The nature of the mind is to think, to fashion, to wander out to mental objects near and far, without any limit.
This content is compiled from a Dharma talk given by Ajahn Waen Sucinno, a revered monk of Wat Doi Mae
Pang, Chiang Mai province, on December 10, 1972.
In that day's sermon, Ajahn Waen offered the
following stories and practical guidance as a guiding light for everyone to learn the practice of
maintaining awareness and knowing the suffering that is all around us.
Ajahn Waen Sucinno spoke of mental cultivation as an extremely subtle matter. Mindfulness (Sati) and clear comprehension (Sampajañña) must always be awake; otherwise, we will not be able to keep up with the mind. For example, if we are in a crowd, mental objects mostly enter through the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, or the body. The mind’s reception of these objects usually leads it to carry, haul, and heap these burdens upon itself, which is the accumulation of suffering or emotional weight. The act of shaking them off, cutting them off, and putting them down is rarely seen. For this reason, we become miserable because of these mental objects, or happy because of them, or we find pleasure in them. This is all because the mind lacks investigation.
A mind that lacks mindfulness as a guardian to watch over and guide it tends to go out and carry, haul, and heap everything upon itself, giving rise to suffering. It can get to the point where some people are overcome with anguish, seeing everything as unpleasurable until it becomes toxic and dangerous.
For the practicing meditator living in the forest, mental objects often arise from a mind that likes to fashion the past that has already gone by or the future that has not yet arrived. These types of mental objects have destroyed a great many practitioners because they do not know and are not wise to the mind's tricks. This is because they lack wisdom. Therefore, in the practice of mental cultivation, it is essential to be constantly awake. The various mental objects that pass in and out through the different sense doors must first be carefully considered and investigated by mindfulness and clear comprehension every single time.
Laying the Foundation for Practice
If you are going to take the path of the heart and mind, know that the eighty-four thousand sections of the Dhamma are found in the heart alone. You must guard only this heart, keep it secure. Guard only the heart throughout your life.
The basic principles are:
Maintain the Five Precepts (Pañcasīla) in their purity.
Establish yourself in the Ten Courses of Wholesome Action (Dasa-kusalakammapatha).
Keep your body, speech, and mind pure.
When you are among many people or speaking with them, you can sometimes forget yourself. Look into this mind. This mind is the leader; it controls bodily action (Kāyakamma) and verbal action (Vacīkamma). Know what comes into the body; look here at this mind. This mind is the one that knows. This very mind is the one that is deluded. This mind is the one that lets go.
You must practice until this body, speech, and mind are in good order. This body emerges from this mind. Contemplate this body; it is not constant. This mind is not constant either.
The eighty-four thousand sections of the Dhamma all point right here to this mind. The mind is the cause, so let the mind let go. Let the mind relinquish. Let the mind uproot. Uproot everything completely; only then will it work. The first uprooting is done by the mind. The uprooting is here in the mind, the letting go is here in the mind, the relinquishing is here in the mind. Let the mind be the guardian. We must guard the eyes, guard the ears, guard the nose, guard the tongue, and guard this body and speech.
When a form comes through the eye, the thought arises in the mind. Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, it is right here in the mind.
Use your precepts to lead everything out from your heart. Let go from this heart. Let this mind relinquish; let this mind uproot it all.
When you go among many people, you talk and talk and then get lost in it all, just infatuated. You must incline back to your own mind. Whatever it may be, incline it towards the mind. The eighty-four thousand sections of the Dhamma point right here to one's own mind.
The preceptor—the monk who presides over the ordination ceremony, who is like a spiritual father giving birth to one in the homeless life—teaches about this very body: Hair of the head (Kesā), hair of the body (Lomā), nails (Nakhā), teeth (Dantā), skin (Taco). This is a fundamental and important meditation object (Kammaṭṭhāna), known as the The Five-fold Meditation Object (Pañcaka-kammaṭṭhāna) and Mindfulness of the Body (Kāyagatā-kammaṭṭhāna). This is the foundation of the body. The body itself does not know clearly; the knowing happens here in the mind.
Use the mind to let go of all things that come through the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, and the mind. Whether the form seen by the eye is pleasing or displeasing, or the sound heard by the ear is pleasing or displeasing, or the smell, taste, or touch is pleasing or displeasing.
Use these precepts to lead them out with your own wisdom. Out from this mind. The mind is the knower, the one who lets go, who uproots, who relinquishes. Taking on every single thing is too much; it is all just Dhamma Intoxication (Dhamma-mada). Dhamma intoxication, in this context, refers to a state where the mind becomes attached to or delights in the mental objects that arise, or even becomes attached to the results of the practice, causing the mind to lose its neutrality and go astray.
A nation relies on its many people. Whichever path it takes, it must be established in justice. Whichever path you take, be diligent in your practice continuously. If something arises that causes affliction, just incline back to the mind to calm it, and then there is ease. Just know the present moment; this is what it means to be Buddho, Dhammo, Sangho. Doing just this much is enough.
Cutting Off the Past and Future
As for the past and future, use wisdom to lead them all out. Cut off the past and future completely, leaving nothing behind. The past and future have been coming since time immemorial.
Once the past and future are cut off, let the mind rest firmly in the present. Walk with the present, be empty in the present, relinquish in the present. This is what it means to be Buddho (Buddho), this is what it means to be Dhammo (Dhammo), Sangho (Saṅgho)—it is right here.
To look elsewhere is futile. One must guard the eyes, guard the nose, guard the tongue, guard the ears, guard the body and mind at all times. When you meet many people, there will be many different things. Even while speaking, you must incline back to the mind, to establish awareness and know your own mind.
The five clinging-aggregates arise from this mind. The five aspects of impermanence (Anicca) arise from this mind. The cause arises from this mind. The five aspects of suffering (Dukkha), the five aspects of not-self (Anattā), and the five aspects of permanence—it is permanent, it stays constant, it is steady. The five aspects of not-self means it has all been relinquished. Then it becomes a self established within, and if you keep grasping, it becomes a self. But one dwells depending on not-self, because that is what is being investigated.
The preceptor teaches by pointing to this body first: hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, skin. Think of the five-part meditation object, the mindfulness of the body.
When you have the opportunity, sit and cultivate calm. When suffering arises, it arises right here, in this mind. Aches in the legs, aches in the back, aches in the waist—they all arise. Define the suffering until you know its cause and effect, until you know the cause that brings the suffering to be experienced. When the cause of suffering ceases, our conditioning factors also cease. Ignorance (Avijjā), the darkness, ceases right here. Make the mind steadfast.
Observing the precepts is decreed here in the mind. Concentration (Samādhi) and wisdom (Paññā) are decreed here in this body and mind. Just these two.
Knowing the way of the body, you set it all down. Knowing the way of the body draws you back to this mind. The eighty-four thousand sections of the Dhamma are known in this mind. The mind is the cause, so use this mind to let go, use this mind to uproot, use this mind to relinquish. Relinquish it right here in the mind. Only then will it be effective. If you try to use something else, it won't work.
What the preceptor teaches about this body is good. Calmness is in this body, good. Calmness is in this mind. Good thoughts are in this mind; bad thoughts are in this mind. As you keep watching, you gain strength. As you go deeper and deeper, you gain the power that Ajahn, using an old expression, called clearing the blockage (berk ya), which means to open the way to see and know the truth. When a practitioner inclines inward to practice with body, speech, and mind, the Dhamma will arise in this heart.
Feeling (Vedanā) is action (Kamma) itself. It is not just with us. Feeling is the action of merit; feeling is the action of demerit. Incline inward here until you reach the indeterminate states. This path is not one of thick defilement. The supernormal is the foundation. Incline inward here.
Talking a lot, conversing a lot—it becomes too much. Stop. Incline back into the mind first, before you forget. Just this much is enough to get by. Taking on too much will lead to suffering. This mind is what thinks; this mind is what suffers. Cut it all out. Don't think, don't ponder. When there is no thinking, our mind is established in its normal state, not going anywhere.
Forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and the five kinds of mental objects—don't let them ferment in the mind. Let them pass by. Don't gather them in. Then the mind will be in its normal state, not going anywhere. The eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body will be in their normal states.
Forms, sounds, smells, tastes—these are the ways of the world. They praise the good, they criticize the bad, they speak of evil. It has always been like this. Guard your mind well. Do it every day. Whenever you have a chance to rest, practice. Do it a lot. It will make the mind joyful and radiant.
Maintaining Calmness and Letting Go
To maintain calmness is to let the mind relinquish. Whatever remains as a hindrance in this mind, let it be relinquished.
Generosity (Cāgo) and relinquishment (Paṭinissaggo)—return them to their source. Our own possessions are already here: our greed, anger, and delusion are fully present. The bad is here, the good is here, feeling is here, everything is here. We don't need to take things from others. Then we can relinquish, we can give it all back. Find a strategy to uproot it from this mind. Don't let it ferment; that is suffering.
Ajahn said to let go of everything. For instance, if we love someone and then let go of them, is that what you would call heartless? The answer is that bringing in too many things just creates a mess. It is all right here: the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. The five precepts are based right here. Two legs, two arms, one head. Forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and the five mental objects—just let them pass by. Pass by, that is all. Good or bad. They praise the good, they criticize the bad; this talk goes on constantly, filling the world, the country, the cities. So, we just relinquish it. Don't take it in to ferment in your heart. Relinquish it right here. Let it go from the mind. You don't let go anywhere else. You use this mind to let go—that's what works.
Ajahn Waen used the analogy that a 'map' is theoretical knowledge or memorized scriptures, while 'building a city' is the actual practice until results arise in one's own heart. This points out that true knowledge must come from practice, not just memorization. He said:
Don't just carry a map, looking at the map, looking at directions. You can memorize a lot and talk about it, but you can't build a city with it.
It must come into the body. Decree it in this body, decree it in this mind. It is all included here. You let go right here in this body and mind, not anywhere else. The past and future are also let go of right here in the mind. When you bring them in, you get stuck right there. Stuck, going around and around—which means to be bogged down or to circle around the same old thoughts without finding a way out—then you're in trouble. You have to see through it. This is how you cut it off.
When we make our mind calm, then everything becomes bright—the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind, both past and future. Lead it all out. Our mind goes and collects the entire past and future. And then, recollect the Buddha continuously.
You have to find contentment. Right now, we are going to make our mind relinquish everything. We have seen enough of everything, heard enough. Regarding worldly matters, we've heard enough. Don't take it in to ferment in the heart anymore.
The great wheel of samsara—birth, aging, sickness, and death—is grinding down on us. That is, the cycle of birth and death, which is the reality that crushes all beings and causes suffering. This is real. If we keep on shouldering this and that, it is all just Dhamma intoxication.
Mental objects are just perception (Saññā). Perception goes and remembers it, our mind receives it, and then thinking about it over and over again causes distress. Right now, we are going to practice contentment. Let everything be enough. Be done with delusion, be done with greed, be done with anger. These are the roots and foundations of all defilements and craving.
Satisfaction is due to craving (Taṇhā); dissatisfaction is also due to this craving. Craving for sensual pleasures (Kāmataṇhā) is like the water from countless small rivers and streams flowing into the ocean, which is never full. In the same way, it just keeps flowing. This craving never has enough
We will practice contentment right now. Make the mind radiant. Be established in virtue, established in the Dhamma, established in concentration. We will practice contentment right now. Don't bring up anything else. Past and future are gone, they have ceased, they have been swept away. This craving never has enough, but right now we will cast out this very craving of 'never-enough'.
Right now, we will work on our mind, our heart, our body, to know clearly within ourselves. Let go of everything else. The relinquishing is here in the mind; the letting go is here in the mind. It is upon these formations (Saṅkhāra). The formations fashion and condition; they arise and cease. The harm, the suffering, the danger—suffering, impermanence, not-self—it's all spoken of right here. It comes from the formations fashioning and conditioning this and that. The past and future are this. You cut it right here. The mind then becomes still in the present, knows the present, lets go in the present. You let go right at the mind. Where else would you let go? You can't carry it with you; it's a waste of time.
Right now, find complete contentment, make the mind radiant, and know clearly the path (Magga), the fruition (Phala), the concentration, the wisdom. The mind lets go right here, relinquishes right here. Where else would it relinquish? The past and future are relinquished right here in the mind. Use this mind to let go, use this mind to uproot. Uproot it, uproot it. Know the mental object for what it is, and it all gets relinquished. The mental object is the mind. The mind is normal. The eye is normal. The ear, nose, tongue, and body are normal. There are only forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and the five mental objects—just letting them pass by is enough. Don't let them ferment in the mind, and the mind won't be troubled.
Greed, anger, delusion—we have all of these things. The fifteen hundred defilements, the one hundred and eight kinds of craving—they are all right here. Don't go shouldering them. Delusion is right here. Stupidity is right here. Ignorance, the darkness, is right here. We already have more than enough of our own; we don't need to take anyone else's. We just have to keep uprooting it. Use this mind to uproot. The bad passes by, the good passes by; everything passes by. The mind is then neutral, it has freedom. Once free, this mind can laugh.
All dhammas, both good and bad, flow from a cause. Once you see through the cause, it ceases. Ignorance ceases. You see and know the truth of everything. This mind is important. The cause arises from this mind. Enough. Start practicing letting go. Make a resolution. Now that you have a quiet moment, you will make your mind let go of everything. Enough now, you have been through enough, relinquish it all.
If you have real truthfulness—true body, true speech, true mind—you won't get lost following after them. All these mental objects that have passed, the past and future, they are all because of mental objects. We remember them and let them ferment in the mind, and it causes distress. Practice complete contentment. Anger, greed, delusion—which are the shadows and roots of all defilements (Kilesa)—we will relinquish them all, let go of them all. Defilements come from all directions. Liking and disliking are defilements. Love and hate are the defilements themselves: craving for sensual pleasures, craving for being (Bhavataṇhā), craving for non-being (Vibhavataṇhā). There is no end to it. Enough. Right now, we will make the mind content with everything.
This mind is the one that lets go, the one that relinquishes, the one that uproots. This mind is the cause itself. It remembers things, and after remembering, it will think and ponder. Sometimes when you sit, you will feel pain in your back and waist. Then you'll be grabbing at this and that. Then you'll feel drowsy and sleepy. Your back hurts, your legs hurt. Alright, I'm lazy, I'll just go to sleep. You've slept every single day; you haven't done the practice. You try to say Buddho, Buddho, but it just becomes Dhamma intoxication. You have to let go in the mind, clear it out in the mind. Practice contentment right here in the mind. Establish the resolve to do it for real. True body, true speech, true mind, that's all. When the mind has let go of everything, relinquished everything, there is only the pure heart. To be clear about Nibbāna (Nibbāna) is to be clear about that. To be clear about the mind that is in its normal state.
And Ajahn gave a word of caution for traveling and a reminder of the power of recollecting the Triple Gem: "Whether getting on a bus, a plane, a helicopter, or any kind of vehicle, you should think of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha every time... If you are heading into danger, you should take the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha as your refuge. Request their power to protect you and keep you free from all dangers... Even if the car flips over or crashes, it won't matter. There was a man who took a plane to the border. The plane caught fire and crashed, and everyone died. That one man was the sole survivor. He had been in three plane crashes and was never harmed at all. Wow... 'I thought of Luang Pu,' that's what he said."
Contemplating Corporeality and Mentality
We must teach the Dhamma inwardly. Listening is done solely within this body. Now, practice meditation. Take the body as the path, take the body as the fruition. You will all let go of the five clinging-aggregates, the five aspects of impermanence, the five aspects of suffering, the five aspects of not-self. Let go of this corporeality (Rūpadhamma) and mentality (Nāmadhamma). If you can relinquish it, it becomes the Dhamma. If you cannot relinquish it, you grasp onto corporeality and mentality, making them into a self, a being. That is just being in a state of Dhamma intoxication.
Contemplate the formations, the mentality-corporeality, as they are. The five aspects of impermanence, the five aspects of suffering, the five aspects of not-self, the five clinging-aggregates.
The five clinging-aggregates are composed of:
The corporeality clinging-aggregate, which is the first clinging-aggregate.
The feeling clinging-aggregate, which is the second clinging-aggregate.
The perception clinging-aggregate, which is the third clinging-aggregate.
The formations clinging-aggregate, which is the fourth clinging-aggregate.
The consciousness clinging-aggregate, which is the fifth clinging-aggregate.
Once you have investigated the four elements and the five aggregates (Khandha) and have been able to relinquish these four elements and five aggregates, the meditation becomes calm and good. When feeling ceases, perception ceases, formations cease, and consciousness (Viññāṇa) ceases, and the conventional aspect of corporeality—earth, water, fire, wind—is relinquished, then there is ease, and the mind calms down.
Purify your five precepts. This eye is one kind of precept. This ear is one kind of precept. Lead the wrong out of the eye, out of the ear, out of the nose, out of the tongue, out of all four or five of these aspects of the body. The five precepts are just this. Lead the wrong, the liking and disliking, out of your mind and heart until it is completely pure.
The Path and Meditative Development
You should just do it. You can take Buddho as your repetition (Parikamma), or you can take Dhammo as your repetition, as your path of meditation.
Once you have Buddho, Buddho as the constant object of the mind, and you exert intense effort, the breath can also become tranquil. But be careful not to let it become Dhamma intoxication. Different visions must be investigated. Once you see through them, you let them go. To get stuck playing around with them is also a form of Dhamma intoxication. This Buddho, Buddho... Buddho, Buddho can turn into Dhamma intoxication. Dhammo, Dhammo doesn't become Dhammo; it turns into Dhamma intoxication. Sangho, Sangho—these are mental objects for the mind. Stay focused on one point for a long time, and the mind can calm down into concentration as well.
Guard against this Dhamma intoxication. Past Dhamma intoxication, future Dhamma intoxication. The past is over; it has passed by and become Dhamma intoxication. The future has not yet arrived and is also Dhamma intoxication. When the mind is firmly in the present, then it is Dhammo.
The past and future are Dhamma intoxication. Be very careful. There are only these two things that become Dhamma intoxication. Apart from the mind being firmly rooted in the present—this is Dhammo. It doesn't spin according to formations, it doesn't spin according to convention, and then it is workable.
So, contemplate this. You can take Buddho as the path, the path of meditation. Or you can take the body as the path, contemplating the bodily formations, the mentality-corporeality. Use this until you are skilled.
The sons of good families who come to ordain into the homeless life, their preceptors teach them that this body is the path. Hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, skin; skin, teeth, nails, hair of the body, hair of the head—forward order (Anuloma), reverse order (Paṭiloma). From the top, contemplate from the toenails up to the tips of the hair. From the bottom, contemplate from the tips of the hair down to the toenails. This is the path. Take the body as the path.
Whenever everything has been relinquished, when you no longer grasp corporeality and mentality as a self or a being, then perception calms down. Formations—the conditioning, the arising, the ceasing, all the harm and danger, impermanence, suffering, not-self—cease. Consciousness—the knowing of good and bad, of merit and demerit, of right and wrong—also ceases completely. Then the mind can calm down.
Guarding against this Dhamma intoxication is difficult because it is wrapped up in the past and future. The past that one has known and seen, talked about, and played with—when you try to establish the point of Buddho, Buddho, it's going to turn into Dhamma intoxication. The moment you are heedless, it has already become Dhamma intoxication, intoxicated with thinking about this and that. The past that you have seen is brought up to think about and becomes Dhamma intoxication. The Buddho that you intended to use as a repetition, as a mental object for the mind, cannot be used. It has already become Dhamma intoxication.
It fashions and conditions, arises and ceases in everything. Therefore, guard against Dhamma intoxication. The past is one form of Dhamma intoxication, and the future is another. The mind firmly in the present, knowing the present, letting go in the present, cutting off craving, cutting off defilements, cutting off conceit and views, cutting off one's own grasping and clinging until it is finished—then it can be calm. Just guard against this one thing, Dhamma intoxication. If you are heedless, it becomes Dhamma intoxication. If you are not heedless, and Buddho, Dhammo is firmly established, that is the mental object for the mind, the path for the mind, and it can be a refuge for the mind.
It's all about guarding this one thing. Make it a habit until it is firmly established. Doing that is workable. Just having views without practice is also Dhamma intoxication. You must not think, not ponder. Getting lost, intoxicated with status, intoxicated with honor—that is Dhamma intoxication.
Unwholesome Dhamma intoxication, wholesome Dhamma intoxication—they are established right there. Unshakeable Dhamma intoxication is a point for contemplation, for directing the mind to be firm and calm. That is workable.
When you investigate down to this unwholesome (Akusala) Dhamma intoxication—delusion, greed, anger arise—that gives rise to defilements. It is that very thing, the delusion, the greed, the anger, the lust. Cut off the defilements and craving. Sickness and illness are the root and foundation of all defilements. The five defilements, the countless cravings, all depend on volition (Cetanā). This craving—the satisfaction—is a defilement.
This delusion and greed arise. Suppress the delusion, greed, anger, lust, these defilements. Cut them all out, let them all cease. We can know this delusion and greed clearly, can't we? The conscious and unconscious formations, the wholesome (Kusala) and unwholesome states—we can let go of them, we can relinquish them, can't we? The meritorious formations, the demeritorious formations—we can fashion them to be meritorious and wholesome, to be acts of giving. The unwholesome states fashion us to be greedy, to be angry, to be deluded. They fashion lust and defilements to arise in our mind and heart. When we can let go of it all, it becomes Dhammo. If we cannot let go, it becomes Dhamma intoxication. This unwholesome intoxication—intoxicated with greed, delusion, anger everywhere—is the master of all defilements. The defilements, the craving, the great floods of sensuality, the flood of being, the flood of views—it is all the same thing. The great ignorance. When this group is extinguished, ah, the heart and mind are at ease. Repeat Buddho to keep it calm as a single mental object.
When you habitually try to let go, it doesn't cut through decisively. That very attempt at letting go becomes Dhamma intoxication. It's used to being intoxicated; it is intoxicated with thinking. It's the past that thinks, fashions, and conditions things regarding formations, arising and ceasing, the harm and danger, impermanence, suffering, not-self. When you understand the nature of formations, then ah, that's Dhamma intoxication.
At that point, contemplate this body more and more, in its composite nature as aggregates. As earth, water, fire, wind—these four elements that are being grasped. Feeling, perception, formations, consciousness—this is mentality. When mentality arises, one forgets oneself, you see? One doesn't know the formations. This mentality is what fashions things first—it fashions both demerit and merit, both wrong and right, both bad and good. If you get lost in it, it's Dhamma intoxication. If you don't get lost, it's Dhammo. When anger and delusion have been completely let go of, then this is constantly Dhammo.
As for contemplating formations, mentality-corporeality, it is simply a matter of knowing that wholesome states, unwholesome states, and indeterminate states exist. Wholesome states and unwholesome states—we can fashion these. We can fashion merit, we can fashion demerit. We can fashion the mind not to be greedy, not to be deluded, not to be angry. We can fashion it so that lust and defilements do not arise. That is workable. If you cannot fashion it, and you fall under the power of delusion and greed, then it is unworkable. They are fashioning you, you see. And if they are fashioning you, then you will be in distress.
This delusion, greed, and anger—we can fashion them. Meritorious formations, demeritorious formations. Meritorious formations—we can fashion them to be meritorious and wholesome. Demeritorious formations—we can fashion demerit to arise in our mind and heart. Then it will just be Dhamma intoxication constantly.
Taking it too seriously becomes Dhamma intoxication. This Dhamma intoxication is difficult. It brings up things from time immemorial. When you establish your practice, things arise from who knows where. This Dhamma intoxication is significant. As soon as you are heedless, you become intoxicated with thinking, with pondering.
A practitioner must be more diligent than ordinary. Make your mind unwavering. Where could there be any doubt? It's just the old things conditioning pleasant and unpleasant feelings. They arise and cease, and we don't see through them. If you see through them, they cease. If you keep a close watch on them like this, they will gradually lose their power. Cut off the past and future completely. The mind is firm in the present, knows in the present, lets go in the present, does in the present, is clear in the present.
Action and Volition
The reason some people want to do evil and some people want to do good is that those who do evil have no opportunity to do good because they only think of doing evil. It is because of action. Volition—that's action.
Volition is the action of merit; volition is the action of demerit. It is all volition, both of them. The Buddha said, "Cetanāhaṃ, bhikkhave, vadāmi," which means, "Monks, I say that volition is action." This volition is the action itself—good action, bad action.
An example of volition that is meritorious action is the volition to observe the precepts today, to keep the precepts pure in body and speech, and to keep the mind radiant, content, with patience and endurance in both body and mind. Past and future are not involved. Past Dhamma intoxication, future Dhamma intoxication.
Those who do evil must fall into hell realms continuously. Will they have a chance to redeem themselves? No, they won't. They have already committed the actions with body, speech, and mind. The volition to kill living beings, the volition to steal—all volition. It carries much action. The volition is bad action.
He said that volition should be meritorious action. Establish yourself in the volition to guard the body with truthfulness. True body, true speech, and the mind not agitated or distracted. Find complete contentment. The eye is already in its normal state. The ear, nose, tongue, and body are in their normal state. The mind is in its normal state. The mind hasn't gone anywhere. The pure mind is established in its normal state; it doesn't go anywhere. It is only this perception that goes out and remembers things, bringing them back to ferment in the mind. Then the mind becomes distressed, that's all.
Conclusion: Creating Your Own Perfections
Someone once asked Ajahn, "What is a 'counterfeit mind'?" He answered:
"The counterfeit mind is just formations. It is a convention, a 'counterfeit mind.' Arising, ceasing, suffering, impermanence, not-self—it all comes from these formations. The counterfeit mind... The true mind is the pure mind. If you can let go, and the mind is pure, then there is ease. There is no counterfeit mind."
Once, Ajahn answered a question about how one can know what someone was in a past life. The answer was this: when one is endowed with knowledge and conduct and possesses the three higher knowledges, one has the knowledge of remembering former abodes (Pubbenivāsānussati-ñāṇa).
Like Luang Pu Mun, who was Ajahn Waen's teacher, he studied until he knew well that he had been aspiring for Buddhahood (Buddhabhūmi) for so many lifetimes, so many aeons, or that the Buddha had already made a prediction about him. As he investigated deeper and deeper, he reached the day he made the vow for Buddhahood.
But this dying and being born has happened many times. Dying because of sensual pleasure, being born because of sensual pleasure, suffering because of sensual pleasure, being happy because of sensual pleasure. He looked up at the heavens, all the way to the realm of Buddhahood. Buddho.
We will not be dying and being born without limit anymore. From then on, he accelerated his efforts until two in the morning, when he attained the second knowledge: the knowledge of the passing away and reappearance of beings (Cutūpapāta-ñāṇa). Knowing where beings from this realm cease and are reborn there, where beings from that realm cease and are reborn here, ceasing there and being born yonder.
This is the knowledge of the passing away and reappearance of beings. The knowledge of the destruction of the defilements (Āsavakkhaya-ñāṇa) is the third level of knowledge. Knowing that one's own defilements have been utterly extinguished. The defilements of the body and speech are utterly extinguished. The defilements of our mind are utterly extinguished. Our action has been concluded; it is action that will not sprout again.
The final mind-moment has already ceased. Relying on the five powers: the power of faith (Saddhā), the power of effort, the power of mindfulness, the power of concentration, and the power of wisdom. To know with radiant clarity for the sake of the final extinguishing of the aggregates at parinibbāna. We do not delight in creating a new existence. Then the story is over.
In the end, as long as we still have existence, still have birth, then birth, aging, sickness, and death are a great wheel. The wheel of samsara grinds beings. Birth, aging, sickness, and death are real.
When you stop to rest, cultivate calm immediately. Practice right here in the mind. There are so many people. Talking to this person is one way, talking to that person is another. It never quite aligns.
Our lifespan and formations are reaching their limit. The days, nights, months, and years are all running out. Whatever we are doing, we must be diligent with our mind, continuously.
When the four elements and the five aggregates are about to separate:
Earth goes back to being old earth.
Water goes back to being old water.
Fire goes back to being old fire.
Wind goes back to being old wind.
The space element is left as it was.
Only the mind remains. Earth is not the mind, water is not the mind, fire is not the mind, wind is not the mind.
But we rely on these things. This is the inheritance from our mother and father. Na and Mo—these elemental aggregates. This is a valuable inheritance. To establish oneself in the precepts, one relies on this inheritance from one's parents and grandparents. When one wants to make merit, one relies on this inheritance from one's parents as the foundation. To study worldly knowledge, one uses this inheritance from one's parents as the foundation.
Therefore, when people wanted to come and pay respects to Ajahn's "perfections" (Pāramī), he offered this final piece of wisdom:
"Perfections must be created by oneself. It's like wanting your mango tree to be heavy with fruit; you must diligently nurture and care for it, not just go and admire someone else's mango tree. You must plant and nurture your own mango tree. Creating perfections is the same. You must create them, you must do it yourself."