Calming the Citta with Pañña (Part 2)

And what is magga? It’s sīla, samādhi and paññā. You’re already keeping sīla, so there’s no need to talk about it other than samādhi and paññā. What prevents the heart from being calm? You know that it is because of the kilesas luring you away from your meditation practice. You must therefore apply satipaññā to calm the citta or use a mantra. But if using a mantra does not calm the citta, then you must use satipaññā to investigate what the citta is thinking about. It has been thinking from the first day of your lives up until today, but what good has this ever done you? You have been continually deceived by the delusion created by the kilesas within your minds. Aren’t you tired of this? You get tired of many things, but why don’t you ever get tired of being fooled by the kilesas? If you’re really desirous of enlightenment, then you must use satipaññā. You have to ask yourselves what you are thinking about, because this is the way of using satipaññā. At this moment, if you’re going to think, you must think of the Dhamma. You have to be really earnest in order to achieve results. Satipaññā will remove all the delusions that have blinded the citta, and gradually bring about nirodha through the development of the magga. Once the magga is fully developed, then all the kilesas, from the coarsest to the most subtle, will disappear.

You can develop satipaññā to defeat the kilesas. Then the magga, phala and Nibbāna will appear in your hearts. After the kilesas have been vanquished, then there is no need to ask where Nibbāna is. The arahants themselves never ask about Nibbāna because the word Nibbāna is just a signpost pointing the way to Nibbāna. For example, if you were to put up the name of this monastery at the entrance, it would not make any difference to you, because you already know that this is Wat Pa Baan Taad. But to those who have not come here before, it would make a difference. When they first arrived, they would ask ‘What monastery is this?’ After seeing the sign they would say ‘Oh, this is Wat Pa Baan Taad.’ Those who live in the monastery don’t need the sign. Similarly with those who already know the magga, phala and Nibbāna. They don’t have to read about them because they already know within their hearts. The important thing is to remove all the kilesas. Then there won’t be any question.

What are sammati and vimutti? What is the real truth? The term ‘Nibbāna’ is sammati. What is it that is given the name Nibbāna, if not the purified citta? What else could it be? You have to purify your citta, and after you have done that, you will have no doubt. After you die, where will you be? If you’ve attained Nibbāna, this will not be an issue. It will only be an issue for those who still have the kilesas. Wherever they are, they will always be devoured by the kilesas. It is not Nibbāna that afflicts the world but the kilesas.

As practitioners, you must be resolute and earnest. Totally commit yourselves to eradicating all the kilesas from your hearts. There has never been a single arahant so out of his mind to ask what the state of purity is or what Nibbāna is. All that’s necessary is to have your citta purified. Every question will then be answered. The question regarding the time and place of the Lord Buddha’s and all the other Buddhas’ entry into Parinibbāna will be answered in the purified citta. Looking from a purified citta you will understand because it’s the same truth. They merge perfectly together. All questions will disappear the instant you attain the state of purity. Wherever you are, you will always be with the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha, right within your heart. Once the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha have arisen in your hearts, they will become the Dhammapadipo—the Light of Dhamma. They all become the One Dhamma. As far as the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha are concerned, this is merely a conventional way of describing these three aspects of the One Dhamma. But after they’ve appeared in your hearts, they will become the One Dhamma.

I translate majjhimā, the Middle Way, as suitability. This is the suitable practice for the eradication of the kilesas. If the kilesas are forceful, then the majjhimā must also be forceful. When the kilesas become more subtle, then the majjhimā must also become more subtle. When the majjhimā overwhelms the kilesas, it will then destroy all the kilesas, and will retire from active duty, because the Majjhimā Paṭipadā or the Middle Way which is the means of eliminating the kilesas, is sammati. The kilesas are also sammati. They are the binding sammati, whilst the majjhimā is the unbinding sammati. The Four Noble Truths—dukkha, samudaya, nirodha and magga, are also sammati. Nirodha is the cessation of dukkha. Once dukkha has ceased, what else is there to do? At the final moment when dukkha completely disappears, you’ll know that it has forever ceased. Why practice anymore? You’ve already achieved your goal. The one who knows the cessation of the kilesas, is not the Noble Truths. The cessation of the kilesas is what you’re actually after. But the one who has attained this state makes no comment at all. He doesn’t say that he takes or gives, for he has now arrived at the absolute suitability, the natural state of majjhimā, being in the middle of love and hate, just right, proper, and appropriate, being contented, not hungry, nothing is too much or too little. It’s not affected by praises or criticisms because it’s fully contented.

Concerning the four maggas, the four phalas and Nibbāna, if you haven’t practiced, you’ll always be in doubt. But after you’ve practiced and become enlightened you’ll not be in doubt at all. At the final moment, when the citta completely gets rid of avijjā, it happens in a single instant. At that instant, the magga merges with the phala. And immediately after that, it’s mistakenly described in the scriptures as the arahatta phala, the fruit of arahantship, when in fact it’s Nibbāna. Because when the magga and phala are still in action, it can’t be Nibbāna, because it’s still sammati. It’s similar to walking up the steps of the sālā or building, where you place one foot on the sālā floor whilst the other foot is still on the step. You haven’t yet accomplished your goal. But when the other foot is lifted from the step and placed on the sālā floor, then right at that instant you’ve achieved your goal, which is similar to achieving Nibbāna although the scriptures describe it as the fruit of arahantship. When you get there it won’t be an issue. The Lord Buddha had to clarify this point because had he not done so the sāvakas who had attained Nibbāna would have asked him anyway. ‘Why didn’t you mention this point?’ That was the reason why the Lord Buddha divided these attainments into nine stages: the four paths, the four fruits, and Nibbāna, in order to be precise and prevent any confusion amongst all the arahant sāvakas who must pass through these nine stages.

After you’ve attained the ultimate goal, all relationships will then disappear. When the path merges with the fruit, there’s still a relationship. That’s why the Lord Buddha emphasized that nirodha must be completely realized. Nirodha is the cessation of dukkha. In my own words, it means that you should strive for the total cessation of dukkha. But you usually interpret it to mean different from what it’s intended to. Instead of exerting for the removal of the kilesas, you become embroiled with how to achieve nirodha. As soon as you’ve got rid of the kilesas, nirodha will appear. The truth and theory are two different things, two different worlds. The truth is absolute, whilst the theory can change and mustn’t be used to measure the truth. For instance, when you hear about the heavenly abodes, or the paths, the fruits, and Nibbāna, you can’t help but speculate, because your citta hasn’t actually attained them yet. You can only commit them to memory. Although the citta may be able to remember by heart what Nibbāna is, the citta itself hasn’t yet realized Nibbāna, for it’s still fully possessed with the kilesas. This is what is meant by memory. Please remember this well.

But when the citta has passed these various stages of attainments by practice, they’ll then become real. They are the truth. Your questions and doubts will be eliminated. For example, if someone tells you about London, England, all that you can do then is to speculate and imagine in your minds. But when you yourselves actually go to London, then what you’ve imagined in your minds will totally disappear, and be replaced by what you see. What you’ve imagined is false and will be replaced by what you actually see. What’s left impressed in your minds will be the truth. It’s the same with the four paths, four fruits, and Nibbāna. You remember them, but are always doubtful. But when you’ve realized them, all your doubts will be eliminated. The truth and memory are two different things. They are worlds apart. For this reason, no matter how many arahants there might be, even if there were a million or more, there would not be any doubts or contradictions amongst them. Similarly with those who have gone to London, there would not be any contradictions amongst them, because they all have seen exactly the same thing. Before, you would have questioned: ‘What are the maggas; what are the phalas; what are the paths and fruits of the sotāpanna, or the sakadāgāmī, or the anāgāmī or the arahant?’ But as soon as you’ve practiced and passed through these stages, then you’ll know what they are. After you’ve reached Nibbāna, there’ll be no more contradictions because all the sammati have disappeared. Doubts and questions are sammati. After you’ve seen the truth, all the doubts and questions will disappear. The Lord Buddha called this vimutti, which means Freedom.

You’ve been shouldering the futile burden of memory and speculation for a long time. Why don’t you shoulder the truth for a change? See what it’s like, how heavy it is. Shouldering the burden of memory and speculation is a very heavy load, but you don’t realize this. You should carry the load of truth to see whether it is heavy or not, and to see the difference between them! You’ve learned many truths from the scriptures. Now you should learn the truth from your practice. If they’re not different, why would the Lord Buddha have taught you to practice? The Lord Buddha taught you to develop pariyatti, paṭipatti, and paṭivedha which means studying the scriptures, practice the teaching and then attain the results. Pariyatti is the studying of the Middle Way. You can study from the scriptures, or from your preceptor on the day of your ordination when he teaches you the five parts of the body—kesā, lomā, nakhā, dantā, taco, hair of the head, hair of the body, nails, teeth, and skin. You must then apply them in your practice by continually investigating these body parts to see them all the time. This is paṭipatti or practice. When you’ve achieved this, it’s paṭivedha, the gradual realization of the truth. Paṭivedha or the results from practice don’t usually appear all at once but appear gradually. When you’ve uprooted all of the kilesas, you’ll then achieve the full paṭivedha or result. All of your burdens will be shed. The problems caused by the kilesas will all come to an end and you’ll forever live in peace. The victory of the world is different from the victory of the Dhamma. The Lord Buddha said that no matter how many people you might have killed in battle, even if it were millions, it wouldn’t bring you true peace and happiness. To destroy all the kilesas within your hearts is most supreme. To conquer yourself is the greatest victory. Don’t you want this kind of victory?

Therefore, all of you who come to live here, and there are many of you, must watch your kilesas. You have to be especially mindful of the kilesa that thinks very highly of itself. This is very important. You should not display your kilesas, but should instead display the Dhamma if you want to live together peacefully. You should always follow the Dhamma teaching that exhort you to always have mettā or loving-kindness for your colleagues, regardless of whether they’re good or not, accomplished or not. You should always treat them well. If they have achieved something, then you should praise them. Then you’ll all live in peace, harmony and happiness. All of you come from different places, and have different temperaments. So you have to blend together to become one body.

(Ajahn Maha Boowa “Forest Desanas”)