The Fastest Way (To Peace)

The way to the end of suffering on the Noble Eightfold Path begins with the Right View. From there, thoughts, speech and action, mindfulness, and concentration will also be on the right path.

Venerable Ajahn Anan teaches us to understand the nature of our minds and train our minds. Without training, the mind sinks to lower states. He also teaches us to have loving kindness, not to blame others, bear ill will, or be vindictive. Even if it feels tedious, we continually make an effort in our practice. Whether we are feeling energetic or lazy, we practice—keep up our mindfulness—and refrain from being caught in pleasure and displeasure. The mind will develop samadhi, and wisdom will grow. This is the fastest path, the way to see the Dhamma.

Transcript

So it's the 5th of October,

2023.

So speaking about the building of goodness,

Cultivating merit and kusala,

Wholesomeness or skillfulness.

And so this merit,

It's happiness and kusala can say skillful or intelligence.

And so we have intelligence in the way that we create merit,

The way that we give rise to happiness.

And so all beings,

They wish for this.

No one wishes to experience suffering.

And the thing that we need for that,

Something to purify is views.

So to have right view,

And this is something that's very important.

Because if we have views that are correct,

Then we won't have wrong intentions.

We won't have the intention of cruelty,

The intention of ill-will,

The intention of sensual delight.

And if we have this intention of cruelty or to harm,

Then what that shows is that wrong view has arisen already.

So if it's right view,

This is what we call samma.

Samma is right or correct.

So sammaditthi is correct view,

Right view.

And this is a quality that appears within our hearts.

But if that quality is incorrect,

If it's wrong view,

Then this will flow into our intentions as well.

And then we'll have the intention to harm,

The intention of cruelty or ill-will,

The intention of delighting in sense objects that we like.

But these all become the causes for suffering to arise.

And if that intention is very strong,

Then that will come out through our body or through our speech,

And we won't have sila or virtue.

And then we'll be lacking in peace,

And there'll just be chaos.

And so this comes from these qualities being incorrect,

Not being right.

So when those aren't right,

Then our effort will be wrong,

Our samadhi won't be established,

And the mindfulness will be incorrect,

Won't be recollecting the right thing,

And then wisdom won't come up.

So we need to set our hearts on training and making these things correct.

But it's natural and normal for our minds,

The mind that still has delusion,

For these things to arise.

Even though no one wants for suffering,

And everyone wishes to be happy.

But this delusion,

Ignorance,

Darkness,

When this comes up and conditions the mind to be deluded,

Then wrong view appears.

And then this wrong intention comes up.

And then the actions that we do are wrong as well.

And we have wrong effort,

Wrong mindfulness.

And there's just agitation,

Chaos that comes up within our hearts.

And this creates chaos with the people around us as well.

And so if these things are incorrect,

Even though that just appears within the mind of an individual,

This ripples out towards the society and can ripple out throughout the whole country.

And that's how it is in this current world that we live in,

This world of media and news,

That a lot of damage can be caused by just one person.

So we need to be really careful and follow up on our own minds,

Watch them,

Observe them.

Because wrong view,

It can cause great damage,

Great destruction.

It can destroy the humanity of a person and pull their minds down into an animal state.

And then there can be a lot of damage that's done.

It can harm many people.

It can harm through our actions,

Cause harm through our speech.

But in the beginning,

This appears within the mind.

But as that grows and grows within the mind,

What that shows is that the defilements are gaining great strength in the heart.

And then as they gain strength,

And this comes out through our actions.

And then when we act in that way,

Then there will be the results of those actions that appear.

It's vipaka,

Kamma.

So wrong view is something that is extremely dangerous.

And its opposite is right view,

Sammaditthi.

But for us,

It's normal that we'll have some degree of wrong view within our minds.

We just need to be really careful around it.

There'll be some degree of this wrong intention appearing as well.

This intention to harm others,

For instance.

But we should be mindful of that and know that.

And even though sometimes our collectiveness is just not strong at all,

We don't follow through on those intentions.

There may be thoughts there,

There may be those intentions there,

But we don't act upon them.

And we try to not think further on those intentions.

So this is abandoning bhava,

Abandoning unskillful or harmful things,

Which arise within the heart.

And so when they have arisen already,

Then we have the effort there to abandon them.

Those which are yet to arise,

Then we don't allow them to arise.

And how do we do that?

Well we need to have mindfulness in a skillful object instead.

And so we bring up this merit,

Create skillfulness or intelligence,

And we meditate.

So for instance,

If someone is of the disposition to really focus on people's bad sides,

To be fault-finding,

Then we train in the opposite.

So we bring up loving-kindness,

And this is the opposite of the fault-finding mind.

So we cultivate this kindness within the heart,

Bringing it to peace.

If we're of the disposition to get very jealous,

Then we cultivate a heart of gladness,

Of finding joy in other people's success and good fortune.

And we use this to bring the heart to peace.

And so we use these methods with that,

And we carry on doing that,

And one day the mind will calm down,

Will settle into peace.

And so this is us cultivating skillfulness within the heart,

And not allowing for unwholesome,

Unskillful states to arise.

Those which have arisen,

We put them down,

Through bringing up a wholesome object,

Through recollecting loving-kindness,

Or the other of the Brahmaviharas.

And then through that,

There's papa,

These unskillful,

Bad states decrease,

Skillfulness increases.

So we really try to look after and nurture this skillfulness,

Kusala,

And we do that through our meditation.

So we care for our mindfulness well,

So that it's well established.

And so if we receive a sense impression that we don't like,

Or if we receive something that we do like,

We need to be careful of both of those.

Because if we don't restrain our mind,

Then unskillful states can arise within them.

So we need to have this mindfulness there,

Knowing what's arisen.

If the mind that's delighted has arisen,

Then we know that.

If the mind that is averse come up,

Then we know that.

And so what that shows,

The mind has gone into liking or into disliking already,

And we have that mindfulness there,

Knowing,

And seeing how this liking or disliking,

It's a quality that arises,

It stays for a period,

And then disappears.

And right here,

Through this practice,

Is us cultivating and putting into use upekka,

Equanimity,

Through wisdom.

And this is the path that takes us to seeing the Dhamma,

The fastest way to get there.

And this is something that Ajahn Chah would emphasize,

That this right here is the fastest way,

The way that takes us to stream entry.

And so if we have that faith,

And we have a mind that is peaceful,

Both a body and a heart that's buoyant,

Then we gain that conviction that this here is the path.

We have a lot of mindfulness.

And then when the external sense media meets with the internal sense organs,

We have that mindfulness there.

And if any feelings of liking or disliking arise,

Then our mindfulness is on top of that,

Seeing that for what it is in time and able to put those down.

And so this brings the mind to a state of peace.

Sometimes,

However,

Our minds aren't peaceful,

And then we need to forbear with that.

And so we keep our precepts,

Whether those are the 5 precepts,

The 8 precepts,

227 precepts,

Just carry on doing that without stopping.

And then at some point the mind will need to become peaceful.

If we carry on going without stopping,

It will need to calm down.

And then when the mind grows in peace,

Then we look after that peace,

And we're not careless.

Because the days and the nights are constantly passing by,

Passing by.

So we make sure that they pass by through our practice,

And through our cultivation of goodness,

Not being careless.

And in the end,

Our mindfulness and our samadhi will become firm and well-established.

And we'll have energy to our sati,

Our mindfulness.

And through our meditation,

The peace grows.

But in the beginning,

It's normal for us to become weary and fed up with a meditation,

But we just endure with that,

Carry on doing walking and sitting meditation.

If we're feeling lazy,

We do it.

If we're feeling energetic,

Enthusiastic,

We do it.

And this is us practicing steadily and evenly.

And in the end,

Then the mind becomes cool,

It settles down,

It gathers together.

And the point at which it gathers together may be the tip of the nose,

It may be the forehead area,

Feels really collected and firm at that point.

But it's not firm in a tense way,

In a stressed way.

Instead it gathers together,

And that's samadhi coming together.

It may gather together at the chest as well,

That the mind gathers at that point.

And then the distracted thinking becomes less and less.

Or we shouldn't become irritated by that firm feeling,

Just have mindfulness there,

Knowing.

We meditate on this word buddho,

So the one who knows,

The awakened one,

The joyful one.

And keep on reciting that until the recitation just ends all by itself,

And the mind becomes still.

Both the body and the heart are still and light.

And when a sense impression appears in the mind,

Then with the stillness of heart it has an energy to win out,

To struggle with and win out over that sense impression.

Because it's normal that some of these things come up.

There's an impression that arises and then the mind goes into disliking towards that.

But then we try to bring the mind to a state of upekka,

So a state of equanimity,

Of being unmoved by that.

And so the same if the mind starts going into disliking.

And this is the path that takes us to māga,

Pāla,

Nirbhāna,

And to the path that fruitions in nirbhāna.

So we see then that all physicality or mentality arises,

Lasts for a bit,

And then ceases.

And this is us seeing the Dhamma.

And it's not above our ability to do this.

Everyone can do it.

If you set your heart on it,

If you take it for real,

If you carry on practicing this correct way,

This right path,

Then you will have to see the Dhamma.

So may you set your heart on this.

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