How Wise Effort Takes Us To Seeing Dhamma | 8th Oct 2023

So it's the 8th of October,

2023,

And so we set our hearts on having this perseverance and effort.

And right effort gives us benefit.

And these minds of ours,

They're things that we need to be quite cautious around,

Because the sense impressions,

They arise within the mind.

And this mind,

Or this heart,

It's a knowing element,

And so it's just natural that it will receive these sense impressions,

And when it does,

It chases after them.

And that's because we have ignorance in the mind,

Which is conditioning it to be deluded.

And so therefore the mind doesn't have wisdom.

And this is why we need to train our minds,

So that they do gain this wisdom.

Because our mind,

Perhaps in its present state,

It's lacking in this.

Lacking in mindfulness,

Lacking in samadhi.

And we need to accept that that's the way it is,

And it's normal.

But we also need to fix this situation as well.

And so we do that through training our minds.

So if the mind is in a very coarse state,

As we train it day after day,

Then it develops,

It grows.

And the well-trained mind brings happiness.

But if we don't train our minds,

Then they don't have intelligence.

So we need to train this mind,

Put in effort to persevere.

And so viriya is effort.

So in Pali they use the word viriya,

And then in English we translate that as effort.

So there's the effort to abandon any unskillful or harmful states that have arisen.

And so this is right effort,

Then,

That we're putting in.

And wherever there is effort,

There will be success.

This is perhaps something that we've heard many times already.

And how is it that the wise people speak,

How do they phrase this?

Venerable Ajahn Chah,

He said that in the earth there is water,

And if you dig and you carry on digging down,

You'll meet with that water.

And so in some places,

It's not even 30 meters that they dig down and they find water already.

In other places,

Maybe 50 meters,

100 meters,

120 meters.

But if the machinery that we're using is good,

Then we drill down and we'll have to meet with water.

And so if we carry on doing that,

If we put in our effort,

We persevere without stopping,

Then we'll have to meet with that.

If we carry on trying,

Then we'll have to know the Dhamma,

We'll have to see the Dhamma,

Attain to the Dhamma.

But initially the mind is not intelligent,

And the defilements are much more intelligent.

And so they drag the mind around.

And for monks this manifests as them not going to the morning and evening chanting,

That the defilements just won't let them do it,

That they don't let them take part in the work that needs to get done,

Don't let them meditate or go on alms round or fulfill the various duties of a monk.

And so externally,

Conventionally,

They are monks.

But in terms of liberation,

The monk doesn't appear.

In terms of the monk that's keeping good standards,

That doesn't appear.

And so with laypeople this also comes out in not putting in effort as well.

So not putting effort into the practice,

Or for those that work,

Not putting effort into the work and not succeeding in that,

For children not studying,

And then by that they won't gain knowledge.

And it's even worse if they play around,

And especially if they start gambling,

That there's a lot that they can lose through that.

So what is this right effort like then?

We need to observe that to see.

So if there's any unskillful,

Harmful state that has arisen,

Then we abandon that.

It's normal for these things to come up,

But we don't like it when they do.

When an unskillful,

Harmful state arises,

And we start thinking upon that,

These bad thoughts arise,

Then we don't like those thoughts.

But it's ignorance that's bringing that up,

Bringing up those thoughts and bringing up that disliking towards it as well.

That we have fear of them,

Fear of evil,

Fear of wrongdoing.

We don't want for these thoughts to appear,

We want to just have skillful states arise.

But when these things do come up,

These harmful states,

Then we don't like them.

But this is also another kind of craving as well,

This vibhava tanha,

So craving not to be,

Not to have.

So there's kama tanha,

Which is the craving in terms of delighting and sensuality,

The heart of delighting appears.

And then there's bhava tanha,

Which is the craving to have or to be.

Then the vibhava tanha,

The desire to not have,

To not be.

And so when we don't want these bad thoughts,

And this is tanha appearing as well,

When they appear then perhaps we're afraid of them,

Afraid of falling into hell.

And this can be what it's like for good people,

That they have virtue already and there's a fear of hell.

But there's hell,

It's in the heart,

It appears in the mind.

So when these thoughts come up,

We just see them for what they are,

As normal things and then we put them down.

But we still have an ego there,

A sense of self,

And when we still have a sense of self then when these thoughts appear then they're my thoughts.

So we need to endure with that,

Taking these thoughts as belonging to me.

But as we carry on persevering,

Putting in our effort,

We carry on meditating,

Being generous,

Keeping the precepts,

Then things develop,

And we're able to oppose the defilements,

We're able to go against their current.

So sometimes these things come up and we have the mindfulness there to go against them,

But then they start going against us as well,

They hit us back,

Especially when the mindfulness is weak,

Then maybe very strong anger comes up.

Or perhaps we think things that are really weird,

These strange and undesirable thoughts appear.

But we just need to know them for what they are as they're happening,

See them as just something that's normal,

To not get involved in aversion towards them,

To not hate them.

Because if we start hating them,

Then this too is another unskillful state that has arisen in the mind.

This is delusion as well,

This is disliking.

So we shouldn't get involved in aversion towards them.

That if these bad thoughts appear,

Then we just know them,

And then we put them down.

And this is effort with wisdom.

So it's the effort to abandon anything that's demeritorious and to cultivate that which is good.

So we meditate reciting bhutto or dhammo,

Sankho,

Or arahang bhutto,

Bhutto arahang,

Arahang svakato,

Svakato arahang,

Or kesa,

Loma,

Naka,

Dantatacho,

So hair of the head,

Hair of the body,

Nails,

Teeth,

And skin.

And all of these means are okay.

Or we can contemplate into this body.

So maybe contemplate the flesh there under the skin,

See how that's all red.

As we cut away the skin,

We meet with fat as well.

So there's the hard fat,

And there's fat in the liquid form,

Like grease,

And these are things there which are inside the body,

And when we cut open the body,

We see them.

The stomach may look like a bowl from the outside,

But then when we cut the skin,

What we meet with is very thick fat there,

It has this yellow color to it.

And so we can contemplate this as the object of our minds.

And if the mind is delighting in something,

We can use this as the object to contemplate how the body is not beautiful.

This brings about peace in the mind.

And so this is the cultivation of goodness,

Of skillfulness.

And so this effort,

It's about abandoning some things and cultivating other things.

Anything which is wholesome,

Which is skillful,

We follow those and they bring up peace in the mind.

And then we care for them in that peaceful state.

So this is right effort,

That we have this composure,

We have caution as well.

So like with food as well,

That we're cautious about that.

And so we train our minds like this,

Putting up a good fight.

And sometimes we're able to win out,

And other times we get defeated.

Sometimes these emotions and the objects are very strong and they win out over us.

So it's this battle that's going on between the defilements and magga,

The path.

But as we carry on meditating and practicing and our practice goes well,

Then heaven appears for us.

But when the mindfulness is weak,

Then the defilements attack us and we fall into hell.

So both heaven and hell appear right here in our chests,

In our heart.

But we shouldn't worry about this,

That we just carry on going,

Putting in our effort and doing that without stop.

And then this peace grows in the mind.

And when peace grows and grows,

Then things get better and better.

And why is that?

Well at that point we don't need to put in this effort to control ourselves,

To force ourselves to practice.

And some people,

They have a lot of faith,

And when they start off practicing,

Then they can just do that,

They feel fine sitting meditation.

Even if the mind's very scattered,

They can do that.

If it's peaceful,

Then they sit,

They just keep going.

And then as they carry on with that,

Then as they assert and practice,

Then peace and joy,

Samadhi arises.

And then eventually,

Just when it gets time for them to meditate,

Then their mind just gathers together right then,

That there's an ease,

A coolness,

A peacefulness in the heart,

That the heart fills up with happiness,

Both the body and the mind feel very light,

And the thoughts steadily reduce,

And everything comes together and fits into place.

And so this here is a home for us in our hearts,

It's a resting place for our hearts.

If the mind's scattered and lacking in peace,

Feels agitated,

Then we can bring it to rest in samadhi like this.

But we also have to be careful throughout the day as well,

To try not to let the mind go off thinking about all different kinds of things.

So like a woman who's staying at home looking after the house,

There can be a lot of work.

And perhaps a man who goes off to work,

There can be a lot of work there as well.

But when there's time,

They should try to come and sit in meditation,

And try to develop mindfulness and rest their hearts.

So they can chant,

And chant Itthipiso 108 times for example,

To have something there for them to tie their mindfulness to.

And when the mind has mindfulness like that,

And they carry on doing it on a regular basis,

Then they become skilled at that.

And then when it's time for them to sit in meditation,

It doesn't take long for peace to arise.

And when that peace is there,

They can contemplate the body,

See how it's something that's unattractive,

And then that peace grows,

And the doubts disappear.

Initially we can doubt about everything,

The doubt about this path of practice,

About attaining to the Dhamma,

Or what's that like?

Just all these doubts are there in the mind.

And it's normal for that to be the case for practitioners who wish for freedom from suffering.

But if we know those doubts for what they are in time,

Then we're able to just put them down.

But if we do that,

Then the defilements may whisper to us,

They may tell us,

Well,

If you don't doubt,

Then how are you going to be sure?

If you don't doubt,

Then maybe you'll get lost,

And this chaos just comes up in the mind.

But as we carry on going,

Then we relieve ourselves from these doubts,

There are no doubts there anymore.

And then the mind can really gather into peace,

We can see into the nature of anicca,

Dukkha,

Anatta,

Of this change and stress in not-self,

And this emptiness there.

And so Ajahn Chah,

He gave this very short teaching,

That to try to bring the mind to a state where it's not involved in liking or disliking,

And when the mind is like this then we will gain understanding.

So we need to try to carry on with that,

To try to maintain our mindfulness throughout the day,

To be well-composed and to have good mindfulness.

Looking after our minds,

Meditating.

And when the meditation goes well,

Then we don't need to force ourselves,

It just happens by itself.

That when it's time,

Then we just sit and we walk,

And that happens of its own accord.

It's very easy to teach the mind when it's like this.

We sit in meditation and we can just teach the mind very easily,

It's easy to practice.

But when it's not like this,

And the mind is chaotic,

It's difficult for us to teach.

Samadhi drops in its collectedness,

And then we start blaming all kinds of things,

Blaming this and that for a lack of samadhi.

But really it's just normal for this to happen.

And then we just carry on practicing,

And carry on with it,

And eventually then it gathers together,

Samadhi improves,

The mindfulness improves,

And when it comes back again its energy is greater than it was before.

And so in the end that's what must happen if we carry on.

The peace becomes even more profound,

And the samadhi is even stronger.

There's joy and happiness there in the heart.

And then we understand truly this way of practice.

So there's this peace there,

And the meditation goes well,

And we're able to win out over the defilements at that point.

We're able to win out over these nirvanas,

These hindrances,

And things that pull us back.

And these become less and less,

And the mind grows in its peace,

In its happiness.

And at this point then contemplating the body is something that's easy to do.

Then we can teach our minds about Anicca Dukkha Anatta,

And they're able to listen to what we say.

That's the mind that's well trained,

It's very easy to teach it.

But when it's not in a state of peace,

Then samadhi doesn't come up.

And then it just doesn't listen to anything that we say,

And it's very stubborn when it's like this.

So we just carry on practicing,

Putting in our efforts,

Persevering.

We study the Dhamma,

We listen to the Dhamma,

We give rise to goodness,

We're generous,

Keep our precepts well,

Meditate frequently.

Just keep on doing that,

Really put in our efforts and do that.

And this is the best path,

This is the best thing that we can be doing with this life.

So for myself,

I'd heard this all before,

I'd seen this as well,

Seen into the state of the Dhamma,

Into emptiness,

How all things are empty,

It's all Anatta.

And I saw how there's nothing in this world that can compare to a heart which has understood the Dhamma.

There's this great rapture and happiness that appears,

And a clarity to the mind that lasts for three days and three nights.

It really feels like we just can't stay in this world anymore.

There's this desire to find a way out,

Because this world just looks something like something that's senseless,

That's pointless.

And so it takes up Nibbana,

The heart takes up Nibbana as its object,

And this is the quality of a Sotapanna,

Of a stream-entrer,

Is that the object of the heart,

The highest object is that of Nibbana.

And it's relieved of its doubts at that point.

And so we practice for the sake of freedom,

Whether we're monks,

Whether we're laypeople,

We practice for this.

And so may you really do that,

Practice with direction,

Practice with purpose.

And there are some laypeople for whom they have a lot of work and duties,

But when it's time to practice,

They really go for it.

They come and they keep the eight precepts,

And they can meditate throughout the entire night to not rest throughout the night.

So they have this great sincerity and this devotion,

And they carry on going like this,

Carry on practicing.

And if they keep on with it,

Then in the end they need to meet with the truth,

With a heart which is peaceful,

That's able to separate itself out from its objects.

And for this to happen,

There needs to be samadhi there,

And for that we need to have our efforts and to look after these wholesome states of mind,

To be very careful with our hearts.

But if we keep on with that,

Then in the end we need to gain an understanding.

This wisdom arises.

And when it's at this point of wisdom coming up and true knowledge,

Us gaining that,

Then it just takes a little bit and we're able to see that this is how things really are.

And that insight is very clear.

And this arises from a heart which is at peace,

That that's its basis,

And then wisdom comes up from that.

We're able to contemplate and separate out the elements,

Separate out the aggregates.

So may you have effort in this,

And none of this is above your effort and your ability.

But if you keep on practicing in this way,

Then you must understand and see the Dhamma.

So may you set your hearts on this.