Ready For The Passing Of Conditioned Things | 14 Jul 2023

In order to understand suffering and be peaceful, we can use contemplation as a foundation.

When we go to sleep we reflect that today may be our last day. When we close our eyes we may not wake up the next day. But we also contemplate the goodness we have done and the merits we have made. We reflect on the virtues of the Buddha Dhamma Sangha as the object of our mind, creating joy and the mind is uplifted and radiant. In that state, the mind has no restlessness, no doubt, no greed, no anger, and no delusion. Rapture arises and brings tears to our eyes.

When we wake up we remind ourselves that we are still alive and we will continue to build goodness for another day.

Transcript

We know that we don't want suffering.

No one aspires to have suffering.

But that suffering comes from causes and conditions.

That is tanha,

Craving,

And upadana,

Attachment.

We want to meditate and get peaceful,

But the mind is all over the place.

There is restlessness and agitation of the mind there constantly.

So we need to use contemplation as a foundation.

We contemplate.

We think about merit.

Think about goodness.

And sometimes we can't remember it.

So we write it down and we read it out aloud.

We listen to it first.

We prepare ourselves like this.

This is a part of our preparedness kit.

It is our dhamma preparedness kit.

So when it's evening and we're going to go to sleep,

We think about goodness.

We reflect that today may be our last day.

When we close our eyes,

We may not wake up the next day.

We prepare ourselves.

We meditate.

We chant and make the mind uplifted.

We think of merit until we fall asleep.

That merit that we have done which has brought up joy in the mind.

We may have made merit with a big group of sangha monks,

A hundred monks coming together.

Or whatever merit we have made that has given us fullness and happiness of heart.

We reflect on that merit constantly.

By meditating and keeping the mind on the virtues of the Buddha,

Dhamma,

Sangha,

On giving as the object of our mind,

Then there is joy in the mind.

The mind is uplifted and radiant,

At ease and full in that merit.

And we are able to do this merit because of the Sama Sambuddha,

The perfectly self-awakened Buddha,

Who had built Barami,

Spiritual perfections,

And who had arisen in the world.

We think of the Barami of the Buddha that he had built.

When we think like this,

The mind is radiant.

It is also Bhutto,

A tiny Bhutto,

A Savaka Bhutto arising.

We have some radiance arise in the heart.

We feel it deeply.

There is fullness and joy in the mind arising.

We gather together and hear the sound of the chanting.

We feel fullness of heart in the current of the Dhamma.

The current of the Dhamma is the sound that we can receive.

The mind at that time has no restlessness,

No doubts,

No greed,

No anger,

No delusion.

There is the mental object of merit arising.

Rapture arising.

There are tears from our eyes.

Our body can feel like it's swaying.

The body is light.

The body can feel as if it is expanding,

Bigger,

Or shrinking.

Rapture arises.

There is goosebumps,

Hairs standing on end.

And if it's a lot,

Then the body feels like it's completely full and of emptiness.

We see that this is the good result of merit.

For some people,

When this merit arises,

It can arise for a long time.

It is goodness,

The skillfulness of the mind which has been brought to peace.

So we reflect on these objects of contemplation as an object for our mind in our training of samadhi,

Concentration.

Before we sleep,

We can think like this.

When we wake up,

We think we are still alive,

And so we will continue to build goodness for another day.

We try to maintain our mind in a good state for another day.

Throughout the day,

We think of goodness often.

This is contemplation.

It is so that our mind will be peaceful and still.

And when we sit meditation,

We can know the in-breath and out-breath.

With each in and out-breath,

We make the mind peaceful and still.

We rest our mind.

We make a resting place for our mind.

So we contemplate like this.

And when we are ready,

We can contemplate into impermanence,

Unsatisfactoriness,

And not-self.

Then when we experience suffering,

We will have wisdom arise,

And the suffering will lessen continuously,

In stages.

The suffering reduces gradually,

Bit by bit.

If the mind is not so restless,

Then we can give some of our time for the benefit of others.

But if we do too much work,

Or even help others too much,

It can make our minds in a mess.

So just do it to the right amount.

Give yourself the opportunity and time to be peaceful.

Give it importance.

All things are important,

But letting go is more important.

That we can't yet let go,

And that wisdom has not yet arisen,

It's because our mindfulness and samadhi is not firmly established.

So we need to train,

Train our minds.

Dhamma practitioners normally train,

And their minds are hot.

They train with a very hot mind.

They want to get results quickly,

Get peace quickly,

Get insight quickly.

They read the suttas and books and know it all.

It says to not have liking and disliking.

So they try to make it be like that,

But it becomes craving.

So we have to be careful.

Let the practice progress gradually.

We contemplate,

And the peacefulness and stillness arises,

Samadhi arises,

And we will see the dhamma that is amazing.

In the beginning though,

It won't yet arise.

We know everything,

But we can't do as it says.

But we still don't stop doing it.

It's like one who listens to the dhamma of Venerable Ajahn Chah.

And they say,

Ajahn Chah has talked on everything about the dhamma,

And it's all good.

But I can't do it.

Though we can't yet do it,

We try to do it first.

We patiently endure.

We train first.

We chant and meditate without missing it.

We don't skip over listening to dhamma.

We do it continuously.

Then the joyous mind arises.

We do it along with our samadhi practice.

And ultimately,

The mind is peaceful.

The rapture arises,

And we don't doubt anymore.

We know it now.

Sometimes the mind feels solid,

Like a stone,

Set there.

There is happiness,

It's blissful.

There is the feeling of inner happiness,

Piti,

Sukha.

It says the factors of samadhi are the initial application of mind,

Sustained application,

Rapture,

Happiness.

But if we don't train like this,

Then instead it's a happiness that is going to burn one up.

It can cause destruction.

It is hot.

If it's too much,

Then it's the greed which is hot.

Anger which is hot.

Delusion which is hot.

So we need to train our minds.

Let go of greed.

Let go of anger.

Let go of delusion.

If we can let go of the hot,

Then the mind is cool,

Which we call nibbana.

So we train,

Do the practice,

Be determined,

Have the faith in it.

We have got wealth,

And we make merit and dana,

Giving,

According to our means.

And if wisdom arises,

We will think that,

Hey,

Even if we have a lot of wealth,

Then what will we do with it?

Or if we have faith,

Then even if we don't have much wealth,

But the mind has great strength to give,

This is faith.

And we can't count it by the amount of money,

That this person gives a lot,

This person gives a little.

It's within the mind,

The mind that has a lot of faith.

Even having few material possessions,

But when they give,

They are full of heart,

Happy and joyous.

This is about merit.

In the beginning,

We are born,

And we have just me and mine.

We have happiness and suffering.

We don't see the noble truth of suffering.

Why is there suffering in the heart like this?

Suffering to the point,

We can't eat,

We can't sleep,

Distressed.

Oh,

We've seen the drawbacks of suffering.

Why is it suffering like this?

We haven't experienced it like this before.

But if we have been able to make the mind peaceful before,

Then we can reflect back to the samadhi that we have been able to do.

Having peace in the mind,

Rapture arising,

We've been able to do it before.

And when the body and mind is light,

The mind was full,

We remember it.

So now we have to redo it anew.

We sit meditation and train.

Before we saw the benefit in dhamma practice,

But we have thrown it aside for a long time.

We are in a mess from all the sense and mental experiences.

But when we see the drawbacks,

We see the suffering,

Then we come back to the practice anew.

We train and rapture arises,

Happiness arises.

We see the sabawa dhamma,

The true nature of reality.

And it's amazing.

The eye sees forms.

We see this every day.

We see it all as a self,

A me.

But one day we see all things gathering together.

The mind gathers together.

We see everything as being emptiness.

It's amazing.

We have heard about it and we have read about it.

The nine vipassana insights is like this and that.

Seeing arising and ceasing.

Seeing sankhara,

Conditioned phenomena,

As being something scary.

Having equanimity to sankharas.

Seeing sankharas as only ceasing.

Seeing sankhara as decaying,

Not anything beautiful.

We have read and understood it,

But we haven't seen it.

When we see it,

It goes deep in the heart,

This seeing of the dhamma.

So we are very fortunate,

Both the monks and laity,

Who are determined to cultivate,

To practice,

To train our minds to be able to be peaceful.

We have dana and sila,

Moral conduct,

As qualities that support us.

We build goodness and think of that goodness every day.

And these days,

We can listen to dhamma online.

There are online meditation retreats.

So we are determined and are interested to practice.

We are far away,

But it's like we are close by.

Objects are as if brought together.

We can connect with each other.

And before,

It was hard to listen to the dhamma.

Staying with Venerable Ajahn Chah,

And it would be a long time before we would listen to a dhamma talk.

It wasn't easy.

The recording and playback equipment was sparse.

These days,

Smart people can find them.

But for the many who aren't smart,

They'll go flowing with the world.

Because the things of the world have expanded a lot these days.

But those who are smart will find the path to learn dhamma,

To listen to dhamma,

To practice dhamma,

And to make their minds full and joyous.

They make merit.

Whatever is merit,

We try to do it.

Whatever is goodness,

We try to build it.

Give up the bad actions,

Cultivate merit,

And make the mind purified.

And we can notice our mind as being something natural.

Sometimes there are feelings of delight,

Bad feelings,

Feelings of fullness,

Feelings of joy.

It's all dhamma,

Mind objects.

Feeling belittled,

Grief,

Sadness,

Delight,

Joy,

Rapture,

Bliss.

Or there are the defilements.

There is greed,

Anger,

Delusion arising.

It is dhamma.

But we notice that there's nothing really staying there.

The dhamma,

Objects of the mind that arises.

It arises,

Stays,

And ceases.

Seeing like this,

That it is simply dhamma.

Simply the mind.

Simply feelings.

Simply a body.

There's circulation in the body and it changes.

It decays with each in and out breath.

This is the path for us to see the dhamma.

It is amazing.

It is simply dhamma.

The defilements are dhammas of the unskillful side.

Magha,

The noble eightfold path,

Are the dhammas of the skillful side.

There are the four satipatthanas,

Four iddhipadas,

Five indriyas,

Five balas,

Seven bhojangas,

The eightfold path.

Gathered together,

It is the bodhipakhya dhammas,

The requisites of enlightenment.

It is dhammas of the skillful side.

And it arises and ceases.

In the beginning,

We start with the body.

We follow watching our mind.

We look after our mind.

When we see the mind,

And we see greed coming up,

We then contemplate the body.

When we have delusion come up,

We contemplate the body.

When greed,

Anger,

Delusion arises,

We contemplate this body here.

We go down right to seeing the three characteristics of impermanence,

Unsatisfactoriness and not-self.

And this is wisdom.

So we train in patient endurance.

We practice and contemplate regularly and constantly,

Which is our meditation object.

It's our way and method.

Some can just use the internal repetition of bhutto,

Dhammo,

Sankho only.

But these days,

Mostly,

People's minds are restless and scattered,

And so need to use contemplation a lot to get peacefulness.

May you be determined so that you will see the dhamma.