STRENGTHENING THE MIND WITH WISDOM

BY AUNG SAN SAYADAW BHADDANTA SADHAMMAKITISARA

"1ST. DRAFT" February 2, 2007

Contents Foreword 4 7

STRENGTHENING THE MIND WITH WISDOM

Four types of audience 7 Two Paths 7 Two types of meditation 8 Qualities of a meditator 8 Ten types of obstructions 9 Unmindful people 9 Dying before accomplishment of lifes goal 9 Be mindful 10 Dont contend with growth from eating rice 10 Valuable and expensive 11 Discard traditional practice 11 The tears of Yaw Minister 12 Qualities of a meditation teacher 13 Three types of approaches 13 I let you go once 14 Don t keep on revolving in samsar 14 Kamma guided by wisdom 15 Three types of sankhra 15 You are still being tied down 16 The practice of Vipassan 17 Balanced Wisdom 18 Preliminary preparations 18 Anonymous donor 19 Think about it 19 Honest and straight forward Buddha 20 Example of a jute bale carrier 20 Views of kamma and wisdom 21 Do not continue to carry the jute bale 22 Practice of wisdom leads to Buddhas enlightenment Value varies according to circumstances 23

22

Three types of knowledge 23 Samatha leads to Jhna Vipassan achieves wisdom 24 Samatha observes conventional truth Vipassan observes ultimate truth 24 Paramattha and Paatti 25 Three levels of truth 25 Those afraid of conventional truth 25 Different types of conventional truth 26 Basics of Vipassan 27 Know the difference between pain and body 27 Being mindful of a single meditation object is samatha Being mindful of more distinct meditation object is vipassan 29 Practice to overcome vedan 30 Cheating yourself 30 Dont lose your meditation object 31 Impermanence is the Dhamma that exist 31 Dont miss the opportunity 32 Four big snakes 33 Earth, water, heat and wind elements 34 Must find the enemy 34 Be victorious 35 Bringing back the wandering mind to the meditation object is samatha; being mind ful of the distinct meditation object is vipassan 36 Be aware of the life supporting mind 38 Mind is more distinct than matter 38 Wish to see carrying the gold pot 39 Let us join a course 39 Give preference to Cittanupassan 39 Not knowing how to dress 46 Six inner guests 47 Being not unoccupied is wasting ones life 49 Only the house owner is left 52 Let us join a course 53

Foreword I had countless opportunities for listening to Samatha and Vipassan discourses give n by our benefactor Aung San Sayadaw during meditation retreats and Dhamma talks . The discourses given by me are not my own. They are the words of wisdom of my b

enefactor Mogok Sayadaw. I am simply paying tribute to his wisdom. Such acknowled gement and emphasis made by Aung San Sayadaw whenever he gives a Dhamma talk sho w the tremendous respect and honor he had for his teacher. This booklet is published for the benefit of those who have been practicing Vipa ssan meditation so that they will have a better understanding about Samatha and V ipassan. This discourse is based on the Cittnupassan Dhamma talk given by Mogok Say adaw. It is supplemented with Aung San Sayadaws experiential wisdom achieved thro ugh meditation practice. Although Aung San Sayadaw mentions that the discourses given are those of Mogok Sayadaws wisdom and words, they could have never become his own without learning and putting them into practice. If he were merely deliv ering Mogok Sayadaws discourses, it would have ended there and then immediately a fter the discourses were given. To reiterate Mogok Sayadaw, it is akin to turning off the lights at the end of the festival or forgetting them after listening to t he discourses. As mentioned earlier, Sayadaw has great respect and honor for his mentor. He the refore listened attentively to his teachers instructions and practiced systematic ally. This is one of the reasons many people come and listen to his Dhamma talks . No matter how many days the Dhamma talks are given, the Dhamma hall is always crowded with the audience. Sayadaw also put in a lot of effort in giving the Dha mma talks. Thus, the longer days the Dhamma talks take palce, the more the crowd is getting thronged. The same is true with Sayadaws meditation retreats. Wheneve r the schedules of meditation retreats by Aung San Sayadaw are announced, yogis usually rush to Sayadaws center in Insein (Mogok Vipassan Sub-center-77, Tawya-tat -u Monastery, Aung San Myo). Several yogis leave behind their daily businesses u nattended for a while. A meditation retreat with well over a thousand yogis, which is common at Sayadaws center, is seldom seen elsewhere. Hence there is something unusual going on her e. I am making this statement simply to present the facts. I am not glorifying S ayadaw out of a mere emotion as his close disciple. I also would like to let the people know that Sayadaw is not merely like a messenger who just passes Mogok S ayadaws discourses [by rote and repetition] on to others. Gradually, therefore, I have come to realize that there is no way of achieving such a success to that e xtent without having Dhamma qualities and personal experiences. Sayadaw leads a very simple life without pride and ostentation. Whenever a disci ple makes a request to him, he always tries to fulfill his/her wishes. On the ot her hand, he has immense Metta for all and thus gets along with every one. He is also well mannered and skilful in the area of communicating with the people. Th ese also portray how immense Sayadaws Dhamma qualities are. These I have observed and witnessed. In this way, carrying on his teachers Dhamma legacy, and suppleme nting it with his personal Dhamma qualities, Aung San Sayadaw usually delivers a series of Samatha and Vipassan discourses on every Dhamma occasion. There are many Yogis who do not clearly understand what Samatha and Vipassan trul y are despite their claims that they are practicing Vipassan meditation. I must a dmit that I myself was once like one of them. Things, however, have become clear er to me only after listening to Sayadaws discourses. For this reason alone, Saya daw has become one of my benefactors. I acknowledge all as my benefactors who ha ve steered me to the path of knowledge and wisdom, who have helped me straighten that path more, and who have let me firmly hold onto the already straightened p ath all the more, who have encouraged me to gather momentum yet more on the path that is already firmly held and who have helped me walk closer to the goal thro ugh the path that has already gained a greater momentum. I have thus coined the phrase Aung San Sayadaw, my benefactor and addressed it from the outset of my Fore word. Vipassan and Samatha practices look similar to one another if no clear distinctio

n is made known. One would therefore still be reborn within the thirty-one plan es of existence if one is, in fact, practicing Samatha thinking that he/she is p ursuing Vipassan. Moreover, a Samatha practitioners traits and propensity could oc cur to and could overwhelm a Vipassan practitioner and thus the latter might unkn owingly be cultivating Samatha. This nature of Dhamma, therefore, is subtle and profound. And, one will be at a loss if one doesnt understand a transition from Samatha to Vipassan. Yet more, one will get no where if one gets confused with regard how Vi passan practice is pursued. In this way, one will still be reborn within the thir ty-one realms of existence after facing death when the time is due. Such is a he art wrenching indeed. All these teaching and preaching in details can be found i n this booklet of Sayadaw. However, if one wishes to know more about it, one nee ds to listen and read Mogok Sayadaws discourses on Cittnupassan, contemplating thir teen types of Citta and practicing Samatha and Vipassan meditation (Dated on Augu st 22, 1961 and printed and published by Mogok Vipassan Headquarters). After list ening to and reading those discourses attentively and thoroughly, one will be ab le to make an introspection towards ones own khanda and find out the answer for o neself. Then only, I believe, will one be able know the distinction and have a c lear understanding. I have listed the differences between Samatha and Vipassan me ditations based on the discourses given by Sayadaw as follows: 1. Samatha leads to attainment of Jhna. It is nejbhi Samkhra. One will still be within the confines of the thirty one planes of existence. Vipassan leads to attainment of Maggana. One will not be reborn in the thirty one p lanes of existence. It is beyond samsra. It is Lokuttar Dhamma. 2. Samatha makes use of the conventional truth. It is within the field of S amuti Sacca. Vipassan observes the ultimate truth. It is within the field of Paramattha sacca. 3. Samatha practice focuses on a single object of meditation. Vipassan practice is to be aware of and mindful of whatever is distinct. 4. In Samatha, one needs to bring back and redirect mindfulness to the obje ct of meditation whenever ones mind wanders away. Vipassan is to watch and observe mental and physical phenomena with awareness. 5. Samatha practice can only subdue defilements temporarily. Vipassan practice eradicates the defilements permanently. 6. Samatha practice does not lead to the attainment of Maggana. Only Vipassan practice leads to the discernment of Maggana. I presume that the above should suffice as Foreword for this book. In fact, I sh ould not have a heart to pen such an introductory statement as it precedes Sayad aws series of Dhamma discourses. However, since it was assigned by Sayadaw himsel f and as a Yogi writer among his disciples, I have no choice but to contribute t his Foreword. Sayadaw also made a request to choose an appropriate title for th is booklet. Thus, I have given the title as Strengthening the Mind for the word Sa matha and With Wisdom for the term Vipassan, hence the title Strengthening the Mind with Wisdom. May each of you be able to enjoy Bliss of Nibbna (Santisukha) with penetrative wi sdom under the guidance of Sayadaw after nurturing and cultivating calm and stre ngthened mind. With Metta, Mya Than San

STRENGTHENING THE MIND WITH WISDOM I wish to commence todays ( March , 2000 ) Dhamma talk by sharing Buddhas wo rd of encouragement with the sangha and yogis who came from far and near to join the 78th meditation session conducted here at Mogok Vipassan sub-center 77, Tawy a tat-u monastery, Aung San Myo. Jhyaha bhikkhave m pamdattha; m pacch vipatisrino ahuvatha; aya vo anussani (MN-1:167; Dveme Vitkka Sutta) Four types of audiences There are four types of audiences who liste n to Buddhas discourses. Sangha audience addressed as bhikkhu Female sangha audience addressed as bhikkhun Male audience addressed as upasaka Female audience addressed as upasika In giving discourses Buddha generally addressed as bhikkhave meaning sangha. Altho

ugh it is addressed in this manner, Buddhas intention was meant for all the four types of audiences. He always addressed as sangha simply because it is the most important type of audience out of the four and one should remember that it is m eant for every one. Buddha also addressed as bhikkhave to all those practicing the three stages of d evelopment viz., sila, samdhi and pa in order to be free from samsra. Thus, since you all are meditating here because of being afraid of samsra, you all are also incl uded in the bhikkhave category as well. Jhyaha meaning to practice samatha and vipassan meditation. The Buddha urged to pra ctice samatha and vipassan meditation. Two paths The final goal of all Buddhists is the attainment of Nibbna, the cessation of sufferings. There are two paths leading to Nibbna. 1. The path of samatha ynik by practicing Jhna. 2. The path of vipassan ynik by practicing pa. m pamdatha dont be unmindful m pacch vipaisrino ahuvatha dont regret, worry and be sad only when one is about to die aya vo anussan this is the teaching for you all You all are meditating samatha and vipassan and I will continue to talk about it today. As yogis you have many weak points and defects. You might be thinking th at you are practicing vipassan meditation but, if it turns out to be samatha, you will not achieve Nibbna. This is extremely important. Although it is not possibl e to interview each and every one of you meditating at this Mogok center, kindly regard that this Dhamma talk will be doing a similar job for it. After all, the purpose of having interviews is to ensure that you are meditating in a proper w ay. Thus, there are two paths that lead to Nibbna by making use of two meditation met hods viz., samatha and vipassan. They are known as samatha ynik and vipassan ynik. Two types of meditation Depending upon the choice of samatha ynik p ath or vipassan ynik path, the meditation practice also varies. The two types of me ditation are samatha meditation and vipassan meditation. According to Buddhas teaching samatha is described as: sametti samatho it is known as samatha because it makes the mind calm and tranqui l and suppresses the kilesas. nvaranna samahena it also suppresses the nivranas and thus known as samatha. Also the meaning of kammatthna is: Kammattha means bhavana practice thna means meditation object Thus, please remember that it is about different meditation objects in practicin g bhvan. Qualities of a meditator For those who wish to practice sama tha and vipassan meditation they should possess the following qualities. 1. purification of sila 2. approach a qualified meditation teacher 3. be able to overcome ten types of major obstructions

4. 5. 6.

be able to learn the right type of mediation suitable to ones background to choose a suitable place to meditate be able to overcome ten types of minor obstructions

It is necessary to possess all the above qualities if one wishes to meditate. Si nce they are easily understandable I will not be elaborating about them.

Ten types of obstructions (Dasa palibodha) The meaning of palibodha is obstruction. During the course of meditation yogis gener ally face different kinds of obstructions. They cause delay in your progress. Th e ten types of obstructions are: 1. vsa palibodha not having proper place to meditate 2. kula palibodha having attachment upon the devotees and colleagues 3. lbha palibodha having attachment upon the donations, gifts and financial matters 4. gaa palibodha having sectarian beliefs 5. kamma palibodha having attachment upon on going works 6. addhna palibodha traveling around 7. ati palibodha having attachment upon relatives 8. bdha palibodha being sick or not feeling well 9. gantha palibodha being engaged in learning 10. idhi palibodha- possessing super powers When one is meditating it is necessary to be free from all the above obstruction s. Otherwise, it will not be possible to meditate properly. Unmindful people m pamdatha Dont be unmindful. When one is totally occupied 30 days a month attending to family needs, business matters and social activities, that person is regarded as being unmindful. Howe ver, if one knows the benefits and values that one gets by performing dana, obse rving sila and practicing samatha and vipassan meditation regularly every day, th at person is regarded as having sati (mindfulness), who pities himself, and trie d to relieved himself from all the sufferings. And if instead, one keeps on givi ng excuses such as being busy and occupied with other matters, days, months and years will pass by and gets older. In this way one gets older just by doing comm unity work. These people aged by doing works for others only. Dying before accomplishing lifes goal In carr ying out community work there are times when things are accomplished smoothly. W hen one does not achieve the way it wanted to be, the mind gets disturbed. Distu rbed mind falls under the classification of Dosa. Imagine the countless number o f times that is happening every day although one might not harm others physicall y. Un-satisfactoriness also falls under Dosa. If one is not satisfied about oneself, it is Dosa If one is not satisfied about others, it is also Dosa Thus, one needs to question as to how many times Dosa occur every day. This is t he doctrine of Paticcasamupda the Law of Dependent Origination. This law is not a bout others, but it is your own. As one continues to be occupied with lobha and dosa, one never ponders when one will have to face death. If only one had the opportunity to think about it, he w ont occupy himself with all these. Simply because one is immersed in all these ac tivities, it goes on one after another for months and years, and eventually maki

ng short and long term plans without ever thinking about death. They continue to plan one project after another and finally when they die, death took place befo re they were able to complete their project. In the Dhammapada it is mentioned t hat there is no one who were able to lead a happy and peaceful life by accomplis hing the projects that they were involved in. Instead, because of avijj or moha, one never had the opportunity to think and realize about having to face death on e day. Every day people are busy with community work and are overwhelmed with lo bha, dosa and moha so much so that they are unable to do other things. Out of 30 days in a month, even if they can set aside 4 days to observe eight or nine pre cepts, they spent the remaining 26 days doing community work. One needs to reali ze this fact of life. Be Mindful Out of having four uposada days in a month, one should que stion how many times one was able to observe eight or nine precepts. Only when o ne observe these precepts four times a month, one can say that 26 days were spen t doing community work. Otherwise, one will be doing community work 30 days a mo nth. Here we need to compare the established rules and standards of different religio us beliefs in the world. You will notice that Christians attend churches on Sund ays, Muslims go to the mosque on Fridays and they take it seriously based on the ir own religious beliefs. However, isnt it shameful for a Buddhist if one cannot observe eight or nine prec epts 4 times a week. Observing these precepts is for your own benefit and theref ore should do it with great respect. The work done during the remaining 26 days is for others. Our great Sayadaw said that there are two types of work, one for your own benefit and the other for the benefit of the community. He pointed out that generally we spent 26 days a month doing community work. Working for ones own benefit will leads to Nibbna. However, doing only community w ork will lead to hell. All of you need to be aware of this fact. Dont contend with growth from eating rice Although doing work for your own benefit w ill lead to Nibbna, majority of people are unable to do it. This is the weakness of Buddhists. Thus, it is necessary to try your utmost to do. If one cannot obse rve eight or nine precepts 4 days a month, one will face a lot of difficulties. It is pointless to be proud of and have ego. If one cannot observe those precept s for 14, 15 days a year, it is not worth having the opportunity to be born as a human being. Since tomorrow will be New Year, you will get older. Age never gets younger. Our benefactor Sayadaw said to upasaka Kywe and U Hla Bu although you are about 60, 70 years old, your growth resulted from eating rice as Myanmar has abundant of it. You all have not benefited as you should. You are merely eating good meals and grow, the growth resulting from eating rice. This will lead to undesirable place. The growth that I wish you all to have is growth in wisdom. Thus, the rea son that I taught five kinds of wisdom from the beginning. 1. 2. 3. 4. kammassakat sammdihi na nma rpa paricchedana paccaya pariggha na lakkhaa na 5. magga na

These are the five kinds of wisdom that I have taught. Valuable & Expensive

When we talk about nma rpa parriccheda na, one need s to apply wisdom even when dressing up, or when eating or while walking or sitt ing. Even when one goes to toilet one needs to continuously apply wisdom. It is uccra passva kamme sampajna kri hoti. Wisdom is nothing else but magganga. If one ge ts older by one day, by one month or by one year with magganga, then people rega rd them as valuable old men and old women. Only when one is rich with wisdom the n one becomes valuable old man or woman. However, if one merely gains body weigh t instead of gaining wisdom, then the value achieved will be only in gaining bo dy weight. If a person growth is not accomplished with wisdom, then it is merely the result of eating rice. Thus try to grow wisdom instead of contending with t he growth by eating rice. If one passes away with full of wisdom one can either attain nibbna or to the goo d planes of existences. But if one dies just by merely eating rice one will be reborn in the papaya plan es. Thus, the Buddha said: Jhyaha bhikkhave m pamdatha, m pacch vipaisrino ahuvatha, aya vo anussan. This is the Buddha s teaching for you all. m vipaisarino The meaning of this being don t feel unhappy about it because I have n t said so. Discard traditional practice Going back to the practice of samatha vipass an, it is necessary to discard traditional practice for those who choose to pract ice vipassan. This is extremely important to remember. In Kesamutti Sutta, the Buddha said; Don t believe it is true because you were told from young, or whatever that has been handed down from past generations, or what is common opinion, or whatever t he scripture say, or merely by deduction or inference, or because of its plausib ility, or because you have heard about it or because of the accepted beliefs, or because he claims to be a monk, or because he claims to be a Buddha. It is not necessary for me to elaborate on it but remember this for your general knowledge. For those who are practicing Vipassan meditation, don t be misled by others. One simply cannot continue to maintain the traditional belief that has been handed down from past generations. If one looks back the period about (100) years ago it will be around Konbaung period or King Mindon rule. In those days people give preference in performing Dana and thus one will see many things in Mandalay donated by the King, his ministers and virtuous persons including those of the Fifth Buddhist council. Although there are individuals practicing patipa tti practice in those days, majority of the people have to be contended by going to the monasteries and observing eight precepts etc. There was no meditation ce nters like we have today and no teachers to teach and thus they never had the op portunity to meditate. There were a few people who have developed savegana but sinc e there were no teachers and therefore no meditators, they were unable to furthe r develop the Dhamma that they possess. The tears of Yaw Minister In order to substantiate the fact that there we re no teachers in those days who were able to tell about Yaw Minister U Pho Hlai ng of Yadanabon period. He was a very learned minister, extremely good in writin g and served two kings namely King Mindon and King Thibaw. He wrote Utubhojana s

agaha, Rjadhamma sagaha and Alokra nissaya scriptures. As a young monk Ashin na, the f ture Ledi Sayadaw wanted to learn how to write these scriptures from U Pho Hlain g and visited him. For the first two days U Pho Hlaing ignored the young monk wi thout speaking and occupied himself reading. Only on the third day he greeted th e monk by asking "what business do you have?" Ashin na replied that he wish to learn the technique of writing. U Pho Hlaing told the young monk to read and learn Kathvuthu scriptures. That was how U Pho Hlaing taught him how to write. To cut the story short, that was how the future Ledi Sa yadaw Ashin na and U Pho Hlaing became intimate with one another. When Ledi Sayada w gave Dhamma discourses, the minister started to cry and said; "the King didn t have the opportunity to listen to such Dhamma discourses." The discourse given by Ledi Sayadaw was about Vipassan meditation which is the essence of Dhamma. As every one of you are aware of Ledi Sayadaw wrote more than (100) Dipani on Vipa ssan meditation. The reason why U Pho Hlaing cried when the future Ledi Sayadaw A shin na gave the Dhamma discourse was because the King only had the opportunity to Dhamma discourses on Dana and Sila. The King himself observed precepts occasion ally and gave priority in performing Dana. During Ava period, people compete wit h one another in performing Dana. The King built pagodas, the Queen built monast eries and the ministers built bridges. One of the outstanding examples of perfor ming Dana during Ava period is the brick monastery donated by Mei Nu. Since our forefathers have to be contended with the traditional practice of perf orming Dana, when the learned minister heard about the Vipassan discourses, he st arted to cry. We have different periods such as Dana period, where priority is given for perfo rming Dana. It is vastly different from the practice of Vipassan. There is a ver se about this. One gets poor if there is less Dana Life is shortened if there is less Sila There will be unhappiness if there is less Bhvan One will miss Nibbna if there is less Vipassan Compare to the period where people were deprived of the opportunity to attain Ni bnna, today s yogis are very fortunate to be born as human beings during the Vipa ssan period. Qualities of a meditation teacher Although this is the period where peop le practice samatha and vipassan bhvan, it is important to find a qualified meditat ion teacher. If one practice with an unqualified teacher, one will lose the oppo rtunity to be free from samsara. The following are the qualities of a qualified meditation teacher. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. be affectionate be respectable be praise worthy be able to advise respect other people s advice not to encourage in doing unsuitable things be able to teach sacca and paticca samuppda Dhamma

Apart from the above qualities he must be able to explain in his own language ab out vipassan based on Pi athakath. If such kind of teacher is unavailable one should s eek to learn from a person who had the experience of learning from a qualified t eacher. Being the case, you all are fortunate to be Mogok Sayadaw s disciples. He was ab

le to explain clearly the contents on the Pi and athakath so that lay persons can eas ily understand them. Tipitaka Mingun Sayadaw once praised "If only Buddha is aro und U Wimala (Mogok Sayadaw) will be honoured for being able to translate Pi into Myanmar. He is such kind of a teacher. Three types of approaches For Buddhists there are three types of ap proaches: 1. Practice of Kamma 2. Practice of Jhna 3. Practice of Wisdom In our traditional practice we have been taught to perform Dana which is the pra ctice of Kamma. We are at the level of Kammassakat sammdihi where one beliefs that g ood action brings good resultant and bad action brings bad resultant. Buddhists strongly belief in this form of Kamma practice and carried out throughout the wh ole life. They die performing kamma practice. If you look at the doctrine of pat icca samuppda, you will see "kamma paccaya jti". Therefore those who die performin g kamma will result in jti. It is important to understand this and by understandi ng it you become a more knowledgeable Buddhist. Because of kamma one gets jti fol lowed by jar (old age) and marana (death). Although the practice of kamma is good , old age and death which resulted from it are unpleasant. If those without having Vipassan na hear these words, they will get confused as it will be difficult for them to understand that performing kamma, which is a good action resulted in an unpleasant death. This is because Buddhists heavily rely o n the Law of Kamma. I let you go once Traditionally we buy small fish and free them in the l akes and rivers. Tomorrow will be the Myanmar New Year and people will be perfor ming the "freeing the fish" ceremony throughout the country. It is a good tradit ion and I am happy about it. Since the fish were kept in containers, some of the m may die and by freeing them in the water, one will accrue a lot of good deeds (kusala) by saving their lives while the fish will enjoy happiness. This is kusa la kamma and will definitely bear a good resultant. Since we are discussing about kusala kamma here, because of saving other s life, one will be reborn and start a new life. Because of having contentment with kam ma actions, normally one generally makes wishes such as "May I be freed ten time s because I freed you once." Luckily his wish is limited to ten times instead of wishing "May I be freed whenever I get caught." If one makes a wish in this man ner, it is as if one is wishing to be an animal. One needs to think seriously ab out it. Don t keep on revolving in sasra This is the result of having bel ieves only in kamma actions. Thus, when I said about discarding the traditional beliefs, I was talking about performing such kamma actions. Making wishes with s uch kind of knowledge will result in jti (new life) and won t be a pleasant one a s it will end with unpleasant death. Yogis need to know the value of vipassan na as one come across such opportunity only when a Buddha appears. People with such l evel of knowledge will not make a wish like "May I be freed ten times because I freed you once." When one saved the life of others, one will definitely benefit equal resultant without having to wish for. The proper way to focus your mind in performing such action is that may I be freed from the confines of kilesa and a ttain Nibbna just like the fish being freed from living in a confined space and e njoying freely in open water. In this way the performance of good deeds will res ult in freeing oneself from sasra. This will assist in freeing from Viva vaa. It will lso assist in performing the action with Vivaa nissita (gain release from conseque

nces of past misdeeds) and enjoy lokuttara happiness (santisukha). This is becau se of void of att when kusala was performed without interpreting as "he was saved by me." Kamma guided by wisdom Thus, when you are freeing the fish tomorrow y ou should focus your mind as "may I be freed from the confines of kilesa, such a s avijj and tah similar to the fish being freed from living in a confine space." Th is clearly shows that you wish to be freed from sasra and such good deeds are to b e performed with this kind of understanding. Instead, if one makes wishes for fu ture births, it will result with more khandas. Once you are reborn as the produc t of these khandas, you may be pretty or ugly. However, they all have to conclud e with death in the end. Thus, whenever one performs kamma action, one should utilize wisdom. As an examp le, when one performs kamma action by freeing fish, make use of the wisdom. Perf orming good deeds (kusala) guided by wisdom is known as nasa payutta kusala. It is also known as tihetuka kusala as well as gaining release from consequences of pa st misdeeds (vaa). This type of kusala can be performed only during Buddha sasana. When one doesn t know how to perform kusala guided with wisdom during Buddha sa sana, it is like performing kusala at the time when Buddha sasana doesn t exist. Just like Sayadaw used to say the type of kusala where money is being spent and people got tired at the end of it. Therefore, whenever kusala is performed with the guidance of wisdom, it is more beneficial and will not go to hell when one dies. I am urging to perform kusala actions with the guidance of wisdom. You should c arefully take note of the fact that I am not saying not to do kusala and this is extremely important issue for us in giving Dhamma talks. Whatever type of kusal a that you all do between the surface of the earth and the sky above, whether it be constructing pagodas or monasteries, I can assure you that you will benefit the relative resultants. However, normally the benefit one gets from doing kamma actions is death. In order not to have death as the resultant, wisdom guidance is necessary when doing kamma actions. Thus, when kamma is guided by wisdom, kam ma ceased to exist. When kamma ceased to exist i.e. kamma bhava nirodh jti nirodho meaning once kamma ceases, jti ceases also. Once jti ceases, there is no more jar and marana. Nibbna is nothing but where there are no old age, disease and death. It is explai ned as jar nirodho nibbnam, marana nirodho nibbnam. This is the qualification of th e knowledgeable Buddhists. If one doesn t learn and be knowledgeable, one value depreciates. One is in a jumble. Thus, the reason for me to teach so that you wi ll become more knowledgeable. Three types of Sankhra When we talk about kamma practice and Jhna pract of Sankhra in paticcasamuppda. They are: (meritorious deeds) (demeritorious deeds) (Samatha meditation in order to attain higher planes of Brahma loka) Kammavacara kusala such as performing dana and observing sila are Pubhi Sankhra. Aku sala actions such as killing, stealing are Apubhi Sankhra. Jhna (absorption) practice , jhna kusala are Anacbhi Sankhra. You need to practice samatha meditation and there are forty ways to do. As mentioned earlier those practicing jhna are following t he path of samatha ynka and they practice the following forty types of samatha med itation. ice, there are three types 1. Pubhi Sankhra 2. Apubhi Sankhra 3. Anacbhi Sankhra 1. Ten kasina objects

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Ten kinds of Foulness (Asubha) Ten Recollections of Anussati Four Illimibles (Appana) One Perception (sa) One Analysis (vavtthna) Four immaterial states (Arpa)

I will not go into detail about these forty types of meditation and instead give a brief explanation. Out of those forty types of meditation apart from the prac tice of kayagatsati and npnasati under the Ten Recollections of Anussati, the practi ce of one perception (sa) and one analysis (vavatthna) cannot achieve jhna. One can develop deep concentrationclose to jhna only. The practice of all the rem aining thirty types of meditation can achieve jhna. Out of those the following four types are known as Sabbaha kammahna or Caturrakkha kam mahna. 1. Buddhnussati kammahna 2. Maranassati kammahna 3. Mett kammahna 4. Asubha sa kammahna

Thus, by practicing one type of meditation out of either forty types of meditati on or those thirty that leads to jhna, one will attain jhna. This is samatha. In t erms of sankhra, it is anacbhi sankhra paccaya (Brahma) vinam. Rupa, arpa and vina in Section 2 of the paticcasamuppda wheel diagram and falls under dukkha sacca c lassification. Thus, Brahma vinam is not free from dukkha. You are still being tied down The goal of samatha or the ultimate achievem ent is the attachment of jhna abhia (higher knowledge of jhna) and reborn in the Bra hma planes. Even those who have attained such stage can lose their status. Durin g the time of future Buddha hermit mentioned in Mudulakkhaa Jtaka and that of Ashi n Devadatta s Ceylon (now known as Sri Lanka) period there were many monks who h ave the ability to fly through the air, so much so that they were unable to dry the rice as the whole sky was covered by them, preventing the sun rays to penetr ate. However, when those having such jhnic powers come into contact with visabhga r ammaa, they lost their powers. Even those from the Brahma planes can be reborn as humans, devas or in lower planes of existences and unable to pass beyond samsra, the cycle of rebirth. By attainment of Loki jhna and abhia one will still be withi n the samsra and the highest achievement will be to be reborn in Brahma loka. The attachment to the lower planes of existence is like an iron string and that of the Brahma loka is like a gold string. Thus being reborn in the Brahma planes is like being tied down. The practice of jhna and abhia existed before the enlightenment of the Buddha and t here were evidences such as that of Devila hermit. Their aim at that time was to attain Brahma na. Achieving it doesn t amount to attainment of Lokkutara vijana whi ch has the ability to totally eradicate avijj, the root cause. It can only suppre ss temporarily with lokina vijj. Thus one cannot depend on kamma practice and jhna practice at all as they are sti ll within the Dukkha field. What need to be done is to achieve wisdom by the pra ctice of viipassan meditation. The practice of Vipassan

Having Samadhi one will have the pow er to fly through the air or dive into the earth, but it is not reliable. Before the enlightenment of the Buddha, the jhna attained by the hermits are not relate d to magga-na, phala-na or vipassan na and because of the jhna Samadhi they lead to v

ous micch dihi. If one observes sila without pa, it may not be strong. Similarly, Sama dhi without pa will not lead to Dhamma. Then what is vipassan? Aniccdi vividhkrena sankhre passati ti vipassan Observation of sankhra dhamma through various modes such as anicca (impermanence) etc. is vipassan. Visesataw seeing through various modes, passadi with wisdom, t his is vipassan. As said earlier there are two paths for Buddhists to attain nibbna viz., samatha ynka and vipassan ynka and if one is merely contended with samatha practice it will n ot be possible to attain nibbna. Thus, the samatha practice serves as the suppor ting foundation for the development of vipassan. It is much easier to practice vi passan if one has proper samatha base. You cannot do vipassan without practicing and needs to develop samatha meditation first. If the choice is to base on the samatha path, then decide on one type of meditation out of the forty types of meditation that was explained earlier. As one develops stronger concentration obtaining upacra samdhi (upacra means neighborh ood and refers to concentration that touches the fringes of full absorption jhna) and appan samdhi (mind remains fixed as its object without hindrances or discursi veness), one make use of these samdhi in vipassan practice observing nma and rpa dha mma or the jhna itself if one has achieved the jhna state. This is how samatha and vipassan meditation can be practiced jointly. However, if one wishes to practice vipassan meditation directly comprehend the an icca, dukkha, and anatt characteristics of nma rpa and make use of the khanika Sama dhi that resulted from it to practice vipassan meditation. Balanced wisdom Therefore in practicing vipassan meditation when one wishes to check the progress, one should carefully make use of the wisdom b alance instead of the general opinion expressed by others. To make use of the wi sdom balance we have the doctrine of paticcasamupda chart to refer to. It can als o be made use to check about one self. One will come to understand that when the re is a cause, there will be effect; when there is no cause there will be no eff ect, by observing the paticcasammupda chart before practicing vipassan. Thus one achieves nma rpa paricchedana which is the knowledge of knowing that there is no person or being but only nma and rpa and paccaya pariggha na which is the know ledge of cause and effect. In order that you will not be practicing along the wrong path I have been teachi ng paticcasammupda about your life, khanda paticcasammupda and samsra paticcasammupd a with the use of the chart. In practicing vipassan one needs to contemplate and observe on the present moment only and not the past and the future. When seeing, observe or contemplate the e ye consciousness; when hearing, observe the ear consciousness; when smelling, ob serve the nose consciousness; when eating, observe the tongue consciousness; whe n dressing, observe the body consciousness; when thinking, observe the mind cons ciousness. One should not keep on wandering. Before practicing meditation one wa sn t aware about the wandering mind. Only when one practices meditation, it was able to experience how the mind wanders all over. Thus, the reason to discard th e traditional practice in order to be on the right path. Preliminary Preparations When one wishes to practice vipassan, pre liminary preparations known as pubbahicca need to be done. As mentioned during t he commencement of the Dhamma talk, one is required to get rid of all the obstru ctions known as plibodha and carry out the preliminary preparation works. They a

re: -

select appropriate place and time pay respect to the Buddha observe the triple gem and moral precepts radiate loving kindness request the meditation master to teach vipassan meditation select appropriate posture to sit keep your goal to attain magga and phala

After carrying out all the necessary preliminary preparation works to do vipassa n meditation one is required to discard all the accepted traditional practice. So metimes they are reluctant to discard them due to social duties and business obl igations. It was explained in Soadada Sutta in Silakkhandaha Pi. During the time of Buddha there was a Brahmin by the name of Soadada who respect h im. He also likes Buddha s Dhamma as well. When he was leaving he told Buddha th at he is a well known Gacariya Gaapmokkha, leader of one sect. If he openly worships the Buddha it will affect his business. Thus, he explained to Buddha that whene ver he meets the Buddha he will take off his head dress and this will be equival ent to his bowing down. Also, when he lowered down the whip that has been placed on the carriage, it will be an indication of giving respect to the Buddha. This is because he dare not revolt against the society since it will affect his busi ness and prosperity. Similarly, it is possible to have such kind of person in ou r present time. There may also be other religious leaders who dare not change th eir beliefs although they accept the Buddha s Dhamma. I am talking about these i n order to illustrate the difficulty in discarding the traditional practice. Thus, it is not easy to discard the accepted tradition. there was the governor o f Pysi town by the name of Pysirjaa. He liked and accepted Gotama Buddha s teachings. lthough he realized that the Buddha s teaching is right, because the whole socie ty was practicing the traditional beliefs handed down from past generations, it was difficult for him to revolt against the society. Anonymous Donor I wish to relate about an article that I rea d in one of the Dhamma magazine. It is about a lady belonging to other religion who was delighted to see the communal offering of various articles and provision s as well as drawing lots to decide either recipient or the gift in a religious offering to Buddhist monks. To cut the story short she came and registered to of fer for a monk in such kind of religious ceremony. However, she requested the Bo ard of Trustees to send a multi-tiered tiffin carrier instead of the monk s beg ging bowl since she doesn t want those people of her own religion to know that s he is making such offerings to the Buddhist monks. Although she belief in the Buddha s teaching she was not in a position to revolt against her community. Her situation is not that bad compared to governor Pysirjaa w ho also was in a similar situation. Thus, the lady placed her offerings in the t iffin carrier in order that people of her own religion will not be aware of her activities. Even governor Pysirjaa had difficulty in discarding the accepted belief of the commun ity. In such cases the Buddha never insist them to do so. Think about it Once upon a time there was a wealthy man by the name of U pali. He belongs to Nigana gaa Ntaputta. As exhorted by Nigana, he went to the Buddha and challenged his teachings. he then had the opportunity to discuss with the B uddha and found out that Buddha s teachings were acceptable to him. He told the Buddha that he had taken refuge in the Triple Gem and to accept him as one of hi s upasaka (disciple). The Buddha cautioned him to think very seriously in decidi

ng to change from one religion to another since he was a wealthy and prominent m ember of his sect. Here, the Sayadaw wanted the meditators to revere and respect Buddha s attitude (consideration) for others. Generally people will gladly welcome those who reque sted to become his disciple but the Buddha told him to reconsider instead. So al so in the case of the general of King Bimmisara. Buddha told the general to reco nsider his request to become his disciple instead of welcoming him. This is the noble quality of the Buddha which is far superior then that of the leaders of ot her sects. Honest & Straight forward Buddha For general knowledge sake Sayadaw wanted to tell about a western professor working in one of the Asian university. The p rofessor was teaching comparative religious studies and came across Klma Sutta in the Pitika. In the Klma Sutta Buddha said; Dear Kalamas: Don t believe because it is handed down by the authority of religious texts, nor by tradition, nor by hearsay. And only when you know for yourselves with your o wn wisdom after analyzing that certain things are wholesome and good, then accep t them and follow them. The professor was very impressed and glad with the advice given by the Buddha. H e commented that Buddha was very honest and the attitude he had was extremely di fficult for the religious leaders to have. The Buddha never insisted his discipl es to belief in him or his teachings but to analyze with the use of one s wisdom and accept it. He doesn t encourage in blind faith. The professor said that the Buddha is very honest and straight forward and continue learning the Pitaka. Ev entually, both he and his wife became Buddhists and observe eight precepts throu ghout their life. Sayadaw was glad and took pride in him as a person full with p aramis and having the right understanding. Example of jute bale carrier Generally it is difficult to discard tradi tional beliefs. However, it is necessary to discard the traditional beliefs when one practice vipassan meditation. If a person cannot discard it, he will be like a person carrying the jute bale. Once upon a time, there was a chieftain by the name of Pysirjaa. He strongly beliefs that: there is no past life there is no opaptika satta there is no resultant from kusala (good action) and akusala (bad action) He strongly upholds this belief which is known as Natthikavda. At that time Ashin Kumara Kassapa was residing in the Yindike forest, north of Setabya town in the Kawsala State. He was very wise, knowledgeable and able to give novel and unusu al talks. Furthermore, he was very well known as an aged Arahat throughout Setab ya town. One day the chieftain Pysirjaa went to pay respect to Ashin Kumara Kassapa in order t hat he can ask about Natthikavda that he beliefs in. The monk explained to him by giving (14) examples as mentioned in Mahvagga Pi, Payasi Sutta in order for him to discard his old beliefs. The monk explained about Sarana Barika which happens to be the last of the (14) examples. Since the chieftain was strongly attached to Natthika beliefs. Two friends were discussing to go to a certain village with the hope of getting something for trading. They arrived at an old village and found some jute on a h illock. They decided to gather them and made into jute bales so that each of the

m can carry back. At a certain place on their way home, they found some cotton yarn. One of them s aid, let us packed these cotton yard and carries them instead of the jute bale. The other friend said he had packed the jute bale and carried for a long distanc e already and is not interested to exchange with the cotton yarn. He told his fr iend to go ahead and exchange if he so desire to do so. Along the way, they saw some fabrics made out of woven yarn and the friend who was carrying the jute bal e decided not to exchange as he doesn t want to leave behind the jute bale. To c ut the story short, when they came across brass cups and pots, the one who was c arrying the fabrics exchanged again although the other continue to carry his jut e bale. When he saw the silver cups, he left behind his brass cups as silver is more valuable and lighter. Finally, he saw gold cups. Since he was an intelligen t person, he knew that gold is much more valuable than silver and decided to exc hange with gold even though it was tiresome for him to carry the silver wares th us far. The gold has more value even though the quantity may be less than silver . He thus became the owner of gold cups. As for the other friend, he continued carrying the jute bale since the start of the journey as he didn t want to part with it and upon arrival to his village, h is parents, the wife and children as well as the relatives didn t bother to look . The reason being that he is not an intelligent person. Views of kamma & wisdom Because of lack of wisdom, he didn t exchange with brass, or silver or gold as he was so attached to what he already had. He c onsidered that gold was of less quantity compared to what he possessed. This was how one looked from kamma view point. The one who exchanges with gold was becau se he saw it from the wisdom view point. For the one who based his view on kamma , he was happy with larger quantity that he possessed and refused to exchange wi th gold of lesser quantity. But the one with the wisdom think properly and reali zed that although what he possessed was of a larger amount, there was not much o f value and decided to exchange with gold and became rich when he got back to hi s village. For the one who lacked in wisdom, he only views it from kamma side an d kept up and maintained the tradition. This is the direct reference from Payasi Sutta, Mahvagga Pi, Dgha Nikya. Ashin Kumara Kassapa explained to the chieftain that he wasn t able to overcome the traditional belief, practice and the community similar to the one who carrie d the jute bale as mentioned in the example. The chieftain was very pleased and immediately became a Buddhist. Do not continue to carry the jute bale Thus, you need to have qualifications to be a Buddhist. How many of the meditators here are carrying the jute bale. If one cannot discard the traditional practice it is similar to the one who carrie d the jute bale. If one cannot discard what you have in seeing the gold, you are like the jute bale carrier. There are many types of traditional practice, those of the father and mother side traditions, where one respectfully worships by of fering lights etc. If one remembers that much for the Buddha, it will be very va luable. People sometimes do not even remember to offer food and flower to the Bu ddha. Even if they offer food, they left it in front of the Buddha the whole day . This is like carrying the jute bale. I have just explained about the difference between kamma and wisdom. Ordinary Bu ddhists are merely contended with kamma practice. The reason for the Buddha to a ttain enlightenment is not to be merely contended with kamma practice. You need to progress to achieve wisdom. If one is unable to do so and continue to be cont ended with kamma practice, then one will not become a true Buddhist.

You all are very fortunate to have the opportunity to know the teachings of the Buddha which is similar to the gold cups. Now that you see the gold cups, why do you wish to continue carrying the jute bale. It will be like trash in your hous e.

Practice of wisdom leads to Buddha s enlightenment Because of the cumulative results of p ast meritorious deeds, you are now able to come to know such Dhamma which is ava ilable only when Buddha appears. The practice of jhna existed even before the Bud dha attains enlightenment. Before he became a Buddha, he fulfilled the Dana para mi (perfection of charity) and Sila parami (moral perfection). Only when he beca me Prince Siddhattha, he practiced to gain super natural knowledge. He meditated under ra Klm and Udaka Rmaputta and reached the fourth jhna. Both ra and Udaka als ed the fourth jhna and was reborn as formless Brahmas. Formless Brahmas have nama khanda only without the physical body and therefore cannot listen Dhamma. Thus, when Buddha attained enlightenment he wanted to pay back his gratitude to both of them who taught him the practice of jhna by giving the first sermon, but came to know that both of them had passed away. Both of them were reborn as formless Brahmas and therefore missed the opportunity to listen to Buddha s first sermon. Observing sila and performing dana are kamma practice. the practice of samatha (concentration meditation) leads to jhna. Both practices existed before the enlig htenment of the Buddha. However, the practice of vipassan is that of wisdom. One can get it only when Bud dha appears. Thus, when one indulges in the practice of wisdom it is the same as if the Buddha is still there. Wisdom can totally get rid of kilesa (defilements) whereas sila and Samadhi assi sted in achieving wisdom The practice of sila eradicates Vtikkama kilesa (transgressing defilements) only and not other kilesa.) The practice of Samadhi eradicates Pariyuthna kilesa (arousing defilements.) The practice of Wisdom eradicates Anusaya kilesa (existing defilements.) If one can get rid of it then one is free from all kilesa. Value varies according to circumstance Now that we have illustrated the examples of the jute bale and the gold, vipassan is similar to gold cups. This doesn t mean that practicing dana, sila and samatha are not valuable. They have their own values. Jute, brass and gold all have values of their own. By performing dana, which is the act of giving, eradicates lobha (greed) akusala. By observing sila, one can eradicates those transgressing kilesa. By practicing Samadhi (samatha) one achi eves tranquility and thus eradicates the arousing kilesa. Thus, they are indeed valuable in their respective situation. However, if the meditators are merely co ntended with dana, sila, and samatha which are kamma and jhna practice and do not proceed to vipassan practice, you have lost the opportunity. Three types of knowledge In the practice of wisdom there are three types of kn owledge. 1. Saa knowledge Knowing the theory (pariyatti) or the way the children knows . One knows that gold is yellow, shining and beautiful, but does not know the value. 2. Via knowledge Knowledge gain by the practice (patipatti), or the way the mother knows. They know the value of it. However, they don t know the quality of gold, how many

carrats etc. It is the knowledge one possess from practicin g vipassan and 3. before attaining Magga-na. Pa knowledge Pativeda na. It is penetrating wisdom. It eradicates all the wrong beliefs.

Since there are three types of knowledge, only Pativeda na can eradicate the kiles a. To have kilesa draught, only the vipassan storm can blow away the avij (wrong b eliefs) rain clouds. * When the akusala seeds are showered with Dihi (wrong belief) rain it will resul t in Apya khanda plant. * If the seeds of kamma kusala gets kamma thna rain, it will result in kamma kha nda plant. * If the seeds of Rpa and Arpa gets Rpa and Arpa rain, it will result in Rpa and Arpa khanda plants. The cause of the plant sprouting from the seed is due to rain. Similarly, thna an d dihi are the causes for the akusala and kusala seeds to sprout into plants. Ther efore if avijj (moha) rain clouds are present in the beings it will definitely ra in. Only when the light of vipassan na shines, the darkness of moha will disappear. To eradicate avijj one needs to have vipassan samadihi, i.e. to see with right view . When the cosmos chemist and scientist based their findings with what they see th rough the naked eyes, it may not necessarily be correct. They need to depend on magnifying glasses and their eyes. However, one cannot achieve vipassan na or magga na with the use of magnifying glasses. So long as one is seeing the physical aspe ct of Mg Phyu or Ma Ni, beings, gold, silver and other things, the meditator wil l not be able to eradicate the avijj within. Vipassan can eradicate akusala by tadanga pahna or vikkhabhana pahna and magga kusa la can eradicate by samuccheda pahna. Thus, let us talk about samatha and vipassa n separately. Samatha leads to Jhna Vipassan achieves Wisdom Remember that one achieve jhna by practicing s amatha. I have already explained the forty types of samatha meditation to achiev e jhna. Out of those forty one can chose either one or to or three types dependin g on one s own inherent nature. Vipassan practice is led by wisdom. Kamma and jhna lead the samatha practice. They are different. Vipassan practice is through wisdom. whether you are eating or walking you are do ing with wisdom. By the practice of vipassan one will gain wisdom. Samatha observes conventional truth Vipassan observes ultimate truth Samatha meditation observes the conventional tru th whereas vipassan observes the ultimate truth. Thus, one needs to carry out the preliminary requisites before doing vipassan meditation. The physical body is ca lled Ruppatiti rupa, because of its changing characteristic. Stenpi ruppati changes because of coldness, Uheppi ruppati changes because of heat. One needs to wear wa rm clothing during cold weather. If not one gets running nose or start to cough which shows how changes take place in the body. Thus one needs to take cold medi cation or rub some balm to take care of the changing body. Similarly, if one is exposed to sun, one starts to sweat because of heat. If one takes a shower to co ol down then one gets fever. This is how changes are taking place in the body. H ardness, softness is the characteristics of Pathavi (earth element), the element

of cohesion with the characteristics of cohesiveness and fluidity is Apo (water element) etc., are the rpa paramatha followed by nma paramatha were taught in gen eral and not in detail. these are part of Abhidhamma and therefore it is highly technical and requires time to teach properly. I will now touch upon this in gen eral. Paramattha and Paatti As per Ledi Sayadaw s verse, citta, cetasika, rpa and nibbn a are the four paramatha. They are: 1. citta (consciousness) 2. cetasika (mental factors or mental concomitants) 3. rpa (matter having the characteristic of change of state) 4. nibbna (cessation of sufferings) Since you are hearing what you haven t heard before, you have already benefited from this. Three Levels of Truth The (3) levels of truths are: 1. 2. 3. Sammuti-sacca Paramattha-sacca Ariya-sacca

Sammuti-sacca is conventional truth. The reason for calling conventional truth a s sacca is because of telling lies (musavad). In the Paramattha sense there is no such thing as water buffalo or cow. However, for convenience we have named them as water buffalo and cow. It is indeed correct to call as water buffalo as it d oesn t amount to telling lies. Thus, conventional truth is called sammuti-sacca. Paramattha-sacca (ultimate truth) is something that really exists. As stated abo ve there are four of them viz., citta, cetasika, rpa and nibbna. Thus, paramattha is something that really exist whereas sammuti is labeling things or objects for convenience. Thus, old Sayadaws have said "Sammuti is something that does not exist whereas P aramattha is something that really exist." That is a definite way to know the di fference. Those afraid of Conventional Truth As per old Sayadaw s saying mentioned above, Paramatth a is something that really exists, whereas conventional truth is mere labeling t hings. Ordinary people are having trouble with conventional truths, thinking tha t they do exist and thus afraid of some auspicious days are dependable. These ar e mere labeling of the days by the fortune teller or astrologers. If one eats pa lm sugar on a so called bad day, the palm sugar will still have the sweet taste. If one performs meritorious deeds, definitely there will be good resultant. The re is no such thing as it doesn t bear good resultant because of the so called b ad day of the week. One need not be afraid of the so called bad day and instead should be afraid of akusala (doing immoral things). If one eats chili on the so called bad day, it will still be hot and if one chooses to eat on the so called auspicious day it will be the same. Even if one does immoral things on the so ca lled auspicious day of the week, it will still bear bad results. One won t have good resultant because of doing it on the so called auspicious day. Ordinary people have accepted these traditional beliefs and think that conventio nal truth do exist and are afraid of it. Different types of Conventional Truths There are two kinds of conventional truths. They are Atta paatti and Sadha paatti. Out of these two there are six different kinds of Atta paatti based on Abhidhamma.

1. Jti paatti (men, women are conventional truth for people.) Human, celestial beings and animals are conventional truth for different being is known as Jti paatti. 2. Sana paatti (conventional truth of from) All the natural masses such as earth, mount ain is under this category. 3. Samha paatti All those life less objects such as house, horse cart, bullock cart are under this category. 4. Diskla paatti East, west etc., indicating the directions and m orning, night indicating the time period is under this category. 5. Aksa paatti The spaces between physical cells are under this ca tegory. 6. Nimitta paatti Elucidation of masses such as Parikamma nimitta, ka thaing nimitta are under this category. These are the six category of Atta paatti. I am trying to explain the differences because samatha observe the conventional truths and vipassan observe the ultimate truth. Similarly Sadha paatti has six categories. 1. Vijjmna paatti Names of the ultimate truths. 2. Avijjmna paatti There is no characteristic of ultimate truth and thus it is conventional truth. 3. Vijjmnena avijjmna paatti There is ultimate truth and there isn t. Mixed a nd conventional truth. 4. Avijjmnena vijjmna paatti There isn t ultimate truth and there is. Mixed c onventional truth. 5. Vijjmnena vijjmna paatti Conventional truth consisting of two mixed ultima te truths. 6. Avijjmnena avijjmna paatti Conventional truth consisting of those two which are not included in the ultimate truth. I will explain to you in general as it is impossible to dealt in detail. Otherwi se I will have to explain till the sunrises. I have left out Ariya-sacca when I was explaining the three levels of sacca. Dukkha sacca, Sammuti sacca, Nirodha sacca, Magga sacca are Ariya sacca. When Bu ddha attained enlightenment, the real happiness that he enjoyed is known as Niro

dha sacca, the middle path that he practiced to achieve this is known as Magga s acca, the world is Dukkha sacca and the cause of it, craving is known as Sammuti sacca. This Ariya sacca is what Buddha discovered. Basics of Vipassan When one practice vipassan meditation it is neces sary to know about mind and matter in general theoretically. It is also necessar y to know the cause of it as well. In this world there is no person, living crea ture, you, I, Men, women, etc. There is only sankhra dhamma and it is the result of the law of cause and effect. It is not because of Ahetuka belief whereby the accepted norm is things happens without any cause. Also, it doesn t happen becau se of Visamahetuka i.e. incorrect cause. Thus our benefactor Mogok Sayadaw menti oned in his Dhamma talk the importance to know Pticcasanuppda and the main cause of Nma Rpa (mind and body) before practicing vipassan meditation. In order to know and remember easily he has composed a verse starting with "Two main factors and four sacca" etc. If one knows the nature of mind and body and the cause of it, that person is kno wn as Sla Sotpanna or Kalyna Puthujana. If a person reached the stage of Sla Sotpanna , one has benefited from the Buddha Sasana. One will not be reborn in hell and i s assured of being born in three pleasant planes of existences (sugati) and thus known as Niyatagati. This is really beneficial for the yogi. Know the difference pain and body When we do vipassan meditation we make use of th e body. As per the teacher s instruction you sit with your legs parallel to one another, placing your right hand over your left palm with eyes and mouth closed, observing the in-breath and out-breath. The main purpose of observing the in-breath and out-breath is to get Samadhi (co ncentration). As one observes the in-breath and out-breath, together with sati, you will have pa known as sampajaa and this is not vipassan pa yet. It is more like hi pa . So long as one doesn t experience the characteristics of anicca, dukkha, an d anatt, one hasn t reached the vipassan pa yet. As one observes the out-breath as out-breath and in-breath as in-breath, mind wi ll wander around. Be aware of the wandering mind. If one is aware of the differe nt object of meditation with sati, you are practicing meditation. Do not force t o bring back the wandering mind but continue to observe the original object of m editation, which is the out-breath and in-breath. If one keeps the mind on the t ip of the nostril, one will experience and progress on the following Dhamma. 1. saddh 2. vriya 3. khanti 4. sati 5. Pa When one is observing the out-breath and the in-breath while breathing, there is only Paramattha, i.e. mind and khanda (body) and one needs to clearly understan d this. As one breathes, one may feel the warmness in the head, the legs and hand. If yo u feel warmness on the head, observe the head; if you feel aching sensation in t he legs observe it; if you feel cold sensation on the body observe it; if your h ands are itchy, observe the itchy sensation on your hands; if there is tingling sensation on your face, observe it. Merely observe all these sensations with the ir respective names and is known as Nma paatti. Head, waist, leg, hand, are all nma paatti. However, when one is doing vipassan meditation one is not to observe the he ad or the waist but the khanda. This is important.

When there is pain in the waist one needs to know that waist and pain are two se parate entities. One needs to be aware of the pain sensation instead of the wais t. Knowing the nature of the pain sensation in this way is called knowing the ul timate truth without the conventional truth. Sometimes it is alright to mention out of necessity. When one is experiencing ac hing pain in the waist as if a wedge has been inserted, one should observe the sensation or khanda and not on the waist which is the conventional truth. The st iffness is the pathavi (earth element) dhtu and instead of the waist one will be observing the earth element. When one has pain in the leg, tingling sensation on the hand etc., and observes the body instead of the sensation it is not sampajaa. This is because sati (concen tration) is not strong yet, and the meditator should continue practicing npna Whatever natural phenomena happens of the place such as the head, the s known as Assamoha sampajaa and r if one realizes the existence of on the body one should observe those instead body etc. Observing those natural phenomena i is the correct way. After observing in that manne mind and matter it becomes vipassan na.

Then one understands that waist is conventional truth, the stiffness and stress sensations are paramttha (ultimate truth). When a yogi was asked about the medit ation, the answer was that the head was very warm. Head is nothing else but the conventional truth and the warm sensation is the element of fire. If one has col d sensations on the type of the fingers and toes, the fingers and toes are conve ntional truth whereas the cold sensation is the element of fire, it is the physi cal ultimate truth. It is essential to observe the warm and cold sensations and understand rpa (body). Rpa is paramattha whereas head, waist, leg and hand are con ventional truths. Eye is paatti (conventional truth) and the four dhtu (elements) are paramattha dham ma. Thus, one needs to observe the four elements instead of the eye. These four elements are rpa khanda which is paramattha. One needs to observe the paramattha when doing vipassan meditation. Similarly, ear is paatti whereas the four dhtu are paramattha; Nose is paatti whereas the four dhtu are paramattha; Tounge is paatti whereas the four dhtu are paramattha; Body is paatti whereas the four dhtu are paramattha; Mind is name. However, it exist in hadaya-vatthu (physical base that exist in th e blood of the heart.) Thus, although mind is the nma paatti, the place where it ex ists is hadaya-vatthu, which is rpa paramattha. Thus, in practicing vipassan one needs to observe paramattha dhamma. Although I h ave already explained what paramattha is I wish to repeat so tat you will rememb er properly. There are 89 citta and when elaborated there are 121. There are 52 cetasika, 28 for rpa, and lastly nibbna. These four are the paramattha dhamma group. Thus, you have to observe the parama ttha dhamma when practicing vipassan and paatti for samatha meditation. Being mindful of a single meditation object is Samatha Being mindful of more dis tinct meditation object is vipassan Since being mindful of a single object of medita tion is samatha, noting the awareness of the touch sensation of the in-breath an d out-breath, is not the case as one is observing two meditation objects. To be

continuously aware of the touch sensation resulting from the in-breath and out-b reath is viapassan meditation. However, if one is not aware of the touch sensatio n and instead only on the incoming-breath and outgoing-breath, then one is pract icing samatha meditation. Only when one becomes aware of the touch sensation (ph usana), sati(concentration) becomes stronger and benefits the vipassan meditation practice. Noting "in" and "out" is merely paati. What goes in is the in-breath an d what goes out is the out-breath and you are only being aware of single object of meditation which is air. The awareness of touch sensation is not included and thus it is samatha meditation practice. Since samatha meditation is to be aware of on a single meditation object, even t hough one may be meditating for the whole hour and observe only on the in-breath and out-breath, then one is practicing samatha meditation. It is very important to note this as some may say that they are doing vipassan meditation although th ey are practicing samatha meditation. Practice to overcome vedan When one has a concentrated mind, one will not be even aware of sensations like pain, tingling, aching etc., as mind is fixed in one pl ace. During that period the meditator can experience an unbearable sensation suc h as a strong pressure on the chest, piercing the flesh with a sharp knife, like insects crawling all over etc. If one is not aware of those sensations and stop meditating, all of them disappear. However if one is able to meditate with a co ncentrated mind, the sensations appear once again. Those types of sensations are not to be afraid of as they occur not because of d isease and are not extraordinary type but ordinary normal type of sensations. Ho wever, one is able to experience these form of sensations only with a concentrat ed mind resulting from proper meditation. With a concentrated mind one can be aw are of those far away or those of very tiny, almost invisible consciousness. Thu s, if one experienced such type of sensations it is important to meditate with a strong concentration to overcome it. If one stops without meditating, these type of sensations will come back wheneve r one has strong concentration. One should not give up but meditate with plenty of effort and all the sensations will disappear totally forever, enjoying real p eace and tranquility. Cheating yourself When you experience extreme sensations such as pain, tingling, aching etc., they cannot bear them. However, since the teacher instructed them not to change the meditation posture in order for them to realiz e Dukkha Vedan (suffering sensation), they try to continue meditating without cha nging the posture. However, even though they try not to move the body, the mind doesn t stay in one place. When there is pain at the knee, or at the thigh, or a t the waist, one cannot stand the pain any more. At that time one changed the attention to the tip of the nose, noting the in-bre ath and the out-breath. As one continues to be aware of the in-breath and out-br eath, the pain doesn t goes away. Actually one should continue to be aware of th e pain sensation instead of going back to the in-breath and out-breath. Although one is suppose to be practicing vipassan, it is now back to practicing samatha m editation. As one breathes slowly, the pain still exists and breathes heavily. T he heavy breathing creates noise and instead of being attentive on the pain, the mind is fixed on the nostril. Buddha explained about Anatt, but the meditator ma kes it as Att. Instead of being aware of the pain at the place where it occurs, t he meditator brought it back to where it wanted. This is merely cheating yoursel f. You need to be careful about this. I am trying to correct the right way to me ditate both vipassan and samatha.

A meditator was suffering from an extreme pain in a particular place, but as he was determined to continue meditating for an hour, he changed his attention to a nother place. This is not the correct way to meditate. One should continue to be fully aware of the pain where it occurs until it subsides. If the pain still exists, one should try and be patient by not changing the post ure. Buddha teaches you to experience Annat and Anicca. Anicca is nothing but Duk kha Dhamma. Yadanniccam tam dukkham. Anicca means impermanence. This impermanence is nothing but suffering which is Dukkha. One does not have any control over it but to mer ely observe the natural characteristics of it without trying to change. It is no t necessary to change. However, if one cannot bear the pain any more, one can ch ange the posture slowly. When changing, one should first take note of the mind t hat wanted to change, and then to be aware of every aspect of the changing proce ss. Don t lose your meditation object As one maintained the awareness of the mind that wanted to change as well as the whole changing process, the pain subsided. If any kind of unbearable pain occurs on the body, observe the pain with a conce ntrated mind and eventually the pain will subside. However, if the pain still ex ists, change to npna meditation, ensuring not to lose the object of meditation. Thus, when one practices vipassan in depth it is very subtle. Being aware of the natural characteristics as it is, is the magga practice. When one experience pain, aching, stiffness and try to bear it patiently at firs t. When it becomes unbearable and changed the posture, all the dukkha dhamma, d ukkha vedan and anicca dhamma disappeared. Thus, there is no object of meditation any more and lost the benefit. To explain how one lost the benefit, vijj is having the right knowledge, avijj is not knowing the true nature of things. Not knowing the dukkha sacca is avijj. Kno wing the dukkha sacca is vijj. When one meditate for one hour without changing th e posture, one will experience dukkha. All the sufferings of pain and aches are unbearable dukkha. Mahn-Le Sayadaw composed a verse: Being unbearable is Dukkha sacca; being intolerable is also Dukkha sacca. To know the truth about Dukkha s acca is vijj na. Impermanence is the Dhamma that exist When one knows because of a sense object, that Dh amma will safe him. Avijj will result in being tortured. If one thinks a friend a s an enemy it is like suffering twice. Actually, one needs to depend on vijj na whi ch sees the truth, just like a friend. Avijj is the real enemy. When one experien ce pain, aching, stiffness and try to bear it patiently, one will experience tha t these dukkha vedadn are impermanent. Experiencing impermanence is not something that doesn t exist. It is experiencing something that really exists. It is mere ly revealing its natural characteristic. All one needs to do is observe the impe rmanence nature of it. This covers the five magga practice. When one realizes th e truth based on the five magga, then one achieved the vijj na. Thus, samatha is to fix your attention on one meditation object. Being aware of the in- breath and out-breath for an hour continuously, it is samatha practice. Don t miss the opportunity Vipassan is to observe what is distinct. Then what is observing that is distinct? This is important as we are beginning the pr actice. We have to do the preliminary requisites such as offering the body to th e Buddha and sharing the meritorious deeds. Then we establish the concentration by observing the in-breath and out-breath. Then instruction was given by the Say

adaw to observe for about 20 to 30 minutes. During that time one will experience that the body doesn t stay still for even a second and is always changing. When one doesn t observe properly, one will never have such kind of experience. Ignoring all the external objects, one needs to concentrate and observe one s ow n body and only then will experience the continuous changing nature. In practici ng vipassan, one needs to be aware of what is distinct. As the eyes are closed, o ne cannot have eye-consciousness. Since one cannot close the ears, one will expe rience the ear consciousness. As for the body as soon as one sits, "Kyaca paticca phoabbaca uppajjati kya viam" because it touches the floor below one experience the body consciousness. As the body touches repeatedly with the floor, because of the changing nature, one wil l experience heat, cold, pain, aching and stiffness. Then one needs to observe t hose distinct sensations. I should like to remind the vipassan meditators not to have anxiety, nor be in a hurry or in a flurry but instead, should be constantly aware of the meditation object. The reason being as one meditates one will observe that the whole body i s changing just like the sesame seeds popping up in the pot. When a pot full of sesame seeds are heated it will start popping up all over sim ilar to a meditator experiencing the nma and rpa happening within the body natural ly. When one is able to observe the body with wisdom, making use of the samha paatt i, one will experience similar sensations in different parts of the body like th e legs, thigh, waist, and knee. One may experience throbbing sensation on the he ad, stiffness in the waist, warmness on the calves, aching in the knee and many other type of sensations. One will definitely come across one sensation or the o ther. At that time the meditator will have a lot of anxiety. Thus the reason to remind not to have anxiety, nor be in a hurry or in a flurry. Out of those many sensat ions, just observe the most distinct sensation. As an example, when there is pa in in the knee, observe that sensation. As one is observing on this area, sensat ions will appear in other parts of the body. Then the meditator will not know wh at to observe. As I have told you in the morning, we have; Satipatthn Satipatthna bhvan End of Satipatthna bhvan

These are the three types. One needs to continuously observe without interruptio n. When one is experiencing stiffness, pain and aching all at the same time, obs erve the pain sensation first. In observing one should not associate with you, I , beings, men, women, but instead understand as the pain of nma and rpa. This expl anation is based on ta pari (full understanding or comprehension of the known). Then one fully understands that it is not I or you or beings that is suffering the pa in but only the nma and rpa. To be able to know and experience nma and rpa as nma and rpa is vijj na. It is not vipassan na yet. Then one realized and experienced that the pain from one place differs from that of the other and that is Satipatthna bhvan. That is vipassan na. If one is too anxious during that time, one won t know which one to observe. Thu s, decide upon the nearest sensation and observe continuously. Whether the rest of the sensation disappear or not is not your concern. If one i s observing the pain in the knee and if it disappeared then move on to another a rea. If not continue observing the pain in the knee. If the pain in other area i s more distinct then observe that. This is the vipassan meditation practice metho

d and the rule to follow. If however, the meditator is anxious, he won t know w hat to observe. In order not to get lost with the meditation object, observing t he distinct meditation object is the practice of vipassan. Four big snakes When you are to observe the most distinct meditati on object, you are to start with the one that is nearest to you. As you start me ditating and observe yourself you will experience distinct things. Basically th ere are four essential elements in matter. They are always changing continuously . Stenpi ruppati uhenpi ruppati It changes due to cold or due to heat. These are the nearest changes that are ta king place. Knowing those changes is nma. The changes taking place is in rpa. The nature of nma is anicca, the process of changing is also anicca. Thus if one car efully observe the nature of changing, one will become aware that it is all the time impermanent. When a person dies, it is the death of these four elements. In the Asvisopama Sutta the four elements are described as four big snakes. These f our snakes are not in the zoo nor in the basket of the snake charmer, but it is inside your own body. Thus you need to understand that those who are capable of killing you by biting are within your body. Earth, water, heat and wind element The nature of earth element is hardness, stiffnes s and you have seen death due to it. Water element has the characteristic of flu idity and cohesiveness. You have come across people dying because of excessive d ischarging of urine and frequent bowel motion. There are deaths due to excessive heat element. There are new diseases in the world which are related to heat ele ment like HIV, AIDs and TB etc. They are the result of excessive heat or cold wh ich is the heat element. Thus, having these four elements within your body, deat h will not be caused by others but by one of these four elements. Don t think that you are enjoying live freely but instead living together with t he enemy. In other words you have caught these four big snakes and taking good c are of them. One should have the sense of apprehension in realizing the dangers when observing the body in a proper manner. The four elements are like the big f our snakes. If the earth element is in excess one will die just like being bitte n by the earth element snake. One will face death if there is excessive fire ele ment. Similarly with having excessive water and wind elements. In the present da y you will find people who die because of stroke or high blood pressure. These a re some examples of death due to having excessive wind element. Thus, may I ask as to who is going to kill you now. It is just like asking you t o see your own death. Thus, vipassan meditation teaches you the meditation course I mentioned that We are carrying out a serious practice he art of dying. We are doing the most eings. Must find the enemy When you become aware of the changing nat ure of the elements while you are meditating, you will realize that they are the one who will kill you. You are searching the killer. As you meditate, you will be aware of the changing nature again and again, then you should be careful abou t it. You should decide that they are the one who is going to kill you. Now you know who is the enemy and who is your friend. Before you meditate you were not v ery clear as to which one it is. As soon as you meditate you will realize that o ne of the four elements will kill you. to observe your own death. At the start of you do not come here as a picnic outing. on life and death. You have been taught t important thing in this world for human b

Having realized that you will be facing one of the four elements, element of mot ion generally lead for the female and thus they should take care of it. No two p ersons are alike and this is in general terms only. For the male, element of hea t and cold mostly leads the group. Because of "Avijj paccaya sankhra, sankhra pacca ya vina" , the kamma resultant differs, and so also with that of the leader for the four elements. For the male, since the element of heat and cold leads the four element, the wind element rises above. Because of this, male are faster and mor e alert compared to female. However, for the female since the wind element is th e group leader, they are more delicate and refined. Just compare the skin and yo u will see the difference between male and female. This is because of the domina nce of heat element in male and wind element in female. Therefore, it is necessa ry to understand the male and female dhatu element. Since wind element is the group leader for the female, when they meditate they w ill be more aware of the behaviors pertaining to wind element. However, it may o r may not happen in that manner. For the male, since heat element is the group leader, they should be more aware of the movements when they meditate. If one ke eps on observing them one is bound to see the changing nature of these elements. If one doesn t have the opportunity to listen to such Dhamma talk, the male and female skin will appear to be the same although they are not. Only when one obs erves through na (wisdom), one will realize that the skin within one square inch i s not the same. Some may say that they are the same even though they are not. The way the body i s established is not the same. For that reason, male are faster and female are s lower. This is because of having different elements as group leaders. If the mal e and female are to race, the male will win. Don t try out here, but you may do so when you get back to your house. Since you have different elements as group leaders, one will not find, male, fem ale, person or beings when meditating and instead will be observing these four p rimary elements. Dhatu elements are all physical matter. viz. element of hardnes s and softness, element of cohesion, element of motion and element of heat and c old. If you become aware of these four primary elements, observe them more caref ully. It is not necessary to be aware of all the four elements. You will find th e group leader element. Then you will come to know that this is going to be your killer. This is your real enemy. Be victorious When you meditate you will come to know the enemy that will kill you as well as, whose your friend from whom you can get help. Knowing whos e the enemy that will kill you, meditate on that particular primary element. In plain language, you have to act first before the enemy can do any thing to you. If you are late then you will have to take the consequences. Don t let it go out of your sight. This should be easy for you to understand. Only when you act fir st you will be victorious. Otherwise you will have to suffer. I would like to ur ge the meditators not to give up, but to be victorious. Budhha and the arahats achieved victory and thus exclaimed "jitam me conquered" and attained nibbna. For ordinary persons, they gave up and die whether they are reborn either in the human plane, the deva plane or the brahma plane. They also go to hell as well. However, the meditators are very fortunate today and instead of giving up will achieve victory. To be victorious one needs to practice being that one is experiencing and who will be the meditating for a day or for two days or for ome the conqueror. As you continue with your torious. To give as an example it is similar aware of the primary enemy element killer. It is necessary to continue a month or for a year until you bec meditation practice you will be vic to a football match. In order to be

come a selected player you need to practice a lot by joining camps and being tra ined by good coaches. Those who practice with good coaches win games in football matches. Similarly, those who have been trained by coaches using wrong method will lose. For those who keep up with their meditation practice, it is similar to those foo tball players who have the ability to kick the ball into the goal. One is necess ary to be aware of seeing things, dressing clothes, hearing, eating or any type of action. Having awareness is the meditation practice. The meditators need to h ave awareness when walking or sitting or eating or dressing and that is how one practice meditation. Even when one is lying down one needs to have awareness. T his is how a meditator practices to compete in a race. You will be competing wit h the death. One will eventually have to face death and will be at its mercy. If one doesn t keep up with the practice, the four primary elements will succeed i n killing. One needs to practice in order to overpower them. Otherwise, one will have to suffer because of having diseases. If one is not accustomed to the magg a practice, one will have anger because of suffering. Because of having anger th e gati nimitta one will have is hell by having visions of a black dog pulling or the burning fires. Upon death, that person will go to hell since he wasn t able to overpower the enemies. The four primary elements that one is experiencing are the enemies, and had been compared with four big snakes as an example. Being a meditator, upon experienci ng the heat sensation, one becomes aware of the impermanence nature of it. Simil arly, when one experiences the cold sensation the impermanence nature of it is n oted. As one practices and repeatedly note the changing nature as anicca, anicca , one will achieve victory. If one is being able to overpower it because of practicing meditation, the situa tion will not change when one faces death. Being able to overpower it at all tim es, one will be always victorious. Based on this example, the meditators who ha ve maintained the practice will be able to overcome suffering when nearing death . It will be similar to the situations where "no matter how big the waves may be , it will still be under the boat" and also "though the mountain may be huge it will still be lying under the feet". In the same manner, the impermanence natur e of the four elements is suddenly experienced through the wisdom and one is abl e to face smilingly. Thus, in vipassan meditation one is to observe and be aware of the distinct medit ation object. Take note of this fact as we more things to talk about. Bringing back the wandering mind to the meditation object is samatha Being mindful of the distinct meditation object if vipassan. I will now explain about these two. The meaning of bringing back the wandering m ind to the meditation object is that observing the in-breath and out-breath is s amatha. The meditation teacher explains that the mind is like a calf, running ar ound here and there. The calf is then tied to a post like the tip of the nostril . Whenever the mind wanders one needs to bring back to the nostril. When the min d is not fixed on the meditation object, it becomes a wandering mind. This is th e samatha practice. As for the vipassan meditation, one need not bring back the wandering mind. Just observe and be aware of it. Bringing back the wandering mind is samatha meditati on and vipassan is merely observing with awareness. For example, the mind thinks about something outside. Since one is meditating wi th the eyes closed and in control of other senses, one doesn t have eye-consciou sness. Thus, one does not have defilements arising from seeing. "As one cannot see, there is no arising of defilements at all." Take note of thi s. Similarly, if one doesn t hear, there is no arising of defilements. This is o

ne part of it. When one has eye, one can see. When one has ear, one can hear. Although there is no arising of defilements through the eyes as they were closed, because of the wandering mind, it starts to think about those that have been seen before or tho se that have been heard before. Even while you are meditating now for an hour, how many times have your mind been back to your home? Just ask yourself. Then y ou continue thinking; tomorrow is the New Year, what time will I be going back, will need to ask them to come and pick up with the car, will they be able to com e and pick up, all these thoughts are happening immediately. Then you realized t hat you will need to go and inform Sayadaw to go back as people are already info rming him. That is how your mind wanders back to your home. I am not trying to complain abo ut it as it is a natural phenomena. In ordinary circumstances, it is alright. Bu t when it happens while you are meditating, although other people may not know a bout your wandering mind, you need to bring it back to the meditation object. If you are an office worker, the mind may wander back to the office; if you are wo rking for a company, it may wander back to the company; if you are a trader, it may wander back to the trading business. It doesn t stop there. For those with f amily, the mind wanders back to the house, start looking around the house, and i f there is something to worry, then one starts to worry; if one needs to scold, then one starts scolding; if one needs to shout, then one starts shouting; if on e needs to tidy up things, then one tidy them up; then cook, eat and take a nap. All these were happening in the wandering mind and in a happy mood. Suddenly on e realized that one is meditating and decided to start the meditation by observi ng the in-breath and the out-breath. These are some of the weaknesses of the med itators. The characteristic of vipassan meditation is awareness. When the mind starts to w ander, one loses the object of meditation and immediately starts noting the in-b reath and out-breath. Then it either loses it or not being aware of it and durin g that period there is no aching or pain sensations. The mind continued to wande r as before and was like a dream. By the time one realized, it may have been ten minutes or half an hour later. Suddenly one was startled for the loss of the me ditation object and begins noting the in-breath and out-breath. Then it becomes samatha meditation. Although one is practicing vipassan meditation, it changes back to samatha practi ce. Since vipassan is like a gold cup and samatha is like a jute bale, it is like shouldering the jute bale again and again. Thus, it is a great pity since it is like exchanging the gold cup with the jute bale. One doesn t benefit from ownin g the gold cup as it was exchanged with the jute bale. Similar to this example, vipassan meditators should just observe with awareness. However, most of the medi tators in Myanmar, when they loss the meditation object, goes back to their orig inal meditation object instead of observing with awareness when the mind wanders . This is what has been happening, and very natural to happen and should not let it happen. I am trying to correct it. Be aware of the life supporting mind I have taught you the proper way to medi tate. In a way it can be said that I have checked your meditation practice. Then , what shall we observe when meditating. I have given you the paper for you to refer as I don t have time to teach today. It is about practicing cittnupassna. In cittnupassna method there are five visitors from outside and six visitors from inside with two hosts. Leave aside about the visitors and let us talk about the hosts. The two mind of the hosts are also kn own as life supporting mind. The mind that wish to exhale.

The mind that wish to inhale. Although one may be talking or giving a sermon, these two kinds of mind exist. D o not get mix up these two kinds of mind with that of the awareness of in-breath and out-breath. This is very important. When one is being instructed to be awa re of the mind that wishes to exhale and inhale, it is to observe the mind. Howe ver, being aware of the in-breath and out-breath is to observe the body. Kyaca paticca phoabbaca uppajjati kya viam What we are talking is about the mind that wishes to exhale and inhale. Based on Abhidhamma, the physical base (vathu) of consciousness is "hadaya-vatthu" which is like a cupped hand full with veins (or is commonly known as heart). Based on the hadaya-vatthu, the mind consciousness that wishes to exhale and inhale occu rs. Do not take note of the in-breath and out-breath any more. Just be aware of the mind consciousness that wishes to exhale and inhale. Mind is more distinct than matter As you observe, be aware of the mind consciousness. I n vipassan mind consciousness is more distinct than matter. You might not readily accept this immediately. When one says that matter is more distinct, it is more of a general statement. Whether the mind is more distinct or not one can test i n out. It is not necessary to meditate but just to test it. Try to inhale and se e whether you can stay without exhaling. You cannot stay without doing it. The mind that desires to exhale become so obvious that you are aware of it and as it arises, it dissolves. Based on what Sayadawgyi had said, being aware of the a rising and dissolution is vipassan a.

Thus, the reason to say that the mind that desire to exhale is very distinct. No w that you cannot hold the breath any more, you exhale it. Again, the mind that desires to inhale become very obvious and you cannot stay without inhaling. Obse rve it with awareness. The desire to inhale as well as the arising and dissoluti on of that mind continuously. In terms of vipassan, it is arising and dissolving. The mind that desire to inhale arises and then dissolves. Being aware of it is vipassan a. One can observe that a now or at any time. These are the mind of the two h sts; the mind that desire to exhale and inhale. Wish to see you carrying the gold pot Many meditators are doing the wrong way here. Instead of observing and being aware of the mind that desire to exhale and inhale, they fi xed their mind on the touch of the in-breath and out-breath and thus it is like shouldering the jute bale again. No matter how one loses the object of meditation, the primary vipassan a meditation object should be the mind that desire to inhale and exhale. Then it amounts to carrying the gold pot continuously. Thus, if one meditates the incorrect method it is like shouldering the jute bale and meditating the proper method is like ca rrying the gold pot. I will explain another point to show the difference between samatha and vipassan. Samatha calms down the kiles (for a while only) Vipassan eradicates kiles. Samatha merely calms down the kiles. It will reappear again. Since it merely calm s down there is no assurance. Vipassan has assurance. If one achieves vipassan a one will have assurance for this life. What then are the benefits? There will be no moaning, but with full of sati, knowing the hour and day, there is no twitching of eyelids, it won t be stiff and no foul smell, when one dies,

and these are the benefits of vipassan. Let us join a course To have assurance for your own life one needs to set asid e the community work. If one continues to keep on working for the wife, daughter and son, there won t be any assurance when one dies. Since one will have assura nce until one achieves vipassan a, one needs to set aside the community works and do your own work by joining a course. Give preference to cittnupassan In paticcasamuppda there are six kinds of medita tion objects, meaning six different places to observe. These six places are sayata na (6 bases of mental activity). As you can see from the diagram they are: eye base ear base nose base tongue base body base mind base These are the six places that one can practice vipassan meditation. Just observe and be aware of all the happenings through all those six senses. There is no nee d to look around in other places. One needs to observe within one s own body. D on t go around observing in the Dhamma hall or in the book but within the frame work of your body. I hope that you now know where to observe. When I mentioned to observe within the frame work of your body, I am trying to g eneralize it. Specifically speaking there are six places to observe. I have alre ady explained generally about these six places in khanda paticcasamuppda. You nee d to judge with your own wisdom as you practice. Paticcasamuppda is not easily un derstandable as it is complicated with deep meanings. It is because "Gambira Dur anubawd". You should feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to know and prac tice this vast and complicated paticcasamuppda in order to be free from sasra (roun d of birth). Please understand that you have very good prami and kamma. The reason why I have been telling this repeatedly is because you might lose you r sati and then lose this valuable opportunity, which is not easily available an d obtained only by putting in a lot of effort. It will be a great loss if you mi ss this opportunity due to negligible thing. Because of this I have been stressi ng the importance of it repeatedly. As a token of gratitude I wish to explain ab out the meditation object and the wisdom with which to observe. In explaining about the meditation object in vipassan meditation, the aim is to g et rid of dihi first. In teaching about the meditation objects our Sayadaw explain s that dihi generally occurs in the mind. Thus the reason to choose the practice o f cittnupassna out of the four methods from the Satipatthna Sutta (The four foundat ion of Mindfulness). The four kinds of Satipatthna Dhamma are: Contemplation of the body is kynupassna satipatthna Contemplation of Feeling is vedannupassna satipatthna Contemplation of Consciousness is cittnupassna satipatt hna Contemplation of the Mind-objects is dhammnupassna sati patthna In theory there are four kinds of anupassna. They are: Kynupassna Vedannupassna Cittnupassna

Dhammnupassna Thus, kynupassna means contemplation of the body. Heat sensation is rpa dhamma. Thus , when one observes heat, then one is observing the body. Similarly, when one ob serves cold, then one is observing the body. Same with observing the movements a s well as the pain as one is observing the body. This is the practice of Kynupassna satipatthna. Contemplation of Feelings is Vedannupassna satipatthna. Feeling the pain of various degree, feeling the cold due to wind, and the heat sensation. These are sukha v edana and dukkha vedan. One feels pleasant when the cold wind blows while it is w arm. When the desire to have coolness arises during the warm period, one will e xperience very pleasant feelings as soon as the cool air passes through. Whatever may be one is experiencing the sensations. Observing those sensations i s known as Vedannupassna. I have already explained about the consciousness. When one sees, eye consciousne ss occurs; when one hears, ear consciousness occurs; when one smells, nose consc iousness occurs; when one taste, tongue consciousness occurs; when one touches, body consciousness occurs; the mind thinks and plans. These are six kinds of con sciousness. These are the six kinds of meditation objects. Selecting and observi ng them is known as Cittnupassna.

Thus, out of the four anupassna, we have covered kynupassna, vedannupassna and cittnup ssna. Dhammnupassna is contemplating the nature, its characteristics. Our Sayadaw said t hat it is like observing sacca. Nature is sacca. When you observe the ear consci ousness, it is the practice of cittnupassna. When you observe the heat sensation, it is the practice of vedannupassna. However, all these practices are linked toget her. Whatever you observe, whether it be vedan or the consciousness, there is not hing permanent. It always arises and dissolves. This is dukkha sacca. Thus, hear ing also arises and dissolves, smelling also arises and dissolves, eating also a rises and dissolves, every thing arises and dissolves. One will be experiencing like that all the time. In terms of sacca, this is dukkha. This is the main head ing for it. Under this main heading we have sub-headings. If one experiences con sciousness, it also arises and dissolves and thus is dukkha sacca. If one experi ences vedan, it also arises and dissolves and thus is dukkha sacca. If one experi ences heat, it also arises and dissolves. All these are dukkha sacca. Those who possess wisdom or have less dihi observe in that manner. Hearing is also dukkha sa cca, smelling is also dukkha sacca, eating is also dukkha sacca, dressing is als o dukkha sacca, whatever you do it is dukkha. Whatever you do is dukkha, however you move also is dukkha and thus blinking als o is dukkha. If one realizes dukkha sacca as dukkha sacca, one will not be attac hed any more. The example I wish to give is the one that was taught by my teache r. The example is about a child without knowledge and a wise grown up person. Since the child is still crawling around he doesn t know anything. Assuming that a hu ge dangerous viper snake with white stripes was in front of the child. The child thought that it is a toy and was not afraid of the snake at all. He was feeling very happy to have it in front of him. Since he doesn t know anything he though t it as a toy instead of being afraid he even wanted to pull and bite it. If tha t snake was in front of you all who are like my relatives and parents, you won t even dare to touch it. As for me I won t even dare to look it, forget about tou ching. The reason that we dare not touch is because we are afraid of the snake. We know that the snake is dangerous and if it bites we will die. We are afraid o

f the dukkha of dying. Death is dukkha sacca. Because we are afraid of this duk kha sacca we dare not touch the snake. Forget about touching, we even dare not l ook at the snake. We don t want to see it, we don t want to hear about it, we al so dare not touch it. Is this because we don t know any thing or because of the knowledge we have. This is because of our knowledge, we already know ahead the d anger we will have to face. This is just explaining by giving an example. But the essential nature of it is to observe one s own body. The arising and dissolution is dukkha sacca. If one r ealizes dukkha sacca, one dare not hear the voice, look at or touch it similar t o the snake. As if that snake was crawling in front of you. One is facing it bec ause there is no choice, and being afraid one trembles and started to sweat. Say supposing that you have no choice but need to touch it due to certain circumsta nces. You dare not touch it with full courage. As an example, you have been thre atened with an order that you will be killed if you do not touch with a sword pi nned against you from the back. At that time you have no choice and will have to hold it in spite of being afraid. To reflect this example as a subject of compa rison with your own life, the body you know possess is vipka vatta (the round of results) dukkha sacca. The nma and rpa resulting from seeing, hearing is the prese nt moment dukkha sacca, arising and dissolving. Thus, vipka vatta dukkha sacca is one kind and present moment paticcasamuppda dukkha sacca is another kind. Whatever one is observing, all are dukkha sacca. I f one observes the body it is dukkha sacca. Observing seeing, hearing, smelling, eating etc., with wisdom and realizing dukkha sacca as dukkha sacca, will you d are to look at it again. Even if you dare not look at it, since your eyes are op en you will see it. Yet, you dare not look and touch it. This is known as nibbid na , disliking wisdom. If one realizes dukkha sacca as dukkha sacca, one dare not l ook or touch it. Since you all haven t realized this way you all liked it and attached to it. Thi s is just pertaining to your own body. What I meant to say is that one can obser ve anything from the four anupassna and as long as if one realizes dukkha sacca a s dukkha sacca, it encompasses all the four. However it is not advisable to prac tice that way thinking it is good and appropriate. If it is not suitable for you , wisdom will not be realized. One needs to have less kiles and sharp wisdom to o bserve sacca. The wisdom of those born after 2500 years of the passing away of the Buddha is not that sharp any more and thus it will be the same for my yogis as well. One will be able to assess your own wisdom. Although the meditation met hod is correct but due to lack of wisdom, one will not be successful. Since our Sayadaw excel both in pariyatti as well as patipatti, he understood this problem very well and thus advice the meditators to practice cittnupassna. He didn t beat around the bush and suggested to meditate cittnupassna only. This is because he was aware of the condition of the meditators. So don t think any more and just f ollow Sayadaw s advice by practicing cittnupassna. If one observes citt, vedan is al ready included. It is Sahajta (compatible). It is patthna connection. If you obser ve vedan, citt is also included. Citt does not happen by itself. It happens togethe r with the body. Citta-ja rpa (mind-produced corporeality) appears because of cit t. They are Aamaa paccaya, Sahajta-paccaya. You all are reciting the patthna desan, this is happening to you. Aamaa paccaya means mutuality condition. Rpa benefits from rpa and citt benefits from citt. You will not be free from inner danger merely by reciting. It will work for the external dangers. By reciting Sahajta-paccaya you will be free from external danger. It means that it arises together and dissolves together. To experience the arising and dissolu tion of the rpa and nma, one needs to observe within one s own body. As one experi ences the arising and dissolution phenomena, then one will be able to experience the patthna khandha of co-arising and co-dissolution. To be able to get connecte d with one another in that manner, our Sayadaw urged to meditate cittnupassna. Whe n he advice to meditate cittnupassna he taught about the meditation object. This i

s necessary to teach this. Using the word cittnupassna, it sounded more of a theor y. Sayadaw studied the Pi thoroughly and used the Mynamar words by pointing out th e respective Pi. He ensured that the correct meaning is properly preserved in usin g the appropriate Myanmar language. In teaching cittnupassna, he made used of the Myanmar word "guest". In vipassan meditation practice there is no such word as "guest". In the forty ty pes of samatha meditation also this word doesn t exist. It doesn t exist in any book or any literary works. However, our benefactor Sayadaw made use this as a m etaphor in teaching his disciples. In life, if there is guest, there will be the house owner. The guest is not the house owner and the house owner is not the gu est. By using the word guest, every Myanmar understands the meaning of it. Gues t come and visit when they have some reason for it and went back after the job i s done. Sayadaw even differentiate the word guest into two types by mentioning o ne as inner guest and the other as external guest. As an example, external guest are not very close and may come and visit once a m onth or once a week. It is not that frequent. Inner guest are like family member s, they may come any time, eat together and may sleep also. However, they do not stay there permanently. Since I have explained about the inner guest and external guest in plain Myanmar language, you have understood it. Thus, it is impossible to pay back the debt o f gratitude to our great teacher who had chosen easily understandable words to e xplain the difficult Dhamma. I will now teach cittnupassna. In teaching cittnupassna I will talk about: 1. 2. 3. external guest inner guest house owner

The terms that will be used are like visiting the house, leaving the house, goin g, coming, talking, conversing, and seeking advice. There are five external guests: 1. eye consciousness where does the eye consciousness occurs, it is at the eye 2. ear consciousness where does the ear consciousness occurs, it is at the ear 3. nose consciousness where does the nose consciousness occurs, it is at the nose 4. tongue consciousness where does it occurs, it is at the tongue 5. body consciousness it occurs on the body Now that I have explained where the consciousness occurs, you know where it is. I have already taught that every time a consciousness takes place, you have five khanda. As an example let us talk about the tongue taste. As one touches the sp oon, the body consciousness occurs and that is also five khanda. You then put th e spoon into your mouth and the consciousness of putting takes place and that is also five khanda. Thus, every time one has consciousness, five khanda takes pla ce also. Then, if you chew once, five khanda are there; if you chew twice, again five khanda are there. Then after the first chewing, the five khanda dissolved, and was replaced for the second time and was dissolved again, and was replaced for the third time and was dissolved. For every mouthful one needs to chew many times. Thus, every time one chews there occur the five khanda. Don t calculate l ike arithmetic. If you calculate arithmetically, there will be five khanda after the first chewing, 10 after the second, 15 after the third and so on. Here, it

is not that way. When one is chewing for the second time, the first five khanda is no more there. Similarly, when chewing for the third time, the second khanda is no more there. Since it keeps on dissolving, one cannot think like arithmetic . In vipassan, once it arises, it just dissolves and it happens in that manner al l the time. In arithmetic one will get an answer when solving a question but it might not be practical to apply. For example, if a person will take 15 minutes to dig a ho le measuring 6" wide by 1" deep, it should take only one minute for 5 people to dig. This is arithmetically. However, it will not be possible for 5 people to di g 6" wide hole simultaneously. This is the difference between the practical appl ication and arithmetical calculation. Here, you are not supposed to multiply the five khanda with the number of times that you chew. When one is chewing for the second time the first five khanda is no more there. This is just a general overall experience. In practicing vipassa n, one will not get established in Dhamma with that type of experience. Talking a bout it is much slower as one need to experience much more rapidly. This might be like telling you in advance. At first you may not be able to note very rapidly. One will be able to note once as one chews. Then note again for th e second time as one chews another time. Thus, I am reminding every day to keep on noting for every mouthful of your food. Don t miss noting, do it more rapidly and note till you swallow it. I won t tell you how many times you need to keep on noting. This is satipatthna. Today you continue to practice yourself. We will be having a special course. During that course I will check individually. Start ing from today try and note carefully and in detail from the time you put the fo od into your mouth, chewing it and then swallow down. Try and memorize starting from the time you hold the spoon, the number of times you chew and swallow it. I am instructing forcefully to keep noting properly in order to improve your sati . There is no such thing as having excessive sati. Keep on noting every step of your consciousness starting from the time you hold it, when bringing towards you, placing the rice in the hands, when stirring it, chewing, and swallowing. You should not miss noting every step of the conscious ness. Some of the yogis reported that they do note when eating like "I have fini shed eating one plate, two plates, three plates." What they have been reporting is not wrong but not noting in detail and not fast enough. They are not noting e very mouthful of the food but instead by the number of plates. It won t be easy for those Dhamma servers feeding this type of yogi. This is just trying to expla in the importance of noting systematically with regards to eating consciousness at the time of eating. Let us continue with the awareness of consciousness. I haven t explained the meaning of the awareness of consciousness and thus I wil l elaborate further. You won t know what consciousness I am talking about. For e xample, when one dresses you will have the dressing consciousness. Say supposing a very soft, smooth, and tender cloth is placed on the body. When experiencing the softness and smoothness take note of it. If one missed noting it the proces s of "vedan paccaya tah" takes place. While dressing tah is already taking place. Tah is nothing but lobha (g reed). Once tah takes place, based on paticcasamuppda, it developed to updna (clingin g). Once updna is developed it progressed to kamma. Kamma (action) is with regard to dressing the cloth. Thus kamma occurred because of tah, It belongs to lobha category. Because of lobha, kamma occurred, the meaning bein g that one likes the cloth and wear it In normal language it will be said that I wear it since I liked the cloth, illustrating the occurrence of tah, updna and kamm a. In terms of sacca, one is wearing the cloth with samudaya-sacca. It is in num ber 3 grid. When the cloth was placed on the body and feeling the softness and s moothness is vedan. The cloth touching the body is phassa. Having the enjoyment f

rom liking the cloth is vedan. Having attachment on the cloth is tah. To be obsesse d with the cloth is updna. Wearing it is kamma-bhava. Kamma-bhava paccaya jti. Thus , every time one is dressing it is like looking towards ghost realm (hell). Not knowing how to dress When one dress with lobha one will be rebo rn in ghost realm (Peta-jti). Being the case it is necessary to teach how to dres s up also. The way the parents taught the children how to dress is wear the top and bottom matching so as to look good. Dress up that way. After dressing they l ook this way and that way and feel happy about it. This is the natural behavior of ordinary lay persons. For the parents also they feel satisfied when the child ren are dressed properly. There are no parents who do not wish to see their chil dren look beautiful and healthy. The children also tried to dress up themselves to be elegant and beautiful. I am not trying to tell all these because I am not satisfied or jealous about it. I am very happy to see my disciples being beautif ul and wealthy. That is not that important. However, looking from paticcasamuppda point of view, kamma paccaya jti. Because of such kamma, you will be reborn in t he ghost realm (Peta-jti). Thus, if one doesn t know how to dress up one will be reborn as a ghost. If one look from the point of awareness of consciousness, one will be reborn as ghost (Peta) because of not knowing how to dress up. If one really thinks about it, one dresses up because one has them and thus what is the necessity to care about others. It is correct. You don t need to care ab out others. However, looking from paticcasamuppda point of view, even if one dres ses up because one has them, you still will be reborn in the ghost realm. One sh ould be really afraid of. You all should be careful when going shopping. As you walk by the shops you looked around. You see clothes when you pass by the clothi ng section, and when you pass by the goldsmith shops you see gold and silver jew elry. Then you found something to your liking, the design you wish to have and w anted to buy. However, the price wasn t right and pretended to walk away. Becaus e of the urge by updna, you are worried that someone might buy the one you that li ke and you won t get it. This is how paticcasamuppda is continuously happening wi thin you. Eventually updna overpowered you and bought it quickly at the price that was quoted earlier. Once you bought it is the act of kamma. The beginning of it starts from the eye. You saw it and ended buying. This is eye paticcasamuppda. Being "Kamma bava pacc aya jti", the eye also can send you to hell. This is how yogi can get to hell.

Once you get back to your house, you stitch the dress and wear it. After you hav e stitched it you wear the dress. Because of "Kyaca phoabba uppajjati kya viam" onc dress up, the touch is phassa, enjoying the soft tenderness of the cloth is ved an, being attached to the dress is tah, being obsessed to the dress is updna. Since y ou like it and being so obsessed with it you wear the dress. Otherwise you won t even wear the dress and instead discard it. You are wearing it since you like i t as it is valuable and something to boast about. Since you wear a dress in that manner, and because "Kamma bava paccaya jti", you will be reborn in the ghost realm. Then you were proud of being able to wear suc h a dress and this mna is nothing but in the same category as dosa and will lead to hell. So, just imagine that because you went shopping, see the number of time s you will be visiting hell. You have already accumulated many tickets. This hap pens because you do not practice satipahna. What I am teaching now is cittnupassna. I am not commenting about the way you do shopping, eating and drinking not becaus e I cannot stand it. I am just worried about you going to hell. If you behave in this manner, your path is directly heading towards it. It is nothing else but t he path to hell. Therefore, when you see things, the way to observe in order not to go to hell is to observe the eye consciousness. when you hear, observe the ear consciousnes s,

when you eat, observe the eating consciousn ess, when you dress up, observe the consciousnes s of dressing, when you sit, observe the consciousness of sitting, For example, when one sits on a sofa, because it is soft and comfortable one lik es it. Then one sits on the floor and because it is hard one feels the pain. Whe n there is pain, one doesn t like it and falls into dosa category and in terms o f vedan, it is domanassa vedan. It is "vedan paccaya tah." Then followed by updna and amma. As "kamma paccaya jti", when dosa arises because you do not like, the resul tant kamma will lead to nothing else but hell. This is very important for yogis and in order to avoid it you now know who the five external guests are. From the eye the seeing consciousness arises From the ear the hearing consciousness arises From the nose the smelling consciousness arises From the tongue the taste consciousness arises Body is where the consciousness arises. The consciousne ss of touch, the consciousness of heat, the consciousness of cold. I have taugh t you to understand those under the heading of "awareness of consciousness." Whe n you go into detail, you have the consciousness of cold during cold time, consc iousness of smooth and soft when it is smooth and soft, consciousness of hardnes s when it is hard. For example, when one goes to bed, one comes into contact wit h the mattress and the bed and the respective consciousness arises. Observe that consciousness. Before going to bed I have to remind you not to talk, not to wan der about visiting the house, the monastery and other places. Keep the mind with in the frame work of your body and observe the touching consciousness that arise s with the mat or the mattress. As soon as you touch, the touch consciousness arises. You need to observe it. Th en you put on the blanket, and observe the consciousness arising out of it. Once every thing settles down, be aware of the in-breath and the out-breath. If you change from left side to right side, observe it. Just be aware of the con sciousness arising at that moment. This is the way to observe the external guest s. They are the five external guests. Now let us move on, otherwise we will have no time. Six inner guests Next we have (6) inner guests. Lobha consciousness Dosa consciousness Moha consciousness These are (3) akusala consciousness and they are quite clear. Lobha will lead yo u to the realm of ghost. Thus, are we going to accept the consciousness that wil l lead to the realm of ghost or observe it. The answer is that you need to obser ve it by not accepting. You cannot make friends with enemies as you won t benefi t from them. Thus, lobha is the enemy. When you want to have it whenever you see , that is lobha. I have just explained that lobha, dosa and moha are the akusala consciousness and they are the inner guests. Thus, they are quite close and fri endly with every one. When one sees, lobha arises When one hears, lobha arises When one smells, lobha arises When one eats, lobha arises When one dresses, lobha arises It is connected to all. As for the eye consciousness, when one hears, it is not connected. It is not at all connected with any one. It is all by itself. As for the lobha, it is connected with all. When one sees, it arises. It arises in ever y situation and circumstances. Similarly, Dosa consciousness also arises in the

same manner. When When When When When one one one one one is is is is is not not not not not satisfied satisfied satisfied satisfied satisfied in seeing, dosa arises in hearing, dosa arises in smelling, dosa arises in eating, dosa arises dressing or sleeping, dosa ari

ses When one dies with lobha, it leads to the realm of ghost. When one dies with do sa, it leads to hell. Thus, yogis should practice vipassan when seeing, hearing, eating, dressing and touching. If you are not aware of it, it will lead to hell . Moha is avijj dhamma. Based on paticcasamuppda, Moha is also avijj. In Abhidhamma it is called moha but in Sutta it is used as avijj. They are all the same. Thus , when one dies with avijj, one will be reborn in the realm of animal. In Abhidha mma, moha is present when lobha arises. So also when dosa arises. It is known as "Sabbkusala sdhrana cetasika." It is responsible for all akusala consciousness. Lo bha arises for not knowing the ultimate reality of the sense object. Same with d osa. As an example, a flower existed resulting from its own natural phenomena. One do es not need to like it or dislike it. It is basically composed of the four great essentials. Due to moha one is unable to see the ultimate reality of it and exp eriences the beauty. Then lobha arises. If one dislikes, it is dosa. If one is a ble to see the ultimate reality, then lobha and dosa won t arise. Thus, moha is the inability to see the ultimate reality. Whenever one sees and unable to be a ware of the ultimate reality, moha arises. There is a proverb "If one has no awa reness, one will not even see a cave; However, if awareness is present, one can even see the minute particle." If one is walking and lack awareness, one will no t even notice who went by. But, if one is full of awareness, one will know who w ent by. If one knocks against a huge body, it is because of lack of awareness. B ut, one will be able to see very small things with full awareness. When one stum bles or trip it is due to lack of awareness. If one was able to see, it won t ha ppen. The reason why one is unable to see is because of not being attentive. Thu s, not being able to see things that really exist is moha. Thus, If one does not know when one sees. it is moha If one does not know when one hears, it is moha If one does not knows when one smells, it is moh a If one does not know when one dresses, it is moh a Thus, when moha arises, you will be reborn as an animal. In order not to be rebo rn as an animal, whenever one sees and is not mindful, then it is seeing with mo ha; whenever one hears and is not mindful of, then it is hearing with moha; when one doesn t know, it is moha. Thus, if one sees, hears, eats, dresses and do ev erything with moha, one will definitely be reborn in the animal realm. You are l ike walking along the rim of a frying pan (hell). If you are off balance you wil l fall into the frying pan. During that situation you meet with good teachers an d they urged and assisted you not to fall into the frying pan. It will not even permit to be a bit off balance as one will fall down as soon as it happens. I am not trying to exaggerate with these words. It is the normal course of action. J ust look; if one is not mindful when seeing, lobha arises. If one dislike, dosa arises. If one is not mindful, then moha arises. Since one or the other is happe ning it is none other than the frying pan. Lobha will lead you to the realm of g host. Dosa will lead to hell. Moha will lead you to the realm of animal. Nothing can safe you from it. Being not occupied - is wasting one s life Out of the six sense objects and six doors, the eye, ear, nose, tongue and body, these five are always active. Since they c ome in contact, will it be possible for lobha, dosa and moha not to arise. Consc iousness is always there. If one is not mindful of what exist, moha will arise.

Thus, being not occupied, is wasting one s life and amounts to living against th e doctrine. Being the case, if one says that one is free today, then one will be against the doctrine. Then one will be heading for hell. One should be aware of one s own path. If one is not occupied and then dies, one will be in hell. The path that one will take is very straight forward. If the path is a good one, tha t is not a problem. However, if it is a bad, one should try to avoid it. I have mentioned those that need to be avoided and they are lobha consciousness, dosa c onsciousness and moha consciousness. The others are: alobha consciousness adosa consciousness amoha consciousness Based on the Patthna Desan, it will be said as amoha consciousness. Here, it is e xtremely important in the interpretation of it. The reason being there are six h etu (causes): lobha hetu dosa hetu moha hetu alobha hetu adosa hetu amoha hetu Here I am teaching about the meditation object in citnupassna. Citnupassna is the me ditation object. If one summarizes the Tipitaka, you have: 1. meditation object 2. knowledge of mindfulness Five Magga is the knowledge of mundfulness. Five khanda is the meditation object . For the five khanda meditation objects, every time one hears, there are five k handa; when one smells there are five khanda; when one sees there are five khand a; when one dresses there are five khanda; when one eats there are five khanda; when lobha arises there are five khanda; when dosa arises there are five khanda; when there is moha there are five khanda; these are all meditation objects. Lobha means wanting it or wish to possess it or own it. Alobha is to give away o r not wanting it. Having the consciousness to perform charity or giving away is Alobha citta. Now that you are here at the meditation center, you wish to perfo rm charity, construct a pagoda, donate a monastery, wishing to do this and that, or the wish to offer food, all these consciousness are kusala citta. They are n ot akusala citta. The traditional Buddhists have already been trained to have su ch form of consciousness because they were taught about kamma. If one performs g ood actions, the resultant will be good. Similarly, if one performs bad actions, the resultant will be bad. I am now explaining this part. However, it is still far away from Nibbna, but get ting closer comparatively. Compared to those who are not meditating, you are get ting closer. It will be of great help to achieve Nibbna. It is "Idam me puam nibbnas sa paccayo hot". However, it is still far away. There are about four more stages to go. One needs to open four more covers. One will have to open five covers to achieve Nibbna. The first cover I will open up is;

Thus, it is necessary to be aware of all those consciousness that arises with sa ti (mindfulness) and viriya (effort). If one is not mindful and therefore is not occupied, then it is wasting one s life. People who are not mindful are not occ upied. If one says that one is not occupied and there is nothing to do, then tha t person is against the doctrine. If he is against the doctrine he will go to h ell when he dies. Simply because one is not occupied one is merely wasting one s life. Thus, for yogis, is there such a time when you are not occupied. You sho uld practice continuously without any free time, and without rest. I hope that y ou understand the meaning now. If you are free and resting then you are living a gainst the doctrine.

Thus, the first cover to open is kammakatha samm-ditthi. This is what the traditi onal Buddhists already possess or belief in. This alone will not prevent from dy ing. I am not saying that it is not good. I am merely saying that one will still die. Then, shall we discard this kamma or perform with wisdom. The answer is to perform with wisdom. When the consciousness to perform dana arises as the medit ation object, practice vipassan meditation. The consciousness to give charity, to give away, to distribute may arise, then perform charity, give and distribute. When practicing vipassan such consciousness may arise, having full of saddh (faith ). They are nothing else but kusala citta, kamma citta. I don t mean to say that kamma citta is of no value. As an example, both the gold and brass pots have si milar colour. Sometimes, the brass pot is even brighter than the gold. For those who do not know gold, when they see the brass and told them that it is gold, th ey readily accepted it. Since he hasn t seen the gold previously, he accepted t he brass as gold. Once he sees the gold, he knows the difference between gold a nd brass, the difference in values, that gold price is much more than the brass, he then decided to take gold instead of brass. This is merely an example. Thus, kamma is like brass and knowledge is like gold. I would like to ask the yo gis which one they wish to have, gold or brass. If you wish to have gold don t b e contended with brass. Change the brass with gold and you will become rich. Sim ilar to this example, when the alobha citta arises due to your wish to perform d ana, make use of your mindfulness wisdom and the kamma will not bear any resulta nt. In Pali, it is "kamma bhava nirodha, jti nirodho", and thus when kamma ceased to exist, it doesn t result in jti at all. This is similar to getting the gold p ot. The benefit of not having jti anymore is because of the use of mindfulness wisdom . Jti is the resultant of kamma, and once you get jti, jar and maraa follows. Jar and maraa mean getting old and sick and then dies. Yogis don t want these and wish t o be free from them. Then you need to practice not to get jti. In order not to ha ve jti, whenever kamma arises, make use of the mindfulness wisdom. Thus, whenever your consciousness to perform charity or giving away arises, you need to meditate. Make use of the (5) magga a. Once you make use of the mindfulness wisdom, all the kusala will become the type of kusala that will not result in jt i. This is because of kusala a. Here I wish to remind all of you in a very intimate manner like my parents. If I explain to you without clearly defining the differ ence between kamma and a, then you will be commenting that I am discarding dana. So me people accused that Mogok is teaching to discard dana. Mogok is not advising to discard dana but instead explaining the virtues of it. The dana performed by yogis is not free from death. I am teaching you so as to be free from death. Thus, in teaching how to meditate so as to be free from death, upon achieving th is type of a, you can offer together with your body. Let me try and explain a bit f aster. Whenever the consciousness to give, distribute, perform charity arises, t hen make use of the mindfulness wisdom. Adosa means the consciousness that arises when one is radiating loving kindness (metta bhvan). The practice of metta is included in the forty types of meditation advised by the Buddha. Metta practice is samatha. Being samatha it is nejbhi sankhra . nejbhi sankhra paccaya brahm vina. Dukkha is still there. Because of this isn t it d. Is it because something good is still left or is it because it is not the end of it. Therefore, make use of the mindfulness wisdom to empty all the good thin gs. Thus, whenever the consciousness to radiate metta (adosa) arises, make use o f the mindfulness wisdom. That is not amoha citta. If thought mind is amoha citta it is vijj. Amoha is vijj. Avijj is sammuti-sacca. Vijj is magga-sacca. Here, if it is amoha, it will becom e vijj citta. What I am teaching now is not the wisdom of mindfulness but about t he meditation object. That is why we should revere Mogok Sayadaw s a. " Hey, here t

his is the thought mind. Earlier there is no thought mind included. Look here, t his is additional." Here, we have only the awareness of consciousness (citta). N ow that we mention the thought mind, it is the thinking mind. Manaca paicca dhamme ca uppajjati mano via means that we are putting the mano via citta here. This is our daw s a. So yogis, are there any things that you don t understand what I have taugh t so far? If you understand, let us proceed as I have insufficient time and I wo n t be able to cover all. Only the house owner is left Thus, we have five external guests and six inner guests. They being guests, they only come when there is a need to do so. If the y have done with their business they left the house. So, only the house owner wi ll be left behind. The consciousness to inhale and the consciousness to exhale a re the house owner. When the guests left only the owner of the house will be lef t behind. The consciousness to inhale and exhale arises depending on the hadayavatthu (heart as physical base of mental life). It is not happening here. Here y ou are only aware of the in-breath and out-breath. What you have been instructed to be aware of is the consciousness to inhale and exhale. This is according to our Sayadaw s method. I am not explaining any thing extra here. Thus, the consci ousness to inhale and exhale arises from the hadaya-vatthu. If you are meditatin g here in this manner and be able to eradicate lobha, dosa and moha, then you wi ll achieve vipassan a. If you continue to be aware of the thought mind such as alobh a and adosa and experience the dissolution then you also have achieved vipassan a. Being the case, if one continues to have awareness of the consciousness to inhal e and exhale, then one will continue to experience the dissolution. Then one nee ds to find this citta. If you wish to experience the consciousness that arises d epending on the hadaya-vatthu which resulted from inhaling and exhaling, then do not breathe in after you have exhaled. Then what consciousness will arises? The consciousness to inhale will then arises and should be aware of it. One cannot say that consciousness is here or there. However if you ask whether it is not th ere or whether you don t know, it is there and you also know it. This is in the field of a. After you have exhaled don t breathe in yet. Then the consciousness to breathe will arise. After that you breathe in and that stop breathing for a moment. What consciousne ss will arise. The consciousness to exhale will arise one after another. You wil l reach to a stage where you want to exhale and changes to a state where you can not hold your breath any more and being aware of those different consciousness. At first one will be aware of the consciousness that wants to exhale, leading to a state where one really wants to exhale it. Thus, the consciousness of not bei ng able to hold the breath any longer arises. These consciousness are arising on e after another, a new consciousness arises as soon as the first one get dissolv ed. Many consciousness arises and one is to be aware of all of them. However, I am trying to explain in order for you to test out only but not to hold your brea th or stay without breathing as part of your meditation practice. When you medit ate, just breathe normally. If you are able to be aware of the consciousness to inhale and exhale, then just observe them directly and you will notice that each and every consciousness is different. That consciousness is the house owner cit ta and therefore apart from the sleeping time and that of bhavanga (continuity o f sub-consciousness), it is always there. Thus, the consciousness to exhale and inhale is just like the house owner who has to be there and therefore is known a s the house owner citta. That is the vipassan meditation object. The things that I have just explained, 5+6+2 adds up to 13. These 13 are nothing else but meditation objects. They are the mediation objects in practicing satip ahn nupassna. Thus, we have 13 types of meditation objects and 5 magga are the mindf ulness wisdom. Although I have explained as 13 types of citta, whenever a citta arises we have 5 khanda. Then, 5 khanda are the meditation objects and 5 magga a re the mindfulness wisdom. Both the meditation objects and mindfulness wisdom ar

ises and dissolved and thus it is the duty of the yogi to meditate to achieve ma gga. Let us join a course

In order to have assurance for one s own life you, one needs to set aside the community works. If one still has to take care of one s o wn wife and children one will not get the assurance. Only when one achieves vipa ssan a, one will be assured of. To get this a it is necessary to set aside the communi y work and carry out one s own work by joining a meditation course. It is already six o clock and let us conclude this dhamma talk and radiate metta . Human, devas and brahma of this universe The true dhamma of the Buddha Having respect and practicing more May they all attain Nibbna Lobha, dosa, moha are abundant They are the three great fires May the Dhamma that will lead to Nibbna Be there always as long as the world exist Sadhu ! Sadhu ! Sadhu !

Translated by Tin Htoon