The Path Of The Stream Enterer (Part 2)

In this talk, Ajahn Anan elucidates the path of the stream-enterer (Sotapattimagga), the path to the first stage of enlightenment. To walk this path is to learn how to see reality clearly. Allow your mind to be peaceful and listen wholeheartedly.

Transcript

The way of practice that is never wrong.

Having restraint and using caution with regards to the eye,

Ear,

Nose,

Tongue,

Body and mind,

Lungphu Chah would emphasize that this is the mode of practice that is never wrong.

This is the path that will lead to the seeing of Dhamma.

We have to have sati to investigate at this point and watch the feelings that arise.

Not letting ourselves wander off,

But watching right in the present moment.

Lungphu Chah would point this out very clearly.

One day I was walking Jnagama in the evening and I was wondering to myself,

What's really the correct way of practice?

What is the thing that will lead me to understand the Dhamma?

I really want to know clearly this path of practice so that I will be able to follow it with wholehearted efforts,

Mindfulness and wisdom.

Shortly afterwards Lungphu Chah gave a desana explaining the way of practice that is never wrong.

He talked on restraint regarding the six indriyas,

Eye seeing forms,

Ear hearing sounds,

Nose smelling odors,

Tongue tasting flavors,

The body coming into contact with various sensations,

And the mind experiencing mental phenomena.

He said not to be delighted or reverse.

We have to catch these various mental reactions.

The way of not being caught into liking or disliking is the middle way.

This is the direct path that will lead us to the understanding of Dhamma.

Practice in this way.

Sometimes in the course of practice our minds haven't got enough strength.

We are experiencing only a little peace and still having various doubts.

We have to keep putting forth effort in the way that we experienced calm in the past using the kamatana that we are proficient with.

We can use marana-nusati,

Or death reflection,

Anapanasati,

Asuba,

Buddhanusati,

Or recollection of the Buddha,

Or developing metta,

Loving kindness,

And the brahma-viharas.

These are what we need to pursue and develop.

Pursue whichever kamatana that we are strong in.

The things that we aren't strong in,

Sometimes we also have to do.

Suppose we are finding delight in form.

Well,

What are we going to do?

We have to directly confront and pass through it by countering it with its opposite.

See it as asuba.

Keep mindfulness along with it at all times.

If mindfulness is there continuously,

It will carefully watch over the heart and keep it in check.

Keeping our heart in a good state is really important.

We must continuously watch over our hearts.

Lungpu Chah would often emphasize this,

That the one that watches over his heart will escape from Mara's trap.

So how do we see the Dhamma?

He would say,

We don't have to do too much,

Just like getting people to come see what's inside this sala or meditation hall.

Once we find the technique to get them in here,

They will see for themselves.

He said to do whatever it takes to get the mind focused on the body.

When you get it in here,

The mind will see for itself,

What it's like inside,

What it's like outside.

So find a method to keep the sati right here at this point,

Or simply watch the in and out breath.

Right here is the path that will lead to the understanding and seeing of Dhamma.

Walk this way,

Practice this way.

Train in sila,

Train in samadhi,

Train in panya.

Right here,

This is how we will see clearly.

Sannyāvipaśinā or paññāvipaśinā,

Memory in sight or wisdom in sight.

Sometimes paññā can arise through merely hearing or listening to the teachings.

This understanding may penetrate clearly,

Even up to the point of seeing through all conventions and experiencing a glimpse of liberation.

If we have enough parami and strength of mind,

This understanding can arise.

But afterwards,

We still have to keep on with the practice,

Keep bringing the mind back to stillness again.

This we can't let up on or stop.

We need to use the power of sati to keep the mind focusing on all the different forms of rūpa and nāma.

If we force it too much though,

It will give rise to stress and agitation.

It will feel like our sati has been shattered and the mind won't gather into peace.

So we have to relax a little and come back to the present moment.

Sometimes we overestimate ourselves and think we have developed enough paññā to see clearly already.

We think that nāma and rūpa are the way we understand it.

But we are just looking at nāma and rūpa with vipassana and the way someone else has explained it,

So it's really only our sannyā.

It's just something we have memorized.

Nāma is like this,

Rūpa is like that.

Though we think that this is true vipassana,

It isn't.

Yet similar to a child,

We have to learn like this first.

Later,

When we have the steadiness and stillness of samādhi there,

This is when clear paññā will arise,

Arising through bhāvanā.

We will see the heart clearly for the first time.

Maybe we will experience either nāma or rūpa with an understanding that this isn't really mine.

But this is only a small preliminary step.

The power of samādhi is still weak.

The insight arises in a flash and it penetrates only for a moment.

After that it's like we have totally forgotten it.

Because the power of our samādhi isn't yet enough to really see clearly,

Insight and clarity won't arise and the paññā arising from our vipassana will be hazy and clouded.

This momentary clarity and insight we had is still a level of paññā,

But it has only come about through our hearing the teachings and pondering over them.

We take these teachings,

Investigate and contemplate them,

And experience a level of understanding.

In this manner paññā develops the mind which begins to gather in samādhi.

As we keep developing the power of our samādhi further,

Its strength will increase and our insight and understanding will arise anew.

This is true paññā,

Paññā that comes from bhāvanā.

In the method of paññā developing samādhi,

At the start we are still on the level of thinking,

The activity of vittaka in vichāra.

We first rely on this faculty of thinking and then from here it proceeds to break into different levels of samādhi.

If our parami isn't full,

The clarity of understanding that we gain from our practice will deteriorate,

And if we don't hear the teachings it will disappear completely.

But then,

When we hear them again,

The clarity arises again.

This is paññā that is supported through hearing the teachings.

If we ponder and consider these teachings on the level of saññā,

Our clarity will increase and our minds will find a bit more stillness.

What is this kind of stillness?

The stillness that is only here for a moment is called kaṇaka-samādhi.

There is some clarity,

But only temporarily.

Its power cannot be sustained and it disappears.

If we investigate anew,

It will arise anew.

Maybe in a day we investigate ten,

Twenty times and some clarity will arise briefly at those times.

But this clarity can't compete with the further levels because it only arises through the power of our thinking.

But if we practice in the same way and our parami is fuller,

We will enter the level of upajara-samādhi.

This samādhi is sustained for longer and its power is increased.

From here we can enter into apana-samādhi,

Where clarity is greatly increased.

Sometimes we don't even have to investigate a lot,

Maybe only once a day.

But with the power of this samādhi,

There is energy to sustain the understanding for a long time.

If there isn't this power there,

Then we have to investigate often,

Contemplate a lot.

Through our investigating,

Calm arises for a moment,

But it will disappear.

Sometimes it happens that our mind gathers into the calm of upajara-samādhi while we are sitting,

But when we open our eyes it instantly disappears.

It's like we never had any samādhi to begin with.

This is normal.

This samādhi is still at the stage where it increases and diminishes.

It isn't firm and consistent.

It doesn't remain for long and various moods will often possess it.

Though we are only doing a small amount of investigation,

It is a good start as the mind has been carefully maintained up until this point.

It has started to brighten and is found somewhat of a refuge.

Sakāyaditi,

Personality View Lumpucha would say sakāyaditi is like a hollow wicker ball and our hearts are encircled tightly within.

This ball has many layers.

It has been woven with six or seven strands.

When we investigate once,

We have brightness and clarity arise.

But once the power of our mindfulness and insight weakens,

The nīvarana overtake us in darkness and folds us.

Upadana once again comes.

Though when we investigate again,

The brightness returns.

When we talk about the brightness of the heart,

It isn't yet a complete and enveloping brightness.

It's still only partial,

Perhaps just a small crack of light within our hearts that appears just for an instant.

But we have to keep at it,

Keep following this path that will cleanse and clean out our hearts.

When we are investigating,

Practicing and thinking in this way,

The investigation will start to yield some results.

And step by step the mind will gradually get brighter,

Bit by bit,

Bit by bit.

It's not completely bright because the power of our samādhi isn't full.

So step by step keep pursuing and persevering.

Moving from momentary kāṇakā samādhi to upadara samādhi,

The mind will experience a radiance in brightness like never before.

The darkness of the hindrances that arise with external sense contact will diminish.

All the outer impingements will drop away and we will be left with just the inner experience of the mind.

Once the mind is gathered into a state of calm and investigated the truth,

It is capable of destroying the anusaya kilesa.

This is the path of making the mind peaceful and then investigating the body.

Lungpu ca would emphasize the importance of this.

When the mind has attained calm,

Investigate the body from whatever level of calm we have.

Do it this way.

Investigate all the sankhāras of this physical form in the light of anicca dukkha anutā,

Going over them again and again.

Investigate in just this way.

Lungpu ca laid down and stressed this foundation of practice.

We all have great faith and respect for Lungpu ca already,

Certain that he reached the goal of arahantship.

And what path did he teach?

Just this path.

He taught us to walk this path.

Our results depend on our accumulated parmi.

Whether we proceed fast or slow,

It is up to our parmi to determine the outcome.

It is something we can't really control.

Just like planting a tree,

We water it,

Tend to the soil,

Add fertilizer,

And keep the insects away.

That is our responsibility.

The fruits that will appear are the responsibility of the tree.

When the proper time comes,

The tree will give off flowers or fruit.

Lungpu ca would speak like this regularly.

We have to ward off the urge to want results quickly,

To want to see the dhamma right now,

To achieve it fast.

This is common for most meditators,

But we have to do our best to avoid this.

In the beginning I also wanted results quickly.

I wanted to know which way to practice so that I could obtain results quickly.

Lungpu ca never said that there was any way quicker than this.

He said to walk this path,

To watch over the heart with sati,

Watch over our feelings right at this point,

Abandoning thoughts of liking and disliking.

How are we going to do this?

Don't get elated,

Don't get aggravated.

Do just this much.

If we have liking and disliking,

What are we going to do?

This is where the practice really lies.

If liking and disliking arise,

And we can't seem to fix these emotions ourselves,

Then we must return to the books that explain the way of practice.

We must listen to dhamma tapes or talk with fellow practitioners to find some fresh ways and means to deal with these problems.

But these are still only outer refuges,

Because we don't yet clearly know how to contemplate to cure the mental darkness and defiling emotions.

The defilements are really stubborn.

It's like having a glass filled with water,

But with scum around the rim.

In the beginning the water is clear and we can see the bottom,

But later gets covered over in scum.

In the same way,

If we don't develop panya,

The scum and darkness of the defiling emotions will take over and engulf us.

When I was with my Kruvaha Jan,

We would only hear a dhamma talk once every 15 days.

For a while after that,

The heart would be luminous,

But by the tenth day,

All the darkness and stubborn defilements had returned.

It's like we can't even see the path at all.

It seems engulfed in darkness.

So what do we do when we can't see the path?

We might feel that sometimes we see the path clearly,

But later on it gradually fades away because our strength is still weak.

We still depend on hearing the dhamma to encourage and stimulate ourselves to practice,

Until we can understand the essential principles emphasized and can motivate ourselves.

We have to stick with the kamatana we have chosen and do it a lot,

Investigate a lot,

Working right at this point,

Right at the point of liking and disliking.

Some people say that they find the practice of samadhi very difficult.

We have to take a look at the kamatana being used.

Maybe we can contemplate the body or use the corpse reflections.

We have to watch the mind.

Watch the arising and passing away of all the various emotions.

Watch over Vedana with sati.

We have to have sati watching over the mind.

This is the point where we need to focus,

To see clearly.

We falsely assume the fruits of sotapanna.

We have to keep on guard.

Sometimes when the mind is luminous and bright,

We think we see it all totally clearly.

Maybe we will think,

Hey,

Now I am a sotapanna.

I have been watching over the mind and I am free of sensual craving and there are only minimal thoughts arising.

There are some centers where the students go to ask about their meditation and the teacher will approve,

Saying,

The mind in this state has reached the level of sakkha-dhagami.

There are a lot of these places.

There was once a layman who was practicing in the forest tradition.

When he meditated,

He couldn't get any peace at all.

So he went and visited another teacher who taught,

Instructed and guided him in the practice.

At first this man couldn't even sit still for one hour.

But when he went and sat with this other teacher,

He could sit six or seven hours,

Maybe even all night.

After that,

This layman was pleased with the results and went to consult this teacher who declared that the layman had seen the dhamma.

From then on,

He thought he was an Arya-pugala.

He couldn't restrain himself from boasting about it.

Wherever he went,

He would loudly broadcast to others that he knew and saw that he had the dhamma firmly in his heart.

But it was merely on the level of sannyā,

Or memory.

Later this man,

With the help of one of Lumpumana's disciples,

Was able to correct this view and backed off from his position.

With a view that has become firmly ingrained,

It's hard to straighten out.

It's hard,

But it's not beyond the capacity of some teachers.

This is the very reason Lumpucha would never answer any questions like this and say,

This monk is at this level,

This monk is at that level.

He would never say what level of attainment someone had achieved.

He would always teach about those things with wisdom.

He would say that at spacchottam,

One knows and experiences for oneself.

Sometimes Lumpucha would teach using similes.

Some monks would say,

This monk is an arahant,

He's this and that,

He has no sexual craving,

And he is no more wanting or liking for anything.

Then they would go and ask Lumpucha.

He would say,

If a frog stays down in a hole for many months,

Does that make it an arahant?

Is it really an arahant now?

That's how he would answer,

Enabling us to contemplate and understand the matter clearly.

It's wrong to jump to conclusions when special experiences arise from the practice,

And we label and interpret them as an attainment of one level or another.

This is the reason a lot of delusion arises.

In some monasteries there are many sotapanas and sakadagamis,

But as time passes they all seem to disappear.

We see this in some places.

But in our Wat Nongpapong lineage,

Those who have practiced well don't talk about levels of achievements,

Because those that have achieved know for themselves.

They understand the various ways and methods of practice.

Lumpucha emphasized this a lot.

When calm arises,

Investigate the body.

Sometimes we may think,

Oh,

Why is it that everyone around me seems so sure of themselves and free of doubts,

But I'm filled with them?

It's because,

Though our wanting to see the dhamma has come about through a lot of listening and studying,

Which is a form of wisdom,

It causes us to expect certain results.

It's a constant struggle that gives rise to restlessness.

We want so much to achieve.

Lumpucha would say to put it aside for now.

Just leave it alone at this point.

It's just like a glass filled with water.

We have to pour the water out before we can put drinking water in.

If the glass is filled with water already,

The drinking water can't go in.

It will overflow.

In the same way,

If we think we know everything,

Then the dhamma can't enter our heart.

So at first we need to reduce dhittimana,

Or conceited opinion.

This is really important in the way of practice Lumpucha taught.

Lumpucha's style was to lead by example and to do as he taught.

Sometimes we might be careless and think critically of him,

Letting our sense of self come up in the mind.

But when we continue the practice,

We would admit,

Who am I to criticize him?

I can't keep up with him.

Maybe we have good samadhi.

In those days when my samadhi was good,

Pity would arise.

I would get to Upadara samadhi.

My mind was cool and at ease.

No mental disturbances would enter.

Entering states of calm was really easy.

I thought,

There's no need to investigate the body.

I'll go straight to the mind.

I didn't want to contemplate the body.

I just wanted to go straight to the mind,

Straight to the dhamma.

So I went and saw Lumpucha.

He quickly pointed out to me,

Right now,

Are you peaceful?

Right then I was nervous and trembling because I was with Lumpucha.

The peace the heart previously had before totally vanished and I couldn't even pull myself together.

I was flooded with delusion.

Then this delusion answered that,

Yes,

I was calm.

But all I was doing was taking the state I experienced one hour ago and using that as an answer.

Looking back at it,

I wasn't in the present moment at all.

I just took a previous state and brought it up as an answer.

But Lumpucha knew that this was just delusion talking.

He said to go back and keep investigating the body over and over.

This really stuck in my mind.

Keep investigating the body,

Right here in this physical mass of Sankaras.

Still I thought,

Hmm,

Why does Lumpucha keep having me investigate this body when my mind is so calm?

All I want to do is delve into this mind.

I wanted the fast track to Nibbana.

But later,

The deeper levels of Samadhi that I had been experiencing subsided.

That's how it goes,

Down,

Down,

Down,

Until it's like we have no Samadhi at all.

We have to go back and carefully tend to the mind anew.

We have to reestablish Samadhi in the heart.

And this is really hard.

It's a real struggle,

Step by step,

Inch by inch.

Contemplating death,

Walking Jhangama,

Sitting in meditation,

Keeping the mind with the Parikama as much as possible,

Slowly but surely it gets better,

Step by step.

And when it gets better,

It's better than before.

There's more power in Satipanya than there was before.

Getting in and investigating the body as a subha,

As filthy,

Seeing the body as more and more unattractive,

The heart experiences greater levels of pity.

As we see the unattractiveness of the body,

The heart goes into deeper levels of happiness.

The more we see the body as unattractive,

The greater the peace becomes.

It functions back and forth like this.

If in the past we saw this body as attractive,

Its outer appearance as beautiful,

Then the heart wasn't radiant.

It was engulfed in darkness and overrun with calaises.

But if we see the body as something not beautiful,

Then the heart becomes beautiful.

It becomes bright and luminous because it sees the truth.

It's as if the heart flips over and experiences true peace.

It becomes calm and still.

Investigate hair of the head,

Hair of the body,

Nails,

Teeth,

Skin.

When they are refined and broken down,

We can see them as elements.

Just elements,

Earth,

Water,

Fire,

And air.

Separate the whole mass out and analyze them as anatta.

If we pull them all apart and see them as anatta,

Then the heart comes to peace.

Back and forth,

Back and forth.

Pursue it to the end and try to find a self.

Separate all the elements and see them as they really are.

Understand and know what these elements are like.

Take a look inside.

Where is the earth?

Where is the water?

Where is the fire?

Where is the air?

Really look closely.

In and out,

Back and forth,

Round and round.

Split,

Divide,

And analyze them from the angle that they are just elements.

Here's the earth,

Here's the water,

Here's the fire,

Here's the air.

Investigate down inwards.

What's in this body?

Poke and prod at it right here.

Pick it up and analyze one part.

Today just focus on the water element.

What is the water element like in this body?

Investigate just this one part.

Is this water a person or self?

Review and reflect upon it like this.

Water is just water,

Isn't it?

Is the water outside us a person or self?

So why is the water inside this body a person or self then?

How is that so?

Is it really a being or person?

Investigate this thoroughly and clearly.

Bile,

Phlegm,

Pus,

Blood,

Spit,

Grease,

Urine.

Investigate them one by one,

Closely,

Back and forth,

All through the water element,

Until we see the whole mass join together as anatta.

Our heart will become at ease,

Like a weight has been lifted,

Because we have seen the truth.

We keep on investigating,

Looking at it over and over again,

Until we feel that its intensity has faded and become flat,

Until the investigation becomes stale.

Then investigate another part of the water element.

Change it around often and bring it back to the start and go again.

Investigate the earth element as well.

The hair of the head,

Hair of the body,

Nails,

Teeth,

Skin.

What are they like?

What does the earth element appear like?

How does it change appearances?

In the end,

What does it end up like?

Where does it go to and where does it come from?

Why is it in this state now?

In the past,

Was it the same?

Investigate back and forth,

Over and over,

Until it falls apart and is reduced to its original state.

The food that we consume is just elements as well.

How does it enhance and supplement us?

Look at it.

The earth adds to the earth,

Water adds to the water,

Fire to fire,

Wind to wind.

Investigate right at earth,

Water,

Fire,

And air,

Right here,

This massive four elements,

Over and over,

In and out,

Right down to the finest details,

And then build them up again in fine detail.

Do this for clear seeing and understanding.

This is wisdom that comes about through investigation.

The Gotrabhucitta,

Change of Lineage So our samadhi,

Where is it at?

If our investigation leads us to kanaka samadhi,

It still means we only have a little strength.

But if we keep investigating in this way,

Bringing about more calm,

It can lead us to apana samadhi,

Where the mind really becomes still.

When we come out of apana samadhi,

We don't have to teach or tell it what to do.

This still mind will stare straight at whatever arises,

And whatever mental images it focuses on will be known immediately and clearly.

We will have full confidence in this knowing.

At this stage we focus the still mind and point it at an object,

For example,

The hair of the head.

At this level we look straight at the hair of the head,

And bang!

We will know clearly that it isn't ours.

Knowledge arises with great clarity that the mind and body are two totally separate phenomena.

At this time the heart is about to transcend the world.

It becomes a gotrabhucitta.

If through our investigation the mind goes into this state,

It becomes easier to further train and guide it.

It depends on its own power,

The power of the mind.

If we keep progressing and see the mind with further clarity,

Then it will move into its own level of stillness without prior prompting.

We don't have to tell the mind to investigate.

It will work on its own.

Watching mental images arise and disappear by themselves,

Asubha images appear by themselves.

If the mind is really still,

This is what will happen.

We don't have to force the mind in order for it to investigate whatever sort of Dhamma theme.

This calm mind will go straight to the correct theme.

It will move into investigation on its own accord.

It's like it's on autopilot,

Automatically investigating.

This state will come about of its own accord.

If we strive and put forth effort in this way,

We keep ourselves awake and alert.

But we have to notice if we are putting forth this effort and no calm is arising.

We may even be close to proliferation,

Dhamma proliferating.

If we have been investigating,

But our minds haven't gathered into any calm,

It's basically just proliferating in the way of Dhamma.

We really have to be careful with this.

If it's just Dhamma proliferation,

We can give a discourse all night.

We can preach our Dhamma from the start of the night right through to when the sun rises the next day.

Some monks do it like this.

They can speak and keep on going on for four,

Five,

Six hours.

But when their own moods and problems arise,

They can't fix them at all.

They can't correct their thinking because their Panya can't keep up with it.

This is because it is only the Panya of memory,

Of our own thinking.

They can't keep up with their moods,

And when they can't keep up with these moods,

They become distressed.

So we have to step back and take hold of the situation,

Bringing our mind back to whatever meditation object we use to attain calm.

Sometimes we may think we should only investigate,

But sometimes we have to rely on the calm that we attain from Samadhi practice.

Anapanasati is a foundation stone of the meditation practice.

We can count the breath in pairs,

Use Bhutto along with it,

Or simply watch the in-and-out breaths.

We have to use whatever methods and skillful means we have that bring us calm and stillness.

This is the way the Krupa Ajahn's taught and the way they instructed.

They taught that when the eye sees forms,

The ear hears sounds,

Nose smells odors,

Tongue tastes flavors,

Body comes into contact with sensations,

And the mind with mental objects,

Then to notice whatever arises.

The objects that arise in the mind are called dhamma-aramanas,

Thoughts and moods,

Sometimes wholesome,

Sometimes unwholesome.

The mind grasps that these things is being mine,

Myself,

But the Krupa Ajahn's tell us,

No,

They're not ourself.

Take this kind of thinking and throw it out.

This thinking which is bound with clinging is kilesa.

We are just clinging to our own thoughts and sense of self,

And this gives rise to kilesa.

But just thinking isn't kilesas.

When we grasp at it,

That's kilesas.

Just like the skin of a fruit.

If we don't need or can't use it,

Throw it out.

Like fish bones.

What use are they?

We only eat the meat.

Throw them out.

The Krupa Ajahn's taught that these defiled thoughts and emotions are something to be thrown out,

Something with no inherent core or meaning.

Their teachings are entirely for the purpose of letting them go.

Reviews

Excellent analysis on the levels of samadhi and knowing the dharma.

Thank you. I must listen again.

I needed to hear that. Thank you