FRAMES OF REFERENCE
Frames of Reference
by
Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo
(Phra Suddhidhammaraṅsī Gambhīramedhācariya)
translated from the Thai by
Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu
(Geoffrey DeGraff)
Copyright
copyright 2011 ṭhānissaro bhikkhu
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Unported. To see a copy of this license visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/. “Commercial” shall mean any sale, whether for commercial or non-profit purposes or entities.
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Contents
- Copyright
- Foreword: About the Author
- Introduction
- Frames of Reference
- I. The Body
- II. Feelings
- III. The Mind
- IV. Mental Qualities
- Summary
- Appendix
- A Refuge in Awakening
- I. On the level of individuals
- II. On the Level of Inner Qualities
- A Refuge in Awakening
- Glossary
- Dedication
Foreword: About the Author
Phra Ajaan Lee was born in 1906 in a rural village in Ubon Ratchathani province, northeastern Thailand. At the age of 20 he was ordained as a monk at the temple in his home village, and there began his study of Buddhist doctrine and monastic discipline. He discovered, much to his distress, that life in his temple—as in most temples in Thailand at the time—had little to do with the practice of the Buddha’s teachings. As he wrote later in his autobiography, ‘Instead of observing the duties of the contemplative life, we were out to have a good time: playing chess, wrestling, playing match games with girls whenever there was a wake… Whenever I looked into the books on monastic discipline, I’d start feeling really uneasy. I told myself, “If you don’t want to leave the monkhood, you’re going to have to leave this temple.”’
Soon after making this resolution, he happened to meet a monk of the wandering ascetic tradition founded by Phra Ajaan Sao Kantasīlo (1861 – 1941) and Phra Ajaan Mun Bhūridatto (1870 – 1949). Impressed both with the man’s teachings and with his way of life, Ajaan Lee set out on foot to find Ajaan Mun and to become his student. He spent two very intensive periods studying with Ajaan Mun: once, that first year, in the forests of Ubon; and then again, four years later, at Wat Chedi Luang in Chieng Mai. Ajaan Mun and Ajaan Sao were unique in their time in teaching that the way to nibbāna was still open, and the training they gave their students in the direction of that goal was also unique, involving not only intensive meditation practice but also the total re-education of the student’s character: his habits, values, and powers of observation.
As Ajaan Lee wrote in his autobiography, ‘Staying with Ajaan Mun was very good for me, but also very hard. I had to be willing to learn everything anew… Some days he’d be cross with me, saying that I was messy, that I never put anything in the right place—but he’d never tell me what the right places were… To be able to stay with him any length of time, you had to be very observant and very circumspect. You couldn’t leave footprints on the floor, you couldn’t make noise when you swallowed water or opened the windows or doors. There had to be a science to everything you did—hanging out robes… arranging bedding, everything. Otherwise, he’d drive you out, even in the middle of the Rains Retreat. Even then, you’d just have to take it and try to use your powers of observation.
‘In other matters, such as sitting and walking meditation, he trained me in every way, to my complete satisfaction. But I was able to keep up with him at best only about 60 percent of the time.’
After Ajaan Lee’s second period of training, Ajaan Mun sent him out into the forests of northern Thailand to wander and meditate on his own. Ajaan Lee’s wanderings eventually took him through every part of Thailand, as well as into Burma, Cambodia, and India. Of all of Ajaan Mun’s students, Ajaan Lee was the first to bring the teachings of the forest tradition into the mainstream of Thai society in central Thailand. In 1935 he founded a temple, Wat Paa Khlawng Kung, in a cemetery near Chanthaburi, on the southeast coast; and in 1955 he founded Wat Asokaram in a marshy area at the mouth of the Chao Phraya River on the outskirts of Bangkok. He drew students—monks and lay people, men and women—from all levels of society and all walks of life. In 1957 he was given the ecclesiastical rank of Chao Khun, with the title Phra Suddhidhammaraṅsī Gambhīramedhācariya. He passed away in 1961.
Even in his last years, though, he continued to retreat regularly into the forest. To quote again from his autobiography: ‘Living in the forest, as I like to do, has given me a lot to think about… It’s a quiet place, where you can observe the influences of the environment. Take the wild rooster: If it went around acting like a domestic rooster, the cobras and mongooses would make a meal of it in no time… So it is with us: If we spend all out time wallowing in companionship, we’re like a knife or a hoe stuck down into the dirt—it’ll rust easily. But if it’s constantly sharpened on a stone or a file, rust won’t have a chance to take hold. So we should learn always to be on the alert…
‘Living in the forest, the mind becomes confident. The Dhamma you’ve studied—or even that you haven’t studied—will make itself clear, because nature is the teacher. It’s like the sciences of the world, which every country has used to develop amazing powers: None of their inventions or discoveries came out of textbooks. They came because scientists studied the principles of nature, all of which appear right here in the world. As for the Dhamma, it’s just like science: It exists in nature. When I realized this, I no longer worried about studying the scriptures and I was reminded of the Lord Buddha and his disciples: They studied and learned from the principles of nature. None of them followed a textbook.’
‘For these reasons, I’m willing to be ignorant when it comes to texts and scriptures. Some kinds of trees sleep at night and are awake during the day. Others sleep by day and are awake by night.’
Introduction
This book on the frames of reference is based to some extent on my own thoughts and opinions. In some spots it may not be directly in line with the original texts, because my primary aim has been to get to the heart of the matter so that it can be conveniently put into practice. Those who hold zealously to the texts may feel that what I have written is wrong; but as for me, I feel that whoever is able to practice in line with what is written here will find that it can be taken as a guide to the true principles of concentration, discernment, and release. To hold to the texts isn’t wrong, but they should be held to discerningly, just as in medicine: A doctor who thinks that the only way to cure a fever is to drink a concoction of boiled neem and quinine leaves is wrong. Some doctors may add the leaves of other trees and make it into a powder; some may make a concentrated extract; others may vary the dosage. In the same way, when practicing the Dhamma, to go no further than the texts may in some cases be wrong. Actually, any path that abandons defilement and brings relief from suffering is right. The value of medicine lies in its ability to cure disease; the value of a method of practice lies in its ability to abandon defilement. As far as I can see, there is nothing wrong with any method that has been found to work. In the end, all such methods must follow the basic principles of virtue, concentration, and discernment, and differ only as to whether they are crude or sophisticated, direct or indirect, fast or slow.
Now, I don’t want to set myself up as an absolute authority of any kind. Thus, I want you, the reader, to use your own discernment. Take whatever passage seems right for you as a basis for your practice. There is no need to follow the entire book. Simply focus on a single point, and that will be enough. Once you have mastered an important point, all the other sections will come together and connect right there.
When you are ready to meditate, you should try to find a quiet, solitary place to assist in your practice of the frames of reference. Otherwise, your practice won’t go smoothly, because solitude is desirable for all spiritual seekers in general. Just as a person who wants to look at his reflection in the water will be able to see himself clearly only when the water is still, with no wind rippling across the surface, in the same way, a person who wants peace that is subtle and profound has to conduct himself in this manner.
Or to put it another way, there has to be external peace and quiet before internal peace will arise. When both forms of peace are present, you will know and see the Dhamma as it actually is. So when you put this form of meditation into practice, you should first say your chants and pay respect to the Buddha in whatever way you are accustomed to, and then begin sitting in meditation. You are sure to obtain genuine results in line with what I have written here.
If there is anything defective or wrong in this book, I trust that the reader will show me forgiveness, for I’m not much of an expert when it comes to the texts. I’ve simply learned a few parts, and put them into practice.
One more point: This practice of training the heart is very important in that it forms the source of all goodness and merit; and whatever is the source of goodness and merit deserves special care and attention. The heart is a vessel for all that is good. When the heart is pure, any meritorious actions you may perform externally will truly foster happiness. External merit is like a tasty curry. If it’s served in a filthy dish, then even though the curry may be delicious, the person eating it won’t want to eat his fill because of the filth. But if the dish is clean and the curry delicious, the person eating is likely to eat with confidence to his heart’s content. In the same way, if the heart is clean, it will find itself attracted to performing externally meritorious actions. It will always be ready to make sacrifices, because in every case it will taste the nourishment of its goodness.
Not only that, a clean heart also forms the path for release from stress and suffering, leading ultimately to nibbāna. Those who are to reach the paths (magga) and fruitions (phala) leading to nibbāna will do so by way of the heart. If the heart isn’t trained, then no matter how much external goodness you may have, you won’t be able to reach nibbāna. Nibbāna can be attained only by training the heart in the practice of virtue, concentration, and discernment. Virtue forms the basis for concentration; concentration, the basis for discernment; and discernment, the basis for release. Concentration is especially important because it forms the basis for discernment and intuitive understanding (ñāṇa), which are the crucial factors of the path. You can’t do without concentration. If concentration is lacking, you can gain nothing but jumbled thoughts and obsessions, without any sound support.
Concentration is like a nail: and discernment, a hammer. If the nail isn’t held firm and straight, the hammer will strike it only hit-or-miss, and the nail will never get through the board. For the heart to penetrate the world and get through to the highest Dhamma, it must take a firm stance in concentration so as to give rise to intuitive understanding. Intuitive understanding can occur only to those who have centered the mind in concentration. As for discernment, it’s something we all have, but if it lacks intuitive understanding, it can never get beyond the world.
For this reason, we should all take an interest in the factors that form the path leading beyond suffering and stress to abundant wellbeing.
If you have questions about any part of this book, please feel free to ask at any time.
The merit coming from the writing of this book, I ask to dedicate to all those who have felt inspired to help pay for its printing costs so that it can be distributed freely as a gift of Dhamma. May the power arising from this gift bear them fruit, so that whatever they aspire to that is upright and just may succeed in bringing them happiness in every way.
Phra Ajaan Lee Dhammadharo
Wat Paa Khlawng Kung
(The Shrimp Canal Forest Temple)
Chanthaburi, 1948
