Part 4
[01] Inward Exploration
[02] With Faith Transcend Wrong View
[03] Time_Comsuming & Timeless / Kālika & Akālika
[04] Checking for Wrong Views
[05] Wrong Views & Characters
[06] The Wise & the Fool
[07] Samsāra and the Hindrances
[08] Dependent Origination at home
[09] Nibbanā Always Exist
[10] The Six Oceans of māgandiya
[11] Tanha the Tailor
[12] How to Open Your Eye?
[13] The Road Map to Nibbanā
Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw--Part 4
Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw--Part 4-1
[01] Inward Exploration
25th September 1962, 28th November 1960
1st to 2nd December 1960
[ Sayadaw gave these talks (here 4 talks) based on the Sammasana Sutta of Nidānavagga Samyutta. The Buddha asked the monks was did they engage in inward exploration. One of the monks answered as he explored the 32-parts of the body. But the way he explained did not satisfy the Buddha. So he taught the monks how to engage in inward exploration.]
T1
The khandhas are impermanent nature. By not knowing it we were born as blind, and will die as blind people. Don’t die as worldlings but as sekha and asekha (sekha=trainee, 3 lower grades of noble disciples. Asekha = one beyond training, i.e an arahant), and will be ended dukkha.
It’s important to explore oneself. This was taught by the Buddha in Kurus (present day New Delhi Area). One of the monks explored the 32 parts of the body but the dhamma standard was low. The Buddha wanted them to explore the truth (i.e sacca).
There are a lot of ageing & death in the body. 28 material phenomena (physical body) and 53 minds [ These 53 are according to the Abhidhamma. 52 mental factors (cetasikas) + with one consciousness (citta)] dhammas are due to old and die. It becomes apparent that there is nothing, only the truth of dukkha exists. Ageing & death are truth of dukkha (dukkha sacca), and the contemplation is truth of the path (magga sacca).
Contemplate in this way the dhamma to Nibbāna appears. Continue to contemplate as where the ageing and death of the truth of dukkha comes from? Ageing & death dhamma come from the khandhas. Ageing and death is dukkha sacca, and the khandhas is samudaya sacca (Khandha is the cause of ageing and death).
The knowing of it is magga sacca. People are praying for the khandha is the same as making the prayers to get dukkha sacca. Because the khandha is carrying ageing and death with it. You must pray for the ending of khandha, and I urge you for the practice. Continue to contemplate where is the khandha come from? In this way the dhamma for the practice is becoming apparent.
The Buddha was using the way of patiloma (The reverse order of Dependent Arising) to find the cause. It comes from the desire of becoming. Tanhā-craving is the source of dhamma. Khandha is dukkha sacca and tanhā is sumudaya sacca.
Therefore, I have to warn you. Whatever wholesome merits you are doing don’t pray for the becoming. You will get the khandha and follow by ageing and death. Again contemplate where is tanhā coming from? It comes from the affection to the khandhas. We regard to the 5 khandhas as pleasant & desirable things.
That becomes craving for it. Not understanding the second section of the Dependent Arising that becomes affection. (Divide the 12 links of D.A will get the four sections. Avijja -> sankhara ->/ viññānaṁ->nāmarūpaṁ->salayatanaṁ->phassa->vedana->/tanhā->upādāna->kammabhava->/jati->jara, marana). (Here the 2nd section is from viññānaṁ to vedana).
Therefore if you understand them & no affection to it. If you don’t understand them as truth of dukkha will attache to it. You have to correct the 2nd section. You all take it as truth of happiness. Because of that in the whole of saṁsāara it made us for crying.
We’ll contemplate the mind base (manayatana) in the second section. (Here Sayadaw taught cittānupassanā) We are affectionate to all the minds which are arising from the 6-sense doors that the 2nd section connects with the 3rd section (vedana ->tanhā).
We must correct the wrong view regarding to the 2nd section. If you understand it as truth of dukkha, then 3rd & 4th Sections will not come. Contemplate all the minds arising as impermanence.
T2
Ageing (jara) is heat element (tejo). Death (marana) is also heat element. The body becomes mature & die are heat element. The Buddha asked the monks to explore on ageing & death. These are truth of dukkha. In the body only had the truth of dukkha which he wanted them to investigate.
Knowing it is magga sacca & it becomes 2 truths (dukkha & magga saccas) Burning alive is ageing (jara) & burning to die is death (marana). If you want to think at home just think about these things. Think about the reality with knowing.
Where are they come from? Come from the khandha. So khandha is the cause & ageing & death is the result. Without khandha is without ageing & death. If you know this, again including the other 2 truths of samudaya & nirodha (The origin & cessation). You complete the 4 truths. Where is tanhā comes from? It comes from the eye (cakkhu), ear (sota), etc…, the 6 ayatanas (sense bases).
It comes from the affectionate things of mind & body phenomena. (The 6-sense bases are mind & body) So tanhā is coming from the mind & body. Therefore ayatana is the cause (samudaya) & tanhā becomes the result (dukkha).
If the cause ceases & the result also. It’s the cessation (nirodha) & the knowing is knowledge (magga). (Therefore in every moment whatever is arising & contemplating we know the 4 truths). Again we know the 4 truths. If we don’t think about these things & don’t know the 4 truths, then we are living in the darkness & dying in the darkness. These are investigating for oneself. Thinking in the direct order is connecting the cause & result (i.e samudaya & dukkha). Knowing their cessations are nirodha & magga.
Affection comes from unwise attention (ayonisomanasikara). Tanhā comes because of taking them as permanence, happiness, self, health, safety (i.e nicca, sukha, atta, arogyan, khema). Because of craving we get the khandhas. Because of the khandhas we get ageing, sickness & death. Unwise attention is not vipassanā practice. Wise attention is vipassanā practice.
The Buddha said that he was arising into this world to teach people & these things were like beverages mixed with poisons. If you drink it will get sick & die. So the Buddha warned us not to drink it. Samsāric travelers are hungry people. They always die with never fulfill their thirst & hunger. Near to death they cling to this & that & die with it.
The six-internal bases (ayatana); from eye (cakkhu) to body (kaya) are physical phenomena. Mind base is consciousness with mental factors. Condense all of them you get back the 5 khandhas. So contemplate the 5 khandhas as impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha), not-self (anatta) & fearful (bhaya).
In this way tanhā die, ageing & death cease (Sayadaw said this Sammasana Sutta is very good Dhamma. In his talks collection can see quite a few of them). In this sutta the Buddha taught 5 ways of insight contemplation. Contemplate the 5 khandhas as impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha), not-self (anatta), fearful (bhaya) & disease (roga). Every time tanhā come in you know it, & this will lead to Nibbāna. Drinking the poison beverage or not is depending on using the insight contemplation or without it.
T3
Ageing & death exist in the khandha. It’s truth of suffering (dukkha sacca). Thinking about their root source, find out, dig up & burn it down is good for us. I’ll show you the way of thinking & cutting off it. The teacher duty is to teach you until you understand it. After understanding & to practice is the yogi’s duty.
We are afraid of ageing, sickness & death and can’t escape from it. Where is ageing, sickness & death come from? If you think about it backwardly will find the cause of origin (see the 12 links of D.A). This dhamma will end ageing, sickness & death. Ageing, sickness & death come from the 5 khandhas.
Heat element is functioning for ageing. Warmth make it getting old & mature. All the existing body, teeth & head hairs are burning with it. It makes you sick & die. Temperature is increasing & becoming sick is the heat element. After come ageing & sickness with the heat retreat, blood drops & die. The cold heat element kills the person.
So ageing, sickness & death born out from the khandha. Only foolish & stupid person desires the khandha. A place without the great 4 elements & khandha will be freed from ageing, sickness & death. Living beings don’t know that ageing, sickness & death are the truth of dukkha.
So they try to get it, and looking for death. Even they are not clever as animals. Animals are afraid of death & when they encounter dangers try to run away. But for human beings they are making merits & asking for ageing, sickness & death (These are very common in traditional Buddhists whatever their schools are praying for the happiness of human & heavenly beings).
Not knowing the truth is becoming over craziness. Where is the 5 khandhas come from? It is from the wanting tanhā. People with craving for life don’t know the truth of dukkha & want to change life. They are only exchanging dukkha but they think it will lighter.
All are the same 100kgm each. Suffering is the same as before. If the guide is not good, people will fall into abyss (Importance of teachers, & good to contemplate for all Buddhists whatever their traditions).
Where is tanhā come from? It is from the affectionate things. If you love your khandha, then it comes from it. If you love your family members, then it comes from them. In short it comes from the 6-internal bases (ayatana). Because of the affectionate things that tanhā come into being.
Moment to moment born & die in the state of suffering is called the world (loka). Rounded like a ball is loka. In whatever state you are in will become affectionate to it. And then die without ever fulfilling your hunger & thirst. People die without any satisfaction (one of the meanings of dukkha is unsatisfactoriness). Contemplation of impermanence is the way of dispassion.
T4
I ask you to work for discerning the truth. Without knowing it and samsāra is long. I will tell the differences between the one who knows and who doesn’t know. Someone is working for the enjoyment of existence doesn’t know the truth. Working for the cutting off existence is knowing the truth.
The Buddha emphasized the important of knowing the truth with an example. If someone who could teach you the truth & making a demand, you should follow it. The Buddha gave an example of the demand as using 900 spears everyday (in the morning time 300 spears, mid-day 300 spears & evening 300 spears) to spear you & then taught you the truth.
These sufferings are incomparable to the samsāric dukkha (the sufferings will be encounter in the round of existences). If you know the first truth and free from the sufferings of the 4 painful rebirths (such as hell beings, animals, petas - many different types of ghost, asura).
So you all should not take it lightly (what the Buddha had said). It was like a stick threw up into the sky & fell down randomly. (Sayadaw continued to talk the sutta)
King of the Death is in the khandha. Only by knowing the truth that you’ll not pray for it. Path knowledge is the real refuge. Only Nibbāna is free from the torturers. The 5 khandhas exist & ageing, sickness & death also exist with them.
So the 5 khandhas are the truth of the cause (samudaya sacca) & ageing, sickness & death is the truth of dukkha (dukkha sacca). Without the 5 khandhas & there will be no ageing, sickness & death. Without them is the truth of cessation (nirodha sacca) & knowing about is the truth of the path (magga sacca).
(Sayadaw continued to teach vipassanā contemplation) Whatever is arising contemplate as dukkha sacca. Viparinama lakkhanaṁ dukkha saccaṁ_ The characteristic of change is Dukkha Saccaṁ_ Truth of Dukkha. Feeling, mind & whatever come all are including in this truth which is the contemplation of the Dhamma (Dhamma nupassana).
On the impermanence, bending your hand is change (viparinama) & stretching your hand is also change. In sitting meditation, in the beginning if you want to do ānāpāna (mindfulness of breathing) you can. If you don’t & just watching the khandha. The khandha will show its nature.
When it shows up contemplate as disease (rogato). After sometimes the whole body with a blip, blip, blip & like the boiling water. These are not pain & aches. This is the way of tigers watching & catching it preys. Whatever is new arising & you catch it. Watching is Samādhi & catching is paññā.
This is the way of watching with Samādhi & catching with paññā. It’s called yugananda method. The method of sāmādhi & paññā are going together. Surely you will catch it. Insight practice is watching & catching. Practice to know means impermanence is arresting by you.
Impermanence is anicca & knowing is magga. Continue the contemplation will become disenchantment. Before you were seeing other people deaths. Now you are seeing your own death.
After that you penetrate dukkha & the 5 khandhas disappear. Dukkha disappears and Nibbāna appears. This is completed with the 8 path factors. (i.e, Noble Eight Fold Path)
25th September 1962, 28th November 1960
1st to 2nd December 1960
[ Sayadaw gave these talks (here 4 talks) based on the Sammasana Sutta of Nidānavagga Samyutta. The Buddha asked the monks was did they engage in inward exploration. One of the monks answered as he explored the 32-parts of the body. But the way he explained did not satisfy the Buddha. So he taught the monks how to engage in inward exploration.]
T1
The khandhas are impermanent nature. By not knowing it we were born as blind, and will die as blind people. Don’t die as worldlings but as sekha and asekha (sekha=trainee, 3 lower grades of noble disciples. Asekha = one beyond training, i.e an arahant), and will be ended dukkha.
It’s important to explore oneself. This was taught by the Buddha in Kurus (present day New Delhi Area). One of the monks explored the 32 parts of the body but the dhamma standard was low. The Buddha wanted them to explore the truth (i.e sacca).
There are a lot of ageing & death in the body. 28 material phenomena (physical body) and 53 minds [ These 53 are according to the Abhidhamma. 52 mental factors (cetasikas) + with one consciousness (citta)] dhammas are due to old and die. It becomes apparent that there is nothing, only the truth of dukkha exists. Ageing & death are truth of dukkha (dukkha sacca), and the contemplation is truth of the path (magga sacca).
Contemplate in this way the dhamma to Nibbāna appears. Continue to contemplate as where the ageing and death of the truth of dukkha comes from? Ageing & death dhamma come from the khandhas. Ageing and death is dukkha sacca, and the khandhas is samudaya sacca (Khandha is the cause of ageing and death).
The knowing of it is magga sacca. People are praying for the khandha is the same as making the prayers to get dukkha sacca. Because the khandha is carrying ageing and death with it. You must pray for the ending of khandha, and I urge you for the practice. Continue to contemplate where is the khandha come from? In this way the dhamma for the practice is becoming apparent.
The Buddha was using the way of patiloma (The reverse order of Dependent Arising) to find the cause. It comes from the desire of becoming. Tanhā-craving is the source of dhamma. Khandha is dukkha sacca and tanhā is sumudaya sacca.
Therefore, I have to warn you. Whatever wholesome merits you are doing don’t pray for the becoming. You will get the khandha and follow by ageing and death. Again contemplate where is tanhā coming from? It comes from the affection to the khandhas. We regard to the 5 khandhas as pleasant & desirable things.
That becomes craving for it. Not understanding the second section of the Dependent Arising that becomes affection. (Divide the 12 links of D.A will get the four sections. Avijja -> sankhara ->/ viññānaṁ->nāmarūpaṁ->salayatanaṁ->phassa->vedana->/tanhā->upādāna->kammabhava->/jati->jara, marana). (Here the 2nd section is from viññānaṁ to vedana).
Therefore if you understand them & no affection to it. If you don’t understand them as truth of dukkha will attache to it. You have to correct the 2nd section. You all take it as truth of happiness. Because of that in the whole of saṁsāara it made us for crying.
We’ll contemplate the mind base (manayatana) in the second section. (Here Sayadaw taught cittānupassanā) We are affectionate to all the minds which are arising from the 6-sense doors that the 2nd section connects with the 3rd section (vedana ->tanhā).
We must correct the wrong view regarding to the 2nd section. If you understand it as truth of dukkha, then 3rd & 4th Sections will not come. Contemplate all the minds arising as impermanence.
T2
Ageing (jara) is heat element (tejo). Death (marana) is also heat element. The body becomes mature & die are heat element. The Buddha asked the monks to explore on ageing & death. These are truth of dukkha. In the body only had the truth of dukkha which he wanted them to investigate.
Knowing it is magga sacca & it becomes 2 truths (dukkha & magga saccas) Burning alive is ageing (jara) & burning to die is death (marana). If you want to think at home just think about these things. Think about the reality with knowing.
Where are they come from? Come from the khandha. So khandha is the cause & ageing & death is the result. Without khandha is without ageing & death. If you know this, again including the other 2 truths of samudaya & nirodha (The origin & cessation). You complete the 4 truths. Where is tanhā comes from? It comes from the eye (cakkhu), ear (sota), etc…, the 6 ayatanas (sense bases).
It comes from the affectionate things of mind & body phenomena. (The 6-sense bases are mind & body) So tanhā is coming from the mind & body. Therefore ayatana is the cause (samudaya) & tanhā becomes the result (dukkha).
If the cause ceases & the result also. It’s the cessation (nirodha) & the knowing is knowledge (magga). (Therefore in every moment whatever is arising & contemplating we know the 4 truths). Again we know the 4 truths. If we don’t think about these things & don’t know the 4 truths, then we are living in the darkness & dying in the darkness. These are investigating for oneself. Thinking in the direct order is connecting the cause & result (i.e samudaya & dukkha). Knowing their cessations are nirodha & magga.
Affection comes from unwise attention (ayonisomanasikara). Tanhā comes because of taking them as permanence, happiness, self, health, safety (i.e nicca, sukha, atta, arogyan, khema). Because of craving we get the khandhas. Because of the khandhas we get ageing, sickness & death. Unwise attention is not vipassanā practice. Wise attention is vipassanā practice.
The Buddha said that he was arising into this world to teach people & these things were like beverages mixed with poisons. If you drink it will get sick & die. So the Buddha warned us not to drink it. Samsāric travelers are hungry people. They always die with never fulfill their thirst & hunger. Near to death they cling to this & that & die with it.
The six-internal bases (ayatana); from eye (cakkhu) to body (kaya) are physical phenomena. Mind base is consciousness with mental factors. Condense all of them you get back the 5 khandhas. So contemplate the 5 khandhas as impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha), not-self (anatta) & fearful (bhaya).
In this way tanhā die, ageing & death cease (Sayadaw said this Sammasana Sutta is very good Dhamma. In his talks collection can see quite a few of them). In this sutta the Buddha taught 5 ways of insight contemplation. Contemplate the 5 khandhas as impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha), not-self (anatta), fearful (bhaya) & disease (roga). Every time tanhā come in you know it, & this will lead to Nibbāna. Drinking the poison beverage or not is depending on using the insight contemplation or without it.
T3
Ageing & death exist in the khandha. It’s truth of suffering (dukkha sacca). Thinking about their root source, find out, dig up & burn it down is good for us. I’ll show you the way of thinking & cutting off it. The teacher duty is to teach you until you understand it. After understanding & to practice is the yogi’s duty.
We are afraid of ageing, sickness & death and can’t escape from it. Where is ageing, sickness & death come from? If you think about it backwardly will find the cause of origin (see the 12 links of D.A). This dhamma will end ageing, sickness & death. Ageing, sickness & death come from the 5 khandhas.
Heat element is functioning for ageing. Warmth make it getting old & mature. All the existing body, teeth & head hairs are burning with it. It makes you sick & die. Temperature is increasing & becoming sick is the heat element. After come ageing & sickness with the heat retreat, blood drops & die. The cold heat element kills the person.
So ageing, sickness & death born out from the khandha. Only foolish & stupid person desires the khandha. A place without the great 4 elements & khandha will be freed from ageing, sickness & death. Living beings don’t know that ageing, sickness & death are the truth of dukkha.
So they try to get it, and looking for death. Even they are not clever as animals. Animals are afraid of death & when they encounter dangers try to run away. But for human beings they are making merits & asking for ageing, sickness & death (These are very common in traditional Buddhists whatever their schools are praying for the happiness of human & heavenly beings).
Not knowing the truth is becoming over craziness. Where is the 5 khandhas come from? It is from the wanting tanhā. People with craving for life don’t know the truth of dukkha & want to change life. They are only exchanging dukkha but they think it will lighter.
All are the same 100kgm each. Suffering is the same as before. If the guide is not good, people will fall into abyss (Importance of teachers, & good to contemplate for all Buddhists whatever their traditions).
Where is tanhā come from? It is from the affectionate things. If you love your khandha, then it comes from it. If you love your family members, then it comes from them. In short it comes from the 6-internal bases (ayatana). Because of the affectionate things that tanhā come into being.
Moment to moment born & die in the state of suffering is called the world (loka). Rounded like a ball is loka. In whatever state you are in will become affectionate to it. And then die without ever fulfilling your hunger & thirst. People die without any satisfaction (one of the meanings of dukkha is unsatisfactoriness). Contemplation of impermanence is the way of dispassion.
T4
I ask you to work for discerning the truth. Without knowing it and samsāra is long. I will tell the differences between the one who knows and who doesn’t know. Someone is working for the enjoyment of existence doesn’t know the truth. Working for the cutting off existence is knowing the truth.
The Buddha emphasized the important of knowing the truth with an example. If someone who could teach you the truth & making a demand, you should follow it. The Buddha gave an example of the demand as using 900 spears everyday (in the morning time 300 spears, mid-day 300 spears & evening 300 spears) to spear you & then taught you the truth.
These sufferings are incomparable to the samsāric dukkha (the sufferings will be encounter in the round of existences). If you know the first truth and free from the sufferings of the 4 painful rebirths (such as hell beings, animals, petas - many different types of ghost, asura).
So you all should not take it lightly (what the Buddha had said). It was like a stick threw up into the sky & fell down randomly. (Sayadaw continued to talk the sutta)
King of the Death is in the khandha. Only by knowing the truth that you’ll not pray for it. Path knowledge is the real refuge. Only Nibbāna is free from the torturers. The 5 khandhas exist & ageing, sickness & death also exist with them.
So the 5 khandhas are the truth of the cause (samudaya sacca) & ageing, sickness & death is the truth of dukkha (dukkha sacca). Without the 5 khandhas & there will be no ageing, sickness & death. Without them is the truth of cessation (nirodha sacca) & knowing about is the truth of the path (magga sacca).
(Sayadaw continued to teach vipassanā contemplation) Whatever is arising contemplate as dukkha sacca. Viparinama lakkhanaṁ dukkha saccaṁ_ The characteristic of change is Dukkha Saccaṁ_ Truth of Dukkha. Feeling, mind & whatever come all are including in this truth which is the contemplation of the Dhamma (Dhamma nupassana).
On the impermanence, bending your hand is change (viparinama) & stretching your hand is also change. In sitting meditation, in the beginning if you want to do ānāpāna (mindfulness of breathing) you can. If you don’t & just watching the khandha. The khandha will show its nature.
When it shows up contemplate as disease (rogato). After sometimes the whole body with a blip, blip, blip & like the boiling water. These are not pain & aches. This is the way of tigers watching & catching it preys. Whatever is new arising & you catch it. Watching is Samādhi & catching is paññā.
This is the way of watching with Samādhi & catching with paññā. It’s called yugananda method. The method of sāmādhi & paññā are going together. Surely you will catch it. Insight practice is watching & catching. Practice to know means impermanence is arresting by you.
Impermanence is anicca & knowing is magga. Continue the contemplation will become disenchantment. Before you were seeing other people deaths. Now you are seeing your own death.
After that you penetrate dukkha & the 5 khandhas disappear. Dukkha disappears and Nibbāna appears. This is completed with the 8 path factors. (i.e, Noble Eight Fold Path)
Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw--Part 4-2
[02] With Faith Transcends Wrong View
6th December 1960
[Sayadaw based this talk on the Ālavaka Sutta of Samyutta Nikāya & Sutta Nipāta. It was an interesting sutta & traced it source to the previous Buddha Kassapa. He only used 2 factors from the sutta; faith (saddhā) & mindfulness (sati).
Only with faith (saddhā) people can start to practise & realize first Nibbāna & their faiths become fixed. This stage transcends wrong view & doubt & faith becomes unshakable. May be in the beginning it needs some trust & interest in the Buddha’s teaching to start for it.
A few years ago there was a book in the west called “Buddhism Without Faith”. Many scholars criticized this book. “Buddhism Without Blind Faith” is the Buddhist faith & encourage the freedom of enquiry.
Without any faith & trust, nobody will has the interest to study & practice, but you need to have an open mind. All the Buddha’s teachings could be verified by oneself because it came from the direct experiences of the Buddha and the natural phenomena & laws of nature.
Sayadaw gave a very good analogy for saddhā. A man wants to dig out the root of a tree has to use a tool. The root of the tree is like ditthi (wrong view) & it connects with the water of dugati (the 4 painful rebirths). The branches are like tanhā and māna (craving & conceit) which grow out from the root.
The tool is paññā (wisdom) & the hands are faith (saddhā). Without the hands the tool can’t dig out the root. Sayadaw also emphasized the important of sati & it was leading all the other factors. Faith can transcend the lower round of existences; i.e, the 4 painful rebirths. With sati can transcend all the upper saṁsāra; i.e from the human existence to the highest Brahma Gods.]
The Buddha taught Ālavaka in the discourse that with faith could close the doors of 4 painful rebirths. Because of wrong view beings fall into the 4 painful rebirths, with faith can cross over the flood of wrong view (ditthogha). You have to believe that it can enter the stream of the path (sotāpatti magga).
Why you want to practise the Dhamma? You have faith in the Buddha’s words & also the words of the teacher, so you are practising it. He had been said that you must discern impermanence, & if you practice accordingly will discern it. You discern it because you have faith & practice it.
After discerning impermanence do you have any idea of this is my permanent mind process? Wrong view takes it as permanence. In practice let faith is leading you. Another point the Buddha taught was appamāda-diligence with mindfulness can transcend the 4 floods (oghas).
Mindfulness is greater than faith. Whatever is arising (mind states, feelings etc.) watching with mindfulness. If you are seeing the arising dhamma & also will see the cessation of it.
Watching at the candle light & you’ll see it going out. As example, mind with greed is arising & you are watching with mindfulness & it’s passing away. At that time is there any clinging come in? Without it you are free from the flood of sensuality (kamogha).
By watching & observing the mind & body phenomena & seeing impermanence do you want any kind of becoming? Then you are free from the flood of becoming (bhavogha).
If you are let the mindfulness dhamma leading you & wisdom (paññā) will follow behind it. Mindfulness knows the arising dhamma & wisdom knows the anicca. All these knowing are leading by mindfulness. Therefore the Buddha called it Satipatthāna (the function & object of mindfulness).
6th December 1960
[Sayadaw based this talk on the Ālavaka Sutta of Samyutta Nikāya & Sutta Nipāta. It was an interesting sutta & traced it source to the previous Buddha Kassapa. He only used 2 factors from the sutta; faith (saddhā) & mindfulness (sati).
Only with faith (saddhā) people can start to practise & realize first Nibbāna & their faiths become fixed. This stage transcends wrong view & doubt & faith becomes unshakable. May be in the beginning it needs some trust & interest in the Buddha’s teaching to start for it.
A few years ago there was a book in the west called “Buddhism Without Faith”. Many scholars criticized this book. “Buddhism Without Blind Faith” is the Buddhist faith & encourage the freedom of enquiry.
Without any faith & trust, nobody will has the interest to study & practice, but you need to have an open mind. All the Buddha’s teachings could be verified by oneself because it came from the direct experiences of the Buddha and the natural phenomena & laws of nature.
Sayadaw gave a very good analogy for saddhā. A man wants to dig out the root of a tree has to use a tool. The root of the tree is like ditthi (wrong view) & it connects with the water of dugati (the 4 painful rebirths). The branches are like tanhā and māna (craving & conceit) which grow out from the root.
The tool is paññā (wisdom) & the hands are faith (saddhā). Without the hands the tool can’t dig out the root. Sayadaw also emphasized the important of sati & it was leading all the other factors. Faith can transcend the lower round of existences; i.e, the 4 painful rebirths. With sati can transcend all the upper saṁsāra; i.e from the human existence to the highest Brahma Gods.]
The Buddha taught Ālavaka in the discourse that with faith could close the doors of 4 painful rebirths. Because of wrong view beings fall into the 4 painful rebirths, with faith can cross over the flood of wrong view (ditthogha). You have to believe that it can enter the stream of the path (sotāpatti magga).
Why you want to practise the Dhamma? You have faith in the Buddha’s words & also the words of the teacher, so you are practising it. He had been said that you must discern impermanence, & if you practice accordingly will discern it. You discern it because you have faith & practice it.
After discerning impermanence do you have any idea of this is my permanent mind process? Wrong view takes it as permanence. In practice let faith is leading you. Another point the Buddha taught was appamāda-diligence with mindfulness can transcend the 4 floods (oghas).
Mindfulness is greater than faith. Whatever is arising (mind states, feelings etc.) watching with mindfulness. If you are seeing the arising dhamma & also will see the cessation of it.
Watching at the candle light & you’ll see it going out. As example, mind with greed is arising & you are watching with mindfulness & it’s passing away. At that time is there any clinging come in? Without it you are free from the flood of sensuality (kamogha).
By watching & observing the mind & body phenomena & seeing impermanence do you want any kind of becoming? Then you are free from the flood of becoming (bhavogha).
If you are let the mindfulness dhamma leading you & wisdom (paññā) will follow behind it. Mindfulness knows the arising dhamma & wisdom knows the anicca. All these knowing are leading by mindfulness. Therefore the Buddha called it Satipatthāna (the function & object of mindfulness).
Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw--Part 4-3
[03] Time_Comsuming & Timeless / Kālika & Akālika
8th December 1960
[Sayadaw based this talk from Samiddhi Sutta, Devatā samyutta. Bhikkhu Samiddhi was handsome & lovely. A femal earth-deity (bhumma devatā) saw him in the light of early dawn fell in love with him & planned to seduce him. Samiddhi insisted that he would not abandon the monk`s life for the sake of sensual enjoyment.
He explained to her, “The Blessed One has stated that sensual pleasure are time-consuming, full of sufferings, full of despair, & the danger in them is still greater, while this Dhamma is directly visible, immediate (akāliko), inviting one to come & see, applicable, to be personally experience by the wise.”
(The Dhamma is well expounded by the Blessed one + directly visible……experience by the wise, are the 6 attributes of the Dhamma) The deity did not understand what he said & asked for more explanation.
He could not answer & suggested her to ask the Buddha. Later the Buddha answered for her & she entered the stream at the end of the talk (became a sotāpanna). It did not mention what happened to Samiddhi.
Here one of the interesting point was unwholesome intention turned into wholesome intention & leading to enlightenment by meeting a spiritual friend. Here Sayadaw used these 2 words, kālika (time_consuming) & akālika (timeless or immediate) to give this talk]
There are 2 kāla (time); kālika (time_consuming) & akālika (immediate). Kālika is about family & wealth. Akālika is about insight practice. Another way is working for defilement & killing the defilement. People are following kālika & enjoying in it will encounter great suffering, worry & anxiety.
If you do akālika all these will end. (Sayadaw taught them how to use akālika before, & then kālika) As an example, if you want to drink water. First contemplate impermanence of the wanting mind (desire) & then drink the water, etc… This is the right way to do things.
The Buddha gave this talk to Samiddhi (including the female deity). A deity came to Samiddhi & said to him. “Now you are in your youth & should indulge yourself in kālika (i.e, sensual pleasure) & do the akālika (spiritual practice) later.”
Samidhi answered to her, “ I don’t know the time of my death, the type of illness for dying & the place where I have to leave my body. And then also I don’t know where I’ll take my rebirth after death. So I have to do the akālika before.” The deity asked him again & he couldn’t answer it.
So he suggested her to ask the Buddha. The Buddha said that people took kālika as importance was they were not clear about between concept & reality. They took the mind & body phenomena as me, mine, man & woman.
So they suffered for it. Human beings end up in concepts or relative truth that they do all sorts of worldly things (have families, bring up children etc…) If you don’t clear about concept & reality there will be no vipassanā contemplation.
Therefore find out the reality & contemplate impermanence. At the end of the teaching the deity entered the stream. If you condense the 5 khandas only have the mind & body. Condense the mind & body again only impermanence. Impermanence is the truth of suffering. If you follow to the ending of dukkha it become akālika (timelessness, i.e Nibbāna).
8th December 1960
[Sayadaw based this talk from Samiddhi Sutta, Devatā samyutta. Bhikkhu Samiddhi was handsome & lovely. A femal earth-deity (bhumma devatā) saw him in the light of early dawn fell in love with him & planned to seduce him. Samiddhi insisted that he would not abandon the monk`s life for the sake of sensual enjoyment.
He explained to her, “The Blessed One has stated that sensual pleasure are time-consuming, full of sufferings, full of despair, & the danger in them is still greater, while this Dhamma is directly visible, immediate (akāliko), inviting one to come & see, applicable, to be personally experience by the wise.”
(The Dhamma is well expounded by the Blessed one + directly visible……experience by the wise, are the 6 attributes of the Dhamma) The deity did not understand what he said & asked for more explanation.
He could not answer & suggested her to ask the Buddha. Later the Buddha answered for her & she entered the stream at the end of the talk (became a sotāpanna). It did not mention what happened to Samiddhi.
Here one of the interesting point was unwholesome intention turned into wholesome intention & leading to enlightenment by meeting a spiritual friend. Here Sayadaw used these 2 words, kālika (time_consuming) & akālika (timeless or immediate) to give this talk]
There are 2 kāla (time); kālika (time_consuming) & akālika (immediate). Kālika is about family & wealth. Akālika is about insight practice. Another way is working for defilement & killing the defilement. People are following kālika & enjoying in it will encounter great suffering, worry & anxiety.
If you do akālika all these will end. (Sayadaw taught them how to use akālika before, & then kālika) As an example, if you want to drink water. First contemplate impermanence of the wanting mind (desire) & then drink the water, etc… This is the right way to do things.
The Buddha gave this talk to Samiddhi (including the female deity). A deity came to Samiddhi & said to him. “Now you are in your youth & should indulge yourself in kālika (i.e, sensual pleasure) & do the akālika (spiritual practice) later.”
Samidhi answered to her, “ I don’t know the time of my death, the type of illness for dying & the place where I have to leave my body. And then also I don’t know where I’ll take my rebirth after death. So I have to do the akālika before.” The deity asked him again & he couldn’t answer it.
So he suggested her to ask the Buddha. The Buddha said that people took kālika as importance was they were not clear about between concept & reality. They took the mind & body phenomena as me, mine, man & woman.
So they suffered for it. Human beings end up in concepts or relative truth that they do all sorts of worldly things (have families, bring up children etc…) If you don’t clear about concept & reality there will be no vipassanā contemplation.
Therefore find out the reality & contemplate impermanence. At the end of the teaching the deity entered the stream. If you condense the 5 khandas only have the mind & body. Condense the mind & body again only impermanence. Impermanence is the truth of suffering. If you follow to the ending of dukkha it become akālika (timelessness, i.e Nibbāna).
Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw--Part 4-4
[04] Checking for Wrong Views
9th December 1960
After this life & want enjoyment in next life is the view of eternalism (sassata ditthi). If you have done it & will receive it. This person will go there & enjoy the result is eternalism (sassata). After you have done & nothing is happening again. It’s just only functional (kiriya matta).
It’s the view of annihilationism (uccheda ditthi). Viewing it as there is no any connection. (But for fully enlightened beings such as Buddha, Pacceka-buddha & arahat it’s only functional).
Everybody has one of these views. With sassata view can’t realize Nibbāna, but can arrive to good destination (sugati). Uccheda view even can’t arrive to sugati but to the planes of misery (apāya bhūmi). These dhammas are for inner investigation.
If you don’t give up these wrong view & even do the practice can’t realize Nibbāna. They forbid the Path & Fruit knowledges. (Magga & Phala). If you teach Nibbāna dhamma to sassata person he doesn’t like it. He is hiding himself in the round of existence. Don’t want to listen about the cessation of life.
They like to realize Nibbāna slowly. Some people are very poor & have a lot of suffering & sorrow in lives that death is the only solution to them. Their philosophy is only born once & only die once & prefer the cessation of life. So they are uccheda people.
They want to listen about the cessation of life. Both of these people are wrong. Because of the craving for becoming (bhavatanhā) sassata people don’t like Nibbāna. Wrong view is preventing them to realize it.
They love to listen the enjoyment of life in the sutta discourses. For uccheda people when they listen vipassanā dhamma & prefer the cessation of life without understanding the cessation of dukkha. Both of them are not in the middle way, but inclining towards each polarity (i.e, eternalism & annihilationism).
I will talk about their nature. Sassata people believe in this life & after life. Doing wholesome actions & abstain from unwholesome action. If the Buddha & disciples taught them sacca dhamma & difficult to transcend dukkha. Because they take enjoyment in the becoming.
Uccheda people believe in this life & next life (My understanding of uccheda view is not believe in after life. May be here Sayadaw referred to some Buddhists who had uccheda view) & prefer the cessation of life. They are not doing wholesome actions. Dare to do unwholesome actions. But if they had the chances & listened to the teachings of the Buddha & disciples quickly renounced their wrong views. Worked hard to realize Nibbāna quickly.
The one in the middle way has these knowledges. He has only 5 khandhas & these are impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha), notself (anatta) & foulness (asubha) dhamma & truth of dukkha. By analyzing the khandhas with knowledge & practice will see their passing away with blips.
By seeing the arising dhamma is free from the annihilationism (uccheda) & seeing the passing away dhamma is free from eternalism (sassata). The person in the middle way free from both wrong views.
He is not accepting the views of permanence & extinction. In the world (loka) there are the only existence of the arising dhammas & the passing away dhamma. There are no eternal & annihilated phenomena. Before people had sassata view because they didn’t see the passing away dhammas & had uccheda view because they didn’t see the arising phenomena.
Before they didn’t have these insight. Therefore only by discerning impermanence that will be in the middle way. As an example you can use your finger nail scratches on your arm.
You will find the feeling arising & disappearing. The object of contemplation is impermanent & the knowledge which know the object is also impermanent (here feeling & the knowing mind). This is the main reason why I myself had taught you for many years about these things. Only by discerning impermanence before that will follow by disenchantment after.
If you don’t discern it & will be followed with pleasure. After the disenchantment do you have any desire for it? Seeing impermanence is the knowledge of as it really is (yathābhūtam nyan, the knowledge which drives away sassata & uccheda). Continue to contemplate & become disenchantment towards the phenomena is Nibbida Nyan (disenchantment of the arising dhamma & the passing away dhammas).
that sassata & uccheda cannot close near to the mind. This knowledge is beneficial to the Path Knowledge. By disenchanting to the khandhas is also to all the khandhas of 31 realms of existence. It is also the knowledge of disenchantment to the cemetery. If you have the khandha you have to look for a cemetery to bury it.
When arriving to this knowledge even you are disenchanting to someone you want to associate or live with this person. Then the 8 path factors arise, & the khandha disappears. Dukkha sacca disappears & nirodha sacca arises. This is the Deathless Nibbāna.
If you know only dukkha ceases (not a being) & free from uccheda ditthi. You should have sustained attention on the khandhas. From the time of discerning impermanence & can make a decision that you are at the entrance door of Nibbāna.
But don’t be satisfied with it & continue for contemplation. Becoming disenchantment you are closer to Nibbāna city. Continue to contemplate until penetrate the arising dukkha & the passing away dukkha, then the 5 khandhas cease. Dukkha ceases is Nibbāna. From the time you are discovering anicca & making the decision that you will realize Nibbāna.
9th December 1960
After this life & want enjoyment in next life is the view of eternalism (sassata ditthi). If you have done it & will receive it. This person will go there & enjoy the result is eternalism (sassata). After you have done & nothing is happening again. It’s just only functional (kiriya matta).
It’s the view of annihilationism (uccheda ditthi). Viewing it as there is no any connection. (But for fully enlightened beings such as Buddha, Pacceka-buddha & arahat it’s only functional).
Everybody has one of these views. With sassata view can’t realize Nibbāna, but can arrive to good destination (sugati). Uccheda view even can’t arrive to sugati but to the planes of misery (apāya bhūmi). These dhammas are for inner investigation.
If you don’t give up these wrong view & even do the practice can’t realize Nibbāna. They forbid the Path & Fruit knowledges. (Magga & Phala). If you teach Nibbāna dhamma to sassata person he doesn’t like it. He is hiding himself in the round of existence. Don’t want to listen about the cessation of life.
They like to realize Nibbāna slowly. Some people are very poor & have a lot of suffering & sorrow in lives that death is the only solution to them. Their philosophy is only born once & only die once & prefer the cessation of life. So they are uccheda people.
They want to listen about the cessation of life. Both of these people are wrong. Because of the craving for becoming (bhavatanhā) sassata people don’t like Nibbāna. Wrong view is preventing them to realize it.
They love to listen the enjoyment of life in the sutta discourses. For uccheda people when they listen vipassanā dhamma & prefer the cessation of life without understanding the cessation of dukkha. Both of them are not in the middle way, but inclining towards each polarity (i.e, eternalism & annihilationism).
I will talk about their nature. Sassata people believe in this life & after life. Doing wholesome actions & abstain from unwholesome action. If the Buddha & disciples taught them sacca dhamma & difficult to transcend dukkha. Because they take enjoyment in the becoming.
Uccheda people believe in this life & next life (My understanding of uccheda view is not believe in after life. May be here Sayadaw referred to some Buddhists who had uccheda view) & prefer the cessation of life. They are not doing wholesome actions. Dare to do unwholesome actions. But if they had the chances & listened to the teachings of the Buddha & disciples quickly renounced their wrong views. Worked hard to realize Nibbāna quickly.
The one in the middle way has these knowledges. He has only 5 khandhas & these are impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha), notself (anatta) & foulness (asubha) dhamma & truth of dukkha. By analyzing the khandhas with knowledge & practice will see their passing away with blips.
By seeing the arising dhamma is free from the annihilationism (uccheda) & seeing the passing away dhamma is free from eternalism (sassata). The person in the middle way free from both wrong views.
He is not accepting the views of permanence & extinction. In the world (loka) there are the only existence of the arising dhammas & the passing away dhamma. There are no eternal & annihilated phenomena. Before people had sassata view because they didn’t see the passing away dhammas & had uccheda view because they didn’t see the arising phenomena.
Before they didn’t have these insight. Therefore only by discerning impermanence that will be in the middle way. As an example you can use your finger nail scratches on your arm.
You will find the feeling arising & disappearing. The object of contemplation is impermanent & the knowledge which know the object is also impermanent (here feeling & the knowing mind). This is the main reason why I myself had taught you for many years about these things. Only by discerning impermanence before that will follow by disenchantment after.
If you don’t discern it & will be followed with pleasure. After the disenchantment do you have any desire for it? Seeing impermanence is the knowledge of as it really is (yathābhūtam nyan, the knowledge which drives away sassata & uccheda). Continue to contemplate & become disenchantment towards the phenomena is Nibbida Nyan (disenchantment of the arising dhamma & the passing away dhammas).
that sassata & uccheda cannot close near to the mind. This knowledge is beneficial to the Path Knowledge. By disenchanting to the khandhas is also to all the khandhas of 31 realms of existence. It is also the knowledge of disenchantment to the cemetery. If you have the khandha you have to look for a cemetery to bury it.
When arriving to this knowledge even you are disenchanting to someone you want to associate or live with this person. Then the 8 path factors arise, & the khandha disappears. Dukkha sacca disappears & nirodha sacca arises. This is the Deathless Nibbāna.
If you know only dukkha ceases (not a being) & free from uccheda ditthi. You should have sustained attention on the khandhas. From the time of discerning impermanence & can make a decision that you are at the entrance door of Nibbāna.
But don’t be satisfied with it & continue for contemplation. Becoming disenchantment you are closer to Nibbāna city. Continue to contemplate until penetrate the arising dukkha & the passing away dukkha, then the 5 khandhas cease. Dukkha ceases is Nibbāna. From the time you are discovering anicca & making the decision that you will realize Nibbāna.
Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw--Part 4-5
[05] Wrong Views & Characters
9th December 1961
Wrong views come from inversions (vipallāsa). Someone with the sassata nature is taking enjoyment in the life of existence. So it’s far from Nibbāna. Someone with uccheda nature appreciates Nibbāna. With sassata does not like Nibbāna. Uccheda prefers to be nothing is happening again.
They believe in born only once & die only once in lifetime. It doesn’t make any difference to them. I urge people who have these wrong views must practice for themselves to see the reality.
The reality & the knowing have to be fit together. The body whenever you observe, it exists only anicca, dukkha, anatta & dukkha sacca. If the reality of the body & the knowing mind are fitting together, it becomes cakkhu maṁtosa passanti_the person with eyes can see it.
If not you were born with blindness & died with blindness. This was said by the Buddha in the Udāna Pali. Most Buddhists die without seeing impermanence, but they know only born once & die once in one lifetime. These people born in the darkness & die in the darkness. They can’t revolt the inversions (vipallāsa) that they are crazy & blind. This body exists as impermanent phenomena and not seeing this is blind.
But we take the not existing things as my son, my wife, etc. is crazy. So don’t want to become a crazy & blind corpse. If you want, then the king doesn’t go to the heaven & the monk doesn’t fly up to the heaven. (These usages in Burmese language are respectful ways of saying about the king & the monk are passing away).
Both of them suffer in woeful plane (apāyabhūmi; because of wrong views) and dive into the earth (i.e, hell). (And then Sayadaw told the story of a group of blind brahmins and an elephant). All of them didn’t know the whole elephant. In the same way human beings only know the outer forms as son, wife, etc. But they don’t know what happen inside & then die.
They die as crazy & blind people. Even you are a 2 rooted person, if you can practice & discern impermanence, then you will finish your goal in next life. (Regarding 2 rooted person in some of Sayadaw’s talks, can’t discern anicca. May be it referred to the highest levels of anicca, or some of his listeners were already discerned anicca. So he encouraged them to continue their practice.
Anyhow yogis should not concern about the Dhamma duty or procedure. He should concern only practice rightly & checking his mistakes & correcting them). If you don’t work for practice & next life also will born in the darkness & die in the darkness again. You are not only living in the darkness but also crazy.
Without cure your blindness & craziness even a Brahma god can become a pig & an Universal Monarch a dog (anything can happen to a worldling). Everything was happening before to a living being but except Nibbāna. (Because saṁsāra or the beginningless round of rebirths is very long to all beings)
A person not in the middle way is going randomly and in the extreme. The 2 extremes are not free from ageing, sickness & death. And also can’t find the way of freedom. Without cure the blindness & craziness will be never in the middle way. Beings are moving like an earth worm. A chicken is waiting in front of it. It doesn’t know about this & going towards the chicken.
Therefore it becomes the food for the chick. In the same way living beings are eaten by the king of the Death. You can smile only when you are in the middle way. You can smile after seeing impermanence, disenchantment & the ending of the conditioned phenomena. Without these is only the smiling of a blind & crazy person.
Inversion of wrong view (ditthi vipallāsa) over power us that we are always going towards the path of death. If you are looking at it with knowledge and this khandha is dying for many times within a day. So if someone became a sotāpanna and the Buddha referred to him as āloko udapādi_ attained the knowledge of light.
It will only become bright by getting the seed of Path Knowledge. After discern anicca and yiu get the knowledge in accordance with the truth (saccanulomika nyan).
This knowledge becomes mature will see the real dukkha. It’s difficult to talk people to appreciate these things. What they prefer is the path to good rebirths, because they have inversions with them. If your eyes can see, then you are in the middle way.
You discern impermanence and it becomes the seed of a noble being (ariya). Most of us took rebirths as animals in our past lives because human existences were difficult to obtain (Some yogis could discern their past lives also supported this point).
Therefore the Buddha said that we should be disgusted & loathed to this khandha. If you have the khandha, & even will not kill by others, must bite to death by the 4 snakes within it (And them Sayadaw mentioned how the 4 great elements changed in the body & led to deaths).
The Buddha explained the characters of blind & crazy people. People held the view of permanence (sassata ditthi) believe in next life & the result of good & evil. Prefer to do good & afraid of evil.
May be you all think him as a moral person. Even if he meets a good teacher and stays away from practice to realize Nibbāna (There was a close disciple named U Mya, a wealthy business man. If he had the chance to meet Sayadaw would never stay longer, but only a few days for his talks. Sayadaw always asked him to stay longer for practice but he neglected & died unexpectedly).
These people (sassata) even if they met the Buddha would not do it & not giving up their views. Their faults are small but very difficult to transcend dukkha (Most later Buddhists are this type. They have bhava tanhā & also encourage others to do the same).
They are very reluctant to cut off the khandha process. They can’t give up their sensual pleasure. They are gentle nature. Pretend to be moral people & don’t want to come out from the round of existence (vatta).
Therefore it’s difficult to help them for liberation. It’s refine & difficult wrong view. Like the head hairs of a small baby difficult to shave. The faults of uccheda people are heavy, but they are easily to give up their views. They believe in life & kamma but don’t want to cultivate wholesome actions.
They can do unwholesome things. If they listen to talks & have faith in it easy to transcend dukkha. The difficult things is most of you are sassata people. If you have the eye sight both of these views will fall away.
Uccheda people even at the utmost can make a vow to become a bodhisatta. Between the two views, uccheda person is more closer to Nibbāna. If you discern the impermanence of any khandha both wrong views are gone. By seeing the arising is uccheda view, with the passing away is sassata view & both will fall away.
So discerning of impermanence is very beneficial. Go & study the Pali Suttas, most of them were talking about the rise & fall (udaya & vaya), i.e, impermanence. Why is that? Because it can revolt wrong views. Now, you have encountered the Buddha’s Teachings and must do this task.
If not you will incline towards one side. Therefore I am asking you very often that do you discern impermanence? The same as do you have the eye-sight yet? It doesn’t mean to see all of them. Here feeling arises & then not here. Mind arises & then not here. To know the overview of it.
These are important so that I have to tell you. Even in the past lives before, you might be met one of the Buddhas, but one of these wrong views prevented you from liberation. Distinguish by characters sassata person is lust temperament (rāga caritta). Uccheda person is hatred temperament (dosa caritta).
If he doesn’t want to do something whatever reason he will not do it. They are blunt people (If they have faith in the Dhamma can give up their lives for the practice). They are sharp & sassata people are soft. The Buddha taught a lot of things in details, & nothing was left behind (The Buddha never had a secret teaching or left somethings behind for others to discover).
Even in the end he allowed the monks to adopt some of the minor rules for the practice. All of you are understanding the Dependent Arising very well (Sayadaw taught many years to them by using D.A). So don’t doubt about yourself as in the middle way or not? Dependent Arising teaches you the cause & effect of the impermanent phenomena. So you are in the middle way.
Only you need to take care of it ending. The khandha like the flowing water always in the impermanent states. It tells you only these. It’s like as you are watching at one of the place of flowing river. The upper part of the water flowing in & the lower part of the water flowing away? The cessation of rise & fall (udaya & vaya) is Nibbāna.
9th December 1961
Wrong views come from inversions (vipallāsa). Someone with the sassata nature is taking enjoyment in the life of existence. So it’s far from Nibbāna. Someone with uccheda nature appreciates Nibbāna. With sassata does not like Nibbāna. Uccheda prefers to be nothing is happening again.
They believe in born only once & die only once in lifetime. It doesn’t make any difference to them. I urge people who have these wrong views must practice for themselves to see the reality.
The reality & the knowing have to be fit together. The body whenever you observe, it exists only anicca, dukkha, anatta & dukkha sacca. If the reality of the body & the knowing mind are fitting together, it becomes cakkhu maṁtosa passanti_the person with eyes can see it.
If not you were born with blindness & died with blindness. This was said by the Buddha in the Udāna Pali. Most Buddhists die without seeing impermanence, but they know only born once & die once in one lifetime. These people born in the darkness & die in the darkness. They can’t revolt the inversions (vipallāsa) that they are crazy & blind. This body exists as impermanent phenomena and not seeing this is blind.
But we take the not existing things as my son, my wife, etc. is crazy. So don’t want to become a crazy & blind corpse. If you want, then the king doesn’t go to the heaven & the monk doesn’t fly up to the heaven. (These usages in Burmese language are respectful ways of saying about the king & the monk are passing away).
Both of them suffer in woeful plane (apāyabhūmi; because of wrong views) and dive into the earth (i.e, hell). (And then Sayadaw told the story of a group of blind brahmins and an elephant). All of them didn’t know the whole elephant. In the same way human beings only know the outer forms as son, wife, etc. But they don’t know what happen inside & then die.
They die as crazy & blind people. Even you are a 2 rooted person, if you can practice & discern impermanence, then you will finish your goal in next life. (Regarding 2 rooted person in some of Sayadaw’s talks, can’t discern anicca. May be it referred to the highest levels of anicca, or some of his listeners were already discerned anicca. So he encouraged them to continue their practice.
Anyhow yogis should not concern about the Dhamma duty or procedure. He should concern only practice rightly & checking his mistakes & correcting them). If you don’t work for practice & next life also will born in the darkness & die in the darkness again. You are not only living in the darkness but also crazy.
Without cure your blindness & craziness even a Brahma god can become a pig & an Universal Monarch a dog (anything can happen to a worldling). Everything was happening before to a living being but except Nibbāna. (Because saṁsāra or the beginningless round of rebirths is very long to all beings)
A person not in the middle way is going randomly and in the extreme. The 2 extremes are not free from ageing, sickness & death. And also can’t find the way of freedom. Without cure the blindness & craziness will be never in the middle way. Beings are moving like an earth worm. A chicken is waiting in front of it. It doesn’t know about this & going towards the chicken.
Therefore it becomes the food for the chick. In the same way living beings are eaten by the king of the Death. You can smile only when you are in the middle way. You can smile after seeing impermanence, disenchantment & the ending of the conditioned phenomena. Without these is only the smiling of a blind & crazy person.
Inversion of wrong view (ditthi vipallāsa) over power us that we are always going towards the path of death. If you are looking at it with knowledge and this khandha is dying for many times within a day. So if someone became a sotāpanna and the Buddha referred to him as āloko udapādi_ attained the knowledge of light.
It will only become bright by getting the seed of Path Knowledge. After discern anicca and yiu get the knowledge in accordance with the truth (saccanulomika nyan).
This knowledge becomes mature will see the real dukkha. It’s difficult to talk people to appreciate these things. What they prefer is the path to good rebirths, because they have inversions with them. If your eyes can see, then you are in the middle way.
You discern impermanence and it becomes the seed of a noble being (ariya). Most of us took rebirths as animals in our past lives because human existences were difficult to obtain (Some yogis could discern their past lives also supported this point).
Therefore the Buddha said that we should be disgusted & loathed to this khandha. If you have the khandha, & even will not kill by others, must bite to death by the 4 snakes within it (And them Sayadaw mentioned how the 4 great elements changed in the body & led to deaths).
The Buddha explained the characters of blind & crazy people. People held the view of permanence (sassata ditthi) believe in next life & the result of good & evil. Prefer to do good & afraid of evil.
May be you all think him as a moral person. Even if he meets a good teacher and stays away from practice to realize Nibbāna (There was a close disciple named U Mya, a wealthy business man. If he had the chance to meet Sayadaw would never stay longer, but only a few days for his talks. Sayadaw always asked him to stay longer for practice but he neglected & died unexpectedly).
These people (sassata) even if they met the Buddha would not do it & not giving up their views. Their faults are small but very difficult to transcend dukkha (Most later Buddhists are this type. They have bhava tanhā & also encourage others to do the same).
They are very reluctant to cut off the khandha process. They can’t give up their sensual pleasure. They are gentle nature. Pretend to be moral people & don’t want to come out from the round of existence (vatta).
Therefore it’s difficult to help them for liberation. It’s refine & difficult wrong view. Like the head hairs of a small baby difficult to shave. The faults of uccheda people are heavy, but they are easily to give up their views. They believe in life & kamma but don’t want to cultivate wholesome actions.
They can do unwholesome things. If they listen to talks & have faith in it easy to transcend dukkha. The difficult things is most of you are sassata people. If you have the eye sight both of these views will fall away.
Uccheda people even at the utmost can make a vow to become a bodhisatta. Between the two views, uccheda person is more closer to Nibbāna. If you discern the impermanence of any khandha both wrong views are gone. By seeing the arising is uccheda view, with the passing away is sassata view & both will fall away.
So discerning of impermanence is very beneficial. Go & study the Pali Suttas, most of them were talking about the rise & fall (udaya & vaya), i.e, impermanence. Why is that? Because it can revolt wrong views. Now, you have encountered the Buddha’s Teachings and must do this task.
If not you will incline towards one side. Therefore I am asking you very often that do you discern impermanence? The same as do you have the eye-sight yet? It doesn’t mean to see all of them. Here feeling arises & then not here. Mind arises & then not here. To know the overview of it.
These are important so that I have to tell you. Even in the past lives before, you might be met one of the Buddhas, but one of these wrong views prevented you from liberation. Distinguish by characters sassata person is lust temperament (rāga caritta). Uccheda person is hatred temperament (dosa caritta).
If he doesn’t want to do something whatever reason he will not do it. They are blunt people (If they have faith in the Dhamma can give up their lives for the practice). They are sharp & sassata people are soft. The Buddha taught a lot of things in details, & nothing was left behind (The Buddha never had a secret teaching or left somethings behind for others to discover).
Even in the end he allowed the monks to adopt some of the minor rules for the practice. All of you are understanding the Dependent Arising very well (Sayadaw taught many years to them by using D.A). So don’t doubt about yourself as in the middle way or not? Dependent Arising teaches you the cause & effect of the impermanent phenomena. So you are in the middle way.
Only you need to take care of it ending. The khandha like the flowing water always in the impermanent states. It tells you only these. It’s like as you are watching at one of the place of flowing river. The upper part of the water flowing in & the lower part of the water flowing away? The cessation of rise & fall (udaya & vaya) is Nibbāna.
Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw--Part 4-6
[06] The Wise and the Fool
11th December 1960
(In this talk Sayadaw was using the first verse of the 38 highest blessings_ Mangala Sutta for the teaching. “Not to associate with fools; to associate with the wise; to honour those worthy of honour”) A fool (bālā) doesn’t mean a person is foolish but for the dhamma latent in the mind.
In the same way the wise (panditā) also not a person but the dhamma. The mind has ignorance (avijjā) & becomes the fool. The mind has knowledge (vijjā) & becomes the wise. We have to decide by the dhamma latents in the mind. Association with what is good becomes wise & bad becomes a fool. Not knowing is ignorance (avijjā) & foolishness is sankhara (kammic formation).
Take the 5 khandhas as man & woman who are not exist is foolishness. Contemplation of the impermanence of the khandha is wise. By dying in this way is worthy of honour (pūjā ca pūjanīyānaṁ). Someone dies by clinging to the khandha as a living being is the corpse of a fool. If you associate with impermanence will realize the incomparable Nibbāna.
11th December 1960
(In this talk Sayadaw was using the first verse of the 38 highest blessings_ Mangala Sutta for the teaching. “Not to associate with fools; to associate with the wise; to honour those worthy of honour”) A fool (bālā) doesn’t mean a person is foolish but for the dhamma latent in the mind.
In the same way the wise (panditā) also not a person but the dhamma. The mind has ignorance (avijjā) & becomes the fool. The mind has knowledge (vijjā) & becomes the wise. We have to decide by the dhamma latents in the mind. Association with what is good becomes wise & bad becomes a fool. Not knowing is ignorance (avijjā) & foolishness is sankhara (kammic formation).
Take the 5 khandhas as man & woman who are not exist is foolishness. Contemplation of the impermanence of the khandha is wise. By dying in this way is worthy of honour (pūjā ca pūjanīyānaṁ). Someone dies by clinging to the khandha as a living being is the corpse of a fool. If you associate with impermanence will realize the incomparable Nibbāna.
Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw--Part 4-7
[07] Saṁsāra and the Hindrances
13th, 17th to 21st December 1960
T1
How we were living in the round of existences? (Saṁsāra). Talking with the relative truth of person & living being; we were wandering-on by changing heads, such as from human head to dog head, pig head etc. In accordance with the Dependent Arising we are revolving around by birth, ageing & death (jati, jara & marana).
This is dukkha machine running on. We don’t know how to remove away the covering up phenomena. So saṁsāra is very long for us. There are the 5 hindrances cover up the Dhamma & wisdom can’t penetrate.
These are the dhammas hinder the Path & Fruit knowledges. Even meet the Buddha, Dhamma, & Sangha, if we can’t remove them the dukkha machine is running on. The mind process appears at the heart base. If the blood of the heart becomes muddle then the mind is also. If the blood becomes clear & the mind is also. And then the knowledge becomes clear.
The Buddha used some similes to explain the hindrances. For greed (lobha) a bowl of colour water. Originally water is clear. In the same way bhavanga citta (life-continuum) is clear. The heart blood is also clear. There are 8 types of greedy mind, as an example with wrong view & without wrong view etc.
If the mind is clear like the pure water can discern impermanence in the khandha (i.e, far from the hindrances). An itch arises & passes away, hearing arises & passes away, smell arises & passes away, thought arises & passes away. All are passing away.
If you don’t discern it then mixed with hindrances. Therefore nyan (knowledge) doesn’t has the chance to come in. The same as you can’t see your own face in the water. Anicca, dukkha, anatta, & asubha phenomena can’t appear. In accordance with the way of mindfulness (satipatthāna), if lobha mind comes in, first contemplate its impermanence. After that you’ll see the impermanence in the khandha.
Therefore the Buddha said that forgot what one had learnt (with hindrances) & remembered what one had forgotten (without hindrances). If the lobha mind arises & don’t know how to remove it, will connect to clinging (upādāna) & revolve in saṁsāra. If you know how to deal with it then becomes vipassanā.
And then continue to discern the impermanence of whatever one is contemplating. Some blame their paramis when the hindrances come in. It’s nothing to do with the paramis but don’t know how to deal with the hindrances. These are arising now, but they don’t know & say what they think about it.
T2
There are 2 types of dhamma. Dhamma of the outsiders & Dhamma of the Buddha. Vipassanā is the teaching of the Buddha. Can be practised it, you need a good teacher. If you meet a good teacher the path factors will be developed. Meeting a good teacher is like dawn arising. Developing path factors is like the sun arising. Without these 2 factors all beings are under the darkness. Therefore they are born, live & die in the darkness.
This is under the influence of ignorance & craving. According to the Dependent Arising process, beings arrive to the 4 woeful planes. I will talk about the hindrances the Buddha taught to King Ajātasattu. If greed (lobha) arises in the khandha it’s like someone in debts. There is no free time & the mind becomes unhappy. We can contemplate to find out, it’s like a person in debt or not.
We establish a family, wife & children increase. They are like money lenders, you have to work for them. It’s like repay the debts. This debt has to be paid until your death. Even you are dying & want to continue to pay the debt. The Buddha taught you to give up greed.
But you all are keeping it with you. So you all are not Buddhists. How to free oneself from slavery? We love ourselves most because don’t know the faults of the khandha. We love the khandha most.
So practice insight on the khandha. Divide the khandha you get 5 of them. Wanting to kill tanhā (craving) contemplate feeling (vedana). Why? Because vedana conditions tanhā (vedana paccaya tanhā). When feeling ceases, craving also ceases- vedana nirodha tanhā nirodho. Then you are free from the list of the slave. The time you are not practicing is a slave mind. Contemplate the 3 feelings (pleasant, unpleasant & neutral feelings).
T3
(Sayadaw continued to talk on greed) To vomit out greed inside the khandha must feed the medicine for vomiting. This medicine is insight path factors. Every time greed arises contemplate its impermanence. After that continue to contemplate the khandha where lobha is hiding. If lobha is staying in the heart longer and the slave life is longer.
Right view is the medicine of vipassanā for vomiting lobha. (after that Sayadaw talked about men working for their wives in a very humourous way. Compared them as oxen). There is no disease bigger than greed. No medicine can cure it, only with the medicine of the Buddha.
Hatred (dosa) is like a person who has disease. It starts from the beginning to mature stage. Therefore it has to be contemplated in its beginning stage. The commentary mentioned that people who were hatred nature they became old, sick & distress earlier than before the time came.
This comes from wrong view & has to contemplate impermanence (Sayadaw told the story of Theri Padācāra) Without overcomes dosa can’t contemplate other things. After extinguish it contemplate the khandha which dosa relies on. In the Majjima Nikāya dosa is like a frog. If you poke it body with a stick it becomes bigger.
According to Dependent Arising, dosa starts at the end; i.e, dosa, soka, parideva etc. Without knowing dosa arises is including ignorance with it. Because of ignorance starts Dependent Arising in the beginning. Therefore dosa arises people suffer at the present & in the future. This disease can be cure with metta (loving kindness) & if you can’t then use vipassanā. At that time not easy for metta to come in. Contemplate impermance is the best way.
Sloth & torpor (thīna & middha) is like a person in the prison. This person doesn’t know what happening outside the prison. These dhamma are more terrible than others. In the place of not knowing it is number one. Angry person knows his anger.
In the same way greedy person knows his greed, even though he can’t overcome it. For both of them you can contemplate lobha & dosa. But for sloth & torpor you can’t do it. Therefore it’s like in a saṁsāric prison.
T4
People who do regular meditation practices & have the habitual actions (ācinna kamma) near death & die with smile on their faces. In daily life whatever actions & movements we are doing, wrong view & craving (ditthi & tanhā) are always going together with the khandha.
At that time we can’t never see the changes within them. By using the methods of the Buddha & teachers giving us to watch & observe will see the changes in the khandha. At that time khandha & wisdom are going together.
By seeing the ugliness of the khandha it becomes undesirable, disgusting & disenchanting. Continue to contemplate becomes disassociation with it. In this way Path Knowledge will arise. After that you can smile near death or can continue for the higher level of Path Knowledges.
Restlessness & worry/remorse (uddhaca & kukkucca) are like a slave. When the mind is restless it never follows our wishes & desires. We have to follow behind the restlessness. It’s the same as a slave.
A slave follows behind his master. Also like the bees, make hive on a dog’s tail (This is quite a strange example & funny indeed). Contemplate the impermanence of the restlessness. After overcome it, restart with the original object (e.g vedana, mind etc.).
Kukkucca has 2 mind states. Remorse with unwholesome actions one had done before. Worry with wholesome actions one has not done yet. These mind states come in during meditation & dying moments (Sayadaw told the interesting story of Tambadantika the executioner in the Dhammapada Text)
T5
Already translated before as “Remorse/Worry & Dying” (20th December 1960)
T6
If someone asks, “Where you came from?” Every one will say that from my mother’s womb. But the Buddha said that birth was the truth of suffering (Jāti pi dukkha sacca). So the right answer was came form dukkha sacca. And then asks, “Where are you living now?”
The answer will be in Mandalay, Taung Myo (Taung Myo is a small city south of Mandalay, also known as Amarapura where Mogok Sayadaw’s monastery is situated). Ageing is the truth of dukkha (jara pi dukkha saccaṁ), so we are always living with the truth of dukkha.
If we don’t have the truth of the eye thinking all these as good coming & good living. Vyādhi pi dukkha saccaṁ-sickness is the truth of dukkha. We think we are healthy but always living with illness. Again we know death is the truth of dukkha - Maranaṁ pi dukkha saccaṁ.
Therefore we came from dukkha, live with dukkha, and will die with dukkha. The functions of the khandha are only these things. In the whole round of existence we are wandering-on with the truth of dukkha. Never had with happiness between them.
All these happen because of the covering up by hinderances (nīvarana) that can’t see the way of freedom. So turn on the dukkha machine is nīvarana dhamma. We can’t meet the Buddha & Dhamma is also by them.
Where is doubt (vicikicchā) coming from? Let us find the cause. In the Majjhima Nikāya, Mulapannsa the Buddha said that it came from not paying attention to what should be paid attention & paying attention to what should not be paid attention. Come from unwise attention (ayonisomanasikāra).
Wrong view is delusion dhamma(moha). It’s including in the 12 unwholesome minds. Only can destroy wrong view & doubt will realize Nibbāna. After they have gone can realize the other higher Path Knowledges. Then, the seed to woeful planes is destroyed.
For the development of wise attention it needs to associate with the wise & listening Dhamma talks. There are 3 kinds of doubt concerning for oneself. Where are we coming from? What happen to us now? After death where are we going?
Every day what you all are doing is like a sky walker walking on a tight rope which is nearly falling apart (A very good simile to warn Buddhists & other faiths who have the fortunate chances to come to this human world & doing foolish & stupid things).
If your wrong views are not destroyed I have to always warn you of its importance. If you can’t dispel doubt then wrong view can’t fall away. Without it falling away can’t free from the wandering on in the painful planes (apāya-bhūmi).
Therefore they are (ditthi & vici-kicchā) more dangerous than the atomic bombs fell on the Hiroshima & Nagasaki cities. These atomic bombs make you die only once. But they make you die for many times (Sayadaw was using the Dependent Arising to explain the 3 doubts mentioned above). From the fruits of ignorance & kammic formation (avijjā & sankhara) the 5 khandhas tree grows out.
From the tree bears fruits. And then from the fruits a tree grows out again on & on without end. Therefore we have to deal with the present tree the khandha & make it not to bear fruits again. Don’t listen to this talk just for merit, but to remember for knowledge & practice.
If doubt comes contemplate impermanence. With contemplation ignorance becomes knowledge (avijjā becomes vijjā) & kammic formation & rebirth consciousness not arise. Without the seed no tree grows out (Here the seed is rebirth consciousness & the tree is the 5 khandhas). After that contemplate the 5 khandhas.
T7
If you are having doubt in the practice and like a person going on a journey. And having doubt on the teaching of Dependent Arising such as concerning oneself of the past, the present & the future. According to the Abhidhamma there are 8 doubts. To day I have to end my talk on the hindrances & will talk on the Dependent Arising in the wider sense.
Having doubt on the khandha develops ignorance & kammic formation (avijjā & sankhara) is wandering – on like a circle. Ignorance & kammic formation -> khandha -> ignorance & k-formation -> khandha…etc… on & on (This is the condensed form). Therefore the Budhha said you can’t find the beginning of a being or saṁsāra. If you ask the cause of it then can be answered.
Ignorance & kammic formation are the main point. These are the causes for the khandha. Because of samudaya sacca (avijjā & sarkhara) dukkha sacca arises (i.e, the khandha). Therefore only samudaya sacca & dukkha sacca are wandering-on ( Sayadaw gave the simile of the seed & the tree).
Because of the hindrances nirodha sacca & magga sacca cannot come in. In saṁsāra only the bad cause & the bad result were wandering-on. Never had the good cause & the good result. Condense the Dependent Arising only that much.
The causes for death are (avijjā & sankhara) & the result of death is (khandha). You have to look for the good cause (the Path Factors) & the good result (Nibbāna) before arriving to ageing and sickness. If you look for it between sickness & death will never succeed. (Sayadaw told the story of ven. Anuradha for dispelling doubt)
He had been closed to the Buddha & practised before. But it was evident that he has not been overcome his doubt. He had doubt & couldn’t answer the questions posed by the outsiders. You have to contemplate to discern the arising & passing away of the phenomena.
Anuradha himself was by penetration of dukkha arising & dukkha passing away that became a stream enterer (sotāpanna) & then an arahant. (This was after the Buddha helping him dispelled his wrong view & doubt).
Only by penetration of dukkha that the Path Knowledge of not wanting dukkha will arise. Dukkha ceases means no khandha exists. The Path Knowledge is not seeing the Khandha. Path Knowledge is the cause of sukha & the result of sukha is Nibbāna.
13th, 17th to 21st December 1960
T1
How we were living in the round of existences? (Saṁsāra). Talking with the relative truth of person & living being; we were wandering-on by changing heads, such as from human head to dog head, pig head etc. In accordance with the Dependent Arising we are revolving around by birth, ageing & death (jati, jara & marana).
This is dukkha machine running on. We don’t know how to remove away the covering up phenomena. So saṁsāra is very long for us. There are the 5 hindrances cover up the Dhamma & wisdom can’t penetrate.
These are the dhammas hinder the Path & Fruit knowledges. Even meet the Buddha, Dhamma, & Sangha, if we can’t remove them the dukkha machine is running on. The mind process appears at the heart base. If the blood of the heart becomes muddle then the mind is also. If the blood becomes clear & the mind is also. And then the knowledge becomes clear.
The Buddha used some similes to explain the hindrances. For greed (lobha) a bowl of colour water. Originally water is clear. In the same way bhavanga citta (life-continuum) is clear. The heart blood is also clear. There are 8 types of greedy mind, as an example with wrong view & without wrong view etc.
If the mind is clear like the pure water can discern impermanence in the khandha (i.e, far from the hindrances). An itch arises & passes away, hearing arises & passes away, smell arises & passes away, thought arises & passes away. All are passing away.
If you don’t discern it then mixed with hindrances. Therefore nyan (knowledge) doesn’t has the chance to come in. The same as you can’t see your own face in the water. Anicca, dukkha, anatta, & asubha phenomena can’t appear. In accordance with the way of mindfulness (satipatthāna), if lobha mind comes in, first contemplate its impermanence. After that you’ll see the impermanence in the khandha.
Therefore the Buddha said that forgot what one had learnt (with hindrances) & remembered what one had forgotten (without hindrances). If the lobha mind arises & don’t know how to remove it, will connect to clinging (upādāna) & revolve in saṁsāra. If you know how to deal with it then becomes vipassanā.
And then continue to discern the impermanence of whatever one is contemplating. Some blame their paramis when the hindrances come in. It’s nothing to do with the paramis but don’t know how to deal with the hindrances. These are arising now, but they don’t know & say what they think about it.
T2
There are 2 types of dhamma. Dhamma of the outsiders & Dhamma of the Buddha. Vipassanā is the teaching of the Buddha. Can be practised it, you need a good teacher. If you meet a good teacher the path factors will be developed. Meeting a good teacher is like dawn arising. Developing path factors is like the sun arising. Without these 2 factors all beings are under the darkness. Therefore they are born, live & die in the darkness.
This is under the influence of ignorance & craving. According to the Dependent Arising process, beings arrive to the 4 woeful planes. I will talk about the hindrances the Buddha taught to King Ajātasattu. If greed (lobha) arises in the khandha it’s like someone in debts. There is no free time & the mind becomes unhappy. We can contemplate to find out, it’s like a person in debt or not.
We establish a family, wife & children increase. They are like money lenders, you have to work for them. It’s like repay the debts. This debt has to be paid until your death. Even you are dying & want to continue to pay the debt. The Buddha taught you to give up greed.
But you all are keeping it with you. So you all are not Buddhists. How to free oneself from slavery? We love ourselves most because don’t know the faults of the khandha. We love the khandha most.
So practice insight on the khandha. Divide the khandha you get 5 of them. Wanting to kill tanhā (craving) contemplate feeling (vedana). Why? Because vedana conditions tanhā (vedana paccaya tanhā). When feeling ceases, craving also ceases- vedana nirodha tanhā nirodho. Then you are free from the list of the slave. The time you are not practicing is a slave mind. Contemplate the 3 feelings (pleasant, unpleasant & neutral feelings).
T3
(Sayadaw continued to talk on greed) To vomit out greed inside the khandha must feed the medicine for vomiting. This medicine is insight path factors. Every time greed arises contemplate its impermanence. After that continue to contemplate the khandha where lobha is hiding. If lobha is staying in the heart longer and the slave life is longer.
Right view is the medicine of vipassanā for vomiting lobha. (after that Sayadaw talked about men working for their wives in a very humourous way. Compared them as oxen). There is no disease bigger than greed. No medicine can cure it, only with the medicine of the Buddha.
Hatred (dosa) is like a person who has disease. It starts from the beginning to mature stage. Therefore it has to be contemplated in its beginning stage. The commentary mentioned that people who were hatred nature they became old, sick & distress earlier than before the time came.
This comes from wrong view & has to contemplate impermanence (Sayadaw told the story of Theri Padācāra) Without overcomes dosa can’t contemplate other things. After extinguish it contemplate the khandha which dosa relies on. In the Majjima Nikāya dosa is like a frog. If you poke it body with a stick it becomes bigger.
According to Dependent Arising, dosa starts at the end; i.e, dosa, soka, parideva etc. Without knowing dosa arises is including ignorance with it. Because of ignorance starts Dependent Arising in the beginning. Therefore dosa arises people suffer at the present & in the future. This disease can be cure with metta (loving kindness) & if you can’t then use vipassanā. At that time not easy for metta to come in. Contemplate impermance is the best way.
Sloth & torpor (thīna & middha) is like a person in the prison. This person doesn’t know what happening outside the prison. These dhamma are more terrible than others. In the place of not knowing it is number one. Angry person knows his anger.
In the same way greedy person knows his greed, even though he can’t overcome it. For both of them you can contemplate lobha & dosa. But for sloth & torpor you can’t do it. Therefore it’s like in a saṁsāric prison.
T4
People who do regular meditation practices & have the habitual actions (ācinna kamma) near death & die with smile on their faces. In daily life whatever actions & movements we are doing, wrong view & craving (ditthi & tanhā) are always going together with the khandha.
At that time we can’t never see the changes within them. By using the methods of the Buddha & teachers giving us to watch & observe will see the changes in the khandha. At that time khandha & wisdom are going together.
By seeing the ugliness of the khandha it becomes undesirable, disgusting & disenchanting. Continue to contemplate becomes disassociation with it. In this way Path Knowledge will arise. After that you can smile near death or can continue for the higher level of Path Knowledges.
Restlessness & worry/remorse (uddhaca & kukkucca) are like a slave. When the mind is restless it never follows our wishes & desires. We have to follow behind the restlessness. It’s the same as a slave.
A slave follows behind his master. Also like the bees, make hive on a dog’s tail (This is quite a strange example & funny indeed). Contemplate the impermanence of the restlessness. After overcome it, restart with the original object (e.g vedana, mind etc.).
Kukkucca has 2 mind states. Remorse with unwholesome actions one had done before. Worry with wholesome actions one has not done yet. These mind states come in during meditation & dying moments (Sayadaw told the interesting story of Tambadantika the executioner in the Dhammapada Text)
T5
Already translated before as “Remorse/Worry & Dying” (20th December 1960)
T6
If someone asks, “Where you came from?” Every one will say that from my mother’s womb. But the Buddha said that birth was the truth of suffering (Jāti pi dukkha sacca). So the right answer was came form dukkha sacca. And then asks, “Where are you living now?”
The answer will be in Mandalay, Taung Myo (Taung Myo is a small city south of Mandalay, also known as Amarapura where Mogok Sayadaw’s monastery is situated). Ageing is the truth of dukkha (jara pi dukkha saccaṁ), so we are always living with the truth of dukkha.
If we don’t have the truth of the eye thinking all these as good coming & good living. Vyādhi pi dukkha saccaṁ-sickness is the truth of dukkha. We think we are healthy but always living with illness. Again we know death is the truth of dukkha - Maranaṁ pi dukkha saccaṁ.
Therefore we came from dukkha, live with dukkha, and will die with dukkha. The functions of the khandha are only these things. In the whole round of existence we are wandering-on with the truth of dukkha. Never had with happiness between them.
All these happen because of the covering up by hinderances (nīvarana) that can’t see the way of freedom. So turn on the dukkha machine is nīvarana dhamma. We can’t meet the Buddha & Dhamma is also by them.
Where is doubt (vicikicchā) coming from? Let us find the cause. In the Majjhima Nikāya, Mulapannsa the Buddha said that it came from not paying attention to what should be paid attention & paying attention to what should not be paid attention. Come from unwise attention (ayonisomanasikāra).
Wrong view is delusion dhamma(moha). It’s including in the 12 unwholesome minds. Only can destroy wrong view & doubt will realize Nibbāna. After they have gone can realize the other higher Path Knowledges. Then, the seed to woeful planes is destroyed.
For the development of wise attention it needs to associate with the wise & listening Dhamma talks. There are 3 kinds of doubt concerning for oneself. Where are we coming from? What happen to us now? After death where are we going?
Every day what you all are doing is like a sky walker walking on a tight rope which is nearly falling apart (A very good simile to warn Buddhists & other faiths who have the fortunate chances to come to this human world & doing foolish & stupid things).
If your wrong views are not destroyed I have to always warn you of its importance. If you can’t dispel doubt then wrong view can’t fall away. Without it falling away can’t free from the wandering on in the painful planes (apāya-bhūmi).
Therefore they are (ditthi & vici-kicchā) more dangerous than the atomic bombs fell on the Hiroshima & Nagasaki cities. These atomic bombs make you die only once. But they make you die for many times (Sayadaw was using the Dependent Arising to explain the 3 doubts mentioned above). From the fruits of ignorance & kammic formation (avijjā & sankhara) the 5 khandhas tree grows out.
From the tree bears fruits. And then from the fruits a tree grows out again on & on without end. Therefore we have to deal with the present tree the khandha & make it not to bear fruits again. Don’t listen to this talk just for merit, but to remember for knowledge & practice.
If doubt comes contemplate impermanence. With contemplation ignorance becomes knowledge (avijjā becomes vijjā) & kammic formation & rebirth consciousness not arise. Without the seed no tree grows out (Here the seed is rebirth consciousness & the tree is the 5 khandhas). After that contemplate the 5 khandhas.
T7
If you are having doubt in the practice and like a person going on a journey. And having doubt on the teaching of Dependent Arising such as concerning oneself of the past, the present & the future. According to the Abhidhamma there are 8 doubts. To day I have to end my talk on the hindrances & will talk on the Dependent Arising in the wider sense.
Having doubt on the khandha develops ignorance & kammic formation (avijjā & sankhara) is wandering – on like a circle. Ignorance & kammic formation -> khandha -> ignorance & k-formation -> khandha…etc… on & on (This is the condensed form). Therefore the Budhha said you can’t find the beginning of a being or saṁsāra. If you ask the cause of it then can be answered.
Ignorance & kammic formation are the main point. These are the causes for the khandha. Because of samudaya sacca (avijjā & sarkhara) dukkha sacca arises (i.e, the khandha). Therefore only samudaya sacca & dukkha sacca are wandering-on ( Sayadaw gave the simile of the seed & the tree).
Because of the hindrances nirodha sacca & magga sacca cannot come in. In saṁsāra only the bad cause & the bad result were wandering-on. Never had the good cause & the good result. Condense the Dependent Arising only that much.
The causes for death are (avijjā & sankhara) & the result of death is (khandha). You have to look for the good cause (the Path Factors) & the good result (Nibbāna) before arriving to ageing and sickness. If you look for it between sickness & death will never succeed. (Sayadaw told the story of ven. Anuradha for dispelling doubt)
He had been closed to the Buddha & practised before. But it was evident that he has not been overcome his doubt. He had doubt & couldn’t answer the questions posed by the outsiders. You have to contemplate to discern the arising & passing away of the phenomena.
Anuradha himself was by penetration of dukkha arising & dukkha passing away that became a stream enterer (sotāpanna) & then an arahant. (This was after the Buddha helping him dispelled his wrong view & doubt).
Only by penetration of dukkha that the Path Knowledge of not wanting dukkha will arise. Dukkha ceases means no khandha exists. The Path Knowledge is not seeing the Khandha. Path Knowledge is the cause of sukha & the result of sukha is Nibbāna.
Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw--Part 4-8
[08] Dependent Origination at Home
16th the December 1960, 29th to 30th September &1st October 1961
T1
[Sayadaw taught about how to listen Dhamma). The ears are listening to the Dhamma & the mind is observing the khandha. In this way the mind is becoming sharp. By delivering the truth of the Dhamma & in the end realized the Path & Fruit knowledges. Ven. Ananda told the Buddha that Dependent Origination was easy. The Buddha responded as not easy. (Sayadaw also said it was not easy. ]
But if you can cut off the process will realize Nibbāna. Today I will talk about Dependent Arising at home. You all are making wealth but for whom? We can say for the sake of the khandha. By clinging to the khandha that craving arises for the search.
If ask again for the sake of which of the khandhas you are seeking for wealth? For the sake of happiness & health, so it’s for the aggregate of feeling (vedanakkhandha).
We are seeking wealth for a better life.Torture by feeling that every day we are seeking for money. Dependent Arising at home means from our home we are going towards the planes of misery (apāyabhūmi). Feeling conditions craving _ vedana paccaya tanhā. It is unwholesome.
By theory, Dependent Arising seems to be easy. In the real khandha process it is not really easy. Even people don’t know that it’s happening. (Sayadaw mentioned some of the processes in daily life with humorous examples).
The record in the text and the khandha experiences become the same only it’s valuable. Because of craving the business of seeking or search (pariyesanā) arises. By depending on craving the business of craving arises. From seeking comes acquisition (lābho). It becomes the gain of craving. Therefore craving connects with craving. From acquisition comes ascertainment (vinisayam).
Making decision on how to use the money. It becomes the ascertainment of craving. For common people they think these things as ordinary processes. From ascertainment comes desire & passion. From desire & passion comes attachment. From attachment comes possessiveness.
After that comes stinginess. By the torturing of feeling all these dhamma arise. After stinginess comes defensiveness. For the safety of wealth, becomes defensiveness. The Buddha said that without the contemplation of pleasant, unpleasant & neutral feelings greed, hatred & delusion would not die & not realize Nibbāna.
T2
Staying at home without mindfulness & wisdom still, can go to the 4 planes of misery. Therefore the Buddha taught Dependent Arising at home. It’s like a thief comes into a house & steals the properties will make the family members suffer. In the same way thief of defilement comes into a house will make a big trouble.
People making money for the sake of eating good & living good. Just for the pleasant feeling & wanting to be happy. (Sayadaw explained about how people seeking for the pleasant feeling of each of the six sense doors).
The masters are the 6 types of feeling & the slave is only one. We are under the control of feeling. You all know only one type of unpleasant feeling. Don’t take feeling as insignificant. It’s the master of craving; when you are in healthy situations under the control of pleasant feeling. If you don’t know feeling arises & will also don’t know under its torture.
Not knowing is the most difficult thing to deal with. Of the 2 feelings of pleasant & unpleasant which feeling is the more fearful one? Which one is more terrible? For happiness people want to do anything. Most of them were killed by pleasant feeling. Dependent Arising at home is starting from pleasant feeling.
This house & that house are busy because they want happiness. Pleasant feeling is giving order to people for business that they don’t dare to revolt. If they revolt all will be in Nibbāna now. It doesn’t give happiness to old folks either. People seeking wealth with unlawful means are falling into the planes of misery is the cause of pleasant feeling. I am old now, but if I want still can do it. You are a real slave indeed. Because of pleasant feeling that people become slaves.
Feeling can over power on everything. Unpleasant feeling also asks for seeking medicines. This life is so many sufferings (human life). Therefore try to reach heaven in next life. Reaching in heavens also find this dukkha. Torture living beings without any pity is feeling.
Just seeing, hearing, smelling & tasting are neutral feelings (Sayadaw gave examples to each of them). The pleasant feelings in the heavens (just mentioned) are better than in human realm.
So people are making merits for that. After arriving there also encounter ageing, sickness & death. Pleasant feeling ask you to do things that you have no free time (for enjoying sensual pleasure). (Sayadaw gave the simile of a fish by the Buddha to explain the 3 feelings). You have to go somewhere there is no feeling at all. If you have the khandha even die still never free.
Therefore the Buddha urged you to disgust this body, for disenchantment & not took pleasure in it. But most of you think about these words as just ordinary & insignificant. We all are killed by these 3 feelings. Pleasant feeling is deceitful & unpleasant feeling torture & kill you. After that it sends you to the grave yard. These 3 feelings have the nature of torturing. So it’s the truth of dukkha.
Every time feeling arises contemplate as the torturing nature of dukkha sacca & it becomes the contemplation of Dhamma. If you thoroughly penetrate dukkha, craving can’t follow behind feeling. Kamma can’t send to next life. This is arriving to Nibbāna. If you don’t contemplate feeling it will give order to do this & to do that, & later kill you. It conditions to all these things & continue to the process of nine causes & effects (see the 12 links).
T3
There are 2 types of greed (lobha); greed for seeking & enjoyment. There is cause for the samudaya lobha to arise. You all listen to the talk are the feelers of vedana. You are healthy that can come here. If you are a feeler of dukkha vedana and can’t do it to here (In Burmese every day language it refers to a sick person). Feeling aggregates are listening to this talk.
This is dispelling wrong view. Insight meditation is every time feeling arises by knowing it, & also know its passing away. If you don’t know & then an ignorant person. Because you don’t know what’s happening. But even you know, know the pleasant feeling with greed & unpleasant feeling with anger. And knowing neutral feeling with delusion.
All these knowing develop the Dependent Arising process. It’s ugly knowing. Why are you seeking for wealth? Because you are tortured by feelings. Pleasant, unpleasant & neutral feelings are leading to greed, hatred & delusion. It’s quite terrible.
If craving arises will ask you for seeking. From pleasant feeling craving arises. From craving seeking arises. People who understand feeling are very rare. Most of them die without knowing it. I don’t want to die yet, & still very good in seeking wealth. Still good to be a slave of desire! If you can contemplate feeling no craving arises. Without its arising & there is no seeking.
That’s in Nibbāna where no seeking & no searching. If you don’t know about feeling should not be in at ease. The Buddha was never seeing the good side of it that taught contemplation of feeling in an extraordinary way.
What is the most important thing he wants when someone is in painful feeling? Wanting to be cured. Painful feeling conditions craving_dukkha vedana paccaya tanhā. In this case you have to look for the medicines. If not by yourself will have to ask someone to do it for you.
You do know painful feeling but not by knowledge. Instead you are knowing about it with craving. In the 31 realms of existence all living being are tortured by the ignorance of feeling. In the world, human beings only know how to teach people on developing feeling.
But don’t know how to teach for the cessation of feeling (These points are very important for deep contemplation. Because human beings are nearly destroying the beautiful Earth by getting lost in feelings from the politicians, business people to all walks of life).
Neutral feeling conditions craving- uppekkha vedana paccaya tanhā. There are a lot of craving going on with the seeing, hearing, smelling & tasting. The Buddha taught us to know feeling every time it arises because of the suffering of seeking.
Do you see the Buddha & Ven. Sāriputta are going for alms-round? All their feeling were ceased a long time ago. They were in Nibbāna which was no seeking & searching. Ending of feeling is a real happiness indeed.
If you can follow the ending of feeling then everything is finished. So don’t forget about the contemplation of feeling. If you are in negligence it will push you down (to the abyss of suffering). If you want to eat little and suffer a little. Want to eat a lot, and then suffer a lot. All these unwholesome developments come from not overcoming of feeling.
T4
Craving is very cunning, because of it there are a lot of seeking & searching going on. Why we are deceiving by the tanhā? Because we don’t get the knowledge of the way as it really is (yathābhūta nyan). We don’t know form (rūpa) as form, mind (nāma) as mind & impermanence as impermanence. So the Buddha reminded us to look for a teacher who could teach the truth of Dhamma for 32 times (in the suttas).
Wrong perception is wrong view, & attachment is craving. If you are deceiving by them will go to the planes of misery. Only by getting the Yathābhūta Nyan and not deceive by them. This is an important knowledge. The knowledge closes the doors to the planes of misery & lead to Nibbāna.
Everyday don’t be lazy to listen Dhamma. You have to practice to get this knowledge. I am asking you as do you discern impermanence means, do you get Yathābhūta Nyan. If you are not getting it, not free from the deception of ditthi & tanhā, & will have unfortunate death.
Why don’t you get the Yathābhūta Nyan? No learning (study or listening Dhamma), a worldling without any Dhamma learning is called asutava puthujjana.
By getting the Yathābhūta Nyan is becoming a part of the stream-enterer. You are practicing sīla for long life. And making dāna practices for good rebirths; after with all these good rebirths, & in the end realize Nibbāna etc…. (With tanhā saṁsāra will never come to an end).
All these are (wishy-washy) and just in deceptions. Most Buddhists are making dāna under the deception of craving. I (i.e, tanhā) will follow you up to the Brahma Worlds.
This is the power of tanhā. Without or little learning is leading to the planes of misery (Nowadays human societies have a lot of social problems & sufferings are due to lack of moral educations. Don’t know how to behave like a human). Why we have no learning? Not listen to the Sacca Dhamma, and not seeking for a good teacher or a spiritual friend (Kalyna-mitta).
Ven. Ananda answered to the Buddha that because of a good teacher received half of the benefit. But the Buddha responded that without a teacher couldn’t realized Nibbāna. With a teacher a task is completed. Why don’t we get a good teacher? Without the knowledge of examination (vicārana).
Without it we can encounter pseudo-teacher, wrong teacher, counterfeit teacher. We are tracing the source of the cunning tanhā, & find a lot of them.
Why don’t we have the knowledge of examination? Without wise attention (yonisoma-nasikara) or unwise attention. In this case we pay a visit to the human world & return to the planes of misery.
(According to the Buddha most living beings came to the human plane for temporary like a visit & after that returned to the planes of misery which were liked their permanent homes)
Why unwise attention comes to be? It is the cause of ignorance. And then ignorance comes from the taints (āsava). Therefore when you are making offering (dāna) I teach you to follow me to recite the Pali words; “Āsavakkhayaṁ ahaṁ homi – Because of this merit all the taints are destroyed.” So āsava dhamma is the main source.
By arranging it in the direct order (anuloma): Taint (āsava)-> ignorance (avijjā)-> unwise attention (ayonisomanasikara)- no knowledge of examination (nivicārana)-> do not have a good teacher ->not listening to the truth of dhamma -> do not get the knowledge of the way as things really are -> deceive by craving -> to the plane of misery.
In this way in the whole of saṁsāra beings are deceived by craving. Without the destruction of the taints will not free from the deception. How to destroy the taints? It’s easy. By discerning impermanence it will be destroyed. To contemplate everything existing in the world as impermanence, dukkha, not-self, loathsomeness (asubha) & truth of dukkha, & no taints will arise.
For the destruction of the taints must practice vispassanā. We are travelling in the very long of saṁsāra is under the deception. Who is deceiving us? They are craving and wrong view (tanhā and ditthi).
16th the December 1960, 29th to 30th September &1st October 1961
T1
[Sayadaw taught about how to listen Dhamma). The ears are listening to the Dhamma & the mind is observing the khandha. In this way the mind is becoming sharp. By delivering the truth of the Dhamma & in the end realized the Path & Fruit knowledges. Ven. Ananda told the Buddha that Dependent Origination was easy. The Buddha responded as not easy. (Sayadaw also said it was not easy. ]
But if you can cut off the process will realize Nibbāna. Today I will talk about Dependent Arising at home. You all are making wealth but for whom? We can say for the sake of the khandha. By clinging to the khandha that craving arises for the search.
If ask again for the sake of which of the khandhas you are seeking for wealth? For the sake of happiness & health, so it’s for the aggregate of feeling (vedanakkhandha).
We are seeking wealth for a better life.Torture by feeling that every day we are seeking for money. Dependent Arising at home means from our home we are going towards the planes of misery (apāyabhūmi). Feeling conditions craving _ vedana paccaya tanhā. It is unwholesome.
By theory, Dependent Arising seems to be easy. In the real khandha process it is not really easy. Even people don’t know that it’s happening. (Sayadaw mentioned some of the processes in daily life with humorous examples).
The record in the text and the khandha experiences become the same only it’s valuable. Because of craving the business of seeking or search (pariyesanā) arises. By depending on craving the business of craving arises. From seeking comes acquisition (lābho). It becomes the gain of craving. Therefore craving connects with craving. From acquisition comes ascertainment (vinisayam).
Making decision on how to use the money. It becomes the ascertainment of craving. For common people they think these things as ordinary processes. From ascertainment comes desire & passion. From desire & passion comes attachment. From attachment comes possessiveness.
After that comes stinginess. By the torturing of feeling all these dhamma arise. After stinginess comes defensiveness. For the safety of wealth, becomes defensiveness. The Buddha said that without the contemplation of pleasant, unpleasant & neutral feelings greed, hatred & delusion would not die & not realize Nibbāna.
T2
Staying at home without mindfulness & wisdom still, can go to the 4 planes of misery. Therefore the Buddha taught Dependent Arising at home. It’s like a thief comes into a house & steals the properties will make the family members suffer. In the same way thief of defilement comes into a house will make a big trouble.
People making money for the sake of eating good & living good. Just for the pleasant feeling & wanting to be happy. (Sayadaw explained about how people seeking for the pleasant feeling of each of the six sense doors).
The masters are the 6 types of feeling & the slave is only one. We are under the control of feeling. You all know only one type of unpleasant feeling. Don’t take feeling as insignificant. It’s the master of craving; when you are in healthy situations under the control of pleasant feeling. If you don’t know feeling arises & will also don’t know under its torture.
Not knowing is the most difficult thing to deal with. Of the 2 feelings of pleasant & unpleasant which feeling is the more fearful one? Which one is more terrible? For happiness people want to do anything. Most of them were killed by pleasant feeling. Dependent Arising at home is starting from pleasant feeling.
This house & that house are busy because they want happiness. Pleasant feeling is giving order to people for business that they don’t dare to revolt. If they revolt all will be in Nibbāna now. It doesn’t give happiness to old folks either. People seeking wealth with unlawful means are falling into the planes of misery is the cause of pleasant feeling. I am old now, but if I want still can do it. You are a real slave indeed. Because of pleasant feeling that people become slaves.
Feeling can over power on everything. Unpleasant feeling also asks for seeking medicines. This life is so many sufferings (human life). Therefore try to reach heaven in next life. Reaching in heavens also find this dukkha. Torture living beings without any pity is feeling.
Just seeing, hearing, smelling & tasting are neutral feelings (Sayadaw gave examples to each of them). The pleasant feelings in the heavens (just mentioned) are better than in human realm.
So people are making merits for that. After arriving there also encounter ageing, sickness & death. Pleasant feeling ask you to do things that you have no free time (for enjoying sensual pleasure). (Sayadaw gave the simile of a fish by the Buddha to explain the 3 feelings). You have to go somewhere there is no feeling at all. If you have the khandha even die still never free.
Therefore the Buddha urged you to disgust this body, for disenchantment & not took pleasure in it. But most of you think about these words as just ordinary & insignificant. We all are killed by these 3 feelings. Pleasant feeling is deceitful & unpleasant feeling torture & kill you. After that it sends you to the grave yard. These 3 feelings have the nature of torturing. So it’s the truth of dukkha.
Every time feeling arises contemplate as the torturing nature of dukkha sacca & it becomes the contemplation of Dhamma. If you thoroughly penetrate dukkha, craving can’t follow behind feeling. Kamma can’t send to next life. This is arriving to Nibbāna. If you don’t contemplate feeling it will give order to do this & to do that, & later kill you. It conditions to all these things & continue to the process of nine causes & effects (see the 12 links).
T3
There are 2 types of greed (lobha); greed for seeking & enjoyment. There is cause for the samudaya lobha to arise. You all listen to the talk are the feelers of vedana. You are healthy that can come here. If you are a feeler of dukkha vedana and can’t do it to here (In Burmese every day language it refers to a sick person). Feeling aggregates are listening to this talk.
This is dispelling wrong view. Insight meditation is every time feeling arises by knowing it, & also know its passing away. If you don’t know & then an ignorant person. Because you don’t know what’s happening. But even you know, know the pleasant feeling with greed & unpleasant feeling with anger. And knowing neutral feeling with delusion.
All these knowing develop the Dependent Arising process. It’s ugly knowing. Why are you seeking for wealth? Because you are tortured by feelings. Pleasant, unpleasant & neutral feelings are leading to greed, hatred & delusion. It’s quite terrible.
If craving arises will ask you for seeking. From pleasant feeling craving arises. From craving seeking arises. People who understand feeling are very rare. Most of them die without knowing it. I don’t want to die yet, & still very good in seeking wealth. Still good to be a slave of desire! If you can contemplate feeling no craving arises. Without its arising & there is no seeking.
That’s in Nibbāna where no seeking & no searching. If you don’t know about feeling should not be in at ease. The Buddha was never seeing the good side of it that taught contemplation of feeling in an extraordinary way.
What is the most important thing he wants when someone is in painful feeling? Wanting to be cured. Painful feeling conditions craving_dukkha vedana paccaya tanhā. In this case you have to look for the medicines. If not by yourself will have to ask someone to do it for you.
You do know painful feeling but not by knowledge. Instead you are knowing about it with craving. In the 31 realms of existence all living being are tortured by the ignorance of feeling. In the world, human beings only know how to teach people on developing feeling.
But don’t know how to teach for the cessation of feeling (These points are very important for deep contemplation. Because human beings are nearly destroying the beautiful Earth by getting lost in feelings from the politicians, business people to all walks of life).
Neutral feeling conditions craving- uppekkha vedana paccaya tanhā. There are a lot of craving going on with the seeing, hearing, smelling & tasting. The Buddha taught us to know feeling every time it arises because of the suffering of seeking.
Do you see the Buddha & Ven. Sāriputta are going for alms-round? All their feeling were ceased a long time ago. They were in Nibbāna which was no seeking & searching. Ending of feeling is a real happiness indeed.
If you can follow the ending of feeling then everything is finished. So don’t forget about the contemplation of feeling. If you are in negligence it will push you down (to the abyss of suffering). If you want to eat little and suffer a little. Want to eat a lot, and then suffer a lot. All these unwholesome developments come from not overcoming of feeling.
T4
Craving is very cunning, because of it there are a lot of seeking & searching going on. Why we are deceiving by the tanhā? Because we don’t get the knowledge of the way as it really is (yathābhūta nyan). We don’t know form (rūpa) as form, mind (nāma) as mind & impermanence as impermanence. So the Buddha reminded us to look for a teacher who could teach the truth of Dhamma for 32 times (in the suttas).
Wrong perception is wrong view, & attachment is craving. If you are deceiving by them will go to the planes of misery. Only by getting the Yathābhūta Nyan and not deceive by them. This is an important knowledge. The knowledge closes the doors to the planes of misery & lead to Nibbāna.
Everyday don’t be lazy to listen Dhamma. You have to practice to get this knowledge. I am asking you as do you discern impermanence means, do you get Yathābhūta Nyan. If you are not getting it, not free from the deception of ditthi & tanhā, & will have unfortunate death.
Why don’t you get the Yathābhūta Nyan? No learning (study or listening Dhamma), a worldling without any Dhamma learning is called asutava puthujjana.
By getting the Yathābhūta Nyan is becoming a part of the stream-enterer. You are practicing sīla for long life. And making dāna practices for good rebirths; after with all these good rebirths, & in the end realize Nibbāna etc…. (With tanhā saṁsāra will never come to an end).
All these are (wishy-washy) and just in deceptions. Most Buddhists are making dāna under the deception of craving. I (i.e, tanhā) will follow you up to the Brahma Worlds.
This is the power of tanhā. Without or little learning is leading to the planes of misery (Nowadays human societies have a lot of social problems & sufferings are due to lack of moral educations. Don’t know how to behave like a human). Why we have no learning? Not listen to the Sacca Dhamma, and not seeking for a good teacher or a spiritual friend (Kalyna-mitta).
Ven. Ananda answered to the Buddha that because of a good teacher received half of the benefit. But the Buddha responded that without a teacher couldn’t realized Nibbāna. With a teacher a task is completed. Why don’t we get a good teacher? Without the knowledge of examination (vicārana).
Without it we can encounter pseudo-teacher, wrong teacher, counterfeit teacher. We are tracing the source of the cunning tanhā, & find a lot of them.
Why don’t we have the knowledge of examination? Without wise attention (yonisoma-nasikara) or unwise attention. In this case we pay a visit to the human world & return to the planes of misery.
(According to the Buddha most living beings came to the human plane for temporary like a visit & after that returned to the planes of misery which were liked their permanent homes)
Why unwise attention comes to be? It is the cause of ignorance. And then ignorance comes from the taints (āsava). Therefore when you are making offering (dāna) I teach you to follow me to recite the Pali words; “Āsavakkhayaṁ ahaṁ homi – Because of this merit all the taints are destroyed.” So āsava dhamma is the main source.
By arranging it in the direct order (anuloma): Taint (āsava)-> ignorance (avijjā)-> unwise attention (ayonisomanasikara)- no knowledge of examination (nivicārana)-> do not have a good teacher ->not listening to the truth of dhamma -> do not get the knowledge of the way as things really are -> deceive by craving -> to the plane of misery.
In this way in the whole of saṁsāra beings are deceived by craving. Without the destruction of the taints will not free from the deception. How to destroy the taints? It’s easy. By discerning impermanence it will be destroyed. To contemplate everything existing in the world as impermanence, dukkha, not-self, loathsomeness (asubha) & truth of dukkha, & no taints will arise.
For the destruction of the taints must practice vispassanā. We are travelling in the very long of saṁsāra is under the deception. Who is deceiving us? They are craving and wrong view (tanhā and ditthi).
Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw--Part 4-9
[09] Nibbāna is Always Exists
25th December 1960 & 22nd June 1962
[Sayadaw formulated a Dependent Origination Chart from the Buddha’s Teachings to explain many of his talks very successfully. It is helping to understand the Dhamma in a very profound & clear.
It needs to use this chart to understand some of its talks & for contemplation. This chart is very well known to most Buddhists in Burma. Can find this chart in internet in English version]
T1
[ interesting talks on the nature of saṁsāra & Nibbāna. Khandhas are not always exist & it’s dukkha. It’s also saṁsāra . Nibbāna is the opposite way. It always exists & no dukkha. It’s nirodha the cessation of dukkha, the real happiness & peace.
Saṁsāra is no beginning & has ending for someone follows the Noble Eightfold Path. Nibbāna has beginning & no ending for someone practices the Noble Eightfold Path. But no beginning for someone not practice the Path.
The Buddha stayed at Sāvatthi, Jetavana Monestary & talked to the monks. Whoever seeing vedana anicca had right view. The body is vedanakkhandha & you can find vedana at anytime if paying attention to the body.
Sayadaw gave a simile-anyone pointed a finger to any direction where the sky was always exist. In contemplation of feeling, at first will see anicca. Continue practice will become disenchantment to vedana (Nibbidā Nyan).
Another right view which is more mature than the first one (Yathābhūta Nyan). Nibbidā Nyan is understanding dukkha. Sayadaw gave a simile between the 2 different Nyans.
Yathābhūta Nyan is like a razor shaving the hairs & not very clean enough. Nibbidā Nyan as a more sharper razor which cut clean the hairs but the hairs of the roots still inside the skin.]
The 5 khandhas_ the mind& body are not always exist & have dukkha. They are not always exist but when exist it’s suffering. Look at it in whatever way it is never good. People don’t have the knowledge are praying to get for it. (By doing wholesome merits with prayers). They are praying for the impermanence & dukkha.
So you have to stay with only happiness. It’s the truth of the cessation of dukkha-Nirodha Sacca. Saṁsāra doesn’t has beginning but has ending for someone who knows the truth. Nibbāna has the beginning & no ending.
You can take it as the happiness without ending. If you discern the impermanence of feeling becomes right view, the view leads to Nibbāna. In the khandha there is always existing one of the feelings. Without feeling is Nibbāna. The whole body exists with feelings. If you are using the noble eyes (ariya eyes) to observe will always see it. Discern the existence to non-existence is anicca.
This is seeing the absolute reality (paramattha dhamma). If you see something originally not exist is concept. Discerning impermanence is right view (the first stage). Continue for contemplation and becomes disenchantment to feeling is the 2nd stage.
Even it becomes as you don’t want to continue the contemplation. Right view becomes more mature. The practice on the way to Nibbāna must be in this process. It is also becoming close to the truth of dukkha. After the 2nd stage & continue become free from affection to anicca & all the attachments -rāga dhamma cease is the 3rd stage. With wrong view (ditthi) & all the kammas associate with wrong view are ceased together.
T2
Not always exist & exist with dukkha are mind & body. These are its original nature. They are always like these. It’s impermanent that not always exist. With the arising & passing away is dukkha. So don’t want any mind & body. Making a decision that these phenomena are not good to get & receive. Not always exist & exist with dukkha, therefore the truth of dukkha. Nibbāna has no dukkha & always exists dhamma.
Nibbāna & mind/body are different nature. So don’t be in confusion. You prefer the human & heavenly world’s are the liking of a leper, who is using the fire heat to alleviate his itches. Nobody can destroy Nibbāna & create it.
Again mind & body have no beginning & have ending. The Buddha said that you couldn’t think about the beginning of mind & body. But it has the ending for someone who knows how to go there. Nibbāna has the beginning & a happiness without ending.
Samsāra doesn’t has the beginning & has the ending. But that need to be encountered a good teacher. Nibbāna has the beginning & no ending. You will instantly doubt these points.
Someone with the help of a teacher & after arriving there will has the happiness which is never end. If you meet the path factors will has the beginning.
(Sayadaw explained the above ideas with Dependent Arising process.) Because of the past ignorance we have the present khandhas. With these khandhas we create kammas & will receive the future khandhas. During the dying moments will become sorrow, lamentation & taints arise. Āsava samudaya avijjā samudaya – Taints arise & ignorance arises, because of the taints & ignorance comes back again.
Someone who doesn’t know the truth at near death becomes sorrow & lamentation. Taints & ignorance combine together to get the khandha again. It’s running in a circular way that there is no beginning. It’s like searching for the beginning of an egg.
Also like an ant running around the edge of a circular plate. The end of a saṁsāra for everyone is only possible when a Buddha was arising into this world. (except a Paccekabuddha). Also must teach the truth of Dhamma to them.
From ignorance to become knowledge & kammic formation becomes non-kammic formation (asankhara), & then saṁsāra will come to an end. You have to practice to become vi-sankhara. Vi- means free from something. I use asankhara to make you understand it.
25th December 1960 & 22nd June 1962
[Sayadaw formulated a Dependent Origination Chart from the Buddha’s Teachings to explain many of his talks very successfully. It is helping to understand the Dhamma in a very profound & clear.
It needs to use this chart to understand some of its talks & for contemplation. This chart is very well known to most Buddhists in Burma. Can find this chart in internet in English version]
T1
[ interesting talks on the nature of saṁsāra & Nibbāna. Khandhas are not always exist & it’s dukkha. It’s also saṁsāra . Nibbāna is the opposite way. It always exists & no dukkha. It’s nirodha the cessation of dukkha, the real happiness & peace.
Saṁsāra is no beginning & has ending for someone follows the Noble Eightfold Path. Nibbāna has beginning & no ending for someone practices the Noble Eightfold Path. But no beginning for someone not practice the Path.
The Buddha stayed at Sāvatthi, Jetavana Monestary & talked to the monks. Whoever seeing vedana anicca had right view. The body is vedanakkhandha & you can find vedana at anytime if paying attention to the body.
Sayadaw gave a simile-anyone pointed a finger to any direction where the sky was always exist. In contemplation of feeling, at first will see anicca. Continue practice will become disenchantment to vedana (Nibbidā Nyan).
Another right view which is more mature than the first one (Yathābhūta Nyan). Nibbidā Nyan is understanding dukkha. Sayadaw gave a simile between the 2 different Nyans.
Yathābhūta Nyan is like a razor shaving the hairs & not very clean enough. Nibbidā Nyan as a more sharper razor which cut clean the hairs but the hairs of the roots still inside the skin.]
The 5 khandhas_ the mind& body are not always exist & have dukkha. They are not always exist but when exist it’s suffering. Look at it in whatever way it is never good. People don’t have the knowledge are praying to get for it. (By doing wholesome merits with prayers). They are praying for the impermanence & dukkha.
So you have to stay with only happiness. It’s the truth of the cessation of dukkha-Nirodha Sacca. Saṁsāra doesn’t has beginning but has ending for someone who knows the truth. Nibbāna has the beginning & no ending.
You can take it as the happiness without ending. If you discern the impermanence of feeling becomes right view, the view leads to Nibbāna. In the khandha there is always existing one of the feelings. Without feeling is Nibbāna. The whole body exists with feelings. If you are using the noble eyes (ariya eyes) to observe will always see it. Discern the existence to non-existence is anicca.
This is seeing the absolute reality (paramattha dhamma). If you see something originally not exist is concept. Discerning impermanence is right view (the first stage). Continue for contemplation and becomes disenchantment to feeling is the 2nd stage.
Even it becomes as you don’t want to continue the contemplation. Right view becomes more mature. The practice on the way to Nibbāna must be in this process. It is also becoming close to the truth of dukkha. After the 2nd stage & continue become free from affection to anicca & all the attachments -rāga dhamma cease is the 3rd stage. With wrong view (ditthi) & all the kammas associate with wrong view are ceased together.
T2
Not always exist & exist with dukkha are mind & body. These are its original nature. They are always like these. It’s impermanent that not always exist. With the arising & passing away is dukkha. So don’t want any mind & body. Making a decision that these phenomena are not good to get & receive. Not always exist & exist with dukkha, therefore the truth of dukkha. Nibbāna has no dukkha & always exists dhamma.
Nibbāna & mind/body are different nature. So don’t be in confusion. You prefer the human & heavenly world’s are the liking of a leper, who is using the fire heat to alleviate his itches. Nobody can destroy Nibbāna & create it.
Again mind & body have no beginning & have ending. The Buddha said that you couldn’t think about the beginning of mind & body. But it has the ending for someone who knows how to go there. Nibbāna has the beginning & a happiness without ending.
Samsāra doesn’t has the beginning & has the ending. But that need to be encountered a good teacher. Nibbāna has the beginning & no ending. You will instantly doubt these points.
Someone with the help of a teacher & after arriving there will has the happiness which is never end. If you meet the path factors will has the beginning.
(Sayadaw explained the above ideas with Dependent Arising process.) Because of the past ignorance we have the present khandhas. With these khandhas we create kammas & will receive the future khandhas. During the dying moments will become sorrow, lamentation & taints arise. Āsava samudaya avijjā samudaya – Taints arise & ignorance arises, because of the taints & ignorance comes back again.
Someone who doesn’t know the truth at near death becomes sorrow & lamentation. Taints & ignorance combine together to get the khandha again. It’s running in a circular way that there is no beginning. It’s like searching for the beginning of an egg.
Also like an ant running around the edge of a circular plate. The end of a saṁsāra for everyone is only possible when a Buddha was arising into this world. (except a Paccekabuddha). Also must teach the truth of Dhamma to them.
From ignorance to become knowledge & kammic formation becomes non-kammic formation (asankhara), & then saṁsāra will come to an end. You have to practice to become vi-sankhara. Vi- means free from something. I use asankhara to make you understand it.