At this time please
determine your minds to listen to the Dhamma. Today is the traditional day of dhammasavana. It is the appropriate
time for us, the host of Buddhists, to study the Dhamma in order to increase
our mindfulness and wisdom. Giving and receiving the teachings is something we
have been doing for a long time. The activities we usually perform on this day,
chanting homage to the Buddha, taking moral precepts, meditating and listening
to teachings, should be understood as methods and principles for spiritual
development. They are not anything more than this.
When it comes to taking
precepts, for example, a monk will proclaim the precepts and the lay people
will vow to undertake them. Don't misunderstand what is going on. The truth is
that morality is not something that can be given. It can't really be requested
or received from someone. We can't give it to someone else. In our vernacular
we hear people say, ''The venerable monk gave the precepts'' and ''we received
the precepts.'' We talk like this here in the countryside and so it has become
our habitual way of understanding. If we think like this, that we come to
receive precepts from the monks on the lunar observance days and that if the
monks won't give precepts then we don't have morality, that is only a tradition
of delusion that we have inherited from our ancestors. Thinking in this way
means that we give up our own responsibility, not having firm trust and
conviction in ourselves. Then it gets passed down to the next generation, and
they too come to 'receive' precepts from the monks. And the monks come to
believe that they are the ones who 'give' the precepts to the laity. In fact
morality and precepts are not like that. They are not something to be 'given'
or 'received'; but on ceremonial occasions of making merit and the like we use
this as a ritual form according to tradition and employ the terminology.
In truth morality resides
with the intentions of people. If you have the conscious determination to
refrain from harmful activities and wrongdoing by way of body and speech then
morality is coming about within you. You should know it within yourself. It is
okay to take the vows with another person. You can also recollect the precepts
by yourself. If you don't know what they are then you can request them from
someone else. It is not something very complicated or distant. So really
whenever we wish to receive morality and Dhamma we have them right then. It is
just like the air that surrounds us everywhere. Whenever we breathe we take it
in. All manner of good and evil is like that. If we wish to do good, we can do
it anywhere, at any time. We can do it alone or together with others. Evil is
the same. We can do it with a large or small group, in a hidden or open place.
It is like this.
These are things that are
already in existence. But as for morality, this is something that we should
consider normal for all humans to practice. A person who has no morality is no
different from an animal. If you decide to live like an animal then of course
there is no good or evil for you, because an animal doesn't have any knowledge
of such things. A cat catches mice, but we don't say it is doing evil, because
it has no concepts or knowledge of good or bad, right or wrong. These beings
are outside the circle of human beings. It is the animal realm. The Buddha
pointed out that this group is just living according to the animal kind of
kamma. Those who understand right and wrong, good and evil, are humans. The
Buddha taught his Dhamma for humans. If we people don't have morality and
knowledge of these things then we are not much different from animals, so it is
appropriate that we study and learn about them and make ourselves able. This is
taking advantage of the precious accomplishment of human existence and bringing
it to fulfilment.
The profound Dhamma is the
teaching that morality is necessary. Then when there is morality, we have a
foundation on which we can progress in Dhamma. Morality means the precepts as
to what is forbidden and what is permissible. Dhamma refers to nature and to
humans knowing about nature - how things exist according to nature. Nature is
something we do not compose. It exists as it is according to its conditions. A
simple example is animals. A certain species, such as peacocks, is born with
its various patterns and colours. They were not created like that by humans or
modified by humans; they are just born that way according to nature. This is a
little example of how it is in nature.
All things of nature are
existing in the world - this is still talking about understanding from a
worldly viewpoint. The Buddha taught Dhamma for us to know nature, to let go of
it and let it exist according to its conditions. This is talking about the
external material world. As to nāmadhamma, meaning
the mind, it cannot be left to follow its own conditions. It has to be trained.
In the end we can say that mind is the teacher of body and speech, so it needs
to be well trained. Letting it go according to its natural urges just makes one
an animal. It has to be instructed and trained. It should come to know nature,
but should not merely be left to follow nature.
We are born into this world
and all of us will naturally have the afflictions of desire, anger and
delusion. Desire makes us crave after various things and causes the mind to be
in a state of imbalance and turmoil. Nature is like that. It will just not do
to let the mind go after these impulses of craving. It only leads to heat and
distress. It is better to train in Dhamma, in truth.
When aversion occurs in us
we want to express anger towards people; it may even get to the point of
physically attacking or killing people. But we don't just 'let it go' according
to its nature. We know the nature of what is occurring. We see it for what it
is, and teach the mind about it. This is studying Dhamma.
Delusion is the same. When
it happens we are confused about things. If we just leave it as it is, then we
remain in ignorance. So the Buddha told us to know nature, to teach nature, to
train and adjust nature, to know exactly what nature is.
For example, people are
born with physical form and mind. In the beginning these things are born, in
the middle they change and in the end they are extinguished. This is ordinary;
this is their nature. We cannot do much to alter these facts. We train our
minds as we can and when the time comes we have to let go of it all. It is
beyond the ability of humans to change this or get beyond it. The Dhamma that
the Buddha taught is something to be applied while we are here, for making
actions, words and thoughts correct and proper. It means he was teaching the
minds of people so that they would not be deluded in regard to nature, and to
conventional reality and supposition. The teacher instructed us to see the
world. His Dhamma was a teaching that is above and beyond the world. We are in
the world. We were born into this world; he taught us to transcend the world
and not to be a prisoner to worldly ways and habits.
It is like a diamond that
falls into a muddy pit. No matter how much dirt and filth covers it, that does
not destroy its radiance, the hues and the worth of it. Even though the mud is
stuck to it the diamond does not lose anything, but is just as it originally
was. There are two separate things.
So the Buddha taught to be
above the world, which means knowing the world clearly. By 'the world' he did
not mean so much the earth and sky and elements, but rather the mind, the wheel
of samsāra within the hearts of people. He meant this wheel, this world. This
is the world that the Buddha knew clearly; when we talk about knowing the world
clearly we are talking about these things. If it were otherwise, then the
Buddha would have had to be flying everywhere to 'know the world clearly.' It
is not like that. It is a single point. All dhammas come down to one single
point. Like people, which means men and women. If we observe one man and one
woman, we know the nature of all people in the universe. They are not that
different.
Or learning about heat. If
we just know this one point, the quality of being hot, then it does not matter
what the source or cause of the heat is; the condition of 'hot' is such.
Knowing clearly this one point, then wherever there may be hotness in the
universe, we know it is like this. So the Buddha knew a single point and thus
his knowledge encompassed the world. Knowing coldness to be a certain way, when
he encountered coldness anywhere in the world, he already knew it. He taught a
single point, for beings living in the world to know the world, to know the
nature of the world. Just like knowing people. Knowing men and women, knowing
the manner of existence of beings in the world. His knowledge was such. Knowing
one point, he knew all things.
The Dhamma that the teacher
expounded was for going beyond suffering. What is this 'going beyond suffering'
all about? What should we do to 'escape from suffering'? It is necessary for us
to do some study; we need to come and study the thinking and feeling in our
hearts. Just that. It is something we are presently unable to change. If we can
change it we can be free of all suffering and unsatisfactoriness in life, just
by changing this one point: our habitual world view, our way of thinking and
feeling. If we come to have a new sense of things, a new understanding, then we
transcend the old perceptions and understanding.
The authentic Dhamma of the
Buddha is not something pointing far away. It teaches about attā, self, and that things are not really self. That is all. All the
teachings that the Buddha gave were pointing out that 'this is not a self, this
does not belong to a self, there is no such thing as ourselves or others.' Now,
when we contact this, we can't really read it, we don't 'translate' the Dhamma
correctly. We still think 'this is me, this is mine.' We attach to things and
invest them with meaning. When we do this, we can't yet disentangle from them;
the involvement deepens and the mess gets worse and worse. If we know that
there is no self, that body and mind are really anattā as the
Buddha taught, then when we keep on investigating, eventually we will come to
realization of the actual condition of selflessness. We will genuinely realize
that there is no self or other. Pleasure is merely pleasure. Feeling is merely
feeling. Memory is merely memory. Thinking is merely thinking. They are all
things that are 'merely' such. Happiness is merely happiness; suffering is
merely suffering. Good is merely good, evil is merely evil. Everything exists
merely thus. There is no real happiness or real suffering. There are just the
merely existing conditions. Merely happy, merely suffering, merely hot, merely
cold, merely a being or a person. You should keep looking to see that things
are only so much. Only earth, only water, only fire, only wind. We should keep
on 'reading' these things and investigating this point. Eventually our
perception will change; we will have a different feeling about things. The
tightly held conviction that there is self and things belonging to self will
gradually come undone. When this sense of things is removed then the opposite
perception will keep increasing steadily.
When the realization of anattā comes to
full measure then we will be able to relate to the things of this world - to
our most cherished possessions and involvements, to friends and relations, to wealth,
accomplishments and status - just the same as we do to our clothes. When shirts
and pants are new we wear them; they get dirty and we wash them; after some
time they are worn out and we discard them. There is nothing out of the
ordinary there; we are constantly getting rid of the old things and starting to
use new garments.
So we will have the exact
same feeling about our existence in this world. We will not cry or moan over
things. We will not be tormented or burdened by them. They remain the same things
as they were before, but our feeling and understanding of them has changed. Now
our knowledge will be exalted and we will see truth. We will have attained
supreme vision and authentic taught the Dhamma that we ought to know and to
see. Where is the Dhamma that we ought to know and see? It is right here within
us, this body and mind. We have it already; we should come to know and see it.
For example, all of us have
been born into this human realm. Whatever we gained by that we are going to
lose. We have seen people born and seen them die. We just see this happening,
but don't really see clearly. When there is a birth, we rejoice over it; when
people die, we cry for them. There is no end. It goes on in this way and there
is no end to our foolishness. Seeing birth we are foolhardy. Seeing death we
are foolhardy. There is only this unending foolishness. Let's take a look at
all this. These things are natural occurrences. Contemplate the Dhamma here,
the Dhamma that we should know and see. This Dhamma is existing right now. Make
up your minds about this. Exert restraint and self-control. Now we are amidst
the things of this life. We shouldn't have fears of death. We should fear the
lower realms. Don't fear dying; rather be afraid of falling into hell. You should
be afraid of doing wrong while you still have life. These are old things we are
dealing with, not new things. Some people are alive but don't know themselves
at all. They think, ''What's the big deal about what I do now; I can't know
what is going to happen when I die.'' They don't think about the new seeds they
are creating for the future. They only see the old fruit. They fixate on
present experience, not realizing that if there is fruit it must have come from
a seed, and that within the fruit we have now are the seeds of future fruit.
These seeds are just waiting to be planted. Actions born of ignorance continue
the chain in this way, but when you are eating the fruit you don't think about
all the implications.
Wherever the mind has a lot
of attachment, just there will we experience intense suffering, intense grief,
intense difficulty. The place we experience the most problems is the place we
have the most attraction, longing and concern. Please try to resolve this. Now,
while you still have life and breath, keep on looking at it and reading it
until you are able to 'translate' it and solve the problem.
Whatever we are
experiencing as part of our lives now, one day we will be parted from it. So
don't just pass the time. Practice spiritual cultivation. Take this parting,
this separation and loss as your object of contemplation right now in the
present, until you are clever and skilled in it, until you can see that it is
ordinary and natural. When there is anxiety and regret over it have the wisdom
to recognize the limits of this anxiety and regret, knowing what they are
according to the truth. If you can consider things in this way then wisdom will
arise. Whenever suffering occurs, wisdom can arise there, if we investigate.
But people generally do not want to investigate.
Wherever pleasant or
unpleasant experience happens, wisdom can arise there. If we know happiness and
suffering for what they really are then we know the Dhamma. If we know the
Dhamma, we know the world clearly; if we know the world clearly, we know the
Dhamma.
Actually, for most of us,
if something is displeasing we don't really want to know about it. We get
caught up in the aversion to it. If we dislike someone we don't want to look at
his face or get anywhere near him. This is the mark of a foolish, unskilful
person; this is not the way of a good person. If we like someone then of course
we want to be close to him, we make every effort to be with him, taking delight
in his company. This also is foolishness. They are actually the same, like the
palm and back of the hand. When we turn the hand up and see the palm, the back
of the hand is hidden from sight. When we turn it over then the palm is not
seen. Pleasure hides pain and pain hides pleasure from our sight. Wrong covers
up right, right covers wrong. Just looking at one side our knowledge is not
complete. Let's do things completely while we still have life. Keep on looking
at things, separating truth from falsehood, noting how things really are,
getting to the end of it, reaching peace. When the time comes we will be able
to cut through and let go completely. Now we have to firmly attempt to separate
things - and keep trying to cut through.
The Buddha taught about
hair, nails, skin and teeth. He taught us to separate here. A person who does
not know about separating only knows about holding them to himself. Now while
we have not yet parted from these things we should be skilful in meditating on
them. We have not yet left this world, so we should be careful. We should
contemplate a lot, make copious charitable offerings, recite the scriptures a
lot, practise a lot: develop insight into impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, and
selflessness. Even if the mind does not want to listen we should keep on
breaking things up like this and come to know in the present. This can most
definitely be done. One can realize knowledge that transcends the world. We are
stuck in the world. This is a way to 'destroy' the world, through contemplating
and seeing beyond the world so that we can transcend the world in our being.
Even while we are living in this world our view can be above the world.
In a worldly existence one
creates both good and evil. Now we try to practice virtue and give up evil.
When good results come then you should not be under that good, but be able to
transcend it. If you do not transcend it then you become a slave to virtue and
to your concepts of what is good. It puts you in difficulty, and there will not
be an end to your tears. It does not matter how much good you have practiced,
if you are attached to it then you are still not free and there will be no end
to tears. But one who transcends good as well as evil has no more tears to
shed. They have dried up. There can be an end. We should learn to use virtue,
not to be used by virtue.
In a nutshell, the point of
the teaching of the Buddha is to transform one's view. It is possible to change
it. It only requires looking at things and then it happens. Having been born we
will experience aging, illness, death and separation. These things are right
here. We don't need to look up at the sky or down at the earth. The Dhamma that
we need to see and to know can be seen right here within us, every moment of
every day. When there is a birth, we are filled with joy. When there is a
death, we grieve. That's how we spend our lives. These are the things we need
to know about, but we still have not really looked into them and seen the
truth. We are stuck deep in this ignorance. We ask, ''When will we see the
Dhamma,'' but it is right here to be seen in the present.
This is the Dhamma we
should learn about and see. This is what the Buddha taught about. He did not
teach about gods and demons and nāga,
protective deities, jealous demigods, nature spirits and the like. He taught
the things that one should know and see. These are truths that we really should
be able to realize. External phenomena are like this, exhibiting the three
characteristics. Internal phenomena, meaning this body, are like this too. The
truth can be seen in the hair, nails, skin and teeth. Previously they
flourished. Now they are diminished. The hair thins and becomes grey. It is
like this. Do you see? Or will you say it is something you can't see? You
certainly should be able to see with a little investigation.
If we really take an
interest in all of this and contemplate seriously we can gain genuine
knowledge. If this were something that could not be done the Buddha would not
have bothered to talk about it. How many tens and hundreds of thousands of his
followers have come to realization? If one is really keen on looking at things
one can come to know. The Dhamma is like that. We are living in this world. The
Buddha wanted us to know the world. Living in the world, we gain our knowledge
from the world. The Buddha is said to be lokavidū, one who
knows the world clearly. It means living in the world but not being stuck in
the ways of the world, living among attraction and aversion but not stuck in
attraction and aversion. This can be spoken about and explained in ordinary
language. This is how the Buddha taught.
Normally we speak in terms
of attā, self,
talking about me and mine, you and yours, but the mind can remain
uninterruptedly in the realization of anattā,
selflessness. Think about it. When we talk to children we speak in one way;
when dealing with adults we speak in another way. If we use words appropriate
to children to speak with adults, or use adults' words to speak with children,
it won't work out. In the proper use of conventions we have to know when we are
talking to children. It can be appropriate to talk about me and mine, you and
yours and so forth, but inwardly the mind is Dhamma, dwelling in realization of anattā. You should have this kind of foundation.
So the Buddha said that you
should take the Dhamma as your foundation, your basis. Living and practicing in
the world, will you take yourself, your ideas, desires and opinions as a basis?
That is not right. The Dhamma should be your standard. If you take yourself as
the standard you become self-absorbed. If you take someone else as your
standard you are merely infatuated with that person. Being enthralled with
ourselves or with another person is not the way of Dhamma. The Dhamma does not
incline to any person or follow personalities. It follows the truth. It does
not simply accord with the likes and dislikes of people; such habitual
reactions have nothing to do with the truth of things.
If we really consider all
of this and investigate thoroughly to know the truth, then we will enter the
correct path. Our way of living will become correct. Thinking will be correct.
Our actions and speech will be correct. So we really should look into all of
this. Why is it that we have suffering? Because of lack of knowledge, not
knowing where things begin and end, not understanding the causes; this is
ignorance. When there is this ignorance then various desires arise, and being
driven by them we create the causes of suffering. Then the result must be
suffering. When you gather firewood and light a match to it, expecting not to
have any heat, what are your chances? You are creating a fire, aren't you? This
is origination itself.
If you understand these
things then morality will be born here. Dhamma will be born here. So prepare
yourselves. The Buddha advised us to prepare ourselves. You needn't have too
many concerns or anxieties about things. Just look here. Look at the place
without desires, the place without danger. Nibbāna
paccayo hotu - the
Buddha taught, let it be a cause for Nibbāna. If it will be a cause for
realization of Nibbāna then it means looking at the place where things are
empty, where things are done with, where they reach their end, where they are
exhausted. Look at the place where there are no more causes, where there is no
more self or other, me or mine. This looking becomes a cause or condition, a
condition for attaining Nibbāna. Then practicing generosity becomes a cause for
realizing Nibbāna. Practicing morality becomes a cause for realizing Nibbāna.
Listening to the teachings becomes a cause for realizing Nibbāna. Thus we can
dedicate all our Dhamma activities to become causes for Nibbāna. But if we are
not looking towards Nibbāna, if we are looking at self and other and attachment
and grasping without end, this does not become a cause for Nibbāna.
When we deal with others
and they talk about self, about me and mine, about what is ours, then we
immediately agree with this viewpoint. We immediately think, ''Yeah, that's
right!'' But it's not right. Even if the mind is saying, ''Right, right'' we
have to exert control over it. It's the same as a child who is afraid of
ghosts. Maybe the parents are afraid too. But it won't do for the parents to
talk about it; if they do then the child will feel he has no protection or
security. ''No, of course Daddy is not afraid. Don't worry, Daddy is here.
There are no ghosts. There's nothing to worry about.'' Well the father might
really be afraid too. If he starts talking about it then they will all get so
worked up about ghosts that they'll jump up and run away - father, mother and
child - and end up homeless.
This is not being clever.
You have to look at things clearly and learn how to deal with them. Even when
you feel that deluded appearances are real, you have to tell yourself that they
are not. Go against it like this. Teach yourself inwardly. When the mind is
experiencing the world in terms of self, saying, ''It's true,'' you have to be
able to tell it, ''It's not true.'' You should be floating above the water, not
be submerged by the floodwaters of worldly habit. The water is flooding our
hearts if we run after things; do we ever look at what is going on? Will there
be anyone 'watching the house'?
Nibbāna paccayo hotu - one need not aim at anything or wish for anything at all. Just
aim for Nibbāna. All manner of becoming and birth, merit and virtue in the
worldly way, do not reach there. Making merit and skilful kamma, hoping it will
cause us to attain to some better state, we don't need to be wishing for a lot
of things; just aim directly for Nibbāna. Wanting sīla, wanting tranquillity, we just end up in the same old place. It's
not necessary to desire these things - we should just wish for the place of
cessation.
It is like this. Throughout
all our becoming and birth, all of us are so terribly anxious about so many
things. When there is separation, when there is death, we cry and lament. I can
only think, how utterly foolish this is. What are we crying about? Where do you
think people are going anyhow? If they are still bound up in becoming and birth
they are not really going away. When children grow up and move to the big city
of Bangkok they still think of their parents. They won't be missing someone
else's parents, just their own. When they return they will go to their parents'
home, not someone else's. And when they go away again they will still think
about their home here in Ubon. Will they be homesick for some other place? What
do you think? So when the breath ends and we die, no matter through how many
lifetimes, if the causes for becoming and birth still exist the consciousness
is likely to try and take birth in a place it is familiar with. I think we are
just too fearful about all of this. So please don't go crying about it too
much. Think about this. Kammam
satte vibhajati - kamma
drives beings into their various births - they don't go very far. Spinning back
and forth through the round of births, that is all, just changing appearances,
appearing with a different face next time, but we don't know it. Just coming
and going, going and returning in the round of samsāra, not
really going anywhere. Just staying there. Like a mango that is shaken off the
tree, like the snare that does not get the wasps' nest and falls to the ground:
it is not going anywhere. It is just staying there. So the Buddha said,Nibbāna
paccayo hotu: let your only aim be Nibbāna. Strive hard to accomplish this;
don't end up like the mango falling to the ground and going nowhere.
Transform your sense of
things like this. If you can change it you will know great peace. Change,
please; come to see and know. These are things one should indeed see and know.
If you do see and know, then where else do you need to go? Morality will come
to be. Dhamma will come to be. It is nothing far away; so please investigate
this.
When you transform your
view, then you will realize that it is like watching leaves fall from the
trees. When they get old and dry, they fall from the tree. And when the season
comes, they begin to appear again. Would anyone cry when leaves fall, or laugh
when they grow? If you did, you would be insane, wouldn't you? It is just this
much. If we can see things in this way, we will be okay. We will know that this
is just the natural order of things. It doesn't matter how many births we
undergo, it will always be like this. When one studies Dhamma, gains clear
knowledge and undergoes a change of world view like this, one will realize
peace and be free of bewilderment about the phenomena of this life.
But the important point
really, is that we have life now, in the present. We are experiencing the
results of past deeds right now. When beings are born into the world, this is
the manifestation of past actions. Whatever happiness or suffering beings have
in the present is the fruit of what they have done previously. It is born of
the past and experienced in the present. Then this present experience becomes
the basis for the future as we create further causes under its influence and so
future experience becomes the result. The movement from one birth to the next
also happens in this way. You should understand this.
Listening to the Dhamma
should resolve your doubts. It should clarify your view of things and alter
your way of living. When doubts are resolved, suffering can end. You stop
creating desires and mental afflictions. Then whatever you experience, if
something is displeasing to you, you will not suffer over it because you
understand its changeability. If something is pleasing to you, you will not get
carried away and become intoxicated by it because you know the way to let go of
things appropriately. You maintain a balanced perspective, because you
understand impermanence and know how to resolve things according to Dhamma. You
know that good and bad conditions are always changing. Knowing internal
phenomena you understand external phenomena. Not attached to the external, you
are not attached to the internal. Observing things within yourself or outside
of yourself, it is all completely the same.
In this way we can dwell in
a natural state, which is peace and tranquility. If we are criticized, we
remain undisturbed. If we are praised, we are undisturbed. Let things be in
this way; don't be influenced by others. This is freedom. Knowing the two
extremes for what they are one can experience well-being. One does not stop at
either side. This is genuine happiness and peace, transcending all things of
the world. One transcends all good and evil. Above cause and effect, beyond
birth and death. Born into this world, one can transcend the world. Beyond the
world, knowing the world - this is the aim of the Buddha's teaching. He did not
aim for people to suffer. He desired people to attain to peace, to know the
truth of things and realize wisdom. This is Dhamma, knowing the nature of
things. Whatever exists in the world is nature. There is no need to be in
confusion about it. Wherever you are, the same laws apply.
The most important point is
that while we have life, we should train the mind to be even in regard to
things. We should be able to share wealth and possessions. When the time comes
we should give a portion to those in need, just as if we were giving things to
our own children. Sharing things like this we will feel happy; and if we can
give away all our wealth, then whenever our breath may stop there will be no
attachment or anxiety because everything is gone. The Buddha taught to 'die before
you die,' to be finished with things before they are finished. Then you can be
at ease. Let things break before they are broken, let them finish before they
are finished. This is the Buddha's intention in teaching the Dhamma. Even if
you listen to teachings for a hundred or a thousand eons, if you do not
understand these points you won't be able to undo your suffering and you will
not find peace. You will not see the Dhamma. But understanding these things
according to the Buddha's intention and being able to resolve things is called
seeing the Dhamma. This view of things can make an end of suffering. It can
relieve all heat and distress. Whoever strives sincerely and is diligent in
practice, who can endure, who trains and develops themselves to the full
measure, those persons will attain to peace and cessation. Wherever they stay,
they will have no suffering. Whether they are young or old they will be free of
suffering. Whatever their situation, whatever work they have to perform, they
will have no suffering because their minds have reached the place where
suffering is exhausted, where there is peace. It is like this. It is a matter
of nature.
The Buddha thus said to
change one's perceptions, and there will be the Dhamma. When the mind is in
harmony with Dhamma, then Dhamma enters the heart. The mind and the Dhamma
become indistinguishable. This is something to be realized by those who
practice, the changing of one's view and experience of things. The entire
Dhamma is paccattam (to be known personally). It cannot be given by anyone; that is an
impossibility. If we hold it to be difficult then it will be something
difficult. If we take it to be easy then it is easy. Whoever contemplates it
and sees the one point does not have to know a lot of things. Seeing the one
point, seeing birth and death, the arising and passing away of phenomena
according to nature, one will know all things. This is a matter of the truth.
This is the way of the
Buddha. The Buddha gave his teachings out of the wish to benefit all beings. He
wished for us to go beyond suffering and to attain peace. It is not that we
have to die first in order to transcend suffering. We shouldn't think that we
will attain this after death; we can go beyond suffering here and now, in the
present. We transcend within our perception of things, in this very life,
through the view that arises in our minds. Then sitting, we are happy; lying
down, we are happy; wherever we are, we are happy. We become without fault,
experience no ill results, and live in a state of freedom. The mind is clear,
bright, and tranquil. There is no more darkness or defilement. This is someone
who has reached the supreme happiness of the Buddha's way. Please investigate
this for yourselves. All of you lay followers, please contemplate this to gain
understanding and ability. If you suffer, then practice to alleviate your
suffering. If it is great, make it little, and if it is little, make an end of
it. Everyone has to do this for themselves, so please make an effort to
consider these words. May you prosper and develop
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