Today seems strange. You sit and wait for me in somewhat peaceful manner. On most Saturdays, there’s usually a lot of mental distraction – mostly planning where to go after the sermon ends. But on Sundays, there isn’t as much mental distraction. After the sermon, you hurry home.
People are all running after happiness. Throughout life, they run only after happiness. Everyone wants to attain happiness. The happiness they know is a kind of happiness that, in monastic language, would be called sensual pleasure. Happiness from watching movies, listening to music, eating delicious food, going sightseeing, talking with friends, having a fun group, doing activities. It’s a happiness that involves mingling. Most of it involves mingling. It requires involvement with other people. Happiness that involves other people is somewhat half-baked. It’s not true happiness because people are chaotic. Each person is busy with their own one or two things. When they meet, they just combine their chaos together.
Mingle only as necessary, seclude yourselves from time to time
Fun, they go have fun, but it’s not happiness. It’s tiring. But most people only get that much. They can’t distinguish between happiness and fun. They think that having fun means they’re happy. In truth, it’s tiring, busy, chaotic. Going to sing karaoke, drinking alcohol and then singing songs. Whoever hears it doesn’t really experience happiness. The singer thinks, “Oh, I’m so happy,” having fun. The happiness of the world, sensual pleasure, it always impacts other people and other things. The Buddha taught about happiness. He said there is no happiness equal to peace. Therefore, peace is the highest form of happiness. Fun isn’t very peaceful. It’s chaotic. Tiring life.
Some people think that being rich means being happy. They work themselves to death to make money. When they get money, they have to figure out how to preserve it. Having possessions, having a house, hoping to be happy. Having a house brings many responsibilities that follow. Having to maintain and take care of it. The happiness of the world is not peaceful. It’s full of chaos. Happiness that depends on sights, sounds, smells, tastes, various physical contacts is not peaceful. It’s constantly colliding. If you like a certain woman, you have to compete for her. That person also likes her. Or if you like a certain man, this person competes, that person competes. Some men are objects of interest. There is constant friction in this pitiful world. Running after happiness, but not knowing that profound happiness, refined happiness, is peace.
How can you find peace? If you live in the world, you try to mingle with others as little as possible. Mingle only as necessary. Not interacting with others at all makes it difficult to live in the world. Humans are social animals. Living alone, doing things alone, is difficult to sustain. But knowing how to maintain some distance, keeping space from others, then life will have happiness because it becomes more peaceful. Mingling with many people, there is no peace. That’s why teachers/masters, when the time comes, they seclude themselves. Even the Buddha, when the time came, he had to periodically seclude himself. Sometimes the Buddha secluded himself and didn’t meet anyone for three months. Not involving himself with anyone.
If you live in the world, when you have time, you should seclude yourselves occasionally. In the past, when I was working, I saved up my leave days. I didn’t use my leave days to invite people to go here and there, to drink alcohol and such. Not at all. I saved all his leave days to go to the temple. Going to the temple, I didn’t go to do anything in particular. I went to practice meditation. I went to stay in the forest. I went to stay under trees. During the day, I stayed at the base of trees. At night, I slept. If there was a monk’s dwelling, I slept there. If not, I set up a tent or opened an umbrella tent. It was comfortable. Nature doesn’t provoke defilements. My mind didn’t have to ripple up and down in chaos. And there was happiness.
Therefore, even though you are laypeople, you should know how to maintain some distance from others and also know how to withdraw and seclude yourselves from time to time. If you cannot seclude yourselves, at home you can establish your own rules. This time period is personal time. Personal time is not for watching series. Personal time is when you pay respects to the Buddha, recite prayers, and practice meditation. Do this every day. At the very least, if you cannot seclude yourselves for the whole day, you seclude yourselves for a period of time. Even one hour is good. Each day, spend time with yourself, cultivate peace, learn about yourself, and don’t get involved with others. Therefore, as laypeople, you must have mindfulness and wisdom. You should know how to find happiness from peace sometimes. Mingle only as necessary. When you have time, you seclude yourselves and seek peace. Pay respects to the Buddha, recite prayers, practice meditation, listen to Dhamma teachings. Set aside time specifically. Have self-discipline. This way, as laypeople, you can find some peace. And if you want to go beyond that, you practice entering meditation.
Happiness that arises from peace begins with meditation practice
Practicing meditation sounds difficult because this era is an era of short attention spans. Attention spans are short because sensory contact is strong. It pulls your mind to splash here and there. If you have self-discipline, when the time comes, you separate yourselves. You practice alone. Let’s say after 8 PM, you don’t get involved with anyone anymore. You practice, sitting meditation, walking meditation. You separate yourselves. Then we can practice meditation.
Now, if you’re really skilled, in this ordinary life, when you have 5 minutes free, you can practice meditation if you know how. I used my time when I was a layperson, not just before going to sleep. Sometimes I would sleep, then late at night I woke up when it was quiet and peaceful, and practiced meditation. In the past, I would use the method of drinking a lot of water before sleeping so I would need to urinate again quickly. Then when I needed to urinate, when everyone else was asleep, I would wake up and could practice meditation. I could be with myself. It was like being in the forest already. At that point, it was quiet with nothing happening, no need to get involved with anything. During the day while working, I would take breaks periodically, for about an hour, a short hour, something like that. When walking to the restroom, I would observe the body walking. After finishing urination, while walking back to continue working, I would watch the mind coming back because the mind had entered a state of meditation.
Initially, meditation goes outward, it goes to work. When you take a break, you return to awareness of the body. Then, after you’re aware of the body for a period, the mind gains strength because you have trained it well. You will be able to observe your own mind. I trained this way because I was once a layperson like all of you. In the past, when I was a layperson like you, the phrase “no time to practice” did not exist in my index because if you have 5 minutes, practice for 5 minutes. If you have 10 minutes, practice for 10 minutes. If an hour, practiced for an hour. Know how to seclude yourself without getting involved with others. So, use that time to meditate. The mind gradually becomes peaceful. Especially if during the day you gather small moments, as I explained, by evening when you sit in meditation or practice walking meditation, the mind becomes peaceful easily. If the mind is distracted all day, never taking a break, then when evening comes and you try to sit in meditation, you just fall asleep. The mind is too tired. It doesn’t have the energy to maintain itself in meditation. Therefore, it will have no strength.
As laypeople, you should get involved with others minimally and withdraw yourselves. Withdrawing doesn’t necessarily mean going away for many days. Walking to the bathroom is already withdrawing because when you go to the bathroom, you go alone, right? Do people ever invite others to go to the same bathroom together to chat? It doesn’t happen. But these days it does happen. In the past, when traveling and stopping to use the bathroom at gas stations or other places, as a monk, I couldn’t just stand and urinate. I had to wait for a bathroom. In the past, there were plenty of empty bathrooms. When you arrived, you could go right in. These days, when you get there, all the doors are closed. People inside are playing on their mobile phones. Just pressing away. Having fun. They have nowhere else to play, so they play in bathrooms. It’s like this almost everywhere now. What is so fun about it? Why are they so lost in the world?
Even when going to the bathroom, it’s a time when you are alone, private. When entering the bathroom, don’t be busy playing with your mobile phone. When in the bathroom, you should practice. This is gathering little by little. And in one day, if you can gather 5 minutes each hour, for 12 hours that’s 60 minutes. Don’t think it’s little; it amounts to quite a lot. Because if you practice during the day, by evening or nighttime, when you meditate you won’t fall asleep while sitting. The mind will have strength. This is how to develop meditation.
Worldly happiness, as I’ve said, is not true happiness. Because worldly happiness, called sensual pleasure, is not peaceful. It’s full of distraction, full of addiction. Happiness that arises from peace begins with meditation practice. What I teach extensively is about meditation Occasionally, for some people, I will teach about developing wisdom. Therefore, meditation is an essential foundation of practice. It’s just that I don’t speak in textbook language about sitting meditation, starting with preliminary sign, until obtaining the learning sign, obtaining the counterpart sign. Speaking like that only amounts to memorization for exams, not knowing how to actually practice.
Meditation is an essential foundation of practice
The essential core of meditation practice is not to abandon mindfulness. Simply by having mindfulness, continuously being aware of a single object, the secret lies in: First, having mindfulness, don’t lose mindfulness. If mindfulness is lost, it immediately becomes wrong meditation. And you should know a single object continuously. That single object means knowing only one thing. If you know 5 different things at once, the mind becomes distracted. Know just one thing. The mind will consent to know a single object if the mind is happy to know that object. Therefore, the secret of meditation practice: first, place the mind correctly. The mind is merely the one who is mindfully aware, not forcing the mind. Use this ordinary mind, being normally self-aware, in an ordinary way.
And then be aware of the object. You must observe yourself to see what meditation object you are using and find happiness with. Use that object as an abiding state for creating peace. For instance, in my case, I learned from teachers since childhood. At 7 years old, I began learning meditation. Learning to breathe in “Bud,” breathe out “dho,” counting 1. Breathe in “Bud,” breathe out “dho,” counting 2. The master taught to count up to 10 and then count backward 9, 8, 7, and so on. I couldn’t count properly. As a child, counting backward was tiring; it required thinking. So, I counted from 1 to 100 instead. Breathe in “Bud,” breathe out “dho,” count 1. Breathe in “Bud,” breathe out “dho,” count 2. Count up to 100. Practiced like this.
When the mind begins to be peaceful and happy, not needing to be troubled with anyone, just sitting and breathing alone. Sometimes lying down, breathing while lying down. Otherwise, if getting up to sit, adults might be startled, as I was still a child. So, I would just meditate lying down like that. Lying down, breathing in “Bud,” breathing out “dho,” counting 1, 2, 3, and so on. When the mind begins to be peaceful, the counting disappears. Only breathing in “Bud,” breathing out “dho” remains. When the mind becomes more peaceful, “Buddho” disappears. “Buddho” is a word thought up, a conceptual object, something extra. It becomes unnecessary. Only the breath remains.
When the mind becomes more peaceful, the breath subsides. The breath becomes light, subtle, and shallow. This shallow breath doesn’t mean it only comes down to this level of depth, down to that level of depth like that. It’s just at the tip of the nose, very slightly. It’s shallow just here, only a few millimeters. It feels like the breath touches slightly, then is still, then goes out. Continuing to meditate, the mind becomes peaceful. And my mind enjoys practicing mindfulness of breathing. If told to recite “Buddho” alone, the mind doesn’t like it. The mind gets irritated. There must be breath as well. At this point, everyone is different. You must observe yourselves to see which meditation object brings you happiness when you stay with it.
Like in this temple, there are some monks to whom I teach to contemplate bones. Contemplating bones brings them happiness. The mind becomes increasingly powerful, becoming established as the knower. Because when observing bones, if the mind flows into the bones, upon immediately recognizing this, the mind will prominently establish itself. At first, one continuously observes the bones, with the mind focused on the bones. When the mind gains strength, it withdraws to become the observer. When the mind is about to observe the bones and it flows into the bones, mindfulness immediately recognizes this, and the mind will spring up prominently, becoming the knower. In my case, I used the breath. When the mind stays with the breath, the breath subsides and becomes light. When the mind flows into the light, recognizing this, the mind becomes firmly established and prominent. It’s the same principle.
The happiness of the firmly established mind
At first, there is a meditation object, to lure the mind like bait for fishing. Luring the mind to stay in one place. And after that, gradually being aware of the mind again. Like when you recite “Buddho, Buddho,” the mind is already with “Buddho,” the mind is already with the breath. Keep practicing. Later, when the mind gains strength, it will notice that when knowing the breath, sometimes the mind flows into the breath. Sometimes with “Buddho,” the mind flows into the word “Buddho.” At the point where you recognize that the mind has flowed away, the mind will become firmly established and prominent. The mind that is peaceful, adhering to a single object, already has happiness here. And if the mind knows that it has flowed into the object, and then becomes firmly established and prominent, it attains another kind of meditation. There is another kind of happiness, different from before.
The happiness when the mind flows, sinks, soaks, and remains still with the object —well, it’s comfortable. But it’s somewhat a foolish kind of happiness. It doesn’t develop wisdom at that time. The mind goes down and soaks, staying still with the object. Is there happiness? There is happiness like a drug addict—pleasurable, comfortable. But if you keep practicing and you see that your mind flows into the meditation object, the mind will become firmly established/stable. This time, you will feel that you have awakened. It will be true wakefulness. Ordinary people are only physically awake, but their minds have never been awake. Their minds daydream all the time.
When you practice meditation, you recognize the mind as it moves—either moving toward the meditation object or moving away elsewhere, escaping to think about other things. Just know that you are aware of the mind, that’s all. If you are aware that the mind is moving, the mind will become firmly established and prominent. It doesn’t move. It has another kind of happiness. The happiness of meditation where the mind sinks down is a childish kind of happiness. When children play something, have you noticed? They are absentminded, engrossed. Are they happy? Like playing with dolls, they can talk to the dolls. This doll can talk to that doll. They don’t get distracted elsewhere. They have meditation and happiness too. But it’s a childish kind of happiness—a happiness of fantasy, absentmindedness, and engrossed.
But if your mind becomes firmly established/stable, it has the happiness of an adult. It knows, it is awake, and the heart becomes joyful by itself. Sometimes you are self-aware, doing various things without intention, and suddenly happiness arises by itself. Has anyone experienced this? Suddenly happiness wells up, without doing anything. You practice continuously, and your mind becomes established as the knower, the observer. This “knower” is sometimes translated as “Buddho.” “Buddho” means the knower, the awakened one, the joyful one. There is joy as well. Not the knower, the awakened one, the withered one. No. The mind is vibrant and joyful.
Try to practice, and you will attain more refined happiness. The happiness of peaceful meditation is a childlike happiness—like getting a toy that satisfies and not being mischievous elsewhere. The happiness of the firmly established/stable mind is like an adult’s happiness, ready to face all situations with a strong mind. Whatever comes along, the mind is firmly established as merely the observer, not getting involved. This is the happiness of two types of meditation.
A more refined happiness is the happiness from cultivating wisdom
A more refined happiness is the happiness from cultivating wisdom. The happiness from cultivating wisdom is strange. It’s not about doing meditation or anything. But you continually cultivate wisdom. Sometimes you practice calmness meditation, sometimes when the mind becomes established/stable, wisdom is cultivated seeing the movement and change of body and mind. As you continue practicing, knowledge arises, some understanding emerges. During meditation, sometimes in 7 days one knowledge arises, sometimes in one month knowledge arises, sometimes in 3 months knowledge and understanding arise.
Not about worldly knowledge, but knowledge about meditation itself. There is increasing understanding of the practice. At the point where understanding occurs, the mind takes a rest. At each moment when wisdom arises, after wisdom arises, the mind will rest for a period. And here there is happiness. It gets to rest, similar to when a difficult task is finished. This job is complete. Soon a new job begins. You go back to cultivating wisdom again. And when wisdom arises, the mind becomes peaceful, happiness emerges. One must have experienced this to be able to discern it.
Worldly happiness, this is easy to understand. The happiness from making the mind calm, letting the mind immerse in a single object like children. The happiness when the mind becomes established in meditation, this is a kind of strong happiness. And the mind becomes the knower, the awakened one. Sometimes there is joy that wells up. When you cultivate wisdom, you have a mind that is established, with mindfulness knowing body and mind according to reality, with a mind that is established and neutral. This process is the cultivation of wisdom. As you cultivate wisdom, sometimes the mind gains right knowledge, right understanding about various matters. The phrase “various matters” refers to matters of practice only. Not knowing what lottery numbers will come up – that’s not it. That would be complete distraction.
Sometimes when meditating, some understanding arises, there is happiness, there is a feeling of contentment. But it lasts approximately no more than 7 days before it fades. In the past, I would go out to meet teachers every month. In those days, teachers would come to give Dhamma talks in Bangkok. In one month, there were many locations – at the Ajahn Mun Foundation, at Wat Boromniwat, at the Noi temple near Rama 6, there were many places. I would check the schedule. There were also talks at Wat Benjamabophit. I would check which teacher would be giving a talk at which place on which Sunday. On Sundays, I wouldn’t go out for leisure, but I would go to listen to Dhamma.
Some Sundays when there were no teachers I had faith in, I wouldn’t go listen to Dhamma. I would stay home and practice my own meditation. Any Sunday when there was a teacher I had faith in, I would go seek them out, go listen. I wouldn’t talk with them because during the sermon there were many people, like when giving a sermon like this. I wouldn’t speak with anyone. But by going to sit and listen, by seeing them, my mind would gain strength, energy would arise. Seeing a monk being near a monk, hearing Dhamma from a monk – the heart becomes full. There is strength to face life for another week. Strong, not discouraged, able to face the world, able to face work.
Once a month, Luang Por would go out to Korat, to Wat Pa Salawan to visit Luang Por Put. There, one could talk with him. Mostly I would just sit and listen to him. I didn’t usually have much to ask him. Just sitting listening to him, being able to sit close by, my mind would gain strength. Gained a lot of strength. And then about every 3 months, during long holiday periods like Magha Puja, New Year – I wouldn’t go anywhere. The whole country is chaotic. During Magha Puja, Visakha Puja, Asalha Puja, and during the celebrations of December 5th – that period from December 5-10, during this time, when there were holidays, I would take a little time off work and could stay at the temple. About 3 months, 2-3 months. Sometimes the period would be long, 4-5 months depending on the opportunity. I would go to meditate at the temple. I would choose a place where I could really practice. Sometimes staying in the forest, sometimes under trees, sometimes in caves. But the caves I went to weren’t very good. There were so many mosquitoes, lots of them.
When going out like that, it was a time truly given to oneself. It was serious meditation. When going to visit teachers, sometimes I would think, “What homework will I submit?” Not knowing what homework to submit, I would just keep meditating. Then, “Oh, I understand this now.” When the time came, I would go submit my homework, go ask the teachers: “Venerable fathers/masters taught me like this. I practiced and got these results. This knowledge and understanding arose. Is it right or not right? If not right, may the venerable father/master please correct me. If it is right, may the venerable father/master tell me the path of practice to progress further.”
Teachers of earlier generations didn’t explain the way I explain now. I explain like giving a map. Teachers in the past would tell one shot at a time. Tell just one shot, one shot at a time. If you didn’t progress to that point, they wouldn’t tell more. If they had already told you, and you accomplished that part, when you submitted your homework, they would give you the next homework. This was the teaching method of teachers from previous generations. It was a good method for people who would struggle through. For people with weak faculties, especially in this age when people are full of thoughts and opinions, when taught to do something, they immediately question: “Why do it? Why must it be done? Can it be done another way?” Many questions arise.
Therefore, when teaching, I teach like a map. Look at the map here – from here you will go there. First, you must train the mind to have strength, to be established/stable. After that, train in cultivating wisdom. Cultivating wisdom begins with separating physical form from mental phenomena. One must teach in detail. Nowadays if teach just one shot, they won’t do it. The faculties of people in each generation have become weaker. But in the generation when I entered the temple, not everyone was determined either. Many just went to make merit, entering this temple, leaving that temple. There is an expression they call “Arahant Tour”. When there was news that a certain temple had an Arahant, they would arrange tour buses to go together. Stopping at this temple, then that temple, wandering on and on. What did they get? They got small amounts of merit.
Sometimes while sitting on the bus they would drink alcohol. Making merit mixed with sin. When free, they would play cards. A waste of time. If the bus crashed, they would die and become ghosts guarding the road. Could not achieve good. It’s not that everyone in the old generations was good. But the people who struggled, those who struggled did so genuinely. Willing to suffer hardship, willing to fight. But your generation is wishy-washy. Just a few days ago, someone came to ordain. Stayed only one day and ran away. Asked to disrobe already. Even though there was nothing wrong. Said he didn’t like it here. There were insects – mosquitoes. If don’t want mosquitoes, go live in the city. There are screen doors there. Each generation has become progressively weaker.
The elevated happiness that comes from the noble path and the noble fruit
If you practice, you gain knowledge and understanding. The mind feels fulfilled, has wisdom. And then after that, if the noble path arises, the noble fruit arises, there is happiness elevated to another level. When the noble path arises, from stream-entry upward, the mind has stability. It has stability. It knows that the journey from here on, in the remaining cycle of rebirth, will not fall lower. “Not falling lower” means not falling lower mentally. But physically, one might still fall lower.
For example, if you committed a lot of killing, then we practice and attain stream-entry. At the moment of attaining stream-entry, you are not committing killing. You have built up merit and perfections and have already attained stream-entry. Then when you die, the power of killing will give its result. But in any case, you will still be human. At minimum, you will be human. But you may be a sickly human. Karma will give its result this way. We will become a sickly person, or an angry person. Born as a human with an unappealing appearance. Whoever sees us will not feel happy.
Have you noticed that when your mind has happiness, has peace, your face still looks ordinary like this, but when people see your face, they feel at ease, because your mind is at ease. But if your mind is irritable all the time, whoever sees your face, they don’t feel at ease. This kind of karma produces its results. You are quick to anger, but have already attained Stream Entry, you no longer fall into hell, but the mind has no happiness, the mind will be irritable continuously, it becomes a problem. Whoever comes near you feels uncomfortable, this becomes a karmic result.
The more you practice, the mind distances itself from the world gradually. Eventually, you encounter Nibbana. Actually, Nibbana is first seen when Stream-entry Path arises. After that, in the Stream-entry Fruition, the mind experiences Nibbana for just a brief moment, and then withdraws, returning to exist in the world like this. Then you continue to practice. When one attains Once-returner, the mind experiences Nibbana again, for another brief moment, not long, until the fourth time, when it can be fully realized.
The first time, when the Noble Path arises, those influx/canker will be parted away. The mind free from influx/canker emerges, becomes prominent, experiences Nibbana, and then ceases. Then the influx/canker return to taint the mind again. The first time, the second time, the third time are all like that. I once asked Luang Pu Dun, “Luang Pu, how many times must it part before they separate for good?” He said, “Four.” He didn’t open a textbook to speak. When he spoke, I knew immediately he wasn’t thinking about the scriptures at all. He sat counting on his fingers, “3… 1, 2, 3,” no, “1, 2, 3, 4.” He said four times.
After the fourth time, the influx/canker will be severed away, separated away. The mind will separate completely from the aggregates, detached from the aggregates. Those aggregates are suffering. Therefore, when the mind is free from the aggregates, the mind is free from suffering. It continues on until the aggregates break apart and cease, which is called the cessation of suffering. Because when the aggregates cease, suffering ceases, and the liberated mind is one part. This happiness is incomparable to anything, it is completely stable happiness. The happiness of Nibbana is a happiness greater than anything else.
What are the characteristics of Nibbana? It has the characteristic of peace, has the characteristic of emptiness, emptiness. When the mind practiced until reaching Nibbana, one doesn’t have to enter Nibbana, doesn’t have to focus the mind to enter Nibbana, entering and exiting. Nibbana that still has entering and exiting is a counterfeit Nibbana, it is just another state of becoming, and people mistakenly think it’s Nibbana. True Nibbana is right here before us. Whenever the mind is not enveloped by influx/canker, whenever the mind has no ignorance, meaning one has penetrated knowledge of the mass of suffering completely, the mind ends all craving, the mind has no craving arising, it is without desire.
The mind has no attachment to anything, and the mind has no yearning to fabricate. The mind is free from mental formations/fabrications, free from desire, free from the domination of influx/canker. This mind has happiness, has happiness. Looking at the world, the world is empty. Looking down at the body, the body is empty. Looking at the mind, the mind is empty. There is no point, no sphere of anything arising. If the mind still has points and spheres, still needs to maintain the mind, needs to focus the mind this way, needs to focus the mind that way in order to experience Nibbana, that is not yet the end.
Therefore, the happiness that we will experience has different levels. Because no other happiness equals the happiness of peace, and Nibbana is the highest happiness. “Nibbānaṃ paramaṃ sukhaṃ” (Nibbana is the highest happiness). Why? Because Nibbana is supremely peaceful, peacefully free from defilements, peacefully free from desire, peacefully free from mental formations, peacefully free from all attachments. Therefore, it has the highest happiness. This kind of happiness, you have the opportunity to reach, because you have heard the Dhamma that the Buddha taught, which is about tranquility meditation and insight meditation.
If you grasp the principles of practice firmly, you will never say you don’t have time
At the foundation, one must maintain the five precepts, and then practice both tranquility and insight. One must do this. Tranquility has two aspects: one that makes the mind peaceful, and one that makes the mind firmly established as the knower, the awakened one, the blossomed one. After that, you develop wisdom. The initial stage of developing wisdom is to practice separating physical form from mental phenomena. Like right now, your body is sitting, do you see? The body is sitting. The body that is sitting is the object being known. Your mind is what knows the body that is sitting. This is called separating physical form from mental phenomena. Or when happiness or suffering arises in the body, you see that happiness and suffering and this body are separate things. This is also separating physical form from mental phenomena, because happiness and suffering are mental phenomena, and the body is physical form.
Or as you separate more and more finely, you will clearly see that greed, anger, delusion, and such, are also another type of phenomenon, not the body, not happiness or suffering, not memory or perception, but mental formations of the mind. And they are not the mind, because they are objects being known. Gradually observe continuously, and then you progress to deeper and more refined wisdom. You will see that all five aggregates, every phenomenon, arises and then ceases completely. At the point where you see that all phenomena arise and then cease, arise and cease, that is insight meditation.
For insight meditation, one must see the three characteristics. Merely seeing that body and mind are separate things is preliminary wisdom, not yet reaching insight. If it is to be true insight, you must see that everything that arises in this body, arises and ceases. The body that exhales, arises and ceases. The body that inhales, arises and ceases. The body that stands, walks, sits, lies down, arises and ceases. Happiness and suffering in the body, arise and then cease. Happiness, suffering, and neutral feelings in the mind, arise and then cease. Wholesome and unwholesome states that arise in the mind, arise and then cease. The mind itself arises and ceases. Sometimes it is the knower, sometimes it runs to see forms through the eyes, runs to hear sounds through the ears, runs to smell odors through the nose. These are different mind-moments, different from each other. Thus, the mind itself arises and ceases. This is called practicing insight meditation.
When your insight meditation is developed extensively, practiced extensively, it’s called understanding the truth that this body and mind are not yours, not your self, not yours. They are things that arise, persist, and then cease. Later, you see even more deeply, continuing to practice insight meditation, knowledge becomes deeper. The body is not your self – this is seen from the level of Stream-entry onwards. Actually, it can be seen even as an ordinary person. The body is not you. But when one sees that the five aggregates are not you, including that the mind is not you, one has attained Stream-entry. If they are not you, then what are they? They are suffering. This body is suffering. This mind is suffering.
If you can see the body as suffering, this is middle-level wisdom. The mind will end attachment to the body. This is the dhamma level of the Non-returner. If you can see that the mind is suffering, the mind releases the mind, this is the dhamma level of the Arahant. Therefore, the mind will reach peace, reach true peaceful happiness. No other happiness equals the happiness of peace. “Nibbānaṃ paramaṃ sukhaṃ” (Nibbana is the highest happiness). Thus, Nibbana is truly the essence of peace. This is happiness. People in the world, their happiness is like a dog splashed with hot water, running around frantically continuously. They do have happiness, but it’s more excitement than happiness. They don’t know what true happiness is really like.
Therefore, practice seclusion. Wherever it’s not necessary to engage with the world, don’t engage with it. Find time for seclusion, to be with yourself. Even just walking to the bathroom, you can already do this. When eating, when eating you don’t sit gossiping, talking about this person and that person. When eating, just eat. Be mindful while eating. Can you develop wisdom while eating? Yes, you can. You see the elements flowing in. After a while, the elements flow out. Flowing in through the mouth and out through the bottom, like this. You see the elements circulating.
Keep observing continuously. This body has nothing good. There is only suffering. Keep watching it continuously. When bathing, just bathe. Why must you bathe? Because the body suffers, it’s dirty, it smells, it’s hot, so you go bathe. Observe that the body is not good, not special at all. It’s entirely a burden. The development of wisdom, this meditation, if one has enough wisdom, can be done anywhere except when sleeping and when doing work that requires thinking. At all other times, practice is possible. Just learn to practice correctly. Know the principles, that’s all, and you can practice everywhere.
Even when defecating or urinating, you can still meditate. If you are defecating, you see the elements flowing out. The body is just a mass of elements, filthy, unattractive, an object, a mass of elements. You can observe like this while eliminating waste. Today, elimination is difficult, the mind has suffering. See? Just trying to defecate, now you’ve moved to the contemplation of feelings. Cannot defecate – oh, suffering. Today defecation is good, smooth, quick – happiness arises. See happiness arising because elimination is successful. See how this happiness is not lasting, not permanent. When elimination was not happening, there was no happiness, only suffering. Once elimination occurs, suffering disappears, becoming happiness. Then, if elimination continues without stopping, from happiness it becomes suffering again.
See? Just defecating, you can observe the body, observe feelings, observe the mind. Cannot defecate, feeling distressed, knowing there’s distress – this is contemplation of mind in the foundations of mindfulness. Successfully defecating, feeling relief, delight, pleasure, satisfaction – this too is contemplation of mind in the foundations of mindfulness. Therefore, don’t think that meditation is difficult or complicated. Just learn to practice correctly. It can be done all day. I’ve given an example of the worst thing – just defecating alone – you can practice contemplation of body, contemplation of feelings, and contemplation of mind. If wisdom is truly mature, it also rises to contemplation of mental objects. Then you see that the body is just a natural phenomenon, feelings are merely natural phenomena, perception, mental formations, consciousness are merely natural phenomena, each performing their functions.
Therefore, if you grasp the principles of practice firmly, you will never say you don’t have time. Wherever you are, you can meditate. Wherever you are, you can find happiness and peace from meditation. And if wisdom arises, you have happiness from having wisdom. If the path and fruition arise, you will have increasingly greater happiness, in sequence.
Don’t incline the mind to just stick in stillness. If you do that, it’s not correct. Don’t fabricate the mind to be still. That’s not good. Maintain awareness of the body. Keep moving the body. Don’t abandon the body. Maintain awareness of the body. Be aware of the body that’s moving, the body that’s still. Feel this way frequently. This will help the mind gain strength. Just observing the breath, watching the body breathing, is too subtle. Keep observing the body’s movements.
Wat Suansantidham
30 March 2024