What Really Matters  

WEBU SAYADAW: You have taken up moral conduct (sila). Now that you have undertaken to perfect yourselves in morality, fulfill it to the utmost. Only if you fulfill morality to the utmost will all your aspirations be met. You will be happy now and in the future.

Nothing but the teachings of the Buddha can give you real happiness, in the present and in the remainder of samsara, the cycle of repeated birth and death. The teachings of the Buddha are enshrined in the Tipitaka, the three baskets of the scriptures. The Tipitaka is very extensive. If we take the essence out of the Tipitaka we shall find the thirty-seven factors of awakening.[1] The essence of the thirty-seven factors of awakening is the eight constituents of the Noble Eightfold Path. The essence of the Noble Eightfold Path is the threefold training — the higher morality, the higher mind, the higher wisdom. The essence of the threefold training is the one Dhamma or Universal Law.

If your body and mind are under control, as they are now, there can be no roughness of physical or verbal action. This is the higher morality (adhisila).

If morality becomes strong, the mind will become peaceful and tranquil and lose its harshness. This is called the higher mind or the concentrated mind (adhicitta). If concentration becomes strong and the mind stays one-pointed for a long time, then you will realize that in a split-second matter arises and dissolves billions and billions of times. If mind (nama) knows matter (rupa), it knows that matter originates and disintegrates billions and billions of times in the wink of an eye. This knowledge of arisal and disintegration is called the higher wisdom (adhipañña).

Whenever we breathe in or out, the incoming and the outgoing air touches somewhere in or near the nostrils. The sensitive matter registers the touch of air. In this process, the entities touching are matter and the entity knowing the touch is mind. So do not go around asking others about mind and matter; observe your breathing and you will find out about them for yourselves.

When the air comes in, it will touch. When the air goes out, it will touch. If you know this touch continuously, then greed (lobha), aversion (dosa), and delusion (moha) do not have the opportunity to arise, and the fires of these defilements will subside.

You cannot know the touch of air before it actually occurs. After it has gone, you cannot know it anymore. Only while the air moves in or out can you feel the sensation of touch. This we call the present moment.

While we feel the touch of air, we know that there is only mind and matter. We know for ourselves that there is no “I,” no other people, no man and woman, and we realize for ourselves that what the Buddha said is true indeed. We do not need to ask others. While we know the in-breath and out-breath, there is no “I” or self.

When we know this, our view is pure; it is right view. We know in that moment that there is nothing but nama and rupa, mind and matter. We also know that mind and matter are two different entities. If we thus know how to distinguish between mind and matter, we have attained to the analytical knowledge of mind and matter (nama-rupapariccheda-ññ).

If we know the touch of air as and when it occurs, our mind is pure and we get the benefits thereof. Do not think that the benefits you get thus, even in a split-second, are few. Do not think that those who meditate do not get any advantages from their practice. Now that you have been born in a happy plane and have met the teachings of a Buddha, you can obtain great benefits. Do not worry about eating and drinking, but make all the effort you can.

Is this present time not auspicious?

DISCIPLE: Yes, sir, it is.

SAYADAW: Yes, indeed! Can’t those good people attain their aspiration for Nibbana who, with an open mind, receive and practice the teachings of the Buddha, just like the noble people of the past who received the instructions from the Buddha himself?

D: Yes, sir, they can.

S: So, how long does the Buddha’s Teaching last?

D: For five thousand years, sir.[2]

S: And now tell me, how many of these five thousand years have past?

D: Sir, about half this time-span has gone.

S: So, how much remains still?

D: About 2500 years, sir.

S: What is the life-span of a human being now?[3]

D: About one hundred years, sir.

S: How old are you?

D: I am thirty-seven years old, sir.

S: So, how much longer do you have to live?

D: Sixty-three years, sir.

S: But can you be sure that you will live that long?

D: That I don’t know, sir.

S: You don’t know yourself how long you are going to live?

D: No, sir, it isn’t possible to know this for sure.

S: But even as we are born we can be sure we have to suffer old age, disease and death.

D: Yes, sir.

S: Can we request old age, pain and death to desist for some time, to go away for some time?

D: No, sir.

S: No they never rest. Can we ask them to stop their work?

D: No, sir, we cannot.

S: In that case can we be certain we have to die?

D: Yes, sir, it is certain that we all have to die.

S: It is certain that we all have to die. What about living?

D: We can’t be sure how long we have left to live, sir.

S: Someone whose life-span is thirty years dies when the thirty years are up. If your life-span is forty or fifty years, you will die when you are forty or fifty years old. Once someone is dead, can we get him back?

D: No, sir, we can’t.

S: However many years of your life have passed, they have passed. What is it that you have not accomplished yet?

D: The happiness of the path and fruition states and the attainment of Nibbana.[4]

S: Yes, inasmuch as you haven’t attained the paths and fruition states yet, you have been defeated. Have you used the years that have passed well, or have you wasted your time?

D: I have wasted my time, sir.

S: Then do not waste the time that you have got left. This time is there for you to strive with energy and steadfastness; you can be sure that you will die, but you can’t be sure how much longer you have got to live. Some live very long. Some of the Buddha’s great disciples like Venerable Maha Kassapa and Venerable Maha Kaccayana lived to over one hundred years of age. Some live for eighty years. To be able to live that long we have to be full of respect for those who deserve respect and we have to be very humble. Do you pay respect to your father and mother?

D: We do, sir.

S: Do you pay respect to people who are older than you or of a higher standing than you?

D: We do pay respect to people who are older than us or are holding a higher position than we do. Even if someone is just one day older or even just half a day older, we pay respect, sir.

S: When do you pay respect to them?

D: At night, before we go to bed, we pay respect to the Buddha and at that time we also pay respect to our seniors.

S: What about other times?

D: At other times we do not pay respect, sir.

S: You say that you pay respect to your seniors after you have paid respect to the Buddha. But do you show respect to those who live with you and to those who are of the same age? If I were to put parcels of money worth $1000 each along the road for anyone to take, would you fellows take one?

D: Of course we would, sir.

S: And if you found a second, would you take that too?

D: Of course we would, sir.

S: And if you found a third bundle of bank notes, would you take that as well?

D: We would take it, of course, sir.

S: After having got one, wouldn’t you want someone else to have one?

D: We wouldn’t think that way, sir.

S: If you happened to be with a friend. Would you let him find one bundle of notes thinking, “I shall pretend not to see that one. After all, I have got one”? Would you let him have one or would you grab them all and run for it?

D: I would grab all I could get and run for it, sir.

S: Yes, yes, you fellows are not very pleasant. When it comes to money, you are unable to give to anyone. But then you say that you are respectful and humble just because you pay respect to the Buddha in the evenings. If you cherish thoughts such as, “Why is he better off than I am? Is his understanding greater than mine?” then your mind is full of pride. If you pay respect to your parents, teachers, to those older, wiser or of higher standing, without pride, then you will live to more than one hundred years. If you show respect for such people, will you get only $1000? Will you get only money?

D: It will be more than just money.

S: Yes, indeed! And though you know what really matters, you wouldn’t even give $1000 to someone else, but rather you would run and get it for yourselves. When the Buddha, out of compassion, taught the Dhamma, did everyone understand it?

D: No, sir, not everyone understood it.

S: Why is this so?

D: Some didn’t listen to the Buddha, sir.

S: Only if you take the teachings of the Buddha for yourselves can you attain any of the types of awakening: the full awakening of a Perfect Buddha, the awakening of a Paccekabuddha, the awakening of a chief disciple, of a great disciple of any ordinary arahant disciple.[5] If you want to attain one of these types of awakening, you can. Through the teachings of the Buddha you can attain happiness now, a happiness that will stay with you in the future. How long does it take for a paddy seed to sprout?

D: Only overnight, sir.

S: It takes only a day for it to sprout. Now, if you keep the seed — a good quality seed, of course — after sprouting and do not plant it, will it grow?

D: No, sir, it will not.

S: Even though you have a good quality seed, if you do not plant it, it will not grow. It is just the same with the teachings of the Buddha; only if you accept them will you understand them. If you learn how to live with the awareness of mind and matter arising, what do you achieve?

D: This awareness is called vijja, sir, true understanding.

S: If one lives without the teachings of the Buddha, what do you call that?

D: That is avijja, sir, ignorance.

S: If you live all your life with vijja, understanding of the Buddha Dhamma, then where will you go after death?

D: To some good existence, sir.

S: What will happen after a life full of ignorance?

D: One will go to the lower realms, sir.

S: Now, suppose an old man about seventy years old is paying respect to the Buddha. While doing so, he cannot keep his mind focused on the Dhamma, but he allows it to wander here and there. If this old man dies at that moment, where will he go?

D: He will go to the lower worlds, sir.

S: Really? Think carefully before you answer. He is paying respect to the Buddha and he is meditating. So where will he go if he dies at that moment?

D: He will go to the lower worlds, sir.

S: But why?

D: Because his mind is wandering all over, sir.

S: Yes. What are the qualities arising in the mind of a person living in ignorance?

D: They are greed, aversion, and delusion.

S: What is greed (lobha)?

D: Greed is to want something, sir.

S: Greed includes any liking, being attracted by something, wanting. One who dies with any liking or wanting in his mind is said to be reborn as a ghost. But what is aversion (dosa)?

D: Aversion is enmity, sir.

S: Yes, aversion is the cause of your fighting. Aversion arises because you do not get what you want and what you get you don’t want. Dislike is aversion. If you die with dislike in your mind, you are reborn in hell. Delusion (moha) is ignorance about benefits derived from being charitable, being moral and practicing meditation. If you die with delusion in your mind, you will be reborn as an animal. Nobody — no god, no Deva or Brahma — has created body and mind. They are subject to the law of nature, to arisal and dissolution, just as the Buddha taught. If a person dies concentrating on the awareness of mind and matter and knows their arising and dissolution, then, according to the teaching of the Buddha, he will be reborn as a man, Deva or Brahma. If someone is going where he wants to go, does he need to ask others for the way?

D: No, sir.

S: Does one have to ask others, “Do I live with knowledge or in ignorance?”

D: No, sir.

S: No. Indeed not. Therefore, work hard to bring the perfections (parami) you have accumulated in the whole of samsara to fruition. Be steadfast in your effort.

Act as the wise people of the past did after receiving the teachings directly from the Buddha; they worked for Nibbana. Knowing that you too have been born in a favorable plane of existence, nothing can stop you from working up to the attainment of the paths, fruits and Nibbana.

Practice with strong effort and with steadfastness and make sure that not even a little time is wasted. Advise and urge others to practice also. Strive with happiness in your heart and when you are successful, be truly happy.