MN 18
The Honeyball
Madhupiṇḍika Sutta
Dhamma Sukha Meditation Center
A Dhamma talk by Bhante Vimalaramsi
18-Aug-07
MN:
1. THUS HAVE I HEARD. On one occasion the Blessed One was living in the Sakyan country at Kapilavatthu in Nigrodha's Park.
2. Then, when it was morning, the Blessed One dressed, and taking his bowl
and outer robe, went into Kapilavatthu for alms. When he had wandered for
alms in Kapilavatthu and had returned from his almsround, after his meal he
went to the Great Wood for the day's abiding, and entering the Great Wood,
sat down at the root of a bilva sapling for the day's abiding.
3. Daṇḍapāni the Sakyan, while walking and wandering for exercise, also went
to the Great Wood, and when he had entered the Great Wood, he went to the
bilva sapling where the Blessed One was and exchanged greetings with him.
When this courteous and amiable talk was finished, he stood at one side
leaning on his stick and asked the Blessed One: "What does the recluse
assert, what does he proclaim?"
4. "Friend, I assert and proclaim [my teaching] in such a way that one does
not quarrel with anyone in the world with its gods, its Maras, and its
Brahmas, in this generation with its recluses and brahmins, its princes and
its people; in such a way that perceptions no more underlie that brahmin who
abides detached from sensual pleasures, without perplexity, shorn of worry,
free from craving for any kind of being."
5. When this was said, Daṇḍapāni the Sakyan shook his head, wagged his
tongue, and raised his eyebrows until his forehead was puckered in three
lines. Then he departed, leaning on his stick.
6. Then, when it was evening, the Blessed One rose from meditation and went
to Nigrodha's Park, where he sat down on a seat made ready for him and told
the bhikkhus what had taken place. Then a certain bhikkhu asked the Blessed
One:
7. "But, venerable sir, how does the Blessed One assert and proclaim [his
teaching] in such a way that he does not quarrel with anyone in the world
with its gods, its Māras, and its Brahmas, in this generation with its
recluses and brahmins, its princes and its people? And, venerable sir, how
is it that perceptions no more underlie the Blessed One, that brahmin who
abides detached from sensual pleasures, without perplexity, shorn of worry,
free from craving for any kind of being?"
8. "Bhikkhu, as to the source through which perceptions and notions [born
of] mental proliferation
BV: What is mental proliferation? You should have that one right on the tip
of your tongue, because, guess what? You have a lot of it.
Ah, let’s do that again: Monks so as to the source through which perceptions
and notions born of mental proliferation
MN:
beset a man: if nothing is found there to delight in,
BV: Listen closely.
MN:
welcome and hold to, this is the end of the underlying tendency to lust, of
the underlying tendency to aversion, of the underlying tendency to views,
BV: Opinions, concepts, stories.
MN:
of the underlying tendency to doubt, of the underlying tendency to conceit,
of the underlying tendency to desire for being, of the underlying tendency
to ignorance; this is the end of resorting to rods and weapons, of quarrels,
brawls, disputes, recrimination, malicious words, and false speech; here
these evil unwholesome states cease without remainder."
BV: How do you do that?
S: ~energy rises ~
BV: But it’s also letting go of your views, and concepts of what you think
the meditation is supposed to be. Ok, Because you’ve got an idea, and you’ll
attach to that idea, and anything other than that will seem like it’s not
right. Ergo, you always have many questions and you say: “Well, I’m not
doing it right.” That’s because of your preconceived ideas, and want to make
it happen because of those preconceived ideas, in that way.
Do you know what’s going to happen in five minutes? Then why try to plan it?
Let go of the idea that you’re supposed to know. When you have that
beginner’s mind, you haven’t got a clue what’s going to be happening next.
It’s all an adventure. So you let go of the concepts. You let go of the
opinions. You let go of the desires because this is the way I think it’s
supposed to be.
That’s why you have so much trouble with restlessness, because of, there is
a longing, and this is a subtle kind of desire, that things happen the way
you think they should. Ok? So, you have to start searching a little bit, and
forgive yourself for doing that. See what I mean? That will make your
meditation even more and more calm. And, you have a habit of something new
and exciting happen, and you have a habit of questioning: “Well, I’ve never
seen this before, what am I supposed to do with it?” But that’s part of your
preconceived ideas always to get involved in thinking about, rather than
just accepting it and say: “Ok, this is a new one. Fine. Let’s see how this
one felt.” Ok? So you got to forgive yourself for doing that. By the way,
the forgiveness meditation is by far the strongest meditation that I’ve ever
run across. It cuts right through.
Ok, when you’re actually able to do this and do it well, there’s no need for
weapons, for quarrels, for brawling, for disputes, recriminations, malicious
words, false speech; here these evil unwholesome states cease without
remainder, when you see how it works, and you let it be, without getting
involved with it. You’re still a little bit too tight; you need to relax a
little bit more. But when I’m saying relax, I’m saying relax your opinions,
of the way you think, it’s going to happen. Ok?
MN:
9. That is what the Blessed One said. Having said this, the Sublime One rose
from his seat and went into his dwelling.
10. Then, soon after the Blessed One had gone, the bhikkhus considered:
"Now, friends, the Blessed One has risen from his seat and gone into his
dwelling after giving a summary in brief without expounding the detailed
meaning. Now who will expound this in detail?" Then they considered: "The
venerable Mahā Kaccāna is praised by the Teacher and esteemed by his wise
companions in the holy life. He is capable of expounding the detailed
meaning. Suppose we went to him and asked him the meaning of this."
BV: Kaccāna, he liked to sit in meditation. He didn’t like to be disturbed.
You’ll see, in a minute.
MN:
11. Then the bhikkhus went to the venerable Mahā Kaccāna and exchanged
greetings with him. When this courteous and amiable talk was finished, they
sat down to one side and told him what had taken place, adding: "Let the
venerable Mahā Kaccāna expound it to us."
12. [The venerable Mahā Kaccāna replied:] "Friends, it is as though a man
needing heartwood, seeking heartwood, wandering in search of heartwood,
thought that heartwood should be sought for among the branches and leaves of
a great tree standing possessed of heartwood, after he had passed over the
root
and the trunk. And so it is with you, venerable sirs, that you think that I
should be asked about the meaning of this, after you passed the Blessed One
by when you were face to face with the Teacher. For knowing, the Blessed One
knows; seeing, he sees; he is vision, he is knowledge, he is the Dhamma, he
is the holy one; he is the sayer, the proclaimer, the elucidator of meaning,
the giver of the Deathless, the lord of the Dhamma, the Tathagata. That was
the time when you should have asked the Blessed One the meaning. As he told
you, so you should have remembered it."
13. "Surely, friend Kaccāna, knowing, the Blessed One knows; seeing, he
sees; he is vision...the Tathagata. That was the time when we should have
asked the Blessed One the meaning. As he told us, so we should have
remembered it. Yet the venerable Mahā Kaccāna is praised by the Teacher and
esteemed by his wise companions in the holy life. The venerable Mahā Kaccāna
is capable of expounding the detailed meaning of this summary given in brief
by the Blessed One without expounding the detailed meaning. Let the
venerable Mahā Kaccāna expound it without finding it troublesome."
14. "Then listen, friends, and attend closely to what I shall say.
BV: Now this is a really, really important statement. You can obtain nibbāna,
listening to this. And if your mind starts wandering, and you start dulling
out, and you start thinking about this or that, then you’re not really
paying close attention, and then, it ain’t gonna happen. Any time a Dhamma
talk is given, it’s really important, to pay as close attention as you
possibly can.
MN:
"—"Yes, friend," the bhikkhus replied. The venerable Mahā Kaccāna said this:
15. "Friends, when the Blessed One rose from his seat and went into his
dwelling after giving a summary in brief without expounding the detailed
meaning, that is: 'Bhikkhu, as to the source through which perceptions and
notions [born of] mental proliferation beset a man: if nothing is found
there to delight in, welcome, and hold to, this is the end of the underlying
tendency to lust...this is the end of resorting to rods and weapons...here
these evil unwholesome states cease without remainder,’ I understand the
detailed meaning of it to be as follows:
16. "Dependent on the eye and forms, eye-consciousness arises. The meeting
of the three is contact. With contact as condition there is feeling. What
one feels, that one perceives. What one perceives, that one thinks about.
BV: Why? Because when you perceive something, it gives us the name, and then
your mind just kind of takes off and starts thinking.
MN:
What one thinks about, that one mentally proliferates. With what one has
mentally proliferated as the source, perceptions and notions [born of]
mental proliferation beset a man with respect to past, future, and present
forms cognizable through the eye.
BV: But it’s always thinking about. Not actually being in the present
moment. That’s why the relax step is so amazing, because all the mental
proliferation, ceases. Now, you’re just able to see, what’s there.
MN:
"Dependent on the ear and sounds…Dependent on the nose and odours…Dependent
on the tongue and flavours…Dependent on the body and tangibles…Dependent on
the mind and mind-objects, mind-consciousness arises. The meeting of the
three is contact. With contact as condition there is feeling. What one
feels, that one perceives. What one perceives, that one thinks about. What
one thinks about, that one mentally proliferates. With what one has mentally
proliferated as the source, perceptions and notions [born of] mental
proliferation beset a man with respect to past, future, and present
mind-objects cognizable through the mind.
BV: So every time you six R, you’re getting your brief moment, of release
from the craving, and the more you bring that mind back to your object of
meditation, the more pure your mind becomes. The more pure your mind
becomes, the more easily you’re able to see how mind’s attention goes from
one thing to another, so you start letting go a little bit more quickly and
more easily. You start noticing more and more, teeny, tiny, subtle things.
MN:
17. "When there is the eye, a form, and eye-consciousness, it is possible to
point out the manifestation of contact. When there is the manifestation of
contact, it is possible to point out the manifestation of feeling. When
there is the manifestation of feeling, it is possible to point out the
manifestation of perception. When there is the manifestation of perception,
it is possible to point out the manifestation of thinking. When there is the
manifestation of thinking, it is possible to point out the manifestation of
besetment by perceptions and notions [born of] mental proliferation.
BV: Got it?
S: ~
BV: Well, hang on just a minute. You’ll get it.
MN:
"When there is the ear, a sound, and ear-consciousness… When there is the
nose, an odour, and nose-consciousness…When there is the tongue, a flavour,
and tongue-consciousness…When there is the body, a tangible, and
body-consciousness…When there is the mind, a mind-object, and
mind-consciousness…
BV: Not all thinking is bad. Because sometimes you need to have a little bit
of thought that describes what’s happening in the present moment, but it
just happens one time and you let it go. You don’t try to delve into it,
because if you delve into it, then you’re thinking about this, you’re
thinking about that, and then you’re, bye bye. The observation thoughts, are
part of the necessary practice, and you’re not going to have them all the
time, but they’ll pop up, and it’ll be like: “Oh! Things just happened.”,
and then you continue on. That’s not a distracting thought. Distracting
thought is: “Well, I remember the last time that happened.” So you have to
let that kind of thing go, because you’re thinking about the past. See, you
observation thought is just about what’s happening in the present moment.
That’s it. Or, just has happened in the present moment.
“When there is the manifestation of thinking,”
MN:
it is possible to point out the manifestation of besetment by perceptions
and notions [born of] mental proliferation.
18. "When there is no eye, no form, and no eye-consciousness, it is
impossible to point out the manifestation of contact. When there is no
manifestation of contact, it is impossible to point out the manifestation of
feeling. When there is no manifestation of feeling, it is impossible to
point out the manifestation of perception. When there is no manifestation of
perception, it is impossible to point out the manifestation of thinking.
When there is no manifestation of thinking, it is impossible to point out
the manifestation of besetment by perceptions and notions [born of] mental
proliferation.
BV: Why? Dukkha, dukkha.
S:~
BV: If you don’t have any eye, and there is no color and form, how can
eye-consciousness arise? And if there’s no eye-consciousness, there
certainly can’t be any contact, because there’s no meeting of these three
things. So none of the other stuff can arise.
BV: It’s all conditioned. Hmph.
MN:
"When there is no ear, no sound, and no ear-consciousness…When there is no
nose, no odour, and no nose-consciousness…When there is no tongue, no
flavour, and no tongue-consciousness…When there is no body, no tangible, and
no body-consciousness…When there is no mind, no mind-object, and no
mind-consciousness…it is impossible to point out the manifestation of
besetment by perceptions and notions [born of] mental proliferation.
BV: Only makes sense.
MN:
19. "Friends, when the Blessed One rose from his seat and went into his
dwelling after giving a summary in brief without expounding the detailed
meaning, that is: 'Bhikkhu, as to the source through which perceptions and
notions [born of] mental proliferation beset a man: if nothing is found
there to delight in, welcome, and hold to, this is the end of the underlying
tendency to lust, of the underlying tendency to aversion, of the underlying
tendency to views, of the underlying tendency to doubt, of the underlying
tendency to conceit, of the underlying tendency to desire for being, of the
underlying tendency to ignorance; this is the end of resorting to rods and
weapons, of quarrels, brawls, disputes, recrimination, malicious words, and
false speech; here these evil unwholesome states cease without remainder,' I
understand the detailed meaning of this summary to be thus. Now, friends, if
you wish, go to the Blessed One and ask him about the meaning of this. As
the Blessed One explains it to you, so you should remember it."
20. Then the bhikkhus, having delighted and rejoiced in the venerable Mahā
Kaccāna's words, rose from their seats and went to the Blessed One. After
paying homage to him, they sat down at one side and told the Blessed One all
that had taken place after he had left, adding: "Then, venerable sir, we
went to the venerable Mahā Kaccāna and asked him about the meaning. The
venerable Mahā Kaccāna expounded the meaning to us with these terms,
statements, and phrases."
21. "Mahā Kaccāna is wise, bhikkhus, Mahā Kaccāna has great wisdom. If you
had asked me the meaning of this, I would have explained it to you in the
same way that Mahā Kaccāna has explained it. Such is the meaning of this,
and so you should remember it."
22. When this was said, the venerable Ānanda said to the Blessed One:
"Venerable sir, just as if a man exhausted by hunger and weakness came upon
a honeyball, wherever he would taste it he would find a sweet delectable
flavour; so too, venerable sir, any able-minded bhikkhu, wherever he might
scrutinize with wisdom the meaning of this discourse on the Dhamma, would
find satisfaction and confidence of mind. Venerable sir, what is the name of
this discourse on the Dhamma?"
"As to that, Ānanda, you may remember this discourse on the Dhamma as The
Honeyball Discourse.'"
That is what the Blessed One said. The venerable Ānanda was satisfied and
delighted in the Blessed One's words.
BV: So, when your mind starts to become more and more calm, and you’re
starting to see more and more clearly how all of these things arise, you
will get to a state, where you start seeing your mind just starting to do
this, a little bit, and you relax. But there’s stuff that happens before,
you see these grosser kind of movements of mind’s attention. Now at first,
you’re not going to see this at all. When you start meditating, you’re going
to see that your mind’s flown away. That was it. But as you become more
alert, as you become more awake, to how mind’s attention moves, then you let
it go and you relax and you come back, then you start seeing more and more
little subtle movements, and as you see those and you start relaxing, then
you stay on your object of meditation without any distractions at all. Your
mind at that time is very pure. Your mind at that time has no unwholesome
things in it at all, and you’re staying with your object of meditation.
Now there’s some advantages of doing this particular kind of meditation, and
that is your mind kind of takes to the Loving-Kindness all by itself more
easily, and it will start to do this more during your daily activities, and
you start to see how you cause yourself pain by, letting mind go, and you
start six ring more and more clearly with your daily activities, too. When
it becomes automatic, every time mind’s attention starts a little blip, now
you’re starting to get it, and, that, is the cessation of suffering. Nice,
Hun?
This particular sutta is very clear in a lot of ways, because it shows you
in detail more of how your mind actually works, like when you’re talking
about: when there is no eye, no form, no eye-consciousness, it is impossible
to point out the manifestation of contact, of course, that’s true. But, when
you see the slight disturbance of mentality and materiality beginning to
arise, then there will not be any eye-contact, because there won’t be any
eye.
And the consciousness by itself, is the potential for consciousness to
arise, potential for that awareness. So, even these slightest, tiniest,
little movements of mind, are necessary to see and let go of. But you can’t
do it too fast, and you can’t do it too slow. It’s got to be done with the
right amount of energy, and this is why I’ve been telling you, that you have
to tweak, little bit. If you put too much energy in, mind will go off in one
direction, get restless. If you put not enough, it’ll dull out. So it’s a
constant, recognizing how mind’s attention is, what it’s doing, and how it’s
doing it, with the right amount of energy. It’s simpler than it sounds. It’s
not that difficult, but it is something that you need to be aware of. Aware
of how to, adjust the energy at the right time.
And that’s part of mindfulness. The function of mindfulness is to remember.
To remember what? Remember to observe how mind’s attention moves,
remembering to observe. It’s not, trying to make something happen. It’s just
the observation. As you get more interested in how mind’s attention moves,
then you start seeing it more and more clearly. It only makes sense. It’s
like when the hindrances arose when you first came here, they were really
big and took you away a long time. Now hey don’t so much, although they can
seem like they’re bigger, but because you’re looking at them more clearly,
and more closely, they’re actually smaller, but they look bigger.
And what happened for you yesterday, having being attacked by the
hindrances, that’s what happened to the Buddha on the night of his
enlightenment. He got attacked by the hindrances, big time. But it didn’t
make his mind shake. It didn’t make his mind wobble. He just said: “Ok,
there it is, let it be, relax, come back. That’s how the hindrances help
you. Because it sharpens your awareness. It sharpens your mindfulness, so
your observation power, is more and more clear.
That’s why it’s so necessary to always go back to your object of meditation.
Because if you just release and relax, and release and relax, you’re not,
developing that observation of how mind went from your object of meditation
back to that. See ever time a hindrance arises and you let it go, you come
back to your object of meditation, and the hindrance comes up again, it’s
not the same hindrance. You let that one go. And that gives you an idea of
how attachment really works. As you begin to make this a game, as you begin
to play with it, instead of get serious with it, that play mode, keeps your
mind elevated, so it’s real easy to see when it starts to dip down. That’s
the whole point of having the joy. Not being attached to the joy. But having
the joy so that your awareness is sharp, whether it’s strong, or nor so
strong. Doesn’t really matter. But, you can’t grab onto it. As soon as you
do that, you’re lost. So what we have to do is just say: “Well, this is just
another feeling. Ok, so what?” Developing your equanimity to that feeling,
is the way to let it go, and the way to go deeper in your meditation.
So it’s really a necessary, sutta, that we went through, today, even though
it’s a short sutta, there’s a lot, in it. So this is kind of a fun sutta
because it brings out some things that you don’t normally think about. About
how the thinking arises, and the mental proliferation occurring and all of
that other stuff.
Sutta text 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: 06-Feb-08
Berlin-1 Apr 09
Bogor Dec 10
Vietnamese