The Dhamma Water (Part 1)

In a scorching and burning world, we cannot survive without the Dhamma teaching, which is similar to water that puts out fire. Without the sāsana or Buddhism, the world would be similar to that of a village or a forest that is being consumed by fire with no water to put it out. There can only be destruction. In a place where there is enough water to put out the fire, that place will be safe and secure. In a place where there is not enough water, that place will be left in a total state of devastation. This is similar to the hearts of the people living in this world which need the teaching, the Dhamma water, to quench the fires of rāga, dosa, and moha, lust, hate, and delusion. If we cannot use the Dhamma to totally extinguish this fire, at least we should try to diminish it. This is like an illness which needs the proper medicine to cure it. In sickness, some may die and some may be cured and live. It depends on the ability of the doctor whether the disease can be cured or not. If he cannot do it, then the patient will die. If he can, then the patient will survive. It is the same way with our hearts. If we have the Dhamma water, we can then extinguish the fire inside our hearts.

If our hearts are cruel and malicious, and we pay no attention to good and bad, right and wrong, heaven and hell, but only the things that we desire, then our hearts will be on fire. No matter how much we can acquire with our desires, if the heart is constantly burning and the Dhamma water cannot reach it, then the heart will always be ablaze. There will be more greed if we allow ourselves to pursue our greed, our rāga-taṇhā, our lust. We cannot curb our greed by constantly pursuing it through delusion, not paying any attention to right and wrong, but allowing ourselves to be led astray by the influence of the kilesas, taṇhās and āsavas. Our hearts will then be on fire. Wherever we live, be it in a palace or a mansion, our hearts will always be consumed by fire because there is no water to put it out. This water is the Dhamma. So for this reason, the Dhamma is absolutely essential for all sentient beings, similar to water that is essential for putting out fire. As soon as the sāsana or Buddhism disappears from the world, then the world will be set ablaze. All sentient beings that live in the world will all be scorched by fire. There will not be any happiness. That is why all the sages like the Lord Buddha have to teach the Dhamma to enlighten people’s hearts. Therefore, the importance of the Dhamma is foremost, and nothing can surpass it.

Our body and speech are the servants, while our hearts are the master. They obey the commands of the heart. Therefore, the heart is paramount. According to the Dhammapada, the Buddha’s path of wisdom: Mano pubbaṁ gamā dhamma, mano seṭṭhā, mano mayā, meaning that all phenomena are preceded by the heart. The heart is the most suitable vessel for the Dhamma. When the heart has the Dhamma, then whatever we do, through body or speech, it will always be auspicious. But if the heart is corrupt, then whatever we do, we will always be consumed by dukkha. This dukkha is like the wheel of the cart that follows the track of the ox that pulls it. Dukkha will always follow those who do bad or evil deeds, while happiness will always follow those who do good deeds. One who has virtue in his heart is one who always carries with them the medicine to cure their illnesses. Wherever he goes, there is always some form of cure for him that will alleviate his affliction.

Therefore, Dhamma is not something insignificant, something that we can disregard. We should not think that the sāsana is something merely inscribed on palm leaves or found just in the monasteries, that the sāsana only belongs to the bhikkhus and sāmaṇeras, that it only belongs to the Lord Buddha and the arahant disciples, that it only belongs to the Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha. All of this is just misunderstanding. Because the Dhamma, in truth, is common property for anyone to use as they please. We can use it to quench the fire inside our hearts. Dhamma is the natural and common property of the world. One who seeks virtue, righteousness, gracefulness, and coolness, will not be off the mark if they take the Dhamma as their compass and guide. Nothing can surpass the Dhamma in wisdom. Where does paññā come from if not from the magga, the noble eightfold path? Sati is mindfulness, or constant awareness of the actions of our body, speech, and heart. This is the path, the magga. This is sammāsati, right mindfulness. Our actions of speech and body that are right and proper are called sammāvacā and sammākammanta. They are the factors of the path, the Dhamma teaching of the Lord Buddha which is perfect and flawless.

We aren’t good or bad simply because we’re born human. Whatever class of people we belong to cannot be considered either good or bad. Truly, it depends on our conduct of body, speech, and heart, and whether these are conducted in the right or wrong way, the good or bad way. We can only be judged by our actions. Simply being born as a human being doesn’t mean that we are good. The only thing good about it is that it is the result of our past actions, and that is a good result.

But as far as the good of the future and present is concerned, this depends on our conduct, and the training of ourselves following the right and proper way of the Dhamma teaching of the Lord Buddha that can make us grow in a good way gradually until reaching the highest virtue. The Dhamma cannot be blamed for not making us good. For it is us who have to develop ourselves to be good. We aren’t good and virtuous because we don’t develop ourselves with the Lord Buddha’s sublime Dhamma. How many sentient beings did the Lord Buddha lead out of the stream of saṁsāra and transform them into supreme human beings, like the arahants, the anāgāmīs, the sakadāgāmīs, and the sotāpannas, who have all purified themselves with the Dhamma of the Lord Buddha to the utmost of their ability. This is the way that people can be good through the way of Dhamma. Without the Dhamma teaching, we cannot be good.

Concerning those who have gone forth, these are the practitioners who have taken up the yellow robe and been ordained into the sāsana following the tradition established by the Lord Buddha and the arahant disciples. This yellow robe is dyed with the dye taken from the heartwood of the jackfruit tree, similar to how it was done in the past. This color is not desired by the world, but it is appropriate and suitable for the life of a bhikkhu. We have to realize that we have now taken up the yellow robe and been ordained in the sāsana, but the kilesas themselves have not taken up the yellow robe with us. The kilesas are inside our hearts. How can we make ourselves good if we do not get rid of the kilesas? The kilesas are the evil ones and the enemies of the Dhamma. Every kind of kilesas, from the coarsest to the most subtle, is antagonistic to the Dhamma. In order to remove them, we have to always fight them. Sometimes we have to put our lives at stake. If the kilesas do not die, then we will. And if we do not die, then the kilesas must die. First, we should at least subdue the kilesas, then in the end conquer them and totally annihilate them.

This is for the purpose of making ourselves respectable. From the first day of our going forth, it is only ourselves that have gone forth. The kilesas do not ordain with us. To go forth or to be ordained means to abstain from the things that we should abstain from, and to develop the things that we should develop. We are the ones who have gone forth, and we must take up the Dhamma-vinaya as our guiding principle. This is especially true with the Vinaya, the monastic discipline, the tool to curb and suppress the coarser kinds of kilesa which can be clearly seen by all. The Vinaya will keep the kilesas within the disciplinary bounds. It will restrain and suppress the kilesas that manifest themselves through the actions of body and speech that are initiated by the heart. And the Dhamma is used to correct the kilesas inside the heart.

Combating the kilesas, it is similar to the way the world wages war. For instance, in a boxing ring, the boxers put their lives at stake when they get into the ring. They put their whole effort into the fight, and while they are fighting they are not concerned with winning or losing, but only with exerting themselves to their fullest. If they have to lose their life, they are ready to give it up. This is an example for us practitioners to emulate. We must always consider every kind of kilesa as our enemy. There are many aspects of Dhamma. Dhamma is a tool or instrument. It also supports and lifts us. Satipaññā is the tool to combat the kilesas. It will search and destroy kilesas wherever they may be hidden. Saddhā, which is faith or conviction, serves as a source of encouragement or support. This is the belief that the kilesas can be conquered, that we can defeat them. Viriya is another form of support, making us strive with the most diligent of efforts. This is the way to develop ourselves to be good and virtuous. This is the way to make the bhikkhus and sāmaṇeras good bhikkhus and good sāmaṇeras according to the Vinaya and the Dhamma. With the Vinaya, they are graceful to behold in what they do and say. With the Dhamma, they are cool, peaceful, calm and graceful, having satipaññā to take care of their hearts.

Every form of kilesa is harmful to us and must be eliminated. They must be removed or suppressed during every moment of our exertions. The results of our struggling with the kilesas in the manner of a follower of the Lord Buddha will be attained first at the morality level. Then we will move up to the ariya or enlightenment level, beginning with the sotāpanna, to the sakadāgāmī, to the anāgāmī, and finally to the arahant level. These will be the fruits of our exertions in suppressing and removing the kilesas, stage by stage, according to our ability. These four levels of enlightenment, five including the morality level, are not beyond our ability and efforts, if we use the Vinaya and the Dhamma as our weapons to suppress and eradicate all of the kilesas inside our hearts.

No time and place is as important as the place where the ariyasacca, the Four Noble Truths, are found. These four truths are dukkha, samudaya, nirodha, and magga. And where is dukkha found? It is found in the body and the heart. And where is samudaya found? It is found in the heart. The cause of bodily illness is not considered samudaya because it is not induced by the kilesas. There are things that will cause the body to become sick, but they are not as dangerous as the kilesas or samudaya, the heart’s greatest adversary.

That is why the Lord Buddha has to expose the nature of samudaya, so we can see it clearly for what it is. It is kāma-taṇhā, bhava-taṇhā, and vibhava-taṇhā. The Lord Buddha said this in the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta, the First Discourse. Kāma-taṇhā is craving for sensuality. It is a form of kilesa. As far as bhava-taṇhā, craving for becoming, and vibhava-taṇhā, craving for not-becoming, are concerned, we already know what they are so I shall not discuss them in detail. I will instead discuss with you the root of the Four Noble Truths. Where are these Four Noble Truths? Where can they be found? Dukkha is in the heart. This is the most important fact. This dukkha is caused by samudaya— samudaya is its source. Nirodha, the cessation of dukkha—where will this happen? Wherever dukkha arises, that is where nirodha, the cessation of dukkha will appear. What gives rise to nirodha? What gives rise to the cessation of dukkha? It is magga, the path, the majjhimā paṭipadā, the middle way of practice.

There are eight factors in this path, beginning with sammādiṭṭhi and sammāsaṅkappo, right view and right thought. These are the two factors of paññā or wisdom. In doing any task, we usually choose a person who is wise like our leader. If we have an ignorant person as leader, then they will usually lead our undertaking to failure. Nobody will trust such a person. Both sammādiṭṭhi and sammāsaṅkappo, right view and right thought, highlight the wisdom of the magga, the path. And where can this magga be found? This magga is one form of cetasika dhamma, mental concomitant, and similarly with samudaya, the cause of dukkha. This samudaya arises from saññā, saṅkhāra and viññāṇa. Where else can samudaya come from? When they cause the kilesas to arise, this is called samudaya, and when they cause the suppression and removal of the dukkha and kilesas, this is called the magga. Thinking in the way of truth and insight—this is called paññā. Constant awareness is called sati or mindfulness. Sati is magga, and it arises from the heart. It is the same way with the kilesas which also arise from the heart. But the kilesas oppress the heart and wear it down. They control and subjugate the heart, and subject it to a lot of affliction and hardship. They constantly place pressure on the heart.

Magga is the cleansing agent that is used to clean all of these kilesas so that the heart can elevate itself to the highest level, the state of freedom. Nirodha, the cessation of dukkha, will steadily come about following the strength of the magga. When the time comes for the heart to achieve the final and total cessation of dukkha due to the strength and ability of the fully developed magga, then this will happen in a single instant. This is when the arahattamagga, or the path of arahantship, instantly extinguishes all the kilesas, taṇhā, and āsava that converge and hide behind avijjā. Nirodha, the cessation of dukkha, will be the outcome. When the magga has totally extinguished the kilesas, then nirodha will come to fruition. When nirodha, which is the result of magga, emerges, then the task of extinguishing dukkha also comes to an end, right within that instant. That is why the Lord Buddha said that dukkha should be observed, so that we can see it clearly, although we already know it within ourselves, since we are not dead. How can we not know it? But the reason why the Lord Buddha told us to study dukkha is that although we all have dukkha, we never look at it and analyze its nature so that we can know how to overcome and get rid of it.

For this reason the Lord Buddha taught his followers a systematic way of investigating dukkha. The Lord Buddha said that we should study dukkha and relinquish samudaya, its cause. And how are we going to let go of samudaya? Here the Lord Buddha said it very briefly, but the meaning itself is extensive. In order to let go of samudaya, we have to make diligent efforts, with satipaññā leading the investigation. No matter how hard this may be, we have to commit ourselves to the task. This is the way of relinquishing samudaya. This is the way of getting rid of all the samudaya or kilesas from the heart, by the application of the magga, the majjhimā paṭipadā, the middle way of practice. Nirodha, the cessation of dukkha, will appear as a consequence. That is to say dukkha will disappear. These four noble truths do not happen separately. The way they are being discussed, it seems that they happen one by one. But really they all happen together.

(Ajahn Maha Boowa “Forest Desanas”)