While listening to a desanã please keep the citta within yourself. Do not send it out to the various kinds of ãrammaõa (thoughts and imaginings). Don’t cherish those ãrammaõa you have imagined and thought about in the past—this is of no benefit. At this time, you should be trying to fill the heart with Dhamma. The heart has long been parched for lack of Dhamma. It is similar to a forest lacking in moisture where the vegetation easily ignites, scorching and consuming all the trees. There are seldom any forest fires in the rainy season, but the dry season always brings a danger fire. This also happens inside a forest monastery when it is very dry.
Baan Taad Forest Monastery has caught on fire several times. This is due to dryness. When the heart becomes parched through a lack of Dhamma to cool and sustain it, then the fire of the kilesas can rapidly take hold. Everything that comes into contact with it will be scorched, without exception. Fire brings damage, so when the kilesas are blazing within the heart, how could the heart not be harmed? Regardless of its value, it can’t escape becoming stained and, in the end, totally worthless. Such is the way of the heart that has been constantly scorched and consumed by fire. A fire will damage our possessions depending on its intensity and extent. Unless, of course, they happen to be stored in a secure place, like a safe that a bank uses to protect its valuables. But do we have a safe place within our hearts? Or are we always exposing ourselves to risks, day and night in all our activities? Are we always leaving ourselves vulnerable; completely plundered and devastated? Don’t we have any concern for our priceless hearts? We should use this way of thinking to teach ourselves. The heart cannot find any happiness because the fire of the kilesas constantly burns it.
This fire is the blaze of rãga, dosa and moha—greed, hatred and delusion—which is described in the Fire Sermon (Ãdittaparyãya Sutta). There should be no doubt or uncertainty about this, for this has always been true. If we just take up the various aspects of the Dhamma explained in the suttas, and carefully reflect on them using reason following the Dhamma principles presented there, we will then be able to find a way of steering clear of this fire. We would then be able, from time to time, to find some peace and happiness without constantly being caught up in the conflagration. Each of you has made the effort to come here to practice. You are searching for a secure place to store your wealth—that is, the merit and virtue you have collected. You are searching for a safe place to protect them from destruction by those three great masses of fire. It’s difficult to extinguish a forest fire.
If it has really taken hold, then even water cannot contain it. To extinguish the internal fire of the kilesas, we must consistently develop and accumulate virtue; for example, mettã bhãvanã (cultivation of loving-kindness). This calms and concentrates the heart, making it capable of effectively subduing those harmful and injurious things, namely the fires discussed above. Speaking of fire, it must always be hot. Even flying sparks that fall on the body are hot and painful. If we allow ourselves to be burned constantly, day and night, what will we have left? The heart will be entirely burned out. What remains will be mere awareness, without any worth or value since it has been totally given over to the all-consuming kilesas. It will be an awareness of dukkha, not of happiness. It is not the awareness of wisdom. This awareness is overwhelmed by dukkha, so much so that the heart appears quite useless. The consistent development of citta-bhãvanã (mind development) by way of strenuous and diligent effort is the way to extinguish the fire within the heart, gradually bringing peace and happiness. The Lord Buddha taught only those things that are within our capacity to achieve; things beyond our ability he did not teach.
All the dhammas taught by the Lord Buddha are within the reach of Buddhist practitioners. The Lord did not teach blindly. We practitioners must therefore consider Dhamma to be of paramount importance, and take it deeply to heart. Just as we shun and abhor all forms of dukkha—which no one wants—we must move in the direction of the cure for dukkha—which is Dhamma. When all this has been comprehended with reason so that we are committed to our practice by a firm conviction, it is not important whether the practice of Dhamma is easy or difficult. We can only do our best according to our capabilities. For who isn’t lazy when under the power of the kilesas?
This laziness, which loathes doing anything good or beneficial, is within each one of us. Laziness always takes the lead, but it certainly is not the Dhamma that will deliver us from dukkha. It’s the main factor that makes us complacent and careless, gradually dragging us down following the power of the sly and deceitful kilesas.
The Lord Buddha also experienced this, but he was able to transcend those things which had previously oppressed his heart. When we become weak and lazy, we should reflect on the Lord’s experience and compare it with our own. By taking up his way as our ideal, we can gain inspiration for our own practice. Then we will be able to find a way to cope without always having to yield to the kilesas. Even though it’s difficult, we can do it. When we acknowledge the truth of dukkha, the overcoming of dukkha then becomes crucially important. Otherwise, the problems that we detest and dread will always confront us. Without taking corrective action, it’s just not possible for us to find a way out of this predicament. It does not matter whether a method is difficult or easy.
As long as it is effective for uprooting undesirable things from the heart, we must use it. We are all equal in regards to birth and death, and the dukkha we have experienced in the various realms of existence right up to the present. Since we are all born and suffer from dukkha, we are equal in this regard. We have all been through repeated births and deaths, matching each other in the amount of suffering we’ve experienced. We have all suffered dukkha. There can be no competition among us concerning the number of lives we have gone through, since everyone has had so many. It is a similar story with dukkha, which is so abundant in our lives. Instead of us scoring high marks in the way of the citta and Dhamma, we end up being foremost together in the way of dukkha. With the kilesas as the guide that leads us, we will always be led to more and more suffering. If we insist on trusting the kilesas, we will always experience suffering.
If we don’t resist them, we will never be delivered from this mass of dukkha. Resistance to the influence of the kilesas is the way of Dhamma. Dhamma uses reason and analysis to understand the danger inherent in the kilesas, and to find the methods required to counter them effectively. We must utilize any means that’s effective in overcoming the kilesas to reduce the mass of dukkha. Whether those methods are difficult or easy is not important.
This is like the way a craftsman uses his tools, some of which will be easy to use and others more difficult. He has to make use of them as the work requires. He must bear with the strenuous tasks, as well as the lighter ones, as he gradually continues until finally accomplishing the required task. The tools we select for overcoming the kilesas, and for developing a firm basis of wholeness and integrity in the heart, all come from Dhamma. Dhamma tools are varied and must be chosen to fit different circumstances. When the heart is only lightly disturbed by the kilesas, the strength of our resistance need not be so vigorous. For instance, the amount of time we spend doing sitting and walking meditation is not so important, because the task at hand has not yet reached a critical stage.
But when our hearts are so disturbed by the kilesas that we can’t unburden ourselves, then we cannot afford to remain idle and indifferent. We must exert ourselves to the utmost, even putting our own lives at stake, without any thought of surrender nor retreat. We must mobilize all of our sati-paññã and apply it to the situation, no matter how strenuous and arduous the task may be. We must persevere in our efforts, regardless of how severe the resulting dukkha may be. The dukkha brought about by our exertion is of little consequence when compared to the dukkha that the kilesa have heaped upon us. Once we are sunk in dukkha caused by the kilesas, there is no telling when we can emerge. We are all aware of the discomfort and pain experienced when sitting or walking in meditation for long hours. We are also aware of how difficult it is to devise the different means of coping with the various kinds of kilesa. But we are as yet unaware of the happiness and wonder that result from the hardship of our strenuous efforts. The transcendent experience attained through wisdom is precisely what we are aspiring and yearning for.
Once the results follow the cause, which is our diligent effort, then any obstacle can be overcome. But should there be only difficulty and hardship without the reward of peace and happiness, then no one in this world would be able to continue. This does not apply only to ordinary people. Even the Lord Buddha and his Arahant disciples could not have become enlightened for us to take as a refuge. Buddham, Dhammam, Sangham saranam gacchãmi “I take refuge in the Buddha and Dhamma and Sangha”
Eventually the right time and opportunity will arise so that we can manage to succeed. Persistent effort is very important, as is the constant use of clear reasoning. As soon as our efforts weaken, the kilesas will grow more threatening and incisive. When our effort slackens, the kilesas will surge and swell; but if our exertion is intense and our sati-paññã sharp and keen, then the kilesas will gradually fade away. This is because the kilesas are afraid only of Dhamma, and nothing else. Only Dhamma can contain and subdue the kilesas—the Dhamma of saddhã, viriya, sati, samãdhi and paññã. Saddhã is the belief in the fruits of the Lord Buddha’s Enlightenment, and trust in the Dhamma he expounded to the world as the niyyãnika dhamma (the outward going vehicle—going out from saÿsãra, from dukkha). This is saddhã or conviction. If we only would practice following the Lord’s Teaching, then surely we too would realize those same satisfying results.
Viriya is diligent effort. Whatever task we do, whether internally or externally, when it is done with diligent effort it will always be right and proper. When our work is supported by diligent effort, the results will always be well-accomplished and pleasing to the eye. Sati is mindfulness—the important factor which oversees each task and prevents any negligence or error. Samãdhi is firm resolution and commitment to the work at hand which guides it to its final completion, without distractions and unsteadiness. This is the causal aspect of samãdhi. The resultant aspect of samãdhi appears as stability and firmness of the citta, leading to the experience of happiness and ease. This result arises from the causal aspect of samãdhi; that is, concentration focused on our work without wavering or vacillating. The resultant aspect of samãdhi is calmness of the heart, leading up to the state of ekaggatã, which the Lord Buddha described as the mind being non-dual, because it has only one object. Paññã is penetrative wisdom. Wisdom is the important factor used in observing and discriminating all circumstances that arise.
The outcome of each task depends on the application of paññã, which investigates and analyses everything. These are the factors of Dhamma that will steadily lead us away from dukkha, allowing us to complete any work we set out to do. The Lord Buddha said that the Four Ways to Success (iddhipãda) are of equally great importance. Chanda is satisfaction. What are we satisfied with? If we are satisfied with the kilesas, then the kilesas will come up. We are inclined to search for whatever delights us. Whatever we set our heart on will come up. However, the Four Ways to Success does not refer to such base, corrupting influences, but to the virtue that can lead to the fulfillment of our aspirations. They are the four means to achieve those aims that lie within our reach. Chanda is satisfaction. Viriya is diligent effort. Citta is attentiveness and application to the work. Vinaÿsã is comprehensive wisdom. These four combine to form a single effective force for accomplishing our objectives. Indeed, this is the Dhamma that can build a complete human being.
They can help develop a firm basis in the citta by consolidating our efforts around true guiding principles, complete with excellent rules and disciplines, and good traditions and customs. This ensures that those who undertake the practice do not go counter to the principles of Dhamma. Once the heart is attuned to Dhamma in this way, it is safeguarded with the Dhamma Protection—dhammãrakkhã. With Dhamma as its guardian, the heart will steadily prosper. Harmful influences will steadily decline. Regardless of how long the heart may have been down and miserable, it never reaches a state of complete destruction because it remains capable of thinking and reasoning. Once the heart is cleansed through exertion, it will become bright, cool and peaceful. This is the key, the essential factor that will turn our aspirations into full reality. Merely desiring success is not enough, if we allow ourselves to be deterred by weakness and discouragement, which prevents us from pursuing and accomplishing our objective. Whatever we do or however we think, we should never forget about the Lord Buddha, our Sãsadã (Great Teacher).
Whenever we become weak and discouraged in any kind of work, we must reflect upon the example set by the Lord Buddha, who gained Enlightenment through persistent effort, using saddhã, viriya, sati, samãdhi and paññã. How else could he become enlightened, if not by these dhammas? With what are we going to develop and nourish our heart so it can excel and be at peace, so that we can at least be considered the follower of a teacher? The Lord Buddha explained his path of practice in a precise and orderly way, so this is the path we must follow. What gave rise to the phrase: Dhammaÿ saraõaÿ gacchãmi (I take refuge in the Dhamma), if not these five dhammas of saddhã, viriya, sati, samãdhi and paññã? It is just these five factors that arose with the Lord Buddha.
The same is true of Sanghaÿ saraõaÿ gacchãmi (I take Refuge in the Sangha). None of the Sãvaka Sangha, regardless of their class or family background—whether they had been kings or merchants, rich or poor—were weak or easily discouraged. Once they had gone forth in the Buddha Sãsana they were characterized by their diligent effort. So, diligent effort is an extremely important quality that will steadily uplift the quality of a person’s heart.
The five factors of saddhã, viriya, sati, samãdhi and paññã can raise the heart and release it from the oppression of suffering. Once we have taken these five factors as our support, we are bound to progress steadily until we eventually free ourselves from dukkha. The Four Ways to Success are also factors that uplift the heart, preventing it from being oppressed and burdened. They never weigh down the heart. Some of the Sãvakas walked caçkama until the soles of their feet blistered. Think of that! Until their feet blistered! Is this striving or not? Some didn’t sleep at all for an entire three months period. Ven. Cakkhupãla strove like that until his eyes ruptured, causing him to go blind. Did he suffer or not? Think how hard he strove! As for us, we don’t need to strive to the point of ruining our body. If we could only make the kilesas suffer, make them run and hide, this in itself would be quite commendable.
Don’t let the kilesas swarm all over your ears and eyes, your nose and tongue, your body and heart. Once you are infested with the kilesas, you will never be able to find the essence of Dhamma within your heart. How then will you find any peace? We must rely on these Dhamma principles to eradicate those kilesas that remain dominant in our hearts. Don’t cherish anything more than you cherish this Dhamma. It is the tool that will overcome the kilesas and steadily deliver the heart to the complete freedom which we treasure so highly. Which one is better, the heart that is free or the heart under the tyranny of the kilesas? Which are better, people enslaved without any liberty or free people?
As long as we are not weary of living under the power of the kilesas, then we will always be submissive to them. But when we become tired of their domination and see the harm they cause, then we will strive to resist them, by whatever means we can. Ultimately we will have to rely on these five essential Dhamma tools to entirely eliminate them. Where is the battleground for a practitioner? What do those who relentlessly walk caçkama and sit in bhãvanã day and night take as their battleground and object of investigation? The Lord taught the Four Sacca Dhamma (Noble Truths) as the main principles of Dhamma. These Four Sacca Dhamma exist within the bodies and minds of people. We are also people, so when we walk in meditation and sit in samãdhi bhãvanã searching for Dhamma, we must look for it in the Noble Truths. We already know about dukkha. It arises in the bodies and minds of people and animals.
Animals do not know how to remedy dukkha, but we do. When dukkha arises in the body, it is something truly undesirable. Even though the body may be normal and healthy, when dukkha arises there will be uneasiness and anxiety. As the dukkha becomes more severe, our demeanor will become even more unattractive and unsightly. Is the heart that is being afflicted with intense dukkha really worth looking at? Instead of alleviating the problem, our actions will tend to simply make matters worse. The idea that we can rid ourselves of intense suffering by using harsh words and offensive behavior is completely mistaken. In truth, the perpetrator hurts not only others with his outpouring of vile and offensive behavior, but he also increases his own suffering. Rather than getting rid of his problems, he merely increases them and spreads them about. We probe into the cause of dukkha by asking: How does dukkha arise? This is one aspect of the Sacca Dhamma. We may be aware of dukkha, but we can’t overcome it if we don’t correct it at the original cause, which is samudaya (the origin of dukkha).
What is samudaya? It is comprised mainly of kãmataõhã, bhavataõhã and vibhavataõhã. The Lord called them “samudaya”. Desire for things we love and aversion for things we despise are the root-cause of our suffering. Thoughts and imaginings based on the kilesas all produce dukkha, and so can be classified as samudaya. They all branch out from the same tree, which is the heart. Where are the true roots of greed, hatred and delusion? They are all planted in the heart, and nowhere else. First we probe and investigate into the body; then we turn to look into the heart, to find out what it is imagining and thinking about. The heart conjures up dukkha day and night, causing endless trouble for us, and for others as well. So the Lord taught us to use mindfulness and wisdom to investigate and scrutinize our thoughts. The mind tends to worry about the body. Why should it? There’s always a cemetery waiting to receive it once its time is up. What can be achieved by all this concern and possessiveness? Will our anxiety bring any benefit? Won’t it merely turn into “Yampicchaÿ nalabhati tampi dukkhaÿ” (unfulfilled desire breeds dukkha in the heart)?
So the Lord Buddha advised us to investigate the truth rather than indulging in our desires. Having been formed, the rýpakhandha (the body) is destined to break up and disintegrate. We can see this irrefutably when we investigate with paññã. It doesn’t make any sense to be so possessive of the body. So we then let go our grasp and allow the body to follow its own nature. As long as it still holds together, we must realize that its very existence is inevitably heading for dissolution. This world is full of cemeteries awaiting the death of each person. If we investigate following the principles of Dhamma, we will no longer be doubtful about our own death, or about the place reserved for us in the cemetery. Once we acknowledge our mortality, we will not be shaken or upset. After seeing it clearly within the heart, we will relinquish death because it is a fundamental law of nature. We have to let nature take its course.
Earth, water, air and fire will follow their own essential natures. They are as they are. Let the “one who knows” know them truly, and not mistake water, fire and air to be self. Otherwise, they become parasites entangling the heart with affliction and anxiety. We mistake them for self and so fall into suffering. Vedanã (feeling) is much the same. We have experienced sukha (happiness) and dukkha from the time of our birth to the present. Regardless of whether it’s the sukha and dukkha of the body, or that of the heart, they are all anicca, dukkha and anattã. They all arise so as to pass away. They come into existence in order to cease. As long as they are sammuti (conventional realities), they cannot be permanent, stable and unchanging. What is the nature of painful feeling? Bodily feelings are not difficult to investigate when wisdom penetrates them. The pain of the heart is more difficult to see, but it is especially important to investigate. When there is bodily pain, it is always accompanied by pain in the heart.
This is the way that the kilesas always fool people. The purpose of contemplating the body is to correct our delusion that the body is self. The investigation of sukha and dukkha vedanã is done for the purpose of eliminating from the heart the notion the “this feeling is myself”. Let things be as they really are. Feelings are one thing, the one that knows them is another. Do not mix them up. This is impossible anyway because they are intrinsically different. How can they be combined into one? For instance, can two people be combined into one? One person is enough of a burden, but to carry two or three or four or five people becomes extremely burdensome. We couldn’t possibly go on like that. Having shouldered the burden of the body (rýpa), we also take up the loads of vedanã, saññã, saçkhãra and viõõãõa, which are pressed down by the weight of upãdãna (attachment). It’s the heart that must take the responsibility, so the heart alone must bear the consequences—even though it has gained nothing from the attachment. And yet we still insist on cling to them? We must investigate like this to see the true nature of pain. As for saññã (memory), what we remember is soon forgotten. When a memory is needed we may recall it, only to have it fade away again—Saññãvãssa vimýhati.
That’s how the Lord Buddha described it, and who can argue with him? Saññã is transient; memory comes and goes—Saññã anicca. The bhikkhus chant for the dead: “Anicca vata sankhãra” (impermanent are all conditioned things). We chant this and yet we imagine ourselves to be people because we take the five khandhas as ourselves? In truth, they are anicca, dukkha and anattã. We must investigate using paññã, differentiating and analyzing so as to see the truth completely in all its aspects. Don’t be afraid of death. Death is not found within the citta. By bringing up fear, you will only succeed in fooling yourself and piling up suffering. This is going contrary to Dhamma, which is the truth of the Lord Buddha. Whoever believes in the Lord Buddha must not go counter to the truth, but must investigate to see according to reality using the power of paññã. One who does this is someone who truly takes up Buddhaÿ saraõaÿ gacchãmi (I take Refuge in the Buddha), and does not just mouth the words. The Lord Buddha offered the Dhamma to all living beings, so we too should be able to comprehend the Four Noble Truths. They exist within each one of us. Sankhãra means thought conception. Is it trustworthy enough to be believed when it conceives, imagines and fabricates? It makes up various forms from various things. For instance, take the form of a doll which eventually falls apart.
Our thoughts are much the same. We may think about good or bad things, but they all become fabrications to fool us—because the citta is the chief of fools. It is easily taken in by any deception. That’s the way it is. Since it is easily taken in, it is victimized. But if we have wisdom to safeguard and carefully screen our thoughts— regardless of how many thousand times a second saçkhãras create concepts—then they will always be restrained. What can fool wisdom? It realizes that saçkhãra is saçkhãra, and that “knowingness” is the heart. So how can we be deceived by them? Why be startled by our own shadows? This is precisely what saçkhãras are. It is the same with viõõãõa which flicks off and on whenever things come into contact with the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body, or are known by the heart. Then the citta conceives and imagines using saçkhãra and saññã, allowing fabrications to arise and deceive us. We are constantly falling for our own ãrammaõa (mental objects) both day and night and it is just this delusion that brings about dukkha. This is a consequence of being so deluded. If we do not see the harm here, where else can we see it?
We will realize the truth of the Sacca Dhamma right at this point. So probe into it with great precision. The important thing is not how many times we go over it, but how clearly we understand it with wisdom. Then wisdom can pierce through any attachment. Even if it appears to be as big as a mountain—it will totally disintegrate. Once pursued by wisdom, craving will have to retreat into the “big cave”, right into the citta. We must strike there with paññã. Where is the real substance behind the shadows of anicca, dukkha and anattã? Drive on further! Their real substance is in the citta, where they all gather. Apart from that there are only shadows—delusions about rýpa, vedanã, saññã, saçkhãra and viõõãõa. Once paññã has completely seen through these delusions, they will converge into the heart. At that point, we must be willing to follow them in and destroy them here, in their hiding place in the heart. When they are in there, they are like bandits waiting in ambush to shoot our heads off.
Wherever bandits take up hiding, no matter how valuable the hideout may be, we must blow it up by throwing in explosives; destroying it all, including the bandits. If all must be obliterated, then so be it. We still have life and can build it anew, for we did not die along with it. So we must hit hard so that the subtle kilesas all gather within the citta. We must then investigate to see them all as a heap of anicca, dukkha and anattã—because these kilesas are the essence of sammuti (conventional reality). After that, we must totally obliterate them from the citta. Once they have been crushed and dispersed, we will see if the citta has also been annihilated. But it hasn’t—because the citta has no cemetery. The citta by its very nature is amata—Undying—even when it still has kilesas. The Buddha called this the complete dissolution of the kilesas—the end of danger and the extinguishing of the fires of rãga, dosa and moha (greed, hatred and delusion) by the elixir of the Amata Dhamma (Immortal Dhamma). With the kilesas totally eliminated, only spotless purity remains. And there in the perfectly pure citta is where perfect happiness is found.
All work comes to an end there. The Lord said: “Vusitaÿ brahmacariyaÿ kataÿ karaniya naparaÿ itthattãyãti pajãnãti.”—done is the task. Lived out is the Holy life. There is no further work to be done. This is because perfect wisdom has been attained. This then is the end of dukkha. This is where it finishes. The ultimate Dhamma is found right here in this purified Heart. The Buddhaÿ, Dhammaÿ and Sanghaÿ saraõaÿ gacchãmi—to which we reverently repeat in our hearts—all converge into this natural state of purity. This state and the recollection of the Lord Buddha become one and the same. In their true natural state, Buddho, Dhammo and Sangho are just this absolute purity. The issue of the time and place of the Lord Buddha’s Parinibbãna (final passing away) is entirely settled because the true natural state of Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha now exists in the heart. This is the heart’s priceless treasure.
When the true state of things is seen, all questions are settled. Where did the Lord Buddha go when he passed away? His physical body merely disintegrated following its natural course—bodies being the same everywhere. But the purified nature, the complete Buddho, was not annihilated. It did not die. It transcends space and time. Such is the true Buddha. This is what we refer to in: Buddhaÿ, Dhammaÿ and Sanghaÿ saraõaÿ gacchãmi. How can this nature be annihilated? We must see it clearly within our own heart and use that to verify this nature once we have attained to a state of absolute purity. This will be the absolute proof. This is how all the Arahant Sãvakas (Enlightened Disciples) understood the truth. Wherever they are, they are together with Dhamma—with Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, having audience with the Lord Buddha all the time—akãliko (timelessness). They will be unshakeable because the elixir of the amata (immortal) Dhamma has totally quenched the fire of rãga taõhã (sensual desire) within their hearts, leaving no residue.
“Tesaÿ výpasamo sukho”—the quelling and cessation of all sankhãras is supreme happiness. Once the sankhãras in the heart—sankhãras which are samudaya (the cause of dukkha)—are entirely brought to an end, then we arrive at Supreme Happiness. The means and the results, the good and the bad, are within all of us who know and are aware. The nature that knows is uniquely suited to all levels of Dhamma, up to and including the visuddhi dhamma, which is the state of purity. There is nothing else apart from this knowingness. Please try to steadily purify this knowing nature, gradually ridding it of all oppressive influences. Then there will be no need to enquire where Nibbãna is. Having arrived at the purified citta, all questions will finally be settled.
By Ajahn Maha Boowa Nanasampanno Translated by Ajahn Suchard Abhijato