The Essence Of Dhamma

June 28, 2021 Dhamma Paññā 193 Views

(The following article is adapted from the second in a series of 44 public talks broadcast on Zee TV)

In one of my Hindi verses, I explain what is Dhamma:

“Śhuddha citta kā ācarana, dharma samajhiye soya“
– When the mind becomes pure and this purity is applied in our conduct, then it is Dhamma.

If we only keep discussing, debating, arguing about Dhamma and the purity of Dhamma and do not practice it, what benefit will we get? Therefore, it is rightly said,

“Dhāraṇa kare to dharma hai, varanā korī bāta.“
-Dhamma is Dhamma only if it is practiced. Otherwise it is empty talk.

Let it not become empty talk. Dhamma should be practiced and applied in one’s life. If one does not even understand what is real Dhamma, how can one practice it?

A person may understand that Dhamma means to purify the mind and to apply it in one’s conduct. But if he neither does the work of purifying the mind nor applies it in his conduct, then it is a great misfortune for this person.

One generates anger, and as a result, one becomes miserable, agitated, restless, and still one keeps reciting–

“Vītarāga bhaya krodhaha...”,
-I should become free from craving, fear, aversion…

But if one only recites it and do not practice Dhamma, it is only empty talk, only intellectualization. How can one benefit from Dhamma if one does not practice it? As soon as one understands this, the path of happiness is open to him. He starts walking upon the path, he starts practicing Dhamma instead of wasting his time on empty talk.

One should listen to Dhamma talks and reflect on it so that one can gain inspiration “I must practice Dhamma. How can I practice it? How will others know whether I am practicing Dhamma or not? How will others know whether my mind has become truly pure, truly peaceful or not? They will know only from my conduct, from my verbal and physical actions.”

I kill some innocent creature, is it not an unwholesome physical action? I steal or rob an object belonging to someone else, is it not an unwholesome physical action? I commit sexual misconduct, is it not an unwholesome physical action? I try to deceive others by lying, I abuse others, I defame others, I tell tales about one to another and cause a fight between two persons, I make useless conversation and waste my own time and the time of others, are these not unwholesome verbal actions?

Even though I commit unwholesome physical and verbal actions, I am under the delusion that I am a very virtuous person. “Who can be as virtuous as I? I have performed a particular ritual in the temple or in the masjid or in the church or in the stupa or in the gurudvara or I believe this or that philosophical belief.” Is it not a delusion? There is no Dhamma in your life. There is no Dhamma in your verbal or physical actions. How can you be Dhammic?

Why do verbal and physical actions become impure? Because defilements have arisen in the mind and the mind has become impure. One cannot kill anyone until one generates hatred in the mind. Whoever it may be, one can kill someone else only after one generates tremendous anger, tremendous aversion. One has to generate greed, tremendous greed, only then can one steal. One has to generate tremendous lust, only then can one commit sexual misconduct. One has to generate arrogance or other defilements, only then does one commit unwholesome verbal actions: one lies, abuses others, slanders others and defiles the mind.

We have understood that we should not defile the mind because as soon as the mind is defiled, we become its first victim. If we generate anger and commit some unwholesome verbal or physical action, it will cause misery to some other person but first we become miserable. As soon as we generate anger within, nature starts punishing us and we become miserable. If we generate any kind of defilement, we will certainly become unhappy.

Therefore, any unwholesome verbal or physical action is harmful to us and harmful to others. If we can avoid these unwholesome actions, it will be beneficial to us, and beneficial to others. Dhamma is not meant for mere discussion, it is meant to be practised. If we argue, quarrel, fight and kill in the name of Dhamma, it is not Dhamma. There is not a trace of Dhamma in us. We have lost our way and become confused in the name of Dhamma. We are harming ourselves and harming others.

A person understands very well, “I should not kill, I should not steal, I should not commit sexual misconduct, I should not commit any unwholesome verbal action: I should not tell lies, I should not abuse others, I should not speak harsh words.” But he takes some intoxicant and becomes a slave of the intoxicant. Whatever the intoxicant causes him to do, he keeps doing that. He has lost his senses. Therefore, wise people have advised us to avoid intoxicants.

It is easy to give advice. It is also easy to understand it at the intellectual level and to accept it. But how can one avoid intoxicants? An alcoholic understands very well, “Alcohol is harmful, it makes me lose my senses, it makes me its slave, and when I am intoxicated, I commit those actions which I should not do. I should not drink alcohol. It will be the cause of the destruction of me and my family.” But what can he do? When the time comes, he drinks. A gambler understands very well, “I should not gamble. It is very harmful to me and my family. I should not gamble.” But what can he do? When the time comes he gambles. An adulterer understands very well, “I should not commit adultery, it is not right.” But what can he do? When the occasion arises, he commits adultery. An angry man understands very well, “I should not become angry. I am the first victim of my anger.” But what can he do? Whenever something undesirable happens, he becomes irritated. Whenever something desirable does not happen, he becomes irritated, he generates anger and becomes miserable.

So just accepting this at the intellectual level does not work. We should understand why this is so. Even though he understands that he should not drink, why does the alcoholic drink? Even though he understands that he should not gamble, why does the gambler gamble? Even though we understand that we should not do any unwholesome action, why do we do such unwholesome actions? Because the mind is not in our control. A person whose mind is not in his control may understand perfectly well at the intellectual level, but what can he do? He is not the master of his mind.

There used to be an ancient tradition in India, a Dhamma tradition, an exemplary tradition. This tradition did not consist of mere sermons. If Dhamma only said, “O people of the world, you should not kill, you should not steal, you should not commit sexual misconduct, you should not generate aversion, you should not generate anger. You should not do this, you should not do that.” And those who are listening bow down their heads and say, “You have said the right thing. Very well said. We have heard a very inspiring Dhamma talk.” But they heard it through one ear and it went out through the other ear. We hear it every day. We should not do this or that unwholesome action. But how can we avoid doing it? How can we become the master of our minds?

In the ancient tradition of India, sermons were given, but the way to apply that sermon in life was also taught. When any person becomes a Buddha, he becomes pure, fully liberated, established in wisdom, completely freed from the bondage of craving, aversion and ignorance, liberated from future existence. Such a person is filled with infinite compassion and when he teaches people, he does not give mere sermons. He also teaches the way to apply this sermon in life and to gain control over the mind

Many techniques, many methods, many kinds of meditation are taught to gain mastery over the mind. In India there was a meditation technique, a very ancient technique, by the practice of which one not only gained control over the mind but also uprooted the defilements of the mind. The habit pattern of the mind is to multiply defilements at the depth, the deepest level of the mind. One keep generating craving, aversion, egotism. It has become the nature of the mind to keep generating different types of defilements. So it is meaningless to only purify the surface part of the mind without changing this habit-pattern of the mind of generating defilements in its depths. So not only do we have to concentrate the mind and purify it at the surface level, but we have to change its nature at the deepest level so that this multiplication of defilements is stopped. This extremely ancient technique from India contains a very scientific way to remove the past stock of such defilements accumulated in innumerable lives. If this technique is practiced in its pure form it is highly beneficial and gives immediate results. The nature of the mind starts to change and the mind is purified at the deepest level. One starts to live a life of Dhamma.

This is a technique of India. But it was not maintained in its pristine purity. It was contaminated by adding different philosophical beliefs, different rituals to it and confined within the boundaries of different organised religions. Because it was contaminated, it lost its efficacy, its ability to purify the mind and bring happiness. Once it lost its efficacy, why would people practice it? Everyone will practice a technique that provides immediate benefit. But if the technique does not give any benefit, then gradually such a technique will be lost.

2500 to 2600 years ago, this scientific technique to purify the mind had been lost in India. Siddhattha Gotama, the prince of Kapilavatthu, left home in search of this truth that there must be some technique by which we can get liberated from all suffering, from all our defilements. He had been exerting great effort and increasing his Dhamma-strength in many lives. In this life also, he exerted tremendous effort and rediscovered the technique of Vipassana. He gained real happiness, he purified his mind. He became pure, he became a Buddha. He became liberated from all defilements, was filled with infinite compassion and started teaching the technique. Throughout his life he taught it to everyone. For several centuries, India gained tremendous benefit from this technique. Then the technique became contaminated and it was lost. It went to a neighboring country and that country preserved it in its pristine purity. For centuries, from generation to generation, it was maintained in its pristine purity by a chain of teachers. Only a few people maintained it, but in its pristine purity so that now this ancient technique, this ancient treasure of India has again returned to the country of its origin.

There used to be a tradition of meditation centres In India. There used to be meditation centres in different places, in villages, in forests. Not only recluses but householders also used to go to these meditation centres to learn this technique. They used this technique to purify their minds and to improve their lives. They became happy and became the cause of happiness of others. They became peaceful and became the cause of peace of others.

Let us learn this technique thoroughly. This is not a technique of Buddhists or Hindus or Jains or Muslims or Christians this is the technique of Dhamma and Dhamma belongs to everyone. Dhamma is boundless, limitless. Dhamma is beneficial for everyone. Therefore let us understand how this technique is to be practiced.

One has to go to a meditation centre and stay there for at least ten days to learn this technique by exerting disciplined effort. Once it is learned and practiced, this technique results in great happiness and contentment. Let us practice pure Dhamma. Let us practice the Dhamma of not just mastery over the mind but of purification of the mind. Let us practice the Dhamma not only of surface purification of the mind but of purification of the mind at the deepest level. This practice will lead to real happiness, it will lead to real contentment. Whoever practices Dhamma not merely empty talk, but actual practice will find real peace, will find real happiness. Whoever practices it will experience real peace, real happiness, real liberation.

Source: https://www.vridhamma.org

FOR THE BENEFIT OF MANY

The Essence Of Dhammam – Dhamma House Usa 1989

May 5, 2020 Dhamma Paññā 417 Views For The Benifit Of Many

Dhamma House, California, U.S.A. August 26, 1989

THE ESSENCE OF DHAMMA

Dear members of our Dhamma family:

You are all old students who wish to become established in Vipassana, progress on the path and enjoy the best fruits of Dhamma. To progress on the path of Dhamma it is absolutely essential that you practise Dhamma, and to practise Dhamma it is essential that you understand Dhamma.

If you do not practise Dhamma and merely develop attachment to it—taking it as a dogma, a cult or an organized religion—then Dhamma is no longer Dhamma for you. When you understand Dhamma in its true nature, the deep essence of Dhamma, then the outer shell has no importance.

To understand what Dhamma is you have to understand what sīla is and why it should be practised; you have to understand what sammā-samādhi is and why this type of samādhi should be practised; you have to understand what real paññā is and why it should be practised.

The Buddha made people understand at the experiential level why they should observe sīla, and then gave them the ability to really observe sīla. At the intellectual level one may understand, “I should not do this, it is unwholesome. I should do that, it is wholesome.” And yet in daily life we keep performing unwholesome actions. One of the ancient scriptures points this out, saying:

Jānāmi dharmaṃ na ca me pravṛitti,

Jānāmi adharmaṃ na ca me nivṛitti.

I know very well what is dharma and yet I cannot follow it.

I know very well what is contrary to dharma, and yet I cannot abstain from it. Someone who becomes a Buddha discovers a way for people to abstain from unwholesome actions. He makes people realise what actually happens when you kill somebody, steal, commit adultery, lie, or consume alcohol or drugs.

Going deep inside, you start to understand, “I cannot kill anybody unless I generate negativity in my mind—anger, hatred, ill will, animosity, some negativity or the other.” And you also realise, “As soon as I generate negativity in my mind, nature starts punishing me. I become miserable then and there.” Realising this universal truth the Buddha said,

Idha tappati, pecca tappati

You start suffering now and you continue to suffer in the future.

The seed of the unwholesome action that you have planted makes you suffer here and now, and it will grow and give very bitter fruit.

The Buddha gave a simile: If you take a rope and twist it repeatedly the rope will become tighter and tighter. Every time you break sīla you twist that rope further, and you become tense deep inside. The tendency to react in the same way becomes a habit, and you twist it again and again; thus your misery continues to grow. He said that, quite possibly, at the surface level of the mind you don’t know that you are creating tension inside. How does it happen that you are unaware of this?

If you look at a burning ember covered by a thick layer of ash it appears as if the charcoal is not burning, as if there is no fire. In the same way, ninety-nine percent of your mind is burning and the one percent at the surface might be distracted by enjoying this or that sensual pleasure. Because you have not seen inside you do not know that you are burning.

Every time you break sīla you justify it, and at the surface level you feel perfectly all right. You say to yourself, “I killed that fellow because he was bad.” Or you may say, “Why should he have that? What was wrong with my taking it? I’m quite happy now.” Or else you say, “I had sexual relations but I didn’t harm anybody; it was not a rape, we both consented. What is wrong with that?” Or again you say, “I took only a little glass of wine and I didn’t get intoxicated. What was wrong with that? After all, when I’m in society somebody offers me a glass of wine and by accepting it I am not disturbing the peace and harmony of society, I am helping it. Everybody’s happy.”

A Buddha will smile and say, “Mad fellows. They are happy with the layer of ash covering the truth. They don’t know that they are burning deep inside and that they keep giving fuel to this burning.” Every time you break any sīla you are giving more and more fuel to this fire and you become more and more miserable. This cannot be understood by arguments or discussions. Only when you go deeper can you realize that every vocal or physical action that breaks the law of nature simultaneously causes harm to yourself.

When you go deeper you also see that as you start performing wholesome actions, either physical or vocal, the fire burning inside dies down and you start feeling peaceful. The Buddha said, Idha nandati, pecca nandati, katapuñño ubayattha nandati. Because you are cultivating a mental habit pattern of generating peace, harmony, and real happiness, this mental state continues. All actions, either physical or vocal, made with the base of a pure mind cause happiness—not the happiness of that small layer of ash covering a burning ember, but happiness at the depth of the mind.

Samādhi is concentration. How should you concentrate? And why should you concentrate in this particular way? This was the enlightenment of the Buddha: Sammā-samādhi must be a samādhi that leads us to paññā, and its object must be the reality pertaining to your own body and mind.

The Buddha called what is known in the West as the conscious mind the paritta citta, meaning a tiny part of the mind. Actually the entire mind is conscious; no part is unconscious or half-conscious. The parts of the mind called the unconscious or the half-conscious keep feeling the sensations on the body and reacting to them. The surface part of the mind is like the layer of ash covering the burning ember: You can play with this and put some ice there so that you feel as if the burning has ceased and that you are perfectly happy. If you meditate using verbalization, it is only the conscious mind that is verbalizing; the deep unconscious has nothing to do with it. Likewise it is the tiny part of the mind, the “conscious mind” that visualizes, or imagines, or gives some suggestion, or plays some intellectual or emotional games. The mind deep inside has nothing to do with all this, and yet you feel as if you are peaceful.

When you go to a cinema, bar or theatre, you divert your agitated conscious mind and enjoy sensual pleasures. When you intoxicate your conscious mind with alcohol or drugs, again you forget your misery for some time. In the same way, when you intoxicate your mind with different kinds of meditation, you forget your misery. You forget the red-hot charcoal that is burning deep inside.

The enlightenment of the Buddha was to go to the depth and understand the law of cause and effect. He understood that whenever one reacts with craving or aversion, misery follows; this is the law of nature. He investigated why one reacts in this way. At the apparent level it feels as if you react to things outside. Whatever you see, hear, smell, taste, touch or think that is pleasant, it seems that you react to that sensory contact with craving. Similarly whatever unpleasant contact you have at any of the sense doors, it seems that you react to it with aversion. That is true, but only at the surface level. There is a missing link that you cannot understand without practising Vipassana. You do not react to the external objects coming in contact with the respective sense doors; you react to the sensations within your body caused by the contact. When the sensation is pleasant, you react with craving; when the sensation is unpleasant, you react with aversion. If this link is missing you are not working at the depth of your mind, you are simply working at the surface.

People who work only with the conscious mind fool themselves, and it doesn’t actually help them. You have to go to the depth, limit your attention to your own mind-and-matter phenomenon, and observe the interaction taking place there. The “unconscious mind” deep inside is constantly in contact with the bodily sensations. Mind and matter are so interrelated that every moment anything that happens in the mind influences the body, and anything that happens at the material level influences the mind.

The Buddha was the first person in this era (there were many Buddhas before who had discovered the same thing) to find out this truth, and with compassion and goodwill to place it before people, “Look, this is the law. Understand this law with your own experience, and come out of your misery.”

Someone might forget this truth and say, “Whether I go to this or that teacher the meditation is the same.” I would reply, “If the guru teaches you to feel bodily sensations and develop equanimity towards them, then it is the same. It doesn’t matter whether it is called Vipassana or not, whether it is the teaching of the Buddha or anyone else.” But if the guru does not teach you to work like this, and still you say, “His teaching is the same,” you are harming yourself because you are forgetting your bodily sensations, to which you keep reacting with craving and aversion.

This ash that covers the truth inside must be removed. Any object of meditation that helps this ash to grow is not a useful object of meditation; any object of meditation that removes the ash and makes us feel the misery inside is helpful.

This is the first noble truth, “Look how much burning is going on, how much tension there is.” This can only be experienced when you start feeling sensations within the body. Every bodily sensation is a misery because out of ignorance you react and generate suffering. How can this be stopped? How can the mind that is so enslaved by this habit pattern be freed from slavery?

It can only be done by practice; intellectual discussions, debates, or accepting the truth at the devotional level will not help. These can give us guidance and show us how we should work, but then we actually have to work. Those who want to progress on the path of Dhamma have to understand what Vipassana meditators are doing and the real reason why we work in this way.

Of course you should not despise others. Those who teach meditation techniques that work only at the intellectual level are also helping people; at least the conscious mind is purified to some extent and this is helpful. But for your own work understand that liberation will only come when you go to the deep root of the cause of misery. Unless you eradicate the root of the misery, you can’t eradicate your misery.

Dhamma is so simple and yet people have made it so complicated. There cannot be anything simpler than Dhamma. It has been made complicated by adding this or that philosophy, this or that belief. Just practise; don’t make it complicated. Those who have made it complicated have harmed themselves and harmed others. You have the true path but it’s a long path. To change the habit pattern of the mind takes time; but a beginning has been made. Even if you have taken one course, a good beginning has been made. Make use of this and start to decondition the mind at the deepest level.

As you go deeper in your meditation while practising all the five sīlas, you will start understanding that any breakage of sīla increases the ash on the surface of the mind, and simultaneously increases the burning inside. So realize the truth of burning, the misery within. Don’t be deluded by this surface ash, by this small part of the so-called conscious mind.

Also understand that only by practising Dhamma can you benefit from Dhamma. If you take one course but do not practise every day you will be helped, but only to a small extent. Or if you take one course every year but you don’t practise daily, the habit pattern of your mind cannot be changed; and that blind habit pattern has to be changed. Every time you meditate you change this habit pattern little by little, you decondition your mind little by little until you reach the stage where the mind is totally unconditioned; all the past habit patterns evaporate.

For this, you have to work seriously. You have this wonderful facility here, and you have made good use of it. I find the vibrations here have become quite good within these few years, and now you can share this vibration with others.

Once Dhamma starts growing, it keeps growing and nobody can stop it. Grow externally and a large number of people will benefit. Grow internally and deep inside you will benefit. If you yourself do not benefit and you only think of benefiting others, it won’t work.

Develop in Dhamma for your own benefit and for the benefit of others; for your own welfare and for the welfare of others; for your own liberation and the liberation of others.

Bhavatu sabba maṅgalaṃ

Dhamma Paññā

BQT trang Theravāda cố gắng sưu tầm thông tin tài liệu Dhamma trợ duyên quý độc giả tìm hiểu về Dhamma - Giáo Pháp Bậc Giác Ngộ thuyết giảng suốt 45 năm sau khi Ngài chứng đắc trở thành Đức Phật Chánh Đẳng Chánh Giác vào đêm Rằm tháng 4, tìm hiểu thêm phương pháp thực hành thiền Anapana, thiền Vipassana qua các tài liệu, bài giảng, pháp thoại từ các Thiền Sư, các Bậc Trưởng Lão, Bậc Thiện Trí.

Dhamma Paññā

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