MJ33 - 38 Blessings - Seeing 4 Noble Truths (34 of 39)

Last time you saw me,

We looked at blessing number 32 on practicing the Brahma Firing.

With the Dharma talk today,

We'll continue on our journey through the 38 blessings to the third blessing in the practice for the eradication of defilements subsection,

That is number 33 on seeing the Four Noble Truths.

Previous 32 blessings have been an important springboard towards liberation or purity at transcendental level.

We have reached a part of the 38 blessings which you could really call the business end of the sequence.

In blessing 32,

We discussed levels of mental attainment with a strategy for achieving escape velocity to leave the triple world behind.

Starting with the sensual and continuing through the form and formless planes.

Nonetheless,

Amongst world religions,

The knowledge of anything beyond the triple world remains unique to Buddhism,

With Nirvana transcending mundane existence.

For the blessings we've studied so far,

Those that have placed the most emphasis on earnest practice have been those dealing with the austerities and the Brahma Firing.

They've advocated the use of austere techniques to burn up the defilements in the mind,

Overcoming laziness and habitual bad habits concerning the use of clothing,

Food and shelter.

In the previous blessing on practicing the Brahma Firing,

We sowed seeds of goodness in the pure mind,

Almost like the process of smelting a metal to purity,

With the proviso that overcoming impurities in the mind relies on acquiring transcendental happiness to replace our mundane happiness.

As switching the staple diet of the mind from mundane to transcendental happiness becomes habitual,

It will redirect our destiny to the corresponding transcendental realm or lead to no further rebirth.

Following through the prescribed stages,

The clarity and brightness of the mind will increase.

As the brightness of your mind increases,

The mind will have the ability to perceive reality as it really is.

If you are able to appreciate such reality,

It becomes possible to reach an end of suffering and attain real happiness.

Buddhism refers to seeing reality in a way that can bring you to an end of suffering as seeing the Noble Truths,

Which is the subject of today's blessing.

And before I go further,

I should give due credit to Lungpo Dattachiwo's book,

The Buddha's First Teaching,

Which is where you can find more detail on the Four Noble Truths,

The one I can go into on this session.

Although I've tried to keep things as simple as possible,

I should warn you in advance that this blessing,

And the remaining four blessings of the Mangala Sutta may,

Of necessity,

Be a little technical,

So watch out for lots of tables and small print towards the end of this session.

So what are the Four Noble Truths that Blessing 33 advocates us to see?

The Four Noble Truths we are talking about consist of the Noble Truth of Suffering,

Or Dukkha-Ariyasatja,

The Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering,

Or Sumbuddhaya-Ariyasatja,

The Noble Truth of Cessation of Suffering,

Or Nirodha-Ariyasatja,

And the Noble Truth of the Path to the Cessation of Suffering,

In Pali either Manga-Ariyasatja or Dukkha-Nirodha-Gamini-Patipattha-Ariyasatja.

If you were to compare these two healthcare,

You could compare suffering to the condition of being sick,

The origin of suffering to the pathogen,

Bacteria,

Or virus,

The cessation of suffering to the condition of being healed from the sickness,

And the path to the medicine that cures the sickness.

To take the metaphor further,

It can be said that everyone in the world is sick with the disease of suffering.

For the most part,

However,

The best they can do is to try to deny its existence,

Or protest with the question,

Why is it happening to me?

Without knowing the Four Noble Truths,

No one can really know the nature or the cause of the sickness,

Let alone cure it.

Scripturally speaking,

The source of our knowledge of the Four Noble Truths is the Samuttah-Nikaya's Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta.

It's considered one of the most important teachings for Buddhists to commit to memory,

Because it's effectively a manifesto for all the teachings the Buddha subsequently gave,

Because all the other teachings effectively expand on the Four Noble Truths of the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta.

Our familiarity with the Four Noble Truths will allow us to know the real nature of suffering,

And how we can extricate ourselves from it.

Early Western scholars of Buddhism,

Like Hermann Oldenburg,

Mistakenly came to the conclusion that the main message of Buddhism is all doom and gloom,

Alleging that its Tao teaching is that existence is a curse,

That beings swim around in a vast ocean of suffering,

And that human life is a misery.

Not surprisingly,

Such scholars equated Buddhism with pessimism.

Historically,

This assessment has been exploited by colonial missionaries to promote more cheerfully disposed competing religions.

Of course,

It depends on your definition of pessimism whether you think it makes for a pejorative assessment of Buddhism.

Generally,

Pessimism is designed as seeing the worst in things,

Believing the worst will happen,

And thinking we live in the worst possible of worlds,

A definition which doesn't really match up with Buddhist worldview.

Although some teachers have sought to bright-side Buddhist ethics by translating dukkha as stress or glibly depicting life as less than ideal or not fully satisfactory,

Most like Walpolo Rahula,

Settle for a middle ground,

Saying Buddhism is neither pessimism nor optimism but realistic.

So,

If you have philosophical tendencies,

And it is an important question to you whether Buddhism is pessimistic,

Closest to the truth would probably be to say that Buddhism is not unduly pessimistic,

Because although the existence of suffering is not denied,

It is actually the path to the end of suffering which is Buddhism's raison d'être.

In effect,

The Buddha didn't describe the truths he taught as optimistic,

Pessimistic,

Or realistic,

But he chose to use the word noble.

The reason the Buddha called the truths noble is because they are noble in themselves as they transcend the mundane.

They were also discovered by someone who was noble,

Who had attained the stages of enlightenment,

And knowing about them will make the attainer noble.

It is considered essential to study the four noble truths at the very least to know what we are looking for.

Though the four noble truths may seem obvious,

They have been overlooked for many aeons.

The four noble truths,

Like an undiscovered continent,

Have existed as long as the earth itself.

However,

Even though they existed,

People failed to notice them.

It's like a person who works in a funeral parlour every day of their life,

But never stopped to reflect on the transitory nature of their own life.

To see the noble truths is not the work of a single day,

But even if we cannot complete the task immediately,

At least we can know the route to take us there,

So that in the future we can point ourselves in the right direction and continue with this work.

The discovery of the four noble truths had to wait for many aeons,

Which is how long it takes for someone to train themselves sufficiently well in the 38 blessings to discover the four noble truths afresh.

If a person of such ability has not arisen in the world,

The world will remain in ignorance concerning those truths.

Even after a person has recognised the four noble truths,

Even though they might be able to alert others,

It doesn't mean that those who have been warned will take them seriously.

The four noble truths are difficult to appreciate because of our relationship to them,

Especially suffering.

It's rather like a fish's relationship to water.

We are so mixed up in the suffering of the human condition that we fail to get any real perspective.

So the idea of this blessing is to at least familiarise ourselves with what to expect from the noble truths.

Later,

As we practice further,

Then we'll be able to recognise the noble truths for ourselves.

So let's turn now to look at each of the four noble truths in turn.

The Pali word used for the noble truth of the existence of suffering is bhukha.

This ancient word literally means awkwardness or discomfort of body or mind.

And some scholars of Sanskrit like Monier Williams have supposed its etymology comes from the same root as an off-centre axle hole.

If you can imagine what it feels like riding on a cart where the wheels are off-centre,

You probably have a good metaphor for the existential angst that dukkha brings.

The Buddha saw that every living being in the world is plagued by suffering.

Although poor people suffer in one way,

While billionaires suffer in another,

But none can avoid suffering.

The Buddha delineated twelve major categories of suffering,

Of which three types are inevitable and nine types are mitigable or,

To a greater degree,

Avoidable.

Let's start with the category of inevitable suffering or svatthava-tukha.

It means it doesn't matter what realm of existence you inhabit,

You cannot escape this type of suffering,

No matter whether you are a human,

Angel or a god.

The first sort of inevitable suffering is birth or chanta.

Most people wonder why the Buddha claimed birth is a form of suffering,

In contrast to most religions of the world which assume it's a blessing to be born.

Granted,

In Dhammapada verse 182,

The Buddha characterized human birth as a great and valuable opportunity in his Gitcho Manusapadilapo proverb.

In contrast to other religions,

The Buddha taught that the process of birth is of a nature of suffering.

Human birth is filled with ten different features of suffering.

Suffering of being confined to the womb,

Of physical shocks to the womb,

Of problematic childbirth,

Of undergoing childbirth for the baby,

And of being cleaned up after birth.

Childbirth is also a starting point for all the other sorts of human suffering,

Such as curtailed life or wounds in combat.

Outside of human birth,

It goes without saying that birth can lead to extreme suffering,

Particularly if it's in the hell realms,

In the animal kingdom,

Or in the realm of hungry ghosts.

The second form of inevitable suffering is aging or chara,

Which is clearly seen from the sighs and groans of old people each time they have to get up from their chairs.

Most people think that aging catches up with you when you're 70 or 80 years old.

However,

The worst aspects of aging are not the grey hair and wrinkles,

But the inbuilt entropy of the body,

Working away in our cells from the moment we are born,

Something that has been compared to an unseen fire,

Which reduces a forest to cinders,

Or a storm which leaves nothing but debris in its wake.

The third form of inevitable suffering is death or maranat,

Which is a form of suffering that all beings must undergo as they leave one existence for the next.

No matter whether they are rich or poor,

Have led a good life or a bad one,

In spite of bravado,

It is really only those who have attained transcendental attainments who don't fear the onset of death.

This is why the Buddha referred to death as suffering,

Because,

Whether it be the excruciating scorching sensation that seems to penetrate the whole of a dying person's body,

Having to face pre-death omens and visions,

The struggle of clinging to possessions or loved ones in vain,

And the special torment of death in the case of execution.

In contrast to the three forms of inevitable suffering,

There are nine forms of suffering that,

Given the know-how,

It is possible to minimise.

This immiticable suffering,

Known in Pali as bhakinakapukkha,

Which literally just means miscellaneous suffering,

Refers to the sort of suffering that is caused by unskillful deployment of the mind.

It is a category of suffering which can be minimised by wise reflection and mental training.

If you know the method to mitigate this sort of suffering,

You can,

To a large extent,

Minimise your misery,

Especially by changing your attitudes at a deeper level.

The first form of imiticable suffering is sorrow or sokha,

Which is characterised as dry-minded suffering,

For example,

That of a mother with a newborn baby that she must leave in day-care despite her better instincts.

Her anxiety leads to dry-minded sorrow.

The second form of imiticable suffering is lamentation or pariteva,

Which is sorrow that drives you to tears,

Such as the suffering of someone attending the funeral of a loved one.

The third form of imiticable suffering is pain or tukha,

Which refers to physical suffering.

The Buddha characterised this sort of suffering as originating from illness,

Corporal punishment or incarceration,

Especially when it must be endured alone and without the support of friends or relatives.

Such pain can even come in the form of mental anguish,

Perhaps as a result of poverty,

Being unable to afford clothes and jewellery to wear like more fortunate people.

The lack of choice and seeming unfairness of one's circumstances are the hallmarks of this sort of suffering.

The fourth form of imiticable suffering is feeling slighted or domanasa,

Which is where one has a chip on one's shoulder,

To be aggressively sensitive about a particular shortcoming or if one bears a grudge.

Some people bear a grudge against their parents for not having shown them more love.

Some bear a grudge against their partner for giving them less affection than they feel they deserve.

The fifth form of imiticable suffering is despair or,

As it's sometimes called,

Bemoaning,

Coming from the Pali word upāyāsā,

Which is where you give up any hope of success in something.

You might see a task which is so great that you give up hope of ever completing it.

The sixth form of imiticable suffering is exposure to hateful things or apiyehi sampayoka,

Which is a form of suffering the Buddha characterised as cloudedness of mind,

Grief and melancholy,

Which results from being forced into close proximity with things we detest.

These are often things that offend our senses.

When we can't remove them or escape from them,

It only adds to the suffering in our mind.

The seventh form of imiticable suffering is separation from loved ones and treasured things or apiyehi pipayoka,

Which is the sort of suffering where we are in the habit of indulging our senses with something,

But when that source of pleasure is no longer available to us,

Then there is the sense of heartbreak from parting or from other forms of withdrawal.

Such suffering can be seen in separation from loved ones,

Perhaps a bereavement,

Or from treasured things,

Possessions,

Home or honours.

Such separation will bring us misery for as long as we still harbour attachment in our hearts.

The eighth form of imiticable suffering is disappointment or alapha,

Which is the sort of suffering where you are thwarted from getting what you want.

It can refer to physical disappointment or spiritual disappointment,

Supposing in spite of working hard a person still doesn't get a promotion or some other form of recognition,

Physical disappointment is what they feel as a result.

The same suffering can apply to more abstract forms of disappointment like not making progress in meditation,

Which would be categorised as spiritual disappointment.

For as long as we still harbour such disappointment in our hearts,

It will only add to our misery.

Ninth and last we come to the suffering of clinging to the aggregates or panchupadana or kanta,

Dukkha.

The five aggregates or psychophysical constituents that are the building blocks of the body and mind can cause us attachment and therefore lead to our suffering.

The reason attachment to the five aggregates causes suffering is that they belong to the mundane world and therefore keep us imprisoned inside that world.

They are sometimes therefore referred to as the aggregates of clinging.

For people in general who never studied dharma or listened to sermons concerning suffering,

When they are overtaken by old age,

Sickness or death,

It comes as a major shock.

As for those who have achieved some level of enlightenment or who have at least heard the teachings of the Buddha,

The inevitability of such suffering presents less of a surprise.

Faced by inevitable suffering,

The wise reflect that all beings are subject to suffering irrespective.

In this way you won't feel as if you are being singled out for unfair treatment,

Since all are equal in the face of suffering.

At the same time,

For mitigable suffering,

We can work with the mind to minimize the touch of suffering to the best of our ability.

The second noble truth is that of the origin of suffering which uses the Pali word Samuttaya.

When people are ignorant of the real reason behind their suffering,

They tend to clutch at straws by pointing the finger at anything they can think of.

Some blame God or the evil eye.

Some blame their in-laws,

The government or foreign countries.

They fail their examinations,

They blame their teachers.

They would do anything to make sure that they pass the buck.

The last thing they think of is to blame themselves.

So the innovation of the Buddha was to teach us to blame ourselves for a change,

At least to blame ourselves for not having completely dealt with that craving that remains in the mind such as the origin of suffering.

The Buddha taught that we suffer because we still have defilements in the mind.

The defilements in the mind that cause craving or Anha which express itself in different ways.

The Buddha taught in the Anguttara Nikaya about there being three different forms of craving.

Craving for sense pleasure or Gamma Anha,

Craving for the form realms or Bhava Anha and craving for the formless realms or Vipava Anha.

The wise recognize these three forms of craving as the origin of all forms of suffering.

If craving can be avoided,

The suffering of birth,

Old age and death will be escaped.

The craving in people's minds is seen as the chain that imprisons beings in the endless cycle of existence.

The third noble truth is known as the extinction or cessation of suffering and it uses the Pali word Nirodha.

The Buddha found that craving can only be overcome if it is extinguished.

The way that craving can be extinguished is by eradicating the defilements in the mind.

If defilements are reduced,

Craving is reduced too.

If craving is reduced,

Suffering will be reduced.

If you can bring craving to an end,

Then there is nothing further to bring you back into rebirth.

If there is no rebirth,

Then that will eradicate suffering at its root.

Furthermore,

Cessation of suffering is something we can attain for ourselves.

We don't have to wait for an unknown factor or external agent or deity to do the work for us.

So,

To slip in a quick scriptural story,

I'd like to tell you about a young lady who,

After undergoing unthinkable suffering in her life,

Was able to see through it and redeem herself.

The lady in question lived in the city of Savatthi 2,

600 years ago.

She was known as Kisagotami on account of her slim body.

Formerly,

She had married a rich young man and given birth to a son.

But the son died when he was just a toddler,

And Kisagotami was stricken with grief.

She could not accept her son's death and,

Like a demented woman,

Carried his tiny body around,

Roaming the neighborhood,

Asking strangers for any medicine that could bring her son back to life.

Most people she met went away from her,

But one compassionate man,

Realizing the depth of her trauma,

Advised her,

Sister,

The Buddha is the person you should approach.

He has the medicine that you need.

She followed his advice,

Going to the temple and asking the Buddha for medicine that would restore her dead son to life.

As a skillful means,

The Buddha sent her to look for some mustard seeds from any home where there had been no death.

Overjoyed at the possibility of having her son restored to life,

Kisagotami ran from house to house,

Begging for some mustard seeds.

Everyone wanted to help her,

But she could find no single home where there hadn't been a death.

As the day dragged on,

The truth dawned on her that she was not alone in dealing with death.

She was able to let go of grief for her son and realized the important lesson the Buddha was trying to teach her,

That everything born must eventually die.

She performed the funeral rites for her son and returned to the Buddha who said,

Gotami,

You should not think that you are the only one who has lost a son.

Death comes to all beings.

Before their desires are satiated,

Death carries them away.

Now seeing clearly the short and impermanent nature of life,

Kisagotami decided to renounce the worldly life and enter the community of nuns.

Once ordained,

She worked hard in her meditation and religious duties.

One night,

She lit some oil lamps and observing the flames,

Noticed that while some flared up,

Others flickered out.

In her meditation,

She realized,

As with these flames,

So is it with the living beings of this world.

Some flare up while others flicker out.

Only those who have attained Nirvana will be seen no more.

After further teaching from the Buddha,

Within a short time,

Kisagotami was able to attain Arahantship,

Thereby extinguishing the cause of suffering at its root.

So to return to our subject matter for today,

Let's continue by looking at the Noble Truth of the Path to the Cessation of Suffering.

The Pali word used for this truth is Makha,

Which simply means the path,

Or Dukkha-Nirodha-Gamini-Pattipattha,

Which means practice leading to cessation of suffering.

It refers equally to the Middle Way and to the Noble Eightfold Path.

The term Middle Way,

Or Machchima-Pattipattha,

Doesn't mean moderation in all things,

But rather to extinguish craving by steering in one's spiritual practice between the extremes of sensual indulgence,

Or Gama-Sukhalikanu-Yokha,

And self-mortification,

Or Atta-Kilamatanu-Yokha.

Such cultivation is a way of training ourselves until the mind can wriggle itself free of craving,

Something achieved by freeing the mind of all the thoughts that cause it to move.

As long as the mind is not still,

It has no way of extinguishing craving.

On the contrary,

When the mind becomes still,

It will gain the clarity and brightness to identify the defilements remaining within it,

And the power to uproot them.

The path leading to the cessation of suffering can also refer to the path consisting of eight factors,

Namely right view,

Intention,

Speech,

Action,

Livelihood,

Effort,

Mindfulness and concentration,

Which is why it's called the Eightfold Path.

The Eightfold Path is cyclical in nature,

Effectively a spiral that zeroes in on the still or enlightened mind.

The Noble Eightfold Path can be found at all levels of advancement,

Although the way it's applied changes with the level of practice.

At the initial level,

In other words,

At the outside coils of the spiral,

Right view would mean confidence in the logic of karma and the refuge of the Trifle Gem,

As well as overcoming ten sorts of false view.

Right intention in the initial cycle would mean intending to break free from the influence of sense desire,

Vengefulness and aggression by being generous,

Keeping five precepts and meditating.

Right speech in the initial cycle would mean avoiding lies,

Divisive speech,

Harsh speech and idle chatter.

Right action in the initial cycle would mean refraining from killing or cruelty towards living beings,

Stealing and the sexual relations outside marriage,

As well as generally doing things by the rules.

Right livelihood in the initial cycle would mean refraining from earning one's living by selling weapons,

Slaves,

Animals to the slaughterhouse,

Alcohol,

Drugs,

Poison or other forms of exploitation,

Fixing weights and measures used in business,

Or otherwise misleading customers.

Right effort in this initial cycle would mean not succumbing to unwholesome habits which you never did before,

Overcoming any unwholesome habits you already possess,

Developing good habits that you never had before,

And maintaining the good habits you already have.

Right mindfulness in the initial cycle would mean keeping our mind on wholesome thoughts without distraction,

Especially by practicing meditation until attaining one-pointedness of mind.

Right concentration in the initial cycle would mean entering upon the mental absorptions.

The higher levels' right view would mean fiercely accurate understanding of life in the world,

Untainted by defilements,

Based on thorough understanding of the Four Noble Truths,

Namely insight into the clinging of the Five Aggregates.

Right intention in the higher cycles would mean release from the three types of wrong preoccupation,

Or akusala,

Vittatta,

And bias or aggatri.

Right speech in its higher cycles would mean unless one's words can produce skillful speech,

One would prefer to maintain noble silence.

Right action in the higher levels would mean practice for the removal of every last trace of ignorance and craving.

Right livelihood in the higher cycles would mean earning one's living in a compassionate way.

Right effort in the higher cycles would mean dedicating ourselves actively to the attainment of nirvana.

Right mindfulness in the higher cycles would mean cultivating the four foundations of mindfulness.

Right concentration in the higher cycles would mean seeing and knowing the Four Noble Truths and the three universal characteristics in the Five Aggregates,

Until casting off the defilements,

Attaining cessation of suffering,

And entering upon nirvana.

If the meditator cultivates the Noble Eightfold Path purely,

Completely,

And according to the principles of the Middle Way,

Which according to the Dhammakaya interpretation means the mind entering continuously upon the pathway at the center of the body,

The mind will enter the absorptions and will experience fusion of the path factors into unity,

A state otherwise known as makkha sammângkhi.

This is the trailhead of the pathway to nirvana.

So the thing to remember is that you need to train yourself sequentially and then simultaneously in all eight factors of the Noble Eightfold Path.

By this point it's true that we know all four Noble Truths,

But the knowledge thus far is only theoretical.

In fact for the Arya Satya to work,

We need to see them not once,

But according to the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta,

Twelve times,

Three cycles in twelve characteristics.

Seeing the Noble Truths is different from seeing other things because the seer is transformed for the better by the act of seeing them.

The sight of craving will immediately cause us to relinquish that craving,

And having relinquished it,

You will recognize the completion of the task.

The equivalent to recognizing this is the medicine,

While automatically realizing this medicine should be taken and eventually recognizing this medicine has successfully been taken.

It is a special sort of seeing that can be achieved only by the eyes of inner bodies of enlightenment.

For Sikhs who object to mention of inner bodies because of the lack of references to these in the scriptures,

The eyes of the inner bodies can be referenced in the Jhuled-desa.

So if listeners prefer,

They can think of the Buddha-eye rather than the body of enlightenment,

Being responsible for seeing the four Noble Truths in this special way.

The extra power of the Buddha-eye,

Not only to see but to know,

Is different to the eyesight of bodies still trapped in the mundane level,

None of which are sufficiently refined to recognize the four Noble Truths in this special way that I've described.

On this point,

The great Abbot of Wat Phra Ngam,

Phra Mongkhun Theponye,

Explained the comparative wisdom available to inner bodies,

Or inner eyes if you prefer,

At each level and summarized,

If you are able to attain the body of enlightenment or the Dhammakaya,

You will find that it is merely tens of times wiser than our human physical body.

So the true meaning of the word insight or vipassana meditation is insightful vision or seeing things according to their true nature or seeing them thoroughly from every perspective.

Only the Buddha-eye has the ability to penetrate the truth,

Especially to know the origins of defilements,

How they come to enslave the mind and how we can overcome them.

This is the major difference from the eyes of bodies belonging to the mundane levels of mind to which the defilements are still invisible.

So the task at this level is for the meditator to use the Buddha-eye to see the four Noble Truths in each of their inner bodies.

For each body there are three stages or cycles of examination,

Where Satchayana means seeing the existence of the Noble Truth in that body,

Where Pitchayana means seeing what needs to be done in relation to that Noble Truth in the body,

And Kattayana means recognizing the completion of the task in relation to the Noble Truth in that body.

As there are four Noble Truths multiplied together according to the Dhamma-Jagabawattana Sutta,

We get twelve characteristics.

But remember,

In that teaching,

Kondanya only reached the level of stream-enterer.

In order to use the Noble Truths to eradicate all the defilements from the mind,

To reach the same level as the Buddha or the Arahants,

Although it is the same sequential method,

The work needs to be continued,

Making use of all the Dhamma bodies,

Eradicating the final ten subtle defilements or fetters,

Or Samyojana as they are called in Pali,

From the mind.

For this reason,

The Great Abbot of Wat-Paknam referred not to twelve tasks,

But sixteen,

Which multiplies the four Noble Truths by the four inner bodies in which they must be seen.

According to the Great Abbot,

A person must complete sixteen tasks until invulnerable to hardship that you can call Nirvana if you like.

So the process goes something like this.

You use the eyes of the Dhammakaya Gotapu body to examine the Noble Truths in the physical human body until you attain the Dhammakaya stream-enterer body,

Which means you have managed to overcome the fetters of Self-view or Sakaya-titti,

Doubt or Vichigicha,

And attachment to rites and rituals or Silabhata-paramasa.

Then you use the eyes of the Dhammakaya stream-enterer body to examine the Noble Truths in the angelic body until you attain the Dhammakaya once-returner body,

Which means that you have managed to further diminish the fetters of Desire or Raka,

Hatred or Dosa,

And Delusion or Moha.

Then you use the eyes of the Dhammakaya once-returner body to examine the Noble Truths in the former Brahma body until you attain the Dhammakaya non-returner body,

Which means you have managed to uproot sensual grasping or Gamma-raka and annoyance or Padhika.

Then you use the eyes of the Dhammakaya non-returner body to examine the Noble Truths in the formless Brahma body until you attain the Dhammakaya Arahant body,

Which means that you have managed to uproot attachment to the form-realms or Rupa-raka,

Attachment to the formless realms or Arup-raka,

Stubbornness or Mana,

Absent-mindedness or Ujjhak-cha,

And ignorance or Avichha.

The cyclical pathway of attainment is rather like the way a nut gradually makes progress along the screw thread,

Eradicating the defilements as it rotates.

It was because the Buddha and all the Arahants had completed the 16 tasks in their entirety that they could attain full enlightenment with no further rebirth.

In conclusion,

You need to practice sequentially if you are going to be successful in seeing the Four Noble Truths.

Importantly,

It should be noted that the Noble Truths cannot be seen by those who have not yet attained the body of enlightenment.

Those who have attained the Dhammakaya from the level of Dhammakaya Gotapu upwards are able to do the final work of eradicating the ten fetters from the mind by seeing the Noble Truths and can eventually become fully enlightened.

So to finish today,

We have time for a quick scriptural story about someone who managed to reform their destiny by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path.

In the time of the Buddha,

There was a hunter who lived near Dhammentavala,

Vihara called Milaka.

Every day since his youth,

He had been involved with killing animals one way or another,

Until there was virtually nothing left in his heart in the way of virtue.

One day,

He had been setting traps in the forest and was thirsty.

He saw some monks practicing meditation in the forest and looking for something to drink,

Walked straight into their encampment without any pretense of respect.

The monks were sitting or walking in meditation,

Trying to maintain the quality of their minds.

Even though some of the monks were already Arahants,

He didn't feel any admiration when he saw them because his mind was still caught up with the usual concerns of hunting and trapping.

He ignored the monks and walked straight into one of the monks' huts,

Looking for something to drink.

Inside,

He took the lid off a water jar but even though the jar was full of water,

It looked completely empty to him.

Frustrated,

He turned around and accused the monks,

What do you do all day long,

Sitting around instead of topping up your water jars while your neighbors go thirsty?

An Arahant nearby knew that Milaka was unable to see the water he needed because of his own bad karma.

He said,

Take a rest in the shade and I will bring you some water.

He kept bringing Milaka cups of water until his thirst had been quenched and he could start to talk some sense.

Now that his thirst was flaked,

Milaka started to notice the things around him.

He saw how radiant the Arahant was and appreciated what good manners he had.

He realized,

My bad karma must be extreme if I can't see the water that's filling that water jar.

Supposing I were to die today,

I would definitely go to the bad place.

My life is in a sorry state.

Milaka started to discuss the Dharma with the Arahant and appreciated his own burden of past bad deeds.

Today,

He listened to the advice of the Arahant for the first time in his life and he started to fear the consequences of all the bad stuff he had done.

In a desperate bid to change his destiny,

He requested to ordain as a monk.

The Arahant sized up Milaka's potential and allowed him only to take lower ordination as a novice,

Teaching him how to meditate.

Unfortunately,

Because of all the hunting and trapping in his past,

His meditation was always disturbed by mental images.

Every time he closed his eyes for meditation,

He always felt as if all the animals he had killed had come back to haunt him,

Twitching as if in their death throes in his lap.

He couldn't close his eyes without getting the waking nightmares.

In the end,

He pleaded with the Arahant to let him disrobe again,

As his original inspiration had burned out.

He thought it would be better to revert to his own livelihood of hunting.

He thought that if he was going to fall into hell anyway,

That it wouldn't make much difference if it were a little bit deeper than before.

The Arahant didn't argue with the novice,

But he asked Milaka to do one final chore before disrobing,

To bring some greenwood to make a fire.

Milaka thought it was strange to choose greenwood instead of tinder,

But he did as he was told.

But try as hard as he might to light the fire,

He couldn't raise any smoke.

The Arahant asked Milaka to stand back and said that he would light the fire for him.

The Arahant meditated and slid the earth deep down until both of them could see into the deepest level of hell.

The Arahant took a piece of embers from that hell,

The size of a firefly,

And lit the greenwood.

It burned to a cinder in a fraction of a second,

As if it was nothing more than tissue paper.

This really frightened the novice,

Before he hadn't realized how hot the fires of hell were.

He thought to himself,

If that's what an ember did to greenwood,

What would it do to me if I became a denizen of that hell?

Milaka changed his mind about disrobing.

No matter how hard it was for him to meditate,

He kept going in earnest.

The hauntings became less frequent and eventually disappeared altogether.

His mind became more peaceful and radiance arose from within.

Eventually,

The Arahant allowed him to take full ordination as a monk,

With the full title of Milakathissatira.

The new monk practiced further until one day,

When he managed to maintain the positivity of mind to the full,

His continuous practice came to fruition.

His teacher guided him with the advice,

Success will accrue to all who are earnest,

Who have mindfulness,

Right livelihood,

And act only with intention,

Self-controlled,

And abiding in the Dharma without recklessness.

Milaka scrutinized his practice and realized that he had the earnest his teacher was talking about ever since seeing the fires of hell.

He had mindfulness because he was no longer disturbed by haunting images.

He had right livelihood because as a monk he had upheld the monastic discipline perfectly.

Lastly,

He had started carefully considering his words and had stopped acting recklessly.

Milaka saw that he had accomplished all the tasks his teacher had set for him.

He started to believe in himself and his own good conduct and this allowed his mind to become unified and attain the body of enlightenment.

He used the Buddha-I to examine the Four Noble Truths until he became enlightened at the level of the non-returner or Anagami.

He couldn't manage to attain Arahantship because he had not trained himself sufficiently in previous lifetimes.

When he passed away,

Since he could not yet enter upon Nirvana,

He was reborn in the Brahma world called the Sutta-Vasa,

Where he continued to purify his mind until he could enter upon Nirvana.

So this session I've introduced to you Blessing 33 on seeing the Four Noble Truths.

For my next session we continue with the fourth blessing in the ninth subgroup,

Number 34 on the attainment of Nirvana.

Hopefully as a result of today's session,

You will feel better informed about practicing the Noble Eightfold Path to reach an end of suffering.

So for today this is me,

Brad Nicholas Dynasrose,

Signing off for now.

So long folks and stay safe.