Taught by Sayadaw U Jotika
Transcribed by Viet Hung
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I came to America for a holiday. I’ve been working so hard for two years continuously with no holiday. So, this year I thought, “Well, I deserve a holiday”. I planned to travel. And I left Burma on the 30th of April, spent one week in Singapore and five or six weeks in England and 3 or 4 weeks, I think, in East Coast and one week in Canada, Toronto and 10 or 11 days in Los Angeles and then now two weeks in the Bay area. What a good holiday. I don’t come just to talk with you. I also come to listen to you. I’m a learner all my life. I still want to learn more. Life is a school. We are always learning and changing and also changing and improving. No change, no improvement. So always learning and changing and improving. Oh, this is a very good question here. Billy, age six year old. Where’s Billy? Ah… Some of the questions are very serious questions. Well, let’s begin our Dhamma discussion by reciting “Namo tassa”, which is the shortest way to open a Dhamma discussion. And I think it’s the best way to do that. Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa. Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa. Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa. I hope you understand what it means. Because it is very important to understand whatever we say, whatever we recite. The meaning, in brief, is I pay homage to the Buddha, who is fully enlightened.
So, before answering the questions, I thought of expressing a few of my difficulties in my beginning stage of development when I was growing up and trying to find a meaningful way to live my life, trying to find something to live for. So, I think some of you have the same difficulty. Because whoever wants to find the best way to live or a meaningful way to live has a lot of difficulty. So, where to begin? When I was young and I was going to school learning to read, I was encouraged by a few teachers to read books. And I’m very grateful to those teachers. One of them is Mr. Francis, and he’s still living. I’ve heard that he’s still living, quite old, 80 years old. And another teacher… I don’t know whether he’s living or not. His name was Brother Thomas, a Roman Catholic Irish brother, very kind, very cheerful, very friendly. So, most of the boys really loved Brother Thomas, and he was a good football player too. So, he encouraged us to study, to read books, and we had a special study group to study English literature and philosophy also. And we didn’t have to sit for exams for those classes, because those were exceptions. I was chosen to be one of the students there. Because I love reading, I attended those classes regularly. I didn’t want to miss any of those classes. Because those classes were more enjoyable and meaningful than the regular classes. So, in those classes, for example, you would play a record of a poem recited by the author, recited by the poet. So, we got to hear the voice of the poet reading his own poem. Very interesting.
And we have movies, slides. And these teachers encouraged us to read books on many different subjects. And one advice they give us is if you read one book, try to get another book with the opposite opinion. Don’t just read one book. Because if you just read one opinion or one side of you, you will get stuck with that point of view. So, it will narrow your mind. You become… how do you say that… rigid in your thinking. So, whenever you read a book, find another book which has a different opinion. So, I love that sort of ideas. So, whenever I read one book, I’ll try to find another book from the library, different author, different opinion. And as I read more and more books, naturally I also read books on history. And whenever you read history, you read about a country and about the religion also. So, I read history of Buddhism and history of India, history of Ceylon, history of Buddhism in Ceylon. I mean Sri Lanka. Now they have a different name Sri Lanka. And history of Europe, history of Christianity. Very recently I read another book on Judaism. Very interesting about Moses. Very interesting book. How he became a leader and the difficulties of being a leader. So, I read many books on different religions and many books on different philosophies, different psychology and eastern ideas also, many books on Chinese religion. I read books about Confucius, Lao Tzu, Zen Buddhism. So, I was exposed to many different ideas and all ideas are very interesting to me. And as I was reading books on the teaching of the Buddha… Because it’s difficult for me to say that it is Buddhism. Because Buddha and ism, I think, doesn’t go together very well. But anyway, as I read books on the teaching of the Buddha, I got very interested, especially when I read about the story of the life of the Buddha. I got very inspired and felt very attracted to his life, his personality. And one verse which I want to talk about or discuss about today, which I came across and which have caused me a lot of sleepless nights, so to speak.
It’s that Buddha said: “Attā hi attanō nāthō kō hi nāthō parō siyā”. This is the Burmese way of pronouncing. “Attā hi attanō nāthō kō hi nāthō parō siyā”. You yourself is your own reliance. How can anybody be your reliance? So, when I came across that verse, I like that very much. But as a young boy, with not enough knowledge to decide what is right and what is wrong, it was a very difficult situation. How can I rely on myself I don’t know enough? How can I decide whether something is right or wrong? And Buddha went on … The second part of the verse is, “Attanā hi sudanténa nātham labhati dullabham”. “By taming yourself well…” This is the literal translation, “sudanténa” means taming well. “By taming yourself well, one can achieve that reliance, which is difficult to achieve”, which is difficult to get. So, I like the idea that one should be one’s own reliance. Because since I was a young boy, I liked freedom, I liked independence. And that is the strongest motivation in my life: To be free, to be independent. And I think most Americans like that idea: Free and independent.
And even in reading books, I want to keep my own freedom. I don’t want to get deceived by the author’s point of view. So, that’s why whenever I read one idea, I’ll try to find another book which expresses different ideas or opposing ideas. So, in my mind, there’s a debate going on, always a debate in my mind going on, always questioning, always doubting. So, I was a skeptic and I’m still a skeptic. And using the word skeptic reminded me of one book that I read by the philosopher Bertrand Russell. And that book is called Skeptical Essays. I’ve read many books by Bertrand Russell. Because I like reading philosophy books, and his books I found readable, easier to read, and interesting too. His style of writing is very good. So, when I read these books and read this “Skeptical Essays”, also, I like the word skeptical and try to be skeptic, not ready to believe in any idea. Always thinking for myself and challenging any ideas. So, because I challenge all ideas and question, I got into trouble many times with my parents, with my teachers, and I was accused or called many bad names. And one of them is that they call me a communist. Because I did not believe in anything. How can I believe in something I was not sure? I don’t know whether it’s true or not. And if I believe in something, I have to take it wholeheartedly and really practice it. So, just to say that I believe something and not to practice is… How do you say that a person’s believing something, not practicing… Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy, yes, right, hypocrisy. So, to be a hypocrite is really painful. And even now, sometimes I feel like I’m a hypocrite. Many times I ask myself, “Well, do you really practice what you teach? Do you really practice what you teach?” If I teach something and don’t practice, what would I be? Hypocrite. And to see yourself as a hypocrite doesn’t make you feel happy about it.
So, I questioned many things and I refused to do anything that I don’t believe in, whether… It’s anything religious or not. So, when my parents told me to do something, I refused to do that. I said, “No, I don’t think this is a proper thing to do”. And when they argue with me, I argue with them. I give them many reasons. And because I read so many books and learned many different ways to express ideas and question, and my parents, they were not literate, simple minded persons, couldn’t argue with me. So they always lose an argument with me. And they did not like that. They were very unhappy that I won’t listen to them. And I was very unhappy that we cannot talk with each other. And my sister, the elder sister is a very nice, kind soul sister, she’s still living. She’s still living. She said one day, “Well, you do whatever you like, but when you are with mother, try to please her. Do what she told you to do”. And I said, “No, I cannot do that. I cannot do what I don’t believe in doing. I don’t want to be one person in front of her and another person in the back. I don’t want to be two persons. I want to be me, whoever I’m with”. So, I don’t want to deceive my mother and making her believe that I accept her views and in the back of her, not really doing what she wanted me to do. So, I said, “I don’t, I won’t do that”. So, it was very difficult for me to relate to my parents. And my father died when I was 15, and it was good for him and good for me too. I don’t mean to say that I was happy that he died, but it would be very difficult for him as I grew up and became more and more independent in my thinking, and not agree with their point of views, and not to get along with them well. So, it was a difficult time for me when I was growing up.
And when I read this verse, “Attā hi attanō nāthō”, one is one’s own reliance. One should be one’ own reliance. I like that very much. Because if you rely on yourself, if you are your own reliance, then you are independent, then you are free. If you rely on another person, even though that person is a wise, kind person, you won’t really develop your own deeper understanding. I don’t mean that you should not listen to anybody. But you listen to people, think for yourself, practice and find out for yourself. So, it takes a long time for a young person to really find out something. It takes a long, long time. So, I decided that I will not be a member of any religious group before I find out what that religion means, whether that religion is true or not. In fact, once I decided that I will never be a member of any religious group. Because to become a member you lose freedom. When you become a member, you have to agree with the group. You have to agree with the leader. You have to do what the leader tells you to do. And naturally, sometimes you can’t agree with your leader. You can’t agree with the group, naturally. This is natural for anybody. So therefore, whenever they have a group religious organization recruiting members, I never apply for a membership. But I always try to help as much as I can, when they need my help, when they need my contribution, I always help any group. I was friendly with all the groups, but I was never a member of any group. So in universities also, we have many religious groups and everybody belongs to one or another religious group. But I was the only one who does not belong, who did not belong to any religious group.
Because I was a skeptic, I was still trying to find out for myself. So, as I have told the same story again and again, when I had to fill up the form to apply for a new year, as a student, I always filled, when they ask your religion, I always filled the blank, no religion yet, filled the blank, no religion yet, still trying to find out. Because I believe that you cannot inherit a religion. You have to learn, find out for yourself and practice it. You cannot inherit a religion. You can inherit money, possessions, house, but you cannot inherit a religion. So, it took me many years to find out for myself something that I want to live for, or even to die for if I have to. So, I started practicing the Teaching of the Buddha, not because I believed, but I wanted to find out. And that’s what the Buddha encouraged me, find out for yourself. And that’s one thing that I like very much about the Buddha. He did not demand blind faith. He always encouraged a person to practice and find out, not to believe. So, that’s what encouraged me to study more about the Teaching of the Buddha and practice his teaching.
So, after practicing Dhamma for 8 or 9 years, I found out that it really helps to improve my mind, my heart. It makes me more peaceful, more calm. It makes me see more clearly. And therefore, I decided that I will go on practicing the Teaching of the Buddha, although I do not understand everything he taught. And even now I do not understand everything he taught. There are many things that I could not understand, but there are a few things that I have practiced and found out that these are really true, and these are really worth practicing and worth living for. And one of the practices that I practice is mindfulness, which I found very simple and natural and practical, very simple and natural. There’s nothing not natural about mindfulness practice. So, as you may have heard or read in many books about mindfulness, mindfulness means to be aware of whatever is happening or whatever you are doing, whatever is happening in your body, whatever is happening in your mind, or whatever you are doing, to be aware, to be conscious, to pay attention to whatever you are doing. So, I think this is the simplest and most natural practice that I’ve ever found. Because you don’t have to do anything. So, mindfulness practice is not doing something. In Burmese, I say, “[talk in Burmese]” That means, “You are not trying to do something, or you are not trying to resist something, you are just paying attention to whatever is happening”. So, I found this very simple and natural and easy to practice too. Because you can do that anywhere, no matter what you are doing.
So, as I practice mindfulness more and more, I found that it affects my mental states. I became more aware of my mental states. I became more aware of my thoughts and feelings and emotions. And especially in the beginning, what do you think you’ll find more about yourself in the beginning? All the negative thoughts, defilements. Yes, naturally. Defilements. So, when I look, pay attention to what’s happening in my mind, naturally, I find that I want this, I want that, or I’m angry or upset about this or that. So, mostly we go through the day wanting this, wanting that, not liking this, not liking that, upset, angry. Sometimes, we are happy, not always angry, not always upset. But sometimes, we are happy too. But even when we are happy, when I pay close attention to that mental state, I found that sometimes we are just deceiving ourselves to make ourselves happy. When you become really serious about this happy state of mind, you’ll find that it’s quite childish. Sometimes, we make jokes and laugh. And when you seriously think about the jokes, it doesn’t make sense. It’s nonsense. So, many times I thought that what makes us laugh is something really nonsense. So, nonsense make us laugh, make us happy. When I become serious about that, sometimes when my friends make jokes, I won’t laugh. And they were very unhappy about that. “Why? Why we are laughing? And why don’t you laugh?” And I said, “There’s nothing to laugh about this joke. This doesn’t make sense”. So, when you really become really serious about what makes sense and what doesn’t make sense, it’s very difficult for you to laugh.
So, after practicing this for many years, I came to the conclusion that I will go on practicing this for the rest of my life. Because I found out that practicing meditation makes the mind more clear, more aware, more conscious. You can see things more clearly. You can see your mind more clearly. And that helps improve my mental state and my understanding. So, as I practice and read Dhamma books, it helps me in both ways. So, I believe that if you really want to understand the Teaching of the Buddha, you have to do both. You have to study, which means you read books. You have to discuss what you read with other people also, so that you have different opinions, because sometimes you misinterpret what you have read. Or sometimes, there may be many different interpretations of the same idea. So, it is important to study, to read, to discuss, and also to practice and practice for a long time, for many years. It may take many years for you to really come to the conclusion that this is practical, this is useful, this works, and this is the right way or the right path.
So, many people I found that they don’t want to find out for themselves, especially, for example, my friends whom I studied with in the same school, whom I loved so much… They don’t want to think for themselves. They are not really serious about their religion. And although I was a skeptic for many years, for 8 or 9 or ten years, in my teenage, during my teenage years, until I was 27, 26, I mean, although I was a skeptic, I was serious about religion. So, I found out that those who believe easily are not really serious. Those who believe without really trying to find out for themselves are not really serious. But those who are skeptics are really serious. And I have a few other friends too, who are very skeptic about any religion, and I found out that they are more religious than believers. Although they say they don’t believe in anything, they are more religious, they are more restrained. They behave well. They don’t hurt people. They keep… How do I say that? They keep the precepts. Is there another way to say that? They are self-respecting and they respect others. They are kind, compassionate. But when I ask them, what do you believe? Do you believe in any religion? They say, “Well, no, I don’t believe in any religion”. But I found that these people are really kind and nice people.
And later some of them became good meditators and now they are practicing Buddhists, not just Buddhists by birth, but real practicing Buddhists. And some of them are still skeptics and they don’t practice any religion. And I have one friend of that who’s still trying to find out, not decided yet. So, when I talk with this friend, it reminds me of one young Brahmin ascetic at the time of the Buddha. When the Buddha became enlightened and he was going to Varanasi to give his first Dhamma talk, The First Sermon to the group of five ascetics. On the way, he met one young Brahmin ascetic and asked him, “Who are you?” And Buddha said, “I’m the Buddha. I’m enlightened. I’m the awakened one”. And the Brahmin said, “Oh really?” And then he went his own way. And many, many times he met the Buddha or he tried to find where the Buddha was living. And he went to see the Buddha and asked Buddha questions. And Buddha gave him explanations, good explanations, and he will listen and said, “Oh, really?” And then he left. And many, many times for more than 40 years, he followed Buddha and asked Buddha questions and questions and questions, still very doubtful. So, can’t decide, can’t make up his mind. And just before Buddha passed away, he felt that he understood the Buddha’s teaching and decided to become a bhikkhu. After following Buddha for 45 years, at last he decided to become a bhikkhu.
And I love that story very much. So, I think there are people in America also, anywhere in the world, there are people who are not decided, who are still looking for something, who are really serious about it, not just casual. They are really serious about something worth living. Something that will give meaning to their life. Something that will give them deeper understanding of what life is about. They are still looking for and I respect them very much. Take your time. So, many people, because they don’t want to take the trouble to study, to practice, to find out for themselves, just surrender themselves to somebody and ask, “Just tell me what to believe. Or just tell me what to do”. If that teacher is a good teacher, well, he or she will tell you the right thing to do. And if you do that, it will benefit you. But even though you do the right thing, you need to understand why you are doing that and how what you are doing affects your mind and body, how it affects your life? You hear these days about many cults where the leaders tell the followers to do something terrible, and the followers did exactly that. Can you tell me one story like that where the leader told the followers to do something really terrible and the followers did that? One story? Jonestown. Right, horrible stories. Yes.
So, whenever I read stories like that, I thought, how can this these people take these instructions so seriously? They kill themselves. So, I think it is very important for people to find out for themselves, to take time, not to believe. And it’s hard work. To find out for yourself is real hard work. It may take many, many years, but it’s worth the trouble. And when you really work hard to find out for yourself, you develop inner strength, confidence too, self-respect. And you become more and more independent and free. So, I studied with many teachers, even before I became a monk. And I studied with many teachers, after I became a monk. I listened to what they told me, and I tried, well as best as I could, to practice what they told me to do and found out for myself whether it works for me or not. Different things works for different people. For example, there are many different meditation, let’s say techniques or methods. Not every meditation instruction works for everybody. People have different personalities. They have different inclinations, different interests. So, what works for one person may not work for another person. Even the Buddha taught different people in different ways. So, I feel that Dhamma is very flexible and adaptable to you. But it is very important to understand that flexible and adaptable doesn’t mean that we can do, we can interpret it in any way we like. Because Dhamma is the law of nature and the law of nature cannot be changed.
For example, when you have desire or greed and Buddha said that that leads to unhappiness or suffering. Is that true? Have you found out for yourself that this is true? Yes. It cannot be changed. But now some people are saying something quite different. So, it’s very important to find out for yourself. Natural laws cannot be changed. So, when I practice the Teaching of the Buddha and found out these natural laws in me, it’s not out there. These natural laws are in our mind, in me. So, whenever I find that I want something or I’m attached to somebody, I feel very unhappy. I feel very stressful. So, whenever I lose something that I love so much, anything or anybody, I feel very unhappy. And when I look deep into my mind, I found out that this is true. This is true. I’ve been watching this phenomenon hundreds of times, and every time I watch this, I find the same thing. Whenever I get attached to something, whenever I want something too badly, my mind is not at peace. Sometimes I couldn’t even sleep. So, whether I can overcome attachment or greed is another matter. But to see that this is true is very important, without deceiving ourselves that, “Well, it’s okay. Never mind. I’m not so unhappy about it”. But most people deceive themselves.
So, to find out for oneself and not to be a blind follower is very important. For example, to give you one story about Upali. I like this story very much. I respect the Buddha because of this story too. One rich man named Upali went to the Buddha and asked him many questions. His intention was to trap the Buddha in the corner, so that he will not be able to answer the question. Whichever way he answers, he will be in the trap. He will be in the corner. So, with that intention, he went to the Buddha and asked the Buddha many questions. But the Buddha, very wise and skillfully, because he was so wise and skillful, answered all the questions to the satisfaction of Upali. And Upali became very satisfied with the Teaching of the Buddha and said, “Buddha, accept me as a disciple of the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, accept me as the follower and supporter of Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha”. And Buddha said, “Upali, you are very famous and you are wise. Don’t be in a hurry. Take your time. Think it over”. I was very surprised when I read that story. And Upali was very surprised too. He said, “Buddha, if I were to convert to another sect, they will go around the city and proclaim (that right word?), proclaim that Upali has now converted to our sect, to our religion. They will be so proud of it. But now when I said, ‘Buddha, please accept me as a disciple of a Buddha, of the Buddha and the supporter of Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha’, you said, ‘Upali, take your time. Think it over. You are wise. You are very famous. Don’t be in a hurry. Don’t jump to a conclusion. Don’t decide so easily. For that reason, I respect you and I ask you for the second time, please accept me as a disciple of the Buddha and a supporter of Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha”. And Buddha said, “All right, but you were a disciple of Nighander. And your home, your house was like a well on the corner of the road, on the cross road, where all the Nighander can come to get whatever they need. So, I think you should still support those Nighander, although you become a disciple of the Buddha”. And Upali said, “I’m surprised. People told me that Buddha said, ‘Only supporting or offering to the Buddha and his disciples, the Sangha is beneficial, and offering or supporting other people is not beneficial’. But what I heard, what I hear from you, is so different from what I heard from other people. So, I ask you again to accept me as a disciple of the Buddha and a supporter of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. But to support the Nighander, I know about that”. So, he still supported those other sects, as he used to.
So, you see how magnanimous Buddha was. He did not want other sects to be deprived of their support. He was very compassionate. So, I think a true Buddhist should learn something from this story: to be magnanimous. And so, Upali said, “Please accept my invitation for a meal, buddha and all the disciples. I invite Buddha and all the disciples to come to my home for a meal tomorrow”. So, Buddha accepted that. So, from that story, too, I found out that Buddha did not want people to easily accept his teaching. But to really find out, to be more serious about it. I thought Buddha did not want big number of disciples. The Buddha’s intention was for a person to find out for himself or for herself and become liberated, free. He did not want disciples, actually. He want people to understand the truth and overcome defilements and become free.
And another story just before the Buddha passed away into Nibbana. Venerable Ananda asked, “When you pass away, who shall be our teacher?” Buddha said, “The Dhamma and vinaya that I taught you will be your teacher”. He did not designate anybody to take his position. And this is really surprising. I have never found in any other religion such a, how do I say that, instruction. So, the Dhamma and vinaya is our teacher, not a person. He did not designate any great disciple to take his position to be the leader of the Sangha. This is very unique. This is very important. Think about it, you’ll find out the Buddha’s intention. And Buddha also said that, “I don’t want to be the leader of a group”. He did not want to be a leader. He just wanted to make people free. “I have no intention to be the leader, the big leader. I did not think that I will lead the Sangha”. Although he created the Sangha. He made rules for the Sangha. And it’s for the Sangha to decide, whenever there is anything to decide, the Sangha has to come together and declare what they are going to do and ask for the vote. And only 100% vote can validate the decision. 100%, not 99%. So, it must be very difficult to do that. So, reading about these stories and thinking about it made me very, made me respect Buddha very deeply. This is the teacher that I can trust and respect. Because he did not want to be the leader. He did not ask for blind faith. He did not want big number of followers. He was not, his intention was not to have big number of followers. His intention was to point out the truth, to point out the path that will lead to the liberation, freedom and be free.
So, when I was younger, I thought, well, it’s better not to belong to any religion. Because if you belong to any religion, you have to believe in things that you don’t believe in. You will be asked or forced to believe in things that you don’t want to believe, or you will be asked or forced to do something you don’t want to do. You will lose your freedom and your behavior will be controlled. Not only your behavior, even your thinking will be controlled. Because sometimes I read in books that if you have any doubts, you have already committed a big crime. You are not allowed to have a doubtful thought. You are not allowed to have any doubts. But Buddha encouraged doubt. But to encourage doubt doesn’t mean that you stop there. Because if you have any doubts, then you have to work hard to find out. So, for people who say, “Well, I believe everything is very easy and cheap”. But for some people who say, “Well, I don’t know, I’ll find out.”, then that person has taken a big responsibility. So, to find out for yourself is a big responsibility, which most people do not want to take. “Tell me, tell me, tell me what to do. Tell me what to believe. Don’t make me think.” People are afraid of thinking. So, one person said, “If you really make people think, they will hate you. But if you make people believe that they are thinking seriously, they will love you”. What do you say about that? So, thinking of, finding out for yourself, practicing and finding out for yourself is a big responsibility.
So, you must find out for yourself. It’s a big responsibility. It’s very challenging. And although sometimes it may make you feel tired or it will make you, it will give you sleepless nights. If you persist, you will find out. Persistent is really important. Because what the Buddha taught is the law of nature. And nature, although sometimes it seems like nature is hiding its own truth, if you are persistent, you will surely find out. In many other fields too. For example, in physics, scientists work hard. Hundreds or thousands of scientists work hard for years and years, and they find out one truth after another about physical universe. So, in the same way, when we practice meditation, we are finding out about the nature of this mind and body. What makes us happy? What makes us unhappy? What makes us free and what makes us, what’s the opposite of free, confined? So, if we really are persistent, and if we really practice satipatthana, mindfulness, we will find out for ourselves. It’s a great responsibility. But if we avoid this responsibility, we’ll never find out for ourselves. And we’ll never be free. We’ll never feel confident. We’ll always be dependent. And we’ll always be a child, will not, never grow up.
Well, who is that little boy? I want to answer his question. Billy.
Billy. Billy.
He’s asleep.
Hi. Mhm. Okay.
All right, all right. But his question is, “What is it like being a monk?”
He asked that for every monk…
But for me, I think it’s so natural for for me to be a monk. That it’s like fish in the water.
I tell him that.
It’s not really hard for me to be a monk. I become a monk by my own choice. And I enjoyed that since I became a monk. Since the first day I became a monk, I really love it, enjoyed it. Although it’s a hard life, it’s not easy to be a monk. But not easy doesn’t mean that I don’t like it. I don’t want easy going life. I like to work hard. So, after I became a monk, I went into a forest monastery, to a forest monastery and became a monk and lived a very simple life. Simple means really simple. I had all the clothes that I’m wearing on. That’s all I had. And I had a bowl and I had a small place to live in. But in the beginning, not even a place. I spent many months under a tree, in a chair, sitting in the chair and sleeping in the chair, going for alms to small villages, to poor villages and receiving food from the villagers. Come back and ate one meal a day. One and only meal a day, and practice meditation most of the time. Sometimes going to listen to Dhamma talks by my teacher and sometimes asking questions and sometimes helping other younger monks too. And after living with my teacher for three, four years, I moved away to a different place. Because my teacher was very famous. So naturally, when you live with a person who is so famous, you meet too many people and there are so many things distracting that sometimes you don’t have enough time to meditate. And when you know a lot of things and when you are very helpful, naturally more and more people will come to ask for help. And you are willing to help, but you need time for yourself too. So, when I was living with my teacher, sometimes I was so busy that I did not have enough time to practice for my own.
So, I asked for permission from my teacher to move to another forest monastery, where there was only one old monk who was almost blind, and some nuns there looking after him. So, I went to that place and found a cave, a deserted cave. Nobody lived in that cave. And the cave was in a gully. There were steps even to go down. So, I have to hold on to trees, to go down, to go down and and spend most of my days in that little cave. And that’s where I got very deep into meditation practice, developed real strong awareness and concentration, and started seeing what’s going on in my mind very clearly. So, at first what I see is thoughts, random thoughts, one thing after another, arising in my mind. Very funny some of my thoughts were. I think it’s natural for anybody. If anybody, if somebody can make recordings of your thoughts and play back to you, you laugh. So, when I watch my thoughts, many times I just laugh at myself, oh how foolish, how silly, how funny. I was not upset. Because I was not trying to control myself. I was just trying to observe and enjoy observing, watching, very much. No matter what thought comes into my mind, I get very interested in that thought and watch it very closely. Thoughts and emotions, they come together. Every thought is accompanied by a kind of emotion, whether in Pali somanassa, which means happy about it, or domanassa, unhappy or upekhā, which means neutral, neither happy nor unhappy. So, watching my thoughts, I also feel the emotion that accompanies with the thought. And as I watched my thoughts more and more closely, like looking at my thoughts through a microscope and magnifying it more and more, getting closer and closer to the details of my thoughts, I noticed that when you think, you think in words and there are also images arising. Naturally, everybody knows that. But have you ever really get close and see it really clearly? Images flash in your mind and words appear in your mind. Emotions arises in your mind. So, it’s very interesting.
So, this is the first time that I really enjoyed meditation practice without trying to control my thoughts, without trying to get concentrated even. I just got interested in watching my thoughts. So not only… this is not the only thing that I do. Whenever I do, whatever I do, I pay close attention too. For example, when I get thirsty, I feel the thirst and I feel the desire to drink water. And I see the decision to get up and go and get a drink. So, I can see all these very clearly. Thus the feeling, the desire to drink, the decision to drink. And that the decision makes my body get up. I can see that and feel it. And walking to the water pot. Taking the cup, opening the lid from the water pot. Because in Burma we keep water in a earthen pot, not here like in a plastic bottle. So, dipping the cup, taking the water and taking the drink and feeling the coolness and feeling better after taking the drink and putting the cup back and coming back to my seat. Sit down, relax, pay attention to breathing. And gradually, naturally, my mind goes toward watching the mind. Because I think this is my inclination. Although I started practicing meditation by paying attention to breathing, after I developed some concentration, naturally my mind watches what’s going on in my mind. Naturally, my attention inclines toward paying attention to what’s happening in my mind, what I’m thinking about. So, get interested. This is very important. Because if you are not interested in something, it becomes very hard work. But if you are interested in doing something, no matter how long it takes, you don’t get tired.
So, I got very interested in my thoughts. And when I get real direct pinpoint observation, real … in Burmese we call [in Burmese], right in the present. When I can watch my thought and really hit it, it stops. And I found this very surprising. Nobody told me about that. My teacher didn’t tell me what will happen if I watch my thoughts. But as I was watching and watching and watching, when I really hit the mark, naturally thinking stops. And it was cut in the middle of a sentence. And I was surprised. But later it continues again. So, repeatedly, I did that again and again for many, many days, even for months. And what happens is, the more I can pay attention to the thought, the easier it becomes for me to see it very clearly and it stops. So, any kind of desire when it appears, I did not try to overcome this, the desire. I did not try to suppress the desire. I did not try to turn my mind away from the desire and to get distracted, or to pay attention to anything else. Whenever any desire appears, I pay close attention to that desire. So, mindfulness practice is not turning away. It is looking at, looking straight. So, when I look very closely at the desire, I can feel what that desire wants, what it is trying to achieve, what it is trying to do, what it is reaching toward, and how I feel when there’s a desire.
For example, naturally, when we go for alms to the poor villages, we don’t get really nice food. Although the food is good enough to keep us alive, it’s not like what my mother cooked for me. It’s poor village. So naturally, sometimes I like to eat a good meal, and sometimes in my mind I’ll be thinking of, dreaming of eating a nice meal. And I catch myself, “Oh, thinking of a good meal, a nice meal”, and watch that desire very closely and got very interested and learn a lot about desire. So, whenever I get frustrated or upset or angry, I watch that mental state and get very, very interested in frustration. What makes me frustrated? How do you feel when you’re frustrated? What does frustration is trying to do? What’s what… What is its function? So, learn a lot about the nature of desire, the nature of frustration. Because that’s the two emotions that most motivates us. There are many other motivations, but these two are the most that motivates us in our daily life. So, instead of overcoming or getting rid of the desire, I get interested in desire or frustration or anger and watch that very closely. And one thing that made me very upset when I was living in the Forest Monastery is when people come and cut down trees. I can’t stand that. Whenever I hear somebody cutting down trees, I have to stop meditating and go and tell that mind to stop that. Don’t cut down trees. That is something I can’t tolerate. So, many times whenever I hear somebody cutting down a tree, I feel so upset, so angry that I can’t meditate anymore.
Well, that way I learned a lot of, a lot about what desire is, what anger is, what frustration is, or even what pride is. And gradually, whenever I watch my mind, all thinking stops and the mind became very clear, no thought anymore, a very clear, quiet, peaceful mind. And this is very important. So, I try to explain about this again and again. Because from my understanding, meditation is not creating a certain mental state. Mindfulness practice is not creating a certain mental state. Mindfulness practice is paying attention to whatever is happening now in your body or in your mind. And if you can pay complete attention, you will see it very clearly. You will learn the nature of it. And you will see that this is a natural phenomenon. Natural phenomenon means it is naturally according to its own cause and effect laws. There are causes that creates this situation. And you can see that both cause and effect are natural and there is nobody behind. There’s nobody making it happen. And this is the first thing I’ve experienced when I watch any physical phenomenon or any mental phenomenon. The first thing I learned from that is that, this is a natural phenomenon and nobody is making it happen. It is happening because it has natural causes to happen, which means this is an anatta, not atta. So, that is the first thing I learned from my meditation practice.
So, when I learned this very clearly, my meditation practice became very easy. Because before that I was meditating with a big ego, “I am meditating, I’m doing something. I’m making something happen. I’m trying to achieve something.” Naturally in our daily life, that’s how we try to get things done. But when it comes to meditation practice, we cannot really see things clearly with an egoistic mind, with a big, with a big ego. So, when I can see that everything that happens, happens according to its natural law, I became a dis-involved observer, completely an uninvolved observer, not trying to control anything anymore, not trying to resist anything anymore, not trying to change anything anymore. Because before that, when my mind gets agitated or when I’m unhappy, I try to change my mind, try to think of something that will make me happy. But after that, I just watch whatever mental state arises. So, this watching mind also is anatta. It’s not “I meditating” anymore. It’s the watching mind, watching another mental state, watching whatever is happening in the body and mind. So, even the meditating mental state is just a mental state. It’s not “I meditating” anymore. And that makes me very liberated in a way, free. So, I pay attention to this watching mind. I pay attention to the objects arising. I pay attention to the attention arising and see that both of them passes away. Both of them passes away and there is no “I meditating” anymore. That’s the first liberation.
So, when the mind becomes very clear and alert and quiet and peaceful, the mind feels very light and bright. And I like that mental state very much. And from that mental state, I can see everything very clearly. Whatever thought appears, I can see the nature of it accurately, clearly, whether it’s negative or positive, whether it’s wholesome or unwholesome. I can watch it without getting involved, without getting upset about it. Even when sometimes an unwholesome thought appears, I can watch that unwholesome thought without getting upset about that unwholesome thought. Nothing to get upset about. So, with a detached mind, with a detachment, I can stay calm and watch it and it disappears. So, when I get to that mental state, then I found out that attā hi attanō nāthō. To get to that, to really get to that state, to be your own reliance, you have to be mindful, very mindful. And when you develop clear awareness, clear observation, when you are able to observe things very clearly, then you can depend on yourself. You become your own reliance. This is the first stage of reliance, not the final stage of reliance. This is the first step. Unless we can do that, we cannot reach to higher stages of reliance or refuge.
So, when I get to that stage, I felt very confident that now no mental state can really possessed my mind. People are possessed by desires. People are possessed by anger. Really, they are possessed. But if you can watch any mental state without getting involved, then you can never be possessed by any desire or any anger. Even though sometimes you have desire for this or that, you can watch it and it will go away. No big problem. If you cannot watch it, then you feel that “I want this”. Then when this “I” and “want” get together, they become very strong. But when there is no “I” in “wanting”, then it’s not a big problem anymore. So, things become a problem whenever we get, we make the two together “I want”, “I hate”. So, when hatred arises, you can see that this is just a mental state. And without getting involved, you can just watch it. It will go away very easily. So, any kind of defilements or any kind of anger or desire gets stronger, if it gets the support of the wrong view or the wrong idea of “I”. “I” and “desire” together, very strong. Without an “I”, the desire itself is not strong. “I” and “anger”, when they get together, become very strong. When there’s anger without an “I”, then it has no power. So, if you can watch it, it will dissolve. So, when I was able to do that, I feel very happy about that. And I feel that now I’m confident that no desire will possess me. No desire will take me over. And this is the first step in my freedom.
And as you practice more and more, you will learn more and more. You will see through and through. And this seeing and learning, which means wisdom, will do its own work. It’s not me trying to overcome any desire. It’s the wisdom that sees through and through, that sees every mental state, that overcomes. So, it’s the function of wisdom to overcome any desire or any anger. We cannot do that just by our will to do that. It’s the wisdom that we develop by paying attention, by being mindful, by learning about the nature of mind and body that becomes free. So, only wisdom can make us free. So, when you have developed this wisdom, then you find that this is my reliance. So, attā hi attanō nāthō, you are your own refuge. You are your own shelter. You are your own reliance. Who can be your reliance? Nobody else can be your reliance. So, teachers can teach you, instruct you, guide you, help you. But you have to do your own work. And it’s very simple.
Oh, this nirodha, the end of suffering, the cessation of suffering. And this question is very difficult to answer. Please explain the difference between true nibbana and pseudo nibbana, or cessation or arupa jhanas. So many points.
Nibbana is the the end of phenomenon – one definition is. So, when a person experiences Nibbana, that person is not experiencing any phenomenon anymore. Anything that arises and passes away is the worldly phenomenon. But nibbana is not a phenomenon, it’s nature, it’s paramatha, which means it does exist. But the existence of Nibbana is very difficult to explain. We can talk about Nibbana in negative way, but it is not. But it is very difficult to say what it is. But we can say that Nibbana is the cessation of physical and mental process. So, when in our meditation practice, at first we observe physical processes, whatever happening in our body, vibrations, movements, heat or cold or hardness or softness or in our mind also, we observe many things, many emotions, many thoughts, greed, anger, or even positive mental states like loving kindness, compassion, mindfulness, concentration, samadhi, upekkha, balance of mind, many different mental states we can observe. But we are still observing natural phenomenons. And when we have complete understanding of these physical and mental phenomenons, when the wisdom that we develop from observing these becomes really mature, naturally, it goes beyond. So, this is another point that we must remember. When we understand something completely, fully, the nature of wisdom is that it goes beyond. Naturally, it goes beyond. Whenever we understand something completely, the wisdom will go beyond that.
So, when we understand physical and mental phenomenon completely, this understanding goes beyond physical and mental phenomenon and experience a reality which is something that does not arises or passes away, just complete peace, complete freedom. Very difficult to talk about these matters. And when a person experiences this mental state or this Nibbana, it is accompanied with deep wisdom too. And jhanas are just concentration of mind, where no desire, no negative mental state appears. It is just concentrated mind, concentrated on some object. It still has an object, a worldly object. It may be like you can get jhana by practicing metta. You can get jhana by contemplating on a kasiṇa, or any or any other object you can develop jhana. And even arupa jhana, you can even contemplate on nothingness and get really concentrated on that and become very quiet and peaceful. Nothingness also becomes an object of your meditation practice. And because we spend so much time in the forest, years and years and nothing else to do, except go for alms and eat and meditate the whole day, we played with a lot of many different kinds of meditation practice. Just enjoyed playing around with different kinds of meditation practice. So, we tried that too and found that this is very peaceful and it is very similar to Nibbana. Because when your mind is just absorbing in nothingness, it’s very quiet and peaceful. But the difference is that you can turn around and see that you are contemplating on nothingness. But when a person is really experiencing Nibbana, you cannot do that. Because the moment you turn around and see what you are aware of, you are already observing a phenomenon, natural phenomena and mental state. So, when a person is experiencing Nibbana, that person cannot experience that mental state which is experiencing Nibbana. That’s the difference.
Difficult to talk about. I don’t know whether you understand it or not. And after a person experienced Nibbana, his, uh… I don’t know how to say that his personality changes to a certain extent. He will not be able to do certain things that he used to do. For example, keeping precepts. He will not cheat. He cannot cheat anymore. He cannot tell a lie anymore. He will not even think of doing that. So, there are many things that happens to a person and no envy, jealousy anymore. Even the first stage of enlightenment, one overcomes all that, no envy, no jealousy. Although in the beginning, in the first stage of enlightenment, the person still has some desire for things, this person will not transgress any precepts like killing or stealing or committing adultery or telling lies or taking intoxicants, will not do that anymore. This person will not do anything that is harmful to anybody, including himself.
So, some people say that, “I just like to drink and it doesn’t cause any harm to anybody. What’s wrong about that?” Many people argue that like that. It’s not good for you. Because to be mindful is so important, and anything that makes you become less mindful or become mindless is really harmful for you, and it’s harmful for everybody. So, even an ordinary person who is sober, because we are not so aware or mindful, we make a lot of mistakes. And if you drink, or if you take any kind of intoxicants, that will make you even become less mindful, less aware. So, you’ll make more mistakes. So, what happens to people who drive when they are drunk? They get into accidents. Just a few weeks, last week, I saw an accident. I didn’t want to look at it. I just caught a glimpse of it. Horrible. The person in the car was crushed inside the car, and I don’t know whether they got him out of it. I don’t think he can get out alive. Because the car was so badly crushed. Why? Because they were not mindful. If you drive mindfully, you will not get into such terrible car accident. You can get bumped sometimes, but that’s okay. But not in such a terrible car accident. And there are many other things like that.
So, when a person becomes enlightened or experienced Nibbana, this person becomes more mindful. Mindfulness becomes quite natural for that person, not 100%, but more than before. And keeping precepts become natural, not trying to overcome the desire… to to overcome… not trying to control himself not to do something. It’s natural for that person not even to think of doing it. For example, won’t be able to think of committing adultery. Not trying to control, but not even thinking of it. So, it becomes natural for that person.
Many were thinking or have been told that they have attained Nibbana. How can one distinguish true Nibbana from other states that may seem like Nibbana but are not?
Well, some people ask this question to Ledi Sayadaw also. And Ledi Sayadaw said, “Wait, and when you go into the world and face different situations and difficult situations, those situations will test you and you’ll be found out”. Because you can’t pretend too long, you can’t deceive yourself too long. When you are in deep samadhi and jhana, your mind is free from impurities and you feel like you don’t have impurities anymore. But go out into the world, live with people, live with all kinds of people. Then those situations will test you and whatever kilesa or defilements you have will show up. And if you are honest, you can see that, “Oh, I still have these defilements”.
This question also is quite similar. How does one distinguish Nibbana from the highest jhanic states?
As I told you, when you are in jhanic state, you can still observe that mind, that mental state. But when you are experiencing Nibbana, you cannot observe that consciousness. The consciousness or the experience of Nibbana cannot be observed. For example, when we are meditating, we are aware of something and we can be aware of that awareness too. That awareness itself can become the object of our meditation practice. And this is important, and we should cultivate this. When you become aware of awareness, awareness becomes stronger and stronger. If you are not aware of awareness, sometimes you may feel like you are aware that you are meditating, but when you become aware of this awareness again, you can see that awareness itself is another mental state. But when a person is experiencing Nibbana, you cannot observe the awareness of Nibbana again. It’s very tricky, very difficult.
May I interject a sentence? I think in the experience of Nibbana, because it is transcending subject and object, the the transcendence is also, it also transcends the act of knowing.
There is a mental state. But that mental state cannot be an object of another mental state.
That’s why. Isn’t it a transcendence?
It’s transcendent. Yes. Yes.
As well as the transcendence of awareness.
The mental concomitants which we call [can’t get the word], which is mindfulness awareness [can’t get the words] samadhi. They are accompanied with the Nibbana consciousness. So, that means the consciousness has awareness, but it cannot be aware of itself.
That’s why I was saying whether it is transcendence of subject and object.
Right, right.
Object is Nibbana and subject is the awareness of Nibbana. But one cannot observe that consciousness. So, in Vipassana we can observe Vipassana consciousness again. But in experiencing Nibbana we cannot observe the experience of Nibbana again. So, it is beyond phenomenon. Nibbana is not a phenomenon.
Another… Number two is…
Is it a state of something?
It is a state of experiencing sensation. But at that moment you don’t know or you are not aware that you are experiencing sensation.
Of the subject. Yeah. Mhm.
And another question in the same… Number two is, “Does one need to give up the experience of phala fruition in order to attain sakadagami or is it better to attain first stage fruition over and over until the levels of insight become clearer? Which means after a person has achieved the first stage of enlightenment, sotapatti magga, does one need to give up the experience of phala fruition?”
If one wants to practice to attain sakadagami magga, one has to determine, but put a time limit in that determination. “For a few days, I will not experience the fruition consciousness or sotapatti phala consciousness. So, for a few days, for three days or for a week, I meditate with the intention to attain a sadakagami magga”. But you put a time limit. If you don’t put a time limit, you know what will happen? It means that you will never go back to experiencing sotapatti phala consciousness. And do you like that? You don’t. Because to be absorbed in sotapatti phala consciousness is very peaceful. So, you have earned for it. So, whenever you want to, whenever you don’t want to experience any worldly consciousness, you can decide or determine that I’m now practicing Vipassana to go into phala samāpatti. And when your Vipassana practice becomes stronger, naturally you go into phala samāpatti and you don’t experience any mundane experience anymore. So, that is like a, taking a holiday, taking a holiday from all worldly situations, worldly events. So, it’s very restful and peaceful, which you deserve. And you are not sure whether you will achieve the next stage of enlightenment on that day or on that week. So, because you are not sure, you should determine and put a time limit that, during this week I will not go into fruition, fruition consciousness or sotapatti phala consciousness, but I’ll practice meditation with the intention to achieve higher consciousness.
How would you describe define rebirth?
Well, talking about rebirth again. We must think of the truth in two categories. Because many times people ask me the same question. There is conventional truth and there is ultimate truth. In Pali we have sammuti sacca and paramattha sacca. So, when we talk about samsara, we talk like there’s a person who goes from one life to another. So, conventionally, this is true. Whenever Buddha talk about kamma and the effect of kamma, he uses this sammuti sacca, truth, in that level. He speaks in sammuti sacca. And also when we practice loving kindness, we think of persons, and persons are also truth. They are persons, men, women. So, we think of our parents, “May my mother be happy. May my father be happy”. So, we think of father or mother and we are thinking of persons which is sammuti sacca. So, in the same way, when we talk about samsara and rebirth, we talk as if they’re persons, dying and being reborn. So, this is an easy way to explain that.
But ultimately, every moment there are physical phenomenon, billions of billions of physical phenomena happening and billions of mental phenomena happening in one second. You know how fast the computers work these days? They have now achieved the frequency which is beyond one giga hertz per second, one gigahertz per second. That’s very, very fast. And they are developing even faster computers. Even a computer can work one gigahertz per second and the mind can work even faster. So, whatever is happening now is just phenomenon, a series, a process. And when a person dies, so to speak, a person dies, the physical phenomenon stops. The heartbeat stops and the brain stops working. But the mental process still goes on without interruption. So, when we are now, so to speak, when we are alive, our mind has active cycle and resting period. So, between two active cycles, there’s one resting period and it goes on like that. So, in Pali language you call that active cycle, [Pali word] citta. And this resting cycle, [Pali word]. And this resting cycle [Pali word] is identical to the rebirth consciousness. So, we are not aware of that mental state. And when we die, what happens is, after a resting cycle, there is another, I mean after an active cycle, there’s another [resting cycle], series of consciousness and which is that consciousness and another rebirth consciousness again. So, we cannot die while we are in active mental cycle, active process of the mind. We can die only after that active cycle, and we die. And when we are reborn, the first consciousness is identical to this resting state of mind. And then another active cycle, rebirth state of mind. So, the process is exactly the same as what’s happening now. So, death and rebirth has no break. It’s a continuous process. The only difference is the mental process happens to another physical phenomenon, arise with another physical phenomenon. So, there’s no difference actually.
So, when we can watch our mental states very closely, sometimes we can experience that gap between active mental cycles. This is very short. And you may ask how can that be possible? Because it is so short. It is possible, because whenever we experience something identical, active cycles arises many, many millions of time. And because they are identical, although they are arising one after another, it seems like you are projecting the same picture on the screen, identical pictures on the screen. So, how would that appear, if you are projecting identical pictures on the screen? But in reality the picture is appearing and disappearing all the time, but whatever appears is identical to whatever has disappeared. So, how would that appear to you?
Statistician, continuous?
Yes, you feel like it is still, still image. You experience that as a still image. So, in the same way, when you develop very high concentration and very high mindfulness, and you observe your mental states, which appears repeatedly, identically, you are seeing that consciousness as if it is still. Therefore, you can observe the sequence also. But to get there is very difficult. You need a lot of time and practice to be able to watch your mind. So, you can see the sequences. Because it appears identically for billions of time, you can see one after another. Very interesting. The mind investigating the object, the mind deciding that this is it, and the mind accepting that object and the mind enjoying that object. You can see all those, but it’s not easy. And therefore sometimes you experience that there’s a gap between one consciousness and another consciousness.
And this is the question in Burmese. The first one is [in Burmese]. No, this is not true. Just being able to keep five precepts is not, no guarantee that you will not be reborn in a lower stage of life. And another question is [in Burmese]. That is true when you become a stream winner, which is called, which means you have attained the first stage of enlightenment, naturally, you keep five precepts. It becomes natural.
[in Burmese] If this is true, explain it in detail. Oh… I don’t know how to explain it in detail. Already, I’ve talked about it. We have done a lot of good deeds and we have done a lot of bad deeds too. And we cannot determine or we cannot tell which will give result when we die. But naturally, whatever we’re in a habit to do appears when we are dying. And although we have done a lot of bad deeds, we have also done a lot of good deeds. And because good deeds are more powerful than bad deeds, we are here. Otherwise we won’t be here.
And this question, number three: If you are a soldier and you kill people, are you breaking the precept? [in Burmese] Can you keep the precept? No. If you kill people, how can you keep the precept? And being a soldier, can you call that that’s a right livelihood? Very difficult question. Killing cannot be a right livelihood.
And this number four question: [in Burmese] Yes, I read that too. The teachers… [in Burmese] I’ve lived for two months in Popa in Burma, the place which is very famous for these so-called wizard [in Burmese]. But I’ve never found anybody in Popa. Although I found people who were practicing to become one. I’ve never found anybody who were real wizard [in Burmese].
In English, what is that?
The great masters or some… I don’t know how to translate that into English.
Small gods.
I never believed in any of the wizard from the past, but I was called to my masters. She was inspired by a dream. And started to experience. For the end of half is the mystical thing. Actually, my original lineage is from the Wizard Village. But I sit on the fence on both sides. And thought very lowly of the summer camp. Only when I was called back to the vintage, I realized I was very eager and full of pride and false pride.
So, from my own experience, I cannot tell this.
So, there are things… These are things I have not any experience of. Therefore, I cannot say anything from my own experience. I’ve never met one. So, I think that’s all the question is. Because I’ve come back to the same question, “What it is like being a monk?”
I think it fits my personality and I’m very happy being a monk for 27 years. And it’s not a difficult lifestyle for me. It’s like fish in the water. And for those who are naturally, who have natural inclination to be a monk, it’s not a difficult life. The only difficulty is, you know what? The only difficulty I have is that people give me too much to eat, and sometimes they get so upset that I did not eat everything they offered me. And one person very recently got very upset and said, “This monk has a craving to live a long life and therefore he does not eat what I offered him to eat”. So, that’s a hard life. So, that’s all the questions. Very glad to meet you and talk with you. I hope we will see each other again. But now I have to go back a long way and have other things to do. So, I must take leave. So, as a conclusion to our Dhamma talk and discussion this afternoon, let’s honor the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha by reciting “Imaya dhammanu, dhamma pati-pattiya, Buddham pujemi”.
Imaya dhammanu, dhamma pati-pattiya, buddham pujemi.
Imaya dhammanu, dhamma pati-pattiya, Dhamma pujemi.
Imaya dhammanu, dhamma pati-pattiya, Sangham pujemi.
By practicing according to the Teaching of the Buddha, which leads us to liberation, we honor the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha.
Sadhu, sadhu, sadhu!
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Viet Hung | A Happiness pursuer | Author of The Happiness Journal, Tản mạn về Hạnh phúc and NGẪM CAFÉ
Sách tôi dịch: Trái tim thiền Phật giáo, Thiền cho người mới bắt đầu, Nổi loạn và tự do, Bài chú giải Kinh Mangala Sutta, Sức mạnh của sự hoài nghi và thiền chánh niệm (Vipassana), Những nguyên lý để sống hạnh phúc, Chúng ta đang sống vì điều gì?, Sự cho đi và Tình thương yêu, “Lấy tâm mình làm bạn của chính mình”, Cảm xúc, Thiền với sự hình dung, Căng thẳng, Bản chất cao thượng
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