venerable Ajahn Pow hadn't heard, so he said, 

"Luang Por, Luang Por! Did you hear? These women invited you to go for a trip." 

He said, "I heard." 

The women asked again, "Luang Por, are you going or not?" 

He just sat there without answering, and so nothing came of the invitation. When they had gone, the Maha said, 

"Luang Por, why didn't you answer those women?" 

He said, "Oh, Maha, don't you know this rule? Those people who were here just now were all women. If women invite you to travel with them you should not consent. If they make the arrangements themselves that's fine. If I want to go I can, because I didn't take part in making the arrangements." 

"The Maha sat and thought, "Oh, I've really made a fool of myself." 

The Vinaya states that to make an arrangement, and then travel together with, women, even though it isn't as a couple, is a pacittiya offense. 

Take another case. Lay people would bring money to offer Venerable Ajahn Pow on a tray. He would extend his receiving cloth, [15] holding it at one end. But when they brought the tray forward to lay it on the cloth he would retract his hand from the cloth. Then he would simply abandon the money where it lay. He knew it was there, but he would take no interest in it, just get up and walk away, because in the Vinaya it is said that if one doesn't consent to the money it isn't necessary to forbid laypeople from offering it. If he had desire for it, he would have to say, "Householder, this is not allowable for a monk." He would have to tell them. If you have desire for it, you must forbid them from offering that which is unallowable. However, if you really have no desire for it, it isn't necessary. You just leave it there and go. 

Although the Ajahn and his disciples lived together for many years, still some of his disciples didn't understand Ajahn Pow's practice. This is a poor state of affairs. As for myself, I looked into and contemplated many of Venerable Ajahn Pow's subtler points of practice. 

The Vinaya can even cause some people to disrobe. When they study it all the doubts come up. It goes right back into the past..."my ordination, was it proper? [16] Was my preceptor pure? None of the monks who sat in on my ordination knew anything about the Vinaya, were they sitting at the proper distance? Was the chanting correct?" The doubts come rolling on..."The hall I ordained in, was it proper? It was so small..." They doubt everything and fall into hell. 

So until you know how to ground your mind it's really difficult. You have to be very cool, you can't just jump into things. But to be so cool that you don't bother to look into things is wrong also. I was so confused I almost disrobed because I saw so many faults within my own practice and that of some of my teachers. I was on fire and couldn't sleep because of those doubts. 

The more I doubted, the more I meditated, the more I practiced. Wherever doubt arose I practiced right at that point. Wisdom arose. Things began to change. It's hard to describe the change that took place. The mind changed until there was no more doubt. I don't know how it changed, if I were to tell someone they probably wouldn't understand. 

So I reflected on the teaching Paccattam veditabbo viuhi -- the wise must know for themselves. It must be a knowing that arises through direct experience. Studying the Dhamma-vinaya is certainly correct but if it's just the study it's still lacking. If you really get down to the practice you begin to doubt everything. Before I started to practice I wasn't interested in the minor offenses, but when I started practicing, even the dukkata offenses became as important as the parajika offenses. Before, the dukkata offenses seemed like nothing, just a trifle. That's how I saw them. In the evening you could confess them and they would be done with. Then you could transgress them again. This sort of confession is impure, because you don't stop, you don't decide to change. There is no restraint, you simply do it again and again. There is no perception of the truth, no letting go. 

Actually, in terms of ultimate truth, it's not necessary to go through the routine of confessing offenses. If we see that our mind is pure and there is no trace of doubt, then those offenses drop off right there. That we are not yet pure is because we still doubt, we still waver. We are not really pure so we can't let go. We don't see ourselves, this is the point. This Vinaya of ours is like a fence to guard us from making mistakes, so it's something we need to be scrupulous with. 

If you don't see the true value of the Vinaya for yourself it's difficult. Many years before I came to Wat Ba Pong I decided I would give up money. For the greater part of a Rains Retreat I had thought about it. In the end I grabbed my wallet and walked over to a certain Maha who was living with me at the time, setting the wallet down in front of him. 

"Here, Maha, take this money. From today onwards, as long as I'm a monk, I will not receive or hold money. You can be my witness." 

"You keep it, Venerable, you may need it for your studies"... The Venerable Maha wasn't keen to take the money, he was embarrassed... 

"Why do you want to throw away all this money?" 

"You don't have to worry about me. I've made my decision. I decided last night." 

From the day he took that money it was as if a gap had opened between us. We could no longer understand each other. He's still my witness to this very day. Ever since that day I haven't used money or engaged in any buying or selling. I've been restrained in every way with money. I was constantly wary of wrongdoing, even though I hadn't done anything wrong. Inwardly I maintained the meditation practice. I no longer needed wealth, I saw it as a poison. Whether you give poison to a human being, a dog or anything else, it invariably causes death or suffering. If we see clearly like this we will be constantly on our guard not to take that "poison." When we clearly see the harm in it, it's not difficult to give up. 

Regarding food and meals brought as offerings, if I doubted them I wouldn't accept them. No matter how delicious or refined the food might be, I wouldn't eat it. Take a simple example, like raw pickled fish. Suppose you are living in a forest and you go on almsround and receive only rice and some pickled fish wrapped in leaves. When you return to your dwelling and open the packet you find that it's raw pickled fish... just throw it away! [17] Eating plain rice is better than transgressing the precepts. It has to be like this before you can say you really understand, then the Vinaya becomes simpler. 

If other monks wanted to give me requisites, such as bowl, razor or whatever, I wouldn't accept, unless I knew them as fellow practicers with a similar standard of Vinaya. Why not? How can you trust someone who is unrestrained? They can do all sorts of things. Unrestrained monks don't see the value of the Vinaya, so it's possible that they could have obtained those things in improper ways. I was as scrupulous as this. 

As a result, some of my fellow monks would look askance at me..."He doesn't socialize, he won't mix..." I was unmoved: "Sure, we can mix when we die. When it comes to death we are all in the same boat," I thought. I lived with endurance. I was one who spoke little. If others criticized my practice I was unmoved. Why? Because even if I explained to them they wouldn't understand. They knew nothing about practice. Like those times when I would be invited to a funeral ceremony and somebody would say, "...Don't listen to him! Just put the money in his bag and don't say anything about it... don't let him know." [18] I would say, "Hey, do you think I'm dead or something? Just because one calls alcohol perfume doesn't make it become perfume, you know. But you people, when you want to drink alcohol you call it perfume, then go ahead and drink. You must be crazy!". 

The Vinaya, then, can be difficult. You have to be content with little, aloof. You must see, and see right. Once, when I was traveling through Saraburi, my group went to stay in a village temple for a while. The Abbot there had about the same seniority as myself. In the morning, we would all go on almsround together, then come back to the monastery and put down our bowls. Presently the laypeople would bring dishes of food into the hall and set them down. Then the monks would go and pick them up, open them and lay them in a line to be formally offered. One monk would put his hand on the dish at the other end. And that was it! With that the monks would bring them over and distribute them to be eaten. 

About five monks were traveling with me at the time, but not one of us would touch that food. On almsround all we received was plain rice, so we sat with them and ate plain rice, none of us would dare eat the food from those dishes. 

This went on for quite a few days, until I began to sense that the Abbot was disturbed by our behavior. One of his monks had probably gone to him and said, "Those visiting monks won't eat any of the food. I don't know what they're up to." 

I had to stay there for a few days more, so I went to the Abbot to explain. 

I said, "Venerable Sir, may I have a moment please? At this time I have some business which means I must call on your hospitality for some days, but in doing so I'm afraid there may be one or two things which you and your fellow monks find puzzling: namely, concerning our not eating the food which has been offered by the laypeople. I'd like to clarify this with you, sir. It's really nothing, it's just that I've learned to practice like this... that is, the receiving of the offerings, sir. When the lay people lay the food down and then the monks go and open the dishes, sort them out and then have them formally offered... this is wrong. It's a dukkata offense. Specifically, to handle or touch food which hasn't yet been formally offered into a monk's hands, "ruins" that food. According to the Vinaya, any monk who eats that food incurs an offense. 

"It's simply this one point, sir. It's not that I'm criticizing anybody, or that I'm trying to force you or your monks to stop practicing like this... not at all. I just wanted to let you know of my good intentions, because it will be necessary for me to stay here for a few more days. 

He lifted his hands in ajali, [19] "Sadhu! Excellent! I've never yet seen a monk who keeps the minor rules in Saraburi. there aren't any to be found these days. If there still are such monks they must live outside of Saraburi. May I commend you. I have no objections at all, that's very good." 

The next morning when we came back from almsround not one of the monks would go near those dishes. The laypeople themselves sorted them out and offered them, because they were afraid the monks wouldn't eat. From that day onwards the monks and novices there seemed really on edge, so I tried to explain things to them, to put their minds at rest. I think they were afraid of us, they just went into their rooms and closed themselves in in silence. 

For two or three days I tried to make them feel at ease because they were so ashamed, I really had nothing against them. I didn't say things like "There's not enough food," or "bring 'this' or 'that' food." Why not? Because I had fasted before, sometimes for seven or eight days. Here I had plain rice, I knew I wouldn't die. Where I got my strength from was the practice, from having studied and practiced accordingly. 

I took the Buddha as my example. Wherever I went, whatever others did, I wouldn't involve myself. I devoted myself solely to the practice, because I cared for myself, I cared for the practice. 

Those who don't keep the Vinaya or practice meditation and those who do practice can't live together, they must go separate ways. I didn't understand this myself in the past. As a teacher I taught others but I didn't practice. This is really bad. When I looked deeply into it, my practice and my knowledge were as far apart as earth and sky. 

Therefore, those who want to go and set up meditation centers in the forest... don't do it. If you don't yet really know, don't bother trying, you'll only make a mess of it. Some monks think that going to live in the forest they will find peace, but they still don't understand the essentials of practice. They cut grass for themselves, [20] do everything themselves... Those who really know the practice aren't interested in places like this, they won't prosper. Doing it like that won't lead to progress. No matter how peaceful the forest may be you can't progress if you do it wrong. 

They see the forest monks living in the forest and go to live in the forest like them, but it's not the same. The robes are not the same, eating habits are not the same, everything is different. Namely, they don't train themselves, they don't practice. The place is wasted, it doesn't really work. If it does work, it does so only as a venue for showing off or publicizing, just like a medicine show. It goes no further than that. Those who have only practiced a little and then go to teach others are not yet ripe, they don't really understand. In a short time they give up and it falls apart. It just brings trouble. 

So we must study somewhat, look at the Navakovada, [21] what does it say? Study it, memorize it, until you understand. From time to time ask your teacher concerning the finer points, he will explain them. Study like this until you really understand the Vinaya. 
Maintaining the Standard 

Today we are meeting together as we do every year after the annual Dhamma examinations. [22] At this time all of you should reflect on the importance of carrying out the various duties of the monastery, those toward the preceptor and those toward the teachers. These are what hold us together as a single group, enabling us to live in harmony and concord. They are also what lead us to have respect for each other, which in turn benefits the community. 

In all communities, from the time of the Buddha till the present, no matter what form they may take, if the residents have no mutual respect they cannot succeed. Whether they be secular communities or monastic ones, if they lack mutual respect they have no solidarity. If there is no mutual respect, negligence sets in and the practice eventually degenerates. 

Our community of Dhamma practicers has lived here for about twenty five years now, steadily growing, but it could deteriorate. We must understand this point. But if we are all heedful, have mutual respect and continue to maintain the standards of practice, I feel that our harmony will be firm. Our practice as a group will be a source of growth for Buddhism for a long time to come. 

Now in regard to the study and the practice, they are a pair. Buddhism has grown and flourished until the present time because of the study going hand in hand with practice. If we simply learn the scriptures in a heedless way negligence sets in... For example, in the first year here we had seven monks for the Rains Retreat. At that time, I thought to myself, "Whenever monks start studying for Dhamma Examinations the practice seems to degenerate." Considering this, I tried to determine the cause, so I began to teach the monks who were there for the Rains Retreat -- all seven of them. I taught for about forty days, from after the meal till six in the evening, every day. The monks went for the exams and it turned out there was a good result in that respect, all seven of them passed. 

That much was good, but there was a certain complication regarding those who were lacking in circumspection. To study, it is necessary to do a lot of reciting and repeating. Those who are unrestrained and unreserved tend to grow lax with the meditation practice and spend all their time studying, repeating and memorizing. This causes them to throw out their old abiding, their standards of practice. And this happens very often. 

So it was when they had finished their studies and taken their exams I could see a change in the behavior of the monks. There was no walking meditation, only a little sitting, and an increase in socializing. There was less restraint and composure. 

Actually, in our practice, when you do walking meditation, you should really determine to walk; when sitting in meditation, you should concentrate on doing just that. Whether you are standing, walking, sitting or lying down, you should strive to be composed. But when people do a lot of study, their minds are full of words, they get high on the books and forget themselves. They get lost in externals. Now this is so only for those who don't have wisdom, who are unrestrained and don't have steady sati. For these people studying can be a cause for decline. When such people are engaged in study they don't do any sitting or walking meditation and become less and less restrained. Their minds become more and more distracted. Aimless chatter, lack of restraint and socializing become the order of the day. This is the cause for the decline of the practice. It's not because of the study in itself, but because certain people don't make the effort, they forget themselves. 

Actually the scriptures are pointers along the path of practice. If we really understand the practice, then reading or studying are both further aspects of meditation. But if we study and then forget ourselves it gives rise to a lot of talking and fruitless activity. People throw out the meditation practice and soon want to disrobe. Most of those who study and fail soon disrobe. It's not that the study is not good, or that the practice is not right. It's that people fail to examine themselves. 

Seeing this, in the second rains retreat I stopped teaching the scriptures. Many years later more and more young men came to become monks. Some of them knew nothing about the Dhamma-Vinaya and were ignorant of the texts, so I decided to rectify the situation, asking those senior monks who had already studied to teach, and they have taught up until the present time. This is how we came to have studying here. 

However, every year when the exams are finished, I ask all the monks to re-establish their practice. All those scriptures which aren't directly concerned with the practice, put them away in the cupboards. Re-establish yourselves, go back to the regular standards. Re-establish the communal practices such as coming together for the daily chanting. This is our standard. Do it even if only to resist your own laziness and aversion. This encourages diligence. 

Don't discard your basic practices: eating little, speaking little, sleeping little; restraint and composure; aloofness; regular walking and sitting meditation; meeting together regularly at the appropriate times. Please make an effort with these, every one of you. Don't let this excellent opportunity go to waste. Do the practice. You have this chance to practice here because you live under the guidance of the teacher. He protects you on one level, so you should all devote yourselves to the practice. You've done walking meditation before, now also you should sit. In the past you've chanted together in the mornings and evenings, and now also you should make the effort. These are your specific duties, please apply yourselves to them. 

Those who simply "kill time" in the robes don't have any strength, you know. The ones who are floundering, homesick, confused... do you see them? These are the ones who don't put their minds into the practice. They don't have any work to do. We can't just lie around here. Being a Buddhist monk or novice you live and eat well, you shouldn't take it for granted. Kamasukhallikanuyogo [23] is a danger. Make an effort to find your own practice. Whatever is faulty, work to rectify, don't get lost in externals. 

One who has zeal never misses walking and sitting meditation, never lets up in the maintenance of restraint and composure. Just observe the monks here. Whoever, having finished the meal and any business there may be, having hung out his robes, walks meditation -- and when we walk past his kuti [24] we see the walking path a well-worn trail, and we see it often -- this monk is not bored with the practice. This is one who has effort, who has zeal. 

If all of you devote yourselves like this to the practice, then not many problems will arise. If you don't abide with the practice, the walking and sitting meditation, there's nothing more than just traveling around. Not liking it here you go traveling over there; not liking it there you come touring back here. That's all there is to it, following your noses everywhere. These people don't persevere, it's good enough. You don't have to do a lot of traveling around, just stay here and develop the practice, learn it in detail. Traveling round can wait till later, it's not difficult. Make an effort, all of you. 

Prosperity and decline hinge on this. If you really want to do things properly, then study and practice in proportion; use both of them together. It's like the body and the mind. If the mind is at ease and the body free of disease and healthy, then the mind becomes composed. If the mind is confused, even if the body is strong there will be difficulty, let alone when the body experiences discomfort. 

The study of meditation is the study of cultivation and relinquishment. What I mean by study here is: whenever the mind experiences a sensation, do we still cling to it? Do we still create problems around it? Do we still experience enjoyment or aversion over it? To put it simply: Do we still get lost in our thoughts? Yes, we do. If we don't like something we react with aversion; if we do like it we react with pleasure, the mind becomes defiled and stained. If this is the case then we must see that we still have faults, we are still imperfect, we still have work to do. There must be more relinquishing and more persistent cultivation. This is what I mean by studying. If we get stuck on anything, we recognize that we are stuck. We know what state we're in, and we work to correct ourselves. 

Living with the teacher or apart from the teacher should be the same. Some people are afraid. They're afraid that if they don't walk meditation the teacher will upbraid or scold them. This is good in a way, but in the true practice you don't need to be afraid of others, just be wary of faults arising within your own actions, speech or thoughts. When you see faults in your actions, speech or thoughts you must guard yourselves. Attano jodayattanam -- "you must exhort yourself," don't leave it to others to do. We must quickly improve ourselves, know ourselves. This is called "studying," cultivating and relinquishing. Look into this till you see it clearly. 

Living in this way we rely on endurance, persevering in face of all defilements. Although this is good, it is still on the level of "practicing the Dhamma without having seen it." If we have practiced the Dhamma and seen it, then whatever is wrong we will have already given up, whatever is useful we will have cultivated. Seeing this within ourselves, we experience a sense of well-being. No matter what others say, we know our own mind, we are not moved. We can be at peace anywhere. 

Now the younger monks and novices who have just begun to practice may think that the senior Ajahn doesn't seem to do much walking or sitting meditation. Don't imitate him in this. You should emulate, but not imitate. To emulate is one thing, to imitate another. The fact is that the senior Ajahn dwells within his own particular contented abiding. Even though he doesn't seem to practice externally, he practices inwardly. Whatever is in his mind cannot be seen by the eye. The practice of Buddhism is the practice of the mind. Even though the practice may not be apparent in his actions or speech, the mind is a different matter. 

Thus, a teacher who has practiced for a long time, who is proficient in the practice, may seem to let go of his actions and speech, but he guards his mind. He is composed. Seeing only his outer actions you may try to imitate him, letting go and saying whatever you want to say, but it's not the same thing. You're not in the same league. Think about this. 

There's a real difference, you are acting from different places. Although the Ajahn seems to simply sit around, he is not being careless. He lives with things but it is not confused by them. We can't see this, whatever is in his mind is invisible to us. Don't judge simply by external appearances, the mind is the important thing. When we speak, our minds follow that speech. Whatever actions we do, our minds follow, but one who has practiced already may do or say things which his mind doesn't follow, because it adheres to Dhamma and Vinaya. For example, sometimes the Ajahn may be severe with his disciples, his speech may appear to be rough and careless, his actions may seem coarse. Seeing this, all we can see are his bodily and verbal actions, but the mind which adheres to Dhamma and Vinaya can't be seen. Adhere to the Buddha's instruction: "Don't be heedless." "Heedfulness is the way to the Deathless. Heedfulness is death." Consider this. Whatever others do is not important, just don't be heedless, this is the important thing. 

All I have been saying here is simply to warn you that now, having completed the exams, you have a chance to travel around and do many things. May you all constantly remember yourselves as practicers of the Dhamma; a practicer must be collected, restrained and circumspect. 

Consider the teaching which says "Bhikkhu: one who seeks alms." If we define it this way our practice takes on one form... very coarse. If we understand this word the way the Buddha defined it, as one who sees the danger of samsara, [25] this is much more profound. 

One who sees the danger of samsara is one who sees the faults, the liability of this world. In this world there is so much danger, but most people don't see it, they see the pleasure and happiness of the world. Now the Buddha says that a bhikkhu is one who sees the danger of samsara. What is samsara? The suffering of samsara is overwhelming, it's intolerable. Happiness is also samsara. The Buddha taught us not to cling to them. If we don't see the danger of samsara, then when there is happiness we cling to the happiness and forget suffering. We are ignorant of it, like a child who doesn't know fire. 

If we understand Dhamma practice in this way..."Bhikkhu: one who sees the danger of samsara"...if we have this understanding, walking, sitting or lying down, wherever we may be, we will feel dispassion. We reflect on ourselves, heedfulness is there. Even sitting at ease, we feel this way. Whatever we do we see this danger, so we are in a very different state. This practice is called being "one who sees the danger of samsara." 

One who sees the danger of samsara lives within samsara and yet doesn't. That is, he understands concepts and he understands their transcendence. Whatever such a person says is not like ordinary people. Whatever he does is not the same, whatever he thinks is not the same. His behavior is much wiser. 

Therefore it is said: "Emulate but don't imitate." There are two ways -- emulation and imitation. One who is foolish will grab on to everything. You mustn't do that! Don't forget yourselves. 

As for me, this year my body is not so well. Some things I will leave to the other monks and novices to help take care of. Perhaps I will take a rest. From time immemorial it's been this way, and in the world it's the same: as long as the father and mother are still alive, the children are well and prosperous. When the parents die, the children separate. Having been rich they become poor. This is usually how it is, even in the lay life, and one can see it here as well. For example, while the Ajahn is still alive everybody is well and prosperous. As soon as he passes away decline begins to set in immediately. Why is this? Because while the teacher is still alive people become complacent and forget themselves. They don't really make an effort with the study and the practice. As in lay life, while the mother and father are still alive, the children just leave everything up to them. They lean on their parents and don't know how to look after themselves. When the parents die they become paupers. In the monkhood it's the same. If the Ajahn goes away or dies, the monks tend to socialize, break up into groups and drift into decline, almost every time. 

Why is this? It's because they forget themselves. Living off the merits of the teacher everything runs smoothly. When the teacher passes away, the disciples tend to split up. Their views clash. Those who think wrongly live in one place, those who think rightly live in another. Those who feel uncomfortable leave their old associates and set up new places and start new lineages with their own groups of disciples. This is how it goes. In the present it's the same. This is because we are at fault. While the teacher is still alive we are at fault, we live heedlessly. We don't take up the standards of practice taught by the Ajahn and establish them within our own hearts. We don't really follow in his footsteps. 

Even in the Buddha's time it was the same, remember the scriptures? That old monk, what was his name...? Subhadda Bhikkhu! When Venerable Maha Kassapa was returning from Pava he asked an ascetic on the way, "Is the Lord Buddha faring well?" The ascetic answered: "The Lord Buddha entered Parinibbana seven days ago." 

Those monks who were still unenlightened were grief-stricken, crying and wailing. Those who had attained the Dhamma reflected to themselves, "Ah, the Buddha has passed away. He has journeyed on." But those who were still thick with defilements, such as Venerable Subhadda, said: 

"What are you all crying for? The Buddha has passed away. That's good! Now we can live at ease. When the Buddha was still alive he was always bothering us with some rule or other, we couldn't do this or say that. Now the Buddha has passed away, that's fine! We can do whatever we want, say what we want... Why should you cry?" 

It's been so from way back then till the present day. 

However that may be, even though it's impossible to preserve entirely... Suppose we had a glass and we took care to preserve it. Each time we used it we cleaned it and put it away in a safe place. Being very careful with that glass we can use it for a long time, and then when we've finished with it others can also use it. Now, using glasses carelessly and breaking them every day, and using one glass for ten years before it breaks -- which is better? 

Our practice is like this. For instance, if out of all of us living here, practicing steadily, only ten of you practice well, then Wat Ba Pong will prosper. Just as in the villages: in the village of one hundred houses, even if there are only fifty good people that village will prosper. Actually to find even ten would be difficult. Or take a monastery like this one here: it is hard to find even five or six monks who have real commitment, who really do the practice. 

In any case, we don't have any responsibilities now, other than to practice well. Think about it, what do we own here? We don't have wealth, possessions, and families any more. Even food we take only once a day. We've given up many things already, even better things than these. As monks and novices we give up everything. We own nothing. All those things people really enjoy have been discarded by us. Going forth as a Buddhist monk is in order to practice. Why then should we hanker for other things, indulging in greed, aversion or delusion? To occupy our hearts with other things is no longer appropriate. 

Consider: why have we gone forth? Why are we practicing? We have gone forth to practice. If we don't practice then we just lie around. If we don't practice, then we are worse off than lay people, we don't have any function. If we don't perform any function or accept our responsibilities it's a waste of the samana's [26] life. It contradicts the aims of a samana. 

If this is the case then we are heedless. Being heedless is like being dead. Ask yourself, will you have time to practice when you die? Constantly ask yourself, "When will I die?" If we contemplate in this way our mind will be alert every second, heedfulness will always be present. When there is no heedlessness, sati -- recollection of what is what -- will automatically follow. Wisdom will be clear, seeing all the things clearly as they are. Recollection guards the mind, knowing the arising of sensations at all times, day and night. that is to have sati. To have sati is to be composed. To be composed is to be heedful. If one is heedful then one is practicing rightly. This is our specific responsibility. 

So today I would like to present this to you all. If in the future you leave here for one of the branch monasteries or anywhere else, don't forget yourselves. The fact is you are still not perfect, still not completed. You still have a lot of work to do, many responsibilities to shoulder. Namely, the practices of cultivation and relinquishment. Be concerned about this, every one of you. Whether you live at this monastery or a branch monastery, preserve the standards of practice. Nowadays there are many of us, many branch temples. All the branch monasteries owe their origination to Wat Ba Pong. We could say that the branch monasteries. So, especially the teachers, monks and novices of Wat Ba Pong should try to set the example, to be the guide for all the other branch monasteries, continuing to be diligent in the practices and responsibilities of a samana. 
Right Practice -- Steady Practice 

Wat Wana Potiyahn [27] here is certainly very peaceful, but this is meaningless if our minds are not calm. All places are peaceful. That some may seem distracting is because of our minds. However, a quiet place can help to become calm, by giving one the opportunity to train and thus harmonize with its calm. 

You should all bear in mind that this practice is difficult. To train other things is not so difficult, it's easy, but the human mind is hard to train. The Lord Buddha trained his mind. The mind is the important thing. Everything within this body-mind system comes together at the mind. The eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body all receive sensations and send them into the mind, which is the supervisor of all the other sense organs. Therefore it is important to train the mind. If the mind is well trained all problems come to an end. If there are still problems it's because the mind still doubts, it doesn't know in accordance with the truth. That is why there are problems. 

So recognize that all of you have come fully prepared for practicing Dhamma. Whether standing, walking, sitting or reclining, the tools you need with which to practice are well-provided, wherever you are. They are there, just like the Dhamma. The Dhamma is something which abounds everywhere. Right here, on land or in water... wherever... the Dhamma is always there. The Dhamma is perfect and complete, but it's our practice that's not yet complete. 

The Lord, Fully Enlightened Buddha taught a means by which all of us may practice and come to know this Dhamma. It isn't a big thing, only a small thing, but it's right. For example, look at hair. If we know even one strand of hair, then we know every strand, both our own and also that of others. We know that they are all simply "hair." By knowing one strand of hair we know it all. 

Or consider people. If we see the true nature of conditions within ourselves then we know all the other people in the world also, because all people are the same. Dhamma is like this. It's a small thing and yet it's big. That is, to see the truth of one condition is to see the truth of them all. When we know the truth as it is all problems come to an end. 

Nevertheless, the training is difficult. Why is it difficult? It's difficult because of wanting, tanha. If you don't "want" then you don't practice. But if you practice out of desire you won't see the Dhamma. Think about it, all of you. If you don't want to practice you can't practice. You must first want to practice in order to actually do the practice. Whether stepping forward or stepping back you meet desire. This is why the cultivators of the past have said that this practice is something that's extremely difficult to do. 

You don't see Dhamma because of desire. Sometimes desire is very strong, you want to see the Dhamma immediately, but the Dhamma is not your mind -- your mind is not yet Dhamma. The Dhamma is one thing and the mind is another. It's not that whatever you like is Dhamma and whatever you don't like isn't. That's not the way it goes. 

Actually this mind of ours is simply a condition of Nature, like a tree in the forest. If you want a plank or a beam it must come from the tree, but the tree is still only a tree. It's not yet a beam or a plank. Before it can really be of use to us we must take that tree and saw it into beams or planks. It's the same tree but it becomes transformed into something else. Intrinsically it's just a tree, a condition of Nature. But in its raw state it isn't yet of much use to those who need timber. Our mind is like this. It is a condition of Nature. As such it perceives thoughts, it discriminates into beautiful and ugly and so on. 

This mind of ours must be further trained. We can't just let it be. It's a condition of Nature... train it to realize that it's a condition of Nature. Improve on Nature so that it's appropriate to our needs, which is Dhamma. Dhamma is something which must be practiced and brought within. 

If you don't practice you won't know. Frankly speaking, you won't know the Dhamma by just reading it or studying it. Or if you do know it your knowledge is still defective. For example, this spittoon here. Everybody knows it's a spittoon but they don't fully know the spittoon. Why don't they fully know it? If I called this spittoon a saucepan, what would you say? Suppose that every time I asked for it I said, "Please bring that saucepan over here," that would confuse you. Why so? Because you don't fully know the spittoon. If you did there would be no problem. You would simply pick up that object and hand it to me, because actually there isn't any spittoon. Do you understand? It's a spittoon due to convention. This convention is accepted all over the country, so it's spittoon. But there isn't any real "spittoon." If somebody wants to call it a saucepan it can be a saucepan. It can be whatever you call it. This is called "concept." If we fully know the spittoon, even if somebody calls it a saucepan there's no problem. Whatever others may call it we are unperturbed because we are not blind to its true nature. This is one who knows Dhamma. 

Now let's come back to ourselves. Suppose somebody said, "You're crazy!", or, "You're stupid," for example. Even though it may not be true, you wouldn't feel so good. Everything becomes difficult because of our ambitions to have and to achieve. Because of these desires to get and to be, because we don't know according to the truth, we have no contentment. If we know the Dhamma, are enlightened to the Dhamma, greed, aversion and delusion will disappear. When we understand the way things are there is nothing for them to rest on. 

Why is the practice so difficult and arduous? Because of desires. As soon as we sit down to meditate we want to become peaceful. If we didn't want to find peace we wouldn't sit, we wouldn't practice. As soon as we sit down we want peace to be right there, but wanting the mind to be calm makes for confusion, and we feel restless. This is how it goes. So the Buddha says, "Don't speak out of desire, don't sit out of desire, don't walk out of desire,... Whatever you do, don't do it with desire." Desire means wanting. If you don't want to do something you won't do it. If our practice reaches this point we can get quite discouraged. How can we practice? As soon as we sit down there is desire in the mind. 

It's because of this that the body and mind are difficult to observe. If they are not the self nor belonging to self then who do they belong to? It's difficult to resolve these things, we must rely on wisdom. The Buddha says we must practice with "letting go," isn't it? If we let go then we just don't practice, right?... Because we've let go. 

Suppose we went to buy some coconuts in the market, and while we were carrying them back someone asked: 

"What did you buy those coconuts for?" 

"I bought them to eat." 

"Are you going to eat the shells as well?" 

"No." 

"I don't believe you. If you're not going to eat the shells then why did you buy them also?" 

Well what do you say? How are you going to answer their question? We practice with desire. If we didn't have desire we wouldn't practice. Practicing with desire is tanha. Contemplating in this way can give rise to wisdom, you know. For example, those coconuts: Are you going to eat the shells as well? Of course not. Then why do you take them? Because the time hasn't yet come for you to throw them away. They're useful for wrapping up the coconut in. If, after eating the coconut, you throw the shells away, there is no problem. 

Our practice is like this. The Buddha said, "Don't act on desire, don't speak from desire, don't eat with desire." Standing, walking, sitting or reclining... whatever... don't do it with desire. This means to do it with detachment. It's just like buying the coconuts from the market. We're not going to eat the shells but it's not yet time to throw them away. We keep them first. This is how the practice is. Concept and Transcendence [28] are co-existent, just like a coconut. The flesh, the husk and the shell are all together. When we buy it we buy the whole lot. If somebody wants to accuse us of eating coconut shells that's their business, we know what we're doing. 

Wisdom is something each of us find for oneself. To see it we must go neither fast nor slow. What should we do? Go to where there is neither fast nor slow. Going fast or going slow are not the way. 

But we're all impatient, we're in a hurry. As soon as we begin we want to rush to the end, we don't want to be left behind. We want to succeed. When it comes to fixing their minds for meditation some people go too far... They light the incense, prostrate and make a vow, "As long as this incense is not yet completely burnt I will not rise from my sitting, even if I collapse or die, no matter what... I'll die sitting" Having made their vow they start their sitting. As soon as they start to sit Mara's [29] hordes come rushing at them from all sides. They've only sat for an instant and already they think the incense must be finished. They open their eyes for a peek..."Oh, There's still ages left!" 

They grit their teeth and sit some more, feeling hot, flustered, agitated and confused... Reaching the breaking point they think, "it must be finished by now."... Have another peek..."Oh, no! It's not even half-way yet!" 

Two or three times and it's still not finished, so they just give up, pack it in and sit there hating themselves. "I'm so stupid, I'm so hopeless!" They sit and hate themselves, feeling like a hopeless case. This just gives rise to frustration and hindrances. This is called the hindrance of ill-will. They can't blame others so they blame themselves. And why is this? It's all because of wanting. 

Actually it isn't necessary to go through all that. To concentrate means to concentrate with detachment, not to concentrate yourself into knots. 

But maybe we read the scriptures, about the life of the Buddha, how he sat under the Bodhi tree and determined to himself, 

"As long as I have still not attained Supreme Enlightenment I will not rise from this place, even if my blood dries up." 

Reading this in the books you may think of trying it yourself. You'll do it like the Buddha. But you haven't considered that your car is only a small one. The Buddha's car was a really big one, he could take it all in one go. With only your tiny, little car, how can you possibly take it all at once? It's a different story altogether. 

Why do we think like that? Because we're too extreme. Sometimes we go too low, sometimes we go too high. The point of balance is so hard to find. 

Now I'm only speaking from experience. In the past my practice was like this. Practicing in order to get beyond wanting... if we don't want, can we practice? I was stuck here. But to practice with wanting is suffering. I didn't know what to do, I was baffled. Then I realized that the practice which is steady is the important thing. One must practice consistently. They call this the practice that is "consistent in all postures." Keep refining the practice, don't let it become a disaster. Practice is one thing, disaster is another.[30] Most people usually create disaster. When they feel lazy they don't bother to practice, they only practice when they feel energetic. This is how I tended to be. 

All of you ask yourselves now, is this right? To practice when you feel like it, not when you don't: is that in accordance with the Dhamma? Is it straight? Is it in line with the Teaching? This is what makes practice inconsistent. 

Whether you feel like it or not you should practice just the same: this is how the Buddha taught. Most people wait till they're in the mood before practicing, when they don't feel like it they don't bother. This is as far as they go. This is called "disaster," it's not practice. In the true practice, whether you are happy or depressed you practice; whether it's easy or difficult you practice; whether it's hot or cold you practice. It's straight like this. In the real practice, whether standing, walking, sitting or reclining you must have the intention to continue the practice steadily, making your sati consistent in all postures. 

At first thought it seems as if you should stand for as long as you walk, walk for as long as you sit, sit for as long as you lie down... I've tried it but I couldn't do it. If a meditator were to make his standing, walking, sitting and lying down all equal, how many days could he keep it up for? Stand for five minutes, sit for five minutes, lie down for five minutes... I couldn't do it for very long. So I sat down and thought about it some more. "What does it all mean? People in this world can't practice like this!" 

Then I realized..."Oh, that's not right, it can't be right because it's impossible to do. Standing, walking, sitting, reclining... make them all consistent. To make the postures consistent the way they explain it in the books is impossible." 

But it is possible to do this: The mind... just consider the mind. To have sati, recollection, sampajaa, self awareness and paa, all-round wisdom... this you can do. This is something that's really worth practicing. This means that while standing we have sati, while walking we have sati, while sitting we have sati, and while reclining we have sati, -- consistently. This is possible. We put awareness into our standing, walking, sitting, lying down -- into all postures. 

When the mind has been trained like this it will constantly recollect Buddho, Buddho, Buddho... which is knowing. Knowing what? Knowing what is right and what is wrong at all times. Yes, this is possible. This is getting down to the real practice. That is, whether standing, walking, sitting or lying down there is continuous sati. 

Then you should understand those conditions which should be given up and those which should be cultivated. You know happiness, you know unhappiness. When you know happiness and unhappiness your mind will settle at the point which is free of happiness and unhappiness. Happiness is the loose path, kamasukhallikanuyogo. Unhappiness is the tight path, attakilamathanuyogo. [31] If we know these two extremes, we pull it back. We know when the mind is inclining towards happiness or unhappiness and we pull it back, we don't allow it to lean over. We have this sort of awareness, we adhere to the One Path, the single Dhamma. We adhere to the awareness, not allowing the mind to follow its inclinations. 

But in your practice it doesn't tend to be like that, does it? You follow your inclinations. If you follow your inclinations it's easy, isn't it? But this is the ease which causes suffering, like someone who can't be bothered working. He takes it easy, but when the time comes to eat he hasn't got anything. This is how it goes. 

So I've contended with many aspects of the Buddha's teaching in the past, but I couldn't really beat him. Nowadays I accept it. I accept that the many teachings of the Buddha are straight down the line, so I've taken those teachings and used them to train both myself and others. 

The practice which is important is patipada. What is patipada? It is simply all our various activities, standing, walking, sitting, reclining and everything else. This is the patipada of the body. Now the patipada of the mind: how many times in the course of today have you felt low? How many times have you felt high? Have there been any noticeable feelings? We must know ourselves like this. Having seen those feelings can we let go? Whatever we can't yet let go of we must work with. When we see that we can't yet let go of some particular feeling we must take it and examine it with wisdom. Reason it out. Work with it. This is practice. For example when you are feeling zealous, practice, and then when you feel lazy, try to continue the practice. If you can't continue at "full speed" then at least do half as much. Don't just waste the day away by being lazy and not practicing. Doing that will lead to disaster, it's not the way of a cultivator. 

Now I've heard some people say, "Oh, this year I was really in a bad way." 

"How come?" 

"I was sick all year. I couldn't practice at all." 

Oh! If they don't practice when death is near when will they ever practice? If they're feeling well do you think they'll practice? No, they only get lost in happiness. If they're suffering they still don't practice, they get lost in that. I don't know when people think they're going to practice! They can only see that they're sick, in pain, almost dead from fever... that's right, bring it on heavy, that's where the practice is. When people are feeling happy it just goes to their heads and they get vain and conceited. 

We must cultivate our practice. What this means is that whether you are happy or unhappy you must practice just the same. If you are feeling well you should practice, and if you are feeling sick you should also practice. Those who think, "This year I couldn't practice at all, I was sick the whole time"... if these people are feeling well, they just walk around singing songs. This is wrong thinking, not right thinking. This is why the cultivators of the past have all maintained the steady training of the heart. If things are to go wrong, just let them be with the body, not in mind. 

There was a time in my practice, after I had been practicing about five years, when I felt that living with others was a hindrance. I would sit in my kuti and try to meditate and people would keep coming by for a chat and disturbing me. I ran off to live by myself. I thought I couldn't practice with those people bothering me. I was fed up, so I went to live in a small, deserted monastery in the forest, near a small village. I stayed there alone, speaking to no-one -- because there was nobody else to speak to. 

After I'd been there about fifteen days the thought arose, "Hmm. It would be good to have a novice or pa-kow [32] here with me. He could help me out with some small jobs." I knew it would come up, and sure enough, there it was! 

"Hey! You're a real character! You say you're fed up with your friends, fed up with your fellow monks and novices, and now you want a novice. What's this?" 

"No," it says, "I want a good novice." 

"There! Where are all the good people, can you find any? Where are you going to find a good person? In the whole monastery there were only no-good people. You must have been the only good person, to have run away like this!" 

...You have to follow it up like this, follow up the tracks of your thoughts until you see... 

"Hmm. This is the important one. Where is there a good person to be found? There aren't any good people, you must find goodness anywhere else, you must look within yourself. If you are good in yourself then wherever you go will be good. Whether others criticize or praise you, you are still good. If you aren't good, then when others criticize you, you get angry, and when they praise you, you get pleased. 

At that time I reflected on this and have found it to be true from that day up until the present. Goodness must be found within. As soon as I saw this, that feeling of wanting to run away disappeared. In later times, whenever I had that desire arise I let it go. Whenever it arose I was aware of it and kept my awareness on that. Thus I had a solid foundation. Wherever I lived, whether people condemned me or whatever they would say, I would reflect that the point is not whether they were good or bad. Good or evil must be seen within ourselves. However other people are, that's their concern. 

Don't go thinking, "Oh, today is too hot," or, "Today is too cold," or, "Today is...". Whatever the day is like that's just the way it is. Really you are simply blaming the weather for your own laziness. We must see the Dhamma within ourselves, then there is a surer kind of peace. 

So for all of you who have come to practice here, even though it's only for a few days, still many things will arise. Many things may be arising which you're not even aware of. There is some right thinking, some wrong thinking... many, many things. So I say this practice is difficult. 

Even though some of you may experience some peace when you sit in meditation, don't be in a hurry to congratulate yourselves. Likewise, if there is some confusion, don't blame yourselves. If things seem to be good, don't delight in them, and if they're not good don't be averse to them. Just look at it all, look at what you have. Just look, don't bother judging. If it's good don't hold fast to it; if it's bad, don't cling to it. Good and bad can both bite, so don't hold fast to them. 

The practice is simply to sit, sit and watch it all. Good moods and bad moods come and go as is their nature. Don't only praise your mind or only condemn it, know the right time for these things. When it's time for congratulations then congratulate it, but just a little, don't overdo it. Just like teaching a child, sometimes you may have to spank it a little. In our practice sometimes we may have to punish ourselves, but don't punish yourself all the time. If you punish yourself all the time in a while you'll just give yourself a good time and take it easy either. That's not the way to practice. We practice according to the Middle Way. What is the Middle Way? This Middle Way is difficult to follow, you can't rely on your moods and desires. 

Don't think that only sitting with the eyes closed is practice. If you do think this way then quickly change your thinking! Steady practice is having the attitude of practice while standing, walking, sitting and lying down. When coming out of sitting meditation, reflect that you're simply changing postures. If you reflect in this way you will have peace. Wherever you are you will have this attitude of practice with you constantly, you will have a steady awareness within yourself. 

Those of you who, having finished their evening sitting, simply indulge in their moods, spending the whole day letting the mind wander where it wants, will find that the next evening when sitting meditation all they get is the "backwash" from the day's aimless thinking. There is no foundation of calm because they have let it go cold all day. If you practice like this your mind gets gradually further and further from the practice. When I ask some of my disciples, "How is your meditation going?". They say, "Oh, it's all gone now." You see? They can keep it up for a month or two but in a year or two it's all finished. 

Why is this? It's because they don't take this essential point into their practice. When they've finished sitting they let go of their samadhi. They start to sit for shorter and shorter periods, till they reach the point where as soon as they start to sit they want to finish. Eventually they don't even sit. It's the same with bowing to the Buddha-image. At first they make the effort to prostrate every night before going to sleep, but after a while their minds begin to stray. Soon they don't bother to prostrate at all, they just nod, till eventually it's all gone. They throw out the practice completely. 

Therefore, understand the importance of sati, practice constantly. Right practice is steady practice. Whether standing, walking, sitting or reclining the practice must continue. This means that practice, meditation, is done in the mind, not in the body. If our mind has zeal, is conscientious and ardent, then there will be awareness. The mind is the important thing. The mind is that which supervises everything we do. 

When we understand properly then we practice properly. When we practice properly we don't go astray. Even if we only do a little that is still all right. For example, when you finish sitting in meditation, remind yourselves that you are not actually finishing meditation, you are simply changing postures. Your mind is still composed. Whether standing, walking, sitting or reclining you have sati with you. If you have this kind of awareness you can maintain your internal practice. In the evening when you sit again the practice continues uninterrupted. Your effort is unbroken, allowing the mind to attain calm. 

This is called steady practice. Whether we are talking or doing other things we should try to make the practice continuous. If our mind has recollection and self-awareness continuously, our practice will naturally develop, it will gradually come together. The mind will find peace, because it will know what is right and what is wrong. It will see what is happening within us and realize peace. 

If we are to develop sila (moral restraint), or samadhi (firmness of mind) we must first have paa (wisdom). Some people think that they'll develop moral restraint one year, samadhi the next year and the year after that they'll develop wisdom. They think these three things are separate. They think that this year they will develop, but if the mind is not firm (samadhi), how can they do it? If there is no understanding, (paa) how can they do it? Without samadhi or paa, sila will be sloppy. 

In fact these three come together at the same point. When we have sila we have samadhi, when we have samadhi we have paa. They are all one, like a mango. Whether it's small or fully grown, it's still a mango. When it's ripe it's still the same mango. If we think in simple terms like this we can see it more easily. We don't have to learn a lot of things, just to know these things, to know our practice. 

When it comes to meditation some people don't get what they want, so they just give up, saying they don't yet have the merit to practice meditation. They can do bad things, they have that sort of talent, but they don't have the talent to do good. They throw it in, saying they don't have a good enough foundation. This is the way people are, they side with their defilements. 

Now that you have this chance to practice, please understand that whether you find it difficult or easy to develop samadhi is entirely up to you, not the samadhi. If it is difficult, it is because you are practicing wrongly. In our practice we must have "Right View" (sammaditthi). If our view is right then everything else is right: Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Recollection, Right Concentration -- the Eightfold Path. When there is Right View all the other factors will follow on. 

Whatever happens, don't let your mind stray off the track. Look within yourself and you will see clearly. For the best practice, as I see it, it isn't necessary to read many books. Take all the books and lock them away. Just read your own mind. You have all been burying yourselves in books from the time you entered school. I think that now you have this opportunity and have the time, take the books, put them in a cupboard and lock the door. Just read your mind. 

Whenever something arises within the mind, whether you like it or not, whether it seems right or wrong, just cut it off with, "this is not a sure thing." Whatever arises just cut it down, "not sure, not sure." With just this single ax you can cut it all down. It's all "not sure." 

For the duration of this next month that you will be staying in this forest monastery, you should make a lot of headway. You will see the truth. This "not sure" is really an important one. This one develops wisdom. The more you look the more you will see "not sure"-ness. After you've cut something off with "not sure" it may come circling round and pop up again. Yes, it's truly "not sure." Whatever pops up just stick this one label on it all..."not sure." You stick the sign on .."not sure"... and in a while, when its turn comes, it crops up again..."Ah, not sure." Dig here! Not sure. You will see this same old one who's been fooling you month in, month out, year in, year out, from the day you were born. There's only this one who's been fooling you all along. See this and realize the way things are. 

When your practice reaches this point you won't cling to sensations, because they are all uncertain. Have you ever noticed? Maybe you see a clock and think, "Oh, this is nice." Buy it and see... in not many days you're bored with it already. "This pen is really beautiful," so you take the trouble to buy one. In not many months you tire of it again. This is how it is. Where is there any certainty? 

If we see all these things as uncertain then their value fades away. All things become insignificant. Why should we hold on to things that have no value? We keep them only as we might keep an old rag to wipe our feet with. We see all sensations as equal in value because they all have the same nature. 

When we understand sensations we understand the world. The world is sensations and sensations are the world. If we aren't fooled by sensations we aren't fooled by the world. If we aren't fooled by the world we aren't fooled by sensations. 

The mind which sees this will have a firm foundation of wisdom. Such a mind will not have many problems. Any problems it does have it can solve. When there are no more problems there are no more doubts. Peace arises in their stead. This is called "Practice." If we really practice it must be like this. 
Samma Samadhi -- Detachment Within Activity 

Take a look at the example of the Buddha. Both in his own practice and in his methods for teaching the disciples he was exemplary. The Buddha taught the standards of practice as skillful means for getting rid of conceit, he couldn't do the practice for us. having heard that teaching we must further teach ourselves, practice for ourselves. The results will arise here, not at the teaching. 

The Buddha's teaching can only enable us to get an initial understanding of the Dhamma, but the Dhamma is not yet within our hearts. Why not? Because we haven't yet practiced, we haven't yet taught ourselves. The Dhamma arises at the practice. If you know it, you know it through the practice. If you doubt it, you doubt it at the practice. Teachings from the Masters may be true, but simply listening to Dhamma is not yet enough to enable us to realize it. The teaching simply points out the way to realize. To realize the Dhamma we must take that teaching and bring it into our hearts. That part which is for the body we apply to the body, that part which is for the speech we apply to the speech, and that part which is for the mind we apply to the mind. This means that after hearing the teaching we must further teach ourselves to know that Dhamma, to be that Dhamma. 

The Buddha said that those who simply believe others are not truly wise. A wise person practices until he is one with the Dhamma, until he can have confidence in himself, independent of others. 

On one occasion, while Venerable Sariputta was sitting, listening respectfully at his feet as the Buddha expounded the Dhamma, the Buddha turned to him and asked, 

"Sariputta, do you believe this teaching?" 

Venerable Sariputta replied, "No, I don't yet believe it." 

Now this is a good illustration. Venerable Sariputta listened, and he took note. When he said he didn't yet believe he wasn't being careless, he was speaking the truth. He simply took note of that teaching, because he had not yet developed his own understanding of it, so he told the Buddha that he didn't yet believe -- because he really didn't believe. These words almost sound as if Venerable Sariputta was being rude, but actually he wasn't. He spoke the truth, and the Buddha praised him for it. 

"Good, good, Sariputta. A wise person doesn't readily believe, he should consider first before believing." 

Conviction in a belief can take various forms. One form reasons according to Dhamma, while another form is contrary to the Dhamma. This second way is heedless, it is a foolhardy understanding, micchaditthi, wrong view. One doesn't listen to anybody else. 

Take the example of Dighanakha the Brahman. This Brahman only believed himself, he wouldn't believe others. At one time when the Buddha was resting at Rajagaha, Dighanakha went to listen to his teaching. Or you might say that Dighanakha went to teach the Buddha because he was intent on expounding his own views... 

"I am of the view that nothing suits me." 

This was his view. The Buddha listened to Dighanakha's view and then answered, 

"Brahman, this view of yours doesn't suit you either." 

When the Buddha had answered in this way, Dighanakha was stumped. He didn't know what to say. The Buddha explained in many ways, till the Brahman understood. He stopped to reflect and saw... 

"Hmm, this view of mine isn't right." 

On hearing the Buddha's answer the Brahman abandoned his conceited views and immediately saw the truth. He changed right then and there, turning right around, just as one would invert one's hand. He praised the teaching of the Buddha thus: 

"Listening to the Blessed One's teaching, my mind was illumined, just as one living in darkness might perceive light. My mind is like an overturned basin which has been uprighted, like a man who has been lost and finds the way." 

Now at that time a certain knowledge arose within his mind, within that mind which had been uprighted. Wrong view vanished and right view took its place. Darkness disappeared and light arose. 

The Buddha declared that the Brahman Dighanakha was one who had opened the Dhamma Eye. Previously Dighanakha clung to his own views and had no intention of changing them. But when he heard the Buddha's teaching his mind saw the truth, he saw that his clinging to those views was wrong. When the right understanding arose he was able to perceive his previous understanding as mistaken, so he compared his experience with a person living in darkness who had found light. This is how it is. At that time the Brahman Dighanakha transcended his wrong view. 

Now we must change in this way. Before we can give up defilements we must change our perspective. We must begin to practice rightly and practice well. Previously we didn't practice rightly or well, and yet we thought we were right and good just the same. When we really look into the matter we upright ourselves, just like turning over one's hand. This means that the "One Who Knows," or wisdom, arises in the mind, so that it is able to see things anew. A new kind of awareness arises. 

Therefore cultivators must practice to develop this knowing, which we call Buddho, the One Who Knows, in their minds. Originally the one who knows is not there, our knowledge is not clear, true or complete. This knowledge is therefore too weak to train the mind. But then the mind changes, or inverts, as a result of this awareness, called wisdom or insight, which exceeds our previous awareness. That previous "one who knows" did not yet know fully and so was unable to bring us to our objective. 

The Buddha therefore taught to look within, opanayiko. Look within, don't look outwards. Or if you look outwards then look within, to see the cause and effect therein. Look for the truth in all things, because external objects and internal objects are always affecting each other. Our practice is to develop a certain type of awareness until it becomes stronger than our previous awareness. This causes wisdom and insight to arise within the mind, enabling us to clearly know the workings of the mind, the language of the mind and the ways and means of all the defilements. 

The Buddha, when he first left his home in search of liberation, was probably not really sure what to do, much like us. He tried many ways to develop his wisdom. He looked for teachers, such as Udaka Ramaputta, going there to practice meditation... right leg on left leg, right hand on left hand... body erect... eyes closed... letting go of everything... until he was able to attain a high level of absorption samadhi. [33] But when he came out of that samadhi his old thinking came up and he would attach to it just as before. Seeing this, he knew that wisdom had not yet arisen. His understanding had not yet penetrated to the truth, it was still incomplete, still lacking. Seeing this he nonetheless gained some understanding -- that this was not yet the summation of practice -- but he left that place to look for a new teacher. 

When the Buddha left his old teacher he didn't condemn him, he did as does the bee which takes nectar from the flower without damaging the petals. 

The Buddha then proceeded on to study with Alara Kalama and attained an even higher state of samadhi, but when he came out of that state Bimba and Rahula [34] came back into his thoughts again, the old memories and feelings came up again. He still had lust and desire. Reflecting inward he saw that he still hadn't reached his goal, so he left that teacher also. He listened to his teachers and did his best to follow their teachings. He continually surveyed the results of his practice, he didn't simply do things and then discard them for something else. 

Even when it came to ascetic practices, after he had tried them he realized that starving until one is almost skeleton is simply a matter for the body. The body doesn't know anything. practicing in that way was like executing an innocent person while ignoring the real thief. 

When the Buddha really looked into the matter he saw that practice is not a concern of the body, it is a concern of the mind. Attakilamathanuyogo (self-mortification) -- the Buddha had tried it and found that it was limited to the body. In fact, all Buddhas are enlightened in mind. 

Whether in regard to the body or to the mind, just throw them all together as Transient, Imperfect and Ownerless -- aniccam, dukkham and anatta. They are simply conditions of Nature. They arise depending on supporting factors, exist for a while and then cease. When there are appropriate conditions they arise again; having arisen they exist for a while, then cease once more. These things are not a "self," a "being," an "us" or a "them." There's nobody there, simply feelings. Happiness has no intrinsic self, suffering has no intrinsic self. No self can be found, there are simply elements of Nature which arise, exist and cease. They go through this constant cycle of change. 

All beings, including humans, tend to see the arising as themselves, the existence as themselves, and the cessation as themselves. Thus they cling to everything. They don't want things to be the way they are, they don't want them to be otherwise. For instance, having arisen they don't want things to cease; having experienced happiness, they don't want suffering. If suffering does arise they want it to go away as quickly as possible, but even better if it doesn't arise at all. This is because they see this body and mind as themselves, or belonging to themselves, and so they demand those things to follow their wishes. 

This sort of thinking is like building a dam or a dike without making an outlet to let the water through. The result is that the dam bursts. And so it is with this kind of thinking. The Buddha saw that thinking in this way is the cause of suffering. Seeing this cause, the Buddha gave it up. 

This is the Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering. The Truths of Suffering, its Cause, its Cessation and the Way leading to that Cessation... people are stuck right here. If people are to overcome their doubts it's right at this point. Seeing that these things are simply rupa and nama, or corporeality and mentality, it becomes obvious that they are not a being, a person, an "us," or a "them." They simply follow the laws of Nature. 

Our practice is to know things in this way. We don't have the power to really control these things, we aren't really their owners. Trying to control them causes suffering, because they aren't really ours to control. Neither body nor mind are self or others. If we know this as it really is then we see clearly. We see the truth, we are at one with it. It's like seeing a lump of red hot iron which has been heated in a furnace. It's hot all over. Whether we touch it on top, the bottom or the sides it's hot. No matter where we touch it, it's hot. This is how you should see things. 

Mostly when we start to practice we want to attain, to achieve, to know and to see, but we don't yet know what it is we're going to achieve or know. There was once a disciple of mine whose practice was plagued with confusion and doubts. But he kept practicing, and I kept instructing him, till he began to find some peace. But when he eventually became a bit calm he got caught up in his doubts again, saying, "What do I do next?" There! the confusion arises again. He says he wants peace but when he gets it, he doesn't want it, he asks what he should do next! 

So in this practice we must do everything with detachment. How are we to detach? We detach by seeing things clearly. Know the characteristics of the body and mind as they are. We meditate in order to find peace, but in doing so we see that which is not peaceful. This is because movement is the nature of the mind. 

When practicing samadhi we fix our attention on the in and out-breaths at the nose tip or the upper lip. This "lifting" the mind to fix it is called vitakka, or "lifting up." When we have thus "lifted" the mind and are fixed on an object, this is called vicara, the contemplation of the breath at the nose tip. This quality of vicara will naturally mingle with other mental sensations, and we may think that our mind is not still, that it won't calm down, but actually this is simply the workings of vicara as it mingles with those sensations. Now if this goes too far in the wrong direction, our mind will lose its collectedness, so then we must set up the mind afresh, lifting it up to the object of concentration with vitakka. As soon as we have thus established our attention vicara takes over, mingling with the various mental sensations. 

Now when we see this happening, our lack of understanding may lead us to wonder: "Why has my mind wandered? I wanted it to be still, why isn't it still?" This is practicing with attachment. 

Actually the mind is simply following its nature, but we go and add on to that activity by wanting the mind to be still and thinking "Why isn't it still?" Aversion arises and so we add that on to everything else, increasing our doubts, increasing our suffering and increasing our confusion. So if there is vicara, reflecting on the various happenings within the mind in this way, we should wisely consider..."Ah, the mind is simply like this." There, that's the One Who Knows talking, telling you to see things as they are. The mind is simply like this. We let it go at that and the mind becomes peaceful. When it's no longer centered we bring up vitakka once more, and shortly there is clam again. Vitakka and vicara work together like this. We use vicara to contemplate the various sensations which arise. When vicara becomes gradually more scattered we once again "lift" our attention with vitakka. 

The important thing here is that our practice at this point must be done with detachment. Seeing the process of vicara interacting with the mental sensations we may think that the mind is confused and become averse to this process. This is the cause right here. We aren't happy simply because we want the mind to be still. This is the cause -- wrong view. If we correct our view just a little, seeing this activity as simply the nature of mind, just this is enough to subdue the confusion. This is called letting go. 

Now, if we don't attach, if we practice with "letting go"... detachment within activity and activity within detachment... if we learn to practice like this, then vicara will naturally tend to have less to work with. If our mind ceases to be disturbed, then vicara will incline to contemplating Dhamma, because if we don't contemplate Dhamma the mind returns to distraction. 

So there is vitakka then vicara, vitakka then vicara, vitakka then vicara and so on, until vicara becomes gradually more subtle. At first vicara goes all over the place. When we understand this as simply the natural activity of the mind, it won't bother us unless we attach to it. It's like flowing water. If we get obsessed with it, asking "Why does it flow?" then naturally we suffer. If we understand that the water simply flows because that's its nature then there's no suffering. Vicara is like this. There is vitakka, then vicara, interacting with mental sensations. We can take these sensations as our object of meditation, calming the mind by noting those sensations. 

If we know the nature of the mind like this then we let go, just like letting the water flow by. Vicara becomes more and more subtle. Perhaps the mind inclines to contemplating the body, or death for instance, or some other theme of Dhamma. When the theme of contemplation is right there will arise a feeling of well-being. What is that well-being? It is piti (rapture). Piti, well-being, arises. It may manifest as goose-pimples, coolness or lightness. The mind is enrapt. This is called piti. There are also pleasures, sukha, the coming and going of various sensations; and the state of ekaggatarammana, or one-pointedness. 

Now if we talk in terms of the first stage of concentration it must be like this: vitakka, vicara, piti, sukha, ekaggata. So what is the second stage like? As the mind becomes progressively more subtle, vitakka and vicara become comparatively coarser, so that they are discarded, leaving only piti, sukha, and ekaggata. This is something that the mind does of itself, we don't have to conjecture about it, just to know things as they are. 

As the mind becomes more refined, piti is eventually thrown off, leaving only sukha and ekaggata, and so we take note of that. Where does piti go to? It doesn't go anywhere, it's just that the mind becomes increasingly more subtle so that it throws off those qualities that are too coarse for it. Whatever's too coarse it throws out, and it keeps throwing off like this until it reaches the peak of subtlety, known in the books as the Fourth Jhana, the highest level of absorption. Here the mind has progressively discarded whatever becomes too coarse for it, until there remain only ekaggata and upekkha, equanimity. There's nothing further, this is the limit. 

When the mind is developing the stages of samadhi it must proceed in this way, but please let us understand the basics of practice. We want to make the mind still but it won't be still. This is practicing out of desire, but we don't realize it. We have the desire for calm. The mind is already disturbed and then we further disturb things by wanting to make it calm. This very wanting is the cause. We don't see that this wanting to calm the mind is tanha (craving). It's just like increasing the burden. The more we desire calm the more disturbed the mind becomes, until we just give up. We end up fighting all the time, sitting and struggling with ourselves. 

Why is this? Because we don't reflect back on how we have set up the mind. Know that the conditions of mind are simply the way they are. Whatever arises, just observe it. It is simply the nature of the mind, it isn't harmful unless we don't understand its nature. It's not dangerous if we see its activity for what it is. So we practice with vitakka and vicara until the mind begins to settle down and become less forceful. When sensations arise we contemplate them, we mingle with them and come to know them. 

However, usually we tend to start fighting with them, because right from the beginning we're determined to calm the mind. As soon as we sit the thoughts come to bother us. As soon as we set up our meditation object our attention wanders, the mind wanders off after all the thoughts, thinking that those thoughts have come to disturb us, but actually the problem arises right here, from the very wanting. 

If we see that the mind is simply behaving according to its nature, that it naturally comes and goes like this, and if we don't get over-interested in it, we can understand its ways as much the same as a child. Children don't know any better, they may say all kinds of things. If we understand them we just let them talk, children naturally talk like that. When we let go like this there is no obsession with the child. We can talk to our guests undisturbed, while the child chatters and plays around. The mind is like this. It's not harmful unless we grab on to it and get obsessed over it. That's the real cause of trouble. 

When piti arises one feels an indescribable pleasure, which only those who experience can appreciate. Sukha (pleasure) arises, and there is also the quality of one-pointedness. There are vitakka, vicara, piti, sukha and ekaggata. These five qualities all converge at the one place. Even though they are different qualities they are all collected in the one place, and we can see them all there, just like seeing many different kinds of fruit in the one bowl. Vitakka, vicara, piti, sukha and ekaggata -- we can see them all in the one mind, all five qualities. If one were to ask, "How is there vitakka, how is there vicara, how are there piti and sukha?..." it would be difficult to answer, but when they converge in the mind we will see how it is for ourselves. 

At this point our practice becomes somewhat special. We must have recollection and self-awareness and not lose ourselves. Know things for what they are. These are stages of meditation, the potential of the mind. Don't doubt anything with regard to the practice. Even if you sink into the earth or fly into the air, or even "die" while sitting, don't doubt it. Whatever the qualities of the mind are, just stay with the knowing. This is our foundation: to have sati, recollection, and sampajaa, self-awareness, whether standing, walking, sitting, or reclining. Whatever arises, just leave it be, don't cling to it. Be it like or dislike, happiness or suffering, doubt or certainty, contemplate with vicara and gauge the results of those qualities. Don't try to label everything, just know it. See that all the things that arise in the mind are simply sensations. They are transient. They arise, exist and cease. That's all there is to them, they have no self or being, they are neither "us" nor "them." They are not worthy of clinging to, any of them. 

When we see all rupa and nama [35] in this way with wisdom, then we will see the old tracks. We will see the transience of the mind, the transience of the body, the transience of happiness, suffering, love and hate. They are all impermanent. Seeing this, the mind becomes weary; weary of the body and mind, weary of the things that arise and cease and are transient. When the mind becomes disenchanted it will look for a way out of all those things. It no longer wants to be stuck in things, it sees the inadequacy of this world and the inadequacy of birth. 

When the mind sees like this, wherever we go, we see aniccam (Transience), dukkham (Imperfection) and anatta (Ownerlessness). There's nothing left to hold on to. Whether we go to sit at the foot of a tree, on a mountain top or into a valley, we can hear the Buddha's teaching. All trees will seem as one, all beings will be as one, there's nothing special about any of them. They arise, exist for a while, age and then die, all of them. 

We thus see the world more clearly, seeing this body and mind more clearly. They are clearer in the light of Transience, clearer in the light of Imperfection and clearer in the light of Ownerlessness. If people hold fast to things they suffer. This is how suffering arises. If we see that body and mind are simply the way they are, no suffering arises, because we don't hold fast to them. Wherever we go we will have wisdom. Even seeing a tree we can consider it with wisdom. Seeing grass and the various insects will be food for reflection. 

When it all comes down to it they all fall into the same boat. They are all Dhamma, they are invariably transient. This is the truth, this is the true Dhamma, this is certain. How is it certain? it is certain in that the world is that way and can never be otherwise. There's nothing more to it than this. If we can see in this way then we have finished our journey. 

In Buddhism, with regard to view, it is said that to feel that we are more foolish than others is not right: to feel that we are equal to others is not right; and to feel that we better than others is not right... because there isn't any "we." This is how it is, we must uproot conceit. 

This is called lokavidu -- knowing the world clearly as it is. If we thus see the truth, the mind will know itself completely and will sever the cause of suffering. When there is no longer any cause, the results cannot arise. This is the way our practice should proceed. 

The basics which we need to develop are: firstly, to be upright and honest; secondly, to be wary of wrong-doing; thirdly, to have the attribute of humility within one's heart, to be aloof and content with little. If we are content with little in regards to speech and in all other things, we will see ourselves, we won't be drawn into distractions. The mind will have a foundation of sila, samadhi, and paa. 

Therefore cultivators of the path should not be careless. Even if you are right don't be careless. And if you are wrong, don't be careless. If things are going well or you're feeling happy, don't be careless. Why do I say "don't be careless"? Because all of these things are uncertain. Note them as such. If you get peaceful just leave the peace be. You may really want to indulge in it but you should simply know the truth of it, the same as for unpleasant qualities. 

This practice of the mind is up to each individual. The teacher only explains the way to train the mind, because that mind is within each individual. We know what's in there, nobody else can know our mind as well as we can. The practice requires this kind of honesty. Do it properly, don't do it half-heartedly. When I say "do it properly," does that mean you have to exhaust yourselves? No, you don't have to exhaust yourselves, because the practice is done in the mind. If you know this then you will know the practice. You don't need a whole lot. Just use the standards of practice to reflect on yourself inwardly. 

Now the Rains Retreat is half way over. For most people it's normal to let the practice slacken off after a while. They aren't consistent from beginning to end. This shows that their practice is not yet mature. For instance, having determined a particular practice at the beginning of the retreat, whatever it may be, then we must fulfill that resolution. For these three months make the practice consistent. You must all try. Whatever you have determined to practice, consider that and reflect whether the practice has slackened off. If so, make an effort to re-establish it. Keep shaping up the practice, just the same as when we practice meditation on the breath. As the breath goes in and out the mind gets distracted. Then re-establish your attention on the breath. When your attention wanders off again bring it back once more. This is the same. In regard to both the body and the mind the practice proceeds like this. Please make an effort with it. 
The Flood of Sensuality 

Kamogha... the flood of sensuality: sunk in sights, in sounds, in smells, in tastes, in bodily sensations. Sunk because we only look at externals, we don't look inwardly. People don't look at themselves, they only look at others. They can see everybody else but they can't see themselves. It's not such a difficult thing to do, but it's just that people don't really try. 

For example, look at a beautiful woman. What does that do to you? As soon as you see the face you see everything else. Do you see it? Just look within your mind. What is it like to see a woman? As soon as the eyes see just a little bit the mind sees all the rest. Why is it so fast? 

It's because you are sunk in the "water." You are sunk, you think about it, fantasize about it, are stuck in it. It's just like being a slave... somebody else has control over you. When they tell you to sit you've got to sit, when they tell you to walk you've got to walk... you can't disobey them because you're their slave. Being enslaved by the senses is the same. No matter how hard you try you can't seem to shake it off. And if you expect others to do it for you, you really get into trouble. You must shake it off for yourself. 

Therefore the Buddha left the practice of Dhamma, the transcendence of suffering, up to us. Take nibbana [36] for example. The Buddha was thoroughly enlightened, so why didn't he describe nibbana in detail? Why did he only say that we should practice and find out for ourselves. Why is that? Shouldn't he have explained what nibbana is like? 

"The Buddha practiced, developing the perfections over countless world ages for the sake of all sentient beings, so why didn't he point out nibbana so that they all could see it and go there too?" Some people think like this. "If the Buddha really knew he would tell us. Why should he keep anything hidden?" 

Actually this sort of thinking is wrong. We can't see the truth in that way. We must practice, we must cultivate, in order to see. The Buddha only pointed out the way to develop wisdom, that's all. He said that we ourselves must practice. Whoever practices will reach the goal. 

But that path which the Buddha taught goes against our habits. To be frugal, to be restrained... we don't really like these things, so we say, "Show us the way, show us the way to nibbana, so that those who like it easy like us can go there too." It's the same with wisdom. The Buddha can't show you wisdom, it's not something that can be simply handed around. The Buddha can show the way to develop wisdom, but whether you develop much or only a little depends on the individual. Merit and accumulated virtues of people naturally differ. 

Just look at a material object, such as the wooden lions in front of the hall here. People come and look at them and can't seem to agree: one person says, "Oh, how beautiful," while another says, "How revolting!" It's the one lion, both beautiful and ugly. Just this is enough to know how things are. 

Therefore the realization of Dhamma is sometimes slow, sometimes fast. The Buddha and his disciples were all alike in that they had to practice for themselves, but even so they still relied on teachers to advise them and give them techniques in the practice. 

Now, when we listen to Dhamma we may want to listen until all our doubts are cleared up, but they'll never be cleared up simply by listening. Doubt is not overcome simply by listening or thinking, we must first clean out the mind. To clean out the mind means to revise our practice. No matter how long we were to listen to the teacher talk about the truth we couldn't know or see that truth just from listening. If we did it would be only through guesswork or conjecture. 

However, even though simply listening to the Dhamma may not lead to realization, it is beneficial. There were, in the Buddha's time, those who realized the Dhamma, even realizing the highest realization -- arahantship, while listening to a discourse. But those people were already highly developed, their minds already understood to some extent. It's like a football. When a football is pumped up with air it expands. Now the air in that football is all pushing to get out, but there's no hole for it to do so. As soon as a needle punctures the football the air comes bursting out. 

This is the same. The minds of those disciples who were enlightened while listening to the Dhamma were like this. As long as there was no catalyst to cause the reaction this "pressure" was within them, like the football. The mind was not yet free because of this very small thing concealing the truth. As soon as they heard the Dhamma and it hit the right spot, wisdom arose. They immediately understood, immediately let go and realized the true Dhamma. That's how it was. It was easy. The mind uprighted itself. It changed, or turned, from one view to another. You could say it was far, or you could say it was very near. 

This is something we must do for ourselves. The Buddha was only able to give techniques on how to develop wisdom, and so with the teachers these days. They give Dhamma talks, they talk about the truth, but still we can't make that truth our own. Why not? There's a "film" obscuring it. You could say that we are sunk, sunk in the water. Kamogha -- the "flood" of sensuality. Bhavogha -- the "flood" of becoming. 

"Becoming" (bhava) means "the sphere of birth." Sensual desire is born at sights, sounds, tastes, smells, feelings and thoughts, identifying with these things. The mind holds fast and is stuck to sensuality. 

Some cultivators get bored, fed up, tired of the practice and lazy. You don't have to look very far, just look at how people can't seem to keep the Dhamma in mind, and yet if they get scolded they'll hold on to it for ages. They may get scolded at the beginning of the Rains, and even after the Rains Retreat has ended they still haven't forgotten it. Their whole lives they still won't forget it if it goes down deep enough. 

But when it comes to the Buddha's teaching, telling us to be moderate, to be restrained, to practice conscientiously... why don't people take these things to their hearts? Why do they keep forgetting these things? You don't have to look very far, just look at our practice here. For example, establishing standards such as: after the meal while washing your bowls, don't chatter! Even this much seems to be beyond people. Even though we know that chattering is not particularly useful and binds us to sensuality... people still like talking. Pretty soon they start to disagree and eventually get into arguments and squabbles. There's nothing more to it than this. 

Now this isn't anything subtle or refined, it's pretty basic, and yet people don't seem to really make much effort with it. They say they want to see the Dhamma, but they want to see it on their own terms, they don't want to follow the path of practice. That's as far as they go. All these standards of practice are skillful means for penetrating to and seeing the Dhamma, but people don't practice accordingly. 

To say "real practice" or "ardent practice" doesn't necessarily mean you have to expend a whole lot of energy -- just put some effort into the mind, making some effort with all the feelings that arise, especially those which are steeped in sensuality. These are our enemies. 

But people can't seem to do it. Every year, as the end of the Rains Retreat approaches, it gets worse and worse. Some of the monks have reached the limit of their endurance, the "end of their tether." The closer we get to the end of the Rains the worse they get, they have no consistency in their practice. I speak about this every year and yet people can't seem to remember it. We establish a certain standard and in not even a year it's fallen apart. Almost finished the Retreat and it starts -- the chatter, the socializing and everything else. It all goes to pieces. This is how it tends to be. 

Those who are really interested in the practice should consider why this is so. It's because people don't see the adverse results of these things. 

When we are accepted into the Buddhist monkhood we live simply. And yet some of them disrobe to go to the front, where the bullets fly past them every day -- they prefer it like that. They really want to go. Danger surrounds them on all sides and yet they're prepared to go. Why don't they see the danger? They're prepared to die by the gun but nobody wants to die developing virtue. Just seeing this is enough... it's because they're slaves, nothing else. See this much and you know what it's all about. People don't see the danger. 

This is really amazing, isn't it? You'd think they could see it but they can't. If they can't see it even then, then there's no way they can get out. They're determined to whirl around in samsara. This is how things are. Just talking about simple things like this we can begin to understand. 

If you were to ask them, "Why were you born?" They'd probably have a lot of trouble answering, because they can't see it. They're sunk in the world of the senses and sunk in becoming (bhava). [37] Bhava is the sphere of birth, our birthplace. To put it simply, where are beings born from? Bhava is the preliminary condition for birth. Wherever birth takes place, that's bhava. 

For example, suppose we had an orchard of apple trees that we were particularly fond of. That's a bhava for us if we don't reflect with wisdom. How so? Suppose our orchard contained a hundred or a thousand apple trees... it doesn't really matter what kind of trees they are, just so long as we consider them to be "our own" trees... then we are going to be "born" as a "worm" in every single one of those trees. We bore into every one, even though our human body is still back there in the house, we send out "tentacles" into every one of those trees. 

Now, how do we know that it's a bhava? It's a bhava (sphere of existence) because of our clinging to the idea that those trees are our own, that that orchard is our own. If someone were to take an ax and cut one of the trees down, the owner over there in the house "dies" along with the tree. He gets furious, and has to go and set things right, to fight and maybe even kill over it. That quarreling is the "birth." The "sphere of birth" is the orchard of trees that we cling to as our own. We are "born" right at the point where we consider them to be our own, born from that bhava. Even if we had a thousand apple trees, if someone were to cut down just one it'd be like cutting the owner down. 

Whatever we cling to we are born right there, we exist right there. We are born as soon as we "know." This is knowing through not-knowing: we know that someone has cut down one of our trees. But we don't know that those trees are not really ours. This is called "knowing through not-knowing." We are bound to be born into that bhava. 

Vatta the wheel of conditioned existence, operates like this. People cling to bhava, they depend on bhava. If they cherish bhava, this is birth . And if they fall into suffering over that same thing, this is also a birth. As long as we can't let go we are stuck in the rut of samsara, spinning around like a wheel. Look into this, contemplate it. Whatever we cling to as being us or ours, that is a place for birth. 

There must be a bhava, a sphere of birth, before birth can take place. Therefore the Buddha said, whatever you have, don't "have" it. Let it be there but don't make it yours. You must understand this "having" and "not having," know the truth of them, don't flounder in suffering. 

The place that we were born from; you want to go back there and be born again, don't you? All of you monks and novices, do you know where you were born from? You want to go back there, don't you? Right there, look into this. All of you getting ready. The nearer we get to the end of the retreat the more you start preparing to go back and be born there. 

Really, you'd think that people could appreciate what it would be like, living in a person's belly. How uncomfortable would that be? Just look, merely staying in your kuti for one day is enough. Shut all the doors and windows and you're suffocating already. How would it be to lie in a person's belly for nine or ten months? Think about it. 

People don't see the liability of things. Ask them why they are living, or why they are born, and they have no idea. Do you still want to get back in there? Why? It should be obvious but you don't see it. Why can't you see it? What are you stuck on, what are you holding onto? Think it out for yourself. 

It's because there is a cause for becoming and birth. Just take a look at the preserved baby in the main hall, have you seen it? Isn't anybody alarmed by it? No, no-one's alarmed by it. A baby lying in its mother's belly is just like that preserved baby. And yet you want to make more of those things, and even want to get back and soak in there yourself. Why don't you see the danger of it and the benefit of the practice? 

You see? That's bhava. The root is right there, it revolves around that. The Buddha taught to contemplate this point. People think about it but still don't see. They're all getting ready to go back there again. they know that it wouldn't be very comfortable in there, to put their necks in the noose is really uncomfortable, they still want to lay their heads in there. Why don't they understand this? This is where wisdom comes in, where we must contemplate. 

When I talk like this people say, "If that's the case then everybody would have to become monks... and then how would the world be able to function?" You'll never get everybody to become monks, so don't worry. The world is here because of deluded beings, so this is no trifling matter. 

I first became a novice at the age of nine. I started practicing from way back then. But in those days I didn't really know what it was all about. I found out when I became a monk. Once I became a monk I became so wary. The sensual pleasures people indulged in didn't seem like so much fun to me. I saw the suffering in them. It was like seeing a delicious banana which I knew was very sweet but which I also knew to be poisoned. No matter how sweet or tempting it was, if I ate it I would die. I considered in this way every time... every time I wanted to "eat a banana" I would see the "poison" steeped inside, and so eventually I could withdraw my interest from those things. Now at this age, such things are not at all tempting. 

Some people don't see the "poison'; some see it but still want to try their luck. "If your hand is wounded don't touch poison, it may seep into the wound." 

I used to consider trying it out as well. When I had lived as a monk for five or six years, I thought of the Buddha. He practiced for five or six years and was finished, but I was still interested in the worldly life, so I thought of going back to it: "Maybe I should go and "build the world" for a while, I would gain some experience and learning. Even the Buddha had his son, Rahula. Maybe I'm being too strict?..." 

I sat and considered this for some time, until I realized: "Yes, well, that's all very fine, but I'm just afraid that this 'Buddha' won't be like the last one," a voice in me said, "I'm afraid this 'Buddha' will just sink into the mud, not like the last one." And so I resisted those worldly thoughts. 

From my sixth or seventh rains retreat up until the twentieth, I really had to put up a fight. These days I seem to have run out of bullets, I've been shooting for a long time. I'm just afraid that you younger monks and novices have still got so much ammunition, you may just want to go and try out your guns. Before you do, consider carefully first. 

Speaking of sensual desire, it's hard to give up. It's really difficult to see it as it is. We must use skillful means. Consider sensual pleasures as like eating meat which gets stuck in your teeth. Before you finish the meal you have to find a toothpick to pry it out. When the meat comes out you feel some relief for a while, maybe you even think that you won't eat any more meat. But when you see it again you can't resist it. You eat some more and then it gets stuck again. When it gets stuck you have to pick it out again, which gives some relief once more, until you eat some more meat... That's all there is to it. Sensual pleasures are just like this, no better than this. When the meat gets stuck in your teeth there's discomfort. You take a toothpick and pick it out and experience some relief. There's nothing more to it than this sensual desire... The pressure builds up and up until you let a little bit out... Oh! That's all there is to it. I don't know what all the fuss is about. 

I didn't learn these things from anybody else, they occurred to me in the course of my practice. I would sit in meditation and reflect on sensual pleasure as being like a red ants' nest. [38] Someone takes a piece of wood and pokes the nest until the ants come running out, crawling down the wood and into their faces, biting their eyes and ears. And yet they still don't see the difficulty they are in. 

However it's not beyond our ability. In the teaching of the Buddha it is said that if we've seen the harm of something, no matter how good it may seem to be, we know that it's harmful. Whatever we haven't yet seen the harm of, we just think it's good. If we haven't yet seen the harm of anything we can't get out of it. 

Have you noticed? No matter how dirty it may be people like it. This kind of "work" isn't clean but you don't even have to pay people to do it, they'll gladly volunteer. With other kinds of dirty work, even if you pay a good wage people won't do it, but this kind of work they submit themselves to gladly, you don't even have to pay them. It's not that it's clean work, either, it's dirty work. Yet why do people like it? How can you say that people are intelligent when they behave like this? Think about it. 

Have you ever noticed the dogs in the monastery ground here? There are packs of them. They run around biting each other, some of them even getting maimed. In another month or so they'll be at it. As soon as one of the smaller ones gets into the pack the bigger ones are at him... out he comes yelping, dragging his leg behind him. But when the pack runs on he hobbles on after it. He's only a little one, but he thinks he'll get his chance one day. They bite his leg for him and that's all he gets for his trouble. For the whole of the mating season he may not even get one chance. You can see this for yourself in the monastery here. 

These dogs when they run around howling in packs... I figure if they were humans they'd be singing songs! They think it's such great fun they're singing songs, but they don't have a clue what it is that makes them do it, they just blindly follow their instincts. 

Think about this carefully. If you really want to practice you should understand your feelings. For example, among the monks, novices or laypeople, who should you socialize with? If you associate with people who talk a lot they induce you to talk a lot also. Your own share is already enough, theirs is even more... put them together and they explode! 

People like to socialize with those who chatter a lot and talk of frivolous things. They can sit and listen to that for hours. When it comes to listening to Dhamma, talking about practice, there isn't much of it to be heard. Like when giving a Dhamma talk: As soon as I start off..."Namo Tassa Bhagavato' [39]... they're all sleepy already. They don't take in the talk at all. When I reach the "Evam" they all open their eyes and wake up. Every time there's a Dhamma talk people fall asleep. How are they going to get any benefit from it? 

Real Dhamma cultivators will come away from a talk feeling inspired and uplifted, they learn something. Every six or seven days the teacher gives another talk, constantly boosting the practice. 

This is your chance, now that you are ordained. There's only this one chance, so take a close look. Look at things and consider which path you will choose. You are independent now. Where are you going to go from here? You are standing at the crossroads between the worldly way and the Dhamma way. Which way will you choose? You can take either way, this is the time to decide. The choice is yours to make. If you are to be liberated it is at this point. 
In the Dead of Night... 

Take a look at your fear... One day, as it was nearing nightfall, there was nothing else for it... If I tried to reason with myself I'd never go, so I grabbed a pa-kow and just went. 

"If it's time for it to die then let it die. If my mind is going to be so stubborn and stupid then let it die"... that's how I thought to myself. Actually in my heart I didn't really want to go but I forced myself to. When it comes to things like this, if you wait till everything's just right you'll end up never going. When would you ever train yourself? So I just went. 

I'd never stayed in a charnel ground before. When I got there, words can't describe the way I felt. The pa-kow wanted to camp right next to me but I wouldn't have it. I made him stay far away. Really I wanted him to stay close to keep me company but I wouldn't have it. I made him move away, otherwise I'd have counted on him for support. 

"If it's going to be so afraid then let it die tonight." 

I was afraid, but I dared. It's not that I wasn't afraid, but I had courage. In the end you have to die anyway. 

Well, just as it was getting dark I had my chance, in they came carrying a corpse. Just my luck! I couldn't even feel my feet touch the ground, I wanted to get out of there so badly. They wanted me to do some funeral chants but I wouldn't get involved, I just walked away. In a few minutes, after they'd gone, I just walked back and found that they had buried the corpse right next to my spot, making the bamboo used for carrying it into a bed for me to stay on. 

So now what was I do? It's not that the village was nearby, either, a good two or three kilometers away. 

"Well, if I'm going to die, I'm going to die"... If you've never dared to do it you'll never know what it's like. It's really an experience. 

As it got darker and darker I wondered where there was to run to in the middle of that charnel ground. 

"Oh, let it die. One is born to this life only to die, anyway." 

As soon as the sun sank the night told me to get inside my glot. [40] I didn't want to do any walking meditation, I only wanted to get into my net. Whenever I tried to walk towards the grave it was as if something was pulling me back from behind, to stop me from walking. It was as if my feelings of fear and courage were having a tug-of-war with me. But I did it. This is the way you must train yourself. 

When it was dark I got into my mosquito net. It felt as if I had a seven-tiered wall all around me. Seeing my trusty alms bowl there beside me was like seeing an old friend. Even a bowl can be a friend sometimes! Its presence beside me was comforting. I had a bowl for a friend at least. 

I sat in my net watching over the body all night. I didn't lie down or even doze off, I just sat quietly. I couldn't be sleepy even if I wanted to, I was so scared. Yes, I was scared, and yet I did it. I sat through the night. 

Now who would have the guts to practice like this? Try it and see. When it comes to experiences like this who would dare to go and stay in a charnel ground? If you don't actually do it you don't get the results, you don't really practice. This time I really practiced. 

When day broke I felt, "Oh! I've survived!" I was so glad, I just wanted to have daytime, no night time at all. I wanted to kill off the night and leave only daylight. I felt so good, I had survived. I thought, "Oh, there's nothing to it, it's just my own fear, that's all." 

After almsround and eating the meal I felt good, the sunshine came out, making me feel warm and cozy. I had a rest and walked a while. I thought, "This evening I should have some good, quiet meditation, because I've already been through it all last night. There's probably nothing more to it." 

Then, later in the afternoon, wouldn't you know it? In comes another one, a big one this time. [41] They brought the corpse in and cremated it right beside my spot, right in front of my glot. This was even worse than last night! 

"Well, that's good," I thought, "bringing in this corpse to burn here is going to help my practice." 

But still I wouldn't go and do any rites for them, I waited for them to leave first before taking a look. 

Burning that body for me to sit and watch over all night, I can't tell you how it was. Words can't describe it. Nothing I could say could convey the fear I felt. In the dead of night, remember. The fire from the burning corpse flickered red and green and the flames pattered softly. I wanted to do walking meditation in front of the body but could hardly bring myself to do it. Eventually I got into my net. The stench from the burning flesh lingered all through the night. 

And this was before things really started to happen... As the flames flickered softly I turned my back on the fire. 

I forgot about sleep, I couldn't even think of it, my eyes were fixed rigid with fear. And there was nobody to turn to, there was only me. I had to rely on myself. I could think of nowhere to go, there was nowhere to run to in that pitch black night. 

"Well, I'll sit and die here. I'm not moving from this spot." 

Here, talking of the ordinary mind, would it want to do this? Would it take you to such a situation? If you tried to reason it out you'd never go. Who would want to do such a thing? If you didn't have strong faith in the teaching of the Buddha you'd never do it. 

Now, about 10 p.m., I was sitting with my back to the fire. I don't know what it was, but there came a sound of shuffling from the fire behind me. Had the coffin just collapsed? Or maybe a dog was getting the corpse? But no, it sounded more like a buffalo walking steadily around. 

"Oh, never min..." 

But then it started walking towards me, just like a person! 

It walked up behind me, the footsteps heavy, like a buffalo's, and yet not... The leaves crunched under the footsteps as it made its way round to the front. Well, I could only prepare for the worst, where else was there to go? But it didn't really come up to me, it just circled around in front and then went off in the direction of the pa-kow. Then all was quiet. I don't know what it was, but my fear made me think of many possibilities. 

It must have been about half-an-hour later, I think, when the footsteps started coming back from the direction of the pa-kow. Just like a person! It came right up to me, this time, heading for me as if to run me over! I closed my eyes and refused to open them. 

"I'll die with my eyes closed." 

It got closer and closer until it stopped dead in front of me and just stood stock still. I felt as if it were waving burnt hands back and forth in front of my closed eyes. Oh! This was really it! I threw out everything, forgot all about Buddho, Dhammo and Sangho. I forgot everything else, there was only the fear in me, stacked in full to the brim. My thoughts couldn't go anywhere else, there was only fear. From the day I was born I had never experienced such fear. Buddho and Dhammo had disappeared, I don't know where. There was only fear welling up inside my chest until it felt like a tightly-stretched drumskin. 

"Well, I'll just leave it as it is, there's nothing else to do." 

I sat as if I wasn't even touching the ground and simply noted what was going on. The fear was so great that it filled me, like a jar completely filled with water. If you pour water until the jar is completely full, and then pour some more, the jar will overflow. Likewise, the fear built up so much within me that it reached its peak and began to overflow. 

"What am I so afraid of anyway?" a voice inside me asked. 

"I'm afraid of death," another voice answered. 

"Well, then, where is this thing 'death'? Why all the panic? Look where death abides. Where is death?" 

"Why, death is within me!" 

"If death is within you, then where are you going to run to escape it? If you run away you die, if you stay here you die. Wherever you go it goes with you because death lies within you, there's nowhere you can run to. Whether you are afraid or not you die just the same, there's nowhere to escape death." 

As soon as I had thought this, my perception seemed to change right around. All the fear completely disappeared as easily as turning over one's own hand. It was truly amazing. So much fear and yet it could disappear just like that! Non-fear arose in its place. Now my mind rose higher and higher until I felt as if I was in the clouds. 

As soon as I had conquered the fear, rain began to fall. I don't know what sort of rain it was, the wind was so strong. But I wasn't afraid of dying now. I wasn't afraid that the branches of the trees might come crashing down on me. I paid it no mind. The rain thundered down like a hot-season torrent, really heavy. By the time the rain had stopped everything was soaking wet. 

I sat unmoving. 

So what did I do next, soaking wet as I was? I cried! The tears flowed down my cheeks. I cried as I thought to myself, 

"Why am I sitting here like some sort of orphan or abandoned child, sitting, soaking in the rain like a man who owns nothing, like an exile?" 

And then I thought further, "All those people sitting comfortably in their homes right now probably don't even suspect that there is a monk sitting, soaking in the rain all night like this. What's the point of it all?" Thinking like this I began to feel so thoroughly sorry for myself that the tears came gushing out. 

"They're not good things anyway, these tears, let them flow right on out until they're all gone." 

This was how I practiced. 

Now I don't know how I can describe the things that followed. I sat... sat and listened. After conquering my feelings I just sat and watched as all manner of things arose in me, so many things that were possible to know but impossible to describe. And I thought of the Buddha's words...Paccattam veditabbo viuhi [42]-- "the wise will know for themselves." 

That I had endured such suffering and sat through the rain like this... who was there to experience it with me? Only I could know what it was like. There was so much fear and yet the fear disappeared. Who else could witness this? The people in their homes in the town couldn't know what it was like, only I could see it. It was a personal experience. Even if I were to tell others they wouldn't really know, it was something for each individual to experience for himself. The more I contemplated this the clearer it became. I became stronger and stronger, my conviction become firmer and firmer, until daybreak. 

When I opened my eyes at dawn, everything was yellow. I had been wanting to urinate during the night but the feeling had eventually stopped. When I got up from my sitting in the morning everywhere I looked was yellow, just like the early morning sunlight on some days. When I went to urinate there was blood in the urine! 

"Eh? Is my gut torn or something?" I got a bit of fright..."Maybe it's really torn inside there." 

"Well, so what? If it's torn it's torn, who is there to blame?" a voice told me straight away. "If it's torn it's torn, if I die I die. I was only sitting here, I wasn't doing any harm. If it's going to burst, let it burst," the voice said. 

My mind was as if arguing or fighting with itself. One voice would come from one side, saying, "Hey, this is dangerous!" Another voice would counter it, challenge it and over-rule it. 

My urine was stained with blood. 

"Hmm. Where am I going to find medicine?" 

"I'm not going to bother with that stuff. A monk can't cut plants for medicine anyway. If I die, I die, so what? What else is there to do? If I die while practicing like this then I'm ready. if I were to die doing something bad that's no good, but to die practicing like this I'm prepared." 

Don't follow your moods. Train yourself. The practice involves putting your very life at stake. You must have cried at least two or three times. That's right, that's the practice. If you're sleepy and want to lie down then don't let it sleep. Make the sleepiness go away before you lie down. But look at you all, you don't know how to practice. 

Sometimes, when you come back from almsround and you're contemplating the food before eating, you can't settle down, your mind is like a mad dog. The saliva flows, you're so hungry. Sometimes you may not even bother to contemplate, you just dig in. That's a disaster. If the mind won't calm down and be patient then just push your bowl away and don't eat. Train yourself, drill yourself, that's practice. Don't just keep on following your mind. Push your bowl away, get up and leave, don't allow yourself to eat. If it really wants to eat so much and acts so stubborn then don't let it eat. The saliva will stop flowing. If the defilements know that they won't get anything to eat they'll get scared. They won't dare bother you next day, they'll be afraid they won't get anything to eat. Try it out if you don't believe me. 

People don't trust the practice, they don't dare to really do it. They're afraid they'll go hungry, afraid they'll die. If you don't try it out you won't know what it's about. Most of us don't dare to do it, don't dare to try it out, we're afraid. 

When it comes to eating and the like I've suffered over them for a long time now so I know what they're about. And that's only a minor thing as well. So this practice is not something one can study easily. 

Consider: What is the most important thing of all? There's nothing else, just death. Death is the most important thing in the world. Consider, practice, inquire... If you don't have clothing you won't die. If you don't have betel nut to chew or cigarettes to smoke you still won't die. But if you don't have rice or water, then you will die. I see only these two things as being essential in this world. You need rice and water to nourish the body. So I wasn't interested in anything else, I just contented myself with whatever was offered. As long as I had rice and water it was enough to practice with, I was content. 

Is that enough for you? All those other things are extras, whether you get them or not doesn't matter, the only really important things are rice and water. 

"If I live like this can I survive?" I asked myself, "There's enough to get by on all right. I can probably get at least rice on almsround in just about any village, a mouthful from each house. Water is usually available. Just these two are enough..." I didn't aim to be particularly rich. 

In regards to the practice, right and wrong are usually co-existent. You must dare to do it, dare to practice. If you've never been to a charnel ground you should train yourself to go. If you can't go at night then go during the day. Then train yourself to go later and later until you can go at dusk and stay there. Then you will see the effects of the practice, then you will understand. 

This mind has been deluded now for who knows how many lifetimes. Whatever we don't like or love we want to avoid, we just indulge in our fears. And then we say we're practicing. This can't be called "practice." If it's real practice you'll even risk your life. If you've really made up your mind to practice why would you take an interest in petty concerns?..."I only got a little, you got a lot." "You quarreled with me so I'm quarreling with you..." I had none of these thoughts because I wasn't looking for such things. Whatever others did was their business. Going to other monasteries I didn't get involved in such things. However high or low others practiced I wouldn't take any interest, I just looked after my own business. And so I dared to practice, and the practice gave rise to wisdom and insight. 

If your practice has really hit the spot then you really practice. Day or night you practice. At night, when it's quiet, I'd sit in meditation, then come down to walk, alternating back and forth like this at least two or three times a night. Walk, then sit, then walk some more... I wasn't bored, I enjoyed it. 

Sometimes it'd be raining softly and I'd think of the times I used to work the rice paddies. My pants would still be wet from the day before but I'd have to get up before dawn and put them on again. Then I'd have to go down to below the house to get the buffalo out of its pen. All I could see of the buffalo would be covered in buffalo shit. Then the buffalo's tail would be sore with athlete's foot and I'd walk along thinking, "Why is life so miserable?" And now here I was walking meditation... what was a little bit of rain to me? Thinking like this I encouraged myself in the practice. 

If the practice has entered the stream then there's nothing to compare with it. There's no suffering like the suffering of a Dhamma cultivator and there's no happiness like the happiness of one either. There's no zeal to compare with the zeal of the cultivator and there's no laziness to compare with them either. Practicers of the Dhamma are tops. That's why I say if you really practice it's a sight to see. 

But most of us just talk about practice without having done it or reached it. Our practice is like the man whose roof is leaking on one side so he sleeps on the other side of the house. When the sunshine comes in on that side he rolls over to the other side, all the time thinking, "When will I ever get a decent house like everyone else?" If the whole roof leaks then he just gets up and leaves. This is not the way to do things, but that's how most people are. 

This mind of ours, these defilements... if you follow them they'll cause trouble. The more you follow them the more the practice degenerates. With the real practice sometimes you even amaze yourself with your zeal. Whether other people practice or not, don't take any interest, simply do your own practice consistently. Whoever comes or goes it doesn't matter, just do the practice. You must look at yourself before it can be called "practice." When you really practice there are no conflicts in your mind, there is only Dhamma. 

Wherever you are still inept, wherever you are still lacking, that's where you must apply yourself. If you haven't yet cracked it don't give up. Having finished with one thing you get stuck on another, so persist with it until you crack it, don't let up. Don't be content until it's finished. Put all your attention on that point. While sitting, lying down or walking, watch right there. 

It's just like a farmer who hasn't yet finished his fields. Every year he plants rice but this year he still hasn't gotten it finished, so his mind is stuck on that, he can't rest content. His work is still unfinished. Even when he's with friends he can't relax, he's all the time nagged by his unfinished business. Or like a mother who leaves her baby upstairs in the house while she goes to feed the animals below: she's always got her baby in mind, lest it should fall from the house. Even though she may do other things, her baby is never far from her thoughts. 

It's just the same for us and our practice -- we never forget it. Even though we may do other things our practice is never far from our thoughts, it's constantly with us, day and night. It has to be like this if you are really going to make progress. 

In the beginning you must rely on a teacher to instruct and advise you. When you understand, then practice. When the teacher has instructed you follow the instructions. If you understand the practice it's no longer necessary for the teacher to teach you, just do the work yourselves. Whenever heedlessness or unwholesome qualities arise know for yourself, teach yourself. Do the practice yourself. The mind is the one who knows, the witness. The mind knows for itself if you are still very deluded or only a little deluded. Wherever you are still faulty try to practice right at that point, apply yourself to it. 

Practice is like that. It's almost like being crazy, or you could even say you are crazy. When you really practice you are crazy, you "flip." You have distorted perception and then you adjust your perception. If you don't adjust it, it's going to be just as troublesome and just as wretched as before. 

So there's a lot of suffering in the practice, but if you don't know your own suffering you won't understand the Noble Truth of Suffering. To understand suffering, to kill it off, you first have to encounter it. If you want to shoot a bird but don't go out and find it how will you ever to shoot it? Suffering, suffering... the Buddha taught about suffering: The suffering of birth, the suffering you won't see suffering. If you don't understand suffering you won't be able to get rid of suffering. 

Now people don't want to see suffering, they don't want to experience it. If they suffer here they run over there. You see? They're simply dragging their suffering around with them, they never kill it. They don't contemplate or investigate it. If they feel suffering here they run over there; if it arises there they run back here. They try to run away from suffering physically. As long as you are still ignorant, wherever you go you'll find suffering. Even if you boarded an airplane to get away from it, it would board the plane with you. If you dived under the water it would dive in with you, because suffering lies within us. But we don't know that. If it lies within us where can we run to escape it? 

People have suffering in one place so they go somewhere else. When suffering arises there they run off again. They think they're running away from suffering but they're not, suffering goes with them. They carry suffering around without knowing it. If we don't know the cause of suffering then we can't know the cessation of suffering, there's no way we can escape it. 

You must look into this intently until you're beyond doubt. You must dare to practice. Don't shirk it, either in a group or alone. If others are lazy it doesn't matter. Whoever does a lot of walking meditation, a lot of practice... I guarantee results. If you really practice consistently, whether others come or go or whatever, one rains retreat is enough. Do it like I've been telling you here. Listen to the teacher's words, don't quibble, don't be stubborn. Whatever he tells you to do go right ahead and do it. You needn't be timid of the practice, knowledge will surely arise from it. 

Practice is also patipada. What is patipada? Practice evenly, consistently. Don't practice like Old Reverend Peh. One Rains Retreat he determined to stop talking. He stopped talking all right but then he started writing notes..."Tomorrow please toast me some rice." He wanted to eat toasted rice! He stopped talking but ended up writing so many notes that he was even more scattered than before. One minute he'd write one thing, the next another, what a farce! 

I don't know why he bothered determining not to talk. He didn't know what practice is. 

Actually our practice is to be content with little, to just be natural. Don't worry whether you feel lazy or diligent. Don't even say "I'm diligent" or "I'm lazy." Most people practice only when they feel diligent, if they feel lazy they don't bother. This is how people usually are. But monks shouldn't think like that. If you are diligent you practice, when you are lazy you still practice. Don't bother with other things, cut them off, throw them out, train yourself. Practice consistently, whether day or night, this year, next year, whatever the time... don't pay attention to thoughts of diligence or laziness, don't worry whether it's hot or cold, just do it. This is called sammapatipada -- Right Practice. 

Some people really apply themselves to the practice for six or seven days, then, when they don't get the results they wanted, give it up and revert completely, indulging in chatter, socializing and whatever. Then they remember the practice and go at it for another six or seven days, then give it up again... It's like the way some people work. At first they throw themselves into it... then, when they stop, they don't even bother picking up their tools, they just walk off and leave them there. Later on, when the soil has all caked up, they remember their work and do a bit more, only to leave it again. 

Doing things this way you'll never get a decent garden or paddy. Our practice is the same. If you think this patipada is unimportant you won't get anywhere with the practice. Sammapatipada is unquestionably important. Do it constantly. Don't listen to your moods. So what if your mood is good or not? The Buddha didn't bother with those things. He had experienced all the good things and bad things, the right things and wrong things. That was his practice. Taking only what you like and discarding whatever you don't like isn't practice, it's disaster. Wherever you go you will never be satisfied, wherever you stay there will be suffering. 

Practicing like this is like the Brahmans making their sacrifices. Why do they do it? Because they want something in exchange. Some of us practice like this. Why do we practice? Because we seek re-birth, another state of being, we want to attain something. If we don't get what we want then we don't want to practice, just like the Brahmans making their sacrifices. They do so because of desire. 

The Buddha didn't teach like that. The cultivation of the practice is for giving up, for letting go, for stopping, for uprooting. You don't do it for re-birth into any particular state. 

There was once a Thera who had initially gone forth into the Mahanikai sect. But he found it not strict enough so he took Dhammayuttika ordination. [43] Then he started practicing. Sometimes he would fast for fifteen days, then when he ate he'd eat only leaves and grass. He thought that eating animals was bad kamma, that it would be better to eat leaves and grass. 

After a while..."Hmm. Being a monk is not so good, it's inconvenient. It's hard to maintain my vegetarian practice as a monk. Maybe I'll disrobe and become a pa-kow." So he disrobed and became a pa-kow so that he could gather the leaves and grass for himself and dig for roots and yams. He carried on like that for a while till in the end he didn't know what he should be doing. He gave it all up. He gave up being a monk, gave up being a pa-kow, gave up everything. These days I don't know what he's doing. Maybe he's dead, I don't know. This is because he couldn't find anything to suit his mind. He didn't realize that he was simply following defilements. The defilements were leading him on but he didn't know it. 

"Did the Buddha disrobe and become a pa-kow? How did the Buddha practice? What did he do?" He didn't consider this. Did the Buddha go and eat leaves and grass like a cow? Sure, if you want to eat like that go ahead, if that's all you can manage, but don't go round criticizing others. Whatever standard of practice you find suitable then persevere with that. "Don't gouge or carve too much or you won't have a decent handle." [44] You'll be left with nothing and in the end just give up. 

Some people are like this. When it comes to walking meditation they really go at it for fifteen days or so. They don't even bother eating, just walk. Then when they finish that they just lie around and sleep. They don't bother considering carefully before they start to practice. In the end nothing suits them. Being a monk doesn't suit them, being a pa-kow doesn't suit them... so they end up with nothing. 

People like this don't know practice, they don't look into the reasons for practicing. Think about what you're practicing for. They teach this practice for throwing off. The mind wants to love this person and hate that person... these things may arise but don't take them for real. So what are we practicing for? Simply so that we can give up these very things. Even if you attain peace, throw out the peace. If knowledge arises, throw out the knowledge. If you know then you know, but if you take that knowing to be your own then you think you know something. Then you think you are better than others. After a while you can't live anywhere, wherever you live problems arise. If you practice wrongly it's just as if you didn't practice at all. 

Practice according to your capacity. Do you sleep a lot? Then try going against the grain. Do you eat a lot? Then try eating less. Take as much practice as you need, using sila, samadhi and paa as your basis. Then throw in the dhutanga practices also. These dhutanga [45] practices are for digging into the defilements. You may find the basic practices still not enough to really uproot the defilements, so you have to incorporate the dhutanga practices as well. 

These dhutanga practices are really useful. Some people can't kill off the defilements with basic sila and samadhi, they have to bring in the dhutanga practices to help out. The dhutanga practices cut off many things. Living at the foot of a tree... Living at the foot of a tree isn't against the precepts. But if you determine the dhutanga practice of living in a charnel ground and then don't do it, that's wrong. Try it out. What's like to live in a charnel ground? Is it the same as living in a group? 

DHU-TAN-GA: This translates as "the practices which are hard to do." These are the practices of the Noble Ones. Whoever wants to be a Noble One must use the dhutanga practices to cut the defilements. It's difficult to observe them and it's hard to find people with the commitment to practice them, because they go against the grain. 

Such as with robes; they say to limit your robes to the basic three robes; to maintain yourself on almsfood; to eat only in the bowl; to eat only what you get on almsround, if anyone brings food to offer afterwards you don't accept it. 

Keeping this last practice in central Thailand is easy, the food is quite adequate, because there they put a lot of food in your bowl. But when you come to the Northeast here this dhutanga takes on subtle nuances -- here you get plain rice! In these parts the tradition is to put only plain rice in the almsbowl. In central Thailand they give rice and other foods also, but around these parts you get only plain rice. This dhutanga practice becomes really ascetic. You eat only plain rice, whatever is brought to offer afterwards you don't accept. Then there is eating once a day, at one sitting, from only one bowl -- when you've finished eating you get up from your seat and don't eat again that day. 

These are called dhutanga practices. Now who will practice them? It's hard these days to find people with enough commitment to practice them because they are demanding, but that is why they are so beneficial. 

What people call practice these days is not really practice. If you really practice it's no easy matter. Most people don't dare to really practice, don't dare to really go against the grain. They don't want to do anything which runs contrary to their feelings. People don't want to resist the defilements, they don't want to dig at them or get rid of them. 

In our practice they say not to follow your own moods. Consider: we have been fooled for countless lifetimes already into believing that the mind is our own. Actually it isn't, it's just an impostor. It drags us into greed, drags us into aversion, drags us into delusion, drags us into theft, plunder, desire and hatred. These things aren't ours. Just ask yourself right now: do you want to be good? Everybody wants to be good. Now doing all these things, is that good? There! People commit malicious acts and yet they want to be good. That's why I say these things are tricksters, that's all they are. 

The Buddha didn't want us to follow this mind, he wanted us to train it. If it goes one way then take cover another way. When it goes over there then take cover back here. To put it simply: whatever the mind wants, don't let it have it. It's as if we've been friends for years but we finally reach a point where our ideas are no longer the same. We split up and go our separate ways. We no longer understand each other, in fact we even argue, so we break up. That's right, don't follow your own mind. Whoever follows his own mind, follows its likes and desires and everything else, that person hasn't yet practiced at all. 

This is why I say that what people call practice is not really practice... it's disaster. if you don't stop and take a look, don't try the practice, you won't see, you won't attain the Dhamma. To put it straight, in our practice you have to commit your very life. It's not that it isn't difficult, this practice, it has to entail some suffering. Especially in the first year or two, there's a lot of suffering. The young monks and novices really have a hard time. 

I've had a lot of difficulties in the past, especially with food. What can you expect? Becoming a monk at twenty when you are just getting into your food and sleep... some days I would sit alone and just dream of food. I'd want to eat bananas in syrup, or papaya salad, and my saliva would start to run. This is part of the training. All these things are not easy. This business of food and eating can lead one into a lot of bad kamma. Take someone who's just growing up, just getting into his food and sleep, and constrain him in these robes and his feelings run amok. It's like damming a flowing torrent, sometimes the dam just breaks. If it survives that's fine, but if not it just collapses. 

My meditation in the first year was nothing else, just food. I was so restless... Sometimes I would sit there and it was almost as if I was actually popping bananas into my mouth. I could almost feel myself breaking the bananas into pieces and putting them in my mouth. And this is all part of the practice. 

So don't be afraid of it. We've all been deluded for countless lifetimes now so coming to train ourselves, to correct ourselves, is no easy matter. But if it's difficult it's worth doing. Why should we bother with easy things? So those things that are difficult, anybody can do the easy things. We should train ourselves to do that which is difficult. 

It must have been the same for Buddha. If he had just worried about his family and relatives, his wealth and his past sensual pleasures, he'd never have become the Buddha. These aren't trifling matters, either, they're just what most people are looking for. So going forth at an early age and giving up these things is just like dying. And yet some people come up and say, "Oh, it's easy for you, Luang Por. You never had a wife and children to worry about, so it's easier for you!" I say, "Don't get too close to me when you say that or you'll get a clout over the head!"... as if I didn't have a heart or something! 

When it comes to people it's no trifling matter. It's what life is all about. So we Dhamma practicers should earnestly get into the practice, really dare to do it. Don't believe others, just listen to the Buddha's teaching. Establish peace in your hearts. In time you will understand. Practice, reflect, contemplate, and the fruits of the practice will be there. The cause and the result are proportional. 

Don't give in to your moods. In the beginning even finding the right amount of sleep is difficult. You may determine to sleep a certain time but can't manage it. You must train yourself. Whatever time you decide to get up, then get up as soon as it comes round. Sometimes you can do it, but sometimes as soon as you awake you say to yourself "get up!" and it won't budge! You may have to say to yourself, "One... Two... if I reach the count three and still don't get up may I fall into hell!" You have to teach yourself like this. When you get to three you'll get up immediately, you'll be afraid of falling into hell. 

You must train yourself, you can't dispense with the training. You must train yourself from all angles. Don't just lean on your teacher, your friends or the group all the time or you'll never become wise. It's not necessary to hear so much instruction, just hear the teaching once or twice and then do it. 

The well trained mind won't dare cause trouble, even in private. In the mind of the adept there is no such thing as "private" or "in public." All Noble Ones have confidence in their own hearts. We should be like this. 

Some people become monks simply to find an easy life. Where does ease come from? What is its cause? All ease has to be preceded by suffering. In all things it's the same: you must work before you get rice. In all things you must first experience difficulty. Some people become monks in order to rest and take it easy, they say they just want to sit around and rest awhile. If you don't study the books do you expect to be able to read and write? It can't be done. 

This is why most people who have studied a lot and become monks never get anywhere. Their knowledge is of a different kind, on a different path. They don't train themselves, they don't look at their minds. They only stir up their minds with confusion, seeking things which are not conducive to calm and restraint. The knowledge of the Buddha is not worldly knowledge, it is supramundane knowledge, a different way altogether. 

This is why whoever goes forth into the Buddhist monkhood must give up whatever level or status or position they have held previously. Even when a king goes forth he must relinquish his previous status, he doesn't bring that worldly stuff into the monkhood with him to throw his weight around with. He doesn't bring his wealth, status, knowledge or power into the monkhood with him. The practice concerns giving up, letting go, uprooting, stopping. You must understand this in order to make the practice work. 

If you are sick and don't treat the illness with medicine do you think the illness will cure itself? Wherever you are afraid you should go. Wherever there is a cemetery or charnel ground which is particularly fearsome, go there. Put on your robes, go there and contemplate, Anicca vata sankhara... [46] Stand and walk meditation there, look inward and see where your fear lies. It will be all too obvious. Understand the truth of all conditioned things. Stay there and watch until dusk falls and it gets darker and darker, until you are even able to stay there all night. 

The Buddha said, "Whoever sees the Dhamma sees the Tathagata. Whoever sees the Tathagata sees Nibbana." If we don't follow his example how will we see the Dhamma? If we don't see the Dhamma how will we know the Buddha? If we don't see the Buddha how will we know the qualities of the Buddha? Only if we practice in the footsteps of the Buddha will we know that what the Buddha taught is utterly certain, that the Buddha's teaching is the supreme truth. 
Sense Contact -- the Fount of Wisdom 

All of us have made up our minds to become bhikkhus and samaneras [47] in the Buddhist Dispensation in order to find peace. Now what is true peace? True peace, the Buddha said, is not very far away, it lies right here within us, but we tend to continually overlook it. People have their ideas about finding peace but still tend to experience confusion and agitation, they still tend to be unsure and haven't yet found fulfillment in their practice. They haven't yet reached the goal. It's as if we have left our home to travel to many different places. Whether we get into a car or board a boat, no matter where we go, we still haven't reached our home. As long as we still haven't reached home we don't feel content, we still have some unfinished business to take care of. This is because our journey is not yet finished, we haven't reached our destination. We travel all over the place in search of liberation. 

All of you bhikkhus and samaneras here want peace, every one of you. Even myself, when I was younger, searched all over for peace. Wherever I went I couldn't be satisfied. Going into forests or visiting various teachers, listening to Dhamma talks, I could find no satisfaction. Why is this? 

We look for peace in peaceful places, where there won't be sights, or sounds, or odors, or flavors... thinking that living quietly like this is the way to find contentment, that herein lies peace. 

But actually, if we live very quietly in places where nothing arises, can wisdom arise? Would we be aware of anything? Think about it. If our eye didn't see sights, what would that be like? If the nose didn't experience smells, what would that be like? If the tongue didn't experience flavors what would that be like? If the body didn't experience feelings at all, what would that be like? To be like that would be like being a blind and deaf man, one whose nose and tongue had fallen off and who was completely numb with paralysis. Would there be anything there? And yet people tend to think that if they went somewhere where nothing happened they would find peace. Well, I've thought like that myself, I once thought that way... 

When I was a young monk just starting to practice, I'd sit in meditation and sounds would disturb me, I'd think to myself, "What can I do to make my mind peaceful?" So I took some beeswax and stuffed my ears with it so that I couldn't hear anything. All that remained was a humming sound. I thought that would be peaceful, but no, all that thinking and confusion didn't arise at the ears after all. It arose at the mind. That is the place to search for peace. 

To put it another way, no matter where you go to stay, you don't want to do anything because it interferes with your practice. You don't want to sweep the grounds or do any work, you just want to be still and find peace that way. The teacher asks you to help out with the chores or any of the daily duties but you don't put your heart into it because you feel it is only an external concern. 

I've often brought up the example of one of my disciples who was really eager to "let go" and find peace. I taught about "letting go" and he accordingly understood that to let go of everything would indeed be peaceful. Actually right from the day he had come to stay here he didn't want to do anything. Even when the wind blew half the roof off his kuti he wasn't interested. He said that that was just an external thing. So he didn't bother fixing it up. When the sunlight and rain streamed in from one side he'd move over to the other side. That wasn't any business of his. His business was to make his mind peaceful. That other stuff was a distraction, he wouldn't get involved. That was how he saw it. 

One day I was walking past and saw the collapsed roof. 

"Eh? Whose kuti is this?" 

Someone told me whose it was, and I thought, "Hmm. Strange..." So I had a talk with him, explaining many things, such as the duties in regard to our dwellings, the senasanavatta. "We must have a dwelling place, and we must look after it. "Letting go" isn't like this, it doesn't mean shirking our responsibilities. That's the action of a fool. The rain comes in on one side so you move over to the other side, then the sunshine comes out and you move back to that side. Why is that? Why don't you bother to let go there?" I gave him a long discourse on this; then when I'd finished, he said, 

"Oh, Luang Por, sometimes you teach me to cling and sometimes you teach me to let go. I don't know what you want me to do. Even when my roof collapses and I let go to this extent, still you say it's not right. And yet you teach me to let go! I don't know what more you can expect of me..." 

You see? People are like this. They can be as stupid as this. 

Are there visual objects within the eye? If there are no external visual objects would our eyes see anything? Are their sounds within our ears if external sounds don't make contact? If there are no smells outside would we experience them. Where are the causes? Think about what the Buddha said: All dhammas [48] arise because of causes. If we didn't have ears would we experience sounds? If we had no eyes would we be able to see sights? Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind -- these are the causes. It is said that all dhammas arise because of conditions, when they cease it's because the causal conditions have ceased. For resulting conditions to arise, the causal conditions must first arise. 

If we think that peace lies where there are no sensations would wisdom arise? Would there be causal and resultant conditions? Would we have anything to practice with? If we blame the sounds, then where there are sounds we can't be peaceful. We think that place is no good. Wherever there are sights we say that's not peaceful. If that's the case then to find peace we'd have to be one whose senses have all died, blind, and deaf. I thought about this... 

"Hmm. This is strange. Suffering arises because of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind. So should we be blind? If we didn't see anything at all maybe that would be better. One would have no defilements arising if one were blind, or deaf. Is this the way it is?"... 

But, thinking about it, it wall all wrong. If that was the case then blind and deaf people would be enlightened. They would all be accomplished if defilements arose at the eyes and ears. There are the causal conditions. Where things arise, at the cause, that's where we must stop them. Where the cause arises, that's where we must contemplate. 

Actually, the sense bases of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind are all things which can facilitate the arising of wisdom, if we know them as they are. If we don't really know them we must deny them, saying we don't want to see sights, hear sounds, and so on, because they disturb us. If we cut off the causal conditions what are we going to contemplate? Think about it. Where would there be any cause and effect? This is wrong thinking on our part. 

This is why we are taught to be restrained. Restraint is sila. There is the sila of sense restraint: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind: these are our sila, and they are our samadhi. Reflect on the story Sariputta. At the time before he became a bhikkhu he saw Assaji Thera going on almsround. Seeing him, Sariputta thought, 

"This monk is most unusual. He walks neither too fast nor too slow, his robes are neatly worn, his bearing is restrained." Sariputta was inspired by him and so approached Venerable Assaji, paid his respects and asked him, 

"Excuse me, sir, who are you?" 

"I am a samana." 

"Who is your teacher?" 

"Venerable Gotama is my teacher." 

"What does Venerable Gotama teach?" 

"He teaches that all things arise because of conditions. 

When they cease it's because the causal conditions have ceased." 

When asked about the Dhamma by Sariputta, Assaji explained only in brief, he talked about cause and effect. Dhammas arise because of causes. The cause arises first and then the result. When the result is to cease the cause must first cease. That's all he said, but it was enough for Sariputta. [49] 

Now this was a cause for the arising of Dhamma. At that time Sariputta had eyes, he had ears, he had a nose, a tongue, a body and a mind. All his faculties were intact. If he didn't have his faculties would there have been sufficient causes for wisdom to arise for him? Would he have been aware of anything? But most of us are afraid of contact. Either that or we like to have contact but we develop no wisdom from it: instead we repeatedly indulge through eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind, delighting in and getting lost in sense objects. This is how it is. These sense bases can entice us into delight and indulgence or they can lead to knowledge and wisdom. 

They have both harm and benefit, depending on our wisdom. 

So now let us understand that, having gone forth and come to practice, we should take everything as practice. Even the bad things. We should know them all. Why? So that we may know the truth. When we talk of practice we don't simply mean those things that are good and pleasing to us. That's not how it is. In this world some things are to our liking, some are not. These things all exist in this world, nowhere else. Usually whatever we like we want, even with fellow monks and novices. Whatever monk or novice we don't like we don't want to associate with, we only want to be with those we like. You see? This is choosing according to our likes. Whatever we don't like we don't want to see or know about. 

Actually the Buddha wanted us to experience these things. Lokavidu -- look at this world and know it clearly. If we don't know the truth of the world clearly then we can't go anywhere. Living in the world we must understand the world. The Noble Ones of the past, including the Buddha, all lived with these things, they lived in this world, among deluded people. They attained the truth right in this very world, nowhere else. They didn't run off to some other world to find the truth. But they had wisdom. They restrained their senses, but the practice is to look into all these things and know them as they are. 

Therefore the Buddha taught us to know the sense bases, our points of contact. The eye contacts forms and sends them "in" to become sights. The ears make contact with sounds, the nose makes contact with odors, the tongue makes contact with tastes, the body makes contact with tactile sensations, and so awareness arises. Where awareness arises is where we should look and see things as they are. If we don;t know these things as they really are we will either fall in love with them or hate them. Where these sensations arise is where we can become enlightened, where wisdom can arise. 

But sometimes we don't want things to be like that. The Buddha taught restraint, but restraint doesn't mean we don't see anything, hear anything, smell, taste, feel or think anything. That's not what it means. If practicers don't understand this then as soon as they see or hear anything they cower and run away. They don't deal with things. They run away, thinking that by so doing those things will eventually lose their power over them, that they will eventually transcend them. But they won't. They won't transcend anything like that. If they run away not knowing the truth of them, later on the same stuff will pop up to be dealt with again. 

For example, those practicers who are never content, be they in monasteries, forests, or mountains. They wander on "dhutanga pilgrimage" looking at this, that and the other, thinking they'll find contentment that way. They go, and then they come back... didn't see anything. They try going to a mountain top..."Ah! This is the spot, now I'm right." They feel at peace for a few days and then get tired of it. "Oh, well, off to the seaside." "Ah, here it's nice and cool. This'll do me fine." After a while they get tired of the seaside as well... Tired of the forests, tired of the mountains, tired of the seaside, tired of everything. This is not being tired of things in the right sense, [50] as Right View, it's simply boredom, a kind of Wrong View. Their view is not in accordance with the way things are. 

When they get back to the monastery..."Now, what will I do? I've been all over and come back with nothing." So they throw away their bowls and disrobe. Why do they disrobe? Because they haven't got any grip on the practice, they don't see anything; go to the north and don't see anything; go to the seaside, to the mountains, into the forests and still don't see anything. So it's all finished... they "die." This is how it goes. It's because they're continually running away from things. Wisdom doesn't arise. 

Now take another example. Suppose there is one monk who determines to stay with things, not to run away. He looks after himself. He knows himself and also knows those who come to stay with him. He's continually dealing with problems. For example, the Abbot. If one is an Abbot of a monastery there are constant problems to deal with, there's a constant stream of things that demand attention. Why so? Because people are always asking questions. The questions never end, so you must be constantly on the alert. You are constantly solving problems, your own as well as other people's. That is, you must be constantly awake. Before you can doze off they wake you up again with another problem. So this causes you to contemplate and understand things. You become skillful: skillful in regard to yourself and skillful in regard to others. Skillful in many, many ways. 

This skill arises from contact, from confronting and dealing with things, from not running away. We don't run away physically but we "run away" in mind, using our wisdom. We understand with wisdom right here, we don't run away from anything. 

This is a source of wisdom. One must work, must associate with other things. For instance, living in a big monastery like this we must all help out to look after the things here. Looking at it in one way you could say that it's all defilement. Living with lots of monks and novices, with many laypeople coming and going, many defilements may arise. Yes, I admit... but we must live like this for the development of wisdom and the abandonment of foolishness. Which way are we to go? Are we going to live in order to get rid of foolishness or to increase our foolishness? 

We must contemplate. Whenever eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body or mind make contact we should be collected and circumspect. When suffering arises, who is suffering? Why did this suffering arise? The Abbot of a monastery has to supervise many disciples. Now that may be suffering. We must know suffering when it arises. Know suffering. If we are afraid of suffering and don't want to face it, where are we going to do battle with it? If suffering arises and we don't know it, how are we going to deal with it? This is of utmost importance -- we must know suffering. 

Escaping from suffering means knowing the way out of suffering, it doesn't mean running away from wherever suffering arises. By doing that you just carry your suffering with you. When suffering arises again somewhere else you'll have to run away again. This is not transcending suffering, it's not knowing suffering. 

If you want to understand suffering you must look into the situation at hand. The teachings say that wherever a problem arises it must be settled right there. Where suffering lies is right where non-suffering will arise, it ceases at the place where it arises. If suffering arises you must contemplate right there, you don't have to run away. You should settle the issue right there. One who runs away from suffering out of fear is the most foolish person of all. He will simply increases his stupidity endlessly. 

We must understand: suffering is none other than the First Noble Truth, isn't that so? Are you going to look on it as something bad? Dukkha sacca, samudaya sacca, nirodha sacca, magga sacca... [51] Running away from these things isn't practicing according to the true Dhamma. When will you ever see the Truth of Suffering? If we keep running away from suffering we will never know it. Suffering is something we should recognize -- if you don't observe it when will you ever recognize it? Not being content here you run over there, when discontent arises there you run off again. You are always running. If that's the way you practice you'll be racing with the Devil all over the country! 

The Buddha taught us to "run away" using wisdom. For instance: suppose you had stepped on a thorn or splinter and it got embedded in your foot. As you walk it occasionally hurts, occasionally not. Sometimes you may step on a stone or a stump and it really hurts, so you feel around your foot. But not finding anything you shrug it off and walk on a bit more. Eventually you step on something else, and the pain arises again. 

Now this happens many times. What is the cause of that pain? The cause is that splinter or thorn embedded in your foot. The pain is constantly near. Whenever the pain arises you may take a look and feel around a bit, but, not seeing the splinter, you let it go. After a while it hurts again so you take another look. 

When suffering arises you must note it, don't just shrug it off. Whenever the pain arises..."Hmm... that splinter is still there." Whenever the pain arises there arises also the thought that that splinter has got to go. If you don't take it out there will only be more pain later on. The pain keeps recurring again and again, until the desire to take out that thorn is constantly with you. In the end it reaches a point where you make up your mind once and for all to get out that thorn -- because it hurts! 

Now our effort in the practice must be like this. Wherever it hurts, wherever there's friction, we must investigate. Confront the problem, head on. Take that thorn out of your foot, just pull it out. Wherever your mind gets stuck you must take note. As you look into it you will know it, see it and experience it as it is. 

But our practice must be unwavering and persistent. They call it viriyarambha -- putting forth constant effort. Whenever an unpleasant feeling arises in your foot, for example, you must remind yourself to get out that thorn, don't give up your resolve. Likewise, when suffering arises in our hearts we must have the unwavering resolve to try to uproot the defilements, to give them up. This resolve is constantly there, unremitting. Eventually the defilements will fall into our hands where we can finish them off. 

So in regard to happiness and suffering, what are we to do? If we didn't have these things what could we use as a cause to precipitate wisdom? If there is no cause how will the effect arise? All dhammas arise because of causes. When the result ceases it's because the cause has ceased. This is how it is, but most of us don't really understand. People only want to run away from suffering. This sort of knowledge is short of the mark. Actually we need to know this very world that we are living in, we don't have to run away anywhere. You should have the attitude that to stay is fine... and to go is fine. Think about this carefully. 

Where do happiness and suffering lie? Whatever we don't hold fast to, cling to or fix on to, as if it weren't there. Suffering doesn't arise. Suffering arises from existence (bhava). If there is existence then there is birth. Upadana -- clinging or attachment -- this is the pre-requisite which creates suffering. Wherever suffering arises look into it. Don't look too far away, look right into the present moment. Look at your own mind and body. When suffering arises..."Why is there suffering?" Look right now. When happiness arises, what is the cause of that happiness? Look right there. Wherever these things arise be aware. Both happiness and suffering arise from clinging. 

The cultivators of old saw their minds in this way. There is only arising and ceasing. There is no abiding entity. They contemplated from all angles and saw that there was nothing much to this mind, nothing is stable. There is only arising and ceasing, ceasing and arising, nothing is of any lasting substance. While walking or sitting they saw things in this way. Wherever they looked there was only suffering, that's all. It's just like a big iron ball which has just been blasted in a furnace. It's hot all over. If you touch the top it's hot, touch the sides and they're hot -- it's hot all over. There isn't any place on it which is cool. 

Now if we don't consider these things we know nothing about them. We must see clearly. Don't get "born" into things, don't fall into birth. Know the workings of birth. Such thoughts as, "Oh, I can't stand that person, he does everything wrongly," will no longer arise. Or, "I really like so and so...", these things don't arise. There remain merely the conventional worldly standards of like and dislike, but one's speech is one way, one's mind another. They are separate things. We must use the conventions of the world to communicate with each other, but inwardly we must be empty. The mind is above those things. We must bring the mind to transcendence like this. This is the abiding of the Noble Ones. We must all aim for this and practice accordingly. Don't get caught up in doubts. 

Before I started to practice, I thought to myself, "The Buddhist religion is here, available for all, and yet why do only some people practice while others don't? Or if they do practice, they do so only for a short while then give up. Or again those who don't give it up still don't knuckle down and do the practice? Why is this?" So I resolved to myself, "Okay... I'll give up this body and mind for this lifetime and try to follow the teaching of the Buddha down to the last detail. I'll reach understanding in this very lifetime... because if I don't I'll still be sunk in suffering. I'll let go of everything else and make a determined effort, no matter how much difficulty or suffering I have to endure, I'll persevere. If I don't do it I'll just keep on doubting." 

Thinking like this I got down to practice. No matter how much happiness, suffering or difficulty I had to endure I would do it. I looked on my whole life as if it was only one day and a night. I gave it up. "I'll follow the teaching of the Buddha, I'll follow the Dhamma to understanding -- Why is this world of delusion so wretched?" I wanted to know, I wanted to master the Teaching, so I turned to the practice of Dhamma. 

How much of the worldly life do we monastics renounce? If we have gone forth for good then it means we renounce it all, there's nothing we don't renounce. All the things of the world that people enjoy are cast off: sights, sounds, smells, tastes and feelings... we throw them all away. And yet we experience them. So Dhamma practicers must be content with little and remain detached. Whether in regard to speech, in eating or whatever, we must be easily satisfied: eat simply, sleep simply, live simply. Just like they say, "an ordinary person," one who lives simply. The more you practice the more you will be able to take satisfaction in your practice. You will see into your own heart. 

The Dhamma is paccattam, you must know it for yourself. To know for yourself means to practice for yourself. You can depend on a teacher only fifty percent of the way. Even the teaching I have given you today is completely useless in itself, even if it is worth hearing. But if you were to believe it all just because I said so you wouldn't be using the teaching properly. 

If you believed me completely then you'd be foolish. To hear the teaching, see its benefit, put it into practice for yourself, see it within yourself, do it yourself... this is much more useful. You will then know the taste of Dhamma for yourself. 

This is why the Buddha didn't talk about the fruits of the practice in much detail, because it's something one can't convey in words. It would be like trying to describe different colors to a person blind from birth, "Oh, it's so white," or "it's bright yellow," for instance. You couldn't convey those colors to them. You could try but it wouldn't serve much purpose. 

The Buddha brings it back down to the individual -- see clearly for yourself. If you see clearly for yourself you will have clear proof within yourself. Whether standing, walking, sitting or reclining you will be free of doubt. Even if someone were to say, "Your practice isn't right, it's all wrong," still you would be unmoved, because you have your own proof. 

A practicer of the Dhamma must be like this wherever he goes. Others can't tell you, you must know for yourself. Sammaditthi, Right View, must be there. The practice must be like this for every one of us. To do the real practice like this for even one month out of five or ten rains retreats would be rare. 

Our sense organs must be constantly working. Know content and discontent, be aware of like and dislike. Know appearance and know transcendence. The Apparent and the Transcendent must be realized simultaneously. Good and evil must be seen as co-existent, arising together. This is the fruit of the Dhamma practice. 

So whatever is useful to yourself and to others, whatever practice benefits both yourself and others, is called "following the Buddha." I've talked about this often. The things which should be done, people seem to neglect. For example, the work in the monastery, the standards of practice and so on. I've talked about them often and yet people don't seem to put their hearts into it. Some don't know, some are lazy and can't be bothered, some are simply scattered and confused. 

But that's a cause for wisdom to arise. If we go to places where none of these things arise, what would we see? Take food, for instance. If food doesn't have any taste is it delicious? If a person is deaf will he hear anything? If you don't perceive anything will you have anything to contemplate? If there are no problems will there be anything to solve? Think of the practice in this way. 

Once I went to live up north. At that time I was living with many monks, all of them elderly but newly ordained, with only two or three rains retreat. At the time I had ten rains. Living with those old monks I decided to perform the various duties -- receiving their bowls, washing their robes, emptying their spittoons and so on. I didn't think in terms of doing it for any particular individual, I simply maintained my practice. If others didn't do the duties I'd do them myself. I saw it as a good opportunity for me to gain merit. It made me feel good and gave me a sense of satisfaction. 

On the uposatha [52] days I knew the required duties. I'd go and clean out the uposatha hall and set out water for washing and drinking. The others didn't know anything about the duties, they just watched. I didn't criticize them, because they didn't know. I did the duties myself, and having done them I felt pleased with myself, I had inspiration and a lot of energy in my practice. 

Whenever I could do something in the monastery, whether in my own kuti or others," if it was dirty, I'd clean up. I didn't do it for anyone in particular, I didn't do it to impress anyone, I simply did it to maintain a good practice. Cleaning a kuti or dwelling place is just like cleaning rubbish out of your own mind. 

Now this is something all of you should bear in mind. You don't have to worry about harmony, it will automatically be there. Live together with Dhamma, with peace and restraint, train your mind to be like this and no problems will arise. If there is heavy work to be done everybody helps out and in no long time the work is done, it gets taken care of quite easily. That's the best way. 

I have come across some other types, though... although I used it as an opportunity to grow. For instance, living in a big monastery, the monks and novices may agree among themselves to wash robes on a certain day. I'd go and boil up the jackfruit wood. [53] Now there'd be some monks who'd wait for someone else to boil up the jackfruit wood and then come along and wash their robes, take them back to their kutis, hang them out and then take a nap. They didn't have to set up the fire, didn't have to clean up afterwards... they thought they were on a good thing, that they were being clever. This is the height of stupidity. These people are just increasing their own stupidity because they don't do anything, they leave all the work up to others. They wait till everything is ready then come along and make use of it, it's easy for them. This is just adding to one's foolishness. Those actions serve no useful purpose whatsoever to them. 

Some people think foolishly like this. They shirk the required duties and think that this is being clever, but it is actually very foolish. If we have that sort of attitude we won't last. 

Therefore, whether speaking, eating or doing anything whatsoever, reflect on yourself. You may want to live comfortably, eat comfortably, sleep comfortably and so on, but you can't. What have we come here for? If we regularly reflect on this we will be heedful, we won't forget, we will be constantly alert. Being alert like this you will put forth effort in all postures. If you don't put forth effort things go quite differently... Sitting, you sit like you're in the town, walking, you walk like you're in the town... you just want to go and play around in the town with the laypeople. 

If there is no effort in the practice the mind will tend in that direction. You don't oppose and resist your mind, you just allow it to waft along the wind of your moods. This is called following one's moods. Like a child, if we indulge all its wants will it be a good child? If the parents indulge all their child's wishes is that good? Even if they do indulge it somewhat at first, by the time it can speak they may start to occasionally spank it because they're afraid it'll end up stupid. The training of our mind must be like this. You have to know yourself and how to train yourself. If you don't know how to train your own mind, waiting around expecting someone else to train it for you, you'll end up in trouble. 

So don't think that you can't practice in this place. Practice has no limits. Whether standing, walking, sitting or lying down, you can always practice. Even while sweeping the monastery grounds or seeing a beam of sunlight, you can realize the Dhamma. But you must have sati at hand. Why so? Because you can realize the Dhamma at any time at all, in any place, if you ardently meditate. 

Don't be heedless. Be watchful, be alert. While walking on almsround there are all sorts of feelings arising, and it's all good Dhamma. When you get back to the monastery and are eating your food there's plenty of good Dhamma for you to look into. If you have constant effort all these things will be objects for contemplation, there will be wisdom, you will see the dhamma. This is called dhamma-vicaya, reflecting on Dhamma. It's one of the enlightenment factors. [54] If there is sati, recollection, there will be dhamma-vicaya as a result. These are factors of enlightenment. If we have recollection then we won't simply take it easy, there will also be inquiry into Dhamma. These things become factors for realizing the Dhamma. 

If we have reached this stage then our practice will know neither day or night, it will continue on regardless of the time of day. There will be nothing to taint the practice, or if there is we will immediately know it. Let there be dhamma-vicaya within our minds constantly, looking into Dhamma. If our practice has entered the flow the mind will tend to be like this. It won't go off after other things..."I think I'll go for a trip over there, or perhaps this other place... over in that province should be interesting..." That's the way of the world. Not long and the practice will die. 

So resolve yourselves. It's not just by sitting with your eyes closed that you develop wisdom. Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind are constantly with us, so be constantly alert. Study constantly. Seeing trees or animals can all be occasions for study. Bring it all inwards. See clearly within your own heart. If some sensation makes impact on the heart, witness it clearly for yourself, don't simply disregard it. 

Take a simple comparison: baking bricks. have you ever seen a brick-baking oven? They build the fire up about two or three feet in front of the oven, then the smoke all gets drawn into it. Looking at this illustration you can more clearly understand the practice. Making a brick kiln in the right way you have to make the fire so that all the smoke gets drawn inside, none is left over. All the heat goes into the oven, and the job gets done quickly. 

We Dhamma practicers should experience things in this way. all our feelings will be drawn inwards to be turned into Right View. Seeing sights, hearing sounds, smelling odors, tasting flavors and so on, the mind draws them all inward to be converted into Right View. Those feelings thus become experiences which give rise to wisdom. 
"Not Sure!" -- The Standard of the Noble Ones 

There was once a western monk, a student of mine. Whenever he saw Thai monks and novices disrobing he would say, "Oh, what a shame! Why do they do that? Why do so many of the Thai monks and novices disrobe?" He was shocked. He would get saddened at the disrobing of the Thai monks and novices, because he had only just come into contact with Buddhism. He was inspired, he was resolute. Going forth as a monk was the only thing to do, he thought he'd never disrobe. Whoever disrobed was a fool. He'd see the Thais taking on the robes at the beginning of the Rains Retreat as monks and novices and then disrobing at the end of it..."Oh, how sad! I feel so sorry for those Thai monks and novices. How could they do such a thing?" 

Well, as time went by some of the western monks began to disrobe, so he came to see it as something not so important after all. At first, when he had just begun to practice, he was excited about it. He thought that it was really important thing, to become a monk. He thought it would be easy. 

When people are inspired it all seems to be so right and good. There's nothing there to gauge their feelings by, so they go ahead and decide for themselves. But they don't really know what practice is. Those who do know will have a thoroughly firm foundation within their hearts -- but even so they don't need to advertise it. 

As for myself, when I was first ordained I didn't actually do much practice, but I had a lot of faith. I don't know why, maybe it was there from birth. The monks and novices who went forth together with me, come the end of the Rains, all disrobed. I thought to myself, "Eh? What is it with these people?" However, I didn't dare say anything to them because I wasn't yet sure of my own feelings, I was too stirred up. But within me I felt that they were all foolish. "It's difficult to go forth, easy to disrobe. These guys don't have much merit, they think that the way of the world is more useful than the way of Dhamma." I thought like this but I didn't say anything, I just watched my own mind. 

I'd see the monks who'd gone forth with me disrobing one after the other. Sometimes they'd dress up and come back to the monastery to show off. I'd see them and think they were crazy, but they thought they looked snappy. When you disrobe you have to do this and that... I'd think to myself that that way of thinking was wrong. I wouldn't say it, though, because I myself was still an uncertain quantity. I still wasn't sure how long my faith would last. 

When my friends had all disrobed I dropped all concern, there was nobody left to concern myself with. I picked up the Patimokkha [55] and got stuck into learning that. There was nobody left to distract me and waste my time, so I put my heart into the practice. Still I didn't say anything because I felt that to practice all one's life, maybe seventy, eighty or even ninety years, and to keep up a persistent effort, without slackening up or losing one's resolve, seemed like an extremely difficult thing to do. 

Those who went forth would go forth, those who disrobed would disrobe. I'd just watch it all. I didn't concern myself whether they stayed or went. I'd watch my friends leave, but the feeling I had within me was that these people didn't see clearly. That western monk probably thought like that. he'd see people become monks for only one Rains Retreat, and get upset. 

Later on he reached a stage we call... bored; bored with the Holy Life. He let go of the practice and eventually disrobed. 

"Why are you disrobing? Before, when you saw the Thai monks disrobing you'd say, 'Oh, what a shame! How sad, how pitiful.' Now, when you yourself want to disrobe, why don't you feel sorry now?" 

He didn't answer. He just grinned sheepishly. 

When it comes to the training of the mind it isn't easy to find a good standard if you haven't yet developed a "witness" within yourself. In most external matters we can rely on others for feedback, there are standards and precedents. But when it comes to using the Dhamma as a standard... do we have the Dhamma yet? Are we thinking rightly or not? And even if it's right, do we know how to let go of rightness or are we still clinging to it? 

You must contemplate until you reach the point where you let go, this is the important thing... until you reach the point where there isn't anything left, where there is neither good nor bad. You throw it off. This means you throw out everything. If it's all gone then there's no remainder; if there's some remainder then it's not all gone. 

So in regard to this training of the mind, sometimes we may say it's easy. it's easy to say, but it's hard to do, very hard. It's hard in that it doesn't conform to our desires. Sometimes it seems almost as if the angels [56] were helping us out. Everything goes right, whatever we think or say seems to be just right. Then we go and attach to that rightness and before long we go wrong and it all turns bad. This is where it's difficult. We don't have a standard to gauge things by. 

People who have a lot of faith, who are endowed with confidence and belief but are lacking in wisdom, may be very good at samadhi but they may not have much insight. They see only one side of everything, and simply follow that. They don't reflect. This is blind faith. In Buddhism we call this Saddha adhimokkha, blind faith. They have faith all right but it's not born of wisdom. But they don't see this at the time, they believe they have wisdom, so they don't see where they are wrong. 

Therefore they teach about the Five Powers (Bala): Saddha, viriya, sati, samadhi, paa. Saddha is conviction; viriya is diligent effort; sati is recollection; samadhi is fixedness of mind; paa is all-embracing knowledge. Don't say that paa is simply knowledge -- paa is all-embracing, consummate knowledge. 

The wise have given these five steps to us so that we can link them, firstly as an object of study, then as a gauge to compare to the state of our practice as it is. For example, saddha, conviction. Do we have conviction, have we developed it yet? Viriya: do we have diligent effort or not? Is our effort right or is it wrong? We must consider this. Everybody has some sort of effort, but does our effort contain wisdom or not? 

Sati is the same. Even a cat has sati. When it sees a mouse, sati is there. The cat's eyes stare fixedly at the mouse. This is the sati of a cat. Everybody has sati, animals have it, delinquents have it, sages have it. 

Samadhi, fixedness of mind -- everybody has this as well. A cat has it when its mind is fixed on grabbing the mouse and eating it. It has fixed intent. That sati of the cat's is sati of a sort; samadhi, fixed intent on what it is doing, is also there. Paa, knowledge, like that of human beings. It knows as an animal knows, it has enough knowledge to catch mice for food. 

These five things are called powers. Have these Five Powers arisen from Right View, sammaditthi, or not? Saddha, viriya, sati, samadhi, paa -- have these arisen from Right View? What is Right View? What is our standard for gauging Right View? We must clearly understand this. 

Right View is the understanding that all these things are uncertain. Therefore the Buddha and all the Noble Ones don't hold fast to them. They hold, but not fast. They don't let that holding become an identity. The holding which doesn't lead to becoming is that which isn't tainted with desire. Without seeking to become this or that there is simply the practice itself. When you hold on to a particular thing is there enjoyment, or is there displeasure? If there is pleasure, do you hold on to that pleasure? If there is dislike, do you hold on to that dislike? 

Some views can be used as principles for gauging our practice more accurately. Such as knowing such views as that one is better than others, or equal to others, or more foolish than others, as all wrong views. We may feel these things but we also know them with wisdom, that they simply arise and cease. Seeing that we are better than others is not right; seeing that we are equal to others is not right; seeing that we are inferior to others is not right. 

The right view is the one that cuts through all of this. So where do we go to? If we think we are better than others, pride arises. It's there but we don't see it. If we think we are equal to others, we fail to show respect and humility at the proper times. If we think we are inferior to others we get depressed, thinking we are inferior, born under a bad sign and so on. We are still clinging to the Five Khandhas, [57] it's all simply becoming and birth. 

This is one standard for gauging ourselves by. Another one is: if we encounter a pleasant experience we feel happy, if we encounter a bad experience we are unhappy. Are we able to look at both the things we like and the things we dislike as having equal value? Measure yourself against this standard. In our everyday lives, in the various experiences we encounter, if we hear something which we like, does our mood change? If we encounter an experience which isn't to our liking, does our mood change? Or is the mind unmoved? Looking right here we have a gauge. 

Just know yourself, this is your witness. Don't make decisions on the strength of your desires. Desires can puff us up into thinking we are something which we're not. We must be very circumspect. 

There are so many angles and aspects to consider, but the right way is not to follow your desires, but the Truth. We should know both the good and the bad, and when we know them to let go of them. If we don't let go we are still there, we still "exist," we still "have." If we still "are" then there is a remainder, there are becoming and birth in store. 

Therefore the Buddha said to judge only yourself, don't judge others, no matter how good or evil they may be. The Buddha merely points out the way, saying "The truth is like this." Now, is our mind like that or not? 

For instance, suppose a monk took some things belonging to another monk, then that other monk accused him, "You stole my things." "I didn't steal them, I only took them." So we ask a third monk to adjudicate. How should he decide? He would have to ask the offending monk to appear before the convened Sangha. "Yes, I took it, but I didn't steal it." Or in regard to other rules, such as parajika or sanghadisesa offenses: "Yes, I did it, but I didn't have intention." How can you believe that? It's tricky. If you can't believe it, all you can do is leave the onus with the doer, it rests on him. 

But you should know that we can't hide the things that arise in our minds. You can't cover them up, either the wrongs or the good actions. Whether actions are good or evil, you can't dismiss them simply by ignoring them, because these things tend to reveal themselves. They conceal themselves, they reveal themselves, they exist in and of themselves. They are all automatic. This is how things work. 

Don't try to guess at or speculate about these things. As long as there is still avijja (unknowing) they are not finished with. The Chief Privy Councilor once asked me, "Luang Por, is the mind of an anagami [58] pure yet?" 

"It's partly pure." 

"Eh? An anagami has given up sensual desire, how is his mind not yet pure?" 

"He may have let go of sensual desire, but there is still something remaining, isn't there? There is still avijja. If there is still something left then there is still something left. It's like the bhikkhus' alms bowls. There are "a large-size large bowl; a medium-sized large bowl, a small-sized large bowl; then a large-sized medium bowl, a medium-sized medium bowl, a small-sized medium bowl; then there are a large-sized small bowl, a medium-sized small bowl and a small-sized small bowl... No matter how small it is there is still a bowl there, right? That's how it is with this...sotapanna, sakadagami, anagami... they have all given up certain defilements, but only to their respective levels. Whatever still remains, those Noble Ones don't see. If they could they would all be arahants. They still can't see all. Avijja is that which doesn't see. If the mind of the anagami was completely straightened out he wouldn't be an anagami, he would be fully accomplished. But there is still something remaining. 

"Is his mind purified?" 

"Well, it is somewhat, but not 100%." 

How else could I answer? He said that later on he would come and question me about it further. He can look into it, the standard is there. 

Don't be careless. Be alert. The Lord Buddha exhorted us to be alert. In regards to this training of the heart, I've had my moments of temptation too, you know. I've often been tempted to try many things but they've always seemed like they're going astray of the path. It's really just a sort of swaggering in one's mind, a sort of conceit. Ditthi, views, and mana, pride, are there. It's hard enough just to be aware of these two things. 

There was once a man who wanted to become a monk here. He carried in his robes, determined to become a monk in memory of his late mother. He came into the monastery, laid down his robes, and without so much as paying respects to the monks, started walking meditation right in front of the main hall... back and forth, back and forth, like he was really going to show his stuff. 

I thought, "Oh, so there are people around like this, too!" This is called saddha adhimokkha -- blind faith. He must have determined to get enlightened before sundown or something, he thought it would be so easy. He didn't look at anybody else, just put his head down and walked as if his life depended on it. I just let him carry on, but I thought, "Oh, man, you think it's that easy or something?" In the end I don't know how long he stayed, I don't even think he ordained. 

As soon as the mind thinks of something we send it out, send it out every time. We don't realize that it's simply the habitual proliferation of the mind. It disguises itself as wisdom and waffles off into minute detail. This mental proliferation seems very clever, if we didn't know we would mistake it for wisdom. But when it comes to the crunch it's not the real thing. When suffering arises where is that so-called wisdom then? Is it of any use? It's only proliferation after all. 

So stay with the Buddha. As I've said before many times, in our practice we must turn inwards and find the Buddha. Where is the Buddha? The Buddha is still alive to this very day, go in and find him. Where is he? At aniccam, go in and find him there, go and bow to him: aniccam, uncertainty. You can stop right there for starters. 

If the mind tries to tell you, "I'm a sotapanna now," go and bow to the sotapanna. He'll tell you himself, "It's all uncertain." If you meet a sakadagami go and pay respects to him. When he sees you he'll simply say "Not a sure thing!" If there is an anagami go and bow to him. He'll tell you only one thing..."Uncertain." If you meet even an arahant, go and bow to him, he'll tell you even more firmly, "It's all even more uncertain!" You'll hear the words of the Noble Ones..."Everything is uncertain, don't cling to anything." 

Don't just look at the Buddha like a simpleton. Don't cling to things, holding fast to them without letting go. Look at things as functions of the Apparent and then send them on to Transcendence. That's how you must be. There must be Appearance and there must be Transcendence. 

So I say "Go to the Buddha." Where is the Buddha? The Buddha is the Dhamma. All the teachings in this world can be contained in this one teaching: aniccam. Think about it. I've searched for over forty years as a monk and this is all I could find. That and patient endurance. This is how to approach the Buddha's teaching... aniccam: it's all uncertain. 

No matter how sure the mind wants to be, just tell it "Not sure!." Whenever the mind wants to grab on to something as a sure thing, just say, "It's not sure, it's transient." Just ram it down with this. Using the Dhamma of the Buddha it all comes down to this. It's not that it's merely a momentary phenomenon. Whether standing, walking, sitting or lying down, you see everything in that way. Whether liking arises or dislike arises you see it all in the same way. This is getting close to the Buddha, close to the Dhamma. 

Now I feel that this is more valuable way to practice. All my practice from the early days up to the present time has been like this. I didn't actually rely on the scriptures, but then I didn't disregard them either. I didn't rely on a teacher but then I didn't exactly "go it alone." My practice was all "neither this nor that." 

Frankly it's a matter of "finishing off," that is, practicing to the finish by taking up the practice and then seeing it to completion, seeing the Apparent and also the Transcendent. 

I've already spoken of this, but some of you may be interested to hear it again: if you practice consistently and consider things thoroughly, you will eventually reach this point... At first you hurry to go forward, hurry to come back, and hurry to stop. You continue to practice like this until you reach the point where it seems that going forward is not it, coming back is not it, and stopping is not it either! It's finished. This is the finish. Don't expect anything more than this, it finishes right here. Khinasavo -- one who is completed. He doesn't go forward, doesn't retreat and doesn't stop. There's no stopping, no going forward and no coming back. It's finished. Consider this, realize it clearly in your own mind. Right there you will find that there is really nothing at all. 

Whether this is old or new to you depends on you, on your wisdom and discernment. One who has no wisdom or discernment won't be able to figure it out. Just take a look at trees, like mango or jackfruit trees. If they grow up in a clump, one tree may get bigger first and then the others will bend away, growing outwards from that bigger one. Why does this happen? Who tells them to do that? This is Nature. Nature contains both the good and the bad, the right and the wrong. It can either incline to the right or incline to the wrong. If we plant any kind of trees at all close together, the trees which mature later will branch away from the bigger tree. How does this happen? Who determines it thus? This is Nature, or Dhamma. 

Likewise, tanha, desire, leads us to suffering. Now, if we contemplate it, it will lead us out of desire, we will outgrow tanha. By investigating tanha we will shake it up, making it gradually lighter and lighter until it's all gone. The same as the trees: does anybody order them to grow the way they do? They can't talk or move around and yet they know how to grow away from obstacles. Wherever it's cramped and crowded and growing will be difficult, they bend outwards. 

Right here is Dhamma, we don't have to look at a whole lot. One who is astute will see the Dhamma in this. Trees by nature don't know anything, they act on natural laws, yet they do know enough to grow away from danger, to incline towards a suitable place. 

Reflective people are like this. We go forth into the homeless life because we want to transcend suffering. What is it that make us suffer? If we follow the trail inwards we will find out. That which we like and that which we don't like are suffering. If they are suffering then don't go so close to them. Do you want to fall in love with conditions or hate them?... they're all uncertain. When we incline towards the Buddha all this comes to an end. Don't forget this. And patient endurance. Just these two are enough. If you have this sort of understanding this is very good. 

Actually in my own practice I didn't have a teacher to give as much teachings as all of you get from me. I didn't have many teachers. I ordained in an ordinary village temple and lived in village temples for quite a few years. In my mind I conceived the desire to practice, I wanted to be proficient, I wanted to train. There wasn't anybody giving any teaching in those monasteries but the inspiration to practice arose. I traveled and I looked around. I had ears so I listened, I had eyes so I looked. Whatever I heard people say, I'd tell myself, "Not sure." Whatever I saw, I told myself, "Not sure," or when the tongue contacted sweet, sour, salty, pleasant or unpleasant flavors, or feelings of comfort or pain arose in the body, I'd tell myself, "This is not a sure thing"! And so I lived with Dhamma. 

In truth it's all uncertain, but our desires want things to be certain. what can we do? We must be patient. The most important thing is khanti, patient endurance. Don't throw out the Buddha, what I call "uncertainty" -- don't throw that away. 

Sometimes I'd go to see old religious sites with ancient monastic buildings, designed by architects, built by craftsmen. In some places they would be cracked. Maybe one of my friends would remark, "Such a shame, isn't it? It's cracked." I'd answer, "If that weren't the case then there'd be no such thing as the Buddha, there'd be no Dhamma. It's cracked like this because it's perfectly in line with the Buddha's teaching." Really down inside I was also sad to see those buildings cracked but I'd throw off my sentimentality and try to say something which would be of use to my friends, and to myself. Even though I also felt that it was a pity, still I tended towards the Dhamma. 

"If it wasn't cracked like that there wouldn't be any Buddha!" 

I'd say it really heavy for the benefit of my friends... or perhaps they weren't listening, but still I was listening. 

This is a way of considering things which is very, very useful. For instance, say someone were to rush in and say, "Luang Por! Do you know what so and so just said about you?" or, "He said such and such about you..." Maybe you even start to rage. As soon as you hear words of criticism you start getting these moods every step of the way. As soon as we hear words like this we may start getting ready to retaliate, but on looking into the truth of the matter we may find that... no, they had said something else after all. 

And so it's another case of "uncertainty." So why should we rush in and believe things? Why should we put our trust so much in what others say? Whatever we hear we should take note, be patient, look into the matter carefully... stay straight. 

It's not that whatever pops into our heads we write it all down as some sort of truth. Any speech which ignores uncertainty is not the speech of a sage. Remember this. As for being wise, we are no longer practicing. Whatever we see or hear, be it pleasant or sorrowful, just say "This is not sure!" Say it heavy to yourself, hold it all down with this. Don't build those things up into major issues, just keep them all down to this one. This point is the important one. This is the point where defilements die. Practicers shouldn't dismiss it. 

If you disregard this point you can expect only suffering, expect only mistakes. If you don't make this a foundation for your practice you are going to go wrong... but then you will come right again later on, because this principle is a really good one. 

Actually the real Dhamma, the gist of what I have been saying today, isn't so mysterious. Whatever you experience is simply form, simply feeling, simply perception, simply volition, and simply consciousness. There are only these basic qualities, where is there any certainty within them? 

If we come to understand the true nature of things like this, lust, infatuation and attachment fade away. why do they fade away? Because we understand, we know. We shift from ignorance to understanding. Understanding is born from ignorance, knowing is born from unknowing, purity is born from defilement. It works like this. 

Not discarding aniccam, the Buddha -- This is what it means to say that the Buddha is still alive. To stay that the Buddha has passed into Nibbana is not necessarily true. In a more profound sense the Buddha is still alive. It's much like how we define the word "bhikkhu." If we define it as "one who asks," [59] the meaning is very broad. We can define it this way, but to use this definition too much is not so good -- we don't know when to stop asking! If we were to define this word in a more profound way we would say: "Bhikkhu -- one who sees the danger of Samsara." 

Isn't this more profound? It doesn't go in the same direction as the previous definition, it runs much deeper. The practice of Dhamma is like this. If you don't fully understand it, it becomes something else again. It becomes priceless, it becomes a source of peace. 

When we have sati we are close to the Dhamma. If we have sati we will see aniccam, the transience of all things. We will see the Buddha and transcend the suffering of samsara, if not now then sometime in the future. 

If we throw away the attribute of the Noble Ones, the Buddha or the Dhamma, our practice will become barren and fruitless. We must maintain our practice constantly, whether we are working or sitting or simply lying down. When the eye sees form, the ear hears sound, the nose smells an odor, the tongue tastes a flavor or the body experiences sensation... in all things, don't throw away the Buddha, don't stray from the Buddha. 

This is to be one who has come close to the Buddha, who reveres the Buddha constantly. We have ceremonies for revering the Buddha, such as chanting in the morning Araham Samma Sambuddho Bhagava... This is one way of revering the Buddha but it's not revering the Buddha in such a profound way as I've described here. It's the same as with that word "bhikkhu." If we define it as "one who asks" then they keep on asking... because it's defined like that. To define it in the best way we should say "Bhikkhu -- one who sees the danger of samsara." 

Now revering the Buddha is the same. Revering the Buddha by merely reciting Pali phrases as a ceremony in the mornings and evenings is comparable to defining the word "bhikkhu" as "one who asks." If we incline towards annicam, dukkham and anatta [60] whenever the eye sees form, the ear hears sound, the nose smells an odor, the tongue tastes a flavor, the body experiences sensation or the mind cognizes mental impressions, at all times, this is comparable to defining the word "bhikkhu" as "one who sees the danger of samsara." It's so much more profound, cuts through so many things. If we understand this teaching we will grow in wisdom and understanding. 

This is called patipada. Develop this attitude in the practice and you will be on the right path. If you think and reflect in this way, even though you may be far from your teacher you will still be close to him. If you live close to the teacher physically but your mind has not yet met him you will spend your time either looking for his faults or adulating him. If he does something which suits you, you say he's no good -- and that's as far as your practice goes. You won't achieve anything by wasting your time looking at someone else. But if you understand this teaching you can become a Noble One in the present moment. 

That's why this year [61] I've distanced myself from my disciples, both old and new, and not given much teaching: so that you can all look into things for yourselves as much as possible. For the newer monks I've already laid down the schedule and rules of the monastery, such as: "don't talk too much." Don't transgress the existing standards, the path to realization, fruition and nibbana. Anyone who transgresses these standards is not a real practicer, not one who has with a pure intention to practice. What can such a person ever hope to see? Even if he slept near me every day he wouldn't see me. Even if he slept near the Buddha he wouldn't see the Buddha, if he didn't practice. 

So knowing the Dhamma or seeing the Dhamma depends on practice. Have confidence, purify your own heart. If all the monks in this monastery put awareness into their respective minds we wouldn't have to reprimand or praise anybody. We wouldn't have to be suspicious of or favor anybody. If anger or dislike arise just leave them at the mind, but see them clearly! 

Keep on looking at those things. As long as there is still something there it means we still have to dig and grind away right there. Some say "I can't cut it, I can't do it," -- if we start saying things like this there will only be a bunch of punks here, because nobody cuts at their own defilements. 

You must try. If you can't yet cut it, dig in deeper. Dig at the defilements, uproot them. Dig them out even if they seem hard and fast. The Dhamma is not something to be reached by following your desires. Your mind may be one way, the truth another. You must watch up front and keep a lookout behind as well. That's why I say, "It's all uncertain, all transient." 

This truth of uncertainty, this short and simple truth, at the same time so profound and faultless, people tend to ignore. They tend to see things differently. Don't cling to goodness, don't cling to badness. These are attributes of the world. We are practicing to be free of the world, so bring these things to an end. The Buddha taught to lay them down, to give them up, because they only cause suffering. 

Transcendence 

When the group of five ascetics [62] abandoned the Buddha, he saw it as a stroke of luck, because he would be able to continue his practice unhindered. With the five ascetics living with him, things weren't so peaceful, he had responsibilities. And now the five ascetics had abandoned him because they felt that he had slackened his practice and reverted to indulgence. Previously he had been intent on his ascetic practices and self-mortification. In regards to eating, sleeping and so on, he had tormented himself severely, but it came to a point where, looking into it honestly, he saw that such practices just weren't working. It was simply a matter of views, practicing out of pride and clinging. He had mistaken worldly values and mistaken himself for the truth. 

For example if one decides to throw oneself into ascetic practices with the intention of gaining praise -- this kind of practice is all "world-inspired," practicing for adulation and fame. Practicing with this kind of intention is called "mistaking worldly ways for truth." 

Another way to practice is "to mistake one's own views for truth." You only believe yourself, in your own practice. No matter what others say you stick to your own preferences. You don't carefully consider the practice. this is called "mistaking oneself for truth." 

Whether you take the world or take yourself to be truth, it's all simply blind attachment. The Buddha saw this, and saw that there was no "adhering to the Dhamma," practicing for the truth. So his practice had been fruitless, he still hadn't given up defilements. 

Then he turned around and reconsidered all the work he had put into practice right from the beginning in terms of results. What were the results of all that practice? Looking deeply into it he saw that it just wasn't right. It was full of conceit, and full of the world. There was no dhamma, no insight into anatta (not self) no emptiness or letting go. There may have been letting go of a kind, but it was the kind that still hadn't let go. 

Looking carefully at the situation, the Buddha saw that even if he were to explain these things to the five ascetics they wouldn't be able to understand. It wasn't something he could easily convey to them, because those ascetics were still firmly entrenched in the old way of practice and seeing things. The Buddha saw that you could practice like that until your dying day, maybe even starve to death, and achieve nothing, because such practice is inspired by worldly values and by pride. 

Considering deeply, he saw the right practice, samma patipada: the mind is the mind, the body is the body. The body isn't desire or defilement. Even if you were to destroy the body you wouldn't destroy defilements. That's not their source. Even fasting and going without sleep until the body was a shrivelled-up wraith wouldn't exhaust the defilements. But the belief that defilements could be dispelled in that way, the teaching of self-mortification, was deeply ingrained into the five ascetics. 

The Buddha then began to take more food, eating as normal, practicing in a more natural way. When the five ascetics saw the change in the Buddha's practice they figured that he had given up and reverted to sensual indulgence. One person's understanding was shifting to a higher level, transcending appearances, while the other saw that that person's view was sliding downwards, reverting to comfort. Self-mortification was deeply ingrained into the minds of the five ascetics because the Buddha had previously taught and practiced like that. Now he saw the fault in it. By seeing the fault in it clearly, he was able to let it go. 

When the five ascetics saw the Buddha doing this they left him, feeling that he was practicing wrongly and that they would no longer follow him. Just as birds abandon a tree which no longer offers sufficient shade, or fish leave a pool of water that is too small, too dirty or not cool, just so did the five ascetics abandon the Buddha. 

So now the Buddha concentrated on contemplating the Dhamma. He ate more comfortably and lived more naturally. He let the mind be simply the mind, the body simply the body. He didn't force his practice in excess, just enough to loosen the grip of greed, aversion, and delusion. Previously he had walked the two extremes: kamasukhallikanuyogo -- if happiness or love arose he would be aroused and attach to them. He would identify with them and wouldn't let go. If he encountered pleasantness he would stick to that, if he encountered suffering he would stick to that. These two extremes he called kamasukhallikanuyogo and attakilamathanuyogo. 

The Buddha had been stuck on conditions. He saw clearly that these two ways are not the way for a samana. Clinging to happiness, clinging to suffering: a samana is not like this. To cling to those things is not the way. Clinging to those things he was stuck in the views of self and the world. If he were to flounder in these two ways he would never become one who clearly knew the world. He would be constantly running from one extreme to the other. Now the Buddha fixed his attention on the mind itself and concerned himself with training that. 

All facets of nature proceed according to their supporting conditions, they aren't any problem in themselves. For instance, illnesses in the body. The body experiences pain, sickness, fever and colds and so on. These all naturally occur. Actually people worry about their bodies too much. That they worry about and cling to their bodies so much is because of wrong view, they can't let go. 

Look at this hall here. We build the hall and say it's ours, but lizards come and live here, rats and geckoes come and live here, and we are always driving them away, because we see that the hall belongs to us, not the rats and lizards. 

It's the same with illnesses in the body. We take this body to be our home, something that really belongs to us. If we happen to get a headache or stomach-ache we get upset, we don't want the pain and suffering. These legs are "our legs," we don't want them to hurt, these arms are "our arms," we don't want anything to go wrong with it. We've got to cure all pains and illnesses at all costs. 

This is where we are fooled and stray from the truth. We are simply visitors to this body. Just like this hall here, it's not really ours. We are simply temporary tenants, like the rats, lizards and geckoes... but we don't know this. This body is the same. Actually the Buddha taught that there is no abiding self within this body but we go and grasp on to it as being our self, as really being "us" and "them." When the body changes we don't want it to do so. No matter how much we are told we don't understand. If I say it straight you get even more fooled. "This isn't yourself," I say, and you go even more astray, you get even more confused and your practice just reinforces the self. 

So most people don't really see the self. One who sees the self is one who sees that "this is neither the self nor belonging to self." He sees the self as it is in Nature. Seeing the self through the power of clinging is not real seeing. Clinging interferes with the whole business. It's not easy to realize this body as it is because upadana clings fast to it all. 

Therefore it is said that we must investigate to clearly know with wisdom. This means to investigate the sankhara [63] according to their true nature. Use wisdom. To know the true nature of sankhara is wisdom. If you don't know the true nature of sankhara you are at odds with them, always resisting them. Now, it is better to let go of the sankhara or to try to oppose or resist them. And yet we plead with them to comply with our wishes. We look for all sorts of means to organize them or "make a deal" with them. If the body gets sick and is in pain we don't want it to be, so we look for various Suttas to chant, such as Bojjhango, the Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta, the Anattalakkhanasutta and so on. We don't want the body to be in pain, we want to protect it, control it. These Suttas become some form of mystical ceremony, getting us even more entangled in clinging. This is because they chant them in order to ward off illness, to prolong life and so on. Actually the Buddha gave us these teachings in order to see clearly but we end up chanting them to increase our delusion. Rupam aniccam, vedana anicca, saa anicca, sankhara anicca, vianam aniccam... [64] We don't chant these words for increasing our delusion. They are recollections to help us know the truth of the body, so that we can let it go and give up our longing. 

This is called chanting to cut things down, but we tend to chant in order to extend them all, or if we feel they're too long we try chanting to shorten them, to force nature to conform to our wishes. It's all delusion. All the people sitting there in the hall are deluded, every one of them. The ones chanting are deluded, the ones listening are deluded, they're all deluded! All they can think is "How can we avoid suffering?" Where are they ever going to practice? 

Whenever illnesses arise, those who know see nothing strange about it. Getting born into this world entails experiencing illness. However, even the Buddha and the Noble Ones, contracting illness in the course of things, would also, in the course of things, treat it with medicine. For them it was simply a matter of correcting the elements. They didn't blindly cling to the body or grasp at mystic ceremonies and such. They treated illnesses with Right View, they didn't treat them with delusion. "If it heals, it heals, if it doesn't then it doesn't" -- that's how they saw things. 

They say that nowadays Buddhism in Thailand is thriving, but it looks to me like it's sunk almost as far as it can go. The Dhamma Halls are full of attentive ears, but they're attending wrongly. Even the senior members of the community are like this, so everybody just leads each other into more delusion. 

One who sees this will know that the true practice is almost opposite from where most people are going, the two sides can barely understand each other. How are those people going to transcend suffering? They have chants for realizing the truth but they turn around and use them to increase their delusion. They turn their backs on the right path. One goes eastward, the other goes west -- how are they ever going to meet? They're not even close to each other. 

If you have looked into this you will see that this is the case. Most people are lost. But how can you tell them? Everything has become rites and rituals and mystic ceremonies. they chant but they chant with foolishness, they don't chant with wisdom. They study, but they study with foolishness, not with wisdom. They know, but they know foolishly, not with wisdom. So they end up going with foolishness, living with foolishness, knowing with foolishness. That's how it is. And teaching... all they do these days is teach people to be stupid. They say they're teaching people to be clever, giving them knowledge, but when you look at it in terms of truth, you see that they're really teaching people to go astray and grasp at deceptions. 

The real foundation of the teaching is in order to see atta, the self, as being empty, having no fixed identity. It's void of intrinsic being. But people come to the study of Dhamma to increase their self-view, so they don't want to experience suffering or difficulty. They want everything to be cozy. They may want to transcend suffering, but if there is still a self how can they ever do so? 

Just consider... Suppose we came to possess a very expensive object. The minute that thing comes into our possession our mind changes..."Now, where can I keep it? If I leave it there somebody might steal it"... We worry ourselves into a state, trying to find a place to keep it. And when did the mind change? It changed the minute we obtained that object -- suffering arose right then. No matter where we leave that object we can't relax, so we're left with trouble. Whether sitting, walking, or lying down, we are lost in worry. 

This is suffering. And when did it arise? It arose as soon as we understood that we had obtained something, that's where the suffering lies. Before we had that object there was no suffering. It hadn't yet arisen because there wasn't yet an object for it to cling to. 

Atta, the self, is the same. if we think in terms of "my self," then everything around us becomes "mine." Confusion follows. Why so? The cause of it all is that there is a self, we don't peel off the apparent in order to see the Transcendent. You see, the self is only an appearance. You have to peel away the appearances in order to see the heart of the matter, which is Transcendence. Upturn the apparent to find the Transcendent. 

You could compare it to unthreshed rice. Can unthreshed rice be eaten? Sure it can, but you must thresh it first. Get rid of the husks and you will find the grain inside. 

Now if we don't thresh the husks we won't find the grain. Like a dog sleeping on the pile of unthreshed grain. Its stomach is rumbling "jork-jork-jork," but all it can do is lie there, thinking "Where can I get something to eat?" When it's hungry it bounds off the pile of rice grain and runs off looking for scraps of food. Even though it's sleeping right in top of a pile of food it knows nothing of it. Why? It can't see the rice. Dogs can't eat unthreshed rice. The food is there but the dog can't eat it. 

We may have learning but if we don't practice accordingly we still don't really know, just as oblivious as the dog sleeping on the pile of rice grain. It's sleeping on a pile of food but it knows nothing of it. When it gets hungry it's got to jump off and go trotting around elsewhere for food. It's a shame, isn't it? 

Now this is the same: there is rice grain but what is hiding it? The husk hides the grain, so the dog can't eat it. And there is the Transcendent. What hides it? The Apparent conceals the Transcendent, making people simply "sit on top of the pile of rice, unable to eat it," unable to practice, unable to see the Transcendent. And so they simply get stuck in appearances time and again. If you are stuck in appearances suffering is in store, you will be beset by becoming, birth, old age, sickness and death. 

So there isn't anything else blocking people off, they are blocked right here. People who study the Dhamma without penetrating to its true meaning are just like the dog on the pile of unthreshed rice who doesn't know the rice. He might even starve and still find nothing to eat. A dog can't eat unthreshed rice, it doesn't even know there is food there. After a long time without food it may even die... on top of that pile of rice! People are like this. No matter how much we study the Dhamma of the Buddha we won't see it if we don't practice. If we don't see it then we don't know it. 

Don't go thinking that by learning a lot and knowing a lot you'll know the Buddha Dhamma. That's like saying you've seen everything there is to see just because you've got eyes, or that you've got ears. You may see but you don't see fully. You see only with the "outer eye," not with the "inner eye'; you hear with the "outer ear," not with the "inner ear." 

If you upturn the apparent and reveal the Transcendent you will reach the truth and see clearly. You will uproot the Apparent and uproot clinging. 

But this is like some sort of sweet fruit: even though the fruit is sweet we must rely on contact with and experience of that fruit before we will know what the taste is like. Now that fruit, even though no-one tastes it, is sweet all the same. But nobody knows of it. The Dhamma of the Buddha is like this. Even though it's the truth it isn't true for those who don't really know it. No matter how excellent or fine it may be it is worthless to them. 

So why do people grab after suffering? Who in this world wants to inflict suffering on themselves? No-one, of course. Nobody wants suffering and yet people keep creating the causes of suffering, just as if they were wandering around looking for suffering. Within their hearts people are looking for happiness, they don't want suffering. Then why is it that this mind of ours creates so much suffering? Just seeing this much is enough. We don't like suffering and yet why do we create suffering for ourselves? It's easy to see... it can only be because we don't know suffering, don't know the end of suffering. That's why people behave the way they do. How could they not suffer when they continue to behave in this way? 

These people have micchaditthi [65] but they don't see that it's micchaditthi. Whatever we say, believe in or do which results in suffering is all wrong view. If it wasn't wrong view it wouldn't result in suffering. We couldn't cling to suffering, nor to happiness or to any condition at all. We would leave things be their natural way, like a flowing stream of water. We don't have to dam it up, just let it flow along its natural course. 

The flow of Dhamma is like this, but the flow of the ignorant mind tries to resist the Dhamma in the form of wrong view. And yet it flies off everywhere else, seeing wrong view, that is, suffering is there because of wrong view -- this people don't see. This is worth looking into. Whenever we have wrong view we will experience suffering. If we don't experience it in the present it will manifest later on. 

People go astray right here. What is blocking them off? The Apparent blocks off the Transcendent, preventing people from seeing things clearly. People study, they learn, they practice, but they practice with ignorance, just like a person who's lost his bearings. He walks to the west but thinks he's walking east, or walks to the north thinking he's walking south. This is how far people have gone astray. This kind of practice is really only the dregs of practice, in fact it's a disaster. It's disaster because they turn around and go in the opposite direction, they fall from the objective of true Dhamma practice. 

This state of affairs causes suffering and yet people think that doing this, memorizing that, studying such-and-such will be a cause for the cessation of suffering. Just like a person who wants a lot of things. He tries to amass as much as possible, thinking if he gets enough his suffering will abate. This is how people think, but their thinking is astray of the true path, just like one person going northward, another going southward, and yet believing they're going the same way. 

Most people are still stuck in the mass of suffering, still wandering in samsara, just because they think like this. If illness or pain arise, all they can do is wonder how they can get rid of it. They want it to stop as fast as possible, they've got to cure it all costs. They don't consider that this is the normal way of sankhara. Nobody thinks like this. The body changes and people can't endure it, they can't accept it, they've got to get rid of it at all costs. However, in the end they can't win, they can't beat the truth. It all collapses. This is something people don't want to look at, they continually reinforce their wrong view. 

Practicing to realize the Dhamma is the most excellent of things. Why did the Buddha develop all the Perfections? [66] So that he could realize this and enable others to see the Dhamma, know the Dhamma, practice the Dhamma and be the Dhamma -- so that they could let go and not be burdened. 

"Don't cling to things." Or to put it another way: "Hold, but don't hold fast." This is also right. If we see something we pick it up..."Oh, it's this"... then we lay it down. We see something else, pick it up... one holds, but not fast. Hold it just long enough to consider it, to know it, then to let it go. If you hold without letting go, carry without laying down the burden, then you are going to be heavy. If you pick something up and carry it for a while, then when it gets heavy you should lay it down, throw it off. Don't make suffering for yourself. 

This we should know as the cause of suffering. If we know the cause of suffering, suffering cannot arise. For either happiness or suffering to arise there must be the atta, the self. There must be the "I" and "mine," there must be this appearance. If when all these things arise the mind goes straight to the Transcendent, it removes the appearances. It removes the delight, the aversion and the clinging from those things. Just as when something that we value gets lost... when we find it again our worries disappear. 

Even before we see that object our worries may be relieved. At first we think it's lost and suffer over it, but there comes a day when we suddenly remember, "Oh, that's right! I put it over there, now I remember!" As soon as we remember this, as soon as we see the truth, even if we haven't laid eyes on that object, we feel happy. This is called "seeing within," seeing with the mind's eye, not seeing with the outer eye. If we see with the mind's eye then even though we haven't laid eyes on that object we are already relieved. 

This is the same, When we cultivate Dhamma practice and attain the Dhamma, see the Dhamma, then whenever we encounter a problem we solve the problem instantly, right then and there. It disappears completely, laid down, released. 

Now the Buddha wanted us to contact the Dhamma, but people only contact the words, the books and the scriptures. This is contacting that which is about Dhamma, not contacting the actual Dhamma as taught by our Great Teacher. How can people say they are practicing well and properly? They are a long way off. 

The Buddha was known as lokavidu, having clearly realized the world. Right now we see the world all right, but not clearly. The more we know the darker the world becomes, because our knowledge is murky, it's not clear knowledge. It's faulty. This is called "knowing through darkness," lacking in light and radiance. 

People are only stuck here but it's no trifling matter. It's important. Most people want goodness and happiness but they just don't know what the causes for that goodness and happiness are. Whatever it may be, if we haven't yet seen the harm of it we can't give it up. No matter how bad it may be, we still can't give it up if we haven't truly seen the harm of it. However, if we really see the harm of something beyond a doubt then we can let it go. As soon as we see the harm of something, and the benefit of giving it up, there's an immediate change. 

Why is it we are still unattained, still cannot let go? It's because we still don't see the harm clearly, our knowledge is faulty, it's dark. that's why we can't let go. If we knew clearly like the Lord Buddha or the arahant disciples we would surely let go, our problems would dissolve completely with no difficulty at all. 

When your ears hear sound, then let them do their job. When your eyes perform their function with forms, then let them do so. When your nose works with smells, let it do its job. When your body experiences sensations, then let it perform its natural functions where will problems arise? There are no problems. 

In the same way, all those things which belong to the Apparent, leave them with the Apparent. And acknowledge that which is the Transcendent. Simply be the "One Who Knows," knowing without fixation, knowing and letting things be their natural way. All things are just as they are. 

All our belongings, does anybody really own them? Does our father own them, or our mother, or our relatives? Nobody really gets anything. That's why the Buddha said to let all those things be, let them go. Know them clearly. Know then by holding, but not fast. Use things in a way that is beneficial, not in a harmful way by holding fast to them until suffering arises. 

To know Dhamma you must know in this way. That is, to know in such a way as to transcend suffering. This sort of knowledge is important. Knowing about how to make things, to use tools, knowing all the various sciences of the world and so on, all have their place, but they are not the supreme knowledge. The Dhamma must be known as I've explained it here. You don't have to know a whole lot, just this much is enough for the Dhamma practicer -- to know and then let go. 

It's not that you have to die before you can transcend suffering, you know. You transcend suffering in this very life because you know how to solve problems. You know the apparent, you know the Transcendent. Do it in this lifetime, while you are here practicing. You won't find it anywhere else. Don't cling to things. Hold, but don't cling. 

You may wonder, "Why does the Ajahn keep saying this?" How could I teach otherwise, how could I say otherwise, when the truth is just as I've said it? Even though it's the truth don't hold fast to even that! If you cling to it blindly it becomes a falsehood. Like a dog... try grabbing its leg. If you don't let go the dog will spin around and bite you. Just try it out. All animals behave like this. If you don't let go it's got no choice but to bite. The Apparent is the same. We live in accordance with conventions, they are here for our convenience in this life, but they are not things to be clung to so hard that they cause suffering. Just let things pass. 

Whenever we feel that we are definitely right, so much so that we refuse to open up to anything or anybody else, right there we are wrong. It becomes wrong view. When suffering arises, where does it arise from? The cause is wrong view, the fruit of that being suffering. If it was right view it wouldn't cause suffering. 

So I say, "Allow space, don't cling to things." "Right" is just another supposition, just let it pass. "Wrong" is another apparent condition, just let it be that. If you feel you are right and yet others contend the issue, don't argue, just let it go. As soon as you know, let go. This is the straight way. 

Usually it's not like this. People don't often give in to each other. That's why some people, even Dhamma practicers who still don't know themselves, may say things that are utter foolishness and yet think they're being wise. They may say something that's so stupid that others can't even bear to listen and yet they think they are being cleverer than others. Other people can't even listen to it and yet they think they are smart, that they are right. They are simply advertising their own stupidity. 

That's why the wise say, "Whatever speech disregards aniccam is not the speech of a wise person, it's the speech of a fool. It's deluded speech. it's the speech of one who doesn't know that suffering is going to arise right there." For example, suppose you had decided to go to Bangkok tomorrow and someone were to ask, "Are you going to Bangkok tomorrow?" 

"I hope to go to Bangkok. If there are no obstacles I'll probably go." This is called speaking with the Dhamma in mind, speaking with aniccam in mind, taking into account the truth, the transient, uncertain nature of the world. You don't say, "Yes, I'm definitely going tomorrow." If it turns out you don't go what are you going to do, send news to all the people who told you were going to? You'd be just talking non-sense. 

There's still much more to it, the practice of Dhamma becomes more and more refined. But if you don't see it you may think you are speaking right even when you are speaking wrongly and straying from the true nature of things with every word. And yet you may think you are speaking the truth. To put it simply: anything that we say or do that causes suffering to arise should be known as micchaditthi. It's delusion and foolishness. 

Most practicers don't reflect in this way. Whatever they like they think is right and they just go on believing themselves. For instance, they may receive some gift or title, be it an object, rank or even words of praise, and they think it's good. They take it as some sort of permanent condition. So they get puffed up with pride and conceit, they don't consider, "Who am I? Where is this so-called "goodness"? Where did it come from? Do others have the same things?" 

The Buddha taught that we should conduct ourselves normally. If we don't dig in, chew over and look into this point it means it's still sunk within us. It means these conditions are still buried within our hearts -- we are still sunk in wealth, rank and praise. So we become someone else because of them. We think we are better than before, that we are something special and so all sorts of confusion arises. 

Actually, in truth there isn't anything to human beings. Whatever we may be it's only in the realm of appearances. If we take away the apparent and see the Transcendent we see that there isn't anything there. There are simply the universal characteristics -- birth in the beginning, change in the middle and cessation in the end. This is all there is. If we see that all things are like this then no problems arise. If we understand this we will have contentment and peace. 

Where trouble arises is when we think like the five ascetic disciples of the Buddha. They followed the instruction of their teacher, but when he changed his practice they couldn't understand what he thought or knew. They decided that the Buddha had given up his practice and reverted to indulgence. If we were in that position we'd probably think the same thing and there'd be no way to correct it. Holding on to the old ways, thinking in the lower way, yet believing it's higher. We'd see the Buddha and think he'd given up the practice and reverted to indulgence, just like he'd given up the practice and reverted to indulgence, just like those Five Ascetics: consider how many years they had been practicing at that time, and yet they still went astray, they still weren't proficient. 

So I say to practice and also to look at the results of your practice. Especially where you refuse to follow, where there is friction. Where there is no friction, there is no problem, things flow. If there is friction, they don't flow, you set up a self and things become solid, like a mass of clinging. There is no give and take. 

Most monks and cultivators tend to be like this. However they've thought in the past they continue to think. They refuse to change, they don't reflect. They think they are right so they can't be wrong, but actually "wrongness" is buried within "rightness," even though most people don't know that. How is it so? "This is right"... but if someone else says it's not right you won't give in, you've got to argue. What is this? Ditthi mana... Ditthi means views, mana is the attachment to those views. If we attach even to what is right, refusing to concede to anybody, then it becomes wrong. To cling fast to rightness is simply the arising of self, there is no letting go. 

This is a point which gives people a lot of trouble, except for those Dhamma practicers who know that this matter, this point, is a very important one. they will take not of it. If it arises while they're speaking, clinging comes racing on to the scene. Maybe it will linger for some time, perhaps one or two days, three or four months, a year or two. This is for the slow ones, that is. For the quick response is instant... they just let go. Clinging arises and immediately there is letting go, they force the mind to let go right then and there. 

You must see these two functions operating. Here there is clinging. Now who is the one who resists that clinging? Whenever you experience a mental impression you should observe these two functions operating. There is clinging, and there is one who prohibits the clinging. Now just watch these two things. Maybe you will cling for a long time before you let go. 

Reflecting and constantly practicing like this, clinging gets lighter, becomes less and less. Right view increases as wrong view gradually wanes. Clinging decreases, non-clinging arises. This is the way it is for everybody. That's why I say to consider this point. Learn to solve problems in the present moment. 
Notes 

1. That is, the Buddha. [Go back] 

2. The Triple Gem: The Buddha, the Dhamma, His teaching, and the Sangha, the Monastic Order, or those who have realized the Dhamma. [Go back] 

3. Sati: Usually translated into English as mindfulness, recollection is the more accurate translation of the Thai words, "ra-luk dai." [Go back] 

4. Bhavana -- means "development" or "cultivation"; but is usually used to refer to cittabhavana, mind-development, or paa-bhavana, wisdom-development, or contemplation. [Go back] 

5. "Vinaya" is a generic name given to the code of discipline of the Buddhist Monastic Order, the rules of the monkhood. "Vinaya" literally means "leading out," because maintenance of these rules "leads out" of unskillful actions, and, by extension, unskillful states of mind; in addition it can be said to "lead out" of the household life, and, by extension, attachment to the world. [Go back] 

6. This refers to the Venerable Ajahn's early years in the monkhood, before he had begun to practice in earnest. [Go back] 

7. The second sanghadisesa offense, which deals with touching a woman with lustful intentions. [Go back] 

8. Referring to pacittiya offense No. 36, for eating food outside of the allowed time -- dawn till noon. [Go back] 

9. Dukkata -- offenses of "wrong-doing," the lightest class of offenses in the Vinaya, of which there are a great number; parajika -- offenses of defeat, of which there are four, are the most serious, involving expulsion from the Bhikkhu-Sangha. [Go back] 

10. Venerable Ajahn Mun Bhuridatto, probably the most renowned and highly respected Meditation Master from the forest tradition in Thailand. He had many disciples who have been teachers in their own right, of whom Ajahn Chah is one. Venerable Ajahn Mun died in 1949. [Go back] 

11. Pubbasikkha Vannana -- "The Elementary Training" -- a Thai Commentary on Dhamma-Vinaya based on the Pali Commentaries; the Visuddhimagga -- "Path to Purity" -- Acariya Buddhagosa's exhaustive commentary on Dhamma-Vinaya. [Go back] 

12. Hiri -- sense of shame; Ottappa -- fear of wrong-doing. Hiri and ottappa are positive states of mind which lay a foundation for clear conscience and moral integrity. Their arising is based on a respect for oneself and for others. Restraint is natural because of a clear perception of cause and effect. [Go back] 

13. Apatti: the name to the offenses of various classes for a Buddhist monk. [Go back] 

14. Maha: a title given to monks who have studied Pali and completed up to the fourth year or higher. [Go back] 

15. A "receiving cloth" is a cloth used by Thai monks for receiving things from women, from whom they do not receive things directly. That Venerable Ajahn Pow lifted his hand from the receiving cloth indicated that he was not actually receiving the money. [Go back] 

16. There are very precise and detailed regulations governing the ordination procedure which, if not adhered to, may render the ordination invalid. [Go back] 

17. The Vinaya forbids bhikkhus from eating raw meat or fish. [Go back] 

18. Although it is an offense for monks to accept money, there are many who do. Some may accept it while appearing not to, which is probably how the laypeople in this instance saw the Venerable Ajahn's refusal to accept money, by thinking that he actually would accept it if they didn't overtly offer it to him, but just slipped it into his bag. [Go back] 

19. Ajali -- The traditional way of making greeting or showing respect, as with an Indian Namaste or the Thai wai. Sadhu -- "It is well" -- a way of showing appreciation or agreement. [Go back] 

20. Another transgression of the precepts, a pacittiya offense. [Go back] 

21. Navakovada -- A simplified synopsis of elementary Dhamma-Vinaya. [Go back] 

22. Many monks undertake written examinations of their scriptural knowledge, sometimes -- as Ajahn Chah points out -- to the detriment of their application of the teachings in daily life. [Go back] 

23. Indulgence in sense pleasures, indulgence in comfort. [Go back] 

24. Kuti -- a bhikkhu's dwelling place, a hut. [Go back] 

25. The cycle of conditioned existence, the world of delusion. [Go back] 

26. Samana: a religious seeker living a renunciant life. Originating from the Sanskrit term for "one who strives," the word signifies someone who has made a profound commitment to spiritual practice. [Go back] 

27. One of the many branch monasteries of Ajahn Chah's main monastery, Wat Ba Pong. [Go back] 

28. Concept (sammutti) refers to supposed or provisional reality, while transcendence (vimutti) refers to the liberation from attachment to or delusion within it. [Go back] 

29. Mara: the Buddhist personification of evil, the Tempter, that force which opposes any attempts to develop goodness and virtue. [Go back] 

30. The play on words here between the Thai "phadtibut" (practice) and "wibut" (disaster) is lost in the English. [Go back] 

31. These are the two extremes pointed out as wrong paths by the Buddha in his First Discourse. They are normally rendered as "Indulgence in sense pleasures" and "Self mortification." [Go back] 

32. "Pa-kow: an eight-precept postulant, who often lives with bhikkhus and, in addition to his own meditation practice, also helps them with certain services which bhikkhus are forbidden by the Vinaya from doing. [Go back] 

33. The level of nothingness, one of the "formless absorptions," sometimes called the seventh "jhana," or absorption. [Go back] 

34. Bimba, or Princess Yasodhara, the Buddha's former wife; Rahula, his son. [Go back] 

35. Rupa -- material or physical objects; nama -- immaterial or mental objects -- the physical and mental constituents of being. [Go back] 

36. Nibbana -- the state of liberation from all conditioned states. [Go back] 

37. The Thai word for bhava -- "pop" -- would have been a familiar term to Ajahn Chah's audience. It is generally understood to mean "Sphere of rebirth." Ajahn Chah's usage of the word here is somewhat unconventional, emphasizing a more practical application of the term. [Go back] 

38. Both the red ants and their eggs are used for food in North East Thailand, so that such raids on their nests were not so unusual. [Go back] 

39. The first line of the traditional Pali words of homage to the Buddha, recited before giving a formal Dhamma talk. Evam is the traditional Pali word for ending a talk. [Go back] 

40. Glot -- the Thai "dhutanga" or forest-dwelling monks' large umbrella from which, suspended from a tree, they hang a mosquito net in which to stay while in the forest. [Go back] 

41. The body on the first night had been that of a child. [Go back] 

42. The last line of the traditional Pali lines listing the qualities of the Dhamma. [Go back] 

43. Mahanikai and Dhammayuttika are the two sects of Theravada sangha in Thailand. [Go back] 

44. A Thai expression meaning, "Don't overdo it." [Go back] 

45. Thirteen practices allowed by the Buddha over and above the general disciplinary code, for those who which to practice more ascetically. [Go back] 

46. Part of a Pali verse, traditionally recited at funeral ceremonies. The meaning of the full verse if, "Alas, transient are all compounded things/Having arisen, they cease/Being born, they die/The cessation of all compounding is true happiness." [Go back] 

47. Novices. [Go back] 

48. The word dhamma can be used in different ways. In this talk, the Venerable Ajahn refers to Dhamma -- the teachings of the Buddha; to dhammas -- "things"; and to Dhamma -- the experience of transcendent "Truth." [Go back] 

49. At that time Sariputta had his first insight into the Dhamma, attaining sotapatti, or "stream-entry." [Go back] 

50. That is, nibbida, disinterest in the lures of the sensual world. [Go back] 

51. The Truth of Suffering, the Truth of its Cause, the Truth of its Cessation and the Truth of the Way (leading to the cessation of suffering): The Four Noble Truths. [Go back] 

52. Observance days, held roughly every fortnight, on which monks confess their offenses and recite the disciplinary precepts, the Patimokkha. [Go back] 

53. The heartwood from the jackfruit tree is boiled down and the resulting color used both to dye and to wash the robes of the forest monks. [Go back] 

54. Bojjjhanga -- the Seven Factors of Enlightenment: sati, recollection; dhamma-vicaya, inquiry into dhammas; viriya, effort; piti, joy; passadhi, peace; samadhi, concentration; and upekkha, equanimity. [Go back] 

55. The central body of the monastic code, which is recited fortnightly in the Pali language. [Go back] 

56. Devaputta Mara -- the Mara, or Tempter, which appears in a seemingly benevolent form. [Go back] 

57. The Five Khandhas: Form (rupa), feeling (vedana), perception (saa), conceptualization or mental formations (sankhara) and sense-consciousness (viana). These comprise the psycho-physical experience known as the "self." [Go back] 

58. Anagami (nonreturner): The third "level" of enlightenment, which is reached on the abandonment of the five "lower fetters" (of a total of ten) which bind the mind to worldly existence. The first two "levels" are sotapanna ("stream-enterer") and sakadagami ("once-returner"), the last being araham ("worthy or accomplished one"). [Go back] 

59. That is, one who lives dependent on the generosity of others. [Go back] 

60. Transience, Imperfection, and Ownerlessness. [Go back] 

61. 2522 of the Buddhist Era, or 1979 CE. [Go back] 

62. The pacavaggiya, or "group of five," who followed the Buddha-to-be (Bodhisatta) when he was cultivating ascetic practices, and who left him when he renounced them for the Middle Way, shortly after which the Bodhisatta attained Supreme Enlightenment. [Go back] 

63. Sankhara: conditioned phenomena. The Thai usage of this term usually refers specifically to the body, though sankhara also refers to mental phenomena. [Go back] 

64. Form is impermanent, feeling is impermanent, perception is impermament, volition is impermanent, consciousness is impermanent. [Go back] 

65. micchaditthi: Wrong-view. [Go back] 

66. The ten paramita (perfections): generosity, morality, renunciation, wisdom, effort, patience, truthfulness, resolution, goodwill and equanimity. [Go back] 
Revised: Saturday 2005.01.29

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/chah/heartfood.html
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Help | Home  Library  Thai Forest Traditions  Ajaan Chah 
Living Dhamma
by 
Venerable Ajahn Chah
Copyright  1992 The Sangha, Bung Wai Forest Monastery 

For free distribution only.
Any reproduction, in whole or part, in any form,
for sale, profit or material gain, is prohibited.
However, copies of this book, or permission to reprint
for free distribution, may be obtained upon notification. 

The Abbot
Wat Pah Nanachat
Bahn Bung Wai
Warinchamrab
Ubol Rajathani 34310
Thailand 

First Impression 1992. This electronic edition was transcribed from the print edition in 1994 by David Savage under the auspices of the DharmaNet Dharma Book Transcription Project, with the kind permission of the copyright holder. 
Contents
Making the Heart Good 
Why are we here? 
Our real home 
The Four Noble Truths 
Meditation 
Living in the World with Dhamma 
"Tuccho Pothila" -- Venerable Empty-Scripture 
Still, Flowing Water 
Toward the Unconditioned 
Notes 
Making the Heart Good 

These days people are going all over the place looking for merit.[1] And they always seem to stop over in Wat Ba Pong. If they don't stop over on the way, they stop over on the return journey. Wat Ba Pong has become a stop over point. Some people are in such a hurry I don't even get a chance to see or speak to them. Most of them are looking for merit. I don't see many looking for a way out of wrongdoing. They're so intent on getting merit they don't know where they're going to put it. It's like trying to dye a dirty, unwashed cloth. 

Monks talk straight like this, but it's hard for most people to put this sort of teaching into practice. It's hard because they don't understand. If they understood it would be much easier. Suppose there was a hole, and there was something at the bottom of it. Now anyone who put their hand into the hole and didn't reach the bottom would say the hole was too deep. Out of a hundred or a thousand people putting their hands down that hole, they'd all say the hole was too deep. Not one would say their arm was too short! 

There are so many people looking for merit. Sooner or later they'll have to start looking for a way out of wrongdoing. But not many people are interested in this. The teaching of the Buddha is so brief, but most people just pass it by, just like they pass through Wat Ba Pong. For most people that's what the Dhamma is, a stop-over point. 

Only three lines, hardly anything to it: Sabba papassa akaranam: refraining from all wrong doing. That's the teaching of all Buddhas. This is the heart of Buddhism. But people keep jumping over it, they don't want this one. The renunciation of all wrongdoing, great and small, from bodily, verbal and mental actions... this is the teaching of the Buddhas. 

If we were to dye a piece of cloth we'd have to wash it first. But most people don't do that. Without looking at the cloth, they dip it into the dye straight away. If the cloth is dirty, dying it makes it come out even worse than before. Think about it. Dying a dirty old rag, would that look good? 

You see? This is how Buddhism teaches, but most people just pass it by. They just want to perform good works, but they don't want to give up wrongdoing. It's just like saying "the hole is too deep." Everybody says the hole is too deep, nobody says their arm is too short. We have to come back to ourselves. With this teaching you have to take a step back and look at yourself. 

Sometimes they go looking for merit by the busload. Maybe they even argue on the bus, or they're drunk. Ask them where they're going and they say they're looking for merit. They want merit but they don't give up vice. They'll never find merit that way. 

This is how people are. You have to look closely, look at yourselves. The Buddha taught about having recollection and self- awareness in all situations. Wrongdoing arises in bodily, verbal and mental actions. The source of all good, evil, weal and harm lies with actions, speech and thoughts. Did you bring your actions, speech and thoughts with you today? Or have you left them at home? This is where you must look, right here. You don't have to look very far away. Look at your actions, speech and thoughts. Look to see if your conduct is faulty or not. 

People don't really look at these things. Like the housewife washing the dishes with a scowl on her face. She's so intent on cleaning the dishes, she doesn't realize her own mind's dirty! Have you ever seen this? She only sees the dishes. She's looking too far away, isn't she? Some of you have probably experienced this, I'd say. This is where you have to look. People concentrate on cleaning the dishes but they let their minds go dirty. This is not good, they're forgetting themselves. 

Because they don't see themselves people can commit all sorts of bad deeds. They don't look at their own minds. When people are going to do something bad they have to look around first to see if anyone is looking... "Will my mother see me?" "Will my husband see me?" "Will my children see me?" "Will my wife see me?" If there's no-one watching then they go right ahead and do it. This is insulting themselves. They say no-one is watching, so they quickly finish the job before anyone will see. And what about themselves? Aren't they a "somebody"? 

You see? Because they overlook themselves like this, people never find what is of real value, they don't find the Dhamma. If you look at yourselves you will see yourselves. Whenever you are about to do something bad, if you see yourself in time you can stop. If you want to do something worthwhile then look at your mind. If you know how to look at yourself then you'll know about right and wrong, harm and benefit, vice and virtue. These are the things we should know about. 

If I don't talk of these things you won't know about them. You have greed and delusion in the mind but don't know it. You won't know anything if you are always looking outside. This is the trouble with people not looking at themselves. Looking inwards you will see good and evil. Seeing goodness, we can take it to heart and practice accordingly. 

Giving up the bad, practicing the good... this is the heart of Buddhism. Sabba papassa akaranam -- Not committing any wrongdoing, either through body, speech or mind. That's the right practice, the teaching of the Buddhas. Now "our cloth" is clean. 

Then we have kusalassupasampada -- making the mind virtuous and skillful. If the mind is virtuous and skillful we don't have to take a bus all over the countryside looking for merit. Even sitting at home we can attain to merit. But most people just go looking for merit all over the countryside without giving up their vices. When they return home it's empty-handed they go, back to their old sour faces. There they are washing the dishes with a sour face, so intent on cleaning the dishes. This is where people don't look, they're far away from merit. 

We may know of these things, but we don't really know if we don't know within our own minds. Buddhism doesn't enter our heart. If our mind is good and virtuous it is happy. There's a smile in our heart. But most of us can hardly find time to smile, can we? We can only manage to smile when things go our way. Most people's happiness depends on having things go to their liking. They have to have everybody in the world say only pleasant things. Is that how you find happiness? Is it possible to have everybody in the world say only pleasant things? If that's how it is when will you ever find happiness? 

We must use Dhamma to find happiness. Whatever it may be, whether right or wrong, don't blindly cling to it. Just notice it then lay it down. When the mind is at ease then you can smile. The minute you become averse to something the mind goes bad. Then nothing is good at all. 

Sacittapariyodapanam: Having cleared away impurities the mind is free of worries... peaceful, kind and virtuous. When the mind is radiant and has given up evil, there is ease at all times. The serene and peaceful mind is the true epitome of human achievement. 

When others say things to our liking, we smile. If they say things that displease us we frown. How can we ever get others to say things only to our liking every single day? Is it possible? Even your own children... have they ever said things that displease you? Have you ever upset your parents? Not only other people, but even our own minds can upset us. Sometimes the things we ourselves think of are not pleasant. What can you do? You might be walking along and suddenly kick a tree stump... Thud!..."Ouch!"... Where's the problem? Who kicked who anyway? Who are you going to blame? It's your own fault. Even our own mind can be displeasing to us. If you think about it, you'll see that this is true. Sometimes we do things that even we don't like. All you can say is "Damn!", there's no-one else to blame. 

Merit or boon in Buddhism is giving up that which is wrong. When we abandon wrongness then we are no longer wrong. When there is no stress there is calm. The calm mind is a clean mind, one which harbors no angry thoughts, which is clear. 

How can you make the mind clear? Just by knowing it. For example, you might think, "Today I'm in a really bad mood, everything I look at offends me, even the plates in the cupboard." You might feel like smashing them up, every single one of them. Whatever you look at looks bad, the chickens, the ducks, the cats and dogs... you hate them all. Everything your husband says is offensive. Even looking into your own mind you aren't satisfied. What can you do in such a situation? Where does this suffering come from? This is called "having no merit." These days in Thailand they have a saying that when someone dies his merit is finished. But that's not the case. There are plenty of people still alive who've finished their merit already... those people who don't know merit. The bad mind just collects more and more badness. 

Going on these merit-making tours is like building a beautiful house without preparing the area beforehand. In no long time the house will collapse, won't it? The design was no good. Now you have to try again, try a different way. You have to look into yourself, looking at the faults in your actions, speech and thoughts. Where else are you going to practice, other than at your actions, speech and thoughts? People get lost. They want to go and practice Dhamma where it's really peaceful, in the forest or at Wat Ba Pong. Is Wat Ba Pong peaceful? No, it's not really peaceful. Where it's really peaceful is in your own home. 

If you have wisdom wherever you go you will be carefree. The whole world is already just fine as it is. All the trees in the forest are already just fine as they are: there are tall ones, short ones, hollow ones... all kinds. They are simply the way they are. Through ignorance of their true nature we go and enforce our opinions onto them..."Oh, this tree is too short! This tree is hollow!" Those trees are simply trees, they're better off than we are. 

That's why I've had these little poems written up in the trees here. Let the trees teach you. Have you learned anything from them yet? You should try to learn at least one thing from them. There are so many trees, all with something to teach you. Dhamma is everywhere, in everything in Nature. You should understand this point. Don't go blaming the hole for being too deep... turn around and look at your own arm! If you can see this you will be happy. 

If you make the merit or virtue, preserve it in your mind. that's the best place to keep it. Making merit as you have done today is good, but it's not the best way. Constructing buildings is good, but it's not the best thing. Building your own mind into something good is the best way. This way you will find goodness whether you come here or stay at home. Find this excellence within your mind. Outer structures like this hall here are just like the "bark" of the "tree," they're not the "heartwood." 

If you have wisdom, wherever you look there will be Dhamma. If you lack wisdom, then even the good things turn bad. Where does this badness come from? Just from our own minds, that's where. Look how this mind changes. Everything changes. Husband and wife used to get on all right together, they could talk to each other quite happily. But there comes a day when their mood goes bad, everything the spouse says seems offensive. The mind has gone bad, it's changed again. This is how it is. 

So in order to give up evil and cultivate the good you don't have to go looking anywhere else. If your mind has gone bad, don't go looking over at this person and that person. Just look at your own mind and find out where these thoughts come from. Why does the mind think such things? Understand that all things are transient. Love is transient, hate is transient. Have you ever loved your children? Of course you have. Have you ever hated them? I'll answer that for you, too... Sometimes you do, don't you? Can you throw them away? No, you can't throw them away. Why not? Children aren't like bullets, are they? [2] Bullets are fired outwards, but children are fired right back to the parents. If they're bad it comes back to the parents. You could say children are your kamma. There are good ones and bad ones. Both good and bad are right there in your children. But even the bad ones are precious. One may be born with polio, crippled and deformed, and be even more precious than the others. Whenever you leave home for a while you have to leave a message, "Look after the little one, he's not so strong." You love him even more than the others. 

You should, then, set your minds well -- half love, half hate. Don't take only one or the other, always have both sides in mind. Your children are your kamma, they are appropriate to their owners. They are your kamma, so you must take responsibility for them. If they really give you suffering, just remind yourself, "It's my kamma." If they please you, just remind yourself, "It's my kamma." Sometimes it gets so frustrating at home you must just want to run away. It gets so bad some people even contemplate hanging themselves! It's kamma. We have to accept the fact. Avoid bad actions, then you will be able to see yourself more clearly. 

This is why contemplating things is so important. usually when they practice meditation they use a meditation object, such as Bud-dho, Dham-mo or Sang-gho. But you can make it even shorter than this. Whenever you feel annoyed, whenever your mind goes bad, just say "So!" When you feel better just say "So!... It's not a sure thing." If you love someone, just say "So!" When you feel you're getting angry, just say "So!" Do you understand? You don't have to go looking into the Tipitaka. [3] Just "So!" This means "it's transient." Love is transient, hate is transient, good is transient, evil is transient. How could they be permanent? Where is there any permanence in them? 

You could say that they are permanent insofar as they are invariably impermanent. They are certain in this respect, they never become otherwise. One minute there's love, the next hate. That's how things are. In this sense they are permanent. That's why I say whenever love arises, just tell it "So!" It saves a lot of time. You don't have to say "Aniccam, dukkham, anatta." If you don't want a long meditation theme, just take this simple word... If love arises, before you get really lost in it, just tell yourself "So!" This is enough. 

Everything is transient, and it's permanent in that it's invariably that way. Just to see this much is to see the heart of the Dhamma, the True Dhamma. 

Now if everybody said "So!" more often, and applied themselves to training like this, clinging would become less and less. People would not be so stuck on love and hate. They would not cling to things. They would put their trust in the truth, not with other things. Just to know this much is enough, what else do you need to know? 

Having heard the teaching, you should try to remember it also. What should you remember? Meditate... Do you understand? If you understand, the Dhamma clicks with you, the mind will stop. If there is anger in the mind, just "So!"... and that's enough, it stops straight away. If you don't yet understand then look deeply into the matter. If there is understanding, when anger arises in the mind you can just shut it off with "So! It's impermanent!" 

Today you have had a chance to record the Dhamma both inwardly and outwardly. Inwardly, the sound enters through the ears to be recorded in the mind. If you can't do this much it's not so good, your time at Wat Ba Pong will be wasted. Record it outwardly, and record it inwardly. This tape recorder here is not so important. The really important thing is the "recorder" in the mind. The tape recorder is perishable, but if the Dhamma really reaches the mind it's imperishable, it's there for good. And you don't have to waste money on batteries. 
Why are we here? 

This Rains Retreat I don't have much strength, I'm not well, so I've come up to this mountain here to get some fresh air. People come to visit but I can't really receive them like I used to because my voice is just about had it, my breath is just about gone. You can count it a blessing that there is still this body sitting here for you all to see now. This is a blessing in itself. Soon you won't see it. The breath will be finished, the voice will be gone. They will fare in accordance with supporting factors, like all compounded things. The Lord Buddha called it khaya vayam, the decline and dissolution of all conditioned phenomena. 

How do they decline? Consider a lump of ice. Originally it was simply water... they freeze it and it becomes ice. But it doesn't take long before it's melted. Take a big lump of ice, say as big as this tape recorder here, and leave it out in the sun. You can see how it declines, much the same as the body. It will gradually disintegrate. In not many hours or minutes all that's left is a puddle of water. This is called khaya vayam, the decline and dissolution of all compounded things. It's been this way for a long time now, ever since the beginning of time. When we are born we bring this inherent nature into the world with us, we can't avoid it. At birth we bring old age, sickness and death along with us. 

So this is why the Buddha said khaya vayam, the decline and dissolution of all compounded things. All of us sitting here in this hall now, monks, novices, laymen and laywomen, are without exception "lumps of deterioration." Right now the lump is hard, just like the lump of ice. It starts out as water, becomes ice for a while and then melts again. Can you see this decline in yourself? Look at this body. It's aging every day... hair is aging, nails are aging... everything is aging! 

You weren't like this before, were you? You were probably much smaller than this. Now you've grown up and matured. From now on you will decline, following the way of nature. The body declines just like the lump of ice. Soon, just like the lump of ice, it's all gone. All bodies are composed of the four elements of earth, water, wind and fire. A body is the confluence of earth, water, wind, and fire, which we proceed to call a person. Originally it's hard to say what you could call it, but now we call it a "person." We get infatuated with it, saying it's a male, a female, giving it names, Mr., Mrs., and so on, so that we can identify each other more easily. But actually there isn't anybody there. There's earth, water, wind and fire. When they come together in this known form we call the result a "person." Now don't get excited over it. If you really look into it there isn't anyone there. 

That which is solid in the body, the flesh, skin, bones and so on, are called the earth element. Those aspects of the body which are liquid are the water element. The faculty of warmth in the body is the fire element, while the winds coursing through the body are the wind element. 

At Wat Ba Pong we have a body which is neither male or female. It's the skeleton hanging in the main hall. Looking at it you don't get the feeling that it's a man or a woman. People ask each other whether it's a man or a woman and all they can do is look blankly at each other. It's only a skeleton, all the skin and flesh are gone. 

People are ignorant of these things. Some go to Wat Ba Pong, into the main hall, see the skeletons... and then come running right out again! They can't bear to look. They're afraid, afraid of the skeletons. I figure these people have never seen themselves before. Afraid of the skeletons... they don't reflect on the great value of a skeleton. To get to the monastery they had to ride in a car or walk... if they didn't have bones how would they be? Would they be able to walk about like that? But they ride their cars to Wat Ba Pong, go into the main hall, see the skeletons and run straight back out again! They've never seen such a thing before. They're born with it and yet they've never seen it. It's very fortunate that they have a chance to see it now. Even older people see the skeletons and get scared... What's all the fuss about? This shows that they're not at all in touch with themselves, they don't really know themselves. Maybe they go home and still can't sleep for three or four days... and yet they're sleeping with a skeleton! They get dressed with it, eat food with it, do everything with it... and yet they're scared of it. 

This shows how out of touch people are with themselves. How pitiful! They're always looking outwards, at trees, at other people, at external objects, saying "this one is big," "that's small," "that's short," "that's long." They're so busy looking at other things they never see themselves. To be honest, people are really pitiful. They have no refuge. 

In the ordination ceremonies the ordinees must learn the five basic meditation themes: kesa, head hair; loma, body hair; nakha, nails; danta, teeth; taco, skin. Some of the students and educated people snigger to themselves when they hear this part of the ordination ceremony..."What's the Ajahn trying to teach us here? Teaching us about hair when we've had it for ages. He doesn't have to teach us about this, we know it already. Why bother teaching us something we already know?" Dim people are like this, they think they can see the hair already. I tell them that when I say to "see the hair" I mean to see it as it really is. See body hair as it really is, see nails, teeth and skin as they really are. That's what I call "seeing" -- not seeing in a superficial way, but seeing in accordance with the truth. We wouldn't be so sunk up to the ears in things if we could see things as they really are. Hair, nails, teeth, skin... what are they really like? Are they pretty? Are they clean? Do they have any real substance? Are they stable? No... there's nothing to them. They're not pretty but we imagine them to be so. They're not substantial but we imagine them to be so. 

Hair, nails, teeth, skin... people are really hooked on these things. The Buddha established these things as the basic themes for meditation, he taught us to know these things. They are Transient, Imperfect and Ownerless; they are not "me" or "them." We are born with and deluded by these things, but really they are foul. Suppose we didn't bathe for a week, could we bear to be close to each other? We'd really smell bad. When people sweat a lot, such as when a lot of people are working hard together, the smell is awful. We go back home and rub ourselves down with soap and water and the smell abates somewhat, the fragrance of the soap replaces it. Rubbing soap on the body may make it seem fragrant, but actually the bad smell of the body is still there, temporarily suppressed. When the smell of the soap is gone the smell of the body comes back again. 

Now we tend to think these bodies are pretty, delightful, long lasting and strong. We tend to think that we will never age, get sick or die. We are charmed and fooled by the body, and so we are ignorant of the true refuge within ourselves. The true place of refuge is the mind. The mind is our true refuge. This hall here may be pretty big but it can't be a true refuge. Pigeons take shelter here, geckos take shelter here, lizards take shelter here... We may think the hall belongs to us but it doesn't. We live here together with everything else. This is only a temporary shelter, soon we must leave it. People take these shelters for refuge. 

So the Buddha said to find your refuge. That means to find your real heart. This heart is very important. People don't usually look at important things, they spend most of their time looking at unimportant things. For example, when they do the house cleaning they may be bent on cleaning up the house, washing the dishes and so on, but they fail to notice their own hearts. Their heart may be rotten, they may be feeling angry, washing the dishes with a sour expression on their face. That their own hearts are not very clean they fail to see. This is what I call "taking a temporary shelter for a refuge." They beautify house and home but they don't think of beautifying their own hearts. They don't examine suffering. The heart is the important thing. The Buddha taught to find a refuge within your own heart: Attahi attano natho -- "Make yourself a refuge unto yourself." Who else can be your refuge? The true refuge is the heart, nothing else. You may try to depend on other things but they aren't a sure thing. You can only really depend on other things if you already have a refuge within yourself. You must have your own refuge first before you can depend on anything else, be it a teacher, family, friends or relatives. 

So all of you, both laypeople and homeless ones who have come to visit today, please consider this teaching. Ask yourselves, "Who am I? Why am I here?" Ask yourselves, "Why was I born?" Some people don't know. They want to be happy but the suffering never stops. Rich or poor, young or old, they suffer just the same. It's all suffering. And why? Because they have no wisdom. The poor are unhappy because they don't have enough, and the rich are unhappy because they have too much to look after. 

In the past, as a young novice, I gave a Dhamma discourse. I talked about the happiness of wealth and possessions, having servants and so on... A hundred male servants, a hundred female servants, a hundred elephants, a hundred cows, a hundred buffaloes... a hundred of everything! The laypeople really lapped it up. But can you imagine looking after a hundred buffaloes? Or a hundred cows, a hundred male and female servants... can you imagine having to look after all of that? Would that be fun? People don't consider this side of things. They have the desire to possess... to have the cows, the buffaloes, the servants... hundreds of them. But I say fifty buffaloes would be too much. Just twining the rope for all those brutes would be too much already! But people don't consider this, they only think of the pleasure of acquiring. They don't consider the trouble involved. 

If we don't have wisdom everything round us will be a source of suffering. If we are wise these things will lead us out of suffering. Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind... Eyes aren't necessarily good things, you know. If you are in a bad mood just seeing other people can make you angry and make you lose sleep. Or you can fall in love with others. Love is suffering, too, if you don't get what you want. Love and hate are both suffering, because of desire. Wanting is suffering, wanting not to have is suffering. Wanting to acquire things... even if you get them it's still suffering because you're afraid you'll lose them. There's only suffering. How are you going to live with that? You may have a large, luxurious house, but if your heart isn't good it never really works out as you expected. 

Therefore, you should all take a look at yourselves. Why were we born? Do we ever really attain anything in this life? In the countryside here people start planting rice right from childhood. When they reach seventeen or eighteen they rush off and get married, afraid they won't have enough time to make their fortunes. They start working from an early age thinking they'll get rich that way. They plant rice until they're seventy or eighty or even ninety years old. I ask them. "From the day you were born you've been working. Now it's almost time to go, what are you going to take with you?" They don't know what to say. All they can say is, "Beats me!" We have a saying in these parts, "Don't tarry picking berries along the way... before you know it, night falls." Just because of this "Beats me!" They're neither here nor there, content with just a "beats me"... sitting among the branches of the berry tree, gorging themselves with berries... "Beats me, beats me..." 

When you're still young you think that being single is not so good, you feel a bit lonely. So you find a partner to live with. Put two together and there's friction! Living alone is too quiet, but living with others there's friction. 

When children are small the parents think, "When they get bigger we'll be better off." They raise their children, three, four, or five of them, thinking that when the children are grown up their burden will be lighter. But when the children grow up they get even heavier. Like two pieces of wood, one big and one small. You throw away the small one and take the bigger one, thinking it will be lighter, but of course it's not. When children are small they don't bother you very much, just a ball of rice and a banana now and then. When they grow up they want a motorcycle or a car! Well, you love your children, you can't refuse. So you try to give them what they want. Problems... Sometimes the parents get into arguments over it..."Don't go and buy him a car, we haven't got enough money!" But when you love your children you've got to borrow the money from somewhere. Maybe the parents even have to go without to get the things their children want. Then there's education. "When they've finished their studies, we'll be right." There's no end to the studying! What are they going to finish? Only in the science of Buddhism is there a point of completion, all the other sciences just go round in circles. In the end it's real headache. If there's a house with four or five children in it the parents argue every day. 

The suffering that is waiting in the future we fail to see, we think it will never happen. When it happens, then we know. that kind of suffering, the suffering inherent in our bodies, is hard to foresee. When I was a child minding the buffaloes I'd take charcoal and rub it on my teeth to make them white. I'd go back home and look in the mirror and see them so nice and white... I was getting fooled by my own bones, that's all. When I reached fifty or sixty my teeth started to get loose. When the teeth start falling out it hurts so much, when you eat it feels as if you've been kicked in the mouth. It really hurts. I've been through this one already. So I just got the dentist to take them all out. Now I've got false teeth. My real teeth were giving me so much trouble I just had them all taken out, sixteen in one go. The dentist was reluctant to take out sixteen teeth at once, but I said to him, "Just take them out, I'll take the consequences." So he took them all out at once. Some were still good, too, at least five of them. Took them all out. But it was really touch and go. After having them out I couldn't eat any food for two or three days. 

Before, as a young child minding the buffaloes, I used to think that polishing the teeth was a great thing to do. I loved my teeth, I thought they were good things. But in the end they had to go. The pain almost killed me. I suffered from toothache for months, years. Sometimes both my gums were swollen at once. 

Some of you may get a chance to experience this for yourselves someday. If your teeth are still good and you're brushing them everyday to keep them nice and white... watch out! They may start playing tricks with you later on. 

Now I'm just letting you know about these things... the suffering that arises from within, that arises within our own bodies. There's nothing within the body you can depend on. It's not too bad when you're still young, but as you get older things begin to break down. Everything begins to fall apart. Conditions go their natural way. Whether we laugh or cry over them they just go on their way. It makes no difference how we live or die, makes no difference to them. And there's no knowledge or science which can prevent this natural course of things. You may get a dentist to look at your teeth, but even if he can fix them they still eventually go their natural way. Eventually even the dentist has the same trouble. Everything falls apart in the end. 

These are things which we should contemplate while we still have some vigor, we should practice while we're young. If you want to make merit then hurry up and do so, don't just leave it up to the oldies. Most people just wait until they get old before they will go to a monastery and try to practice Dhamma. Women and men say the same thing..."Wait till I get old first." I don't know why they say that, does an old person have much vigor? Let them try racing with a young person and see what the difference is. Why do they leave it till they get old? Just like they're never going to die. When they get to fifty or sixty years old or more..."Hey, Grandma! Let's go to the monastery!" "You go ahead, my ears aren't so good any more." You see what I mean? When her ears were good what was she listening to? "Beats me!"... just dallying with the berries. Finally when her ears are gone she goes to the temple. It's hopeless. She listens to the sermon but she hasn't got a clue what they're saying. People wait till they're all used up before they'll think of practicing the Dhamma. 

Today's talk may be useful for those of you who can understand it. These are things which you should begin to observe, they are our inheritance. They will gradually get heavier and heavier, a burden for each of us to bear. In the past my legs were strong, I could run. Now just walking around they feel heavy. Before, my legs carried me. Now, I have to carry them. When I was a child I'd see old people getting up from their seat..."Oh!" Getting up they groan, "Oh!" There's always this "Oh!" But they don't know what it is that makes them groan like that. 

Even when it gets to this extent people don't see the bane of the body. You never know when you're going to be parted from it. what's causing all the pain is simply conditions going about their natural way. People call it arthritis, rheumatism, gout and so on, the doctor prescribes medicines, but it never completely heals. In the end it falls apart, even the doctor! This is conditions faring along their natural course. This is their way, their nature. 

Now take a look at this. If you see it in advance you'll be better off, like seeing a poisonous snake on the path ahead of you. If you see it there you can get out of its way and not get bitten. If you don't see it you may keep on walking and step on it. And then it bites. 

If suffering arises people don't know what to do. Where to go to treat it? They want to avoid suffering, they want to be free of it but they don't know how to treat it when it arises. And they live on like this until they get old... and sick... and die... 

In olden times it was said that if someone was mortally ill one of the next of kin should whisper "Bud-dho, Bud-dho" in their ear. What are they going to do with Buddho? what good is Buddho going to be for them when they're almost on the funeral pyre? Why didn't they learn Buddho when they were young and healthy? Now with the breaths coming fitfully you go up and say, "Mother... Buddho, Buddho!" Why waste your time? You'll only confuse her, let her go peacefully. 

People don't know how to solve problems within their own hearts, they don't have a refuge. They get angry easily and have a lot of desires. Why is this? Because they have no refuge. 

When people are newly married they can get on together all right, but after age fifty or so they can't understand each other. Whatever the wife says the husband finds intolerable. Whatever the husband says the wife won't listen. They turn their backs on each other. 

Now I'm just talking because I've never had a family before. Why haven't I had a family? Just looking at this word "household" [4] I knew what it was all about. What is a "household"? This is a "hold": If somebody were to get some rope and tie us up while we were sitting here, what would that be like? That's called "being held." Whatever that's like, "being held" is like that. There is a circle of confinement. The man lives within his circle of confinement, and the woman lives within her circle of confinement. 

When I read this word "household"... this is a heavy one. This word is no trifling matter, it's a real killer. The word "hold" is a symbol of suffering. You can't go anywhere, you've got to stay within your circle of confinement. 

Now we come to the word "house." This means "that which hassles." Have you ever toasted chilies? The whole house chokes and sneezes. This word "household" spells confusion, it's not worth the trouble. Because of this word I was able to ordain and not disrobe. "Household" is frightening. You're stuck and can't go anywhere. Problems with the children, with money and all the rest. But where can you go? You're tied down. There are sons and daughters, arguments in profusion until your dying day, and there's nowhere else to go to no matter how much suffering it is. The tears pour out and they keep pouring. The tears will never be finished with his "household," you know. If there's no household you might be able to finish with the tears but not otherwise. 

Consider this matter. If you haven't come across it yet you may later on. Some people have experienced it already to a certain extent. Some are already at the end of their tether..."Will I stay or will I go?" At Wat Ba Pong there are about seventy or eighty huts (kuti). when they're almost full I tell the monk in charge to keep a few empty, just in case somebody has an argument with their spouse... Sure enough, in no long time a lady will arrive with her bags..."I'm fed up with the world, Luang Por." "Whoa! Don't say that. Those words are really heavy." Then the husband comes and says he's fed up too. After two or three days in the monastery their world-weariness disappears. 

They say they're fed up but they're just fooling themselves. When they go off to a kuti and sit in the quiet by themselves, after a while the thoughts come..."When's the wife going to come and ask me to go home?" They don't really know what's going on. What is this "world-weariness" of theirs? They get upset over something and come running to the monastery. At home everything looked wrong... the husband was wrong, the wife was wrong... after three days' quiet thinking..."Hmmm, the wife was right after all, it was I who was wrong." "Hubby was right, I shouldn't have got so upset." They change sides. This is how it is, that's why I don't take the world too seriously. I know its ins and outs already, that's why I've chosen to live as a monk. 

I would like to present today's talk to all of you for homework. Whether you're in the fields or working in the city, take these words and consider them... "Why was I born? What can I take with me?" Ask yourselves over and over. If you ask yourself these questions often you'll become wise. If you don't reflect on these things you will remain ignorant. Listening to today's talk, you may get some understanding, if not now, then maybe when you get home. Perhaps this evening. When you're listening to the talk everything is subdued, but maybe things are waiting for you in the car. When you get in the car it may get in with you. When you get home it may all become clear..."Oh, that's what Luang Por meant. I couldn't see it before." 

I think that's enough for today. If I talk too long this old body gets tired. 
Our real home 
A talk addressed to an aging lay disciple approaching her death

Now determine in your mind to listen respectfully to the Dhamma. While I am speaking, be as attentive to my words as if it was the Lord Buddha himself sitting before you. Close your eyes and make yourself comfortable, composing your mind and making it one-pointed. Humbly allow the Triple Gem of wisdom, truth and purity to abide in your heart as a way of showing respect to the Fully Enlightened One. 

Today I have brought nothing of material substance to offer you, only the Dhamma, the teachings of the Lord Buddha. You should understand that even the Buddha himself, with his great store of accumulated virtue, could not avoid physical death. When he reached old age he ceded his body and let go of the heavy burden. Now you too must learn to be satisfied with the many years you've already depended on the body. You should feel that it's enough. 

Like household utensils that you've had for a long time -- cups, saucers, plates and so on -- when you first had them they were clean and shining, but now after using them for so long, they're starting to wear out. Some are already broken, some have disappeared, and those that are left are wearing out, they have no stable form. And it's their nature to be that way. Your body is the same... it's been continually changing from the day you were born, through childhood and youth, until now it's reached old age. You must accept this. The Buddha said that conditions, whether internal, bodily conditions or external conditions, are not self, their nature is to change. Contemplate this truth clearly. 

This very lump of flesh lying here in decline is reality. [5] The facts of this body are reality, they are the timeless teaching of the Lord Buddha. The Buddha taught us to contemplate this and come to terms with its nature. We must be able to be at peace with the body, no matter what state it is in. The Buddha taught that we should ensure that it's only the body that is locked up in jail and not the mind be imprisoned along with it. Now as your body begins to run down and wear out with age, don't resist, but also don't let your mind deteriorate along with it. Keep the mind separate. Give energy to the mind by realizing the truth of the way things are. The Lord Buddha taught that this is the nature of the body, it can't be any other way. Having been born it gets old and sick and then it dies. This is a great truth that you are presently witnessing. Look at the body with wisdom and realize this. 

If your house is flooded or burnt to the ground, whatever the threat to it, let it concern only the house. If there's a flood, don't let it flood your mind. If there's a fire, don't let it burn your heart. Let it be merely the house, that which is outside of you, that is flooded or burned. Now is the time to allow the mind to let go of attachments. 

You've been alive a long time now. Your eyes have seen any number of forms and colors, your ears have heard so many sounds, you've had any number of experiences. And that's all they were -- experiences. You've eaten delicious foods, and all those goods tastes were just good tastes, nothing more. The bad tastes were just bad tastes, that's all. If the eye sees a beautiful form that's all it is... a beautiful form. An ugly form is just an ugly form. The ear hears an entrancing, melodious sound and it's nothing more than that. A grating, discordant sound is simply that. 

The Buddha said that rich or poor, young or old, human or animal, no being in this world can maintain itself in any single state for long. Everything experiences change and deprivation. this is a fact of life about which we can do nothing to remedy. But the Buddha said that what we can do is to contemplate the body and mind to see their impersonality, that neither of them is "me" nor "mine." They have only a provisional reality. It's like this house, it's only nominally yours. You couldn't take it with you anywhere. The same applies to your wealth, your possessions and your family -- they're yours only in name. they don't really belong to you, they belong to nature. 

Now this truth doesn't apply to you alone, everyone is in the same boat -- even the Lord Buddha and his enlightened disciples. They differed from us only in one respect, and that was their acceptance of the way things are. They saw that it could be no other way. 

So the Buddha taught us to probe and examine the body, from the soles of the feet up to the crown of the head, and then back down to the feet again. Just take a look at the body. What sort of things do you see? Is there anything intrinsically clean there? Can you find any abiding essence? This whole body is steadily degenerating. The Buddha taught us to see that it doesn't belong to us. It's natural for the body to be this way, because all conditioned phenomena are subject to change. How else would you have it? In fact there is nothing wrong with the way the body is. It's not the body that causes suffering, it's wrong thinking. When you see things in the wrong way, there's bound to be confusion. 

It's like the water of a river. It naturally flows downhill, it never flows uphill. That's it's nature. If a person was to go and stand on the river bank and want the water to flow back uphill, he would be foolish. Wherever he went his foolish thinking would allow him no peace of mind. He would suffer because of his wrong view, his thinking against the stream. If he had right view he would see that the water must inevitably flow downhill, and until he realized and accepted that fact he would be bewildered and frustrated. 

The river that must flow down the gradient is like your body. Having been young your body's become old and is meandering towards its death. Don't go wishing it were otherwise, it's not something you have the power to remedy. The Buddha told us to see the way things are and then let go of our clinging to them. Take this feeling of letting go as your refuge. Keep meditating even if you feel tired and exhausted. Let your mind be with the breath. Take a few deep breaths and then establish the attention on the breath, using the mantra word Bud-dho. Make this practice continual. The more exhausted you feel the more subtle and focused your concentration must be, so that you can cope with any painful sensations that arise. When you start to feel fatigued then bring all your thinking to a halt, let the mind gather itself together and then turn to knowing the breath. Just keep up the inner recitation, Bud-dho, Bud-dho. 

Let go of all externals. Don't go grasping at thoughts of your children and relatives, don't grasp at anything whatsoever. Let go. Let the mind unite in a single point and let that composed mind dwell with the breath. Let the breath be its sole object of knowledge. Concentrate until the mind becomes increasingly subtle, until feelings are insignificant and there is great inner clarity and wakefulness. Then any painful sensations that arise will gradually cease of their own accord. 

Finally you'll look on the breath as if it were some relatives come to visit you. When the relatives leave, you follow them out to see them off. You watch until they've walked up the drive and out of sight, and then you go back indoors. We watch the breath in the same way. If the breath is coarse we know that it's coarse, if it's subtle we know that it's subtle. As it becomes increasingly fine we keep following it, the same time awakening the mind. Eventually the breath disappears altogether and all that remains is that feeling of alertness. This is called meeting the Buddha. We have that clear, wakeful awareness called Bud-dho, the one who knows, the awakened one, the radiant one. This is meeting and dwelling with the Buddha, with knowledge and clarity. It was only the historical Buddha who passed away. The true Buddha, the Buddha that is clear, radiant knowing, can still be experienced and attained today. And if we do attain it, the heart is one. 

So let go, put everything down, everything except the knowing. Don't be fooled if visions or sounds arise in your mind during meditation. Lay them all down. Don't take hold of anything at all, just stay with this unified awareness. Don't worry about the past or the future, just be still and you will reach the place where there's no advancing, no retreating and no stopping, where there's nothing to grasp at or cling to. Why? Because there's no self, no "me" or "mine." It's all gone. The Buddha taught to empty yourself of everything in this way, not to carry anything around... to know, and having known, let go. 

Realizing the Dhamma, the path to freedom from the round of birth and death, is a task that we all have to do alone. So keep trying to let go and understand the teachings. Put effort into your contemplation. Don't worry about your family. At the moment they are as they are, in the future they will be like you. There's no-one in the world who can escape this fate. The Buddha taught to lay down those things that lack a real abiding essence. If you lay everything down you will see the real truth, if you don't, you won't. That's the way it is. And it's the same for everyone in the world. So don't grasp at anything. 

Even if you find yourself thinking, well that's all right too, as long as you think wisely. Don't think foolishly. If you think of your children, think of them with wisdom, not with foolishness. Whatever the mind turns to, think of it with wisdom, be aware of its nature. To know something with wisdom is to let it go and have no suffering over it. The mind is bright, joyful and at peace. It turns away from distractions and is undivided. Right now what you can look to for help and support is your breath. 

This is your own work, no-one else's. Leave others to do their own work. You have your own duty and responsibility, you don't have to take on those of your family. Don't take on anything else, let it all go. This letting go will make your mind calm. Your sole responsibility right now is to focus your mind and bring it to peace. Leave everything else to the others. Forms, sounds, odors, tastes... leave them to the others to attend to. Put everything behind you and do your own work, fulfill your own responsibility. Whatever arises in your mind, be it fear of pain, fear of death, anxiety about others or whatever, say to it, "Don't disturb me. You're no longer any concern of mine." Just keep this to yourself when you see those dhammas arise. 

What does the word dhamma refer to? Everything is a dhamma, there is nothing that is not a dhamma. And what about "world"? The world is the very mental state that is agitating you at the present moment. "What are they going to do? When I'm gone who will look after them? How will they manage?" This is all just the "world." Even the mere arising of a thought fearing death or pain is the world. Throw the world away! The world is the way it is. If you allow it to dominate your mind it becomes obscured and can't see itself. So whatever appears in the mind, just say, "This isn't my business. It's impermanent, unsatisfactory and not self." 

Thinking you'd like to go on living for a long time will make you suffer. But thinking you'd like to die right away or very quickly isn't right either. It's suffering, isn't it? Conditions don't belong to us, they follow their own natural laws. You can't do anything about the way the body is. You can beautify it a little, make it attractive and clean for a while, like the young girls who paint their lips and let their nails grow long, but when old age arrives, everybody's in the same boat. That's the way the body is, you can't make it any other way. What you can improve and beautify is the mind. 

Anyone can build a house of wood and bricks, but the Buddha taught that that sort of home is not our real home, it's only nominally ours. It's home in the world and it follows the ways of the world. Our real home is inner peace. An external, material home may well be pretty but it is not very peaceful. There's this worry and then that, this anxiety and then that. So we say it's not our real home, it's external to us. Sooner or later we'll have to give it up. it's not a place we can live in permanently because it doesn't truly belong to us, it belongs to the world. Our body is the same. We take it to be a self, to be "me" or "mine," but in fact it's not really so at all, it's another worldly home. Your body has followed its natural course from birth, until now it's old and sick, and you can't forbid it from doing that. That's the way it is. Wanting it to be any different would be as foolish as wanting a duck to be like a chicken. When you see that that's impossible -- that a duck must be a duck and a chicken must be a chicken, and that the bodies have to get old and die -- you will find courage and energy. However much you want the body to go on lasting, it won't do that. 

The Buddha said, 
Anicca vata sankhara
Impermanent, alas, are all conditions 

Uppada vaya dhammmino
Arising and passing away 

Uppajjitva nirujjhan'ti
Having been born they all must cease 

Tesam vupasamo sukho
The calming of conditions is true happiness [6] 
The word "sankhara" refers to this body and mind. Sankharas are impermanent and unstable. having come into being they disappear, having arisen they pass away, and yet everyone wants them to be permanent. This is foolishness. Look at the breath. Once it's gone in, it goes out, that's its nature, that's how it has to be. The inhalations and exhalations have to alternate, there must be change. Conditions exist through change, you can't prevent it. Just think, could you exhale without inhaling? Would it feel good? Or could you just inhale? We want things to be permanent but they can't be, it's impossible. Once the breath has come in, it must go out. When it's gone out it comes back in again, and that's natural, isn't it? Having been born we get old and then die, and that's totally natural and normal. It's because conditions have done their job, because the in breaths and out breaths have alternated in this way, that the human race is still here today. 

As soon as we are born we are dead. Our birth and our death are just one thing. It's like a tree: when there's a root there must be branches, when there are branches there must be a root. You can't have one without the other. It's a little funny to see how at death people are so grief stricken and distracted and at birth how happy and delighted. It's delusion, nobody has ever looked at this clearly. I think if you really want to cry it would be better to do so when someone's born. Birth is death, death is birth; the branch is the root, the root is the branch. If you must cry, cry at the root, cry at the birth. Look closely: if there was no birth there would be no death. Can you understand this? 

Don't worry about things too much, just think "this is the way things are." This is your work, your duty. Right now nobody can help you, there's nothing that your family and possessions can do for you. all that can help you now is clear awareness. 

So don't waver. Let go. Throw it all away. 

Even if you don't let go, everything is starting to leave you anyway. Can you see that, how all the different parts of your body are trying to slip away? Take your hair; when you were young it was thick and black. Now it's falling out. It's leaving. Your eyes used to be good and strong but now they're weak, your sight is unclear. When your organs have had enough they leave, this isn't their home. When you were a child your teeth were healthy and firm, now they're wobbly, or you've got false ones. Your eyes, ears, nose, tongue -- everything is trying to leave because this isn't their home. You can't make a permanent home in conditions, you can only stay for a short time and then you have to go. It's like a tenant watching over his tiny little house with failing eyes. His teeth aren't so good, his eyes aren't so good, his body's not so healthy, everything is leaving. 

So you needn't worry about anything because this isn't your real home, it's only a temporary shelter. Having come into this world you should contemplate its nature. Everything there is is preparing to disappear. Look at your body. Is there anything there that's still in its original form? Is your skin as it used to be? Is your hair? They aren't the same, are they? Where has everything gone? This is nature, the way things are. When their time is up, conditions go their way. In this world there is nothing to rely on -- it's an endless round of disturbance and trouble, pleasure and pain. There's no peace. 

When we have no real home we're like aimless travelers out on the road, going here and there, stopping for a while and then setting off again. Until we return to our real homes we feel uneasy, just like a villager who's left his village. Only when he gets home can he really relax and be at peace. 

Nowhere in the world is there any real peace to be found. The poor have no peace and neither do the rich; adults have no peace and neither do the highly educated. There's no peace anywhere, that's the nature of the world. Those who have few possessions suffer, and so do those who have many. Children, adults, old and young... everyone suffers. The suffering of being old, the suffering of being young, the suffering of being wealthy and the suffering of being poor... it's all nothing but suffering. 

When you've contemplated things in this way you'll see aniccam, impermanence, and dukkham, unsatisfactoriness. Why are things impermanent and unsatisfactory? Because they are anatta, not self. 

Both your body that is lying sick and in pain, and the mind that is aware of its sickness and pain, are called dhamma. That which is formless, the thoughts, feelings and perceptions, is called namadhamma. That which is racked with aches and pains is called rupadhamma. The material is dhamma and the immaterial is dhamma. So we live with dhammas, in dhamma, and we are dhamma. In truth there is no self to be found, there are only dhammas continually arising and passing away as is their nature. Every single moment we're undergoing birth and death. This is the way things are. 

When we think of the Lord Buddha, how truly he spoke, we feel how worthy he is of reverence and respect. Whenever we see the truth of something we see His teachings, even if we've never actually practiced the Dhamma. But even if we have a knowledge of the teachings, have studied and practiced them, as long as we still haven't seen the truth we are still homeless. 

So understand this point. All people, all creatures, are preparing to leave. When beings have lived an appropriate time they must go on their way. Rich, poor, young and old must all experience this change. 

When you realize that's the way the world is you'll feel that it's a wearisome place. When you see that there's nothing real or substantial you can rely on you'll feel wearied and disenchanted. Being disenchanted doesn't mean you are averse, the mind is clear. It sees that there's nothing to be done to remedy this state of affairs, it's just the way the world is. Knowing in this way you can let go of attachment, letting go with a mind that is neither happy nor sad, but at peace with conditions through seeing their changing nature with wisdom. Anicca vata sankhara -- all conditions are impermanent. 

To put it simply, impermanence is the Buddha. If we truly see an impermanent condition we'll see that it's permanent. It's permanent in the sense that its subjection to change is unchanging. This is the permanence that living beings possess. There is continual transformation, from childhood through to old age, and that very impermanence, that propensity to change, is permanent and fixed. If you look at it like this your heart will be at ease. It's not just you who has to go through this, it's everyone. 

When you consider things in this way you'll see them as wearisome, and disenchantment will arise. Your delight in the world of sense pleasures will disappear. You'll see that if you have many possessions you have to leave a lot behind. If you have a few you leave few behind. Wealth is just wealth, long life is just long life... they're nothing special. 

What is important is that we should do as the Lord Buddha taught and build our own home, building it by the method that I've been explaining to you. Build your own home. Let go. Let go until the mind reaches the peace that is free from advancing, free from retreating and free from stopping still. Pleasure is not your home, pain is not your home. Pleasure and pain both decline and pass away. 

The Great Teacher saw that all conditions are impermanent and so He taught us to let go of our attachment to them. When we reach the end of our life we'll have no choice anyway, we won't be able to take anything with us. So wouldn't it be better to put things down before then? They're just a heavy burden to carry around, why not throw off that load now? Why bother to drag these things around? Let go, relax, and let your family look after you. 

Those who nurse the sick grow in goodness and virtue. The patient who is giving others that opportunity shouldn't make things difficult for them. If there's pain or some problem or other, let them know and keep the mind in a wholesome state. One who is nursing parents should fill his or her mind with warmth and kindness and not get caught up in aversion. This is the one time you can repay your debt to them. From your birth through your childhood, as you've grown up, you've been dependent on your parents. That you are here today is because your mother and father have helped you in so many ways. You owe them an incredible debt of gratitude. 

So today, all of you children and relatives gathered together here, observe how your mother has become your child. Before you were her children, now she has become yours. She has become older and older until she has become a child again. Her memory goes, her eyes don't see well and her ears aren't so good. Sometimes she garbles her words. Don't let it upset you. You who are nursing the sick must know how to go also. Don't hold onto things, just let her have her own way. When a young child is disobedient sometimes the parents let it have its own way just to keep the peace, just to make it happy. Now your mother is just like that child. Her memories and perceptions are confused. Sometimes she muddles up your names, or asks you to bring a cup when she wants a plate. It's normal, don't be upset by it. 

Let the patient bear in mind the kindness of those who nurse and patiently endure the painful feelings. Exert yourself mentally, don't let the mind become scattered and confused, and don't make things difficult for those looking after you. Let those who are nursing fill their minds with virtue and kindness. Don't be averse to the unattractive side of the job, cleaning up the mucous and phlegm, urine and excrement. Try your best. Everyone in the family give a hand. 

She is the only mother you have. She gave you life, she has been your teacher, your doctor and your nurse -- she's been everything to you. That she has brought you up, shared her wealth with you and made you her heir is the great goodness of parents. That is why the Buddha taught the virtues of katau and katavedi, knowing our debt of gratitude and trying to repay it. These two dhamma are complimentary. If our parents are in need, unwell or in difficulty, then we do our best to help them. This is katau-katavedi, the virtue that sustains the world. It prevents families from breaking up, and makes them stable and harmonious. 

Today I have brought you the gift of Dhamma in this time of illness. I have no material things to offer you, there seem to be plenty of those in this house already. And so I give you the Dhamma, something which has lasting worth, something which you'll never be able to exhaust. Having received it you can pass it on to as many others as you like and it will never be depleted. That is the nature of Truth. I am happy to have been able to give you this gift of Dhamma and hope it will give you the strength to deal with your pain. 
The Four Noble Truths 
[This talk was given at the Manjushri Institute at Cumbria, U.K., in 1977] 

Today I have been invited by the abbot to give you a teaching, so I ask you all to sit quietly and compose your minds. Due to the language barrier we must make use of a translator, so if you do not pay proper attention you may not understand. 

My stay here has been very pleasant. Both the Master and you, his followers, have been very kind, all friendly and smiling, as befits those who are practicing the true Dhamma. Your property, too, is very inspiring, but so big! I admire your dedication in renovating it to establish a place for practicing the Dhamma. 

Having been a teacher for many years now, I've been through my share of difficulties. At present there are altogether about forty branch monasteries [7] of my monastery, Wat Nong Ba Pong, but even these days I have followers who are hard to teach. Some know but don't bother to practice, some don't know and don't try to find out. I don't know what to do with them. Why do human beings have minds like this? Being ignorant is not so good, but even when I tell them, they still don't listen. I don't know what more I can do. People are so full of doubts in their practice, they're always doubting. They all want to go to nibbana, but they don't want to walk the path. It's baffling. When I tell them to meditate they're afraid, or if not afraid then just plain sleepy. Mostly they like to do the things I don't teach. When I met the Venerable Abbot here I asked him what his followers were like. He said they're the same. This is the pain of being a teacher. 

The teaching I will present to you today is a way to solve problems in the present moment, in this present life. Some people say that they have so much work to do they have no time to practice the Dhamma. "What can we do?" they ask. I ask them, "Don't you breathe while you're working?" "Yes, of course we breathe!" "So how come you have time to breathe when you're so busy?" They don't know what to answer. "If you simply have sati while working you will have plenty of time to practice." 

Practicing meditation is just like breathing. While working we breathe, while sleeping we breathe, while sitting down we breathe... Why do we have time to breathe? Because we see the importance of the breath, we can always find time to breathe. In the same way, if we see the importance of meditation practice we will find the time to practice. 

Have any of you ever suffered?... have you ever been happy?... Right here is the truth, this is where you must practice the Dhamma. Who is it who is happy? The mind is happy. who suffers? The mind suffers. Wherever these things arise, that's where they cease. Have you experienced happiness?... Have you experienced suffering?... this is our problem. If we know suffering, [8] the cause of suffering, the end of suffering and the way leading to the end of suffering we can solve the problem. 

There are two kinds of suffering: ordinary suffering and the extraordinary kind. Ordinary suffering is the suffering which is the inherent nature of conditions: standing is suffering, sitting is suffering, lying down is suffering. This is the suffering that is inherent in all conditioned phenomena. Even the Buddha experienced these things, he experienced comfort and pain, but he recognized them as conditions in nature. He knew how to overcome these ordinary, natural feelings of comfort and pain through understanding their true nature. Because he understood this "natural suffering" those feelings didn't upset him. 

The important kind of suffering is the second kind, the suffering that creeps in from the outside, the "extraordinary suffering." If we are sick we may have to get an injection from the doctor. When the needle pierces the skin there is some pain which is only natural. When the needle is withdrawn that pain disappears. This is like the ordinary kind of suffering, it's no problem, everybody experiences it. The extraordinary suffering is the suffering that arises from what we call upadana, grasping onto things. This is like having an injection with a syringe filled with poison. This is no longer an ordinary kind of pain, it is the pain which ends in death. This is similar to the suffering which arises from grasping. 

Wrong view, not knowing the impermanent nature of all conditioned things, is another kind of problem. Conditioned things are the realm of samsara. [9] Not wanting things to change -- if we think like this we must suffer. When we think that the body is ourselves or belonging to us, we are afraid when we see it change. Consider the breath: once it comes in it must go out, having gone out it must come in again. This is its nature, this is how we manage to live. Things don't function in that way. This is how conditions are but we don't realize it. 

Suppose we lost something. if we thought that object was really ours, we would brood over it. If we couldn't see it as a conditioned thing faring according to the laws of nature we would experience suffering. But if you breathe in, can you live? Conditioned things must naturally change in this way. To see this is to see the Dhamma, to see aniccam, change. We live dependent on this change. When we know how things are then we can let go of them. 

The practice of Dhamma is to develop an understanding of the way of things so that suffering doesn't arise. If we think wrongly we are at odds with the world, at odds with the Dhamma and with the truth. Suppose you were sick and had to go into hospital. Most people think, "Please don't let me die, I want to get better." This is wrong thinking, it will lead to suffering. You have to think to yourself, "If I recover I recover, if I die I die." this is right thinking, because you can't ultimately control conditions. If you think like this, whether you die or recover, you can't go wrong, you don't have to worry. Wanting to get better at all costs and afraid of the thought of dying... this is the mind which doesn't understand conditions. You should think, "If I get better that's fine, if I don't get better that's fine." This way we can't go wrong, we don't have to be afraid or cry, because we have tuned ourselves in to the way things are. 

The Buddha saw clearly. His teaching is always relevant, never out-dated. It never changes. In the present day it's still the way they are, they haven't changed. By taking this teaching to heart we can gain the reward of peace and well-being. 

In the teachings there is the reflection of "not-self": "this is to listen to this kind of teaching because they are attached to the idea of self. This is the cause of suffering. You should take note of this. 

Today a woman asked about how to deal with anger. I told her that the next time she gets angry, to wind up her alarm clock and put it in front of her. Then to give herself two hours for the anger to go away. If it was really her anger she could probably tell it to go away like this: "In two hours be gone!" But it isn't really ours to command. Sometimes in two hours it's still not gone, at other times in one hour it's gone already. Holding onto anger as a personal possession will cause suffering. If it really belonged to us it would have to obey us. If it doesn't obey us that means it's only a deception. Don't fall for it. Whether the mind is happy or sad, don't fall for it. Whether the mind loves or hates, don't fall for it, it's all a deception. 

Have any of you ever been angry? When you are angry does it feel good or bad? If it feels bad then why don't you throw that feeling away, why bother to keep it? How can you say that you are wise and intelligent when you hold on to such things? Since the day you were born, how many times has the mind tricked you into anger? Some days the mind can even cause a whole family to quarrel, or cause you to cry all night. And yet we still continue to get angry, we still hold onto things and suffer. If you don't see suffering you will have to keep suffering indefinitely, with no chance for respite. The world of samsara is like this. If we know the way it is we can solve the problem. 

The Buddha's teaching states that there is no better means to overcome suffering than to see that "this is not my self," "this is not mine." This is the greatest method. But we don't usually pay attention to this. When suffering arises we simply cry over it without learning from it. Why is that so? We must take a good hard look at these things, to develop the Buddho, the one who knows. 

Take note, some of you may not be aware that this is Dhamma teaching. I'm going to give you some Dhamma that's outside the scriptures. Most people read the scriptures but don't see the Dhamma. Today I am going to give you a teaching that's outside the scriptures. Some people may miss the point or not understand it. 

Suppose two people are walking together and see a duck and a chicken. One of them says, "Why isn't that chicken like the duck, why isn't the duck like the chicken?" He wants the chicken to be a duck and the duck to be a chicken. It's impossible. If it's impossible, then even if that person were to wish for the duck to be a chicken and the chicken to be a duck for the rest of his life it would not come to pass, because the chicken is a chicken and the duck is a duck. As long as that person thought like that he would suffer. The other person might see that the chicken is a chicken and the duck is a duck, and that's all there is to it. There is no problem. He sees rightly. If you want the duck to be a chicken and the chicken to be a duck you are really going to suffer. 

In the same way, the law of aniccam states that all things are impermanent. If you want things to be permanent you're going to suffer. Whenever impermanence shows itself you're going to be disappointed. One who sees that things are naturally impermanent will be at ease, there will be no conflict. The one who wants things to be permanent is going to have conflict, maybe even losing sleep over it. This is to be ignorant of aniccam, impermanence, the teaching if the Buddha. 

If you want to know the Dhamma where should you look? You must look within the body and the mind. You won't find it in the shelves of a bookcase. To really see the Dhamma you have to look within your own body and mind. There are only these two things. The mind is not visible to the physical eye, it must be seen with the "mind's eye." Before the Dhamma can be realized you must know where to look. The Dhamma that is in the body must be seen in the body. And with what do we look at the body? We look at the body with the mind. You won't find the Dhamma looking anywhere else, because both happiness and suffering arise right here. Or have you seen happiness arising in the trees? Or from the rivers, or the weather? Happiness and suffering are feelings which arise in our own bodies and minds. 

Therefore the Buddha tells us to know the Dhamma right here. The Dhamma is right here, we must look right here. The Master may tell you to look at the Dhamma in the books, but if you think that this is where the Dhamma really is, you'll never see it. Having looked at the books you must reflect on those teachings inwardly. Then you can understand the Dhamma. Where does the real Dhamma exist? It exists right here in this body and mind of ours. This is the essence of contemplation practice. 

When we do this, wisdom will arise in our minds. When there is wisdom in our minds, then no matter where we look there is Dhamma, we will see aniccam, dukkham, and anatta at all times. Aniccam means transient. Dukkham -- if we cling to the things that are transient we must suffer, because they are not us or ours (anatta). But we don't see this, we always see them as being our self and belonging to us. 

This means that you don't see the truth of convention. You should understand conventions. For example, all of us sitting here have names. Are our names born with us or are they assigned to us afterwards? Do you understand? This is convention. Is convention useful? Of course it's useful. For example, suppose there are four men, A, B, C, and D. They all must have their individual names for convenience in communicating and working together. If we wanted to speak to Mr. A we could call Mr. A and he would come, not the others. This is the convenience of convention. But when we look deeply into the matter we will see that really there isn't anybody there. We will see transcendence. There is only earth, water, wind and fire, the four elements. This is all there is to this body of ours. 

But we don't see it in this way because of the clinging power of Attavadupadana. [10] If we were to look clearly we would see that there isn't really much to what we call a person. The solid part is the earth element, the fluid part is the water element, the part which provides heat is called the fire element. When we break things down we see that there is only earth, water, wind and fire. Where is the person to be found? There isn't one. 

That's why the Buddha taught that there is no higher practice than to see that "this is not my self and does not belong to me" They are simply conventions. If we understand everything clearly in this way we will be at peace. If we realize in the present moment the truth of impermanence, that things are not our self or belonging to us, then when they disintegrate we are at peace with them, because they don't belong to anybody anyway. They are merely the elements of earth, water, wind and fire. 

It's difficult for people to see this, but even so it's not beyond our ability. If we can see this we will find contentment, we will not have so much anger, greed or delusion. There will always be Dhamma in our hearts. There will be no need for jealousy and spite, because everybody is simply earth, water, wind and fire. There's nothing more to them than this. When we accept this truth we will see the truth of the Buddha's teaching. 

If we could see the truth of the Buddha's teaching we wouldn't have to use up so many teachers! It wouldn't be necessary to listen to teachings everyday. When we understand then we simply do what's required of us. But what makes people so difficult to teach is that they don't accept the teaching and argue with the teachers and the teaching. In front of the teacher they behave a little better, but behind his back they become thieves! People are really difficult to teach. The people in Thailand are like this, that's why they have to have so many teachers. 

Be careful, if you're not careful you won't see the Dhamma. You must be circumspect, taking the teaching and considering it well. Is this flower pretty?... Do you see the ugliness within this flower?... For how many days will it be pretty?... What will it be like from now on?... Why does it change so?... In three or four days you have to take it and throw it away, right? It loses all its beauty. People are attached to beauty, attached to goodness. If anything is good they just fall for it completely. The Buddha tells us to look at pretty things as just pretty, we shouldn't become attached to them. If there is a pleasant feeling we shouldn't fall for it. Goodness is not a sure thing, beauty is not a sure thing. Nothing is certain. There is nothing in this world that is a certainty. This is the truth. The things that aren't true are the things that change, such as beauty. The only truth it has is in its constant changing. If we believe that things are beautiful, when their beauty fades our mind loses its beauty too. When things are no longer good our mind loses its goodness too. When they are destroyed or damaged we suffer because we have clung to them as being our own. The Buddha tells us to see that these things are simply constructs of nature. Beauty appears and in not many days it fades. To see this is to have wisdom. 

Therefore we should see impermanence. If we think something is pretty we should tell ourselves it isn't, if we think something is ugly we should tell ourselves it isn't. Try to see things in this way, constantly reflect in this way. We will see the truth within untrue things, see the certainty within the things that are uncertain. 

Today I have been explaining the way to understand suffering, what causes suffering, the cessation of suffering and the way leading to the cessation of suffering. When you know suffering you should throw it out. Knowing the cause of suffering you should throw it out. Practice to see the cessation of suffering. See aniccam, dukkham and anatta and suffering will cease. 

When suffering ceases where do we go? What are we practicing for? We are practicing to relinquish, not in order to gain anything. There was a woman this afternoon who told me that she is suffering. I asked her what she wants to be, and she said she wants to be enlightened. I said, "As long as you want to be enlightened you will never become enlightened. Don't want anything." 

When we know the truth of suffering we throw out suffering. When we know the cause of suffering then we don't create those causes, but instead practice to bring suffering to its cessation. The practice leading to the cessation of suffering is to see that "this is not a self," "this is not me or them." Seeing in this way enables suffering to cease. It's like reaching our destination and stopping. That's cessation. That's getting close to nibbana. To put it another way, going forward is suffering, retreating is suffering and stopping is suffering. Not going forward, not retreating and not stopping... is anything left? Body and mind cease here. This is the cessation of suffering. Hard to understand, isn't it? If we diligently and consistently study this teaching we will transcend things and reach understanding, there will be cessation. This is the ultimate teaching of the Buddha, it's the finishing point. The Buddha's teaching finishes at the point of total relinquishment. 

Today I offer this teaching to you all and to the Venerable Master also. If there is anything wrong in it I ask your forgiveness. But don't be in a hurry to judge whether it is right or wrong, just listen to it first. If I were to give you all a fruit and tell you it's delicious, you should take note of my words, but don't believe me offhand, because you haven't tasted it yet. The teaching I give you today is the same. If you want to know whether the "fruit" is sweet or sour you have to slice a piece off and taste it. Then you will know its sweetness or sourness. Then you could believe me, because then you'd have seen for yourself. So please don't throw this "fruit" away, keep it and taste it, know its taste for yourself. 

The Buddha didn't have a teacher, you know. An ascetic once asked him who his teacher was, and the Buddha answered that he didn't have one. [11] The ascetic just walked off shaking his head. The Buddha was being too honest. He was speaking to one who couldn't know or accept the truth. That's why I tell you not to believe me. The Buddha said that to simply believe others is foolish, because there is no clear knowing within. That's why the Buddha said "I have no teacher." This is the truth. But you should look at this is the right way. If you misunderstand it you won't respect your teacher. Don't go saying "I have no teacher." You must rely on your teacher to tell you what is right and wrong, and then you must practice accordingly. 

Today is a fortunate day for all of us. I have had a chance to meet with all of you and the venerable teacher. You wouldn't think that we could meet like this because we live so far apart. I think there must be some special reason that we have been able to meet in this way. The Buddha taught that everything that arises must have a cause. Don't forget this. There must be some cause. Perhaps in a previous existence we were brothers and sisters in the same family. It's possible. Another teacher didn't come, but I did. Why is that? Perhaps we are creating the causes in the present moment itself. This is also possible. 

I leave you all with this teaching. May you be diligent and arduous in the practice. There is nothing better than the practice of Dhamma, Dhamma is the supporter of the whole world. People are confused these days because they do not know the Dhamma. If we have the Dhamma with us we will be content. I am happy to have had this opportunity to help you and the venerable teacher in developing the practice of Dhamma. I leave you with my heartfelt good wishes. Tomorrow I will be leaving, I'm not sure where for. This is only natural. When there is coming there must be going, when there is going there must be coming. This is how the world is. We shouldn't be overjoyed or upset by the changes in the world. There is happiness and then there is suffering; there is suffering and then there is happiness; there is gain and then there is loss; there is loss and then there is gain. This is the way things are. 

In the Buddha's time there were disciples of the Buddha who didn't like him, because the Buddha exhorted them to be diligent, to be heedful. those who were lazy were afraid of the Buddha and resented him. When he died, one group of disciples cried and were distressed that they would no longer have the Buddha to guide them. These ones were still not clever. Another group of disciples were pleased and relieved that they would no longer have the Buddha on their backs telling them what to do. A third group of disciples were equanimous. They reflected that what arises passes away as a natural consequence. There were these three groups. Which group do you identify with? Do you want to be one of the pleased ones or what? The group of disciples who cried when the Buddha passed away had not yet realized the Dhamma. The second group were those who resented the Buddha. He was always forbidding them from doing the things they wanted to do. They lived in fear of the Buddha's scorn and reprimands, so when he passed away they were relieved. 

These days things aren't much different. It's possible that the teacher here has some followers who are resentful towards him. They might not show it outwardly but it's there in the mind. It's normal for people who still have defilements to feel this way. Even the Buddha had people hating him. I myself have followers who resent me also. I tell them to give up evil actions but they cherish their evil actions. So they hate me. There are plenty like this. May all of you who are intelligent make yourselves firm in the practice of Dhamma. 
Meditation 

Seekers of goodness who have gathered here please listen in peace. Listening to the Dhamma in peace means to listen with a one-pointed mind, paying attention to what you hear and then letting go. Listening to the Dhamma is of great benefit. While listening to the Dhamma we are encouraged to firmly establish both body and mind in samadhi, because it is one kind of dhamma practice. In the time of the Buddha people listened to Dhamma talks intently, with a mind aspiring to real understanding, and some actually realized the Dhamma while listening. 

This place is well suited to meditation practice. Having stayed here a couple of nights I can see that it is an important place. On the external level it is already peaceful, all that remains is the internal level, your hearts and minds. So I ask all of you to make an effort to pay attention. 

Why have you gathered here to practice meditation? It's because your hearts and minds do not understand what should be understood. In other words, you don't truly know how things are, or what is what. You don't know what is wrong and what is right, what it is that brings you suffering and causes you to doubt. So first you have to make yourselves calm. The reason that you have come here to develop calm and restraint is that your hearts and minds are not at ease. Your minds are not calm, not restrained. They are swayed by doubting and agitation. This is why you have come here today and are now listening to the Dhamma. 

I would like you to concentrate and listen carefully to what I say, and I ask permission to speak frankly because that's how I am. Please understand that even if I do speak in a forceful manner, I am doing so out of good will. I ask your forgiveness if there is anything I say that upsets you, because the customs of Thailand and those of the West are not the same. Actually, speaking a little forcefully can be good because it helps to stir people up who might otherwise be sleepy or drowsy, and rather than rousing themselves to hear the Dhamma allow themselves to drift instead into complacency and as a result never understand anything. 

Although there may appear to be many ways to practice really there is only one. As with fruit trees, it is possible to get fruit quickly by planting a cutting, but the tree would not be resilient or long lasting. Another way is to cultivate a tree right from the seed, which produces a strong and resilient tree. Practice is the same. 

When I first began to practice I had problems understanding this. As long as I still didn't know what's what, sitting meditation was a real chore, even bringing me to tears on occasion. Sometimes I would be aiming too high, at others not high enough, never finding the point of balance. To practice in a way that's peaceful means to place the mind neither too high or too low, but at the point of balance. 

I can see that it's very confusing for you, coming from different places and having practiced in different ways with different teachers. Coming to practice here you must be plagued with all kinds of doubts. One teacher says you must practice in one way, another says you should practice another way. You wonder which method to use, unsure of the essence of the practice. The result is confusion. There are so many teachers and so many teachings that nobody knows how to harmonize their practice. As a result there is a lot of doubt and uncertainty. 

So you must try not to think too much. If you do think, then do so with awareness. But so far your thinking has been done with no awareness. First you must make your mind calm. Where there is knowing there is no need to think, awareness will arise in its place, and this will in turn become wisdom (paa). But the ordinary kind of thinking is not wisdom, it is simply the aimless and unaware wandering of the mind, which inevitably results in agitation. This is not wisdom. 

At this stage you don't need to think. You've already done a great deal of thinking at home, haven't you? It just stirs up the heart. You must establish some awareness. Obsessive thinking can even bring you tears, just try it out. Getting lost in some train of thought won't lead you to the truth, it's not wisdom. The Buddha was a very wise person, he'd learned how to stop thinking. In the same way you are practicing here in order to stop thinking and thereby arrive at peace. If you are already calm it is not necessary to think, wisdom will arise in its place. 

To meditate you do not have to think much more than to resolve that right now is the time for training the mind and nothing else. Don't let the mind shoot off to the left or to the right, to the front or behind, above or below. Our only duty right now is to practice mindfulness of the breathing. Fix your attention at the head and move it down through the body to the tips of the feet, and then back up to the crown of the head. Pass your awareness down through the body, observing with wisdom. We do this to gain an initial understanding of the way the body is. Then begin the meditation, noting that at this time your sole duty is to observe the inhalations and exhalations. Don't force the breath to be any longer or shorter than normal, just allow it to continue easily. Don't put any pressure on the breath, rather let it flow evenly, letting go with each in-breath and out-breath. 

You must understand that you are letting go as you do this, but there should still be awareness. You must maintain this awareness, allowing the breath to enter and leave comfortably. There is no need to force the breath, just allow it to flow easily and naturally. Maintain the resolve that at this time you have no other duties or responsibilities. Thoughts about what will happen, what you will know or see during the meditation may arise from time to time, but once they arise just let them cease by themselves, don't be unduly concerned over them. 

During the meditation there is no need to pay attention to sense impressions. Whenever the mind is affected by sense impingement, wherever there is a feeling or sensation in the mind, just let it go. Whether those sensations are good or bad is unimportant. It is not necessary to make anything out of those sensations, just let them pass away and return your attention to the breath. Maintain the awareness of the breath entering and leaving. Don't create suffering over the breath being too long or too short, simply observe it without trying to control or suppress it in any way. In other words, don't attach. Allow the breath to continue as it is, and the mind will become calm. As you continue the mind will gradually lay things down and come to rest, the breath becoming lighter and lighter until it becomes so faint that it seems like it's not there at all. Both the body and the mind will feel light and energized. All that will remain will be a one-pointed knowing. You could say that the mind has changed and reached a state of calm. 

If the mind is agitated, set up mindfulness and inhale deeply till there is no space left to store any air, then release it all completely until none remains. Follow this with another deep inhalation until you are full, then release the air again. Do this two or three times, then re-establish concentration. The mind should be calmer. If any more sense impressions cause agitation in the mind, repeat the process on every occasion. Similarly with walking meditation. If while walking, the mind becomes agitated, stop still, calm the mind, re-establish the awareness with the meditation object and then continue walking. Sitting and walking meditation are in essence the same, differing only in terms of the physical posture used. 

Sometimes there may be doubt, so you must have sati, to be the one who knows, continually following and examining the agitated mind in whatever form it takes. This is to have sati. Sati watches over and takes care of the mind. You must maintain this knowing and not be careless or wander astray, no matter what condition the mind takes on. 

The trick is to have sati taking control and supervising the mind. Once the mind is unified with sati a new kind of awareness will emerge. The mind that has developed calm is held in check by that calm, just like a chicken held in a coop... the chicken is unable to wander outside, but it can still move around within the coop. Its walking to and fro doesn't get it into trouble because it is restrained by the coop. Likewise the awareness that takes place when the mind has sati and is calm does not cause trouble. None of the thinking or sensations that take place within the calm mind cause harm or disturbance. 

Some people don't want to experience any thoughts or feelings at all, but this is going too far. Feelings arise within the state of calm. The mind is both experiencing feelings and calm at the same time, without being disturbed. When there is calm like this there are no harmful consequences. Problems occur when the "chicken" gets out of the "coop." For instance, you may be watching the breath entering and leaving and then forget yourself, allowing the mind to wander away from the breath, back home, off to the shops or to any number of different places. Maybe even half an hour may pass before you suddenly realize you're supposed to be practicing meditation and reprimand yourself for your lack of sati. This is where you have to be really careful, because this is where the chicken gets out of the coop -- the mind leaves its base of calm. 

You must take care to maintain the awareness with sati and try to pull the mind back. Although I use the words "pull the mind back," in fact the mind doesn't really go anywhere, only the object of awareness has changed. You must make the mind stay right here and now. As long as there is sati there will be presence of mind. It seems like you are pulling the mind back but really it hasn't gone anywhere, it has simply changed a little. It seems that the mind goes here and there, but in fact the change occurs right at the one spot. When sati is regained, in a flash you are back with the mind without it having to be brought from anywhere. 

When there is total knowing, a continuous and unbroken awareness at each and every moment, this is called presence of mind. If your attention drifts from the breath to other places then the knowing is broken. Whenever there is awareness of the breath the mind is there. With just the breath and this even and continuous awareness you have presence of mind. 

There must be both sati and sampajaa. Sati is recollection and sampajaa is self awareness. Right now you are clearly aware of the breath. This exercise of watching the breath helps sati and sampajaa develop together. They share the work. Having both sati and sampajaa is like having two workers to lift a heavy plank of wood. Suppose there are two people trying to lift some heavy planks, but the weight is so great, they have to strain so hard, that it's almost unendurable. Then another person, imbued with goodwill, sees them and rushes in to help. In the same way, when there is sati and sampajaa, then paa (wisdom) will arise at the same place to help out. Then all three of them support each other. 

With paa there will be an understanding of sense objects. For instance, during the meditation sense objects are experienced which give rise to feelings and moods. You may start to think of a friend, but then paa should immediately counter with "It doesn't matter," "Stop" or "Forget it." Or if there are thoughts about where you will go tomorrow, then the response would be, "I'm not interested, I don't want to concern myself with such things." Maybe you start thinking about other people, then you should think, "No, I don't want to get involved." "Just let go," or "It's all uncertain and never a sure thing." This is how you should deal with things in meditation, recognizing them as "not sure, not sure," and maintaining this kind of awareness. 

You must give up all the thinking, the inner dialogue and the doubting. Don't get caught up in these things during the meditation. In the end all that will remain in the mind in its purest form are sati, sampajaa and paa. whenever these things weaken doubts will arise, but try to abandon those doubts immediately, leaving only sati, sampajaa and paa. Try to develop sati like this until it can be maintained at all times. Then you will understand sati, sampajaa and samadhi thoroughly. 

Focusing the attention at this point you will see sati, sampajaa, samadhi and paa together. Whether you are attracted to or repelled by external sense objects, you will be able to tell yourself, "It's not sure." Either way they are just hindrances to be swept away till the mind is clean. all that should remain is sati, recollection; sampajaa, clear awareness; samadhi, the firm and unwavering mind; and paa, or consummate wisdom. For the time being I will say just this much on the subject of meditation. 

Now about the tools or aids to meditation practice -- there should be metta (goodwill) in your heart, in other words, the qualities of generosity, kindness and helpfulness. These should be maintained as the foundation for mental purity. For example, begin doing away with lobha, or selfishness, through giving. When people are selfish they aren't happy. Selfishness leads to a sense of discontent, and yet people tend to be very selfish without realizing how it affects them. 

You can experience this at any time, especially when you are hungry. Suppose you get some apples and you have the opportunity to share them with a friend; you think it over for a while, and, sure, the intention to give is there all right, but you want to give the smaller one. To give the big one would be... well, such a shame. It's hard to think straight. You tell them to go ahead and take one, but then you say, "Take this one!"... and give them the smaller apple! This is one form of selfishness that people usually don't notice. Have you ever been like this? 

You really have to go against the grain to give. Even though you may really only want to give the smaller apple, you must force yourself to give away the bigger one. Of course, once you have given it to your friend you feel good inside. Training the mind by going against the grain in this way requires self-discipline -- you must know how to give and how to give up, not allowing selfishness to stick. Once you learn how to give, if you are still hesitating over which fruit to give, then while you are deliberating you will be troubled, and even if you give the bigger one, there will still be a sense of reluctance. But as soon as you firmly decide to give the bigger one the matter is over and done with. This is going against the grain in the right way. 

Doing this you win mastery over yourself. If you can't do it you will be a victim of yourself and continue to be selfish. All of us have been selfish in the past. This is a defilement which needs to be cut off. In the Pali scriptures, giving is called "dana," which means bringing happiness to others. It is one of those conditions which help to cleanse the mind from defilement. Reflect on this and develop it in your practice. 

You may think that practicing like this involves hounding yourself, but it doesn't really. Actually it's hounding craving and the defilements. If defilements arise within you, you have to do something to remedy them. Defilements are like a stray cat. If you give it as much food as it wants it will always be coming around looking for more food, but if you stop feeding it, after a couple of days it'll stop coming around. It's the same with the defilements, they won't come to disturb you, they'll leave your mind in peace. So rather than being afraid of defilement, make the defilements afraid of you. To make the defilements afraid of you, you must see the Dhamma within your minds. 

Where does the Dhamma arise? It arises with our knowing and understanding in this way. Everyone is able to know and understand the Dhamma. It's not something that has to be found in books, you don't have to do a lot of study to see it, just reflect right now and you can see what I am talking about. Everybody can see it because it exists right within our hearts. Everybody has defilements, don't they? If you are able to see them then you can understand. In the past you've looked after and pampered your defilements, but now you must know your defilements and not allow them to come and bother you. 

The next constituent of practice is moral restraint (sila). Sila watches over and nurtures the practice in the same way as parents look after their children. Maintaining moral restraint means not only to avoid harming others but also to help and encourage them. At the very least you should maintain the five precepts, which are: 
1. Not only to kill or deliberately harm others, but to spread goodwill towards all beings. 

2. To be honest, refraining from infringing on the rights of others, in other words, not stealing. 

3. Knowing moderation in sexual relations: In the household life there exists the family structure, based around husband and wife. Know who your husband or wife is, know moderation, know the proper bounds of sexual activity. Some people don't know the limits. One husband or wife isn't enough, they have to have a second or third. The way I see it, you can't consume even one partner completely, so to have two or three is just plain indulgence. You must try to cleanse the mind and train it to know moderation. Knowing moderation is true purity, without it there are no limits to your behavior. When eating delicious food, don't dwell too much on how it tastes, think of your stomach and consider how much is appropriate to its needs. If you eat too much you get trouble, so you must know moderation. Moderation is the best way. Just one partner is enough, two or three is an indulgence and will only cause problems. 

4. To be honest in speech -- this is also a tool for eradicating defilements. You must be honest and straight, truthful and upright. 

5. To refrain from taking intoxicants. You must know restraint and preferably give these things up altogether. People are already intoxicated enough with their families, relatives and friends, material possessions, wealth and all the rest of it. That's quite enough already without making things worse by taking intoxicants as well. These things just create darkness in the mind. those who take large amounts should try to gradually cut down and eventually give it up altogether. Maybe I should ask your forgiveness, but my speaking in this way is out of a concern for your benefit, so that you can understand that which is good. You need to know what is what. What are the things that are oppressing you in your everyday lives? What are the actions which cause this oppression? Good actions bring good results and bad actions bring bad results. These are the causes. 

Once moral restraint is pure there will be a sense of honesty and kindness towards others. This will bring about contentment and freedom from worries and remorse. Remorse resulting from aggressive and hurtful behavior will not be there. This is form of happiness. It is almost like a heavenly state. There is comfort, you eat and sleep in comfort with the happiness arising from moral restraint. This is the result; maintaining moral restraint is the cause. This is a principle of Dhamma practice -- refraining from bad actions so that goodness can arise. If moral restraint is maintained in this way, evil will disappear and good will arise in its place. This is the result of right practice. 

But this isn't the end of the story. Once people have attained some happiness they tend to be heedless and not go any further in the practice. They get stuck on happiness. They don't want to progress any further, they prefer the happiness of "heaven." It's comfortable but there's no real understanding. You must keep reflecting to avoid being deluded. Reflect again and again on the disadvantages of this happiness. It's transient, it doesn't last forever. Soon you are separated from it. It's not a sure thing, once happiness disappears then suffering arises in its place and the tears come again. Even heavenly beings end up crying and suffering. 

So the Lord Buddha taught us to reflect on the disadvantages, that there exists an unsatisfactory side to happiness. Usually when this kind of happiness is experienced there is no real understanding of it. The peace that is truly certain and lasting is covered over by this deceptive happiness. This happiness is not a certain or permanent kind of peace, but rather a form of defilement, a refined form of defilement to which we attach. Everybody likes to be happy. Happiness arises because of our liking for something. As soon as that liking changes to dislike, suffering arises. We must reflect on this happiness to see its uncertainty and limitation. Once things change suffering arises. This suffering is also uncertain, don't think that it is fixed or absolute. This kind of reflection is called Adinavakatha,. the reflection on the inadequacy and limitation of the conditioned world. This means to reflect on happiness rather than accepting it at face value. Seeing that it is uncertain, you shouldn't cling fast to it. You should take hold of it but then let it go, seeing both the benefit and the harm of happiness. To meditate skillfully you have to see the disadvantages inherent within happiness. Reflect in this way. When happiness arises, contemplate it thoroughly until the disadvantages become apparent. 

When you see that things are imperfect [12] your heart will come to understand the Nekkhammakatha, the reflection on renunciation. The mind will become disinterested and seek for a way out. Disinterest comes from having seen the way forms really are, the way tastes really are, the way love and hatred really are. By disinterest we mean that there is no longer the desire to cling to or attach to things. There is a withdrawal from clinging, to a point where you can abide comfortably, observing with an equanimity that is free of attachment. This is the peace that arises from practice. 

Living in the World with Dhamma 

Most people still don't know the essence of meditation practice. They think that walking meditation, sitting meditation and listening to Dhamma talks are the practice. That's true too, but these are only the outer forms of practice. The real practice takes place when the mind encounters a sense object. That's the place to practice, where sense contact occurs. When people say things we don't like there is resentment, if they say things we like we experience pleasure. Now this is the place to practice. How are we going to practice with these things? This is the crucial point. If we just run around chasing after happiness and away from suffering all the time we can practice until the day we die and never see the Dhamma. This is useless. When pleasure and pain arise how are we going to use the Dhamma to be free of them? This is the point of practice. 

Usually when people encounter something disagreeable to them they don't open up to it. Such as when people are criticized: "Don't bother me! Why blame me?" This is someone who's closed himself off. Right there is the place to practice. When people criticize us we should listen. Are they speaking the truth? We should be open and consider what they say. Maybe there is a point to what they say, perhaps there is something blame-worthy within us. They may be right and yet we immediately take offense. If people point out our faults we should strive to be rid of them and improve ourselves. This is how intelligent people will practice. 

Where there is confusion is where peace can arise. When confusion is penetrated with understanding what remains is peace. Some people can't accept criticism, they're arrogant. Instead they turn around and argue. This is especially so when adults deal with children. Actually children may say some intelligent things sometimes but if you happen to be their mother, for instance, you can't give in to them. If you are a teacher your students may sometimes tell you something you didn't know, but because you are the teacher you can't listen. This is not right thinking. 

In the Buddha's time there was one disciple who was very astute. At one time, as the Buddha was expounding the Dhamma, he turned to this monk and asked, "Sariputta, do you believe this?" Venerable Sariputta replied, "No, I don't yet believe it." The Buddha praised his answer. "That's very good, Sariputta, you are one who us endowed with wisdom. One who is wise doesn't readily believe, he listens with an open mind and then weighs up the truth of that matter before believing or disbelieving." 

Now the Buddha here has set a fine example for a teacher. What Venerable Sariputta said was true, he simply spoke his true feelings. Some people would think that to say you didn't believe that teaching would be like questioning the teacher's authority, they'd be afraid to say such a thing. They'd just go ahead and agree. This is how the worldly way goes. But the Buddha didn't take offense. He said that you needn't be ashamed of those things which aren't wrong or bad. It's not wrong to say that you don't believe if you don't believe. That's why Venerable Sariputta said, "I don't yet believe it." The Buddha praised him. "This monk has much wisdom. He carefully considers before believing anything." The Buddha's actions here are a good example for one who is a teacher of others. Sometimes you can learn things even from small children; don't cling blindly to positions of authority. 

Whether you are standing, sitting, or walking around in various places, you can always study the things around you. We study in the natural way, receptive to all things, be they sights, sounds, smells, tastes, feelings or thoughts. The wise person considers them all. In the real practice, we come to the point where there are no longer any concerns weighing on the mind. 

If we still don't know like and dislike as they arise, there is still some concern in our minds. If we know the truth of these things, we reflect, "Oh, there is nothing to this feeling of liking here. It's just a feeling that arises and passes away. Dislike is nothing more, just a feeling that arises and passes away. Why make anything out of them?" If we think that pleasure and pain are personal possessions, then we're in for trouble, we never get beyond the point of having some concern or other in an endless chain. This is how things are for most people. 

But these days they don't often talk about the mind when teaching the Dhamma, they don't talk about the truth. If you talk the truth people even take exception. They say things like, "He doesn't know time and place, he doesn't know how to speak nicely." But people should listen to the truth. A true teacher doesn't just talk from memory, he speaks the truth. People in society usually speak from memory, he speaks the truth. People in the society usually speak from memory, and what's more they usually speak in such a way as to exalt themselves. The true monk doesn't talk like that, he talks the truth, the way things are. 

No matter how much he explains the truth it's difficult for people to understand. It's hard to understand the Dhamma. If you understand the Dhamma you should practice accordingly. It may not be necessary to become a monk, although the monk's life is the ideal form for practice. To really practice, you have to forsake the confusion of the world, give up family and possessions, and take to the forests. These are the ideal places to practice. 

But if we still have family and responsibilities how are we to practice? Some people say it's impossible to practice Dhamma as a layperson. Consider, which group is larger, monks or laypeople? There are far more laypeople. Now if only the monks practice and laypeople don't, then that means there's going to be a lot of confusion. This is wrong understanding. "I can't become a monk..." Becoming a monk isn't the point! Being a monk doesn't mean anything if you don't practice. If you really understand the practice of dhamma then no matter what position or profession you hold in life, be it a teacher, doctor, civil servant or whatever, you can practice the Dhamma every minute of the day. 

To think you can't practice as a layman is to lose track of the path completely. Why is it people can find the incentive to do other things? If they feel they are lacking something they make an effort to obtain it. If there is sufficient desire people can do anything. some say, "I haven't got time to practice the Dhamma." I say, "Then how come you've got time to breathe?" Breathing is vital to people's lives. If they saw Dhamma practice as vital to their lives they would see it as important as their breathing. 

The practice of dhamma isn't something you have to go running around for or exhaust yourself over. Just look at the feelings which arise in your mind. When the eye sees form, ear hears sounds, nose smells odors and so on, they all come to this one mind, "the one who knows." Now when the mind perceives these things what happens? If we like that object we experience pleasure, if we dislike it we experience displeasure. That's all there is to it. 

So where are you going to find happiness in this world? Do you expect everybody to say only pleasant things to you all your life? Is that possible? No, it's not. If it's not possible then where are you going to go? The world is simply like this, we must know the world -- Lokavidu -- know the truth of this world. The world is something we should clearly understand. The Buddha lived in this world, he didn't live anywhere else. He experienced family life, but he saw its limitations and detached himself from them. Now how are you as laypeople going to practice? If you want to practice you must make an effort to follow the path. If you persevere with the practice you too will see the limitations of this world and be able to let go. 

People who drink alcohol sometimes say, "I just can't give it up." Why can't they give it up? Because they don't yet see the liability in it. If they clearly saw the liability of it they wouldn't have to wait to be told to give it up. If you don't see the liability of something that means you also can't see the benefit of giving it up. Your practice becomes fruitless, you are just playing at practice. If you clearly see the liability and the benefit of something you won't have to wait for others to tell you about it. Consider the story of the fisherman who finds something in his fish-trap. He knows something is in there, he can hear it flapping about inside. Thinking it's a fish, he reaches his hand into the trap, only to find a different kind of animal. He can't yet see it, so he's in two minds about it. On one hand it could be an eel, [13] but then again it could be a snake. If he throws it away he may regret it... it could be an eel. On the other hand, if he keeps holding on to it and it turns out to be a snake it may bite him. He's caught in a state of doubt. His desire is so strong he holds on, just in case it's an eel, but the minute he brings it and sees the striped skin he throws it down straight away. He doesn't have to wait for someone to call out, "It's a snake, it's a snake, let go!" The sight of the snake tells him what to do much more clearly than words could do. Why? Because he sees the danger -- snakes can bite! Who has to tell him about it? In the same way, if we practice till we see things as they are we won't meddle with things that are harmful. 

People don't usually practice in this way, they usually practice for other things. They don't contemplate things, they don't reflect on old age, sickness and death. They only talk about non-aging and non-death, so they never develop the right feeling for Dhamma practice. They go and listen to Dhamma talks but they don't really listen. Sometimes I get invited to give talks at important functions, but it's a nuisance for me to go. Why so? Because when I look at the people gathered there I can see that they haven't come to listen to the Dhamma. Some are smelling of alcohol, some are smoking cigarettes, some are chatting... they don't look at all like people who have come out of faith in the Dhamma. Giving talks at such places is of little fruit. People who are sunk in heedlessness tend to think things like, "When he's ever going to stop talking?... Can't do this, can't do that..." and their minds just wander all over the place. 

Sometimes they even invite me to give a talk just for the sake of formality: "Please give us just a small Dhamma talk, Venerable Sir." They don't want me to talk too much, it might annoy them! As soon as I hear people say this I know what they're about. These people don't like listening to Dhamma. It annoys them. If I just give a small talk they won't understand. If you take only a little food, is it enough? Of course not. 

Sometimes I'm giving a talk, just warming up to the subject, and some drunkard will call out, "Okay, make way, make way for the Venerable Sir, he's coming out now!" -- trying to drive me away! If I meet this kind of person I get a lot of food for reflection, I get an insight into human nature. It's like a person having a bottle full of water and then asking for more. There's nowhere to put it. It isn't worth the time and energy to teach them, because their minds are already full. Pour any more in and it just overflows uselessly. If their bottle was empty there would be somewhere to put the water, and both the giver and the receiver would benefit. 

In this way, when people are really interested in Dhamma and sit quietly, listening carefully, I feel more inspired to teach. If people don't pay attention it's just like the man with the bottle full of water... there's no room to put anymore. It's hardly worth my while talking to them. In situations like this I just don't get any energy arising to teach. You can't put much energy into giving when no-one's putting much energy into receiving. 

These days giving talks tends to be like this, and it's getting worse all the time. People don't search for truth, they study simply to find the necessary knowledge to make a living, raise families and look after themselves. They study for a livelihood. There may be some study of Dhamma, but not much. Students nowadays have much more knowledge than students of previous times. They have all the requisites at their disposal, everything is more convenient. But they also have a lot more confusion and suffering than before. Why is this? Because they only look for the kind of knowledge used to make a living. 

Even the monks are like this. Sometimes I hear them say, "I didn't become a monk to practice the Dhamma, I only ordained to study." These are the words of someone who has completely cut off the path of practice. There's no way ahead, it's a dead end. When these monks teach it's only from memory. They may teach one thing but their minds are in completely different place. Such teachings aren't true. 

This is how the world is. If you try to live simply, practicing the Dhamma and living peacefully, they say you are weird and anti-social. They say you're obstructing progress in society. They even intimidate you. Eventually you might even start to believe them and revert to the worldly ways, sinking deeper and deeper into the world until it's impossible to get out. Some people say, "I can't get out now, I've gone in to deeply." This is how society tends to be. It doesn't appreciate the value of Dhamma. 

The value of Dhamma isn't to be found in books. those are just the external appearances of Dhamma, they're not the realization of Dhamma as a personal experience. If you realize the Dhamma you realize your own mind, you see the truth there. When the truth becomes apparent it cuts off the stream of delusion. 

The teaching of the Buddha is the unchanging truth, whether in the present or in any other time. The Buddha revealed this truth 2,500 years ago and it's been the truth ever since. This teaching should not be added to or taken away from. The Buddha said, "What the Tathagata has laid down should not be discarded, what has not been laid down by the Tathagata should not be added on to the teachings." He "sealed off" the Teachings. Why did the Buddha seal them off? Because these Teachings are the words of one who has no defilements. No matter how the world may change these Teachings are unaffected, they don't change with it. If something is wrong, even if people say it's right doesn't make it any the less wrong. If something is right, it doesn't change any just because people say it's not. Generation after generation may come and go but these things don't change, because these Teachings are the truth. 

Now who created this truth? The truth itself created the truth! Did the Buddha create it? No, he didn't. The Buddha only discovered the truth, the way things are, and then he set out to declare it. The truth is constantly true, whether a Buddha arises in the world or not. The Buddha only "owns" the Dhamma in this sense, he didn't actually create it. It's been here all the time. However, previously no-one had searched for and found the Deathless, then taught it as the Dhamma. He didn't invent it, it was already there. 

At some point in time the truth is illuminated and the practice of Dhamma flourishes. As time goes on and generations pass away the practice degenerates until the Teaching fades away completely. After a time the Teaching is re-founded and flourishes once more. As time goes on the adherents of the Dhamma multiply, prosperity sets in, and once more the Teaching begins to follow the darkness of the world. And so once more it degenerates until such a time as it can no longer hold ground. Confusion reigns once more. Then it is time to re-establish the truth. In fact the truth doesn't go anywhere. When Buddhas pass away the Dhamma doesn't disappear with them. 

The world revolves like this. It's something like a mango tree. The tree matures, blossoms, and fruits appear and grow to ripeness. They become rotten and the seed goes back into the ground to become a new mango tree. The cycle starts once more. Eventually there are more ripe fruits which proceed to fall, rot, sink into the ground as seeds and grow once more into trees. This is how the world is. It doesn't go very far, it just revolves around the same old things. 

Our lives these days are the same. Today we are simply doing the same old things we've always done. People think too much. There are so many things for them to get interested in, but none of them leads to completion. There are the sciences like mathematics, physics, psychology and so on. You can delve into any number of them but you can only finalize things with the truth. 

Suppose there was a cart being pulled by an ox. The wheels aren't long, but the tracks are. As long as the ox pulls the cart the tracks will follow. The wheels are round yet the tracks are long; the tracks are long yet the wheels are merely circles. Just looking at a stationary cart you can't see anything long about it, but once the ox starts moving you see the tracks stretching out behind you. As long as the ox pulls, the wheels keep on turning... but there comes a day when the ox tires and throws off its harness. The ox walks off and leaves the empty cart sitting there. The wheels no longer turn. In time the cart falls apart, its components go back into the four elements -- earth, water, wind and fire. 

Searching for peace within the world you stretch the cart wheel tracks endlessly behind you. As long as you follow the world there is no stopping, no rest. If you simply stop following it, the cart comes to rest, the wheels no longer turn. Following the world turns the wheels ceaselessly. Creating bad kamma is like this. As long as you follow the old ways there is no stopping. If you stop there is stopping. This is how we practice the Dhamma. 
"Tuccho Pothila" -- Venerable Empty-Scripture 

There are two ways to support Buddhism. One is known as amisapuja, supporting through material offerings. These are the four requisites of food, clothing, shelter and medicine. This is to support Buddhism by giving material offerings to the Sangha of monks and nuns, enabling them to live in reasonable comfort for the practice of Dhamma. This fosters the direct realization of the Buddha's teaching, in turn bringing continued prosperity to the Buddhist religion. 

Buddhism can be likened to a tree. A tree has roots, a trunk, branches, twigs and leaves. all the leaves and branches, including the trunk, depend on the roots to absorb nutriment from the soil and send it out to them. In the same way as the tree depends on the roots to sustain it, our actions and our speech are like "branches" and "leaves," which depend on the mind, the "root," absorbing nutriment, which it then sends it out to the "trunk," "branches" and "leaves." These in turn bear fruit as our speech and actions. whatever state the mind is in, skillful or unskillful, it expresses that quality outwardly through our actions and speech. 

Therefore the support of Buddhism through the practical application of the teaching is the most important kind of support. For example, in the ceremony of determining the precepts on observance days, the Teacher describes those unskillful actions which should be avoided. But if you simply go through the ceremony of determining the precepts without reflecting on their meaning, progress is difficult. You will be unable to find the true practice. The real support of Buddhism must therefore be done through patipattipuja, the "offering" of practice, cultivating true restraint, concentration and wisdom. Then you will know what Buddhism is all about. If you don't understand through practice you still won't know, even if you learn the whole Tipitaka. 

In the time of the Buddha there was a monk known as Tuccho Pothila. Tuccho Pothila was very learned, thoroughly versed in the scriptures and texts. He was so famous that he was revered by people everywhere and had eighteen monasteries under his care. When people heard the name "Tuccho Pothila" they were awe-struck and nobody would dare question anything he taught, so much did they revere his command of the teachings. Tuccho Pothila was one of the Buddha's most learned disciples. 

One day he went to pay respects to the Buddha. As he was paying his respects, the Buddha said, "Ah, hello, Venerable Empty Scripture!"... just like that! They conversed for a while until it was time to go, and then, as he was taking leave of the Buddha, the Buddha said, "Oh, leaving now, Venerable Empty Scripture?" 

That was all the Buddha said. On arriving, "Oh, hello, Venerable Empty Scripture." When it was time to go, "Ah, leaving now, Venerable Empty Scripture?" The Buddha didn't expand on it, that was all the teaching he gave. Tuccho Pothila, the eminent teacher, was puzzled, " Why did the Buddha say that? What did he mean?" He thought and thought, turning over everything he had learned, until eventually he realized..."It's true! "Venerable Empty Scripture" -- a monk who studies but doesn't practice." When he looked into his heart he saw that really he was no different from laypeople. Whatever they aspired to he also aspired to, whatever they enjoyed he also enjoyed. There was no real samana [14] within him, no truly profound quality capable of firmly establishing him in the Noble Way and providing true peace. 

So he decided to practice. But there was nowhere for him to go to. all the teachers around were his own students, no-one would dare accept him. Usually when people meet their teacher they become timid and deferential, and so no-one would dare to become his teacher. 

Finally he went to see a certain young novice, who was enlightened, and asked to practice under him. The novice said, "Yes, sure you can practice with me, but only if you're sincere. If you're not sincere then I won't accept you." Tuccho Pothila pledged himself as a student of the novice. 

The novice then told him to put on all his robes. Now there happened to be a muddy bog nearby. When Tuccho Pothila had neatly put on all his robes, expensive ones they were, too, the novice said, "Okay, now run down into this muddy bog. If I don't tell you to stop, don't stop. If I don't tell you to come out, don't come out. Okay... run!" 

Tuccho Pothila, neatly robed, plunged into the bog. The novice didn't tell him to stop until he was completely covered in mud. Finally he said, "You can stop, now."... so he stopped. "Okay, come on up!"... and so he came out. 

This clearly showed that Tuccho Pothila had given up his pride. He was ready to accept the teaching. If he wasn't ready to learn he wouldn't have run into the bog like that, being such a famous teacher, but he did it. The young novice, seeing this, knew that Tuccho Pothila was sincerely determined to practice. 

When Tuccho Pothila had come out of the bog, the novice gave him the teaching. He taught him to observe the sense objects, to know the mind and to know the sense objects, using the simile of a man catching a lizard hiding in a termite mound. If the mound had six holes in it, How would he catch it? He would have to seal off five of the holes and leave just one open. Then he would have to simply watch and wait, guarding that one hole. When the lizard ran out he could catch it. 

Observing the mind is like this. Closing off the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body, we leave only the mind. To "close off" the senses means to restrain and compose them, observing only the mind. Meditation is like catching the lizard. We use sati to note the breath. Sati is the quality of recollection, as in asking yourself, "What am I doing?" Sampajaa is the awareness that "now I am doing such and such." We observe the in and out breathing with sati and sampajaa. 

This quality of recollection is something that arises from practice, it's not something that can be learned from books. Know the feelings that arise. The mind may be fairly inactive for a while and then a feeling arises. Sati works in conjunction with these feelings, recollecting them. There is sati, the recollection that "I will speak," "I will go," "I will sit" and so on, and then there is sampajaa, the awareness that "now I am walking," "I am lying down," "I am experiencing such and such a mood" with these two things, sati and sampajaa, we can know our minds in the present moment. We will know how the mind reacts to sense impressions. 

That which is aware of sense objects is called "mind." Sense objects "wander in" to the mind. For instance, there is a sound, like the electric planer here. It enters through the ear and travels inwards to the mind, which acknowledges that it is the sound of an electric planer. That which acknowledges the sound is called "mind." 

Now this mind which acknowledges the sound is still quite basic. It's just the average mind. Perhaps annoyance arises within this one who acknowledges. We must further train "the one who acknowledges" to become "the one who knows" in accordance with the truth -- known as Buddho. If we don't clearly know in accordance with the truth then we get annoyed at sounds of people, cars, electric planer and so on. This is just the ordinary, untrained mind acknowledging the sound with annoyance. It knows in accordance with its preferences, not in accordance with the truth. We must further train it to know with vision and insight, anadassana, [15]the power of the refined mind, so that it knows the sound as simply sound. If we don't cling to sound there is annoyance. The sound arises and we simply note it. This is called truly knowing the arising of sense objects. If we develop the Buddho, clearly realizing the sound as sound, then it doesn't annoy us. It arises according to conditions, it is not a being, an individual, a self, an "us" or "them." It's just sound. The mind lets go. 

This knowing is called Buddho, the knowledge that is clear and penetrating. With this knowledge we can let the sound be simply sound. It doesn't disturb us unless we disturb it by thinking, "I don't want to hear that sound, it's annoying." Suffering arises because of this thinking. Right here is the cause of suffering, that we don't know the truth of this matter, we haven't developed the Buddho. We are not yet clear, not yet awake, not yet aware. This is the raw, untrained mind. This mind is not yet truly useful to us. 

Therefore the Buddha taught that this mind must be trained and developed. We must develop the mind just like we develop the body, but we do it in different way. To develop the body we must exercise it, jogging in the morning and evening and so on. This is exercising the body. As a result the body becomes more agile, stronger, the respiratory and nervous systems become more efficient. to exercise the mind we don't have to move it around, but bring it to a halt, bring it to rest. 

For instance, when practicing meditation, we take an object, such as the in and out breathing, as our foundation. This becomes the focus of our attention and reflection. We note the breathing. To note the breathing means to follow the breathing with awareness, noting its rhythm, its coming and going. We put awareness into the breath, following the natural in and out breathing and letting go of all else. As a result of staying on one object of awareness, our mind becomes refreshed. If we let the mind think of this, that and the other there are many objects of awareness, the mind doesn't unify, it doesn't come to rest. 

To say the mind stops means that it feels as if it's stopped, it doesn't go running here and there. It's like having a sharp knife. If we use the knife to cut at things indiscriminately, such as stones, bricks and grass, our knife will quickly become blunt. We should use it for cutting only the things it was meant for. Our mind is the same. If we let the mind wander after thoughts and feelings which have no value or use, the mind becomes tired and weak, If the mind has no energy, wisdom will not arise, because the mind without energy is the mind without samadhi. 

If the mind hasn't stopped you can't clearly see the sense objects for what they are. The knowledge that the mind is the mind, sense objects are merely sense objects, is the root from which Buddhism has grown and developed. This is the heart of Buddhism. 

We must cultivate this mind, develop it, training it in calm and insight. We train the mind to have restraint and wisdom by letting the mind stop and allowing wisdom to arise, by knowing the mind as it is. 

You know, the way we human beings are, the way we do things, are just like little children. A child doesn't know anything. To an adult observing the behavior of a child, the way it plays and jumps around, its actions don't seem to have much purpose. If our mind is untrained it is like a child. We speak without awareness and act without wisdom. We may fall to ruin or cause untold harm and not even know it. A child is ignorant, it plays as children do. Our ignorant mind is the same. 

So we should train this mind. The Buddha taught to train the mind, to teach the mind. Even if we support Buddhism with the four requisites, our support is still superficial, it reaches only the "bark" or "sapwood" of the tree. The real support of Buddhism must be done through the practice, nowhere else, training our actions, speech and thoughts according to the teachings. This is much more fruitful. If we are straight and honest, possessed of restraint and wisdom, our practice will bring prosperity. There will be no cause for spite and hostility. This is how our religion teaches us. 

If we determine the precepts simply out of tradition, then even though the Master teaches the truth our practice will be deficient. We may be able to study the teachings and repeat them, but we have to practice them if we really want to understand. If we do not develop the practice, this may well be an obstacle to our penetrating to the heart of Buddhism for countless lifetimes to come. We will not understand the essence of the Buddhist religion. 

Therefore the practice is like a key, the key of meditation. If we have the right key in our hand, no matter how tightly the lock is closed, when we take the key and turn it the lock falls open. If we have no key we can't open the lock. We will never know what it is in the trunk. 

Actually there are two kinds of knowledge. One who knows the Dhamma doesn't simply speak from memory, he speaks the truth. Worldly people usually speak with conceit. For example, suppose there were two people who hadn't seen each other for a long time, maybe they had gone to live in different provinces or countries for a while, and then one day they happened to meet on the train..."Oh! What a surprise. I was just thinking of looking you up!"... Actually it's not true. Really they hadn't thought of each other at all, but they say so out of excitement. And so it becomes a lie. Yes, it's lying out of heedlessness. This is lying without knowing it. It's a subtle form of defilement, and it happens very often. 

So with regard to the mind, Tuccho Pothila followed the instructions of the novice: breathing in, breathing out... mindfully aware of each breath... until he saw the liar within him, the lying of his own mind. He saw the defilements as they came up, just like the lizard coming out of the termite mound. He saw them and perceived their true nature as soon as they arose. He noticed how one minute the mind would concoct one thing, the next moment something else. 

Thinking is a sankhata dhamma, something which is created or concocted from supporting conditions. It's not asankhata dhamma, the unconditioned. The well-trained mind, one with perfect awareness, does not concoct mental states. This kind of mind penetrates to the Noble Truths and transcends any need to depend on externals. To know the Noble Truths is to know the truth. The proliferating mind tries to avoid this truth, saying, "that's good" or "this is beautiful," but if there is Buddho in the mind it can no longer deceive us, because we know the mind as it is. The mind can no longer create deluded mental states, because there is the clear awareness that all mental states are unstable, imperfect, and a source of suffering to one who clings to them. 

Wherever he went, the one who knows was constantly in Tuccho Pothila's mind. He observed the various creations and proliferation of the mind with understanding. He saw how the mind lied in so many ways. He grasped the essence of the practice, seeing that "This lying mind is the one to watch -- this is the one which leads us into extremes of happiness and suffering and causes us to endlessly spin around in the cycle of Samsara, with its pleasure and pain, good and evil -- all because of this one." Tuccho Pothila realized the truth, and grasped the essence of the practice, just like a man grasping the tail of the lizard. He saw the workings of the deluded mind. 

For us it's the same. Only this mind is important. That's why they say to train the mind. Now if the mind is the mind, what are we going to train it with? By having continuous sati and sampajaa we will be able to know the mind. This one who knows is a step beyond the mind, it is that which knows the state of the mind. The mind is the mind. That which knows the mind as simply mind is the one who knows. It is above the mind. The one who knows is above the mind, and that is how it is able to look after the mind, to teach the mind to know what is right and what is wrong. In the end everything comes back to this proliferating mind. If the mind is caught up in its proliferations there is no awareness and the practice is fruitless. 

So we must train this mind to hear the Dhamma, to cultivate the Buddho, the clear and radiant awareness, that which exists above and beyond the ordinary mind and knows all that goes on within it. This is why we meditate on the word Buddho, so that we can know the mind beyond the mind. Just observe all the mind's movements, whether good or bad, until the one who realizes that the mind is simply mind, not a self or a person. This is called cittanupassana, Contemplation of Mind. [16] Seeing in this way we will understand that the mind is Transient, Imperfect and Ownerless. This mind doesn't belong to us. 

We can summarize thus: The mind is that which acknowledges sense objects; sense objects are sense objects as distinct from the mind; the one who knows both the mind and the sense objects for what they are. We must use sati to constantly cleanse the mind. Everybody has sati, even a cat has it when it's going to catch a mouse. A dog has it when it barks at people. This is a form of sati, but it's not sati according to the Dhamma. Everybody has sati, but there are different levels of it, just as there are different levels of looking at things. Like when I say to contemplate the body, some people say, "What is there to contemplate in the body? Anybody can see it. Kesa we can see already, loma we can see already... hair, nails, teeth and skin we can see already. So what?" 

This is how people are. They can see the body alright but their seeing is faulty, they don't see with the Buddho, the one who knows, the awakened one. They only see the body in the ordinary way, they see it visually. Simply to see the body is not enough. If we only see the body there is trouble. You must see the body within the body, then things become much clearer. Just seeing the body you get fooled by it, charmed by its appearance. Not seeing Transience, Imperfection and Ownerlessness, kamachanda [17] arises. You become fascinated by forms, sounds, odors, flavors and feelings. Seeing in this way is to see with the mundane eye of the flesh, causing you to love and hate and discriminate into pleasing and unpleasing. 

The Buddha taught that this is not enough. You must see with the "mind's eye." See the body within the body. If you really look into the body... Ugh! It's so repulsive. There are today's things and yesterday's things all mixed up in there, you can't tell what's what. Seeing in this way is much clearer than to see with the carnal eye. Contemplate, see with the eye of the mind, with the wisdom eye. 

People's understandings differ like this. Some people don't know what there is to contemplate in the Five Meditations, head hair, body hair, nails, teeth and skin. They say they can see all those things already, but they can only see them with the carnal eye, with this "crazy eye" which only looks at the things it wants to look at. To see the body in the body you have to look much clearer than that. 

This is the practice that can uproot clinging to the Five Khandhas. [18] To uproot attachment is to uproot suffering, because attaching to the Five Khandhas is the cause of suffering. If suffering arises it is here, at the attachment to the Five Khandhas. It's not that the Five Khandhas are in themselves suffering, but the clinging to them as being one's own... that's suffering. 

If you clearly see the truth of these things through meditation practice, then suffering becomes unwound, like a screw or a bolt. When the bolt is unwound, it withdraws. The mind unwinds in the same way, letting go, withdrawing from the obsession with good and evil, possessions, praise and status, happiness and suffering. 

If we don't know the truth of these things it's like tightening the screw all the time. It gets tighter and tighter until it's crushing you and you suffer over everything. When you know how things are then you unwind the screw. In Dhamma language we call this the arising of nibbida, disenchantment. You become weary of things and lay down the fascination with them. If you unwind in this way you will find peace. 

The cause of suffering is to cling to things. So we should get rid of the cause, cut off its root and not allow it to cause suffering again. People have only one problem -- the problem of clinging. Just because of this one thing people will kill each other. All problems, be they individual, family or social, arise from this one root. Nobody wins... they kill each other but in the end no-one gets anything. I don't know why people keep on killing each other so pointlessly. 

Power, possessions, status, praise, happiness and suffering... these are the worldly dhammas. These worldly dhammas engulf worldly beings. Worldly beings are led around by the worldly dhammas: gain and loss, acclaim and slander, status and loss of status, happiness and suffering. These dhammas are trouble makers, if you don't reflect on their true nature you will suffer. People even commit murder for the sake of wealth, status or power. Why? Because they take them too seriously. They get appointed to some position and it goes to their heads, like the man who became headman of the village. After his appointment he became "power-drunk." If any of his old friends came to see he'd say, "Don't come around so often. Things aren't the same anymore." 

The Buddha taught to understand the nature of possessions, status, praise and happiness. Take these things as they come but let them be. Don't let them go to your head. If you don't really understand these things you become fooled by your power, your children and relatives... by everything! If you understand them clearly you know they're all impermanent conditions. If you cling to them they become defiled. 

All of these things arise afterwards. When people are first born there are simply nama and rupa, that's all. We add on the business of "Mr. Jones," "Miss Smith" or whatever later on. This is done according to convention. Still later there are the appendages of "Colonel," "General" and so on. If we don't really understand these things we think they are real and carry them around with us. We carry possessions, status, name and rank around. If you have power you can call all the tunes..."Take this one and execute him. Take that one and throw him in jail"... Rank gives power. This word "rank" here is where clinging takes hold. As soon as people get rank they start giving orders; right or wrong, they just act on their moods. So they go on making the same old mistakes, deviating further and further from the true path. 

One who understands the Dhamma won't behave like this. Good and evil have been in the world since who knows when... if possessions and status come your way then let them simply be the possessions and status, don't let them become your identity. Just use them to fulfill your obligations and leave it at that. You remain unchanged. If we have meditated on these things, no matter what comes our way we will not be fooled by it. We will be untroubled, unaffected, constant. Everything is pretty much the same, after all. 

This is how the Buddha wanted us to understand things. No matter what you receive, the mind adds nothing on to it. They appoint you a city councilor..."Okay, so I'm a city councilor... but I'm not." They appoint you head of the group..."Sure I am, but I'm not." Whatever they make of you..."Yes I am, but I'm not!" In the end what are we anyway? We all just die in the end. No matter what they make you, in the end it's all the same. What can you say? If you can see things in this way you will have a solid abiding and true contentment. Nothing is changed. 

This is not to be fooled by things. Whatever comes your way, it's just conditions. There's nothing which can entice a mind like this to create or proliferate, to seduce it into greed, aversion or delusion. 

Now this is to be a true supporter of Buddhism. Whether you are among those who are being supported (i.e., the Sangha) or those who are supporting (the laity) please consider this thoroughly. Cultivate the Sila-Dhamma [19] within you. This is the surest way to support Buddhism. To support Buddhism with the offerings of food, shelter and medicine is good also, but such offerings only reach the "sapwood" of Buddhism. Please don't forget this. A tree has bark, sapwood and heartwood, and these three parts are interdependent. The heartwood must rely on the bark and the sapwood. The sapwood relies on the bark and the heartwood. they all exist interdependently, just like the teachings of Moral Discipline, Concentration and Wisdom. [20] Moral Discipline is to establish your speech and actions in rectitude. Concentration is to firmly fix the mind. Wisdom is the thorough understanding of the nature of all conditions. Study this, practice this, and you will understand Buddhism in the most profound way. 

If you don't realize these things you will be fooled by possessions, fooled by rank, fooled by anything you come into contact with. simply supporting Buddhism in the external way will never put an end to the fighting and squabbling, the grudges and animosity, the stabbing and shooting. If these things are to cease we must reflect on the nature of possessions, rank, praise, happiness and suffering. We must consider our lives and bring them in line with the Teaching. We should reflect that all beings in the world are part of one whole. We are like them, they are like us. They have happiness and suffering just like we do. It's all much the same. If we reflect in this way, peace and understanding will arise. This is the foundation of Buddhism. 
Still, Flowing Water 

Now please pay attention, not allowing your mind to wander off after other things. Create the feeling that right now you are sitting on a mountain or in a forest somewhere, all by yourself. What do you have sitting here right now? There are body and mind, that's all, only these two things. All that is contained within this frame sitting here now is called "body." The "mind" is that which is aware and is thinking at this very moment. These two things are also called "nama" and "rupa." "Nama" refers to that which has no "rupa," or form. All thoughts and feelings, or the four mental khandhas of feeling, perception, volition and consciousness, are nama, they are all formless. When the eye sees form, that form is called rupa, while the awareness is called nama. Together they are called nama and rupa, or simply body and mind. 

Understand that sitting here in this present moment are only body and mind. But we get these two things confused with each other. If you want peace you must know the truth of them. The mind in its present state is still untrained; it's dirty, not clear. It is not yet the pure mind. We must further train this mind through the practice of meditation. 

Some people think that meditation means to sit in some special way, but in actual fact standing, sitting, walking and reclining are all vehicles for meditation practice. You can practice at all times. Samadhi literally means "the firmly established mind." To develop samadhi you don't have to go bottling the mind up. Some people try to get peaceful by sitting quietly and having nothing disturb them at all, but that's just like being dead. The practice of samadhi is for developing wisdom and understanding. 

Samadhi is the firm mind, the one-pointed mind. On which point is it fixed? It's fixed onto the point of balance. That's its point. But people practice meditation by trying to silence their minds. They say, "I try to sit in meditation but my mind won't be still for a minute. One instant it flies off one place, the next instant it flies off somewhere else... How can I make it stop still?" You don't have to make it stop, that's not the point. Where there is movement is where understanding can arise. People complain, "It runs off and I pull it back again; then it goes off again and I pull it back once more..." So they just sit there pulling back and forth like this. 

They think their minds are running all over the place, but actually it only seems like the mind is running around. For example, look at this hall here..."Oh, it's so big!," you say... actually it's not big at all. Whether or not it seems big depends on your perception of it. In fact this hall is just the size it is, neither big nor small, but people run around after their feelings all the time. 

Meditating to find peace... You must understand what peace is. If you don't understand it you won't be able to find it. For example, suppose today you brought a very expensive pen with you to the monastery. Now suppose that, on your way here, you put the pen in your front pocket, but at a later time you took it out and put it somewhere else, such as the back pocket. Now when you search your front pocket... It's not there! You get a fright. You get a fright because of your misunderstanding, you don't see the truth of the matter. Suffering is the result. Whether standing, walking, coming and going, you can't stop worrying about your lost pen. Your wrong understanding causes you to suffer. Understanding wrongly causes suffering..."Such a shame! I'd only bought that pen a few days ago and now it's lost." 

But then you remember, "Oh, of course! When I went to bathe I put the pen in my back pocket." As soon as you remember this you feel better already, even without seeing your pen. You see that? You're happy already, you can stop worrying about your pen. You're sure about it now. As you're walking along you run your hand over your back pocket and there it is. Your mind was deceiving you all along. The worry comes from your ignorance. Now, seeing the pen, you are beyond doubt, your worries are calmed. This sort of peace comes from seeing the cause of the problem, samudaya, the cause of suffering. As soon as you remember that the pen is in your back pocket there is nirodha, the cessation of suffering. 

So you must contemplate in order to find peace. What people usually refer to as peace is simply the calming of the mind, not the calming of the defilements. The defilements are simply being temporarily subdued, just like grass covered by a rock. In three or four days you take the rock off the grass and in no long time it grows up again. The grass hadn't really died, it was simply being suppressed. It's the same when sitting in meditation: the mind is calmed but the defilements are not really calmed. Therefore, samadhi is not a sure thing. To find real peace you must develop wisdom. Samadhi is one kind of peace, like the rock covering the grass... in a few days you take the rock away and the grass grows up again. This is only a temporary peace. The peace of wisdom is like putting the rock down and not lifting it up, just leaving it where it is. The grass can't possibly grow again. This is real peace, the calming of the defilements, the sure peace which results from wisdom. 

We speak of wisdom (paa) and samadhi as separate things, but in essence they are one and the same. Wisdom is the dynamic function of samadhi; samadhi is the passive aspect of wisdom. They arise from the same place but take different directions, different functions, like this mango here. A small green mango eventually grows larger and larger until it is ripe. It is all the same mango, the larger one and the ripe one are all the same mango, but its condition changes. In Dhamma practice, one condition is called samadhi, the later condition is called paa, but in actuality sila, samadhi, and paa are all the same thing, just like the mango. 

In any case, in our practice, no matter what aspect you refer to, you must always begin from the mind. Do you know what this mind is? What is the mind like? What is it? Where is it?... Nobody knows. All we know is that we want to go over here or over there, we want this and we want that, we feel good or we feel bad... but the mind itself seems impossible to know. What is the mind? The mind hasn't any form. that which receives impressions, both good and bad, we call "mind." It's like the owner of a house. The owner stays put at home while visitors come to see him. He is the one who receives the visitors. Who receives sense impressions? What is it that perceives? Who lets go of sense impressions? That is what we call "mind." But people can't see it, they think themselves around in circles..."What is the mind, what is the brain?"... Don't confuse the issue like this. What is it that receives impressions? Some impressions it likes and some it doesn't like... Who is that? Is there one who likes and dislikes? Sure there is, but you can't see it. That is what we call "mind." 

In our practice it isn't necessary to talk of samatha (concentration) or vipassana (insight), just call it the practice of Dhamma, that's enough. And conduct this practice from your own mind. What is the mind? The mind is that which receives, or is aware of, sense impressions. With some sense impressions there is a reaction of like, with others the reaction is dislike. That receiver of impressions leads us into happiness and suffering, right and wrong. But it doesn't have any form. We assume it to be a self, but it's really only namadhamma. Does "goodness" have any form? Does evil? Do happiness and suffering have any form? You can't find them. Are they round or are they square, short or long? Can you see them. These things are namadhamma, they can't be compared to material things, they are formless... but we know that they do exist. 

Therefore it is said to begin the practice by calming the mind. Put awareness into the mind. If the mind is aware it will be at peace. Some people don't go for awareness, they just want to have peace, a kind of blanking out. So they never learn anything. If we don't have this "one who knows" what is there to base our practice on? 

If there is no long, there is no short, if there is no right there can be no wrong. People these days study away, looking for good and evil. But that which is beyond good and evil they know nothing of. All they know is the right and the wrong -- "I'm going to take only what is right. I don't want to know about the wrong. Why should I?" If you try to take only what is right in a short time it will go wrong again. Right leads to wrong. People keep searching among the right and wrong, they don't try to find that which is neither right nor wrong. They study about good and evil, they search for virtue, but they know nothing of that which is beyond good and evil. They study the long and the short, but that which is neither long nor short they know nothing of. 

This knife has a blade, a rim and a handle. Can you lift only the blade? Can you lift only the rim of the blade, or the handle? The handle, the rim and the blade are all parts of the same knife: when you pick up the knife you get all three parts together. 

In the same way, if you pick up that which is good, the bad must follow. People search for goodness and try to throw away evil, but they don't study that which is neither good nor evil. If you don't study this there can be no completion. If you pick up goodness, badness follows. If you pick up happiness, suffering follows. The practice of clinging to goodness and rejecting evil is the Dhamma of children, it's like a toy. Sure, it's alright, you can take just this much, but if you grab onto goodness, evil will follow. The end of this path is confused, it's not so good. 

Take a simple example. You have children -- now suppose you want to only love them and never experience hatred. This is the thinking of one who doesn't know human nature. If you hold onto love, hatred will follow. In the same way, people decide to study the Dhamma to develop wisdom, studying good and evil as closely as possible. Now, having known good and evil, what do they do? They try to cling to the good, and evil follows. They didn't study that which is beyond good and evil. This is what you should study. 

"I'm going to be like this," "I'm going to be like that,"... but they never say "I'm not going to be anything because there really isn't any 'I'"... This they don't study. All they want is goodness. If they attain goodness, they lose themselves in it. If things get too good they'll start to go bad, and so people end up just swinging back and forth like this. 

In order to calm the mind and become aware of the perceiver of sense impressions, we must observe it. Follow the "one who knows." Train the mind until it is pure. How pure should you make it? If it's really pure the mind should be above both good and evil, above even purity. It's finished. That's when the practice is finished. 

What people call sitting in meditation is merely a temporary kind of peace. But even in such a peace there are experiences. If an experience arises there must be someone who knows it, who looks into it, queries it and examines it. If the mind is simply blank then that's not so useful. You may see some people who look very restrained and think they are peaceful, but the real peace is not simply the peaceful mind. It's not the peace which says, "May I be happy and never experience any suffering." With this kind of peace, eventually even the attainment of happiness becomes unsatisfying. Suffering results. Only when you can make your mind beyond both happiness and suffering will you find true peace. That's the true peace. This is the subject most people never study, they never really see this one. 

The right way to train the mind is to make it bright, to develop wisdom. Don't think that training the mind it simply sitting quietly. That's the rock covering the grass. People get drunk over it. They think that samadhi is sitting. That's just one of the words for samadhi, but really, if the mind has samadhi in the sitting posture, in the walking posture, in the standing and reclining postures. It's all practice. 

Some people complain, "I can't meditate, I'm too restless. Whenever I sit down I think of this and that... I can't do it. I've got too much bad kamma. I should use up my bad kamma first and then come back and try meditating." Sure, just try it. Try using up your bad kamma... 

This is how people think. Why do they think like this? These so called hindrances are the things we must study. Whenever we sit, the mind immediately goes running off. We follow it and try to bring it back and observe it once more... then it goes off again. This is what you're supposed to be studying. Most people refuse to learn their lessons from nature... like a naughty schoolboy who refuses to do his homework. They don't want to see the mind changing. How are you going to develop wisdom? We have to live with change like this. When we know that the mind is just this way, constantly changing... when we know that this is its nature, we will understand it. We have to know when the mind is thinking good and bad, changing all the time, we have to know these things. If we understand this point, then even while we are thinking we can be at peace. 

For example, suppose at home you have a pet monkey. Monkeys don't stay still for long, they like to jump around and grab onto things. That's how monkeys are. Now you come to the monastery and see the monkey here. This monkey doesn't stay still either, it jumps around just the same. But it doesn't bother you, does it? Why doesn't it bother you? Because you've raised a monkey before, you know what they're like. If you know just one monkey, no matter how many provinces you go to, no matter how many monkeys you see, you won't be bothered by them, will you? This is one who understands monkeys. 

If we understand monkeys then we won't become a monkey. If you don't understand monkeys you may become a monkey yourself! Do you understand? When you see it reaching for this and that, you shout, "Hey!" You get angry..."That damned monkey!" This is one who doesn't know monkeys. One who knows monkeys sees that the monkey at home and the monkey in the monastery are just the same. Why should you get annoyed by them? When you see what monkeys are like that's enough, you can be at peace. 

Peace is like this. We must know sensations. Some sensations are pleasant, some are unpleasant, but that's not important. That's just their business. Just like the monkey. all monkeys are the same. We understand sensations as sometimes agreeable, sometimes not -- that's just their nature. We should understand them and know how to let them go. Sensations are uncertain. They are Transient, Imperfect and Ownerless. Everything that we perceive is like this. When eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind receive sensations, we know them, just like knowing the monkey. Then we can be at peace. 

When sensations arise, know them. Why do you run after them? Sensations are uncertain. One minute they are one way, the next minute another. They exist dependent on change. And all of us here exist dependent on change. The breath goes out then it must come in. It must have this change. Try only breathing in, can you do that? Or try just breathing out without taking in another breath... can you do it? If there was no change like this how long could you live for? There must be both the in breath and the out breath. 

Sensations are the same. There must be these things. If there were sensations you could develop no wisdom. If there is no wrong there can be no right. You must be right first before you can see what is wrong, and you must understand the wrong first to be right. This is how things are. 

For the really earnest student, the more sensations the better. But many meditators shrink away from sensations, they don't want to deal with them. This is like the naughty schoolboy who won't go to school, won't listen to the teacher. These sensations are teaching us. When we know sensations then we are practicing Dhamma. The peace within sensations is just like understanding the monkey here. When you understand what monkeys are like you are no longer troubled by them. 

The practice of Dhamma is like this. It's not that the Dhamma is very far away, it's right with us. The Dhamma isn't about the angels on high or anything like that. It's simply about us, about what we are doing right now. Observe yourself. Sometimes there is happiness, sometimes suffering, sometimes comfort, sometimes pain, sometimes love, sometimes hate... this is Dhamma. Do you see it? You should know this Dhamma, you have to read your experiences. 

You must know sensations before you can let them go. When you see that sensations are impermanent you will be untroubled by them. As soon as a sensation arises, just say to yourself, "Hmmm... this is not a sure thing." When your mood changes..."Hmmm, not sure." You can be at peace with these things, just like seeing the monkey and not being bothered by it. If you know the truth of sensations, that is knowing the Dhamma. You let go of sensations, seeing that they are all invariably uncertain. 

What we call uncertainty here is the Buddha. The Buddha is the Dhamma. The Dhamma is the characteristic of uncertainty. Whoever sees the uncertainty of things sees the unchanging reality of them. That's what the Dhamma is like. And that is the Buddha. If you see the Dhamma you see the Buddha, seeing the Buddha, you see the Dhamma. If you know aniccam, uncertainty, you will let go of things and not grasp onto them. 

You say, "Don't break my glass!" Can you prevent something that's breakable from breaking? If it doesn't break now it will break later on. If you don't break it, someone else will. If someone else doesn't break it, one of the chickens will! The Buddha says to accept this. He penetrated the truth of these things, seeing that this glass is already broken. Whenever you use this glass you should reflect that it's already broken. Do you understand this? The Buddha's understanding was like this. He saw the broken glass within the unbroken one. Whenever its time is up it will break. Develop this kind of understanding. Use the glass, look after it, until when, one day, it slips out of your hand... "Smash!"... no problem. Why is there no problem? Because you saw its brokenness before it broke! 

But usually people say, "I love this glass so much, may it never break." Later on the dog breaks it..."I'll kill that damn dog!" You hate the dog for breaking your glass. If one of your children breaks it you'll hate them too. Why is this? Because you've dammed yourself up, the water can't flow. You've made a dam without a spillway. The only thing the dam can do is burst, right? When you make a dam you must make a spillway also. When the water rises up too high, the water can flow off safely. When it's full to the brim you open your spillway. You have to have a safety valve like this. Impermanence is the safety valve of the Noble Ones. If you have this "safety valve" you will be at peace. 

Standing, walking, sitting, lying down, practice constantly, using sati to watch over and protect the mind. This is samadhi and wisdom. They are both the same thing, but they have different aspects. 

If we really see uncertainty clearly, we will see that which is certain. The certainty is that things must inevitably be this way, they cannot be otherwise. Do you understand? Knowing just this much you can know the Buddha, you can rightly do reverence to him. 

As long as you don't throw out the Buddha you won't suffer. As soon as you throw out the Buddha you will experience suffering. As soon as you throw out the reflections on Transience, Imperfection and Ownerlessness you'll have suffering. If you can practice just this much it's enough; suffering won't arise, or if it does arise you can settle it easily, and it will be a cause for suffering not arising in the future. This is the end of our practice, at the point where suffering doesn't arise. And why doesn't suffering arise? because we have sorted out the cause of suffering, samudaya. 

For instance, if this glass were to break, normally you would experience suffering. We know that this glass will be a cause for suffering, so we get rid of the cause. All dhammas arise because of a cause. They must also cease because of a cause. Now if there is suffering on account of this glass here, we should let go of this cause. If we reflect beforehand that this glass is already broken, even when it hasn't, the cause ceases. When there is no longer any cause, that suffering is no longer able to exist, it ceases. This is cessation. 

You don't have to go beyond this point, just this much is enough. Contemplate this in your own mind. Basically you should all have the Five Precepts [21] as a foundation for behavior. It's not necessary to go and study the Tipitaka, just concentrate on the Five Precepts first. At first you'll make mistakes. When you realize it, stop, come back and establish your precepts again. Maybe you'll go astray and make another mistake. When you realize it, re-establish yourself. 

Practicing like this, your sati will improve and become more consistent, just like the drops of water falling from a kettle. If we tilt the kettle just a little, the drops fall out slowly... plop!... plop!... plop!... If we tilt the kettle up a little bit more, the drops become more rapid... plop, plop, plop!!... If we tilt the kettle up even further the "plops" go away and the water flows into a steady stream. Where do the "plops" go to? They don't go anywhere, they change into a steady stream of water. 

We have to talk about the Dhamma like this, using similes, because the Dhamma has no form. Is it square or is it round? You can't say. The only way to talk about it is through similes like this. Don't think that the Dhamma is far away from you. It lies right with you, all around. Take a look... one minute happy, the next sad, the next angry... it's all Dhamma. Look at it and understand. Whatever it is that causes suffering you should remedy. If suffering is still there, take another look, you don't yet see clearly. If you could see clearly you wouldn't suffer, because the cause would no longer be there. If suffering is still there, if you're still having to endure, then you're not yet on the right track. Wherever you get stuck, whenever you're suffering too much, right there you're wrong. whenever you're so happy you're floating in the clouds... there... wrong again! 

If you practice like this you will have sati at all times, in all postures. With sati, recollection, and sampajaa, self awareness, you will know right and wrong, happiness and suffering. Knowing these things, you will know how to deal with them. 

I teach meditation like this. When it's time to sit in meditation then sit, that's not wrong. You should practice this also. But meditation is not only sitting. You must allow your mind to fully experience things, allow them to flow and consider their nature. How should you consider them? See them as Transient, Imperfect and Ownerless. It's all uncertain. "This is so beautiful, I really must have it." That's not a sure thing. "I don't like this at all"... tell yourself right there, "Not sure!" Is this true? Absolutely, no mistake. But just try taking things for real..."I'm going to get this thing for sure"... You've gone off the track already. Don't do this. No matter how much you like something, you should reflect that it's uncertain. 

Some kinds of food seem so delicious, but still you should reflect that it's not a sure thing. It may seem so sure, it's so delicious, but still you must tell yourself, "not sure!" If you want to test out whether it's sure or not, try eating your favorite food every day. Every single day, mind you. Eventually you'll complain, "This doesn't taste so good anymore." Eventually you'll think, "Actually I prefer that kind of food." That's not a sure thing either! You must allow things to flow, just like the in and out breaths. There has to be both the in breath and the out breath, the breathing depends on change. Everything depends on change like this. 

These things lie with us, nowhere else. If we no longer doubt whether sitting, standing, walking, or reclining, we will be at peace. Samadhi isn't just sitting. some people sit until they fall into a stupor. They might as well be dead, they can't tell north from south. Don't take it to such an extreme. If you feel sleepy then walk, change your posture. Develop wisdom. If you are really tired then have a rest. As soon as you wake up then continue the practice, don't let yourself drift into a stupor. You must practice like this. Have reason, wisdom, circumspection. 

Start the practice for your own mind and body, seeing them as impermanent. Everything else is the same. Keep this in mind when you think the food is so delicious... you must tell yourself..."Not a sure thing!" You have to slug it first. But usually it just slugs you every time, doesn't it? If you don't like anything you just suffer over it. This is how things slug us. "If she likes me, I like her," they slug us again. You never get a punch in! You must see it like this. Whenever you like anything just say to yourself, "This is not a sure thing!" You have to go against the grain somewhat in order to really see the Dhamma. 

Practice in all postures. Sitting, standing, walking, lying... you can experience anger in any posture, right? You can be angry while walking, while sitting, while lying down. You can experience desire in any posture. So our practice must extend to all postures; standing, walking, sitting and lying down. It must be consistent. Don't just put on a show, really do it. 

While sitting in meditation, some incident might arise. Before that one is settled another one comes racing in. Whenever these things come up, just tell yourself, "not sure, not sure." Just slug it before it gets a chance to slug you. 

Now this is the important point. If you know that all things are impermanent, all your thinking will gradually unwind. When you reflect on the uncertainty of everything that passes, you'll see that all things go the same way. Whenever anything arises, all you need to say is, "Oh, another one!" 

Have you ever seen flowing water?... have you ever seen still water?... If your mind is peaceful it will be just like still, flowing water. Have you ever seen still, flowing water? There! You've only ever seen flowing water and still water, haven't you? But you've never seen still, flowing water. Right there, right where your thinking cannot take you, even though it's peaceful you can develop wisdom. Your mind will be like flowing water, and yet it's still. It's almost as if it were still, and yet it's flowing. So I call it "still, flowing water." Wisdom can arise here. 
Toward the Unconditioned 

Today is the day on which we Buddhists come together to observe the Uposatha [22] precepts and listen to the Dhamma, as is our custom. The point of listening to the Dhamma is firstly to create some understanding of the things we don't yet understand, to clarify them, and secondly, to improve our grasp of the things we understand already. We must rely on Dhamma talks to improve our understanding, and listening is the crucial factor. 

For today's talk please pay special attention, first of all straightening up your posture to make it suitable for listening. Don't be too tense. Now, all that remains is to establish your minds, making your minds firm in samadhi. The mind is the important ingredient. The mind is that which perceives good and evil, right and wrong. If we are lacking in sati for even one minute, we are crazy for that minute; if we are lacking in sati for half an hour we will be crazy for half an hour. However much our mind is lacking in sati, that's how crazy we are. That's why it's especially important to pay attention when listening to the Dhamma. 

All creatures in this world are plagued by nothing other than suffering. There is only suffering disturbing the mind. Studying the Dhamma is for the purpose of utterly destroying this suffering. If suffering arises it's because we don't really know it. No matter how much we try to control it through will power, or through wealth and possessions, it is impossible. If we don't thoroughly understand suffering and its cause, no matter how much we try to "trade it off" with our deeds, thoughts or worldly riches, there's no way we can do so. Only through clear knowledge and awareness, through knowing the truth of it, can suffering disappear. And this applies not only to homeless ones, the monks and novices, but also to householders: for anybody who knows the truth of things, suffering automatically ceases. 

Now the states of good and evil are constant truths. Dhamma means that which is constant, which maintains itself. Turmoil maintains its turmoil, serenity maintains its serenity. Good and evil maintain their respective conditions -- like hot water: it maintains its hotness, it doesn't change for anybody. Whether a young person or an old person drink it, it's hot. It's hot for every nationality of people. So Dhamma is defined as that which maintains its condition. In our practice we must know heat and coolness, right and wrong, good and evil. Knowing evil, for example, we will not create the causes for evil, and evil will not arise. 

Dhamma practicers should know the source of the various dhammas. By quelling the cause of heat, heat cannot arise. The same with evil: it arises from a cause. If we practice the Dhamma till we know the Dhamma, we will know the source of things, their causes. If we extinguish the cause of evil, evil is also extinguished, we don't have to go running after evil to put it out. 

This is the practice of Dhamma. But many are those who study the Dhamma, learn it, even practice it, but who are not yet with the Dhamma, and who have not yet quenched the cause of evil and turmoil within their own hearts. As long as the cause of heat is still present, we can't possibly prevent heat from being there. In the same way, as long as the cause of confusion is within our minds, we cannot possibly prevent confusion from being there, because it arises from this source. As long as the source is not quenched, confusion will arise again. 

Whenever we create good actions goodness arises in the mind. It arises from its cause. This is called kusala. [23] If we understand causes in this way, we can create those causes and the results will naturally follow. 

But people don't usually create the right causes. They want goodness so much, and yet they don't work to bring it about. All they get are bad results, embroiling the mind in suffering. All people want these days is money. They think that is they just get enough money everything will be alright; so they spend all their time looking for money, they don't look for goodness. This is like wanting meat, but not wanting salt to preserve it: you just leave the meat around the house to rot. Those who want money should know not only how to find it, but also how to look after it. If you want meat, you can't expect to buy it and then just leave it laying around in the house. It'll just go rotten. This kind of thinking is wrong. The result of wrong thinking is turmoil and confusion. The Buddha taught the Dhamma so that people would put it into practice, in order to know it and see it, and to be one with it, to make the mind Dhamma. When the mind is Dhamma it will attain happiness and contentment. The restlessness of samsara is in this world, and the cessation of suffering is also in this world. 

The practice of Dhamma is therefore for leading the mind to the transcendence of suffering. The body can't transcend suffering -- having been born it must experience pain and sickness, aging and death. Only the mind can transcend clinging and grasping. All the teachings of the Buddha, which we call pariyatti, [24] are a skillful means to this end. For instance, the Buddha taught about upadinnakasankhara and anupadinnakasankhara -- mind-attended conditions and non-mind- attended conditions. Non-mind-attended conditions are usually defined as such things as trees, mountains, rivers and so on -- inanimate things. Mind-attended conditions are defined as animate things -- animals, human beings and so on. Most students of Dhamma take this definition for granted, but if you consider the matter deeply, how the human mind gets so caught up in sights, sounds, smells, tastes, feelings, and mental states, you might see that really there isn't anything which is not mind-attended. As long as there is craving in the mind everything becomes mind-attended. 

Studying the Dhamma without practicing it, we will be unaware of its deeper meanings. For instance, we might think that the pillars of this meeting hall, the tables, benches and all inanimate things are "not mind-attended." We only look at one side of things. But just try getting a hammer and smashing some of these things and you'll see whether they're mind-attended or not! 

It's our own mind, clinging to the tables, chairs and all of our possessions, which attends these things. Even when one little cup breaks it hurts, because our mind is "attending" that cup. Be they trees, mountains or whatever, whatever we feel to be ours, they have a mind attending them -- if not their own then someone else's. These are all "mind-attended conditions," not "non-mind-attended." 

It's the same for our body. Normally we would say that the body is mind-attended. The "mind" which attends the body is none other than upadana, clinging, latching onto the body and clinging to it as being "me" and "mine." 

Just as a blind man cannot conceive of colors -- no matter where he looks, no colors can be seen -- just so for the mind blocked by craving and delusion, all objects of consciousness become mind-attended. For the mind tainted with craving and obstructed by delusion, everything becomes mind-attended... tables, chairs, animals and everything else. If we understand that there is an intrinsic self, the mind attaches to everything. All of nature becomes mind-attended, there is always clinging and attachment. 

The Buddha talked about sankhata dhammas and asankhata dhammas -- conditioned and unconditioned things. Conditioned things are innumerable -- material or immaterial, big or small -- if our mind is under the influence of delusion, it will proliferate about these things, dividing them up into good and bad, short and long, coarse and refined. Why does the mind proliferate like this? Because it doesn't know determined reality, [25] it doesn't see the Dhamma. Not seeing the Dhamma, the mind is full of clinging. As long as the mind is held down by clinging there can be no escape, there is confusion, birth, old age, sickness and death, even in the thinking processes. This kind of mind is called the sankhata dhamma (conditioned mind). 

Asankhata dhamma, the unconditioned, refers to the mind which has seen the Dhamma, the truth, of the Five Khandhas as they are -- as Transient, Imperfect and Ownerless. All ideas of "me" and "them," "mine" and "theirs," belong to the determined reality. Really they are all conditions. When we know the truth of conditions, as neither ourselves nor belonging to us, we let go of conditions and the determined. When we let go of conditions we attain the Dhamma, we enter into and realize the Dhamma. When we attain the Dhamma we know clearly. What do we know? We know that there are only conditions and determinations, no being, no self, no "us" nor "them." This is knowledge of the way things are. 

Seeing in this way the mind transcends things. The body may grow old, get sick and die, but the mind transcends this state. When the mind transcends conditions, it knows the unconditioned. the mind becomes the unconditioned, the state which no longer contains conditioning factors. The mind is no longer conditioned by the concerns of the world, conditions no longer contaminate the mind. Pleasure and pain no longer affect it. Nothing can affect the mind or change it, the mind is assured, it has escaped all constructions. Seeing the true nature of conditions and the determined, the mind becomes free. 

This freed mind is called the Unconditioned, that which is beyond the power of constructing influences. If the mind doesn't really know conditions and determinations, it is moved by them. Encountering good, bad, pleasure, or pain, it proliferates about them. Why does it proliferate? Because there is still a cause. What is the cause? The cause is the understanding that the body is one's self or belongs to the self; that feelings are self or belonging to self; that perception is self or belonging to self; that conceptual thought is self or belonging to self; that consciousness is self or belonging to self. The tendency to conceive things in terms of self is the source of happiness, suffering, birth, old age, sickness and death. This is the worldly mind, spinning around and changing at the directives of worldly conditions. This is the conditioned mind. 

If we receive some windfall our mind is conditioned by it. That object influences our mind into a feeling of pleasure, but when it disappears, our mind is conditioned by it into suffering. The mind becomes a slave of conditions, a slave of desire. No matter what the world presents to it, the mind is moved accordingly. This mind has no refuge, it is not yet assured of itself, not yet free. It is still lacking a firm base. This mind doesn't yet know the truth of conditions. Such is the conditioned mind. 

All of you listening to the Dhamma here, reflect for a while... even a child can make you get angry, isn't that so? Even a child can trick you. He could trick you into crying, laughing -- he could trick you into all sorts of things. Even old people get duped by these things. For a deluded person who doesn't know the truth of conditions, they are always shaping the mind into countless reactions, such as love, hate, pleasure and pain. They shape our minds like this because we are enslaved by them. We are slaves of tanha, craving. Craving gives all the orders, and we simply obey. 

I hear people complaining..."Oh, I'm so miserable. Night and day I have to go to the fields, I have no time at home. In the middle of the day I have to work in the hot sun with no shade. No matter how cold it is I can't stay at home, I have to go to work. I'm so oppressed." 

If I ask them, "Why don't you just leave home and become a monk?", they say, "I can't leave, I have responsibilities." Tanha pulls them back. Sometimes when you're doing the plowing you might be bursting to urinate so much you just have to do it while you're plowing, like the buffaloes! This is how much craving enslaves them. 

When I ask, "How are you going? Haven't you got time to come to the monastery?", they say, "Oh, I'm really in deep." I don't know what it is they're stuck in so deeply! These are just conditions, concoctions. The Buddha taught to see appearances as such, to see conditions as they are. This is seeing the Dhamma, seeing things as they really are. If you really see these two things then you must throw them out, let them go. 

No matter what you may receive it has no real substance. At first it may seem good, but it will eventually go bad. It will make you love and make you hate, make you laugh and cry, make you go whichever way it pulls you. Why is this? Because the mind is undeveloped. Conditions become conditioning factors of the mind, making it big and small, happy and sad. 

In the time of our forefathers, when a person died they would invite the monks to go and recite the recollections on impermanence: Anicca vata sankhara / Uppadavaya dhammino / Uppajjitva nirujjhan'ti / Tesam vupasamo sukho [26] -- All conditions are impermanent. The body and the mind are both impermanent. They are impermanent because they do not remain fixed and unchanging. All things that are born must necessarily change, they are transient -- especially our body. What is there that doesn't change within this body? Hair, nails, teeth, skin... are they still the same as they used to be? The condition of the body is constantly changing, so it is impermanent. Is the body stable? Is the mind stable? Think about it. How many times is there arising and ceasing even in one day? Both body and mind are constantly arising and ceasing, conditions are in a state of constant turmoil. 

The reason you can't see these things in line with the truth is because you keep believing the untrue. It's like being guided by a blind man. How can you travel in safety? A blind man will only lead you into forests and thickets. How could he lead you to safety when he can't see? In the same way our mind is deluded by conditions, creating suffering in the search for happiness, creating difficulty in the search for ease. Such a mind only makes for difficulty and suffering. Really we want to get rid of suffering and difficulty, but instead we create those very things. All we can do is complain. We create bad causes, and the reason we do is because we don't know the truth of appearances and conditions. 

Conditions are impermanent, both the mind-attended ones and the non-mind-attended. In practice, the non-mind-attended conditions are non-existent. What is there that is not mind- attended? Even your own toilet, which you would think would be non-mind-attended... try letting someone smash it with a sledge hammer! He would probably have to contend with the "authorities." The mind attends everything, even feces and urine. Except for the person who sees clearly the way things are, there are no such things as non-mind-attended conditions. 

Appearances are determined into existence. Why must we determine them? Because they don't intrinsically exist. For example, suppose somebody wanted to make a marker. He would take a piece of wood or a rock and place it on the ground, and then call it a marker. Actually it's not a marker. There isn't any marker, that's why you must determine it into existence. In the same way we "determine" cities, people, cattle -- everything! Why must we determine these things? Because originally they do not exist. 

Concepts such as "monk" and "layperson" are also "determinations." We determine these things into existence because intrinsically they aren't here. It's like having an empty dish -- you can put anything you like into it because it's empty. This is the nature of determined reality. Men and women are simply determined concepts, as are all the things around us. 

If we know the truth of determinations clearly, we will know that there are no beings, because "beings" are determined things. Understanding that these things are simply determinations, you can be at peace. But if you believe that the person, being, the "mine," the "theirs," and so on are intrinsic qualities, then you must laugh and cry over them. These are the proliferation of conditioning factors. If we take such things to be ours there will always be suffering. This is micchaditthi, Wrong View. Names are not intrinsic realities, they are provisional truths. Only after we are born do we obtain names, isn't that so? Or did you have your name already when you were born? The name comes afterwards, right? Why must we determine these names? Because intrinsically they aren't there. 

We should clearly understand these determinations. Good, evil, high, low, black and white are all determinations. We are all lost in determinations. This is why at the funeral ceremonies the monks chant, Anicca vata sankhara... Conditions are impermanent, they arise and pass way. That's the truth. What is there that, having arisen, doesn't cease? Good moods arise and then cease. Have you ever seen anybody cry for three or four years? At the most, you may see people crying a whole night, and then the tears dry up. Having arisen, they cease... 

Tesam vupasamo sukho... [27] If we understand sankharas, proliferations, and thereby subdue them, this is the greatest happiness. This is true merit, to be calmed of proliferations, calmed of "being," calmed of individuality, of the burden of self. Transcending these things one sees the Unconditioned. This means that no matter what happens, the mind doesn't proliferate around it. There's nothing that can throw the mind off its natural balance. What else could you want? This is the end, the finish. 

The Buddha taught the way things are. Our making offerings and listening to Dhamma talks and so on is in order to search for and realize this. If we realize this, we don't have to go and study vipassana (insight meditation), it will happen of itself. Both samatha (calm) and vipassana are determined into being, just like other determinations. The mind which knows, which is beyond such things, is the culmination of the practice. 

Our practice, our inquiry, is in order to transcend suffering. When clinging is finished with, states of being are finished with. When states of being are finished with, there is no more birth or death. When things are going well , the mind does not rejoice, and when things are going badly, the mind does not grieve. The mind is not dragged all over the place by the tribulations of the world, and so the practice is finished. This is the basic principle for which the Buddha gave the teaching. 

The Buddha taught the Dhamma for use in our lives. Even when we die there is the teaching Tesam vupasamo sukho...but we don't subdue these conditions, we only carry them around, as if the monks were telling us to do so. We carry them around and cry over them. This is getting lost in conditions. Heaven, Hell and nibbana are all to be found at this point. 

Practicing the Dhamma is in order to transcend suffering in the mind. If we know the truth of things as I've explained here we will automatically know the Four Noble Truths -- Suffering, the Cause of Suffering, the Cessation of Suffering and the Way leading to the Cessation of Suffering. 

People are generally ignorant when it comes to determinations, they think they all exist of themselves. When the books tell us that trees, mountains and rivers are non-mind-attended conditions, this is simplifying things. This is just the superficial teaching, there's no reference to suffering, as if there was no suffering in the world. This is just the shell of Dhamma. If we were to explain things in terms of ultimate truth, we would see that it's people who go and tie all these things down with their attachments. How can you say that things have no power to shape events, that they are not mind-attended, when people will beat their children even over one tiny needle? One single plate or cup, a plank of wood... the mind attends all these things. Just watch what happens if someone goes and smashes one of them up and you'll find out. Everything is capable of influencing us in this way. Knowing these things fully is our practice, examining those things which are conditioned, unconditioned, mind-attended, and non-mind-attended. 

This is part of the "external teaching," as the Buddha once referred to them. At one time the Buddha was staying in a forest. Taking a handful of leaves, He asked the bhikkhus, "Bhikkhus, which is the greater number, the leaves I hold in my hand or the leaves scattered over the forest floor?" 

The bhikkhus answered, "The leaves in the Blessed One's hand are few, the leaves scattered around the forest floor are by far the greater number." 

"In the same way, bhikkhus, the whole of the Buddha's teaching is vast, but these are not the essence of things, they are not directly related to the way out of suffering. There are so many aspects to the Teaching, but what the Tathagata really wants you to do is to transcend suffering, to inquire into things and abandon clinging and attachment to form, feeling, perception, volition and consciousness." [28] Stop clinging to these things and you will transcend suffering. These teachings are like the leaves in the Buddha's hand. You don't need so much, just a little is enough. As for the rest of the Teaching, you needn't worry yourselves over it. It is just like the vast earth, abundant with grasses, soil, mountains, forests. There's no shortage of rocks and pebbles, but all those rocks are not as valuable as one single jewel. The Dhamma of the Buddha is like this, you don't need a lot. 

So whether you are talking about the Dhamma or listening to it, you should know the Dhamma. You needn't wonder where the Dhamma is, it's right here. No matter where you go to study the Dhamma, it is really in the mind. The mind is the one who clings, the mind is the one who speculates, the mind is the one who transcends, who lets go. All this external study is really about the mind. No matter if you study the Tipitaka, [29] the Abhidhamma [30] or whatever, don't forget where it came from. 

When it comes to the practice, the only things you really need to make a start are honesty and integrity, you don't need to make a lot of trouble for yourself. None of you laypeople have studied the Tipitaka, but you are still capable of greed, anger and delusion, aren't you? Where did you learn about these things from? Did you have to read the Tipitaka or the Abhidhamma to have greed, hatred and delusion? Those things are already there in your mind, you don't have to study books to have them. But the Teachings are for inquiring into and abandoning these things. 

Let the knowing spread from within you and you will be practicing rightly. If you want to see a train, just go the central station, you don't have to go traveling all the way up the Northern line, the Southern Line, the Eastern Line and the Western Line to see all the trains. If you want to see trains, every single one of them, you'd be better off waiting at Grand Central Station, that's where they all terminate. 

Now some people tell me, "I want to practice but I don't know how. I'm not up to studying the scriptures, I'm getting old now, my memory's not good..." Just look right here, at "Central Station." Greed arises here, anger arises here, delusion arises here. Just sit here and you can watch as all these things arise. Practice right here, because right here is where you're stuck. Right here is where the determined arises, where conventions arise, and right here is where the Dhamma will arise. 

Therefore the practice of Dhamma doesn't distinguish between class or race, all it asks is that we look into, see and understand. At first, we train the body and speech to be free of taints, which is sila. Some people think that to have sila you must memorize Pali phrases and chant all day and all night, but really all you have to do is make your body and speech blameless, and that's sila. It's not so difficult to understand, just like cooking food... put in a little bit of this and a little bit of that, till it's just right... and it's delicious! You don't have to add anything else to make it delicious, it's delicious already, if only you add the right ingredients. In the same way, taking care that our actions and speech are proper will give us sila. 

Dhamma practice can be done anywhere. In the past I traveled all over looking for a teacher because I didn't know how to practice. I was always afraid that I was practicing wrongly. I'd be constantly going from one mountain to another, from one place to another, until I stopped and reflected on it. Now I understand. In the past I must have been quite stupid, I went all over the place looking for places to practice meditation -- I didn't realize it was already there, in my heart. All the meditation you want is right there inside you. There is birth, old age, sickness, death right here within you. that's why the Buddha said Paccatam veditabbo viuhi: The wise must know for themselves. I'd said the words before but I still didn't know their meaning. I traveled all over looking for it until I was ready to drop dead from exhaustion -- only then, when I stopped, did I find what I was looking for, inside of me. So now I can tell you about it. 

So in your practice of sila, just practice as I've explained here. Don't doubt the practice. Even though some people may say you can't practice at home, that there are too many obstacles... if that's the case then even eating and drinking are going to be obstacles. If these things are obstacles to practice then don't eat! If you stand on a thorn, is that good? Isn't not standing on a thorn better? Dhamma practice brings benefit to all people, irrespective of class. However much you practice, that's how much you will know the truth. 

Some people say they can't practice as a lay person, the environment is too crowded. If you live in a crowded place, then look into crowdedness, make it open and wide. The mind has been deluded by crowdedness, train it to know the truth of crowdedness. The more you neglect the practice, the more you neglect going to the monastery and listening to the teaching, the more your mind will sink down into the bog, like a frog going into a hole. Someone comes along with a hook and the frog's done for, he doesn't have a chance. All he can do is stretch out his neck and offer it to them. So watch out you don't work yourself into a tiny corner -- someone may just come along with a hook and scoop you up. At home, being pestered by your children and grandchildren, you are even worse off than the frog! You don't know how to detach from these things. When old age, sickness and death come along, what will you do? This is the hook that's going to get you. Which way will you turn? 

This is the predicament our minds are in. Engrossed in the children, the relatives, the possessions... and you don't know how to let them go. Without morality or understanding to free things up there is no way out for you. When feeling, perception, volition and consciousness produce suffering you always get caught up in it. Why is there this suffering? If you don't investigate you won't know. If happiness arises you simply get caught up in happiness, delighting in it. You don't ask yourself, "where does this happiness come from?' 

So change your understanding. You can practice anywhere because the mind is with you everywhere. If you think good thoughts while sitting, you can be aware of them; if you think bad thoughts you can be aware of them also. These things are with you. While lying down, if you think good thoughts or bad thoughts, you can know them also, because the place to practice is in the mind. Some people think you have to go to the monastery every single day. That's not necessary, just look at your own mind. If you know where the practice is you'll be assured. 

The Buddha's teaching tells us to watch ourselves, not to run after fads and superstitious. That's why he said, Silena sugatim yanti, Silena bhogasampada, Silena nibbutim yanti, Tasma silam visodhaye: [31] Sila refers to our actions. Good actions bring good results, bad actions bring bad results. Don't expect the gods to do things for you, or the angels and guardian deities to protect you, or the auspicious days to help you. These things aren't true, don't believe in them. If you believe in them you will suffer. You'll always be waiting for the right day, the right month, the right year, the angels and guardian deities... you'll suffer that way. Look into your own actions and speech, into your own kamma. Doing good you inherit goodness, doing bad you inherit badness. 

If you understand that good and bad, right and wrong all lie within you, then you won't have to go looking for those things somewhere else. Just look for these things where they arise. If you lose something here, you must look for it here. Even if you don't find it at first, keep looking where you dropped it. But usually, we lose it here then go looking over there. When will you ever find it? Good and bad actions lie within you. One day you're bound to see it, just keep looking right there. 

All beings fare according to their kamma. What is kamma? People are too gullible. If you do bad actions, they say Yama, the King of the Underworld, will write it all down in a book. When you go there he takes out his accounts and looks you up... You're all afraid of the Yama in the after-life, but you don't know the Yama within your own minds. If you do bad actions, even if you sneak off and do it by yourself, this Yama will write it all down. Among you people sitting here and there are probably many who have secretly done bad things, not letting anyone else see. But you see it don't you? This Yama sees it all. Can you see it for yourself? All of you, think for a while... Yama has written it all down, hasn't he? There's no way you can escape it. Whether you do it alone or in a group, in a field or wherever... 

Is there anybody here who has ever stolen something? There are probably a few of us who are ex-thieves. Even if you don't steal other people's things you still may steal your own. I myself have that tendency, that's why I reckon some of you may be the same. Maybe you have secretly done bad things in the past, not letting anyone else know about it. But even if you don't tell anyone else about it, you must know about it. This is the Yama who watches over you and writes it all down. Wherever you go he writes it all down in his account book. We know our own intention. When you do bad actions badness is there, if you do good actions, goodness is there. There's nowhere you can go to hide. Even if others don't see you, you must see yourself. Even if you go into a deep hole you'll still find yourself. Even if you go into a deep hole you'll still find yourself there. There's no way you can commit bad actions and get away with it. In the same way, why shouldn't you see your own purity? You see it all -- the peaceful, the agitated, the liberation or the bondage -- we see all these for ourselves. 

In this Buddhist religion you must be aware of all your actions. We don't act like the Brahmans, who go into your house and say, "May you be well and strong, may you live long." The Buddha doesn't talk like that. How will the disease go away with just talk? The Buddha's way of treating the sick was to say, "Before you were sick what happened? What led up to your sickness?" Then you tell him how it came about. "Oh, it's like that, is it? Take this medicine and try it out." If it's not the right medicine he tries another one. If it's right for the illness, then that's the right one. This way is scientifically sound. As for the Brahmans, they just tie a string around your wrist and say, "Okay, be well, be strong, when I leave this place you just get right on up and eat a hearty meal and be well." No matter how much you pay them, your illness won't go away, because their way has no scientific basis. But this is what people like to believe. 

The Buddha didn't want us to put too much store in these things, he wanted us to practice with reason. Buddhism has been around for thousands of years now, and most people have continued to practice as their teachers have taught them, regardless of whether it's right or wrong. That's stupid. They simply follow the example of their forebears. 

The Buddha didn't encourage this sort of thing. He wanted us to do things with reason. For example, at one time when he was teaching the monks, he asked Venerable Sariputta, "Sariputta, do you believe this teaching? Venerable Sariputta replied, "I don't yet believe it." The Buddha praised his answer: "Very good, Sariputta. A wise person doesn't believe too readily. He looks into things, into their causes and conditions, and sees their true nature before believing or disbelieving." 

But most teachers these days would say, "What?!!! You don't believe me? Get out of here!" Most people are afraid of their teachers. Whatever their teachers do they just blindly follow. The Buddha taught to adhere to the truth. Listen to the teaching and then consider it intelligently, inquire into it. It's the same with my dhamma talks -- go and consider it. Is what I say right? Really look into it, look within yourself. 

So it is said to guard your mind. Whoever guards his mind will free himself from the shackles of Mara. It's just this mind which goes and grabs onto things, know things, sees things, experiences happiness and suffering... just this very mind. When we fully know the truth of determinations and conditions we will naturally throw off suffering. 

All things are just as they are. They don't cause suffering in themselves, just like a thorn, a really sharp thorn. Does it make you suffer? No, it's just a thorn, it doesn't bother anybody. But if you go and stand on it, then you'll suffer. Why is there this suffering? Because you stepped on the thorn. The thorn is just minding its own business, it doesn't harm anybody. Only if you step on the thorn will you suffer over it. It's because of we ourselves that there's pain. Form, feeling, perception, volition, consciousness... all things in this world are simply there as they are. It's we who pick fights with them. And if we hit them they're going to hit us back. If they're left on their own they won't bother anybody, only the swaggering drunkard gives them trouble. All conditions fare according to their nature. That's why the Buddha said, Tesam vupasamo sukho: If we subdue conditions, seeing determinations and conditions as they really are, as neither "me" nor "mine," "us" nor "them," when we see that these beliefs are simply sakkayaditthi, the conditions are freed of the self-delusion. 

If you think "I'm good," "I'm bad," "I'm great," "I'm the best," then you are thinking wrongly. If you see all these thoughts as merely determinations and conditions, then when others say, "good" or "bad" you can leave it be with them. As long as you still see it as "me" and "you" it's like having three hornets nests -- as soon as you say something the hornets come buzzing out to sting you. The three hornets nests are sakkayaditthi, viccikiccha, and silabbataparamasa. [32] 

Once you look into the true nature of determinations and conditions, pride cannot prevail. Other people's fathers are just like our father, their mothers are just like ours, their children are just like ours. We see the happiness and suffering of other beings as just like ours. 

If we see in this way we can come face to face with the future Buddha, it's not so difficult. Everyone is in the same boat. Then the world will be as smooth as a drumskin. If you want to wait around to meet Phra Sri Ariya Mettiya, the future Buddha, then just don't practice... you'll probably be around long enough to see him. But He's not crazy that he'd take people like that for disciples! Most people just doubt. If you no longer doubt about the self, then no matter what people may say about you, you aren't concerned, because your mind has let go, it is at peace. Conditions become subdued. Grasping after the forms of practice... that teacher is bad, that place is no good, this is right, that's wrong... No. There's none of these things. All this kind of thinking is all smoothed over. You come face to face with the future Buddha. Those who only hold up their hands and pray will never get there. 

So here is the practice. If I talked any more it would just be more of the same. Another talk would just be the same as this. I've brought you this far, now you think about it. I've brought you to the path, whoever's going to go, it's there for you. Those who aren't going can stay. The Buddha only sees you to the beginning of the path. Akkhataro Tathagata -- the Tathagata only points the way. For my practice he only taught this much. The rest was up to me. Now I teach you, I can tell you just this much. I can bring you only to the beginning of the path, whoever wants to go back can go back, whoever wants to travel on can travel on. It's up to you, now. 
Notes 

1. "Looking for merit" is a commonly-used Thai phrase. It refers to the custom in Thailand of going to monasteries, or "wats," paying respect to venerated teachers and making offerings. [Go back] 

2. There is a play on words here between the Thai words "look," meaning children, and "look bpeun," meaning literally "gun children"... that is, bullets. [Go back] 

3. The Buddhist Pali Canon. [Go back] 

4. There is a play on words in the Thai language here based on the word for family -- Krorp krua -- which literally means "kitchen-frame" or "roasting circle." In the English translation we have opted for a corresponding English word rather than attempt a literal translation of the Thai. [Go back] 

5. Saccadhamma. [Go back] 

6. A chant traditionally recited at funeral ceremonies. [Go back] 

7. At the time of printing this book (1992), there are about one hundred branch monasteries, big and small, of Wat Nong Ba Pong. [Go back] 

8. Dukkha: "Suffering" is a most inadequate translation, but it is the one most commonly found. "Dukkha" literally means "intolerable," "unsustainable," "difficult to endure," and can also mean "imperfect," "unsatisfying," or "incapable of providing perfect happiness." [Go back] 

9. Samsara: The world of delusion. [Go back] 

10. One of the Four Bases of Clinging: Kamupadana, clinging to sense objects; silabbatupadana: clinging to rites and rituals; ditthupadana: clinging to views, and attavadupadana, clinging to the idea of self. [Go back] 

11. Soon after his enlightenment, the Buddha was walking on his way to Benares and was approached by a wandering ascetic, who said, "Your features are clear, friend, your bearing serene... who is your teacher?" The Buddha answered that there was no-one in this world who could claim to be his teacher, because he was completely self-enlightened. The Brahman could not understand his answer, and walked off, muttering, "Well, good for you, friend, good for you." [Go back] 

12. Dukkha. [Go back] 

13. Considered a delicacy in some parts of Thailand. [Go back] 

14. One who lives devoted to religious practices. The term is used also to refer to one who has developed a certain amount of virtue from such practices. Ajahn Chah usually translates the term as "one who is peaceful." [Go back] 

15. Literally, "knowledge and insight (into the Four Noble Truths)." [Go back] 

16. One of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness: Body, Feelings, Mind, and Dhamma. [Go back] 

17. Kamachanda: Sensual desire, one of the Five Hindrances, the other four being ill will, doubt, restlessness and worry, and doubt. [Go back] 

18. The Five Khandhas, or "heaps": Form, feeling, perception, conception, and consciousness. [Go back] 

19. Sila-Dhamma: The Teaching and Discipline, another name for the teaching of Buddhism, but on the personal level meaning "virtue and (knowledge of) truth." [Go back] 

20. Sila, samadhi, paa. [Go back] 

21. The basic moral code for practicing Buddhists: To refrain from intentional killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying and imbibing of intoxicants. [Go back] 

22. Uposatha, or Observance, days, are the days on which practicing Buddhists usually go to the monastery to practice meditation, listen to a Dhamma talk and keep the eight uposatha precepts -- To refrain from killing, stealing, all sexual activity, lying, taking intoxicants, eating food after midday, enjoying entertainments and dressing up, and sitting or sleeping on luxurious seats or beds. [Go back] 

23. Kusala: wholesome or skillful actions or mental states. [Go back] 

24. Pariyatti, the teachings as laid down in the scriptures, or as passed down from one person to another in some form or another; the "theoretical" aspect of Buddhism. "Pariyatti" is often referred to in reference to two other aspects of Buddhism -- Patipatti, the practice, and Pativedhi, the realization. Thus: Study -- Practice -- Realization. [Go back] 

25. Sammutti sacca, a difficult term to translate. It refers to the dualistic, or nominal reality, the reality of names, determinations. For instance, a cup is not intrinsically a cup, it is only determined to be so. [Go back] 

26. Impermanent are all conditioned things, / Of the nature to arise and pass away / Having been born, they all must perish / The cessation of conditions is true happiness. [Go back] 

27. "Cessation is true happiness," or "the calming of conditions is true happiness." [Go back] 

28. The Five Khandhas. [Go back] 

29. The Buddhist Pali Canon. [Go back] 

30. The third of the "Three Baskets," the Tipitaka, being the section on the higher philosophy of Buddhism. [Go back] 

31. Moral rectitude leads to well being, leads to wealth, leads to nibbana. Therefore, maintain your precepts purely" -- a Pali phrase said at the end the traditional giving of the precepts. [Go back] 

32. Self view, doubt, and attachment to rites and practices. [Go back] 
Revised: Saturday 2005.01.29

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Help | Home  Library  Thai Forest Traditions  Ajaan Chah 
Bodhinyana
A Collection of Dhamma Talks by
The Venerable Ajahn Chah
(Phra Bodhinyana Thera) 
Copyright  1982 The Sangha, Bung Wai Forest Monastery 

For free distribution only.
Any reproduction, in whole or part, in any form,
for sale, profit or material gain, is prohibited.
However, copies of this book, or permission to reprint
for free distribution, may be obtained upon notification. 

The Abbot
Wat Pah Nanachat
Ampher Warin
Ubon Rajathani
Thailand 

Printed for free distribution through the generosity of the devoted Buddhists of Thailand. Fourth impression 1982. This electronic edition was transcribed from the print edition in January, 1997 by W.D. Savage with the kind permission of the copyright holder. 

The blessing of this Dharma gift is offered in memory of Mrs. Beatrice Saslav. 
Contents
Preface 
Ajahn Chah 
Fragments of a Teaching 
A Gift of Dhamma 
Dhamma Nature 
The Two Faces of Reality 
The Training of the Heart 
Living With the Cobra 
Reading the Natural Mind 
Start Doing It! 
Questions and Answers 
Notes 
Preface to the Third Edition 
This third edition of "Bodhinyana" is an adaptation of the second edition printed by the World Fellowship of Buddhists as "The Practice of Buddhism." For this new edition we have retained only Ajahn Chah's teachings, thus this is essentially a compilation of the original "Bodhinyana" and a pamphlet called "Fragments of a Teaching and Notes from a Session of Questions and Answers." This pamphlet was first printed many years ago and has proved to be a very popular and helpful guide for many meditators. Thus by compiling this new edition we hope our efforts will be of increased benefit. 

As regards the translations, we have tried to be as exact as possible with the content of the Teachings but have omitted much of the repetition inevitably arising in oral instruction. Pali words absorbed into the Thai language have, in the course of time, acquired additional meanings: e.g., the Thai "arome" refers to the Pali "Arammana" -- sense object or mental impression, but its common meaning is "mood" or "emotion." The Venerable Ajahn uses these words in both ways and we have translated accordingly. Finding the middle way between a dull, over-literal approach and a more flowing, but less precise rendering hasn't always been easy. Each of the various translators has compromised in different ways. Hopefully we have managed to bring out both the clear simplicity, the directness and the humor of these talks on the one hand, and at the same time, the profundity that underlies and inspires them. 

The translators would like to apologize for any passages which remain unclear, or for clumsiness of style. We trust that this material will provide nourishing contemplation for the growing number of meditators. 

May all beings be free from Suffering. 

The Sangha,
Bung Wai Forest Monastery. 
Ajaan Chah 

Ajahn Chah was born into a large and comfortable family in a rural village in Northeast Thailand. He ordained as a novice in early youth and on reaching the age of twenty took higher ordination as a monk. As a young monk he studied some basic Dhamma, Discipline and scriptures. Later he practiced meditation under the guidance of several of the local Meditation Masters in the Ascetic Forest Tradition. He wandered for a number of years in the style of an ascetic monk, sleeping in forests, caves and cremation grounds, and spent a short but enlightening period with Ajahn Mun, one of the most famous and respected Thai Meditation Masters of this century. 

After many years of travel and practice, he was invited to settle in a thick forest grove near the village of his birth. This grove was uninhabited, known as a place of cobras, tigers and ghosts, thus being as he said, the perfect location for a forest monk. Around Ajahn Chah a large monastery formed as more and more monks, nuns and lay-people came to hear his teachings and stay on to practice with him. Now there are disciples teaching more than forty mountain and forest branch temples throughout Thailand and in England. 

On entering Wat Pah Pong one is likely to encounter monks drawing water from a well, and a sign on the path that says: "You there, be quiet! We're trying to meditate." Although there is group meditation twice a day and sometimes a talk by Ajahn Chah, the heart of the meditation is the way of life. Monks do manual work, dye and sew their own robes, make most of their own requisites and keep the monastery buildings and grounds in immaculate shape. Monks here live extremely simply following the ascetic precepts of eating once a day from the almsbowl and limiting their possessions and robes. Scattered throughout the forest are individual huts where monks live and meditate in solitude, and where they practice walking meditation on cleared paths under the trees. 

Discipline is extremely strict enabling one to lead a simple and pure life in a harmoniously regulated community where virtue, meditation and understanding may be skillfully and continuously cultivated. 

Ajahn Chah's simple yet profound style of teaching has a special appeal to Westerners, and many have come to study and practice with him, quite a few for many years. In 1975 Wat Pa Nanachat was established near Wat Pah Pong as a special training monastery for the growing numbers of Westerners interested in undertaking monastic training. Since then Ajahn Chah's large following of senior Western disciples has begun the work of spreading the Dhamma to the West. Ajahn Chah has himself traveled twice to Europe and North America, and has established a thriving branch monastery in Sussex, England. 

Wisdom is a way of living and being, and Ajahn Chah has endeavored to preserve the simple life-style of the monks order that people may study and practice the Dhamma in the present day. 

Ajahn Chah's wonderfully simple style of teaching can be deceptive. It is often only after we have heard something many times that suddenly our minds are ripe and somehow the Teaching takes on a much deeper meaning. His skillful means in tailoring his explanations of Dhamma to time and place, and to the understanding and sensitivity of his audience, is marvelous to see. Sometimes on paper though, it can make him seem inconsistent or even self-contradictory! At such times the reader should remember that these words are a record of a living experience. Similarly, if the Teachings may seem to vary at times from tradition, it should be borne in mind that the Venerable Ajahn speaks always from the heart, from the depths of his own meditative experience. 


Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Samma-Sambuddhassa


Fragments of a Teaching 

All of you have believed in Buddhism for many years now through hearing about the Buddhist Teachings from many sources -- especially from various monks and teachers. In some cases Dhamma is taught in very broad and vague terms to the point where it is difficult to know how to put it into practice in daily life. In other instances Dhamma is taught in high language or special jargon to the point where most people find it difficult to understand, especially if the teaching is done too literally from scripture. Lastly there is Dhamma taught in a balanced way, neither too vague nor too profound, neither too broad nor too esoteric -- just right for the listener to understand and practice to personally benefit from the Teachings. Today I would like share with you Teachings of the sort I have often used to instruct my disciples in the past; Teachings which I hope may possibly be of personal benefit to those of you here listening today. 


One who wishes to reach the Buddha-Dhamma
One who wishes to reach the Buddha-Dhamma must firstly be one who has faith or confidence as a foundation. He must understand the meaning of Buddha-Dhamma as follows: 
Buddha: the One-Who-Knows, the one who has purity, radiance and peace in his heart. 

Dhamma: the characteristics of purity, radiance and peace which arise from morality, concentration and wisdom. 
Therefore, one who is to reach the Buddha-Dhamma is one who cultivates and develops morality, concentration and wisdom within himself. 


Walking the Path of Buddha-Dhamma
Naturally people who wish to reach their home are not those who merely sit and think of traveling. They must actually undertake the process of traveling step by step, and in the right direction as well, in order to finally reach home. If they take the wrong path they may eventually run into difficulties such as swamps or other obstacles which are hard to get around. Or they may run into dangerous situations in this wrong direction, thereby possibly never reaching home. 

Those who reach home can relax and sleep comfortably -- home is a place of comfort for body and mind. Now they have really reached home. But if the traveler only passed by the front of his home or only walked around it, he would not receive any benefit from having traveled all the way home. 

In the same way, walking the path to reach the Buddha-Dhamma is something each one of us must do individually ourselves, for no one can do it for us. And we must travel along the proper path of morality, concentration and wisdom until we find the blessings of purity, radiance and peacefulness of mind that are the fruits of traveling the path. However, if one only has knowledge of books and scriptures, sermons and sutras, that is, only knowledge of the map or plans for the journey, even in hundreds of lives one will never know purity, radiance and peacefulness of mind. Instead one will just waste time and never get to the real benefits of practice. Teachers are those who only point out the direction of the Path. After listening to the teachers, whether or not we walk the Path by practicing ourselves, and thereby reap the fruits of practice, is strictly up to each one of us. 

Another way to look at it is to compare practice to a bottle of medicine a doctor leaves for his patient. On the bottle is written detailed instructions on how to take the medicine, but no matter how many hundred times the patient reads the directions, he is bound to die if that is all he does. He will gain no benefit from the medicine. And before he dies he may complain bitterly that the doctor wasn't any good, that the medicine didn't cure him! He will think that the doctor was a fake or that the medicine was worthless, yet he has only spent his time examining the bottle and reading the instructions. He hasn't followed the advice of the doctor and taken the medicine. 

However, if the patient actually follows the doctor's advice and takes the medicine regularly as prescribed, he will recover. And if he is very ill, it will be necessary to take a lot of medicine, whereas if he is only mildly ill, only a little medicine will be needed to finally cure him. The fact that we must use a lot of medicine is a result of the severity of our illness. It's only natural and you can see it for yourself with careful consideration. 

Doctors prescribe medicine to eliminate disease from the body. The Teachings of the Buddha are prescribed to cure disease of the mind, to bring it back to its natural healthy state. So the Buddha can be considered to be a doctor who prescribes cures for the ills of the mind. He is, in fact, the greatest doctor in the world. 

Mental ills are found in each one of us without exception. When you see these mental ills, does it not make sense to look to the Dhamma as support, as medicine to cure your ills? Traveling the path of the Buddha-Dhamma is not done with the body. You must travel with the mind to reach the benefits. We can divide these travelers into three groups: 

First Level: this is comprised of those who understand that they must practice themselves, and know how to do so. They take the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha as their refuge and have resolved to practice diligently according to the Teachings. These persons have discarded merely following customs and traditions, and instead use reason to examine for themselves the nature of the world. These are the group of "Buddhist believers." 

Middle Level: This group is comprised of those who have practiced until they have an unshakable faith in the Teachings of the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha. They also have penetrated to the understanding of the true nature of all compounded formations. These persons gradually reduce clinging and attachment. They do not hold onto things and their minds reach deep understanding of the Dhamma. Depending upon the degree of non-attachment and wisdom they are progressively known as stream-enterers, once-returners and nonreturners, or simply, Noble Ones. 

Highest Level: This is the group of those whose practice has led them to the body, speech and mind of the Buddha. They are above the world, free of the world, and free of all attachment and clinging. They are known as Arahats or Free Ones, the highest level of the Noble Ones. 


How to Purify One's Morality
Morality is restraint and discipline of body and speech. On the formal level this is divided into classes of precepts for lay people and for monks and nuns. However, to speak in general terms, there is one basic characteristic -- that is INTENTION. When we are mindful or self-recollected, we have right intention. Practicing self-recollection and mindfulness will generate good morality. 

It is only natural that when we put on dirty clothes and our bodies are dirty, that out minds too will feel uncomfortable and depressed. However, if we keep our bodies clean and wear clean, neat clothes, it makes our minds light and cheerful. So too, when morality is not kept, our bodily actions and speech are dirty, and this is a cause for making the mind unhappy, distressed and heavy. We are separated from right practice and this prevents us from penetrating in the essence of the Dhamma in our minds. The wholesome bodily actions and speech themselves depend on mind, properly trained, since mind orders body and speech. Therefore, we must continue practice by training our minds. 


Practice of Concentration Training
The training in concentration is practiced to make the mind firm and steady. This brings about peacefulness of mind. Usually our untrained minds are moving and restless, hard to control and manage. Mind follows sense distractions wildly just like water flowing this way and that, seeking the lowest level. Agriculturists and engineers, though, know how to control water so that it is of greater use to mankind. Men are clever, they know how to dam water, make large reservoirs and canals -- all of this merely to channel water and make it more useable. In addition the water stored becomes a source of electrical power and light, further benefits from controlling its flow so that it doesn't run wild and eventually settle into a few low spots, its usefulness wasted. 

So too, the mind which is dammed and controlled, trained constantly, will be of immeasurable benefit. The Buddha Himself taught, "The mind that has been controlled brings true happiness, so train you minds well for the highest of benefits." Similarly, the animals we see around us -- elephants, horses, cattle, buffalo, etc., must be trained before they can be useful for work. Only after they have been trained is their strength of benefit to us. 

In the same way, the mind that has been trained will bring many times the blessings of that of an untrained mind. The Buddha and His Noble Disciples all started out in the same way as us -- with untrained minds; but afterwards look how they became the subjects of reverence for us all, and see how much benefit we can gain through their teaching. Indeed, see what benefit has come to the entire world from these men who have gone through the training of the mind to reach the freedom beyond. The mind controlled and trained is better equipped to help us in all professions, in all situations. The disciplined mind will keep our lives balanced, make work easier and develop and nurture reason to govern our actions. In the end our happiness will increase accordingly as we follow the proper mind training. 

The training of the mind can be done in many way, with many different methods. The method which is most useful and which can be practiced by all types of people is known as "mindfulness of breathing." It is the developing of mindfulness on the in-breath and the out-breath. In this monastery we concentrate our attention on the tip of the nose and develop awareness of the in- and out-breaths with the mantra word "BUD-DHO." If the meditator wishes to use another word, or simply be mindful of the air moving in and out, this is also fine. Adjust the practice to suit yourself. The essential factor in the meditation is that the noting or awareness of the breath be kept up in the present moment so that one is mindful of each in-breath and each out-breath just as it occurs. While doing walking meditation we try to be constantly mindful of the sensation of the feet touching the ground. 

This practice of meditation must be pursued as continuously as possible in order for it to bear fruit. Don't meditate for a short time one day and then in one or two weeks, or even a month, meditate again. This will not bring results. The Buddha taught us to practice often, to practice diligently, that is, to be as continuous as we can in the practice of mental training. To practice meditation we should also find a suitably quiet place free from distractions. In gardens or under shady trees in our back yards, or in places where we can be alone are suitable environments. If we are a monk or nun we should find a suitable hut, a quiet forest or cave. The mountains offer exceptionally suitable places for practice. 

In any case, wherever we are, we must make an effort to be continuously mindful of breathing in and breathing out. If the attention wanders to other things, try to pull it back to the object of concentration. Try to put away all other thoughts and cares. Don't think about anything -- just watch the breath. If we are mindful of thoughts as soon as they arise and keep diligently returning to the meditation subject, the mind will become quieter and quieter. When the mind is peaceful and concentrated, release it from the breath as the object of concentration. Now begin to examine the body and mind comprised of the five khandas: material form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness. Examine these five khandas as they come and go. You will see clearly that they are impermanent, that this impermanence makes them unsatisfactory and undesirable, and that they come and go of their own -- there is no "self" running things. There is to be found only nature moving according to cause and effect. All things in the world fall under the characteristics of instability, unsatisfactoriness and being without a permanent ego or soul. Seeing the whole of existence in this light, attachment and clinging to the khandas will gradually be reduced. This is because we see the true characteristics of the world. We call this the arising of wisdom. 


The Arising of Wisdom
Wisdom is to see the truth of the various manifestations of body and mind. When we use our trained and concentrated minds to examine the five khandas, we will see clearly that both body and mind are impermanent, unsatisfactory and soul-less. In seeing all compounded things with wisdom we do not cling or grasp. Whatever we receive, we receive mindfully. We are not excessively happy. When things of ours break up or disappear, we are not unhappy and do not suffer painful feelings -- for we see clearly the impermanent nature of all things. When we encounter illness and pain of any sort, we have equanimity because our minds have been well trained. The true refuge is the trained mind. 

All of this is known as wisdom which knows the true characteristics of things as they arise. Wisdom arises from mindfulness and concentration. Concentration arises from a base of morality or virtue. All of these things, morality, concentration and wisdom, are so inter-related that it is not really possible to separate them. In practice it can be looked at in this way: first there is the disciplining of the mind to be attentive to breathing. This is the arising of morality. When mindfulness of breathing is practiced continuously until the mind is quiet, this is the arising of concentration. Then examination showing the breath as impermanent, unsatisfactory and not-self, and the subsequent non-attachment, is the arising of wisdom. Thus the practice of mindfulness of breathing can be said to be a course for the development of morality, concentration and wisdom. They all come together. 

When morality, concentration and wisdom are all developed, we call this practicing the Eightfold Path which the Buddha taught as our only way out of suffering. The Eightfold Path is above all others because if properly practiced it leads directly to Nibbana, to peace. We can say that this practice reaches the Buddha-Dhamma truly and precisely. 


Benefits from Practice
When we have practiced meditation as explained above, the fruits of practice will arise in the following three stages: 

First, for those practitioners who are at the level of "Buddhist be faith," there will arise increasing faith in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. This faith will become the real inner support of each person. Also, they will understand the cause-and-effect nature of all things, that wholesome action brings wholesome result and that unwholesome action brings unwholesome result. So for such a person there will be a great increase in happiness and mental peace. 

Second, those who have reached the noble attainments of stream-winner, once-returner or nonreturner, have unshakable faith in the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. They are joyful and are pulled towards Nibbana. 

Third, for those Arahats or Perfected Ones, there will be the happiness free from all suffering. These are the Buddhas, free from the world, complete in the Faring of the Holy Way. 

We all have had the good fortune to be born as human beings and to hear the Teachings of the Buddha. This is an opportunity that millions of other beings do not have. Therefore do not be careless or heedless. Hurry and develop merits, do good and follow the path of practice in the beginning, in the middle and in the highest levels. Don't let time roll by unused and without purpose. Try to reach the truth of the Buddha's Teachings even today. Let me close with a Lao folk-saying: "Many rounds of merriment and pleasure past, soon it will be evening. Drunk with tears now, rest and see, soon it will be too late to finish the journey." 

A Gift of Dhamma 

(A Discourse delivered to the assembly of Western Monks, Novices and Lay-disciples at Bung Wai Forest Monastery, Ubon, on 10th October, 1977. This Discourse was offered to the parents of one of the monks on the occasion of their visit from France.) 

I am happy that you have taken this opportunity to come and visit Wat Pah Pong, and to see your son who is a monk here, however I'm sorry I have no gift to offer you. France already has so many material things, but of Dhamma there's very little. Having been there and seen for myself, there isn't really any Dhamma there which could lead to peace and tranquillity. There are only things which continually make one's mind confused and troubled. 

France is already materially prosperous, it has so many things to offer which are sensually enticing -- sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures. However, people ignorant of Dhamma only become confused by them. So today I will offer you some Dhamma to take back to France as a gift from Wat Pah Pong and Wat Pah Nanachat. 

What is Dhamma? Dhamma is that which can cut through the problems and difficulties of mankind, gradually reducing them to nothing. That's what is called Dhamma and that's what should be studied throughout our daily lives so that when some mental impression arises in us, we'll be able to deal with it and go beyond it. 

Problems are common to us all whether living here in Thailand or in other countries. If we don't know how to solve them, we'll always be subject to suffering and distress. That which solves problems is wisdom and to have wisdom we must develop and train the mind. 

The subject of practice isn't far away at all, it's right here in our body and mind. Westerners and Thais are the same, they both have a body and mind. A confused body and mind means a confused person and a peaceful body and mind, a peaceful person. 

Actually, the mind, like rain water, is pure in its natural state. If we were to drop green coloring into clear rain water, however, it would turn green. If yellow coloring it would turn yellow. 

The mind reacts similarly. When a comfortable mental impression "drops" into the mind, the mind is comfortable. When the mental impression is uncomfortable, the mind is uncomfortable. The mind becomes "cloudy" just like the colored water. 

When clear water contacts yellow, it turns yellow. When it contacts green, it turns green. It will change color every time. Actually, that water which is green or yellow is naturally clean and clear. This is also the natural state of the mind, clean and pure and unconfused. It becomes confused only because it pursues mental impressions; it gets lost in its moods! 

Let me explain more clearly. Right now we are sitting in a peaceful forest. Here, if there's no wind, a leaf remains still. When a wind blows it flaps and flutters. The mind is similar to that leaf. When it contacts a mental impression, it, too, "flaps and flutters" according to the nature of that mental impression. And the less we know of Dhamma, the more the mind will continually pursue mental impressions. Feeling happy, it succumbs to happiness. Feeling suffering, it succumbs to suffering. It's constant confusion! 

In the end people become neurotic. Why? Because they don't know! They just follow their moods and don't know how to look after their own minds. When the mind has no one to look after it, it's like a child without a mother or father to take care of him. An orphan has no refuge and, without a refuge, he's very insecure. 

Likewise, if the mind is not looked after, if there is no training or maturation of character with right understanding, it's really troublesome. 

The method of training the mind which I will give you today is Kammatthana. "Kamma" means "action" and "thana" means "base." In Buddhism it is the method of making the mind peaceful and tranquil. It's for you to use in training the mind and with the trained mind investigate the body. 

Our being is composed of two parts: one is the body, the other, the mind. There are only these two parts. What is called "the body," is that which can be seen with our physical eyes. "The mind," on the other hand, has no physical aspect. The mind can only be seen with the "internal eye" or the "eye of the mind." These two things, body and mind, are in a constant state of turmoil. 

What is the mind? The mind isn't really any "thing." Conventionally speaking, it's that which feels or senses. That which senses, receives and experiences all mental impressions is called "mind." Right at this moment there is mind. As I am speaking to you, the mind acknowledges what I am saying. Sounds enter through the ear and you know what is being said. That which experiences this is called "mind." 

This mind doesn't have any self or substance. It doesn't have any form. It just experiences mental activities, that's all! If we teach this mind to have right view, this mind won't have any problems. It will be at ease. 

The mind is mind. Mental objects are mental objects. Mental objects are not the mind, the mind is not mental objects. In order to clearly understand our minds and the mental objects in our minds, we say that the mind is that which receives the mental objects which pop into it. 

When these two things, mind and its object, come into contact with each other, they give rise to feelings. Some are good, some bad, some cold, some hot, all kinds! Without wisdom to deal with these feelings, however, the mind will be troubled. 

Meditation is the way of developing the mind so that it may be a base for the arising of wisdom. Here the breath is a physical foundation. We call it Anapanasati or "mindfulness of breathing." Here we make breathing our mental object. We take this object of meditation because it's the simplest and because it has been the heart of meditation since ancient times. 

When a good occasion arises to do sitting meditation, sit cross-legged: right leg on top of the left leg, right hand on top of the left hand. Keep your back straight and erect. Say to yourself, "Now I will let go of all my burdens and concerns." You don't want anything that will cause you worry. Let go of all concerns for the time being. 

Now fix your attention on the breath. Then breathe in and breathe out. In developing awareness of breathing, don't intentionally make the breath long or short. Neither make it strong or weak. Just let it flow normally and naturally. Mindfulness and self-awareness, arising from the mind, will know the in-breath and the out-breath. 

Be at ease. Don't think about anything. No need to think of this or that. The only thing you have to do is fix your attention on the breathing in and breathing out. You have nothing else to do but that! Keep your mindfulness fixed on the in-and out-breaths as they occur. Be aware of the beginning, middle and end of each breath. On inhalation, the beginning of the breath is at the nose tip, the middle at the heart, and the end in the abdomen. On exhalation, it's just the reverse: the beginning of the breath is in the abdomen, the middle at the heart, and the end at the nose tip. Develop the awareness of the breath: 1, at the nose tip; 2, at the heart; 3, in the abdomen. Then in reverse: 1, in the abdomen; 2, at the heart; and 3, at the nose tip. 

Focusing the attention on these three points will relieve all worries. Just don't think of anything else! Keep your attention on the breath. Perhaps other thoughts will enter the mind. It will take up other themes and distract you. Don't be concerned. Just take up the breathing again as your object of attention. The mind may get caught up in judging and investigating your moods, but continue to practice, being constantly aware of the beginning, middle and the end of each breath. 

Eventually, the mind will be aware of the breath at these three points all the time. When you do this practice for some time, the mind and body will get accustomed to the work. Fatigue will disappear. The body will feel lighter and the breath will become more and more refined. Mindfulness and self-awareness will protect the mind and watch over it. 

We practice like this until the mind is peaceful and calm, until it is one. One means that the mind will be completely absorbed in the breathing, that it doesn't separate from the breath. The mind will be unconfused and at ease. It will know the beginning, middle and end of the breath and remain steadily fixed on it. 

Then when the mind is peaceful, we fix our attention on the in-breath and out-breath at the nose tip only. We don't have to follow it up and down to the abdomen and back. Just concentrate on the tip of the nose where the breath comes in and goes out. 

This is called "calming the mind," making it relaxed and peaceful. When tranquillity arises, the mind stops; it stops with its single object, the breath. This is what's known as making the mind peaceful so that wisdom may arise. 

This is the beginning, the foundation of our practice. You should try to practice this every single day, wherever you may be. Whether at home, in a car, lying or sitting down, you should be mindfully aware and watch over the mind constantly. 

This is called mental training which should be practiced in all the four postures. Not just sitting, but standing, walking and lying as well. The point is that we should know what the state of the mind is at each moment, and, to be able to do this, we must be constantly mindful and aware. Is the mind happy or suffering? Is it confused? Is it peaceful? Getting to know the mind in this manner allows it to become tranquil, and when it does become tranquil, wisdom will arise. 

With the tranquil mind investigate the meditation subject which is the body, from the top of the head to the soles of the feet, then back to the head. Do this over and over again. Look at and see the hair of the head, hair of the body, the nails, teeth and skin. In this meditation we will see that this whole body is composed of four "elements': earth, water, fire and wind. 

The hard and solid parts of our body make up the earth element; the liquid and flowing parts, the water element. Winds that pass up and down our body make up the wind element, and the heat in our body, the fire element. 

Taken together, they compose what we call a "human being." However, when the body is broken down into its component parts, only these four elements remain. The Buddha taught that there is no "being" per se, no human, no Thai, no Westerner, no person, but that ultimately, there are only these four elements -- that's all! We assume that there is a person or a "being" but, in reality, there isn't anything of the sort. 

Whether taken separately as earth, water, fire and wind, or taken together labelling what they form a "human being," they're all impermanent, subject to suffering and not-self. They are all unstable, uncertain and in a state of constant change -- not stable for a single moment! 

Our body is unstable, altering and changing constantly. Hair changes, nails change, teeth change, skin changes -- everything changes, completely! 

Our mind, too, is always changing. It isn't a self or substance. It isn't really "us," not really "them," although it may think so. Maybe it will think about killing itself. Maybe it will think of happiness or of suffering -- all sorts of things! It's unstable. If we don't have wisdom and we believe this mind of ours, it'll lie to us continually. And we alternately suffer and be happy. 

This mind is an uncertain thing. This body is uncertain. Together they are impermanent. Together they are a source of suffering. Together they are devoid of self. These, the Buddha pointed out, are neither a being, nor a person, nor a self, nor a soul, nor us, nor they. They are merely elements: earth, water, fire and wind. Elements only! 

When the mind sees this, it will rid itself of attachment which holds that "I" am beautiful, "I" am good, "I" am evil, "I" am suffering, "I" have, "I" this or "I" that. You will experience a state of unity, for you'll have seen that all of mankind is basically the same. There is no "I." There are only elements. 

When you contemplate and see impermanence, suffering and not-self, there will no longer be clinging to a self, a being, I or he or she. The mind which sees this will give rise to Nibbida, world-weariness and dispassion. It will see all things as only impermanent, suffering and not-self. 

The mind then stops. The mind is Dhamma. Greed, hatred and delusion will then diminish and recede little by little until finally there is only mind -- just the pure mind. This is called "practicing meditation." 

Thus, I ask you to receive this gift of Dhamma which I offer you to study and contemplate in your daily lives. Please accept this Dhamma Teaching from Wat Pah Pong and Wat Pah Nanachat as an inheritance handed down to you. All of the monks here, including your son, and all the Teachers, make you an offering of this Dhamma to take back to France with you. It will show you the way to peace of mind, it will render your mind calm and unconfused. Your body may be in turmoil, but your mind will not. Those in the world may be confused, but you will not. Even though there is confusion in your country, you will not be confused because the mind will have seen, the mind is Dhamma. This is the right path, the proper way. 

May you remember this Teaching in the future. 

May you be well and happy. 

Dhamma Nature 

(Delivered to the Western disciples at Bung Wai Forest Monastery during the Rains Retreat 1977) 

Sometimes, when a fruit tree is in bloom, a breeze stirs and scatters blossoms to the ground. Some buds remain and grow into a small green fruit. A wind blows and some of them, too, fall! Still others may become fruit or nearly ripe, or some even fully ripe, before they fall. 

And so it is with people. Like flowers and fruit in the wind they, too, fall in different stages of life. Some people die while still in the womb, others within only a few days after birth. Some people live for a few years then die, never having reached maturity. Men and women die in their youth. Still others reach a ripe old age before they die. 

When reflecting upon people, consider the nature of fruit in the wind: both are very uncertain. 

This uncertain nature of things can also be seen in the monastic life. Some people come to the monastery intending to ordain but change their minds and leave, some with heads already shaved. Others are already novices, then they decide to leave. Some ordain for only one Rains Retreat then disrobe. Just like fruit in the wind -- all very uncertain! 

Our minds are also similar. A mental impression arises, draws and pulls at the mind, then the mind falls -- just like fruit. 

The Buddha understood this uncertain nature of things. He observed the phenomenon of fruit in the wind and reflected upon the monks and novices who were his disciples. He found that they, too, were essentially of the same nature -- uncertain! How could it be otherwise? This is just the way of all things. 

Thus, for one who is practicing with awareness, it isn't necessary to have someone to advise and teach all that much to be able to see and understand. An example is the case of the Buddha who, in a previous life, was King Chanokomun. He didn't need to study very much. All he had to do was observe a mango tree. 

One day, while visiting a park with his retinue of ministers, from atop his elephant, he spied some mango tees heavily laden with ripe fruit. Not being able to stop at that time, he determined in his mind to return later to partake of some. Little did he know, however, that his ministers, coming along behind, would greedily gather them all up; that they would use poles to knock them down, beating and breaking the branches and tearing and scattering the leaves. 

Returning in the evening to the mango grove, the king, already imagining in his mind the delicious taste of the mangoes, suddenly discovered that they were all gone, completely finished! And not only that, but the branches and leaves had been thoroughly thrashed and scattered. 

The king, quite disappointed and upset, then noticed another mango tree nearby with its leaves and branches still intact. He wondered why. He then realized it was because that tree had no fruit. If a tree has no fruit nobody disturbs it and so its leaves and branches are not damaged. This lesson kept him absorbed in thought all the way back to the palace: "It is unpleasant, troublesome and difficult to be a king. It requires constant concern for all his subjects. What if there are attempts to attack, plunder and seize parts of his kingdom?" He could not rest peacefully; even in his sleep he was disturbed by dreams. 

He saw in his mind, once again, the mango tree without fruit and its undamaged leaves and branches. "If we become similar to that mango tree," he thought, "our "leaves" and "branches," too, would not be damaged." 

In his chamber he sat and meditated. Finally, he decided to ordain as a monk, having been inspired by this lesson of the mango tree. He compared himself to that mango tree and concluded that if one didn't become involved in the ways of the world, one would be truly independent, free from worries or difficulties. The mind would be untroubled. Reflecting thus, he ordained. 

From then on, wherever he went, when asked who his teacher was, he would answer, "A mango tree." He didn't need to receive teaching all that much. A mango tree was the cause of his Awakening to the Opanayiko-Dhamma, the teaching leading inwards. And with this Awakening, he became a monk, one who has few concerns, is content with little, and who delights in solitude. His royal status given up, his mind was finally at peace. 

In this story the Buddha was a Bodhisatta who developed his practice in this way continuously. Like the Buddha as King Chanokomun, we, too, should look around us and be observant because everything in the world is ready to teach us. 

With even a little intuitive wisdom, we will then be able to see clearly through the ways of the world. We will come to understand that everything in the world is a teacher. Trees and vines, for example, can all reveal the true nature of reality. With wisdom there is no need to question anyone, no need to study. We can learn from Nature enough to be enlightened, as in the story of King Chanokomun, because everything follows the way of Truth. It does not diverge from Truth. 

Associated with wisdom are self-composure and restraint which, in turn, can lead to further insight into the ways of Nature. In this way, we will come to know the ultimate truth of everything being "Anicca-Dukkha-Anatta."[1] Take trees, for example; all trees upon the earth are equal, are One, when seen through the reality of "Anicca-Dukkha-Anatta." First, they come into being, then grow and mature, constantly changing, until they die finally die as every tree must. 

In the same way, people and animals are born, grow and change during their life-times until they eventually die. The multitudinous changes which occur during this transition from birth to death show the Way of Dhamma. That is to say, all things are impermanent, having decay and dissolution as their natural condition. 

If we have awareness and understanding, if we study with wisdom and mindfulness, we will see Dhamma as reality. Thus, we sill see people as constantly being born, changing and finally passing away. Everyone is subject to the cycle of birth and death, and because of this, everyone in the universe is as One being. Thus, seeing one person clearly and distinctly is the same as seeing every person in the world. 

In the same way, everything is Dhamma. Not only the things we see with our physical eye, but also the things we see in our minds. A thought arises, then changes and passes away. It is "Nama Dhamma," simply a mental impression that arises and passes away. This is the real nature of the mind. Altogether, this is the Noble Truth of Dhamma. If one doesn't look and observe in this way, one doesn't really see! If one does see, one will have the wisdom to listen to the Dhamma as proclaimed by the Buddha. 
Where is the Buddha?
The Buddha is in the Dhamma.
Where is the Dhamma?
The Dhamma is in the Buddha.
Right here, now!
Where is the Sangha?
The Sangha is in the Dhamma. 
The Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha exist in our minds, but we have to see it clearly. Some people just pick this up casually saying, "Oh! The Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha exist in my mind." Yet their own practice is not suitable or appropriate. It is thus not befitting that the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha should be found in their minds, namely, because the "mind" must first be that mind which knows the Dhamma. 

Bringing everything back to this point of Dhamma, we will come to know that, in the world, Truth does exist, and thus it is possible for us to practice to realize it. 

For instance, "Nama Dhamma," feelings, thoughts, imagination, etc., are all uncertain. When anger arises, it grows and changes and finally disappears. Happiness, too, arises, grows and changes and finally disappears. They are empty. They are not any "thing." This is always the way of all things, both mentally and materially. Internally, there are this body and mind. Externally, there are trees, vines and all manner of things which display this universal law of uncertainty. 

Whether a tree, a mountain or an animal, it's all Dhamma, everything is Dhamma. Where is this Dhamma? Speaking simply, that which is not Dhamma doesn't exist. Dhamma is Nature. This is called the "Sacca-Dhamma," the True Dhamma. If one sees Nature, one sees Dhamma; if one sees Dhamma, one sees Nature. Seeing Nature, one know the Dhamma. 

And so, what is the use of a lot of study when the ultimate reality of life, in its every moment, in its every act, is just an endless cycle of births and deaths? If we are mindful and clearly aware when in all postures (sitting, standing, walking, lying), then self-knowledge is ready to be born; that is, knowing the truth of Dhamma already in existence right here and now. 

At present, the Buddha, the real Buddha, is still living, for He is the Dhamma itself, the "Sacca-Dhamma." And "Sacca-Dhamma," that which enables one to become Buddha, still exists. It hasn't fled anywhere! It gives rise to two Buddhas: one in body and the other in mind. 

"The real Dhamma," the Buddha told Ananda, "can only be realized through practice!" Whoever sees the Buddha, sees the Dhamma. And how is this? Previously, no Buddha existed; it was only when Siddhartha Gotama [2] realized the Dhamma that he became the Buddha. If we explain it in this way, then He is the same as us. If we realize the Dhamma, then we will likewise be the Buddha. This is called the Buddha in mind or "Nama-Dhamma." 

We must be mindful of everything we do, for we become the inheritors of our own good or evil actions. In doing good, we reap good. In doing evil, we reap evil. All you have to do is look into your everyday lives to know that this is so. Siddhartha Gotama was enlightened to the realization of this Truth, and this gave rise to the appearance of a Buddha in the world. Likewise, if each and every person practices to attain to this Truth, then they, too, will change to be Buddha. 

Thus, the Buddha still exists. Some people are very happy saying, "If the Buddha still exists, then I can practice Dhamma!" That is how you should see it. 

The Dhamma that the Buddha realized is the Dhamma which exists permanently in the world. It can be compared to ground water which permanently exists in the ground. When a person wishes to dig a well, he must dig down deep enough to reach the ground water. The ground water is already there. He does not create the water, he just discovers it. Similarly, the Buddha did not invent the Dhamma, did not decree the Dhamma. He merely revealed what was already there. Through contemplation, the Buddha saw the Dhamma. Therefore, it is said that the Buddha was Enlightened, for Enlightenment is knowing the Dhamma. The Dhamma is the Truth of this world. Seeing this, Siddhartha Gotama is called "The Buddha." And the Dhamma is that which allows other people to become a Buddha, "One-who-knows," one who knows Dhamma. 

If beings have good conduct and are loyal to the Buddha-Dhamma, then those beings will never be short of virtue and goodness. With understanding, we will see that we are really not far from the Buddha, but sitting face to face with Him. When we understand the Dhamma, then at that moment we will see the Buddha. 

If one really practices, one will hear the Buddha-Dhamma whether sitting at the root of a tree, lying down or in whatever posture. This is not something to merely think about. It arises from the pure mind. Just remembering these words is not enough, because this depends upon seeing the Dhamma itself, nothing other than this. Thus we must be determined to practice to be able to see this, and then our practice will really be complete. Wherever we sit, stand, walk or lie, we will hear the Buddha's Dhamma. 

In order to practice His Teaching, the Buddha taught us to live in a quiet place so that we can learn to collect and restrain the senses of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind. This is the foundation for our practice since these are the places where all things arise, and only in these places. Thus we collect and restrain these six senses in order to know the conditions that arise there. All good and evil arise through these six senses. They are the predominant faculties in the body. The eye is predominant in seeing, the ear in hearing, the nose in smelling, the tongue in tasting, the body in contacting hot, cold, hard and soft, and the mind in the arising of mental impressions. All that remains for us to do is to build our practice around these points. 

The practice is easy because all that is necessary has already been set down by the Buddha. This is comparable to the Buddha planting an orchard and inviting us to partake of its fruit. We, ourselves, do not need to plant one. 

Whether concerning morality, meditation or wisdom, there is no need to create, decree or speculate, because all that we need to do is follow the things which already exist in the Buddha's Teaching. 

Therefore, we are beings who have much merit and good fortune in having heard the Teachings of the Buddha. The orchard already exists, the fruit is already ripe. Everything is already complete and perfect. All that is lacking is someone to partake of the fruit, someone with faith enough to practice! 

We should consider that our merit and good fortune are very valuable. All we need to do is look around to see how much other creatures are possessed of ill-fortune; take dogs, pigs, snakes and other creatures for instance. They have no chance to study Dhamma, no chance to know Dhamma, no chance to practice Dhamma. These are beings possessed of ill-fortune who are receiving karmic retribution. When one has no chance to study, to know, to practice Dhamma, then one has no chance to be free from Suffering. 

As human beings we should not allow ourselves to become victims of ill-fortune, deprived of proper manners and discipline. Do not become a victim of ill-fortune! That is to say, one without hope of attaining the Path of Freedom to Nibbana, without hope of developing virtue. Do not think that we are already without hope! By thinking in that way, we would then become possessed of ill-fortune the same as other creatures. 

We are beings who have come within the sphere of influence of the Buddha. Thus we human beings are already of sufficient merit and resources. If we correct and develop our understanding, opinions and knowledge in the present, then it will lead us to behave and practice in such a way as to see and know Dhamma in this present life as human beings. 

We are thus different from other creatures, beings that should be enlightened to the Dhamma. The Buddha taught that at this present moment, the Dhamma exists here in front of us. The Buddha sits facing us right here and now! At what other time or place are you going to look? 

If we don't think rightly, if we don't practice rightly, we will fall back to being animals or creatures in Hell or hungry ghosts or demons.[3] How is this? Just look in your mind. When anger arises, what is it? There it is, just look! When delusion arises, what is it? That's it, right there! When greed arises, what is it? Look at it right there! 

By not recognizing and clearly understanding these mental states, the mind changes from being that of a human being. All conditions are in the state of becoming. Becoming gives rise to birth or existence as determined by the present conditions. Thus we become and exist as our minds condition us. 

The Two Faces of Reality 

(A Discourse delivered to the Assembly of Monks after the recitation of the Patimokkha, the Monk's Disciplinary Code, at Wat Pah Pong during the Rains Retreat 1976) 

In our lives we have two possibilities: indulging in the world or going beyond the world. The Buddha was someone who was able to free Himself from the world and thus realized spiritual Liberation. 

In the same way, there are two types of knowledge -- knowledge of the worldly realm and knowledge of the spiritual, or true wisdom. If we have not yet practiced and trained ourselves, no matter how much knowledge we have, it is still worldly, and thus cannot liberate us. 

Think and really look closely! The Buddha said that things of the world spin the world around. Following the world, the mind is entangled in the world, it defiles itself whether coming or going, never remaining content. Worldly people are those who are always looking for something -- who can never find enough. Worldly knowledge is really ignorance; it isn't knowledge with clear understanding, therefore there is never an end to it. It revolves around the worldly goals of accumulating things, gaining status, seeking praise and pleasure; it's a mass of delusion which has us stuck fast. 

Once we get something, there is jealousy, worry and selfishness. And when we feel threatened and can't ward it off physically, we use our minds to invent all sorts of devices, right up to weapons and even nuclear bombs, only to blow each other up. Why all this trouble and difficulty? 

This is the way of the world. The Buddha said that if one follows it around there is no reaching an end. 

Come to practice for liberation! It isn't easy to live in accordance with true wisdom, but whoever earnestly seeks the Path and Fruit and aspires to Nibbana will be able to persevere and endure. Endure being contented and satisfied with little; eating little, sleeping little, speaking little and living in moderation. By doing this we can put an end to worldliness. 

If the seed of worldliness has not yet been uprooted, then we are continually troubled and confused in a never-ending cycle. Even when you come to ordain, it continues to pull you away. It creates your views, your opinions, it colors and embellishes all your thoughts -- that's the way it is. 

People don't realize! They say that they will get things done in the world. It's always their hope to complete everything. Just like a new government minister who is eager to get started with his new administration. He thinks that he has all the answers, so he carts away everything of the old administration saying, "Look out! I'll do it all myself." That's all they do, cart things in and cart things out, never getting anything done. They try, but never reach any real completion. 

You can never do something which will please everyone -- one person likes a little, another likes a lot; one like short and one likes long; some like salty and some like spicy. To get everyone together and in agreement just cannot be done. 

All of us want to accomplish something in our lives, but the world, with all of its complexities, makes it almost impossible to bring about any real completion. Even the Buddha, born with all the opportunities of a noble prince, found no completion in the worldly life. 


The Trap of the Senses

The Buddha talked about desire and the six things by which desire is gratified: sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch and mind-objects. Desire and lust for happiness, for suffering, for good, for evil and so on, pervade everything! 

Sights... there isn't any sight that's quite the same as that of a woman. Isn't that so? Doesn't a really attractive woman make you want to look? One with a really attractive figure comes walking along, "sak, sek, sak, sek, sak, sek," -- you can't help but stare! How about sounds? There's no sound that grips you more than that of a woman. It pierces your heart! Smell is the same; a woman's fragrance is the most alluring of all. There's no other smell that's quite the same. Taste -- even the taste of the most delicious food cannot compare with that of a woman. Touch is similar; when you caress a woman you are stunned, intoxicated and sent pinning all around. 

There was once a famous master of magical spells from Taxila in ancient India. He taught his disciple all his knowledge of charms and incantations. When the disciple was well-versed and ready to fare on his own, he left with this final instruction from his teacher, "I have taught you all that I know of spells, incantations and protective verses. Creatures with sharp teeth, antlers or horns, and even big tusks, you have no need to fear. You will be guarded from all of these, I can guarantee that. However, there is only one thing that I cannot ensure protection against, and that is the charms of a woman.[4] I can not help you here. There's no spell for protection against this one, you'll have to look after yourself." 

Mental objects arise in the mind. They are born out of desire: desire for valuable possessions, desire to be rich, and just restless seeking after things in general. This type of greed isn't all that deep or strong, it isn't enough to make you faint or lose control. However, when sexual desire arises, you're thrown off balance and lose your control. You would even forget those raised and brought you up -- your own parents! 

The Buddha taught that the objects of our senses are a trap -- a trap of Mara's.[5] Mara should be understood as something which harms us. The trap is something which binds us, the same as a snare. It's a trap of Mara's, a hunter's snare, and the hunter is Mara. 

If animals are caught in the hunter's trap, it's a sorrowful predicament. They are caught fast and held waiting for the owner of the trap. Have you ever snared birds? The snare springs and "boop" -- caught by the neck! A good strong string now holds it fast. Wherever the bird flies, it cannot escape. It flies here and flies there, but it's held tight waiting for the owner of the snare. When the hunter comes along, that's it -- the bird is struck with fear, there's no escape! 

The trap of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch and mind-objects is the same. They catch us and bind us fast. If you attach to the senses, you're the same as a fish caught on a hook. When the fisherman comes, struggle all you want, but you can't get loose. Actually, you're not caught like a fish, it's more like a frog -- a frog gulps down the whole hook right to its guts, a fish just gets caught in its mouth. 

Anyone attached to the senses is the same. Like a drunk whose liver is not yet destroyed -- he doesn't know when he has had enough. He continues to indulge and drink carelessly. He's caught and later suffers illness and pain. 

A man comes walking along a road. He is very thirsty from his journey and is craving for a drink of water. The owner of the water says, "you can drink this water if you like; the color is good, the smell is good, the taste is good, but if you drink it you will become ill. I must tell you this beforehand, it'll make you sick enough to die or nearly die." The thirsty man does not listen. He's as thirsty as a person after an operation who has been denied water for seven days -- he's crying for water! 

It's the same with a person thirsting after the senses. The Buddha taught that they are poisonous -- sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch and mind-objects are poison; they are a dangerous trap. But this man is thirsty and doesn't listen; because of his thirst he is in tears, crying, "Give me water, no matter how painful the consequences, let me drink!" So he dips out a bit and swallows it down finding it very tasty. He drinks his fill and gets so sick that he almost dies. He didn't listen because of his overpowering desire. 

This is how it is for a person caught in the pleasures of the senses. He drinks in sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch and mind-objects -- they are all very delicious! So he drinks without stopping and there he remains, stuck fast until the day he dies. 


The Worldly Way and Liberation
Some people die, some people almost die -- that's how it is to be stuck in the way of the world. Worldly wisdom seeks after the senses and their objects. However wise it is, it's only wise in a worldly sense. No matter how appealing it is, it's only appealing in a worldly sense. However much happiness it is, it's only happiness in a worldly sense. It isn't the happiness of liberation; it won't free you from the world. 

We have come to practice as monks in order to penetrate true wisdom, to rid ourselves of attachment. Practice to be free of attachment! Investigate the body, investigate everything around you until you become weary and fed up with it all and then dispassion will set in. Dispassion will not arise easily however, because you still don't see clearly. 

We come and ordain -- we study, we read, we practice, we meditate. We determine to make our minds resolute but it's hard to do. We resolve to do a certain practice, we say that we'll practice in this way -- only a day or two goes by, maybe just a few hours pass and we forget all about it. Then we remember and try to make our minds firm again, thinking, "This time I'll do it right!" Shortly after that we are pulled away by one of our senses and it all falls apart again, so we have to start all over again! This is how it is. 

Like a poorly built dam, our practice is weak. We are still unable to see and follow true practice. And it goes on like this until we arrive at true wisdom. Once we penetrate to the Truth, we are freed from everything. Only peace remains. 

Our minds aren't peaceful because of our old habits. We inherit these because of our past actions and thus they follow us around and constantly plague us. We struggle and search for a way out, but we're bound by them and they pull us back. These habits don't forget their old grounds. They grab onto all the old familiar things to use, to admire and to consume -- that's how we live. 

The sexes of man and woman -- woman cause problems for men, men cause problems for women. That's the way it is, they are opposites. If men live together with men, then there's no trouble. If women live together with women, then there's no trouble. When a man sees a woman his heart pounds like a rice pounder, "deung, dung, deung, dung, deung, dung." What is this? What are those forces? It pulls and sucks you in -- no one realizes that there's a price to pay! 

It's the same in everything. No matter how hard you try to free yourself, until you see the value of freedom and the pain in bondage, you won't be able to let go. People usually just practice enduring hardships, keeping the discipline, following the form blindly and not in order to attain freedom or liberation. You must see the value in letting go of your desires before you can really practice; only then is true practice possible. 

Everything that you do must be done with clarity and awareness. When you see clearly, there will no longer be any need for enduring or forcing yourself. You have difficulties and are burdened because you miss this point! Peace comes from doing things completely with your whole body and mind. Whatever is left undone leaves you with a feeling of discontent. These things bind you with worry wherever you go. You want to complete everything, but it's impossible to get it all done. 

Take the case of the merchants who regularly come here to see me. They say, "Oh, when my debts are all paid and property in order, I'll come to ordain." They talk like that but will they ever finish and get it all in order? There's no end to it. They pay up their debts with another loan, they pay off that one and do it all again. A merchant thinks that if he frees himself from debt he will be happy, but there's no end to paying things off. That's the way worldliness fools us -- we go around and around like this never realizing our predicament. 


Constant Practice
In our practice we just look directly at the mind. Whenever our practice begins to slacken off, we see it and make it firm -- then shortly after, it goes again. That's the way it pulls you around. But the person with good mindfulness takes a firm hold and constantly re-establishes himself, pulling himself back, training, practicing and developing himself in this way. 

The person with poor mindfulness just lets it all fall apart, he strays off and gets side-tracked again and again. He's not strong and firmly rooted in practice. Thus he's continuously pulled away by his worldly desires -- something pulls him here, something pulls him there. He lives following his whims and desires, never putting an end to this worldly cycle. 

Coming to ordain is not so easy. You must determine to make your mind firm. You should be confident in the practice, confident enough to continue practicing until you become fed up with both your like and dislikes and see in accordance with Truth. Usually, you are dissatisfied with only your dislike, if you like something then you aren't ready to give it up. You have to become fed up with both your dislike and your likes, your suffering and your happiness. 

You don't see that this is the very essence of the Dhamma! The Dhamma of the Buddha is profound and refined. It isn't easy to comprehend. If true wisdom has not yet arisen, then you can't see it. You don't look forward and you don't look back. When you experience happiness, you think that there will only be happiness. Whenever there is suffering, you think that there will only be suffering. You don't see that wherever there is big, there is small; wherever there is small, there is big. You don't see it that way. You see only one side and thus it's never-ending. 

There are two sides to everything; you must see both sides. Then, when happiness arises, you don't get lost; when suffering arises, you don't get lost. When happiness arises, you don't forget the suffering, because you see that they are interdependent. 

In a similar way, food is beneficial to all beings for the maintenance of the body. But actually, food can also be harmful, for example when it causes various stomach upsets. When you see the advantages of something, you must perceive the disadvantages also, and vice versa. When you feel hatred and aversion, you should contemplate love and understanding. In this way, you become more balanced and your mind becomes more settled. 


The Empty Flag
I once read a book about Zen. In Zen, you know, they don't teach with a lot of explanation. For instance, if a monk is falling asleep during meditation, they come with a stick and "whack!" they give him a hit on the back. When the erring disciple is hit, he shows his gratitude by thanking the attendant. In Zen practice one is taught to be thankful for all the feelings which give one the opportunity to develop. 

One day there was an assembly of monks gathered for a meeting. Outside the hall a flag was blowing in the wind. There arose a dispute between two monks as to how the flag was actually blowing in the wind. One of the monks claimed that it was because of the wind while the other argued that it was because of the flag. Thus they quarreled because of their narrow views and couldn't come to any kind of agreement. They would have argued like this until the day they died. However, their Teacher intervened and said, "Neither of you is right. The correct understanding is that there is no flag and there is no wind." 

This is the practice, not to have anything, not to have the flag and not to have the wind. If there is a flag, then there is a wind; if there is a wind, then there is a flag. You should contemplate and reflect on this thoroughly until you see in accordance with Truth. If considered well, then there will remain nothing. It's empty -- void; empty of the flag and empty of the wind. In the great Void there is no flag and there is no wind. There is no birth, no old age, no sickness or death. Our conventional understanding of flag and wind is only a concept. In reality there is nothing. That's all! There is nothing more than empty labels. 

If we practice in this way, we will come to see completeness and all of our problems will come to an end. In the great Void the King of Death will never find you. There is nothing for old age, sickness and death to follow. When we see and understand in accordance with Truth, that is, with Right Understanding, then there is only this great emptiness. It's here that there is no more "we," no "they," no "self" at all. 


The Forest of the Senses
The world with its never-ending ways goes on and on. If we try to understand it all, it leads us only to chaos and confusion. However, if we contemplate the world clearly, then true wisdom will arise. The Buddha Himself was one who was well-versed in the ways of the world. He had great ability to influence and lead because of His abundance of worldly knowledge. Through the transformation of his worldly mundane wisdom, He penetrated and attained to supermundane wisdom, making Him a truly superior being. 

So, if we work with this Teaching, turning it inwards for contemplation, we will attain to an understanding on an entirely new level. When we see an object, there is no object. When we hear a sound, the is no sound. In smelling, we can say that there is no smell. All of the senses are manifest, but they are void of anything stable. They are just sensations that arise and then pass away. 

If we understand according to this reality, then the senses cease to be substantial. They are just sensations which come and go. In Truth there isn't any "thing." If there isn't any "thing," then there is no "we" and no "they." If there is no "we" as a person, then there is nothing belonging to "us." It's in this way that suffering is extinguished. There isn't anybody to acquire suffering, so who is it who suffers? 

When suffering arises, we attach to the suffering and thereby must really suffer. In the same way, when happiness arises, we attach to the happiness and consequently experience pleasure. Attachment to these feelings gives rise to the concept of "self" or "ego" and thoughts of "we" and "they" continually manifest. Nah!! Here is where it all begins and then carries us around in its never-ending cycle. 

So, we come to practice meditation and live according to the Dhamma. We leave our homes to come and live in the forest and absorb the peace of mind it gives us. We have fled in order to contend with ourselves and not through fear or escapism. But people who come and live in the forest become attached to living in it; just as people who live in the city become attached to the city. They lose their way in the forest and they lose their way in the city. 

The Buddha praised living in the forest because the physical and mental solitude that it gives us is conducive to the practice for liberation. However, He didn't want us to become dependent upon living in the forest or get stuck in its peace and tranquillity. We come to practice in order for wisdom to arise. Here in the forest we can sow and cultivate the seeds of wisdom. Living amongst chaos and turmoil these seeds have difficulty in growing, but once we have learned to live in the forest, we can return and contend with the city and all the stimulation of the senses that it brings us. Learning to live in the forest means to allow wisdom to grow and develop. We can then apply this wisdom no matter where we go. 

When our senses are stimulated, we become agitated and the senses become our antagonists. They antagonize us because we are still foolish and don't have the wisdom to deal with them. In reality they are our teachers, but, because of our ignorance, we don't see it that way. When we lived in the city we never thought that our senses could teach us anything. As long as true wisdom has not yet manifested, we continue to see the senses and their objects as enemies. Once true wisdom arises, they are no longer our enemies but become the doorway to insight and clear understanding. 

A good example is the wild chickens here in the forest. We all know how much they are afraid of humans. However, since I have lived here in the forest I have been able to teach them and learn from them as well. At one time I began throwing out rice for them to eat. At first they were very frightened and wouldn't go near the rice. However, after a long time they got used to it and even began to expect it. You see, there is something to be learned here -- they originally thought that there was danger in the rice, that the rice was an enemy. In truth there was no danger in the rice, but they didn't know that the rice was food and so were afraid. When they finally saw for themselves that there was nothing to fear, they could come and eat without any danger. 

The chickens learn naturally in this way. Living here in the forest we learn in a similar way. Formerly we thought that our senses were a problem, and because of our ignorance in the proper use of them, they caused us a lot trouble. However, by experience in practice we learn to see them in accordance with Truth. We learn to make use of them just as the chickens could use the rice. Then they are no longer opposed to us and problems disappear. 

As long as we think, investigate and understand wrongly, these things will oppose us. But as soon as we begin to investigate properly, that which we experience will bring us to wisdom and clear understanding, just as the chickens came to their understanding. In this way, we can say that they practiced "Vipassana." They know in accordance with Truth, it's their insight. 

In our practice, we have our senses as tools which, when rightly used, enable us to become enlightened to the Dhamma. This is something which all meditator should contemplate. When we don't see this clearly, we remain in perpetual conflict. 

So, as we live in the quietude of the forest, we continue to develop subtle feelings and prepare the ground for cultivating wisdom. Don't think that when you have gained some peace of mind living here in the quiet forest that that's enough. Don't settle for just that! Remember that we have to cultivate and grow the seeds of wisdom. 

As wisdom matures and we begin to understand in accordance with the Truth, we will no longer be dragged up and down. Usually, if we have a pleasant mood, we behave one way; and if we have an unpleasant mood, we are another way. We like something and we are up; we dislike something and we are down. In this way we are still in conflict with enemies. When these things no longer oppose us, they become stabilized and balance out. There are no longer ups and downs or highs and lows. We understand these things of the world and know that that's just the way it is. It's just "worldly dhamma." 

"Worldly dhamma"[6] changes to become the "Path".[7] "Worldly dhamma" has eight ways; the "Path" has eight ways. Wherever "worldly dhamma" exists, the "Path" is to be found also. When we live with clarity, all of our worldly experience becomes the practicing of the "Eightfold Path." Without clarity, "worldly dhamma" predominates and we are turned away from the "Path." When Right Understanding arises, liberation from suffering lies right here before us. You will not find liberation by running around looking elsewhere! 

So don't be in a hurry and try to push or rush your practice. Do your meditation gently and gradually step by step. In regard to peacefulness, if you want to become peaceful, then accept it; if you don't become peaceful, then accept that also. That's the nature of the mind. We must find our own practice and persistently keep at it. 

Perhaps wisdom does not arise! I used to think, about my practice, that when there is no wisdom, I could force myself to have it. But it didn't work, things remained the same. Then, after careful consideration, I saw that to contemplate things that we don't have cannot be done. So what's the best thing to do? It's better just to practice with equanimity. If there is nothing to cause us concern, then there's nothing to remedy. If there's no problem, then we don't have to try to solve it. When there is a problem, that's when you must solve it, right there! There's no need to go searching for anything special, just live normally. But know what your mind is! Live mindfully and clearly comprehending. Let wisdom be your guide; don't live indulging in your moods. Be heedful and alert! If there is nothing, that's fine; when something arises, then investigate and contemplate it. 


Coming to the Center
Try watching a spider. A spider spins its web in any convenient niche and then sits in the center, staying still and silent. Later, a fly comes along and lands on the web. As soon as it touches and shakes the web, "boop!" -- the spider pounces and winds it up in thread. It stores the insect away and then returns again to collect itself silently in the center of the web. 

Watching a spider like this can give rise to wisdom. Our six senses have mind at the center surrounded by eye, ear, nose, tongue and body. When one of the senses is stimulated, for instance, form contacting the eye, it shakes and reaches the mind. The mind is that which knows, that which knows form. Just this much is enough for wisdom to arise. It's that simple. 

Like a spider in its web, we should live keeping to ourselves. As soon as the spider feels an insect contact the web, it quickly grabs it, ties it up and once again returns to the center. This is not at all different from our own minds. "Coming to the center" means living mindfully with clear comprehension, being always alert and doing everything with exactness and precision -- this is our center. There's really not a lot for us to do; we just carefully live in this way. But that doesn't mean that we live heedlessly thinking, "There is no need to do siting or walking meditation!" and so forget all about our practice. We can't be careless! We must remain alert just as the spider waits to snatch up insects for its food. 

This is all that we have to know -- sitting and contemplating that spider. Just this much and wisdom can arise spontaneously. Our mind is comparable to the spider, our moods and mental impressions are comparable to the various insects. That's all there is to it! The senses envelop and constantly stimulate the mind; when any of them contact something, it immediately reaches the mind. The mind then investigates and examines it thoroughly, after which it returns to the center. This is how we abide -- alert, acting with precision and always mindfully comprehending with wisdom. Just this much and our practice is complete. 

This point is very important! It isn't that we have to do sitting practice throughout the day and night, or that we have to do walking meditation all day and all night long. If this is our view of practice, then we really make it difficult for ourselves. We should do what we can according to our strength and energy, using our physical capabilities in the proper amount. 

It's very important to know the mind and the other senses well. Know how they come and how they go, how they arise and how they pass away. Understand this thoroughly! In the language of Dhamma we can also say that, just as the spider traps the various insects, the mind binds up the senses with Anicca-Dukkha-Anatta (impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, not-self). Where can they go? We keep them for food, these things are stored away as our nourishment.[8] That's enough; there's no more to do, just this much! This is the nourishment for our minds, nourishment for one who is aware and understanding. 

If you know that these things are impermanent, bound up with suffering and that none of it is you, then you would be crazy to go after them! If you don't see clearly in this way, then you must suffer. When you take a good look and see these things as really impermanent, even though they may seem worth going after, really they are not. Why do you want them when their nature is pain and suffering? It's not ours, there is no self, there is nothing belonging to us. So why are you seeking after them? All problems are ended right here. Where else will you end them? 

Just take a good look at the spider and turn it inwards, turn it back unto yourself. You will see that it's all the same. When the mind has seen Anicca-Dukkha Anatta, it lets go and releases itself. It no longer attaches to suffering or to happiness. This is the nourishment for the mind of one who practices and really trains himself. That's all, it's that simple! You don't have to go searching anywhere! So no matter what you are doing, you are there, no need for a lot of fuss and bother. In this way the momentum and energy of your practice will continuously grow and mature. 


Escape
This momentum of practice leads us towards freedom from the cycle of birth and death. We haven't escaped from that cycle because we still insist on craving and desiring. We don't commit unwholesome or immoral acts, but doing this only means that we are living in accordance with the Dhamma of morality: for instance, the chanting when people ask that all beings not be separated from the things that they love and are fond of. If you think about it, this is very childish. It's the way of people who still can't let go. 

This is the nature of human desire -- desire for things to be other than the way that they are; wishing for longevity, hoping that there is no death or sickness. This is how people hope and desire, then when you tell them that whatever desires they have which are not fulfilled cause suffering, it clobbers them right over the head. What can they say? Nothing, because it's the Truth! You're pointing right at their desires. 

When we talk about desires we know that everyone has them and wants them fulfilled, but nobody is willing to stop, nobody really wants to escape. Therefore our practice must be patiently refined down. Those who practice steadfastly, without deviation or slackness, and have a gentle and restrained manner, always persevering with constancy, those are the ones who will know. No matter what arises, they will remain firm and unshakable. 

The Training of the Heart 

(A talk given to a group of Western Monks from Wat Bovornives, Bangkok, March 1977)[9] 

In the time of Ajahn Mun[10] and Ajahn Sao[11] life was a lot simpler, a lot less complicated than it is today. In those days monks had few duties and ceremonies to perform. They lived in the forests without permanent resting places. There they could devote themselves entirely to the practice of meditation. 

In those times one rarely encountered the luxuries that are so commonplace today, there simply weren't any. One had to make drinking cups and spittoons out of bamboo and laypeople seldom came to visit. One didn't want or expect much and was content with what one had. One could live and breathe meditation! 

The monks suffered many privations living like this. If someone caught malaria and went to ask for medicine, the Teacher would say, "You don't need medicine! Keep practicing." Besides, there simply weren't all the drugs that are available now. All one had were the herbs and roots that grew in the forest. The environment was such that monks had to have a great deal of patience and endurance; they didn't bother over minor ailments. Nowadays you get a bit of an ache and you're off to the hospital! 

Sometimes one had to walk ten to twelve kilometers on almsround (pindapad). You would leave as soon as it was light and maybe return around ten or eleven o'clock. One didn't get very much either, perhaps some glutinous rice, salt or a few chilis. Whether you got anything to eat with the rice or not didn't matter. That's the way it was. No one dared complain of hunger or fatigue; they were just not inclined to complain but learned to take care of themselves. They practiced in the forest with patience and endurance alongside the many dangers that lurked in the surroundings. There were many wild and fierce animals living in the jungles and there were many hardships for body and mind in the ascetic practice of the Dhutanga or Forest-Dwelling monk. Indeed, the patience and endurance of the monks in those days was excellent because the circumstances compelled them to be so. 

In the present day, circumstances compel us in the opposite direction. In ancient times, one had to travel by foot; then came the oxcart and then the automobile. Aspiration and ambition increased, so that now, if the car is not air-conditioned, one will not even sit in it; impossible to go if there is no air-conditioning! The virtues of patience and endurance are becoming weaker and weaker. The standards for meditation and practice are lax and getting laxer, until we find that meditators these days like to follow their own opinions and desires. When the old folks talk about the old days, it's like listening to a myth or a legend. You just listen indifferently, but you don't understand. It just doesn't reach you! 

As far as we should be concerned about the ancient monks' tradition, a monk should spend at least five years with his Teacher. Some days you should avoid speaking to anyone. Don't allow yourself to speak or talk very much. Don't read books! Read your own heart instead. Take Wat Pah Pong for example. These days many university graduates are coming to ordain. I try to stop them from spending their time reading books about Dhamma, because these people are always reading books. They have so many opportunities for reading books, but opportunities for reading their own hearts are rare. So, when they come to ordain for three months following the Thai custom, we try to get them to close their books and manuals. While they are ordained they have this splendid opportunity to read their own hearts. 

Listening to your own heart is really very interesting. This untrained heart races around following its own untrained habits. It jumps about excitedly, randomly, because it has never been trained. Therefore train your heart! Buddhist meditation is about the heart; to develop the heart or mind, to develop your own heart. This is very, very important. This training of the heart is the main emphasis. Buddhism is the religion of the heart. Only this! One who practices to develop the heart is one who practices Buddhism. 

This heart of ours lives in a cage, and what's more, there's a raging tiger in that cage. If this maverick heart of ours doesn't get what it wants, it makes trouble. You must discipline it with meditation, with Samadhi. This is called "Training the Heart." At the very beginning, the foundation of practice is the establishment of moral discipline (Sila). Sila is the training of the body and speech. From this arises conflict and confusion. When you don't let yourself do what you want to do, there is conflict. 

Eat little! Sleep little! Speak little! Whatever it may be of worldly habit, lessen them, go against their power. Don't just do as you like, don't indulge in your thought. Stop this slavish following. You must constantly go against the stream of ignorance. This is called "Discipline." When you discipline your heart, it becomes very dissatisfied and begins to struggle. It becomes restricted and oppressed. When the heart is prevented from doing what it wants to do, it starts wandering and struggling. Suffering (Dukkha) [12] becomes apparent to us. 

This Dukkha, this suffering, is the first of the Four Noble Truths. Most people want to get away from it. They don't want to have any kind of suffering at all. Actually, this suffering is what brings us wisdom; it makes us contemplate Dukkha. Happiness (Sukha) tends to make us close our eyes and ears. It never allows us to develop patience. Comfort and happiness make us careless. Of these two defilements, Dukkha is the easiest to see. Therefore we must bring up suffering in order to put an end to our suffering. We must first know what Dukkha is before we can know how to practice meditation. 

In the beginning you have to train your heart like this. You may not understand what is happening or what the point of it is, but when the Teacher tells you to do something, then you must do it. You will develop the virtues of patience and endurance. Whatever happens, you endure, because that is the way it is. For example, when you begin to practice Samadhi you want peace and tranquillity. But you don't get any. You don't get any because you have never practiced this way. Your heart says, "I'll sit until I attain tranquillity." But when tranquillity doesn't arise, you suffer. And when there is suffering, you get up and run away! To practice like this can not be called "developing the heart." It's called "desertion." 

Instead of indulging in your moods, you train yourself with the Dhamma of the Buddha. Lazy or diligent, you just keep on practicing. Don't you think that this is a better way? The other way, the way of following your moods, will never reach the Dhamma. If you practice the Dhamma, then whatever the mood may be, you keep on practicing, constantly practicing. The other way of self-indulgence is not the way of the Buddha. When we follow our own views on practice, our own opinions about the Dhamma, we can never see clearly what is right and what is wrong. We don't know our own heart. We don't know ourselves. 

Therefore, to practice following your own teachings is the slowest way. To practice following the Dhamma is the direct way. Lazy you practice; diligent you practice. You are aware of time and place. This is called "developing the heart." 

If you indulge in following your own views and try to practice accordingly, then you will start thinking and doubting a lot. You think to yourself, "I don't have very much merit. I don't have any luck. I've been practicing meditation for years now and I'm still unenlightened. I still haven't seen the Dhamma." To practice with this kind of attitude can not be called "developing the heart." It is called "developing disaster." 

If, at this time, you are like this, if you are a meditator who still doesn't know, who doesn't see, if you haven't renewed yourself yet, it's because you've been practicing wrongly. You haven't been following the Teachings of the Buddha. The Buddha taught like this: "Ananda, practice a lot! Develop your practice constantly! Then all your doubts, all your uncertainties, will vanish." These doubts will never vanish through thinking, nor through theorizing, nor through speculation, nor through discussion. Nor will doubts disappear by not doing anything. All defilements will vanish through developing the heart, through right practice only. 

The way of developing the heart as taught by the Buddha is the exact opposite of the way of the world, because his Teachings come from a pure heart. A pure heart, unattached to defilements, is the Way of the Buddha and His Disciples. 

If you practice the Dhamma, you must bow your heart to the Dhamma. You must not make the Dhamma bow to you. When you practice this way. suffering arises. There isn't a single person who can escape this suffering. So when you commence your practice suffering is right there. 

The duties of meditators are mindfulness, collectedness and contentment. These things stop us. They stop the habits of the hearts of those who have never trained. And why should we bother to do this? If you don't bother to train your heart, then it remains wild, following the ways of nature. It's possible to train that nature so that it can be used to advantage. This is comparable to the example of trees. If we just left trees in their natural state, then we would never be able to build a house with them. We couldn't make planks or anything of use in building a house. However, if a carpenter came along wanting to build a house, he would go looking for trees such as these. He would take this raw material and use it to advantage. In a short time he could have a house built. 

Meditation and developing the heart are similar to this. You must take this untrained heart, the same as you would take a tree in its natural state in the forest, and train this natural heart so that it is more refined, so that it's more aware of itself and is more sensitive. Everything is in its natural state. When we understand nature, then we can change it, we can detach from it, we can let go of it. Then we won't suffer anymore. 

The nature of our heart is such that whenever it clings and grasps there is agitation and confusion. First it might wander over there, then it might wander over here. When we come to observe this agitation, we might think that it's impossible to train the heart and so we suffer accordingly. We don't understand that this is the way the heart is. There will be thought and feelings moving about like this even though we are practicing, trying to attain peace. That's the way it is. 

When we have contemplated many times the nature of the heart, then we will come to understand that this heart is just as it is and can't be otherwise. We will know that the heart's ways are just as they are. That's its nature. If we see this clearly, then we can detach from thoughts and feelings. And we don't have to add on anything more by constantly having to tell ourselves that "that's just the way it is." When the heart truly understands, it lets go of everything. Thinking and feeling will still be there, but that very thinking and feeling will be deprived of power. 

This is similar to a child who likes to play and frolic in ways that annoy us, to the extent that we scold or spank him. We should understand that it's natural for a child to act that way. Then we could let go and leave him to play in his own way. So our troubles are over. How are they over? Because we accept the ways of children. Our outlook changes and we accept the true nature of things. We let go and our heart becomes more peaceful. We have "Right Understanding." 

If we have wrong understanding, then even living in a deep, dark cave would be chaos, or living high up in the air would be chaos. The heart can only be at peace when there is "Right Understanding." Then there are no more riddles to solve and no more problems to arise. 

This is the way it is. You detach. You let go. Whenever there is any feeling of clinging, we detach from it, because we know that that very feeling is just as it is. It didn't come along especially to annoy us. We might think that it did, but in truth it is just that way. If we start to think and consider it further, that too, is just as it is. If we let go, then form is merely form, sound is merely sound, odor is merely odor, taste is merely taste, touch is merely touch and the heart is merely the heart. It's similar to oil and water. If you put the two together in a bottle, they won't mix because of the difference in their nature. 

Oil and water are different in the same way that a wise man and an ignorant man are different. The Buddha lived with form, sound, odor, taste, touch and thought. He was an arahant (Enlightened One), so He turned away from rather than toward these things. He turned away and detached little by little since He understood that the heart is just the heart and thought is just thought. He didn't confuse and mix them together. 

The heart is just the heart; thoughts and feelings are just thoughts and feelings. Let things be just as they are! Let form be just form, let sound be just sound, let thought be just thought. Why should we bother to attach to them? If we think and feel in this way, then there is detachment and separateness. Our thoughts and feelings will be on one side and our heart will be on the other. Just like oil and water -- they are in the same bottle but they are separate. 

The Buddha and His Enlightened Disciples lived with ordinary, unenlightened people. They not only lived with these people, but they taught these ordinary, unenlightened, ignorant ones how to be Noble, Enlightened, Wise Ones. They could do this because they knew how to practice. They knew that it's a matter of the heart, just as I have explained. 

So, as far as your practice of meditation goes, don't bother to doubt it. If we run away from home to ordain, it's not running away to get lost in delusion. Nor out of cowardice or fear. It's running away in order to train ourselves, in order to master ourselves. If we have understanding like this, then we can follow the Dhamma. The Dhamma will become clearer and clearer. The one who understands the Dhamma, understands himself; and the one who understands himself, understands the Dhamma. Nowadays, only the sterile remains of the Dhamma have become the accepted order. In reality, the Dhamma is everywhere. There is no need to escape to somewhere else. Instead escape through wisdom. Escape through intelligence. Escape through skill. don't escape through ignorance. If you want peace, then let it be the peace of wisdom. That's enough! 

Whenever we see the Dhamma, then there is the right way, the right path. Defilements are just defilements, the heart is just the heart. Whenever we detach and separate so that there are just these things as they really are, then they are merely objects to us. When we are on the right path, then we are impeccable. When we are impeccable, there is openness and freedom all the time. 

The Buddha said, "Listen to me, Monks. You must not cling to any dhammas." [13] What are these dhammas? They are everything; there isn't anything which is not dhamma. Love and hate are dhammas, happiness and suffering are dhammas, like and dislike are dhammas; all of these things, no matter how insignificant, are dhammas. When we practice the Dhamma, when we understand, then we can let go. And thus we can comply with the Buddha's Teaching of not clinging to any dhammas. 

All conditions that are born in our heart, all conditions of our mind, all conditions of our body, are always in a state of change. The Buddha taught not to cling to any of them. He taught His Disciples to practice in order to detach from all conditions and not to practice in order to attain to any more. 

If we follow the Teachings of the Buddha, then we are right. We are right but it is also troublesome. It's not that the Teachings are troublesome, but it's our defilements which are troublesome. The defilements wrongly comprehended obstruct us and cause us trouble. There isn't really anything troublesome with following the Buddha's Teaching. In fact we can say that clinging to the Path of the Buddha doesn't bring suffering, because the Path is simply "let go" of every single dhamma! 

For the ultimate in the practice of Buddhist Meditation, the Buddha taught the practice of "letting go." don't carry anything around! Detach! If you see goodness, let it go. If you see rightness, let it go. These words, "let go," do not mean that we don't have to practice. It means that we have to practice following the method of "letting go" itself. The Buddha taught us to contemplate all dhammas, to develop the Path through contemplating our own body and heart. The Dhamma isn't anywhere else. It's right here! Not someplace far away. It's right here in this very body and heart of ours. 

Therefore a meditator must practice with energy. Make the heart grander and brighter. Make it free and independent. Having done a good deed, don't carry it around in your heart, let it go. Having refrained from doing an evil deed, let it go. The Buddha taught us to live in the immediacy of the present, in the here and now. Don't lose yourself in the past or the future. 

The Teaching that people least understand and which conflicts the most with their own opinions, is this Teaching of "letting go" or "working with an empty mind." This way of talking is called "Dhamma language." When we conceive this in worldly terms, we become confused and think that we can do anything we want. It can be interpreted this way, but its real meaning is closer to this: It's as if we are carrying a heavy rock. After a while we begin to feel its weight but we don't know how to let it go. So we endure this heavy burden all the time. If someone tells us to throw it away, we say, "If I throw it away, I won't have anything left!" If told of all the benefits to be gained from throwing it away, we wouldn't believe them but would keep thinking, "If I throw it away, I will have nothing!" So we keep on carrying this heavy rock until we become so weak and exhausted that we can no longer endure, then we drop it. 

Having dropped it, we suddenly experience the benefits of letting go. We immediately feel better and lighter and we know for ourselves how much of a burden carrying a rock can be. Before we let go of the rock, we couldn't possibly know the benefits of letting go. So if someone tells us to let go, an unenlightened man wouldn't see the purpose of it. He would just blindly clutch at the rock and refuse to let go until it became so unbearably heavy that he just had to let go. Then he can feel for himself the lightness and relief and thus know for himself the benefits of letting go. Later on we may start carrying burdens again, but now we know what the results will be, so we can now let go more easily. This understanding that it's useless to carry burdens around and that letting go brings ease and lightness is an example of knowing ourselves. 

Our pride, our sense of self that we depend on, is the same as that heavy rock. Like that rock, if we think about letting go of self-conceit, we are afraid that without it, there would be nothing left. But when we can finally let it go, we realize for ourselves the ease and comfort of not clinging. 

In the training of the heart, you mustn't cling to either praise or blame. To just want praise and not to want blame is the way of the world. The Way of the Buddha is to accept praise when it is appropriate and to accept blame when it is appropriate. For example, in raising a child it's very good not to just scold all the time. Some people scold too much. A wise person knows the proper time to scold and the proper time to praise. Our heart is the same. Use intelligence to know the heart. Use skill in taking care of your heart. Then you will be one who is clever in the training of the heart. And when the heart is skilled, it can rid us of our suffering. Suffering exists right here in our hearts. It's always complicating things, creating and making the heart heavy. It's born here. It also dies here. 

The way of the heart is like this. Sometimes there are good thoughts, sometimes there are bad thoughts. The heart is deceitful. Don't trust it! Instead look straight at the conditions of the heart itself. Accept them as they are. They're just as they are. Whether it's good or evil or whatever, that's the way it is. If you don't grab hold of these conditions, then they don't become anything more or less than what they already are. If we grab hold we'll get bitten and will then suffer. 

With "Right View" there's only peace. Samadhi is born and wisdom takes over. Wherever you may sit or lie down, there is peace. There is peace everywhere, no matter where you may go. 

So today you have brought your disciples here to listen to the Dhamma. You may understand some of it, some of it you may not. In order for you to understand more easily, I've talked about the practice of meditation. Whether you think it is right or not, you should take and contemplate it. 

As a Teacher myself, I've been in a similar predicament. I, too, have longed to listen to Dhamma talks because, wherever I went, I was giving talks to others but never had a chance to listen. So, at this time, you really appreciate listening to a talk from a Teacher. Time passes by so quickly when you're sitting and listening quietly. You're hungry for Dhamma so you really want to listen. At first, giving talks to others is a pleasure, but after awhile, the pleasure is gone. You feel bored and tired. Then you want to listen. So when you listen to a talk from a Teacher, you feel much inspiration and you understand easily. When you are getting old and there's hunger for Dhamma, its flavor is especially delicious. 

Being a Teacher of others you are an example to them, you're a model for other bhikkhus. You're an example to your disciples. You're an example to everybody, so don't forget yourself. But don't think about yourself either. If such thoughts do arise, get rid of them. If you do this then you will be one who knows himself. 

There are a million ways to practice Dhamma. There's no end to the things that can be said about meditation. There are so many things that can make us doubt. Just keep sweeping them out, then there's no more doubt! When we have right understanding like this, no matter where we sit or walk, there is peace and ease. Wherever we may meditate, that's the place you bring your awareness. Don't hold that one only meditates while sitting or walking. Everything and everywhere is our practice. There's awareness all the time. There is mindfulness all the time. We can see birth and death of mind and body all the time and we don't let it clutter our hearts. Let it go constantly. If love comes, let it go back to its home. If greed comes, let it go home. If anger comes, let it go home. Follow them! Where do they live? Then escort them there. Don't keep anything. If you practice like this then you are like an empty house. Or, explained another way, this is an empty heart, a heart empty and free of all evil. We call it an "empty heart," but it isn't empty as if there was nothing, it's empty of evil but filled with wisdom. Then whatever you do, you'll do with wisdom. You'll think with wisdom. You'll eat with wisdom. There will only be wisdom. 

This is the Teaching for today and I offer it to you. I've recorded it on tape. If listening to Dhamma makes your heart at peace, that's good enough. You don't need to remember anything. Some may not believe this. If we make our heart peaceful and just listen, letting it pass by but contemplating continuously like this, then we're like a tape recorder. After some time when we turn on, everything is there. Have no fear that there won't be anything. As soon as you turn on your tape recorder, everything is there. 

I wish to offer this to every bhikkhu and to everyone. Some of you probably know only a little Thai, but that doesn't matter. May you learn the language of the Dhamma. That's good enough! 

Living With the Cobra 

(A brief talk given as final instruction to an elderly Englishwoman who spent two months under the guidance of Ajahn Chah at the end of 1978 and beginning of 1979.) 

This short talk is for the benefit of a new disciple who will soon be returning to London. May it serve to help you understand the Teaching that you have studied here at Wat Pah Pong. Most simply, this is the practice to be free of suffering in the cycle of birth and death. 

In order to do this practice, remember to regard all the various activities of mind, all those you like and all those you dislike, in the same way as you would regard a cobra. The cobra is an extremely poisonous snake, poisonous enough to cause death if it should bite us. And so, also, it is with our moods; the moods that we like are poisonous, the moods that we dislike are also poisonous. They prevent our minds from being free and hinder our understanding of the Truth as it was taught by the Buddha. 

Thus is it necessary to try to maintain our mindfulness throughout the day and night. Whatever you may be doing, be it standing, sitting, lying down, speaking or whatever, you should do with mindfulness. When you are able to establish this mindfulness, you'll find that there will arise clear comprehension associated with it, and these two conditions will bring about wisdom. Thus mindfulness, clear comprehension and wisdom will work together, and you'll be like one who is awake both day and night. 

These Teachings left us by the Buddha are not Teachings to be just listened to, or simply absorbed on an intellectual level. They are Teachings that through practice can be made to arise and known in our hearts. Wherever we go, whatever we do, we should have these Teachings. And what we mean by "to have these Teachings" or "to have the Truth," is that, whatever we do or say, we do and say with wisdom. When we think and contemplate, we do so with wisdom. We say that one who has mindfulness and clear comprehension combined in this way with wisdom, is one who is close to the Buddha. 

When you leave here, you should practice bringing everything back to your own mind. Look at your mind with this mindfulness and clear comprehension and develop this wisdom. With these three conditions there will arise a "letting go." You'll know the constant arising and passing away of all phenomena. 

You should know that that which is arising and passing away is only the activity of mind. When something arises, it passes away and is followed by further arising and passing away. In the Way of Dhamma we call this arising and passing away "birth and death"; and this is everything -- this is all there is! When suffering has arisen, it passes away, and, when it has passed away, suffering arises again.[14] There's just suffering arising and passing away. When you see this much, you'll be able to know constantly this arising and passing away; and, when your knowing is constant, you'll see that this is really all there is. Everything is just birth and death. It's not as if there is anything which carries on. There's just this arising and passing away as it is -- that's all. 

This kind of seeing will give rise to a tranquil feeling of dispassion towards the world. Such a feeling arises when we see that actually there is nothing worth wanting; there is only arising and passing away, a being born followed by a dying. This is when the mind arrives at "letting go," letting everything go according to its own nature. Things arise and pass away in our mind, and we know. When happiness arises, we know; when dissatisfaction arises, we know. And this "knowing happiness" means that we don't identify with it as being ours. And likewise with dissatisfaction and unhappiness, we don't identify with them as being ours. When we no longer identify with and cling to happiness and suffering, we are simply left with the natural way of things. 

So we say that mental activity is like the deadly poisonous cobra. If we don't interfere with a cobra, it simply goes its own way. Even though it may be extremely poisonous, we are not affected by it; we don't go near it or take hold of it, and it doesn't bite us. The cobra does what is natural for a cobra to do. That's the way it is. If you are clever you'll leave it alone. And so you let be that which is good. You also let be that which is not good -- let it be according to its own nature. Let be your liking and your disliking, the same way as you don't interfere with the cobra. 

So, one who is intelligent will have this kind of attitude towards the various moods that arise in the mind. When goodness arises, we let it be good, but we know also. We understand its nature. And, too, we let be the not-good, we let it be according to its nature. We don't take hold of it because we don't want anything. We don't want evil, neither do we want good. We want neither heaviness nor lightness, happiness nor suffering. When, in this way, our wanting is at an end, peace is firmly established. 

When we have this kind of peace established in our minds, we can depend on it. This peace, we say, has arisen out of confusion. Confusion has ended. The Buddha called the attainment of final Enlightenment an "extinguishing," in the same way that fire is extinguished. We extinguish fire at the place at which it appears. Wherever it is hot, that's where we can make it cool. And so it is with Enlightenment. Nibbana is found in Samsara.[15] Enlightenment and delusion (Samsara) exist in the same place, just as do hot and cold. It's hot where it was cold and cold where it was hot. When heat arises, the coolness disappears, and when there is coolness, there's no more heat. In this way Nibbana and Samsara are the same. 

We are told to put an end to Samsara, which means to stop the ever-turning cycle of confusion. This putting an end to confusion is extinguishing the fire. When external fire is extinguished there is coolness. When the internal fires of sensual craving, aversion and delusion are put out, then this is coolness also. 

This is the nature of Enlightenment; it's the extinguishing of fire, the cooling of that which was hot. This is peace. This is the end of Samsara, the cycle of birth and death. When you arrive at Enlightenment, this is how it is. It's an ending of the ever-turning and ever-changing, an ending of greed, aversion and delusion in our minds. We talk about it in terms of happiness because this is how worldly people understand the ideal to be, but in reality it has gone beyond. It is beyond both happiness and suffering. It's perfect peace. 

So as you go you should take this Teaching which I have given you and contemplate it carefully. Your stay here hasn't been easy and I have had little opportunity to give you instruction, but in this time you have been able to study the real meaning of our practice. May this practice lead you to happiness; may it help you grow in Truth. May you be freed from the suffering of birth and death. 

Reading the Natural Mind 

(An informal talk given to a group of newly ordained monks after the evening chanting, middle of the Rains Retreat, 1978) 

Our way of practice is looking closely at things and making them clear. We're persistent and constant, yet not rushed or hurried. Neither are we too slow. It's a matter of gradually feeling our way and bringing it together. However, all of this bringing it together is working towards something, there is a point to our practice. 

For most of us, when we first start to practice, it's nothing other than desire. We start to practice because of wanting. At this stage our wanting is wanting in the wrong way. That is, it's deluded. It's wanting mixed with wrong understanding. 

If wanting is not mixed with wrong understanding like this, we say that it's wanting with wisdom (Paa).[16] It's not deluded -- it's wanting with right understanding. In a case like this we say that it's due to a person's Parami or past accumulations. However, this isn't the case with everyone. 

Some people don't want to have desire, or they want not to have desires, because they think that our practice is directed at not wanting. However, if there is no desire, then there's no way of practice. 

We can see this for ourselves. The Buddha and all His Disciples practiced to put an end to defilements. We must want to practice and must want to put an end to defilements. We must want to have peace of mind and want not to have confusion. However, if this wanting is mixed with wrong understanding, then it will only amount to more difficulties for us. If we are honest about it, we really know nothing at all. Or, what we do know is of no consequence, since we are unable to use it properly. 

Everybody, including the Buddha, started out like this, with the desire to practice -- wanting to have peace of mind and wanting not to have confusion and suffering. These two kinds of desire have exactly the same value. If not understood then both wanting to be free from confusion and not wanting to have suffering are defilements. They're a foolish way of wanting -- desire without wisdom. 

In our practice we see this desire as either sensual indulgence or self-mortification. It's in this very conflict that our Teacher, the Buddha, was caught up, just this dilemma. He followed many ways of practice which merely ended up in these two extremes. And these days we are exactly the same. We are still afflicted by this duality, and because of it we keep falling from the Way. 

However, this is how we must start out. We start out as worldly beings, as beings with defilements, with wanting devoid of wisdom, desire without right understanding. If we lack proper understanding, then both kinds of desire work against us. Whether it's wanting or not wanting, it's still craving (Tanha). If we don't understand these two things then we won't know how to deal with them when they arise. We will feel that to go forward is wrong and to go backwards is wrong, and yet we can't stop. Whatever we do we just find more wanting. This is because of the lack of wisdom and because of craving. 

It's right here, with this wanting and not wanting, that we can understand the Dhamma. The Dhamma which we are looking for exists right here, but we don't see it. Rather, we persist in our efforts to stop wanting. We want things to be a certain way and not any other way. Or, we want them not to be a certain way, but to be another way. Really these two things are the same. They are part of the same duality. 

Perhaps we may not realize that the Buddha and all of His Disciples had this kind of wanting. However the Buddha understood regarding wanting and not wanting. He understood that they are simply the activity of mind, that such things merely appear in a flash and then disappear. These kinds of desires are going on all the time. When there is wisdom, we don't identify with them -- we are free from clinging. Whether it's wanting or not wanting, we simply see it as such. In reality it's merely the activity of the natural mind. When we take a close look, we see clearly that this is how it is. 


The Wisdom of Everyday Experience
So it's here that our practice of contemplation will lead us to understanding. Let us take an example, the example of a fisherman pulling in his net with a big fish in it. How do you think he feels about pulling it in? If he's afraid that the fish will escape, he'll be rushed and start to struggle with the net, grabbing and tugging at it. Before he knows it, the big fish has escaped -- he was trying too hard. 

In the olden days they would talk like this. They taught that we should do it gradually, carefully gathering it in without losing it. This is how it is in our practice; we gradually feel our way with it, carefully gathering it in without losing it. Sometimes it happens that we don't feel like doing it. Maybe we don't want to look or maybe we don't want to know, but we keep on with it. We continue feeling for it. This is practice: if we feel like doing it, we do it, and if we don't feel like doing it, we do it just the same. We just keep doing it. 

If we are enthusiastic about our practice, the power of our faith will give energy to what we are doing. But at this stage we are still without wisdom. Even though we are very energetic, we will not derive much benefit from our practice. We may continue with it for a long time and a feeling will arise that aren't going to find the Way. We may feel that we cannot find peace and tranquillity, or that we aren't sufficiently equipped to do the practice. Or maybe we feel that this Way just isn't possible anymore. So we give up! 

At this point we must be very, very careful. We must use great patience and endurance. It's just like pulling in the big fish -- we gradually feel our way with it. We carefully pull it in. The struggle won't be too difficult, so without stopping we continue pulling it in. Eventually, after some time, the fish becomes tired and stops fighting and we're able to catch it easily. Usually this is how it happens, we practice gradually gathering it together. 

It's in this manner that we do our contemplation. If we don't have any particular knowledge or learning in the theoretical aspects of the Teachings, we contemplate according to our everyday experience. We use the knowledge which we already have, the knowledge derived from our everyday experience. This kind of knowledge is natural to the mind. Actually, whether we study about it or not, we have the reality of the mind right here already. The mind is the mind whether we have learned about it or not. This is why we say that whether the Buddha is born in the world or not, everything is the way it is. Everything already exists according to its own nature. This natural condition doesn't change, nor does it go anywhere. It just is that way. This is called the Sacca Dhamma. However, if we don't understand about this Sacca Dhamma, we won't be able to recognize it. 

So we practice contemplation in this way. If we aren't particularly skilled in scripture, we take the mind itself to study and read. Continually we contemplate (lit. talk with ourselves) and understanding regarding the nature of the mind will gradually arise. We don't have to force anything. 


Constant Effort
Until we are able to stop our mind, until we reach tranquillity, the mind will just continue as before. It's for this reason that the Teacher says, "Just keep on doing it, keep on with the practice!" Maybe we think, "If I don't yet understand, how can I do it?" Until we are able to practice properly, wisdom doesn't arise. So we say just keep on with it. If we practice without stopping we'll begin to think about what we are doing. We'll start to consider our practice. 

Nothing happens immediately, so in the beginning we can't see any results from our practice. This is like the example I have often given you of the man who tries to make fire by rubbing two sticks of wood together. He says to himself, "They say there's fire here." and he begins rubbing energetically. He's very impetuous. He rubs on and on but his impatience doesn't end. He wants to have that fire. He keeps wanting to have that fire, but the fire doesn't come. So he gets discouraged and stops to rest for awhile. He starts again but the going is slow, so he rests again. By then the heat has disappeared; he didn't keep at it long enough. He rubs and rubs until he tires and then he stops altogether. Not only is he tired, but he becomes more and more discouraged until he gives up completely. "There's no fire here!" Actually he was doing the work, but there wasn't enough heat to start a fire. The fire was there all the time but he didn't carry on to the end. 

This sort of experience causes the meditator to get discouraged in his practice, and so he restlessly changes from one practice to another. And this sort of experience is also similar to our own practice. It's the same for everybody. Why? Because we are still grounded in defilements. The Buddha had defilements also, but He had a lot of wisdom in this respect. While still worldlings the Buddha and the arahants were just the same as us. If we are still worldlings then we don't think rightly. Thus when wanting arises we don't see it, and when not wanting arises we don't see it. Sometimes we feel stirred up, and sometimes we feel contented. When we have not wanting we have a kind of contentment, but we also have a kind of confusion. When we have wanting this can be contentment and confusion of another kind. It's all intermixed in this way. 


Knowing Oneself and Knowing Others
The Buddha taught us to contemplate our body, for example: hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, skin... it's all body. Take a look! We are told to investigate right here. If we don't see these things clearly as they are in ourselves, we won't understand regarding other people. We won't see others clearly nor will we see ourselves. However, if we do understand and see clearly the nature of our own bodies, our doubts and wonderings regarding others will disappear. This is because body and mind (Rupa and Nama) are the same for everybody. It isn't necessary to go and examine all the bodies in the world since we know that they are the same as us -- we are the same as them. If we have this kind of understanding then our burden becomes lighter. Without this kind of understanding, all we do is develop a heavier burden. In order to know about others we would have to go and examine everybody in the entire world. That would be very difficult. We would soon become discouraged. 

Our Vinaya is similar to this. When we look at our Vinaya (Code of Monks' Discipline) we feel that it's very difficult. We must keep every rule, study every rule, review our practice with every rule. If we just think about it, "Oh, it's impossible!" We read the literal meaning of all the numerous rules and, if we merely follow our thinking about them, we could well decide that it's beyond our ability to keep them all. Anyone who has had this kind of attitude towards the Vinaya has the same feeling about it -- there are a lot of rules! 

The scriptures tell us that we must examine ourselves regarding each and every rule and keep them all strictly. We must know them all and observe them perfectly. This is the same as saying that to understand about others we must go and examine absolutely everybody. This is a very heavy attitude. And it's like this because we take what is said literally. If we follow the textbooks, this is the way we must go. Some Teachers teach in this manner -- strict adherence to what the textbooks say. It just can't work that way.[17] 

Actually, if we study theory like this, our practice won't develop at all. In fact our faith will disappear, our faith in the Way will be destroyed. This is because we haven't yet understood. When there is wisdom we will understand that all the people in the entire world really amount to just this one person. They are the same as this very being. So we study and contemplate our own body and mind. With seeing and understanding the nature of our own body and mind comes understanding the bodies and minds of everyone. And so, in this way, the weight of our practice becomes lighter. 

The Buddha said to teach and instruct ourselves -- nobody else can do it for us. When we study and understand the nature of our own existence, we will understand the nature of all existence. Everyone is really the same. We are all the same "make" and come from the same company -- there are only different shades, that's all! Just like "Bort-hai" and "Tum-jai." They are both pain-killers and do the same thing, but one type is called "Bort-hai" and the other "Tum-jai." Really they aren't different. 

You will find that this way of seeing things gets easier and easier as you gradually bring it all together. We call this "feeling our way," and this is how we begin to practice. We'll become skilled at doing it. We keep on with it until we arrive at understanding, and when this understanding arises, we will see reality clearly. 


Theory and Practice
So we continue this practice until we have a feeling for it. After a time, depending on our own particular tendencies and abilities, a new kind of understanding arises. This we call Investigation of Dhamma (Dhamma-vicaya), and this is how the Seven Factors of Enlightenment arise in the mind. Investigation of Dhamma is one of them. The others are: Mindfulness, Energy, Rapture, Tranquillity, concentration (Samadhi) and Equanimity. 

If we have studied about the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, then we'll know what the books say, but we won't have seen the real Factors of Enlightenment. The real Factors of Enlightenment arise in the mind. Thus the Buddha came to give us all the various Teachings. All the Enlightened Ones have taught the way out of suffering and Their recorded Teachings we call the theoretical Teachings. This theory originally came from the practice, but it has become merely book learning or words. 

The real Factors of Enlightenment have disappeared because we don't know them within ourselves, we don't see them within our own minds. If they arise they arise out of practice. If they arise out of practice then they are factors leading to Enlightenment of the Dhamma and we can use their arising as an indication that our practice is correct. If we are not practicing rightly, such things will not appear. 

If we practice in the right way, then we can see Dhamma. So we say to keep on practicing, feeling your way gradually and continually investigating. Don't think that what you are looking for can be found anywhere other than right here. 

One of my senior disciples had been learning Pali at a study Temple before he came here. He hadn't been very successful with his studies so he thought that, since monks who practice meditation are able to see and understand everything just by sitting, he would come and try this way. He came here to Wat Pah Pong with the intention of sitting in meditation so that he would be able to translate Pali scriptures. He had this kind of understanding about practice. So I explained to him about our way. He had misunderstood completely. He had thought it an easy matter just to sit and make everything clear. 

If we talk about understanding Dhamma then both study monks and practice monks use the same words. But the actual understanding which comes from studying theory and that which comes from practicing Dhamma is not quite the same. It may seem to be the same, but one is more profound. One is deeper than the other. The kind of understanding which comes from practice leads to surrender, to giving up. Until there is complete surrender we persevere -- we persist in our contemplation. If desires or anger and dislike arise in our mind, we aren't indifferent to them. We don't just leave them but rather take them and investigate to see how and from where they arise. If such moods are already in our mind, then we contemplate and see how they work against us. We see them clearly and understand the difficulties which we cause ourselves by believing and following them. This kind of understanding is not found anywhere other than in our own pure mind. 

It's because of this that those who study theory and those who practice meditation misunderstand each other. Usually those who emphasize study say things like this, "Monks who only practice meditation just follow their own opinions. They have no basis in their Teaching." Actually, in one sense, these two ways of study and practice are exactly the same thing. It can help us to understand if we think of it like the front and back of our hand. If we put our hand out, it seems as if the back of the hand has disappeared. Actually the back of our hand hasn't disappeared anywhere, it's just hidden underneath. When we say that we can't see it, it doesn't mean that it has disappeared completely, it just means that it's hidden underneath. When we turn our hand over, the same thing happens to the palm of the hand. It doesn't go anywhere, it's merely hidden underneath. 

We should keep this in mind when we consider practice. If we think that it has "disappeared," we'll go off to study, hoping to get results. But it doesn't matter how much you study about Dhamma, you'll never understand, because you won't know in accordance with Truth. If we do understand the real nature of Dhamma, then it becomes letting go. This is surrender -- removing attachment (Upadana), not clinging anymore, or, if there still is clinging, it becomes less and less. There is this kind of difference between the two ways of study and practice. 

When we talk about study, we can understand it like this: our eye is a subject of study, our ear is a subject of study -- everything is a subject of study. We can know that form is like this and like that, but we attach to form and don't know the way out. We can distinguish sounds, but then we attach to them. Forms, sounds, smells, tastes, bodily feelings and mental impressions are all like a snare to entrap all beings. 

To investigate these things is our way of practicing Dhamma. When some feeling arises we turn to our understanding to appreciate it. If we are knowledgeable regarding theory, we will immediately turn to that and see how such and such a thing happens like this and then becomes that... and so on. If we haven't learned theory in this way, then we have just the natural state of our mind to work with. This is our Dhamma. If we have wisdom then we'll be able to examine this natural mind of ours and use this as our subject of study. It's exactly the same thing. Our natural mind is theory. The Buddha said to take whatever thoughts and feelings arise and investigate them. Use the reality of our natural mind as our theory. We rely on this reality. 


Insight Meditation (Vipassana)
If you have faith it doesn't matter whether you have studied theory or not. If our believing mind leads us to develop practice, if it leads us to constantly develop energy and patience, then study doesn't matter. We have mindfulness as a foundation for our practice. We are mindful in all bodily postures, whether sitting, standing, walking or lying. And if there is mindfulness there will be clear comprehension to accompany it. Mindfulness and clear comprehension will arise together. They may arise so rapidly, however, that we can't tell them apart. But, when there is mindfulness, there will also be clear comprehension. 

When our mind is firm and stable, mindfulness will arise quickly and easily and this is also where we have wisdom. Sometimes, though, wisdom is insufficient or doesn't arise at the right time. There may be mindfulness and clear comprehension, but these alone are not enough to control the situation. Generally, if mindfulness and clear comprehension are a foundation of mind, then wisdom will be there to assist. However, we must constantly develop this wisdom through the practice of Insight Meditation. This means that whatever arises in the mind can be the object of mindfulness and clear comprehension. But we must see according to Anicca, Dukkha, Anatta. Impermanence (Anicca) is the basis. Dukkha refers to the quality of unsatisfactoriness, and Anatta says that it is without individual entity. We see that it's simply a sensation that has arisen, that it has no self, no entity and that it disappears of its own accord. Just that! Someone who is deluded, someone who doesn't have wisdom, will miss this occasion, he won't be able to use these things to advantage. 

If wisdom is present then mindfulness and clear comprehension will be right there with it. However, at this initial stage the wisdom may not be perfectly clear. Thus mindfulness and clear comprehension aren't able to catch every object, but wisdom comes to help. It can see what quality of mindfulness there is and what kind of sensation has arisen. Or, in its most general aspect, whatever mindfulness there is or whatever sensation there is, it's all Dhamma. 

The Buddha took the practice of Insight Meditation as His foundation. He saw that this mindfulness and clear comprehension were both uncertain and unstable. Anything that's unstable, and which we want to have stable, causes us to suffer. We want things to be according to our own desires, but we must suffer because things just aren't that way. This is the influence of an unclean mind, the influence of a mind which is lacking wisdom. 

When we practice we tend to become caught up in wanting it easy, wanting it to be the way we like it. We don't have to go very far to understand such an attitude. Merely look at this body! Is it ever really the way we want it? One minute we like it to be one way and the next minute we like it to be another way. Have we ever really had it the way we liked? The nature of our bodies and minds is exactly the same in this regard. It simply is the way it is. 

This point in our practice can be easily missed. Usually, whatever we feel doesn't agree with us, we throw out; whatever doesn't please us, we throw out. We don't stop to think whether the way we like and dislike things is really the correct way or not. We merely think that the things we find disagreeable must be wrong, and those which we find agreeable must be right. 

This is where craving comes from. When we receive stimuli by way of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body or mind, a feeling of liking or disliking arises. This shows that the mind is full of attachment. So the Buddha gave us this Teaching of Impermanence. He gave us a way to contemplate things. If we cling to something which isn't permanent, then we'll experience suffering. There's no reason why we should want to have these things in accordance with our likes and dislikes. It isn't possible for us to make things be that way. We don't have that kind of authority or power. Regardless of however we may like things to be, everything is already the way it is. Wanting like this is not the way out of suffering. 

Here we can see how the mind which is deluded understands in one way, and the mind which is not deluded understands in another way. When the mind with wisdom receives some sensation for example, it sees it as something not to be clung to or identified with. This is what indicates wisdom. If there isn't any wisdom then we merely follow our stupidity. This stupidity is not seeing impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and not-self. That which we like we see as good and right. That which we don't like we see as not good. We can't arrive at Dhamma this way -- wisdom cannot arise. If we can see this, then wisdom arises. 

The Buddha firmly established the practice of Insight Meditation in His mind and used it to investigate all the various mental impressions. Whatever arose in His mind He investigated like this: even though we like it, it's uncertain. It's suffering, because these things which are constantly rising and falling don't follow the influence of our minds. All these things are not a being or a self, they don't belong to us. The Buddha taught us to see them just as they are. It is this principle on which we stand in practice. 

We understand then, that we aren't able to just bring about various moods as we wish. Both good moods and bad moods are going to come up. Some of them are helpful and some of them are not. If we don't understand rightly regarding these things, then we won't be able to judge correctly. Rather we will go running after craving -- running off following our desire. 

Sometimes we feel happy and sometimes we feel sad, but this is natural. Sometimes we'll feel pleased and at other times disappointed. What we like we hold as good, and what we don't like we hold as bad. In this way we separate ourselves further and further and further from Dhamma. When this happens, we aren't able to understand or recognize Dhamma, and thus we are confused. Desires increase because our minds have nothing but delusion. 

This is how we talk about the mind. It isn't necessary to go far away from ourselves to find understanding. We simply see that these states of mind aren't permanent. We see that they are unsatisfactory and that they aren't a permanent self. If we continue to develop our practice in this way, we call it the practice of Vipassana or Insight Meditation. We say that it is recognizing the contents of our mind and in this way we develop wisdom. 


Samatha (Calm) Meditation
Our practice of Samatha is like this: We establish the practice of mindfulness on the in-and out-breath, for example, as a foundation or means of controlling the mind. By having the mind follow the flow of the breath it becomes steadfast, calm and still. This practice of calming the mind is called Samatha Meditation. It's necessary to do a lot of this kind of practice because the mind is full of many disturbances. It's very confused. We can't say how many years or how many lives it's been this way. If we sit and contemplate we'll see that there's a lot that doesn't conduce to peace and calm and a lot that leads to confusion! 

For this reason the Buddha taught that we must find a meditation subject which is suitable to our particular tendencies, a way of practice which is right for our character. For example, going over and over the parts of the body: hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth and skin, can be very calming. The mind can become very peaceful from this practice. If contemplating these five things leads to calm, it's because they are appropriate objects for contemplation according to our tendencies. Whatever we find to be appropriate in this way, we can consider to be our practice and use it to subdue the defilements. 

Another example is recollection of death. For those who still have strong greed, aversion and delusion and find them difficult to contain, it's useful to take this subject of personal death as a meditation. We'll come to see that everybody has to die, whether rich or poor. We'll see both good and evil people die. Everybody must die! Developing this practice we find that an attitude of dispassion arises. The more we practice the easier our sitting produces calm. This is because it's a suitable and appropriate practice for us. If this practice of Calm Meditation is not agreeable to our particular tendencies, it won't produce this attitude of dispassion. If the object is truly suited to us then we'll find it arising regularly, without great difficulty, and we'll find ourselves thinking about it often. 

Regarding this we can see an example in our everyday lives. When laypeople bring trays of many different types of food to offer the monks, we taste them all to see which we like. When we have tried each one we can tell which is most agreeable to us. This is just an example. That which we find agreeable to our taste we'll eat, we find most suitable. We won't bother about the other various dishes. 

The practice of concentrating our attention on the in-and out-breath is an example of a type of meditation which is suitable for us all. It seems that when we go around doing various different practices, we don't feel so good. But as soon as we sit and observe our breath we have a good feeling, we can see it clearly. There's no need to go looking far away, we can use what is close to us and this will be better for us. Just watch the breath. It goes out and comes in, out and in -- we watch it like this. For a long time we keep watching our breathing in and out and slowly our mind settles. Other activity will arise but we feel like it is distant from us. Just like when we live apart from each other and don't feel so close anymore. We don't have the same strong contact anymore or perhaps no contact at all. 

When we have a feeling for this practice of mindfulness of breathing, it becomes easier. If we keep on with this practice we gain experience and become skilled at knowing the nature of the breath. We'll know what it's like when it's long and what it's like when it's short. 

Looking at it one way we can talk about the food of the breath. While sitting or walking we breathe, while sleeping we breathe, while awake we breathe. If we don't breathe then we die. If we think about it we see that we exist only with the help of food. If we don't eat ordinary food for ten minutes, an hour or even a day, it doesn't matter. This is a course kind of food. However, if we don't breathe for even a short time we'll die. If we don't breathe for five or ten minutes we would be dead. Try it! 

One who is practicing mindfulness of breathing should have this kind of understanding. The knowledge that comes from this practice is indeed wonderful. If we don't contemplate then we won't see the breath as food, but actually we are "eating" air all the time, in, out, in, out... all the time. Also you'll find that the more you contemplate in this way, the greater the benefits derived from the practice and the more delicate the breath becomes. It may even happen that the breath stops. It appears as if we aren't breathing at all. Actually, the breath is passing through the pores of the skin. This is called the "delicate breath." When our mind is perfectly calm, normal breathing can cease in this way. We need not be at all startled or afraid. If there's no breathing what should we do? Just know it! Know that there is no breathing, that's all. This is the right practice here. 

Here we are talking about the way of Samatha practice, the practice of developing calm. If the object which we are using is right and appropriate for us, it will lead to this kind of experience. This is the beginning, but there is enough in this practice to take us all the way, or at least to where we can see clearly and continue in strong faith. If we keep on with contemplation in this manner, energy will come to us. This is similar to the water in an urn. We put in water and keep it topped up. We keep on filling the urn with water and thereby the insects which live in the water don't die. Making effort and doing our everyday practice is just like this. It all comes back to practice. We feel very good and peaceful. 

This peacefulness comes from our one-pointed state of mind. This one-pointed state of mind, however, can be very troublesome, since we don't want other mental states to disturb us. Actually, other mental states do come and, if we think about it, that in itself can be the one-pointed state of mind. It's like when we see various men and women, but we don't have the same feeling about them as we do about our mother and father. In reality all men are male just like our father and all women are female just like our mother, but we don't have the same feeling about them. We feel that our parents are more important. They hold greater value for us. 

This is how it should be with our one-pointed state of mind. We should have the same attitude towards it as we would have towards our own mother and father. All other activity which arises we appreciate in the same way as we feel towards men and women in general. We don't stop seeing them, we simply acknowledge their presence and don't ascribe to them the same value as our parents. 


Undoing the Knot
When our practice of Samatha arrives at calm, the mind will be clear and bright. The activity of mind will become less and less. The various mental impressions which arise will be fewer. When this happens great peace and happiness will arise, but we may attach to that happiness. We should contemplate that happiness as uncertain. We should also contemplate unhappiness as uncertain and impermanent. We'll understand that all the various feelings are not lasting and not to be clung to. We see things in this way because there's wisdom. We'll understand that things are this way according to their nature. 

If we have this kind of understanding it's like taking hold of one strand of a rope which makes up a knot. If we pull it in the right direction, the knot will loosen and begin to untangle. It'll no longer be so tight or so tense. This is similar to understanding that it doesn't always have to be this way. Before, we felt that things would always be the way they were and, in so doing, we pulled the knot tighter and tighter. This tightness is suffering. Living that way is very tense. So we loosen the knot a little and relax. Why do we loosen it? Because it's tight! If we don't cling to it then we can loosen it. It's not a permanent condition that must always be that way. 

We use the Teaching of Impermanence as our basis. We see that both happiness and unhappiness are not permanent. We see them as not dependable. There is absolutely nothing that's permanent. With this kind of understanding we gradually stop believing in the various moods and feelings which come up in the mind. Wrong understanding will decrease to the same degree that we stop believing in it. This is what is meant by undoing the knot. It continues to become looser. Attachment will be gradually unrooted. 


Disenchantment
When we come to see impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and not-self in ourselves, in this body and mind, in this world, then we'll find that a kind of boredom will arise. This isn't the everyday boredom that makes us feel like not wanting to know or see or say anything, or not wanting to have anything to do with anybody at all. That isn't real boredom, it still has attachment, we still don't understand. We still have feelings of envy and resentment and are still clinging to the things which cause us suffering. 

The kind of boredom which the Buddha talked about is a condition without anger or lust. It arises out of seeing everything as impermanent. When pleasant feeling arises in our mind, we see that it isn't lasting. This is the kind of boredom we have. We call it Nibbida or disenchantment. That means that it's far from sensual craving and passion. We see nothing as being worthy of desire. Whether or not things accord with our likes and dislikes, it doesn't matter to us, we don't identify with them. We don't give them any special value. 

Practicing like this we don't give things reason to cause us difficulty. We have seen suffering and have seen that identifying with moods can not give rise to any real happiness. It causes clinging to happiness and unhappiness and clinging to liking and disliking, which is in itself the cause of suffering. When we are still clinging like this we don't have an even-minded attitude towards things. Some states of mind we like and others we dislike. If we are still liking and disliking, then both happiness and unhappiness are suffering. It's this kind of attachment which causes suffering. The Buddha taught that whatever causes us suffering is in itself unsatisfactory. 


The Four Noble Truths
Hence we understand that the Buddha's Teaching is to know suffering and to know what causes it to arise. And further, we should know freedom from suffering and the way of practice which leads to freedom. He taught us to know just these four things. When we understand these four things we'll be able to recognize suffering when it arises and will know that it has a cause. We'll know that it didn't just drift in! When we wish to be free from this suffering, we'll be able to eliminate its cause. 

Why do we have this feeling of suffering, this feeling of unsatisfactoriness? We'll see that it's because we are clinging to our various likes and dislikes. We come to know that we are suffering because of our own actions. We suffer because we ascribe value to things. So we say, know suffering, know the cause of suffering, know freedom from suffering and know the Way to this freedom. When we know about suffering we keep untangling the knot. But we must be sure to untangle it by pulling in the right direction. That is to say, we must know that this is how things are. Attachment will be torn out. This is the practice which puts an end to our suffering. 

Know suffering, know the cause of suffering, know freedom from suffering and know the Path which leads out of suffering. This is Magga (Path). It goes like this: Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration. When we have the right understanding regarding these things, then we have the Path. These things can put an end to suffering. They lead us to morality, concentration and wisdom (Sila, Samadhi, Paa). 

We must clearly understand these four things. We must want to understand. We must want to see these things in terms of reality. When we see these four things we call this Sacca Dhamma. Whether we look inside or in front or to the right or left, all we see is Sacca Dhamma. We simply see that everything is the way it is. For someone who has arrived at Dhamma, someone who really understands Dhamma, wherever he goes, everything will be Dhamma. 

Start Doing It! 

(A lively talk, in Lao dialect, given to the Assembly of newly-ordained Monks at Wat Pah Pong on the day of entering the Rains Retreat, July 1978) [18] 

Breathe in... breathe out... just like that. Even if others are "standing on their heads"[19] that's their business. Don't bother your head over it. Just concentrate on breathing in and out, just know your breath, that's enough. Nothing else. Just know when the air comes in and goes out, or you can say to yourself; "BUD" on the in-breath, "DHO" on the out-breath.[20] Take this as your subject of awareness. Just do it like that for now. When the air comes in, you know it; when it goes out, you know it. Then your mind will be peaceful, not disturbed, not restless. Just the air going in and out, continuously. 

In the beginning, keep it this simple, nothing fancy. However long you may sit, if you're "sabai"[21] or peaceful, you'll know within yourself. If you keep at it, the breath becomes refined and softer, the body becomes soft (relaxed), the mind becomes soft -- that's worth having! Go ahead, let it happen naturally. Sitting "sabai," firm in meditation, not in a daze, not drowsy or nodding off, everything becomes effortless. Now you're peaceful! Then as you're getting up: "Wow, what was that?" You can't stop thinking of that peace. 

Then we follow through by keeping constant clear mindfulness,[22] knowing ourselves. Whatever we say, whatever we do, going here, going there, going on alms-round, washing our bowls or eating, we know what it is we are doing. We have mindfulness, staying steady. Just keep on doing it like this! Whatever it's time to do, do it with constant mindfulness. 

And walking meditation: take a straight path between two trees, about seven or eight full armspans. Walking's the same as sitting Samadhi. Collect yourself, resolve that now you're going to get into this meditation and calm down your mind so that clear mindfulness will be strong enough to arise. As to methods, some will start by spreading Metta (loving-kindness) to all living creatures for protection. Go ahead, the chicken-hearted need various approaches! 

Begin with your right foot first. Take a good step and walk, saying to yourself: "BUD-DHO, BUD-DHO..." with your footsteps. Keep your attention right there with your feet the whole time. If you feel restless, stop till peaceful, then step again. Knowing the beginning, middle and end of the path, and know when you're walking back. Know where you are continuously! 

So that's the method. You can do walking meditation. Some people will say: "Walking back and forth like that is looney!" But there's a lot of wisdom in walking meditation, you know. Walk back and forth. If you're tired, stop. Turn your attention inwards and bring your mind to rest by calmly being aware of your breath. 

Then become aware of one more thing, your alternating postures. Standing, walking, sitting, lying down, we keep changing positions. We can't only stand, only sit, or only lie down! We live using all these postures, thus we must develop awareness in each and every position and make them useful. 

Go ahead and do it! It's not easy. But, to put it simply: It's as if you take this glass and put it here for two minutes, then put it there for two minutes. Move it from here to there every two minutes. Just an example, but do it like this with concentration. In watching your breath it's the same; you do it until you doubt and suffer and that's when wisdom can arise. Some people will say: "What? Moving a glass back and forth like that is nutty, not useful! Are you crazy?" Never mind, just do it. And don't forget, two minutes not five minutes. Concentrate! It's all in the doing. 

Same with watching your breath. Sit up balanced in the cross-legged posture, right leg resting on the left. Breathe in till it reaches here (abdomen), breathe out till all the air is out of your lungs. Breathe in until full then let it go. Now don't try to regulate it! However long or short it is it's okay, good enough. Sit and watch your breath go in and out naturally. Don't let it slip away. If it does, stop! Where has it gone? Find it and bring it back. 

Sooner or later you'll meet up with something good. Just keep at it. Don't think you can't do it. Just like sowing rice in the earth, as if you're throwing it away, but soon a sprout is born, then it becomes a sheaf, and soon you husk it and can eat "khao mow" (green sweet rice). It's like that, you know. That's its nature. 

This is the same -- just sitting. Sometimes you think, "What am I sitting here looking at my breath for anyway? It'll go in and out by itself without me gawking at it!" That's just our opinionated mind, always flea-picking. Ignore it! Just try to do it till peaceful, because when calm, the breath becomes fine, body becomes relaxed, mind is relaxed, all's just right. Continuing on till perhaps you're just sitting there without your breath going in or out, but still alive. Don't be scared! Don't run away thinking you've stopped breathing! This is already a peaceful state. You don't have to do anything, just sit in it. Sometimes, it's like you're not even breathing, but you are. Many things like this can happen, but it's okay. Just be aware of it all, without being fooled by any of it. 

Just keep doing it and often! Right after you eat, hang up your robe and just start walking: "BUD-DHO, BUD-DHO..." Keep at it till your path becomes a knee-deep trench, just keep walking. When tired, go and sit. Do a lot! Do it so that you know, so that you have it, so that it's born, so that you understand what it's all about. Not just walking a bit: chung, chok, chung, chok... thinking of this and that, then up to lie down in your hut, soon snoring away! You'll never see anything that way. If you're lazy, when will it ever be finished? If you're tired or lazy, how far will you get? Just get it together, work through and get beyond your laziness. Not saying: "Peaceful, peaceful, peaceful," then sit and aren't peaceful right away, then quit because it isn't there. 

It's easy to say, but hard to do. Huh! Like saying: "Oh, it's not hard to plant rice, to plant and eat rice is better than this." But go out and do it and you don't know the oxen from the buffalo from the plow! Actually, doing it is a lot different from talking about it. That's how it is, you know. 

All of you, wanting to find peacefulness -- it's there! But you still don't know anything yet. Whoever you ask, you won't know. Just get to know your own breath going in and out, "BUD-DHO, BUD-DHO..." That's enough. Just do that. You don't have to think of much. At this time, know this, learn this for now. "I do it and I don't see anything." Doesn't matter, just do it. Whatever comes up, okay, just do it like this, so you'll know what it's about. Do it and see! If you just sit like this and know what's happening it's really all okay. When your mind becomes peaceful, it knows. You can sit all night till dawn and you won't feel you're even sitting, you enjoy it. You can't explain it, it's like enjoyment. 

When it gets like this, you might want to give "profound" sermons, but beware of getting "verbal diarrhea," expounding the Dhamma constantly, driving folks nutty with your non-stop teaching. Like old Novice Sang. One night just at dusk, walking meditation time, I heard someone in the bamboo grove nearby carrying on: "Yo, yo, yo, yo..." I sat and listened, thinking, "Who's teaching who over there? Who's carrying on?" He didn't stop, just kept babbling on. So I took my flashlight and walked over to see. Sure enough, it was Novice Sang sitting under his bamboo clump, lantern lit, cross-legged, bellowing at full blast, expounding the Dhamma to the night! "Sang, have you flipped your lid?" "Oh, I just can't hold it in!" he said. "When sitting, I gotta teach; when walking, I gotta teach... don't know where it'll end!" A real nut! Oh well, that's how it is, it can happen, you know. 

But keep at it. Don't just follow your moods. When lazy, keep at it! When energetic, keep at it! Do the sitting and walking and even when lying down, watch your breath. Before sleeping, teach your mind: "I won't indulge in the pleasure of sleep." When you awaken, continue meditating. And when eating, we remind ourselves: "I won't eat this food with greed, but only as medicine to sustain my life for this day and night, in order to have strength enough to carry on meditating." Before sleeping we teach ourselves; before eating we teach ourselves like that continually. If standing, be aware; if sitting, be aware; if lying down, be aware. Everything, do it that way! When you lie down, lie on your right side, focusing on your breath, "BUD-DHO, BUD-DHO..." until you fall asleep. And as soon as you awaken, continue "BUD-DHO, BUD-DHO..." as if you hadn't skipped a breath! Then peacefulness will arise... be continuously mindful. 

Don't look at another's practice, you can't do that. Regarding sitting meditation, sit balanced and erect. Don't have your head tilted back or hanging down. Keep it balanced. Like the Buddha statue -- now he's "sitting tight" and bright! If you want to change posture, endure the pain to the utmost limit before changing. "What?" you say, "I can't handle that!" But wait before moving. Endure the pain to its limit, then take more. However much it hurts, go ahead and endure it. And if it's too painful to keep "BUD-DHO" in mind, then take the pain as your object of awareness: "Pain, pain, pain, PAIN!" on and on instead of "BUD-DHO." Stay with it till the pain reaches its end, and see what comes up. The Buddha said that pain arises by itself, and it'll stop by itself. Let it just die, don't give up! Maybe you'll break out in a sweat -- drops as big as corn kernels rolling down your back. But if you can get past the feeling once, then you'll know what it's about. But that comes gradually, don't push yourself too far. Just slowly keep at it. 

And know about eating... chew, swallow, and where does it end up? Food that's right or wrong for your body, you'll know it. Know where it reaches. Refine the art of eating; eat and estimate when you'll be full after five more mouthfuls, then stop! Take enough water and that's it. Try and see if you can do it. Most people don't do it like that. Instead, they eat till full, then top up with five more mouthfuls! But that's not the way, understand? The Buddha said just keep eating attentively and know you're not yet full, but you will be in five more mouthfuls, then stop! Take enough water till full. Then, whether walking or sitting, you'll not feel heavy and your meditation will become automatically better. But people don't want to do it like that. If you don't really want to train yourself, then you can't do it. Otherwise, you eat till you're too full, topping up with another five mouthfuls. That's how it is, the nature of our greed and defilements and the things the Buddha taught go in different direction. We have to watch ourselves. 

And sleeping, being aware, it's up to your know-how. Sometimes you won't get to sleep on time; sleep early, sleep late, never mind. That's what I do. Get to sleep late or not late, doesn't matter, when I first awaken, I get right up. don't make a fuss over it. Cut it right there. If you awaken and are still sleepy, just get right up! Get up and go, wash your face and start walking meditation, go right ahead and walk. That's how we must train ourselves, do it! 

So these are the things to do. But you won't know about them from just listening to what others tell you. You can only know from actually doing the practice. So go ahead and do it. These are the first steps in training the mind. When meditating, focus on only one thing. Sitting, the mind only watches the breath going in and out, continually watching, slowly becoming peaceful. If the mind is scattered, as soon as you sit you're off missing home, mind reaching way over there, thinking you'd like to eat some noodles (those who've just ordained -- hungry, no?). You want to eat, want to drink, hungry, wanting, missing everything! Till you're crazy. But if you go crazy then be crazy, till you can work through it. 

But do it! Have you ever done walking meditation? How is it? "Mind wanders." Then stop till it comes back. If it really wanders, then don't breathe until you can't stand it -- your mind will come back. If you sit and your mind goes running everywhere, hold your breath, don't let it out, and when you can't stand it, it'll come back! Make the mind strong. Training the mind is not the same as training animals, you know, it's something that's really difficult to train! Don't be easily discouraged. At times, holding your breath till your chest is about to burst is the only thing that'll catch your mind -- it'll come running back! Try it and see. 

During this rains retreat get to know what it's about. In the daytime, do it; at night, do it; whenever you're fee, go ahead and do it. Do walking meditation night and day, even if you don't talk. Turn your attention right back to your meditation, make it continuous. 

It's the same as the water in this drinking bottle. If we tilt it a bit, it starts to "drip, drip, drip..."; we tilt it more and "drippity, drippity, drippity..." That's like our mindfulness. And if we really pour it out, it becomes a steady stream of water, like out of a tap, not just dripping. Meaning that: whether we stand, walk, sit, lie down or whatever, if we are always aware, then our mindfulness is the same as a steady stream of water. If we really pour it out, it's a steady stream. So, if our mind wanders, thinks of this and that, then our mindfulness is only like dripping water. 

So training our mind is just like this. Whether we think of this or that, are restless, aren't together, doesn't matter. Just keep practicing continually, and you'll develop awareness until it's a constant flow. Whether standing, sitting, lying down, or whatever, that awareness will be right there with you. Do it and see! 

Just sitting around, it's not going to happen by itself, you know. But if you try too hard, you can't do it either. don't try at all -- still can't do it! Keep that in mind. Sometimes you don't even intend to sit in meditation, but your work's finished and you sit down, empty your mind, and pap! -- you're peaceful right away. Easy, because you're right there. 

Take this then -- that's enough for now! 

Questions and Answers 

Question: I'm trying very hard in my practice but don't seem to be getting anywhere. 

Answer: This is very important. Don't try to get anywhere in the practice. The very desire to be free or to be enlightened will be the desire that prevents your freedom. You can try as hard as you wish, practice ardently night and day, but if it is still with the desire to achieve in mind, you will never find peace. The energy from this desire will be a cause for doubt and restlessness. No matter how long or how hard you practice, wisdom will not arise from desire. So, simply let go. Watch the mind and body mindfully but don't try to achieve anything. Don't cling even to the practice of enlightenment. 


Q: What about sleep? How much should I sleep? 

A: don't ask me, I can't tell you. A good average for some is four hours a night. What is important, though, is that you watch and know yourself. If you try to go with too little sleep, the body will feel uncomfortable and mindfulness will be difficult to sustain. Too much sleep leads to a dull or a restless mind. Find the natural balance for yourself. Carefully watch the mind and body and keep track of sleep needs until you find the optimum. If you wake up and then roll over for a snooze, this is defilement. Establish mindfulness as soon as your eyes open. 


Q: How about eating? How much should I eat? 

A: Eating is the same as sleeping. You must know yourself. Food must be consumed to meet bodily needs. Look at your food as medicine. Are you eating so much that you only feel sleepy after the meal and are you getting fatter every day? Stop! Examine your own body and mind. There is no need to fast. Instead, experiment with the amount of food you take. Find the natural balance for your body. Put all your food together in your bowl following the ascetic practice. Then you can easily judge the amount you take. Watch yourself carefully as you eat. Know yourself. The essence of our practice is just this. There is nothing special you must do. Only watch. Examine yourself. Watch the mind. Then you will know what is the natural balance for your own practice. 


Q: Are minds of Asians and Westerners different? 

A: Basically there is no difference. Outer customs and language may appear different, but the human mind has natural characteristics which are the same for all people. Greed and hatred are the same in an Eastern or a Western mind. Suffering and the cessation of suffering are the same for all people. 


Q: Is it advisable to read a lot or study the scriptures as a part of practice? 

A: The Dhamma of the Buddha is not found in books. If you want to really see for yourself what the Buddha was talking about, you don't need to bother with books. Watch your own mind. Examine to see how feelings come and go, how thoughts come and go. don't be attached to anything. Just be mindful of whatever there is to see. This is the way to the truths of the Buddha. Be natural. Everything you do in your life here is a chance to practice. It is all Dhamma. When you do your chores, try to be mindful. If you are emptying a spittoon or cleaning a toilet, don't feel you are doing it as a favor for anyone else. There is Dhamma in emptying spittoons. Don't feel you are practicing only when sitting still, cross-legged. Some of you have complained that there is not enough time to meditate. Is there enough time to breathe? This is your meditation: mindfulness, naturalness in whatever you do. 


Q: Why don't we have daily interviews with the teacher? 

A: If you have any questions, you are welcome to come and ask them anytime. But we don't need daily interviews here. If I answer your every little question, you will never understand the process of doubt in your own mind. It is essential that you learn to examine yourself, to interview yourself. Listen carefully to the lecture every few days, then use this teaching to compare with your own practice. Is it still the same? Is it different? Why do you have doubts? Who is it that doubts? Only through self-examination can you understand. 


Q: Sometimes I worry about the monks' discipline. If I kill insects accidentally, is this bad? 

A: Sila or discipline and morality are essential to our practice, but you must not cling to the rules blindly. In killing animals or in breaking other rules, the important thing is intention. Know your own mind. You should not be excessively concerned about the monks' discipline. If it is used properly, it supports the practice, but some monks are so worried about the petty rules that they can't sleep well. Discipline is not to be carried as a burden. In our practice here the foundation is discipline, good discipline plus the ascetic rules and practices. Being mindful and careful of even the many supporting rules as well as the basic 227 precepts has great benefit. It makes life very simple. There need be no wondering about how to act, so you can avoid thinking and instead just be simply mindful. The discipline enables us to live together harmoniously; the community runs smoothly. Outwardly everyone looks and acts the same. Discipline and morality are the stepping stones for further concentration and wisdom. By proper use of the monks' discipline and the ascetic precepts, we are forced to live simply, to limit our possessions. So here we have the complete practice of the Buddha: refrain from evil and do good, live simply keeping to basic needs, purify the mind. That is, be watchful of our mind and body in all postures: sitting, standing, walking or lying, know yourself. 


Q: What can I do about doubts? Some days I'm plagued with doubts about the practice or my own progress, or the teacher. 

A: Doubting is natural. Everyone starts out with doubts. You can learn a great deal from them. What is important is that you don't identify with your doubts: that is, don't get caught up in them. This will spin your mind in endless circles. Instead, watch the whole process of doubting, of wondering. See who it is that doubts. See how doubts come and go. Then you will no longer be victimized by your doubts. You will step outside of them and your mind will be quiet. You can see how all things come and go. Just let go of what you are attached to. Let go of your doubts and simply watch. This is how to end doubting. 


Q: What about other methods of practice? These days there seem to be so many teachers and so many different systems of meditation that it is confusing. 

A: It is like going into town. One can approach from the north, from the southeast, from many roads. Often these systems just differ outwardly. Whether you walk one way or another, fast or slow, if you are mindful, it is all the same. There is one essential point that all good practice must eventually come to -- not clinging. In the end, all meditation systems must be let go of. Neither can one cling to the teacher. If a system leads to relinquishment, to not clinging, then it is correct practice. 

You may wish to travel, to visit other teachers and try other systems. Some of you have already done so. This is a natural desire. You will find out that a thousand questions asked and knowledge of many systems will not bring you to the truth. Eventually you will get bored. You will see that only by stopping and examining your own mind can you find out what the Buddha talked about. No need to go searching outside yourself. Eventually you must return to face your own true nature. Here is where you can understand the Dhamma. 


Q: A lot of times it seems that many monks here are not practicing. They look sloppy or unmindful. This disturbs me. 

A: It is not proper to watch other people. This will not help your practice. If you are annoyed, watch the annoyance in your own mind. If others' discipline is bad or they are not good monks, this is not for you to judge. You will not discover wisdom watching others. Monks' discipline is a tool to use for your own meditation. It is not a weapon to use to criticize or find fault. No one can do your practice for you, nor can you do practice for anyone else. Just be mindful of your own doings. This is the way to practice. 


Q: I have been extremely careful to practice sense restraint. I always keep my eyes lowered and am mindful of every little action I do. When eating, for example, I take a long time and try to see each touch: chewing, tasting, swallowing, etc. I take each step very deliberately and carefully. Am I practicing properly? 

A: Sense restraint is proper practice. We should be mindful of it throughout the day. But don't overdo it! Walk and eat and act naturally. And then develop natural mindfulness of what is going on within yourself. Don't force your meditation nor force yourself into awkward patterns. This is another form of craving. Be patient. Patience and endurance are necessary. If you act naturally and are mindful, wisdom will come naturally too. 


Q: Is it necessary to sit for very long stretches? 

A: No, sitting for hours on end is not necessary. Some people think that the longer you can sit, the wiser you must be. I have seen chickens sit on their nests for days on end! Wisdom comes from being mindful in all postures. Your practice should begin as you awaken in the morning. It should continue until you fall asleep. Don't be concerned about how long you can sit. What is important is only that you keep watchful whether you are working or sitting or going to the bathroom. 

Each person has his own natural pace. Some of you will die at age fifty, some at age sixty-five, and some at age ninety. So, too, your practice will not be all identical. Don't think or worry about this. Try to be mindful and let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become quieter and quieter in any surroundings. It will become still like a clear forest pool. Then all kinds of wonderful and rare animals will come to drink at the pool. You will see clearly the nature of all things (sankharas) in the world. You will see many wonderful and strange things come and go. But you will be still. Problems will arise and you will see through them immediately. This is the happiness of the Buddha. 


Q: I still have very many thoughts. My mind wanders a lot even though I am trying to be mindful. 

A: Don't worry about this. Try to keep your mind in the present. Whatever there is that arises in the mind, just watch it. Let go of it. Don't even wish to be rid of thoughts. Then the mind will reach its natural state. No discriminating between good and bad, hot and cold, fast and slow. No me and no you, no self at all. Just what there is. When you walk on alms-round, no need to do anything special. Simply walk and see what there is. No need to cling to isolation or seclusion. Wherever you are, know yourself by being natural and watching. If doubts arise, watch them come and go. It's very simple. Hold on to nothing. 

It is as though you are walking down a road. Periodically you will run into obstacles. When you meet defilements, just see them and just overcome them by letting go of them. don't think about the obstacles you have passed already. Don't worry about those you have not yet seen. Stick to the present. Don't be concerned about the length of the road or about the destination. Everything is changing. Whatever you pass, do not cling to it. Eventually the mind will reach its natural balance where practice is automatic. All things will come and go of themselves. 


Q: Have you ever looked at the Altar Sutra of the 6th Patriarch, Hui Neng? 

A: Hui Neng's wisdom is very keen. It is very profound teaching, not easy for beginners to understand. But if you practice with our discipline and with patience, if you practice not-clinging, you will eventually understand. Once I had a disciple who stayed in a grass-roofed hut. It rained often that rainy season and one day a strong wind blew off half the roof. He did not bother to fix it, just let it rain in. Several days passed and I asked him about his hut. He said he was practicing not-clinging. This is not-clinging without wisdom. It is about the same as the equanimity of a water buffalo. If you live a good life and live simply, if you are patient and unselfish, you will understand the wisdom of Hui Neng. 


Q: You have said that samatha and vipassana or concentration and insight are the same. Could you explain this further? 

A: It is quite simple. Concentration (samatha) and wisdom (vipassana) work together. First the mind becomes still by holding on to a meditation object. It is quiet only while you are sitting with your eyes closed. This is samatha and eventually this samadhi-base is the cause for wisdom or vipassana to arise. Then the mind is still whether you sit with your eyes closed or walk around in a busy city. It's like this. Once you were a child. Now you are an adult. Are the child and the adult the same person? You can say that they are, or looking at it another way, you can say that they are different. In this way samatha and vipassana could also be looked at as separate. Or it is like food and feces. Food and feces could be called the same and they can be called different. Don't just believe what I say, do your practice and see for yourself. Nothing special is needed. If you examine how concentration and wisdom arise, you will know the truth for yourself. These days many people cling to the words. They call their practice vipassana. Samatha is looked down on. Or they call their practice samatha. It is essential to do samatha before vipassana, they say. All this is silly. Don't bother to think about it in this way. Simply do the practice and you'll see for yourself. 


Q: Is it necessary to be able to enter absorption in our practice? 

A: No, absorption is not necessary. You must establish a modicum of tranquillity and one-pointedness of mind. Then you use this to examine yourself. Nothing special is needed. If absorption comes in your practice, this is OK too. Just don't hold on to it. Some people get hung up with absorption. It can be great fun to play with. You must know proper limits. If you are wise, then you will know the uses and limitations of absorption, just as you know the limitations of children verses grown men. 


Q: Why do we follow the ascetic rules such as only eating out of our bowls? 

A: The ascetic precepts are to help us cut defilement. By following the ones such as eating out of our bowls we can be more mindful of our food as medicine. If we have no defilements, then it does not matter how we eat. But here we use the form to make our practice simple. The Buddha did not make the ascetic precepts necessary for all monks, but he allowed them for those who wished to practice strictly. They add to our outward discipline and thereby help increase our mental resolve and strength. These rules are to be kept for yourself. Don't watch how others practice. Watch your own mind and see what is beneficial for you. The rule that we must take whatever meditation cottage assigned to us is a similarly helpful discipline. It keeps monks from being attached to their dwelling place. If they go away and return, they must take a new dwelling. This is our practice -- not to cling to anything. 


Q: If putting everything together in our bowls is important, why don't you as a teacher do it yourself? Don't you feel it is important for the teacher to set an example? 

A: Yes, it is true, a teacher should set an example for his disciples. I don't mind that you criticize me. Ask whatever you wish. But it is important that you do not cling to the teacher. If I were absolutely perfect in outward form, it would be terrible. You would all be too attached to me. Even the Buddha would sometimes tell his disciples to do one thing and then do another himself. Your doubts in your teacher can help you. You should watch your own reactions. Do you think it is possible that I keep some food out of my bowl in dishes to feed the laymen who work around the temple? 

Wisdom is for yourself to watch and develop. Take from the teacher what is good. Be aware of your own practice. If I am resting while you must all sit up, does this make you angry? If I call the color blue red or say that male is female, don't follow me blindly. 

One of my teachers ate very fast. He made noises as he ate. Yet he told us to eat slowly and mindfully. I used to watch him and get very upset. I suffered, but he didn't! I watched the outside. Later I learned. Some people drive very fast but carefully. Others drive slowly and have many accidents. Don't cling to rules, to outer form. If you watch others at most ten percent of the time and watch yourself ninety percent, this is the proper practice. At first I used to watch my teacher Ajahn Tong Raht and had many doubts. People even thought he was mad. He would do strange things or get very fierce with his disciples. Outside he was angry, but inside there was nothing. Nobody there. He was remarkable. He stayed clear and mindful until the moment he died. 

Looking outside the self is comparing, discriminating. You will not find happiness that way. Nor will you find peace if you spend your time looking for the perfect man or the perfect teacher. The Buddha taught us to look at the Dhamma, the truth, not to look at other people. 


Q: How can we overcome lust in our practice? Sometimes I feel as if I am a slave to my sexual desire. 

A: Lust should be balanced by contemplation of loathsomeness. Attachment to bodily form is one extreme and one should keep in mind the opposite. Examine the body as a corpse and see the process of decay or think of the parts of the body such as the lungs, spleen, fat, feces, and so forth. Remember these and visualize this loathsome aspect of the body when lust arises. This will free you from lust. 


Q: How about anger? What should I do when I feel anger arising? 

A: You must use loving-kindness. When angry states of mind arise in meditation, balance them by developing feelings of loving-kindness. If someone does something bad or gets angry, don't get angry yourself. If you do, you are being more ignorant than they. Be wise. Keep in mind compassion, for that person is suffering. Fill your mind with loving-kindness as if he were a dear brother. Concentrate on the feeling of loving-kindness as a meditation subject. Spread it to all beings in the world. Only through loving-kindness is hatred overcome. 

Sometimes you may see other monks behaving badly. You may get annoyed. This is suffering unnecessarily. It is not yet our Dhamma. You may think like this: "He is not as strict as I am. They are not serious meditators like us. Those monks are not good monks." This is a great defilement on your part. Do not make comparisons. Do not discriminate. Let go of your opinion as watch your opinions and watch yourself. This is our Dhamma. You can't possibly make everyone act as you wish or be like you. This wish will only make you suffer. It is a common mistake for meditators to make, but watching other people won't develop wisdom. Simply examine yourself, your feelings. This is how you will understand. 


Q: I feel sleepy a great deal. It makes it hard to meditate. 

A: There are many ways to overcome sleepiness. If you are sitting in the dark, move to a lighted place. Open your eyes. Get up and wash your face or take a bath. If you are sleepy, change postures. Walk a lot. Walk backwards. The fear of running into things will keep you awake. If this fails, stand still, clear the mind and imagine it is full daylight. Or sit on the edge of a high cliff or deep well. You won't dare sleep! If nothing works, then just go to sleep. Lay down carefully and try to be aware until the moment you fall asleep. Then as you awaken, get right up. Don't look at the clock or roll over. Start mindfulness from the moment you awaken. 

If you find yourself sleepy everyday, try to eat less. Examine yourself. As soon as five more spoonfuls will make you full, stop. Then take water until just properly full. Go and sit. Watch your sleepiness and hunger. You must learn to balance your eating. As your practice goes on you will feel naturally more energetic and eat less. But you must adjust yourself. 


Q: Why must we do so much prostrating here? 

A: Prostrating is very important. It is an outward form that is part of practice. This form should be done correctly. Bring the forehead all the way to the floor. Have the elbows near the knees and the palms of the hands on the floor about three inches apart. Prostrate slowly, be mindful of your body. It is a good remedy for our conceit. We should prostrate often. When you prostrate three times you can keep in mind the qualities of the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, that is, the qualities of mind of purity, radiance and peace. So we use the outward form to train ourselves. Body and mind become harmonious. Don't make the mistake of watching how others prostrate. If young novices are sloppy or the aged monks appear unmindful, this is not for you to judge. People can be difficult to train. Some learn fast but others learn slowly. Judging others will only increase your pride. Watch yourself instead. Prostrate often, get rid of your pride. 

Those who have really become harmonious with the Dhamma get far beyond the outward form. Everything they do is a way of prostrating. Walking, they prostrate; eating, they prostrate; defecating, they prostrate. This is because they have got beyond selfishness. 


Q: What is the biggest problem of your new disciples? 

A: Opinions. Views and ideas about all things. About themselves, about practice, about the teachings of the Buddha. Many of those who come here have a high rank in the community. There are wealthy merchants or college graduates, teachers and government officials. Their minds are filled with opinions about things. They are too clever to listen to others. It is like water in a cup. If a cup is filled with dirty, stale water, it is useless. Only after the old water is thrown out can the cup become useful. You must empty your minds of opinions, then you will see. Our practice goes beyond cleverness and beyond stupidity. If you think, "I am clever, I am wealthy, I am important, I understand all about Buddhism." You cover up the truth of anatta or no-self. All you will see is self, I, mine. But Buddhism is letting go of self. Voidness, Emptiness, Nibbana. 


Q: Are defilements such as greed or anger merely illusory or are they real? 

A: They are both. The defilements we call lust or greed, or anger or delusion, these are just outward names, appearances. Just as we call a bowl large, small, pretty, or whatever. This is not reality. It is the concept we create from craving. If we want a big bowl, we call this one small. Craving causes us to discriminate. The truth, though, is merely what is. Look at it this way. Are you a man? You can say "yes." This is the appearance of things. But really you are only a combination of elements or a group of changing aggregates. If the mind is free, it does not discriminate. No big and small, no you and me. There is nothing: Anatta, we say, or non-self. Really, in the end there is neither atta nor anatta. 


Q: Could you explain a little more about karma? 

A: Karma is action. Karma is clinging. Body, speech, and mind all make karma when we cling. We make habits. These can make us suffer in the future. This is the fruit of our clinging, of our past defilement. All attachment leads to making karma. Suppose you were a thief before you became a monk. You stole, made others unhappy, made your parents unhappy. Now you are a monk, but when you remember how you made others unhappy, you feel bad and suffer yourself even today. Remember, not only body, but speech and mental action can make conditions for future results. If you did some act of kindness in the past and remember it today, you will be happy. This happy state of mind is the result of past karma. All things are conditioned by cause -- both long term and, when examined, moment to moment. But you need not bother to think about past, or present, or future. Merely watch the body and mind. You must figure karma out for yourself. Watch your mind. Practice and you will see clearly. Make sure, however, that you leave the karma of others to them. Don't cling to and don't watch others. If I take a poison, I suffer. No need for you to share it with me! Take what is good that your teacher offers. Then you can become peaceful, your mind will become like that of your teacher. If you will examine it, you will see. Even if now you don't understand, when you practice, it will become clear. You will know by yourself. This is called practicing the Dhamma. 

When we were young, our parents used to discipline us and get angry. Really they wanted to help us. You must see it over the long term. Parents and teachers criticize us and we get upset. Later on we see why. After long practice you will know. Those who are too clever leave after a short time. They never learn. You must get rid of your cleverness. If you think yourself better than others, you will only suffer. What a pity. No need to get upset. Just watch. 


Q: Sometimes it seems that since becoming a monk I have increased my hardships and suffering. 

A: I know that some of you have had a background of material comfort and outward freedom. By comparison, now you live an austere existence. Then in the practice, I often make you sit and wait for long hours. Food and climate are different from your home. But everyone must go through some of this. This is the suffering that leads to the end of suffering. This is how you learn. When you get angry and feel sorry for yourself, it is a great opportunity to understand the mind. The Buddha called defilements our teachers. 

All my disciples are like my children. I have only loving kindness and their welfare in mind. If I appear to make you suffer, it is for your own good. I know some of you are well-educated and very knowledgeable. People with little education and worldly knowledge can practice easily. But it is as if you Westerners have a very large house to clean. When you have cleaned the house, you will have a big living space. You can use the kitchen, the library, the living room. You must be patient. Patience and endurance are essential to our practice. When I was a young monk I did not have it as hard as you. I knew the language and was eating my native food. Even so, some days I despaired. I wanted to disrobe or even commit suicide. This kind of suffering comes from wrong views. When you have seen the truth, though, you are free from views and opinions. Everything becomes peaceful. 


Q: I have been developing very peaceful states of mind from meditation. What should I do now? 

A: This is good. Make the mind peaceful, concentrated. Use this concentration to examine the mind and body. When the mind is not peaceful, you should also watch. Then you will know true peace. Why? Because you will see impermanence. Even peace must be seen as impermanent. If you are attached to peaceful states of mind you will suffer when you do not have them. Give up everything, even peace. 


Q: Did I hear you say that you are afraid of very diligent disciples? 

A: Yes, that's right. I am afraid. I am afraid that they are too serious. They try too hard, but without wisdom. They push themselves into unnecessary suffering. Some of you are determined to become enlightened. You grit your teeth and struggle all the time. This is trying too hard. People are all the same. They don't know the nature of things (sankhara). All formations, mind and body, are impermanent. Simply watch and don't cling. 

Others think they know. They criticize, they watch, they judge. That's OK. Leave their opinions to them. This discrimination is dangerous. It is like a road with a very sharp curve. If we think others are worse or better or the same as us, we go off the curve. If we discriminate, we will only suffer. 


Q: I have been meditating many years now. My mind is open and peaceful in almost all circumstances. Now I would like to try to backtrack and practice high states of concentration or mind absorption. 

A: This is fine. It is beneficial mental exercise. If you have wisdom, you will not get hung up on concentrated states of mind. It is the same as wanting to sit for long periods. This is fine for training, but really, practice is separate from any posture. It is a matter of directly looking at the mind. This is wisdom. When you have examined and understood the mind, then you have the wisdom to know the limitations of concentration, or of books. If you have practiced and understand not-clinging, you can then return to the books. They will be like a sweet dessert. They can help you to teach others. Or you can go back to practice absorption. You have the wisdom to know not to hold on to anything. 


Q: Would you review some of the main points of our discussion? 

A: You must examine yourself. Know who you are. Know your body and mind by simply watching. In sitting, in sleeping, in eating, know your limits. Use wisdom. The practice is not to try to achieve anything. Just be mindful of what is. Our whole meditation is looking directly at the mind. You will see suffering, its cause and its end. But you must have patience; much patience and endurance. Gradually you will learn. The Buddha taught his disciples to stay with their teachers for at least five years. You must learn the values of giving, of patience and of devotion. 

Don't practice too strictly. Don't get caught up with outward form. Watching others is bad practice. Simply be natural and watch that. Our monks' discipline and monastic rules are very important. They create a simple and harmonious environment. Use them well. But remember, the essence of the monks' discipline is watching intention, examining the mind. You must have wisdom. Don't discriminate. Would you get upset at a small tree in the forest for not being tall and straight like some of the others? This is silly. Don't judge other people. There are all varieties. No need to carry the burden of wishing to change them all. 

So, be patient. Practice morality. Live simply and be natural. Watch the mind. This is our practice. It will lead you to unselfishness. To peace. 
Notes 

1. Anicca-Dukkha-Anatta: the three characteristics of existence, namely: impermanence/instability, suffering/unsatisfactoriness, and not-self/impersonality. [Go back] 

2. Siddhartha Gotama: the original name of the historical Buddha. (Buddha, the "one-who-knows," also represents the state of enlightenment or Awakening. [Go back] 

3. According to Buddhist thought beings are born in any of eight states of existence depending on their Kamma. These include three Heavenly States (where happiness is predominant), the Human State, and the four above-mentioned Woeful or Hell States (where suffering is predominant). The Venerable Ajahn always stresses that we should see these states in our own minds in the present moment. So that depending on the condition of the mind, we can say that we are continually being born in these different states. For instance, when the mind is on fire with anger then we have fallen from the Human State and have been born in Hell right here and now. [Go back] 

4. Lit. creatures with soft horns on their chest. [Go back] 

5. Mara: the Buddhist "Tempter" figure. He is either regarded as the deity ruling of the highest heaven of the Sensuous Sphere or as the personification of evil and passions, of the totality of worldly existence and of death. He is the opponent of liberation and tried in vain to obstruct the Buddha's attainment of Enlightenment. [Go back] 

6. Worldly dhamma: the eight worldly conditions are: gain and loss, honor and dishonor, happiness and misery, praise and blame. [Go back] 

7. Path: (the Eightfold Path) comprises 8 factors of spiritual practice leading to the extinction of suffering: Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration. [Go back] 

8. Nourishment for contemplation, to feed wisdom. [Go back] 

9.N.B. in this translation "heart" is used where "mind" was used in the other translations. [Go back] 

10.Ajahn Mun: probably the most respected and most influential Meditation Master of this century in Thailand. Under his guidance the Ascetic Forest Tradition (Dhutanga Kammatthana) became a very important tradition in the revival of Buddhist meditation practice. The vast majority of recently deceased and presently living great Meditation Masters of Thailand are either direct disciples of the Venerable Ajahn or were substantially influenced by his Teachings. Ajahn Mun passed away in November 1949. [Go back] 

11.Ajahn Sao: Ajahn Mun's Teacher. [Go back] 

12. Dukkha: refers to the implicit unsatisfactoriness, incompleteness, imperfection, insecurity of all conditioned phenomena, which, because they are always changing, are always liable to cause suffering. Dukkha refers to all forms of unpleasantness from gross bodily pains and the suffering implicit in old age, sickness and death, to subtle feelings such as being parted from what we like or associated with what we dislike, to refined mental states such as dullness, boredom, restlessness, agitation, etc. This is one of the most misunderstood concepts and one of the most important for spiritual development. [Go back] 

13. Dhamma and dhamma: please note the various meanings of the words "Dhamma" (the liberating law discovered and proclaimed by the Buddha), and "dhamma" (any quality, thing, object of mind and/or any conditioned or unconditioned phenomena). Sometimes the meanings also overlap. [Go back] 

14. Suffering in this context refers to the implicit unsatisfactoriness of all compounded existence as distinct from suffering as merely the opposite of happiness. [Go back] 

15. Samsara: lit. perpetual wandering, is a name by which is designated the sea of life ever restlessly heaving up and down, the symbol of this continuous process of ever again and again being born, growing old, suffering and dying. [Go back] 

16. Paa: has a wide range of meanings from general common sense to knowledgeable understanding, to profound insight into Dhamma. Although each use of the word may have a different meaning, implicit in all of them is an increasing understanding of Dhamma culminating in profound Insight and Enlightenment. [Go back] 

17. On another occasion the Venerable Ajahn completed the analogy by saying that if we know how to guard our own minds, then it is the same as observing all of the numerous rules of the Vinaya. [Go back] 

18. Translators' Note: One must imagine Ajahn Chah sitting on his Abbot's cushion, surrounded by the Assembly of newly-ordained Monks and Novices, chuckling, teasing and spontaneously picking objects near him to illustrate his points more simply. Trying to keep the bounce of his words, his humor, and his joy on paper is difficult. However, the conversational tone has been kept and Lao slang replaced by American slang in most places. [Go back] 

19. "are standing on their heads": the Venerable Ajahn used a common Lao expression which literally means: "raise their ass to the sky." [Go back] 

20. "BUD-DHO": a Parikamma or "Mantra" commonly used to maintain one's attention when used in conjunction with other methods such as mindfulness of the in-and out-breath or in the walking meditation or by itself as a recollection on the Buddha. [Go back] 

21. sabai: a Thai word generally meaning "comfortable," "content" or physical and/or mental well-being, as opposed to discomfort or dis-ease. In meditation it can imply positive happiness or neutral contentment. [Go back] 

22. clear mindfulness: in Pali it is Sati-Sampajaa, lit. mindfulness and clear comprehension or more generally, a clear presence of mind and self-knowing. [Go back] 
Revised: Saturday 2005.01.29

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/chah/bodhinyana.html
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