Cultivating Wisdom In Buddhist Practice

Here Ajahn explores the ways that we contemplate life and experience wisely, and also
how to meditate in ways that will make it possible to experience deeper ‘insight’ into
the true nature of reality. The Buddha describes wisdom as a ‘spiritual power’, and as a
‘wing of awakening’. And so learning how to cultivate and deepen wisdom is central for
all sincere practitioners.

Transcript

Somebody is studying the 37 wings to awakening,

The Bodhipakya Dhammas,

And they've observed that the quality of bhanya,

Wisdom,

Is mentioned twice.

Other qualities such as viriya are mentioned more often.

This person is wondering,

As wisdom seems to be an important part of the process of liberation,

Is there a reason why it's mentioned just twice?

My first response is that twice is enough.

Anything in this of 37 is obviously important,

And even if it was in there once,

It's something that we would pay attention to.

However,

If you look more closely at this list of 37,

It's a group of several lists.

And when you look at some of the things in there,

For example,

The Eightfold Path,

One of the Eightfold Path factors,

Sammasankhapa,

Is right thought.

So this is,

I would say,

Very closely related to wisdom.

I think one of the reasons the quality of sati,

For example,

Is mentioned more often,

Sati means mindfulness.

If you don't have a good presence of mind,

If you don't have a good quality of presence of mind,

You're not going to be able to keep an eye on the quality of your thoughts.

There are phrases where Lord Buddha says mindfulness is the path to the deathless.

So there was one of those weeks after the enlightenment,

And the Buddha was spending a period of time in the vicinity of the Bodhi tree,

And he was reflecting with awe upon what he had accomplished.

And he was wondering,

How did I do this?

And he had that recognition,

Awareness,

He saw that the four foundations of mindfulness,

When cultivated,

Made much of,

Lead to the deathless and merge in the deathless,

The deathless being nirvana,

The liberated state,

The purified mind.

So mindfulness plays a very important role.

Mindfulness is sometimes translated as truth discerning awareness.

So we need the foundation of generosity and a commitment to ethical behavior,

Because that's what supports presence of mind with clarity and weakens kilesa.

So when we come to that right thought,

What is right thought?

Thoughts of generosity,

Thoughts of kindness,

Thoughts of non-cruelty,

Thoughts of non-ill will.

So then there's another list in there,

The four iddhipada,

The basis for success.

If you look at the fourth one,

So it's chitta,

Chanda,

Viriya,

Chitta,

Vimangsa,

The aspiration,

The clear aspiration to practice,

Putting forth energy in practice,

Applying the mental factors in practice.

The fourth one,

Vimangsa,

Reviewing how your practice is going,

Seeing if that's working or not,

Seeing if the practices that you are doing are helping to weaken kilesa,

Helping to,

The defilements,

Helping to increase clarity.

Unwholesome qualities are decreasing,

Wholesome qualities are increasing.

So in that list of four,

Which is in the 37 wings of awakening,

That fourth one would seem to me to be applying wisdom.

So you've got wisdom mentioned twice,

The five indriyas,

The five powers,

Then you've got sammasanghapa,

Right thought in the eightfold path,

And then you have this reviewing how your practice is going,

Once you're applying yourself in your practice of reviewing how it's going.

And then the other place where I feel that wisdom comes up is in the seven factors of enlightenment,

Which is another small list contained within that larger list.

You have investigation into dhamma,

Dhamma vichayo.

So that is clearly that act of investigating wisely.

So what does Lord Buddha encourage us to investigate?

He encourages us to investigate the nature of the body,

The parts that it's made up of.

He asks us to investigate the fact that the body is made of elements.

And he asks us to notice the three characteristics in,

He sometimes talks about the five aggregates.

So the noticing the impermanent,

Unsatisfactory,

Not self nature.

So when we look at it like that,

There's a lot of wisdom in the 37 Wings to Awakening,

Lots of things we need to do.

Than Ajahn Anand,

Often he used to,

When I was living in training with Ajahn Anand,

He would use three words.

And the Thai forest tradition is,

I think,

Wonderful in its simpleness.

They're always being more and more simplified,

But it's being simplified in the context that it's expected that people are meditating a lot.

So sometimes if we're not meditating that much,

We need to do more study to keep the mind focused on Dhamma.

But if a teacher in the forest tradition is addressing a talk to the monks,

It's a given that the ethical behavior is already in place.

It's a given that a certain amount of generosity is occurring with helping out with the chores,

Etc.

But he would talk about Sati Samadhi Panya very often.

Mindfulness,

Concentration and wisdom.

And he would talk about how these things work together to uproot.

And then the other thing he would talk about was Avijjatanna Upadana,

Which is like an abbreviation of the problem.

The problem is ignorance,

Attachment and clinging,

Avijjatanna Upadana,

Ignorance,

Craving and clinging,

And the antidote to that being Sati Samadhi and Panya.

The other part of the question was,

What does the Buddha say in the suttas about wisdom?

So he does say important things.

He says that Yoni Somanisakara,

Wise reflection gives birth to wisdom.

And I think that word Yoni is also actually used to describe literally a womb.

So Yoni Somanisakara is wise reflection,

Reflecting wisely gives birth to wisdom.

When talking specifically about wisdom,

He says that wisdom is to be cultivated in three ways.

Firstly,

By listening to Dhamma or reading Dhamma,

Paying attention.

Then the second one is contemplating what you've heard more deeply,

Developing a sense of conviction.

Does this make sense?

And if it does make sense,

Then okay,

Is this good advice?

Is this good instruction?

Sound?

Does that make sense?

Develop a sense of conviction.

So that's the Sutta Maya Panya,

The wisdom that comes from listening,

Hearing,

Studying,

Discussing Dhamma.

Bhavana Maya Panya,

The wisdom that comes from wise reflection,

Meditating,

Contemplating deeply.

Then you have the Citta Maya Panya.

It's the deeper level of wisdom that comes from insight.

When you're really meditating and you're really doing a lot of practice,

Then you have deep insight.

What is insight?

Insight means seeing those three characteristics,

The impermanence,

The unsatisfactoriness,

And the not-self.

Than Ajahn Anand explains that whenever anybody has like a Vipassana Jnana,

Or if somebody attains to the path,

They will see one of these characteristics very clearly.

And for some people,

Different people have different characters.

And so for some people,

It's seeing the Dukkha,

Feeling the weariness,

And then the mind coming inwards,

Putting it down,

Just seeing it's all Dukkha,

It's all Dukkha.

But that which knows suffering isn't suffering.

So the practitioner who really gets to see that everything is Dukkha,

Everything is Dukkha,

If you're really seeing that with mindfulness and wisdom,

And if you have some Samadhi,

Some stability of mind,

The mind inclines inwards and puts it down.

But other people will see it with the Nichang.

Other people will see it with a lot of emphasis upon that in the Burmese tradition with the noting and noticing the feelings as you lift and place the feet and noticing the feelings,

The rising,

The falling in the breath,

The rising,

The falling,

The footsteps,

Lifting,

Placing.

They train in noticing when each feeling arises,

Stays for some time and ceases,

Arises,

Stays for some time and ceases.

And so if a person sees that,

A Nichang,

A Nichang,

A Nichang,

Tanatjana-Nan says,

Once you see one really clearly,

You see the other two,

Because they're the same thing.

It's the truth from a slightly different angle.

But once you've glimpsed truth,

You see the whole truth.

So it's like it might be a Nichang that takes a person into that space of deep,

Clear insight,

But then you'll see not self.

How could it be a self if everything's in flux,

Everything's changing?

And so,

And then what the mind experiences is emptiness,

Emptiness of a sense of self,

Because when the mind sees a Nichang very clearly,

Arising,

Ceasing,

Arising,

Ceasing,

Arising,

Ceasing,

The grasping at it as being a solid,

Unchanging self falls away.

And the mind experiences awareness,

Which has an empty nature and knows the emptiness of form,

The emptiness of feelings,

Emptiness,

Meaning no abiding solid self,

Emptiness of self,

Emptiness of permanence,

Emptiness of satisfactoriness in the conditions.

But that which knows these things is satisfactory,

Isn't suffering and isn't a self.

And we meditate a lot and then we have glimpses of that,

We experience that,

What it's like to have citta maya panya,

Wisdom that arises on the level of the mind.

And well,

Most people will find that there's periods of time where they have more wisdom and periods of time when they have more delusion.

This is a training that we're engaged in.

Sometimes we're more diligent,

Sometimes we're more lazy,

Sometimes life is supporting conditions,

Other times life has more challenging conditions.

And so,

Lampoa Liam,

My priest also says,

You know,

Sometimes there's more mindfulness than there is wisdom,

Sometimes there's more wisdom than there is mindfulness,

Sometimes there's more samadhi.

And so,

This is the thing about mindfulness and clear comprehension,

Which we're trying to be aware of what the quality of mind is,

What negative factors are present,

What wholesome factors are present,

And we're always aiming to keep it balanced.

So,

If it goes off a little bit,

You try to balance it.

This is where the wise reflection is very important.

So,

To keep an eye on what are the activities we are doing,

If we've been doing something a bit too much and we notice that unwholesome qualities are increasing in the mind,

So we have to have the awareness to know,

Okay,

I need to do less of that thing and I need to apply a reflective meditation,

The Yoniso Manisikara,

Wise reflection,

To bring the mind back into a balanced state.

So,

If you're obsessing about the future,

For example,

A wise response to that is to contemplate the fact that you might die today.

And we do this very sincerely and it's not sadistic,

It's not cruel,

It's just what's needed.

It's like if you imagine yourself keeping an eye on your mind as a bit like a three year old child.

If the three year old child is running in the wrong direction,

You've got to grab its arm and pull it back to safety.

That's just the way an untrained mind is.

And so,

Sometimes we have to contemplate the fact and there can be some resistance in the mind.

I mean,

No,

It's very unlikely I'm going to die today.

And then you have to challenge that.

It's like,

Really?

A lot of people die in their bathrooms.

Most people who die in their bathroom didn't know that they were going to.

I think it's right up there with car accidents,

Death in the bathroom.

And it's partly because people feel so safe.

They feel so safe and they're so sure they're not going to slip over that they don't pay attention properly.

And they're surrounded by all these slippery surfaces and hard surfaces.

People fall over,

Hit their head and die.

Most people who have car accidents don't leave the house thinking I'm going to go and have a car accident.

And if they had that thought,

They wouldn't leave the house.

There's kind of assumptions that we have that it's not going to happen to me.

And it could happen to us.

The wise perspective,

You don't want to become paranoid to the point where you become dysfunctional.

The point is,

You are aware that it's possible.

And that awareness that it is certainly possible tends to have a sobering effect on the mind.

And it tends to make us more heedful.

It tends to help us focus more clearly where we should focus.

And it tends to help us not be as lost in things that we shouldn't be lost in.

It's a very powerful.

Speaking of things that Lord Buddha says with regards to wisdom,

He does say that death reflection,

Marana Nusabti is a practice that increases wisdom.

So this actively contemplating impermanence of the body.

Your body,

Conventionally speaking,

Is weakening the latent grasping at it as being a solid self and is making that deeper,

The personal level of insight into not self more likely.

So it is a practice that we do to increase our wisdom.

On that subject,

I heard just last week that my sister who was experiencing headaches and some disorientation discovered that she has a brain tumor and it has been removed now.

But it was of the type that is very aggressive and it is likely to grow back.

So we will dedicate this Dharma reflection to my sister,

Jane,

The merit of my sharing.

She's 58.

Who thinks that they're just going to have a headache,

Go to the doctor and hear that they have a five centimeter tumor in their brain.

We don't,

We assume that's not going to be us,

Right?

But it happens to some people.

And so this is where the awareness of impermanence helps us focus.

Very,

Very helpful.

We practice awareness of death in conjunction with metta because we need to have a functioning foundation of well-being in the heart to be able to take the bitter medicine in a way.

The metta is the sweetness and the pleasant abiding that makes it possible for us to contemplate how wearying all of these unsatisfactory conditions are.

We need to support the mind in that process.

So death meditation,

Contemplation of the body is always taught in conjunction with loving kindness practice.

So that's the thing about the mindfulness and clear comprehension.

What are the qualities present in the mind?

If we're experiencing a lot of irritation,

We're experiencing a lot of ill will,

Increasing levels of anger,

Hatred,

We need to knuckle down and do the metta practice so that we can bring the mind more into a state of balance where we're more likely to be able to contemplate not self.

So when I come to do my sitting,

I just have a bit of a look in there.

What's present in the mind?

What's the main hindrance that's present?

What are the chalazas that are present?

And then I will usually start my meditation practice with metta.

But if the sensual craving has come up a bit,

If it's getting a little bit unruly,

I will contemplate the nature of the body,

Contemplate death and impermanence,

Bring it to a state of balance and then abide,

Observing the breath.

So we use right sammasangkapo,

The factor of the Eightfold Path.

We use right thought to bring the mind into a balanced state so that we can abide in peacefulness.

Another important thing to remember in the terms of the process of deepening wisdom,

My teacher and I,

Majjana Nunn,

And I both in general think that it's really important to experience some peacefulness because it allows the mind to rest and gives some mental pleasure,

Brightens the mind.

So some people are a bit scared of getting attached to peacefulness.

And I personally feel that we all need to have some peacefulness.

It's something that we need.

So if the mind is becoming peaceful,

Allow it to be,

Enjoy that quality and acknowledge it.

Look,

This mind is actually capable of being peaceful sometimes.

How wonderful.

But what we do is if the mind,

When the mind comes out of its naturally peaceful state,

Most people will have the experience that it goes in 5,

10,

20 minutes,

The mind will be peaceful.

It will move from that state naturally.

That's a really helpful,

Really skillful time to do some investigation.

So it's when the mind moves naturally from its peaceful state,

It's got more presence of mind,

More clarity,

More energy,

Less distracted thoughts.

So if you have to have enough mindfulness to know,

Samadhi is degenerating a little bit.

The mind's coming out of its peaceful state,

This mental energy now.

We try not to let it fall into fantasies,

Thoughts about the future.

You can have great proliferations at that point in time because you've got this extra mental clarity.

But what we do is we train when I say great,

I mean,

Fascinating.

I don't mean great in terms of it's wholesome.

It's like we notice the mind has more energy.

It's coming out of a peaceful state.

That's when you can have the determination.

Okay.

Now I really want you to notice the changing of the feelings in the knee pain or the shoulder pain.

Apply that extra sense of centeredness and stability that you have to investigating the flux of feelings in the part that hurts,

Because you can develop some really good insights after peaceful meditations.

So it's not the time to jump up quickly and go to the fridge,

Check your phone and listen to your favorite song.

You try not to go from a peaceful mind state and dive straight back into the world or dive into sensuality.

You want to use that bit of clarity that you've got to contemplate wisely.

So that could be the body parts or seeing the body as elements,

Contemplating impermanence or stretching your capacity at having metta and compassion.

That can be a time when you could have more metta for the difficult people,

But your mind had some peaceful,

You're feeling well,

You're feeling okay.

Okay.

Now you can spread metta to those people that you experience as being difficult,

Stretch your abilities,

Things that we can do in mental training.

So I hope that something on the subject of wisdom has been helpful to you.

May we all grow in wisdom.

Reviews

Encouragement for diligent practitioners

A great talk to review wisdom. Must listen to over and over again. Loving Kindness 🙏

Clear explanation of the elements of wisdom with references to the Pali Canon, spiritual factors of awakening, the eight-fold path, and working with the hindrances. Deep bows of gratitude🙏

Very useful, thank you

This Talk was very helpful and it’s definitely one I will be coming back to . So I can understand it more . I have got into a good practice for myself for quiet some time now - meditating 🧘🏻‍♀️ every morning 🌅 and every Evening before sleep . I journal morning and night . Exercise, eat healthy . And have kind thoughts and actions and a purpose. One or two things that had definitely helped me is to switch my phone on don’t disturb mode after 7 pm and then untill 11am . And also I came away from the day to day news (media ) . It clutter my mind . I feel very calm and content although gone the a loss in July last year first my brother ( 59 ) then 20 days later my lovely mum ( cancer ) then to end 2023 my best friend from age 5 to now ( he was 59 ) a heart attack New Year’s Eve . So I am so grateful for insettimer for guideing me through this . I know we are all going to die it’s just the pain that we hold the ones that are still here . Trying to get through it . In my own time and in my own space 🙏

Nice talk about important aspects

Thank you. 🙏🏼🙏🏼

❤️🪷🙏

Wonderful as ever 🙏🏽💙

Thank you for this talk 🌸❤️🙏

Wonderful to have a new talk! Thank you for sharing these words of wisdom 🙏

I love this talk. Thank you so much for posting new content. Your work has changed my life.

I enjoy your teachings. I don't consider myself a Budhist but I want to be a Buddah. I feel light and free when listen to you and contemplate.

🙏🏼

Deep bows, blessings to you. And your sister. 🪬🙏

Helpful talk about wisdom and Truth, which actually healed a headache at the session.

Gratitude 🙏🏾 V

Sadhu sadhu sadhu anumodami

Inspiring and practical.
Thank you.

Thank you very helpful teaching and has arrived at a perfect time. 🙏 for your sister Joan