MN-9

Right View

Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta

Dhamma Talk by Bhante Vimalaramsi

24-Aug-01

(Place not known)

BV: Now, the sutta tonight, is called Sammādiṭṭi, Right View, something new and exciting.

Well, the reason that I’m reading this is because it has Dependent-Origination in it.

MN: 1. THUS HAVE I HEARD. On one occasion the Blessed One was living at Sāvatthi in Jeta's Grove, Anāthapiṇḍika's Park. There the venerable Sāriputta addressed the bhikkhus thus: "Friends, bhikkhus."—"Friend," they replied. The venerable Sāriputta said this:

2. "'One of right view, one of right view.’ is said, friends. In what way is a noble disciple one of right view, whose view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma, and has arrived at this true Dhamma?"

"Indeed, friend, we would come from far away to learn from the venerable Sāriputta the meaning of this statement. It would be good if the venerable Sāriputta would explain the meaning of this statement. Having heard it from him, the bhikkhus will remember it."

"Then, friends, listen and attend closely to what I shall say." "Yes, friend," the bhikkhus replied. {The venerable Sāriputta said this:}

BV: This is what they called each other, during the time of the Buddha; they didn’t have a hierarchy of saying: Bhante, Reverend Sir, to a senior monk, and Ᾱvuso, or Friend, to a junior monk. They just all called each other Friend.
This little simple statement, that says: "…listen and attend closely to what I shall say" is really a good way of having you settle your mind, and let go of any distraction. The closer you listen to this, the deeper your understanding will become. So this is real important that you listen with your whole mind, not asking questions right now, just listening to the sutta.

MN:
(THE WHOLESONE AND THE UNWHOLESOME)

3. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands the unwholesome and the root of the unwholesome, the wholesome and the root of the wholesome, in that way he is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma and has arrived at this true Dhamma

4. "And what, friends, is the unwholesome, what is the root of the unwholesome, what is the wholesome, what is the root of the wholesome? Killing living beings is unwholesome; taking what is not given is unwholesome; misconduct in sensual pleasures is unwholesome; false speech is unwholesome; malicious speech is unwholesome; harsh speech is unwholesome; gossip is unwholesome; covetousness is unwholesome; ill will is unwholesome; wrong view is unwholesome. This is called the unwholesome.

5. "And what is the root of the unwholesome? Greed is a root of the unwholesome; hate is a root of the unwholesome; delusion is a root of the unwholesome. This is called the root of the unwholesome.

6. "And what is the wholesome? Abstention from killing living beings is wholesome; abstention from taking what is not given is wholesome; abstention from misconduct in sensual pleasures is wholesome; abstention from false speech is wholesome; abstention from malicious speech is wholesome; abstention from harsh speech is wholesome; abstention from gossip is wholesome; uncovetousness is wholesome; non-ill will is wholesome; right view is wholesome. This is called the wholesome.

7. "And what is the root of the wholesome? Non-greed is a root of the wholesome; non-hate is a root of the wholesome; non-delusion is a root of the wholesome. This is called the root of the wholesome.

8. "When a noble disciple has thus understood the unwholesome and the root of the unwholesome, the wholesome and the root of the wholesome, he entirely abandons the underlying tendency to lust, he abolishes the underlying tendency to aversion, he extirpates the underlying tendency to the view and conceit 'I am,' and by abandoning ignorance and arousing true knowledge he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma, and has arrived at this true Dhamma."

(NUTRIMENT)

9. Saying, "Good, friend," the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the venerable Sāriputta's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dhamma?"—"There might be, friends.

10. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands nutriment, the origin of nutriment, the cessation of nutriment, and the way leading to the cessation of nutriment, in that way he is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

11. "And what is nutriment, what is the origin of nutriment, what is the cessation of nutriment, what is the way leading to the cessation of nutriment? There are four kinds of nutriment for the maintenance of beings that already have come to be and for the support of those seeking a new existence. What four? They are: physical food as nutriment, gross or subtle; contact as the second; mental volition as the third; and consciousness as the fourth. With the arising of craving there is the arising of nutriment. With the cessation of craving there is the cessation of nutriment. The way leading to the cessation of nutriment is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

12. "When a noble disciple has thus understood nutriment, the origin of nutriment, the cessation of nutriment, and the way leading to the cessation of nutriment, he entirely abandons the underlying tendency to greed, he abolishes the underlying tendency to aversion, he extirpates the underlying tendency to the view and conceit 'I am.' and by abandoning ignorance and arousing true knowledge he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma, and has arrived at this true Dhamma."

(THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS)

13. Saying, "Good, friend," the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the venerable Sāriputta's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma?"—"There might be, friends.

14. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the way leading to the cessation of suffering, in that way he is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

BV: One thing I want to talk about a little bit, is the cessation of suffering. Now the word nibbāna can be mundane, just everyday. Or it can be supermundane. The cessation of suffering, every time you let go of a hindrance, every time you let go, and relax, and cone back to your object of meditation, that is nibbāna. That is the cessation of suffering. Ni means no more. Bana means fire. So, you’re putting out the fire every time you let go of one of these hindrances that pulls you away. The analysing mind, the mind that takes great delight in thinking, is part of restlessness. And even though it might seem pleasurable and real necessary to do, it is a hindrance to your practice, because it stops you from seeing what’s happening in the present moment, and you get caught in your head. You get caught in thinking and trying to figure out how every little thing works. Why is it like that? We don’t care why. What we want to do with this practice, is see how the process works. How does the delight and how does the restlessness arise? What do you do with that as soon as it arises? Because it’s a pleasurable feeling, it’s real easy to get sucked into it, and think of all the different little ways, about this and how it can be used, but that does not lead to the cessation of suffering. That leads to more suffering. Especially U Pandita, in Burma. When I would go to a Dhamma talk, he gave interviews to every one of the foreign monks. And there was twenty or twenty-five of us there, there was a whole bunch of people there. And, right before the Dhamma talk, he’d just sit back and kind of laugh and talk about: "This really is the Western Disease, this analysing, this trying to figure out how everything works; too bad it doesn’t do anything for you." It just causes you to want to do it more. And this is leading to psychology. Western psychology is about analysing; it’s about figuring out why. But it doesn’t lead to the cessation of suffering. It leads to the continuation of suffering. So we have to let go of trying to analyse how everything works in a particular way. What we want to do is see how it arises. What happens first? I’ll give you a clue because I haven’t done this before. There’s a feeling that arises first. That’s near to the start of that hindrance, of all hindrances; they all have a feeling that arises first. Now what happens is, and there’s more before that, and you’ll get to see that too, but what happens is, that feeling arises, and it’s either pleasurable or un-pleasurable, and then there’s some little tiny thoughts, little quiet thoughts, and then that makes that feeling get a little bigger, and the thoughts get a little bigger, and the feeling becomes big and the thoughts become big, and then you’re out, a thousand miles away, trying to figure out, hy this is the way it is. The only way to get to the cessation of suffering when a hindrance arises, is to see its true nature, to see how it arises. And, as you become more familiar with the pattern of how it arises, you’ll be able to recognize it more quickly. Now some people had come to me and they said: "Well, there’s some hindrance arises because there’s a feeling in the head. There’s a feeling before that. You have to look deeper. How do you look deeper? Take more interest in how does your mind stays on your object of meditation. The more interested you are in that, the quicker you’ll see mind start to wobble and go away. And as you become more familiar with that, you’ll be able to let it go right then, and your mind will rest on your object of meditation again, it won’t turn into this thing that pulls you away, and makes your mind think about this and that. So we need to really take more interest in your object of meditation. Now you’ll notice every time your interest starts to wane a little bit, and get a little bit weak, all of a sudden, you get carried away by on of these hindrances, and it’s painful. It hurts. The only way to let go of this suffering, is by seeing it the way it truly is. It’s not a personal process, it happens because conditions are right. And what are those conditions? You’re losing your attention on staying on your object of meditation, and then you get pulled away. So to be able to experience the nibbāna, once you get pulled away, now you’ve got some work ahead of you, you got to roll up your sleeves, and get down to it. You have to be able to let it go, and relax. What good is all this thinking about anyway? Let it go. Relax the tightness caused by that, and the identification with that. Because when you start analysing, who’s analysing? "I have to find out why this is like this. I have to see all of the different ramifications of this." Now, that "I" causes a lot of tightness and tension to arise in your body, especially in your head. So, the only way to get to the cessation of suffering, is by letting go, and relaxing, coming back to your object of meditation. And that cessation of suffering might last for just a short period of time, before your mind gets pulled away again. Every time you let go and you relax and come back to your object of meditation, there is a little bit of relief. Letting go of the like of analysing, in not particularly easy, because we’ve been doing it our whole lives; that’s what we’ve been taught to do. But, when you start to realize: "This doesn’t lead anywhere, really. It doesn’t lead to my happiness; it doesn’t lead to the cessation of suffering; it only causes more suffering, so I should let it go." And then, relax. Letting go of that tightness that’s caused by the distraction, and then gently re-directing your attention back to your meditation …

(tape break)

"-- no, then I won’t be able to think about it more. But the only way I can really understand something, is if I think about it." Not true. You understand by direct experience. You understand by letting go of this hindrance, as pleasurable as it might be. It’s still a hindrance and it still causes tension and tightness to arise. So the more we let go of trying to analyse, and figure out why this is working this way and start delving into your past and these kind of things to try to bring up examples. All of this is wasted time. You’re not meditating at that time. The only time you’re meditating, is when you recognize that, and don’t continue, but let it go, even if you’re in mid sentence, doesn’t matter. Relax, come back to your object of meditation. Try to see with more interest, how your mind gets pulled away, so you can recognize it more quickly and let go of it more easily. That is the only way, to dig out the roots, and the cause of the suffering. Everything else, it may be real exciting, it might be real fun, it doesn’t, lead, to, true freedom. Open up and let it go, relax, come back to your object of meditation. I wish I had a nickel for every time I said that. (Laughs) I’d be a wealthy monk. It’s too simple. You remember I read that thing yesterday, where the universe works on simplicity. So we have to get down to our basics, the base of the practice, and that is, as much fun as it is to think, there’s pain in thinking. Let it go, relax. That doesn’t mean occasionally there won’t be a thought that’s an insight, but it happens one time, and then it’s gone, unless you attach on to it: "Oh, I got to think about this one now!" It doesn’t work. You have to let it go. That’s where the true feeling is; that’s where the cessation of suffering is; that’s where nibbāba is. Let go of all the conditions. Let go of all the little tiny desires and the likes and the wants. Let go of even your aspiration: "I want to be able to get to this or that jhāna by the end of the retreat. All of those things are just more hindrances, it’s more grist for the mill. The only way we can really progress with the practice is by letting go, opening up to deeper and deeper levels, letting go of the slightest little tensions in your shoulders, in your back, in your head, but not spend your whole time doing that, just one time,; come back to your object of meditation. Over a period of time, all of these tensions and tightnesses will go away, and then, there’s only pure mind. There’s only the pure observing mind. Even the state of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, you can be attached to, because it is a pleasurable state. All these states of jhāna are pleasurable, but the more you like them and the more you want them, the less progress you’re going to make in your meditation. That turns into a big mountain, that you have to go over, or actually you have to start, taking away shovel full by shovel full, until it’s flat.

So the more we can allow, without getting involved in any way, the more open mind becomes, the clearer, mind becomes, the more alert, your attention is. It’s the continual opening and letting go, allowing, that’s your home base. Always coming back to your meditation object. A strong interest on your meditation. Not attached to it. But just, real strong interest in how everything, arises. How it’s there, how it disappears, how it’s always changing, how it’s not yours. It’s just there because conditions are right for it to be there. And you’ll see how fast those conditions change when you start to analyse, when you start to think about. This practice is about continually opening, beyond anything you’ve ever opened before, little by little. And you’ll see your mind goes, deeper, every time you open, and relax, and let go, and come back to your meditation. You will experience nibbāna, many, many times, the mundane nibbāna, until finally your mind gets the idea, and it does it automatically and it happens to be supermundane. Can that happen in this lifetime? Yes. Can that happen in this retreat? Yes. Can you make it happen? No way, but you can continually keep opening and softening, opening and allowing. You can keep, letting, all of your little, likes, and dislikes, be, relaxing into that, coming back to your meditation.

Ok, get off of my, soapbox now. (Laughs)

MN: 15. "And what is suffering, what is the origin of suffering, what is the cessation of suffering, what is the way leading to the cessation of suffering? Birth is suffering; ageing is suffering; sickness is suffering; death is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are suffering; not to obtain what one wants is suffering; in short, the five aggregates affected by clinging are suffering. {This is called suffering.}

BV: If the aggregates are not affected by clinging, that’s not suffering. What’s clinging? Analysing.

MN: 16. "And what is the origin of suffering? It is craving, which brings renewal of being, is accompanied by delight and lust, and delights in this and that; that is, craving for sensual pleasures, craving for being, and craving for non-being. This is called the origin of suffering.

17. "And what is the cessation of suffering? It is the remainderless fading away and ceasing, the giving up, relinquishing, letting go, and rejecting of that same craving. This is called the cessation of suffering.

18. "And what is the way leading to the cessation of suffering? It is just this Noble Eightfold Path; {that is, right view...right concentration.}

BV: And I’m not going to read through it again.

MN: This is called the way leading to the cessation of suffering.

19. "When a noble disciple has thus understood suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the way leading to the cessation of suffering...he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma."

BV: Now we start to get into the Dependent Origination, and this is real interesting, because he only goes, from, ageing and death, backwards, to ignorance. So what he’s saying is right view, is, the cessation, of suffering.

Ok-

MN:

(AGEING AND DEATH)

20. Saying, "Good, friend," the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the venerable Sāriputta's words. Then they asked him a further r question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view.. .and has arrived at this true Dhamma?"—"There might be, friends.

21. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands ageing and death, the origin of ageing and death, the cessation of ageing and death, and the way leading to the cessation of ageing and death, in that way he is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

22. "And what is ageing and death, what is the origin of ageing and death, what is the cessation of ageing and death, what is the way leading to the cessation of ageing and death? The ageing of beings in the various orders of beings, their old age, brokeness of teeth, greyness of hair, wrinkling of skin, decline of life, weakness of faculties—this is called ageing. The passing of beings out of the various orders of beings, their passing away, dissolution, disappearance, dying, completion of time, dissolution of the aggregates, laying down of the body—this is called death. So this ageing and this death are what is called ageing and death. With the arising of birth there is the arising of ageing and death. With the cessation of birth there is the cessation of ageing and death. The way leading to the cessation of ageing and death is just this Noble Eightfold Path; {that is, right view... right concentration.}

23. "When a noble disciple has thus understood ageing and death, the origin of ageing and death, the cessation of ageing and death, and the way leading to the cessation of ageing and death...he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma."

BV: Moment to moment, there’s birth, death. There’s the arising, and then there’s the passing away, moment to moment, everything is in a state of flux, everything is changing. When you see Dependent Origination, you’re seeing the Four Noble Truths in every one of these different links. You’re seeing the cause of all of these things, and the cause is the one closest to it. Like ageing and death is generally the last stage of the Dependent Origination, but the cause of ageing and death is birth. If there’s no birth, there’s no ageing and death. Ok?

MN:

(BIRTH)

24. Saying, "Good, friend," the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the venerable Sāriputta's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma?"— "There might be, friends.

25. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands birth, the origin of birth, the cessation of birth, and the way leading to the cessation of birth, in that way he is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

26. "And what is birth, what is the origin of birth, what is the cessation of birth, what is the way leading to the cessation of birth? The birth of beings in the various orders of beings, their coming to birth, precipitation [in a womb], generation, manifestation of the aggregates, obtaining the bases for contact—this is called birth. With the arising of being there is the arising of birth. With the cessation of being there is the cessation of birth. The way leading to the cessation of birth is just this Noble Eightfold Path; {that is, right view...right concentration.}

27. "When a noble disciple has thus understood d birth, the origin of birth, the cessation of birth, and the way leading to the cessation of birth...he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma."

BV: So you see if there is no birth, there is no ageing and death. If there is no being, there is no birth; there is no ageing and death.

MN:

(BEING)

28. Saying, "Good, friend," the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the venerable Sāriputta's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma?"—"There might be, friends.

29. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands being, the origin of being, the cessation of being, and the way leading to the cessation of being, in that way he is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

30. "And what is being, what is the origin of being, what is the cessation of being, what is the way leading to the cessation of being? There are these three kinds of being: sense-sphere being, fine-material being, and immaterial being.

BV: Now what he’s talking about is having a physical body, as an human body. A fine material realm, is, the heavenly realm, the deva locas, the Brahma locas, the hell realms, the asura realms. Animal realm is part of the physical being, too. So, that’s what he’s calling being. Now, one of the causes of being, is, your choice, at the moment that something arises, whether you indulge in it, and have it come back over and over and over again – that is reacting – or you respond, by seeing a distraction, opening up and letting it go. Ok?

MN: With the arising of clinging there is the arising of being. With the cessation of clinging there is the cessation of being. The way leading to the cessation of being is just this Noble Eightfold Path; {that is, right view...right concentration.}

31. "When a noble disciple has thus understood being, the origin of being, the cessation of being, and the way leading to the cessation of being...he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma."

BV: So if being doesn’t arise, then birth doesn’t arise. If birth doesn’t arise, old age, and death don’t arise.

MN:

(CLINGING)

32. Saying, "Good, friend," the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the venerable Sāriputta's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma?"—"There might be, friends.

BV: I love that.

MN: 33. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands clinging, the origin of clinging, the cessation of clinging, and the way leading to the cessation of clinging, in that way he is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

34. "And what is clinging, what is the origin of clinging, what is the cessation of clinging, what is the way leading to the cessation of clinging? There are these four kinds of clinging: clinging to sensual pleasures, clinging to views,

BV: Analysing.

MN: clinging to rules and observances,

BV: Rites and rituals.

MN: and clinging to a doctrine of self.

BV: Now this is all thinking about, all of these different things. So instead of saying clinging, let’s change that and read it again.

"There are these four kinds of thinking: thinking of sensual pleasures, thinking of views, thinking about rules and observances, and thinking about the doctrine of self."

MN: With the arising of craving there is the arising of clinging. With the cessation of craving there is the cessation of clinging. The way leading to the cessation of clinging is just this Noble Eightfold Path; {that is, right view...right concentration.}

35. "When a noble disciple has thus understood clinging, the origin of clinging, the cessation of clinging, and the way leading to the cessation of clinging...he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dhamma."

BV: So if there is no clinging, there is no being. Don’t have to make a choice anymore. If there is no being, there is no birth. If there is no birth, there is no ageing and death.

MN:

(CRAVING)

36. Saying, "Good, friend," the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the venerable Sāriputta's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma?"—"There might be, friends.

37. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands craving, the origin of craving, the cessation of craving, and the way leading to the cessation of craving, in that way he is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

38. "And what is craving, what is the origin of craving, what is the cessation of craving, what is the way leading to the cessation of craving? There are these six classes of craving: craving for forms, craving for sounds, craving for odours, craving for flavours, craving for tangibles, craving for mind-objects. With the arising of feeling there is the arising of craving. With the cessation of feeling there is the cessation of craving. The way leading to the cessation of craving is just this Noble Eightfold Path; {that is, right view...right concentration.}

39. "When a noble disciple has thus understood craving, the origin of craving, the cessation of craving, and the way leading to the cessation of craving...he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view... and has arrived at this true Dhamma."

BV: So, every time one of the sense doors arises, there’s feeling, and then there’s craving. And what is the craving? It manifests as tightness. It manifests as tension in your body. IT manifests as the identification, with whatever sense door arises: "This is me. This is mine. This is who I am." Now you notice it said something about mind objects as being one of the sense doors. So that means, every time there’s a thought, right after that thought, there’s a feeling, and than the craving arises. The only way, you can have the cessation of craving, is by opening up and allowing it to be, and relaxing, letting go of that tightness, that manifestation of craving. And you’ve heard me say it many times before, when you let go of that tightness, you feel open, and then your mind takes a little step down and becomes very calm. There’s no thoughts. There’s only pure awareness, and you bring that pure awareness, back to your object of meditation. And this, is the major difference between one-pointed concentration, and tranquillity. One pointed concentration, you can let go of one of the six sense doors, but immediately you come back to your object of meditation. It doesn’t matter if it’s moment to moment concentration, or, absorption concentration. You do it in the same way. So you’re bring back this, subtle, ego belief and craving back to your object of meditation. Because of that one small thing, it will stop anyone, from attaining nibbāna, the true nibbana, the supermundane nibbāna. Just by letting go of that little tightness, that little tension and relaxing, and bringing that pure mind back to your object of meditation, that, opens the way, for you to have a completely unattached mind. And with that unattached mind, nibbāna can occur, and it can occur at any time once you start getting into the jhānas. But, that subtle, letting go, is absolutely necessary, because that’s where the manifestation of: "I am that" starts. That’s why when you have so many different people that might be brilliant meditators start talking about the ego and they always talk about: "You got to let it go", they’re talking in such general terms, and such gross terms, and people have such a different idea of what ego is. Ego is the thing that binds everything together, and causes, all of the suffering. It manifests as craving. So, opening and letting go. Not continually opening and letting it go if that tightness doesn’t go away. Just one time. You’re distracted, let go. Relax one time. Come back to your object of meditation. Because you weren’t able to let it go, you’ll bounce back and forth with this until you do let it go. And when you do let it go, then your mind becomes more clear, more bright, and you go deeper into your meditation. The practice of Loving-Kindness is really brilliant, because when there’s radiating Loving-Kindness, and you’re staying on the object of meditation with interest, there’s no tightness, there’s no tensions, there’s only the opening up and expanding. But as soon as there’s a little bit of disturbance, and that little, sneaky tension and tightness comes up first and then it starts causing all of these other things to arise, now you have to work, until you can let it go and get back to this pure state. There’s no other way. And this is the teaching, of the Buddha. This is why it such an incredibly brilliant, way of mental development. And that’s how you start following the Noble Eight Fold Path completely, by getting into the jhānas. The last factor in the Eight Fold Path, is always translated as Right Concentration but it makes me cringe, using that word because it’s so misunderstood. You are developing a kind of concentration, but it’s a tranquil concentration, it’s not one-pointed. The thing that makes concentration one-pointed, is bringing back that subtle, ego tightness and belief, back to your object of meditation, and then your mind goes very deep, but it also suppresses a big part of your personality. With the tranquillity meditation, that opening and relaxing, letting go, there is no suppression of anything. There is only complete Loving-Acceptance and openness, and complete, relaxation in your body, in your mind, and with that mind, that pure mind that’s not clouded by any kind of disturbance, that is how you will be able to experience, nibbāna, the supermundane nibbāna. So if you don’t have any craving, then you won’t have any clinging, and if you don’t have any clinging, then there’s no being, and without any being, there’s no birth, and without birth, there’s no death and old age. So you can see how, this is right view, because you have the Four Noble Truths with each one of these different parts of Dependent Origination, and Dependent Origination is the Four Noble Truths. On the night that the Buddha became enlightened and the next day, he sat, going forward only with Dependent Origination and then he sat, going backwards, only with Dependent Origination and then he went, forwards and backwards until he understood it very well, and this is the thing, that when Ᾱnanda came to him one day (and) he said: "Ah, Dependent Origination, it’s so simple, it’s so easy to understand." The Buddha scolded him, and he said: "This is not easy to understand. This is not simple. It takes a Buddha, to come into existence to re-find, the subtleness of the way mind and body works. It takes a Buddha mind, to be able, to see it so clearly, and then be able to explain it to other people, and with that explanation, many people become enlightened."

MN:

(FEELING)

40. Saying, "Good, friend," the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the venerable Sāriputta's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma?"—"There might be, friends.

41. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands feeling, the origin of feeling, the cessation of feeling, and the way leading to the cessation of feeling, in that way he is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

42. "And what is feeling, what is the origin of feeling, what is the cessation of feeling, what is the way leading to the cessation of feeling? There are these six classes of feeling: feeling born of eye-contact, feeling born of ear-contact, feeling born of nose-contact, feeling born of tongue-contact, feeling born of body-contact, feeling born of mind-contact. With the arising of contact there is the arising of feeling. With the cessation of contact there is the cessation of feeling. The way leading to the cessation of feeling is just this Noble Eightfold Path; {that is, right view... right concentration.}

43. "When a noble disciple has thus understood feeling, the origin of feeling, the cessation of feeling, and the way leading to the cessation of feeling...he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view…and has arrived at this true Dhamma."

BV: So with each one of the sense doors there is a feeling that arises, right after that craving arises, real close. And right after that, right on it’s heels, is that tightness, the tension, that arises in the mind. That’s what I’ve been calling the: "I like, I don’t like, mind", And right after that there’s thinking about all of the reasons you like that or don’t like that, and therein lies the analysing again. We have to let all of that go. You want to be able to have such strong interest on your object of meditation, that you can see a feeling start to arise. And when it arises, you can let go of it right then, and then there’s no tension and there’s no tightness. So this is starting to give you more and more an idea of the subtleness that I’m trying to teach you. This is not, any gross state; there is very, very subtle movements of mind, and, the more interest you take, with your object of meditation, the more clearly you’ll be able to see that feeling arise. And when you see that feeling arise, you let go and allow, and your mind will just stay with your object of meditation. There won’t be a distraction, and this is how you purify your mind. Ok, now we get to contact.

MN:

(CONTACT)

44. Saying, "Good, friend," the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the venerable Sāriputta's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view…and has arrived if this true Dhamma?"—"There might be, friends.

45. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands contact, the origin of contact, the cessation of contact, and the way leading to the cessation of contact, in that way he is one of right view…and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

46. "And what is contact, what is the origin of contact, what is the cessation of contact, what is the way leading to the cessation of contact? There are these six classes of contact: eye-contact ear-contact, nose-contact, tongue-contact, body-contact, mind contact. With the arising of the sixfold base there is the arising, of contact. With the cessation of the sixfold base there is the cessation of contact. The way leading to the cessation of contact is just this Noble Eightfold Path; {that is, right view...right concentration.}

47. "When a noble disciple has thus understood contact, the' origin of contact, the cessation of contact, and the way leading to the cessation of contact...he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma."

(THE SIXFOLD BASE)

48. Saying, "Good, friend," the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the venerable Sāriputta's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma?"—"There might be, friends.

49. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands the sixfold base, the origin of the sixfold base, the cessation of the sixfold base, and the way leading to the cessation of the sixfold base, in that way he is one of right view.. .and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

50. "And what is the sixfold base, what is the origin of the sixfold base, what is the cessation of the sixfold base, what is the way leading to the cessation of the sixfold base? There are these six bases: the eye-base, the ear-base, the nose-base, the tongue-base, the body-base, the mind-base. With the arising of mentality-materiality there is the arising of the sixfold base. With the cessation of mentality-materiality there is the cessation of the sixfold base. The way leading to the cessation of the sixfold base is just this Noble Eightfold Path; {that is, right view...right concentration.}

51. "When a noble disciple has thus understood the sixfold base, the origin of the sixfold base, the cessation of the sixfold base, and the way leading to the cessation of the sixfold base...he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma."

(MENTALITY-MATERIALITY)

52. Saying, "Good, friend," the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the venerable Sāriputta's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma?"—"There might be, friends.

53. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands mentality-materiality,

BV: Now mentality-materiality, that is the external object and the sixfold base, together. So you understand: "This is a cup." You see that, because your eyes are in good working order. You see color and form, and then perception arises, and you see it as a cup, but at this state, you’re just seeing it as color and form.

End of tape

Remainder of sutta:

{ the origin of mentality-materiality, the cessation of mentality-materiality, and the way leading to the cessation of mentality-materiality, in that way he is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

54. "And what is mentality-materiality, what is the origin of mentality-materiality, what is the cessation of mentality-materiality, what is the way leading to the cessation of mentality-materiality? Feeling, perception, volition, contact, and attention—these are called mentality. The four great elements and the material form derived from the four great elements—these are called materiality. So this mentality and this materiality are what is called mentality-materiality. With the arising of consciousness there is the arising of mentality-materiality. With the cessation of consciousness there is the cessation of mentality-materiality. The way leading to the cessation of mentality-materiality is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view...right concentration.

55. "When a noble disciple has thus understood mentality-materiality, the origin of mentality-materiality, the cessation of mentality-materiality, and the way leading to the cessation of mentality-materiality...he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma."

(CONSCIOUSNESS)

56. Saying, "Good, friend," the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the venerable Sāriputta's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at thus true Dhamma?"—"There might be, friends.

57. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands consciousness, the origin of consciousness, the cessation of consciousness, and the way leading to the cessation of consciousness, in that way he is one of right view.. .and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

58. "And what is consciousness, what is the origin of consciousness, what is the cessation of consciousness, what is the way leading to the cessation of consciousness? There are these six classes of consciousness: eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, mind-consciousness.With the arising of formations there is the arising of consciousness. With the cessation of formations there is the cessation of consciousness. The way leading to the cessation of consciousness is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view...right concentration.

59. "When a noble disciple has thus understood consciousness, the origin of consciousness, the cessation of consciousness, and the way leading to the cessation of consciousness ...he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma."

(FORMATIONS)

60. Saying, "Good, friend," the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the venerable Sāriputta's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma?"—"There might be, friends.

61. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands formations, the origin of formations, the cessation of formations, and the way leading to the cessation of formations, in that way he is one of right view…and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

62. "And what are formations, what is the origin of formations, what is the cessation of formations, what is the way leading to the cessation of formations? There are these three kinds of formations: the bodily formation, the verbal formation, the mental formation. With the arising of ignorance there is the arising of formations. With the cessation of ignorance there is the cessation of formations. The way leading to the cessation of formations is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view...right concentration.

63. "When a noble disciple has thus understood formations, the origin of formations, the cessation of formations, and the way leading to the cessation of formations...he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma."

(IGNORANCE)

64. Saying, "Good, friend," the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the venerable Sāriputta's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another way in which a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma?"—"There might be, friends.

65. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands ignorance, the origin of ignorance, the cessation of ignorance, and the way leading to the cessation of ignorance, in that way he is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

66. "And what is ignorance, what is the origin of ignorance, what is the cessation of ignorance, what is the way leading to the cessation of ignorance? Not knowing about suffering, not knowing about the origin of suffering, not knowing about the cessation of suffering, not knowing about the way leading to the cessation of suffering—this is called ignorance. With the arising of the taints there is the arising of ignorance. With the cessation of the taints there is the cessation of ignorance. The way leading to the cessation of ignorance is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view...right concentration.

67. "When a noble disciple has thus understood ignorance, the origin of ignorance, the cessation of ignorance, and the way leading to the cessation of ignorance...he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view...and has arrived at this true Dharnma."

(TAINTS)

68. Saying, "Good, friend," the bhikkhus delighted and rejoiced in the venerable Sāriputta's words. Then they asked him a further question: "But, friend, might there be another [55] way in which a noble disciple is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma, and has arrived at this true Dhamma?"—"There might be, friends.

69. "When, friends, a noble disciple understands the taints, the origin of the taints, the cessation of the taints, and the way leading to the cessation of the taints, in that way he is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma, and has arrived at this true Dhamma.

70. "And what are the taints, what is the origin of the taints, what is the cessation of the taints, what is the way leading to the cessation of the taints? There are these three taints: the taint of sensual desire, the taint of being, and the taint of ignorance. With the arising of ignorance there is the arising of the taints. With the cessation of ignorance there is the cessation of the taints. The way leading to the cessation of the taints is just this Noble Eightfold Path; that is, right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

71. "When a noble disciple has thus understood the taints, the origin of the taints, the cessation of the taints, and the way leading to the cessation of the taints, he entirely abandons the underlying tendency to lust, he abolishes the underlying tendency to aversion, he extirpates the underlying tendency to the view and conceit 'I am,' and by abandoning ignorance and arousing true knowledge he here and now makes an end of suffering. In that way too a noble disciple is one of right view, whose view is straight, who has perfect confidence in the Dhamma, and has arrived at this true Dhamma."

That is what the venerable Sāriputta said. The bhikkhus were satisfied and delighted in the venerable Sāriputta words }

Sutta translation (C) Bhikkhu Bodhi 1995, 2001. Reprinted from The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya with permission of Wisdom Publications, 199 Elm Street, Somerville, MA 02144 U.S.A. www.wisdompubs.org

Text last edited: 26-Dec-07