About Maha Boowa again...the arahat...questions and answers ONLY

Lead me from dreaming to waking.

Wisdom for Grasshoppers - More free videos are here

Lead me from opacity to clarity. Lead me from the complicated to the simple. Lead me from the obscure to the obvious. Lead me from intention to attention. Lead me from what I'm told I am to what I see I am. Lead me from confrontation to wide openness. Lead me to the place I never left, Where there is peace, and peace -

Emptiness is the Source - Celebrity bloopers here

The Upanishads

*note* for some personal reasons I needed to read only the questions and answers from the formidable Maha Boowa quote "Phra Thamma Wisutthi Mongkhon (Bua Yannasampanno) or Pra Dharma Visuthi Mongkol (Bua Ñanasampanno) (Thai: พระธรรมวิสุทธิมงคล (บัว ญาณสมฺปนฺโน)), commonly known as Ajahn Maha Bua or in Thai Luang Ta Maha Bua (Thai: หลวงตามหาบัว; the word "Ajahn" (Thai: อาจารย์; RTGS: Achan) means "teacher"), born as Bua Lohitdimukarlio (Thai: บัว โลหิตดี), (August 12, 1913 — January 30, 2011), was a Thai Buddhist monk. Bua is one of the best known Thai Buddhist monks of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. He was widely regarded as an Arahant — a living Buddhist saint. He was a disciple of the esteemed forest master Ajahn Mun Bhuridatta, and was himself considered a master in the Thai Forest Tradition."

So..in my tremendous compassion ,me ..the mahayogi..loved in the 3 worlds..worshiped in 10..celebrated in the 19th also by myself...I present you,grasshoppers from heaven..only the Questions and Answers from the Maha Boowa..

Well..before I do that ...I should explain your sorry asses couple things.,,NOW LISTEN..PUNKS!

1..the mantra of ,,buddho,, (which means spirit within you,or the buddha nature) was,is,and was used just to still the mind..

You might as well use any word,like..Cucumber..if you repeat the word ,,cucumber,, long enough..you'll feel the other thoughts abandon you like the fakes they are..in other words..any mantras is some stupid word or sentence you repeat just to still your freaking monkey mind from thoughts..well..if you're not realized,of course...or if you have not tried sahaja yoga.

Some teachers develop formidable mantras like,,OGHM NAMUAH SHAKSHAT..KISS MY ASS FOREVER,,AND YOU'LL BE SAVED,,shakshat..Ohmm...

oF COURSE is a trick JUST to make you still your monkey mind.

It has NO meaning other then that,unless there is some message you must do..

Be aware that stilling your mind has no other purpose other then helping  you to access samadhi....and even if you're there,you won't gain any wisdom unless you think.(that is the SECRET!..you just reach the marvelous alaya ground consciousness ..it's nature is bright,formidable..and you take it as ,,self,, and you imagine you got GOD by it's balls,or even WORSE...that you are the GOD whom created the universe..not for a second you COULD understand that the SAME SHAKTI (or power) created also the pain and the suffering...oghh... Hakuin talked about this also )

The MIND in samadhi..is like a huge light shinning on all formations(sensations and thoughts..)

Is like a huge lens...it sees the causes and affect,and understands it was it's own making...THIS IS INSIGHT WISDOM,OR THE FREEDOM.

YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE responsible for your calamity...you gain freedom if YOU understand this..and this is the VERY REASON of why no gods can save you...even if they want,all they can do is power,energy,or inspiration...PONDER!!!..FOR YOU ARE GOD WITHIN!! ..THINK!!!

2. ALSO BE AWARE that Maha Boowa used the stupid buddhist technique of ,,witnessing,, and,,understanding,,with no explaining whatsoever of the stages..

3.Because ..since the body is tight to the consciousness factor..is like trying to to eat your own tail..if you have one,of course.

4.YOU can't KNOW the truth UNLESS you become it...be careful what I am saying..

You can discuss it forever..think about the words of the scriptures....etc..unless you do serious meditation you HAVE NO IDEA of what Maha Boowa is explaining...even so he explained from the buddhist point of view,and refused to talk about kundalini or anything related to the indian culture(since the India refused buddhism)

5.However..his words are true for eternity..and he might have had his reasons to behave like that..as all of us(even me) had.

6..But he gave glimpses of IT(the truth) when he explained that ,,do not anticipate the results in meditation,, or..the Chitta has 2 forms..one knowing it's true form..the other knowing it's manifestations ..PONDER!!!!...GRASSHOPPERS FROM HEAVEN!

Kisses from the mahayogi..and please read his questions and answers..you might grow a 12 inch wisdom brain muscle ..if you read those..kiss again")

-added by danny-(enough of explaining..now go meditate,please..GOOD LUCK to you in your practice...you have my blessings..kisses to you,grasshoppers from heaven:)))

.......................

*note* these questions and answers were taken from http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/boowa/london.html

 (added by danny)
pss..Citta here in NOT MIND..this is in translation only..Citta as the Master Boowa talks about is  actually the ,,mind-heart-acting,,..is difficult to explain,since there is no word in english for Citta..see?..imagine a resonator factor ..based on heart..and acting thru Mind..in this body of yours,on this present moment..this is Citta..ok?..or you could say is heart in action..or Mind in action..yet..is more like a converging factor of existence,or attention...the idea is this..is in MOTION..ok?..so you might as well say when you read this text...,,My Citta,,..(heart/mind in motion,in this present moment) feels good..because I read the mahayogi's wisdom..and that feels good to my ass,indeed:)..you say that..and my Citta would be happy..kiss:) (added by danny)

.....................
Sunday, 9th June 1974
Questions and Answers

Q1 W1:[2]
    In establishing mindfulness of breathing, should one fix one's attention at the nose or in the stomach region?
A:
    In establishing mindfulness of breathing, one should fix one's Sati (mindfulness) on and contemplate the point of contact of the breath. One should not go up and down with it, but keep the Citta (mind) fixed on the point of contact. If the breath seems to become fainter and fainter, it is nothing to be afraid of or to worry about; the breath has not ceased — it is still there. The kind of meditation which one practices depends on the character of each individual practitioner, but the development of the mindfulness of breathing is a practice suitable for the majority of people. The important factor in any method of mind-development is mindfulness (Sati). Forgetting mindfulness means failing in one's task, and one will not get results. One should therefore take care of one's mindfulness and keep it present in any method of mind-development.
Q2 W1:
    When sitting in meditation, why is it I get the feeling that there is something pulling my forehead backwards? The muscles in my forehead become tight and I get a headache. Is there any way to remedy this?
A:
    You will have to lessen the intenseness which brings this about. Let the Citta be absorbed only in the breathing. If you are too intense, you will get a headache. The flow[3] of the Citta is very important. You can concentrate strongly or mildly, and what you concentrate on will give you results, much or little accordingly.
Q3 M1:
    My being a Buddhist has caused my friends to talk about me. They say that at one time I used to be a person full of fun and high spirits, and that now I am the exact opposite. I have lost a lot of friends and even my wife misunderstands me and disagrees with me. How can I solve this problem?
A:
    Being a Buddhist does not mean that one must be quiet or look solemn. If friends try to get you to go in a way which is unwholesome, and you are observing the moral precepts (sila) you should not follow them. You might lose your friends but you will not lose yourself. If you are satisfied that you have gone the way of wholesomeness, you should consider the Buddha as an example. He was a prince who had a large retinue and many friends. He renounced the world, gave up those friends, and went to dwell alone for many years. After he had attained Enlightenment, he was surrounded by friends and had many disciples who were arahants (pure ones), monks as well as nuns, laymen and laywomen, until the number of Buddhists was more than the population of the world.[4]

    We all believe in the teachings of the Buddha, which unites the hearts and minds of all Buddhists. We therefore should not be afraid of having no friends.

    We should think, first of all, that our friends do not yet understand us, and so they drift away and no longer associate with us. Our way of practice in the way of wholesomeness still remains, however. One should see this — and that there are still good people in the world! Good people eventually meet and become friends with other good people, and these good people will be our friends. If there are no good people in the world, and if there is nobody interested in associating with us, then we should associate with the Dhamma — with Buddho, Dhammo, and Sangho in our hearts, which is better than friends who are not interested in goodness at all. Buddho, Dhammo, and Sangho are friends which are truly excellent.

    Ordinarily, those good friends of yours will come back to you. You should therefore rest assured that if your heart is satisfied that you are going in a wholesome direction, then that is enough. You should not be concerned with or worry about others more than yourself. You should be responsible for yourself in the present and in the future, for there is nobody but yourself who can raise you up to a higher level.
Q4 W1:
    I also had that same experience. My mother knows that I have become a Buddhist, and she is so upset that she prays to God for my return to Christianity once again. She is very concerned about me. How should I help her?
A:
    My mother was also worried about my coming to England. She was afraid that I might die or that something serious might happen. But I saw that there were good reasons for coming to which she could hardly object, so even though she did not want me to come, she had to accept those reasons — and I came.

    Please understand that Buddhism does not teach people to draw away from each other. Buddhism and Christianity both teach people to be good so that they will be happy and go to heaven. If we compare the city of London to heaven, we could tell people that there are many ways to enter the city. When they have chosen a way and made use of it, all of them will reach London. Whatever religion one has, one should practice it accordingly. They will meet in heaven.

    Buddhism, however, besides having a way to reach heaven, also has the way to reach Nibbana. If one understands and practices according to the teachings and wants to reach Nibbana, there are ways for going beyond. Nibbana means the complete absence of Dukkha (unsatisfactoriness, suffering, dis-ease). The Buddha and his arahant disciples, being completely free from all defilements (Kilesas), have all attained to Nibbana. One therefore should not be worried about anyone who follows them. You should explain this to your mother so that she will not worry about you, for what Buddhism teaches will be for the stability and prosperity of society. It encourages people to be good, so tell your mother not to worry, that Buddhism is not hell, and that it does not bring disaster or ruin to those who practice its teachings.
Q5 W1:
    My husband is the same. He does not understand what it is that I am doing and he is not at all satisfied with me. It took me twenty years of asking him to let me sit in meditation before he would allow me to do so. I've been sitting in meditation for five years now. (My husband does not understand about spiritual needs, and so whenever I met someone whose interest was the same as mine, someone to turn to and be friends with, my husband would become suspicious.)
A:
    When your husband saw that what you were doing was good, that you were not doing anything which was wrong, he consented of his own accord. This is what usually happens in the practice of virtue, which is a difficult thing to have done. Even in one's own heart one hesitates to do good things. When one thinks of doing something good, another thought arises to prevent one from doing it. Such conflicting thoughts are bound to struggle with each other before one can turn to the way of virtue.

    Other people interfering with us is a normal obstacle, but people cannot vie with oneself in the hindrances one makes for oneself. This is probably the case with everyone. When one wants to do something which is good, which is useful, a state of mind is liable to arise as a hindrance, thus preventing it and one then wastes a lot of time. Beyond that, it can lead one to do evil things which are also harmful, and generally speaking lead to harm.
Q6 W2:
    If one knows that something is not good, one can restrain oneself, keeping oneself from doing it. Or, if the desire to do something is so strong that one will end up doing it, one can go ahead and do it until one gets the bad results — then one will dread it. For example, one knows that one will get a stomachache from eating too many sweets. One can go ahead and eat until one gets the stomachache, then one will automatically stop. Which one of these two methods is better?
A:
    Knowing what is not good, training the heart, restraining oneself, not allowing oneself to do something is better because no harm is done. If one makes use of the method of giving free rein to the heart, of indulging one's desires until one experiences their bad results and one then stops by oneself, how does one know that one will not die before one can bring oneself around? And it is just possible that one will not know the way to get back. (This is the ruining of one's own life.)
Q7 M2:
    I use the method of being aware of the rising — falling of the stomach region, and it seems as if there is something rubbing my stomach. What is this?
A:
    Are you satisfied with that sensation or not? When you practice meditation and the Citta is quiet, and cool, this is good. Then you get the feeling that there is something hard rubbing your stomach. But when the Citta is quiet, you are satisfied, this is what matters.

    When you get a feeling that there is something rubbing against your stomach, you should understand that this is only a state of mind manifesting itself, that it is not anything real or anything that is useful to the Citta. You should then make the Citta be aware of the rising — falling. Do not let the mind dwell on the sensation of rubbing. That sensation will subside and pass away by itself.
Q8 W3:
    When I sit in meditation and my mind is near to being one-pointed, near to being calm, it usually withdraws from this state. It goes in and out, in and out, as if it was about to go through a door but then will not go through. How can I correct this?
A:
    When sitting in meditation, are you not aware of the breath going in and out? If you are and you follow the breath in and out, this will happen. You should fix your mind only on the place where there is contact with the moving air. You will then feel the breath become fainter and fainter until it ceases altogether. The Citta will then enter the state of tranquillity (Samatha), and it will not go in and out, in and out, as you said.
Q9 W1:
    In meditation practice, is it better to sit by oneself or to sit in a group? I and four friends study meditation with the Chaokhun at Wat Buddhapadipa — who has since disrobed. When I sit by myself, I feel that it is good, but when I sit with my four friends, I feel anxious and then my practice is not very good. My friends are beginners. Can we help each other or not?
A:
    You've sat in meditation in a group before, how do you feel about it? Satisfied or not? If you feel that you are giving strength to each other, this is good. Even if you yourself feel anxious, yet your friends may gain strength to meditate from you, which is again good. Bhikkhus usually sit in meditation by themselves except when they go to listen to the instruction from their teacher. Apart from that, each does his own practice without worrying about anyone else. The Citta can become relaxed and peaceful more quickly than sitting in a group because there is nothing to disturb it or to make it anxious.
Q10 W1:
    When my meditation is good there seems to be some kind of thread extending about one foot out of my body. Then something seems to come and strike it. This is very painful.
A:
    How is it now? Is it still there or not?
W1:
    It does not happen anymore now because I felt that pain to be Dukkha. I countered it and was patient and it went away by itself.
A:
    That feeling is an emotional production — Arammana — of the Citta. Sitting in meditation does not cause it to arise. It is the Citta itself which causes it to arise. If you bring the Citta back to the heart-base in the chest and firmly hold it there, such a feeling will go away by itself.
Q11 W1:
    Sometimes it seems as though my Citta goes out to my friend or my friend's Citta comes to me.
A:
    That is sending the Citta outside of oneself which is not good for a person who has just begun meditation practice. Only those who are skilled at practice can send their Citta inside and outside without difficulty because they already know the way to practice.
Ven. Paññavaddho:
    When at first we sat down here, Tan Acharn explained that in practicing the mindfulness of breathing, one should contemplate the in-breath and the out-breath until the breath is very fine. One keeps the Citta firmly fixed at the point of contact until there seems to be no more breathing. The Citta will then be peaceful. There is no need to be afraid of the breath stopping, it will still be there. When the breath has become fine, the Citta will feel cool, peaceful. Sometimes, as far as one can tell, breathing seems to have ceased altogether, and the Citta is then very subtle.
Q12 M2:
    What is the good of sitting in Samadhi for a long time?
A:
    Only sitting for a long time is not good. One must get results from one's sitting. Then, being engrossed in one's contemplation, a long time will pass by itself. The final result will be that one becomes happy and free from pain and this is good. If one arouses wisdom, when it has arisen the Citta will be bright and cheerful and it will gain in strength, and in the future it will not give up when strong pain arises while sitting in meditation for a long time.
Q13 M2:
    Should one then only know that the pain in one's bones or fingers is Dukkha?
A:
    Only knowing that it is Dukkha is not enough. One must contemplate it, examining it with wisdom until one completely understands it. For example, one should contemplate where the exact location of this Dukkha is, and why those who have died do not feel pain. The dead do not know anything; take a corpse and burn it and it does not feel the heat. "Knowing that something is painful;" what is this? Is it the Citta? When the body has died, does the Citta not die as well?

    When one searches for the basis of truth and one meets truth (Saccadhamma), one understands clearly, one truly knows and understands all the time and the heart is freed from attachment. If one does not know truly, the heart is still attached. The more one wants to be rid of Dukkha, the more the Dukkha and the origin of Dukkha (Samudaya) will increase in one's heart. Instead of getting rid of the origin of Dukkha, one succeeds only in increasing it more than ever.
Q14 M2:
    If one knows nature clearly and thoroughly, one would then see Dukkha as natural, normal; is that not right?
A:
    Know Dukkha, know the nature of the body, know that having a body is Dukkha, that the body is its own Dukkha; know the nature of the Citta, and knowing the Citta's natural state, know that the Citta by itself has no Dukkha. Why does the Citta have Dukkha at all? If one truly knows all this, Saccadhamma will help to free one from Dukkha. There is no Dukkha which can affect the heart if both these aspects are truly known in their relationship to each other.
Comment:
    I was very glad to hear how the pain and suffering which one gets arises and passes away, and how to train the Citta to get rid of it until one has reached freedom.
A:
    In practicing Dhamma, each person has various experiences and when we ask questions about these experiences and people hear about each other's experiences, we gradually widen our understanding. This encourages us and gives us all heart.
Monday, 10th June 1974
Q1 M1:
    What is the Citta? Is it not attention?
A:
    In the four Iddhipada (Paths of Accomplishment), "Citta" is attention and when it is combined with recollecting, it becomes mindfulness (Sati). Citta likes to go wherever it pleases and in whatever the Citta does, it is not afraid of doing wrong, nor is it afraid of danger. If mindfulness does not restrain it, it may stray and go for unchecked pleasure seeking. To make an analogy, the Citta is like an animal and mindfulness is like the person who trains and controls it. If the Citta which is possessed by Kilesas is trained and controlled by mindfulness, it will slowly become disciplined and the Kilesas can then be eradicated. When it is also accompanied by wisdom (Pañña) to investigate and extract the Kilesas, the Citta will become clearer and brighter and when the Citta becomes brighter and brighter, one will discover that the Citta is becoming more and more subtle and that it has more strength and power. The Citta can become pure through the practice of meditation, but one cannot understand the Citta merely by reading books, for one can only come to know the real Citta by practicing the way. Then one will gradually come to see the true nature of the Citta a little more each time until one sees it clearly and all doubts vanish. Practice is therefore extremely important if one wants to know the Citta, because one can come to know the real Citta absolutely clearly and eliminate all doubts by means of practice. There is no other way in which one can come to know.
Q2 W1:
    People in England study Buddhism from books. They do not know that there is a Citta and Buddhism is not taught here according to the Satipatthana Sutta. The result is that people are led to understand that the Citta is mindfulness and wisdom. I therefore think it necessary for Ven. Paññavaddho to have the Venerable Acharn give us some understanding of the Citta.
Ven Paññavaddho to the Venerable Acharn in Thai:
    People in this country understand "Citta" to mean thinking and that the Citta is divided into those forms of the Citta which come from seeing, hearing, & touching; in other words "consciousness" (Viññana).
A:
    That aspect of the Citta which arises when something comes into contact with eyes, ears, nose, etc., and which knows and receives that contact is called "consciousness" (Viññana). It arises and ceases together with that contact. As for the Citta which waits and knows these things, it does not cease together with the consciousness when it ceases, it does not cease even though the body ceases, for it will go on and take rebirth in the future. There is no end to it if the "sap of the heart" which is the Kilesas and Ignorance (Avijja) are still in the heart. But when this "sap" which is the Kilesas, has been removed from the heart, there is an end to continual becoming and birth, as happened with the Buddha and his arahant disciples.
Q3 M1:
    This "one who knows" which we call our selves, is not this "Atta"? Or is it not-self (Anatta)?
A:
    If we compare the "one who knows" with stairs, such as the ones used to reach this room, then we will still have to take hold of them as "self" and let go of each step one after the other until we reach this room, which is our purpose. If at the beginning we do not cling to the self, we can go widely off course because we have not got any basis to hold on to. We have to make use of the self as the way which will lead us to the state of not clinging to self. Therefore, at this stage, we should not go thinking about self and not-self (Atta and Anatta). We must at first make use of self before we can reach our goal. The question of Atta, Anatta, and the Citta will be dropped of itself, just as happened when we climbed the staircase until we reached this room, when the problem of us and the staircase vanished of its own accord.
Q4 M2:
    When we compare the Citta to the stairs, must we let go of the Citta in the same way we let go of the stairs when we reached the last step?
A:
    When we have trained the Citta, we win to different levels and we let go of each level until we reach the last step. It then stops by itself and we do not have to force it. If one is going to do this, one must reach the level of "super-mindfulness" (Maha-Sati) and "super-wisdom" (Maha-Pañña) because this is the level which is suitable for letting go of the conventional world (Sammuti) in all its aspects. From that point on there is no more attachment or clinging in the Citta.
Q5 W2:
    What are some of the benefits of meditation?
A:
    One become calm. The heart is cool, peaceful, completely rational and self-controlled. One does not do anything which follows one's desires and which is contrary to reason. One will always consider what is good and what is bad, both for oneself and others. It makes one become a person who does not feel the Dukkha of gloominess always in his heart. The heart will have a basic[6] principle and will not drift about aimlessly as it used to. It is like a man who has a job as his basic principle or who has food and a house to live in and depend on. Such a person is not troubled.
Q6 W2:
    How does one train oneself in meditation?
A:
    One can use the method of Anapanasati or the method of repeating "Buddho Dhammo or Sangho." It depends on the nature of each person. The various methods of meditation will all bring calm to the heart, and even if one uses the word "death" as the preparatory repetition, this is also training the heart, for it is important that the Citta gets a feeling of sorrow and weariness of itself.[7] It will then see the evil in those things which the heart clings to, things which one loves or likes.

    Why, when we train the Citta, do we fix the Citta on only this or that object? In fixing the Citta on the breath, one should know the breath as it goes in and out at the nose all the time, but this is not a breathing exercise. This is like using bait to catch a fish — what one wants to catch is the fish. Or, if we make a simile of the Citta of someone who has not yet been trained, his Citta will be scattered in various places, like a fish net which has been cast into the water and spreads out wide until one can no longer see what it looks like. If we are going to know the Citta, we will have to take hold of the leader, that is, the string on the net which one uses to draw it together. When we pull on the leader, the rest of the net comes together until we can see it and hold it in our hands.

    The Citta is where we ourselves are. We are the owners of the Citta, but we cannot force it to become whatever we want it to be. We assume that form (Rupa), memory (Sañña), feeling (Vedana), thoughts (Sankhara) and consciousness (Viññana) are the Citta, but in reality, these aggregates can all be separated from each other, and we can begin to see this when we practice. Then we will be able to promote the Citta so that it improves or deteriorates. When we have practiced we will gradually see that the Citta is the "Lord of Birth and Death." If we make merit, practice generosity, guard our moral precepts and practice meditation, we promote the Citta so that it improves — it becomes brighter and is raised to a higher level. But if we follow our desires and are not afraid of demerit and unwholesomeness the Citta will do whatever it likes. Not being controlled, the Citta will deteriorate and meet with nothing but Dukkha. Even in the present (right now), when we are downhearted and we do not know what to do, we let go and are then besieged by Dukkha even though we are aware of it, and because people do not know how to change Dukkha into happiness the world experiences Dukkha, which is just what it does not want.

    The Citta which has been trained, which is freed from defilements and which is pure must still depend on the aggregates while they are alive. But the duty and work of one whose Citta is pure will only be for the good of the world. This pure Citta is called "arahant" or "arahat." The person who is an arahant has a Citta which is entirely pure in all respects. His Citta is completely free from anything which will cause it to be born again and it will encounter happiness which is entirely satisfying while there is still life. When he dies, it has absolute bliss and it has no Dukkha, nor any involvement with the mundane, relative world (Sammuti).

    Thus there is a saying of the Buddha which states "Nibbanam Paramam Suññam" which means "Nibbana is entirely empty" — of all Dukkha. But it does not mean that when one has attained Nibbana there is nothing left, as the world understands "emptiness" to mean. But one also does not "exist" in the way that the world exists. In other words, the happiness of Nibbana is happiness specific to Nibbana without any of the mundane conventions (and the pure Citta still "is"). If the Citta still wears the form of the aggregates when the defilements have been completely eradicated, it means that it has attained to freedom.

    Freedom (Vimutti) and the mundane world (Sammuti) are very different from each other. It is difficult to compare the world of Sammuti which has mundane conventions, with what has not — which is Vimutti. Buddhism has the purpose of teaching us to make our Citta pure so that we can experience the sublime happiness of Vimutti.
Q7 W3:
    Yesterday Ven. Paññavaddho said that we must use energy in practicing meditation. Today you are talking about recollecting which has to do with the brain. I understand then that Citta means energy and brain — is that correct?
Ven. Paññavaddho to the Venerable Acharn in Thai:
    Two or three days ago I explained that one must use energy in meditation practice. I also explained that if one is too intense the mind will be in turmoil and that one must make a mental note of it.
A:
    In learning about and practicing the Dhamma of the Buddha, we must gradually use more and more mindfulness and wisdom from the very first stage of the training until one reaches the level of super- mindfulness (Maha-Pañña). One studies and practices meditation because one wants to make the Citta calm for the peaceful Citta is of great worth. Then even if one sleeps deeply, when one wakes, the Citta is still bright. But one does not always sleep soundly and usually one sleeps badly, and dreams and talks in one's sleep, then one wakes up feeling dull and sleepy. In sound sleep the Citta drops into the state of Bhavanga,[8] the place of deep sleep, where dreaming does not occur, after which the aggregates are rested and energetic and the Citta is cheerful.

    By entering Samadhi, the Citta can become completely quiet. The heart is then naturally happy and becomes strong so that in reading, thinking or doing other various jobs, the Citta will be clear and relaxed and when thinking it will be able to see through things more clearly than usual. Therefore, training the Citta by way of either Samadhi or wisdom in accordance with the principles of Buddhism is a good way to help one in one's work, for it does no harm to one's work which is contrary to what people generally understand, even though those who think like this are only nominally believers and know nothing about Buddhism.

    Therefore in working with perseverance so as to get results one must use hard work and determination, but these must be used differently in different cases. If one wants to attain calm one must use determination to aim for a single spot, in other words one must quell mental distraction. But if one is going to contemplate so as to know the Dhamma truths (Sacca Dhamma) one must use hard work, determination in observing and develop understanding in the Dhamma from various viewpoints. If, on the other hand, one is aiming for the arising of wisdom, one must use hard work and determination in the investigation of causes and their effects in various ways.
Q8 W4:
    If one works and is tired and the mind is very distracted and dull, should one sleep or should one practice meditation?
A:
    You should sleep, but this depends on circumstances. If it will help the Citta to be calm and help one to sleep well, then one should also practice meditation. When one practices until sleep comes, then the Citta will be peaceful and the body can rest. But one should not stop using one's usual method of practice if there is enough time to do it.
Tuesday, 11th June 1974
Q1 W1:
    I have read one of the Venerable Acharn's books and came across the terms "Cittavimutti" and "Buddhavimutti." What do they mean?
A:
    "Cittavimutti" is the term generally used for whatever Citta has freed itself from the Kilesas and become an arahant. "Buddhavimutti" is the term which is used only in referring to the Citta of the Buddha. They both mean that the Citta is pure.
Q2 W1:
    I have read in a book that there are six consciousnesses (Viññana), that is, contact of the six external sense-objects (Ayatana) with the six internal sense-bases (Ayatana), and that there is a seventh consciousness. What is this other one?
A:
    The six consciousnesses are the six external sense-objects coming in contact with eyes, ears, nose, etc., and then "knowing" — in other words, one knows that this or that thing has come in contact — this is the characteristic of the Citta. The seventh consciousness is "Patisandhi-Viññana" which does not become aware of anything, but takes birth (Patisandhi)[9] in a plane which is high or low, at such-and-such a time and place, depending on the causes which lead it on which are in the Citta. There is therefore a new birth, or re-birth.

    The Buddha taught us about the six consciousnesses so that we would not cling to things which we see and know, and so that we would know that they just arise and fall away and that there is no permanent essence in them. When we can supervise them, we will be able to see the seventh Viññana more clearly. There is only one form of this consciousness, and it is "Eka Viññana." To make an analogy, it is like the trunk of a tree and this is the part that matters when we want to make use of a tree. The other six consciousnesses are then like the branches and twigs which we cannot make much use of. We should therefore keep this in mind and take an interest in contemplating the "one Citta" (Eka Citta) which will take birth. One should also try to look after the Citta and make it clean, and raise it as high as one can in accordance with one's own level which one has gained from doing practice.
Q3 M1:
    Viññana means "one who knows" and Patisandhi-Viññana means the Citta which is covered with both wholesomeness and unwholesomeness (Kusala and Akusala), and which takes rebirth. Then, to make an analogy, if one builds a house, it is better to be interested in the most important part of the house rather than the little insignificant things outside. Is looking at it in this way correct?
A:
    That is correct, but one must contemplate the things that are connected with the Citta until one understands them, and lets go of them. Contemplate them in conjunction with the Citta which is the chief — the important one — until one understands both those things that are small and those that are great. Then contemplate all round in all aspects.
Q4 M2:
    The Citta is the one which knows generally when one thinks over there or thinks here, and it brings these things together as Sankharas (compounded things) which are Aniccam (impermanent). But yesterday the Venerable Acharn said that the Citta exists, that it is permanent. Would you please explain more about this?
A:
    The Citta, generally, of the ordinary man is impermanent, and it is permeated with mundane conventions. All things in the world which are mundane naturally come under the three characteristics of existence, which are impermanence (Aniccam), discontent (Dukkham), and not-self (Anatta). The Citta of the ordinary man still comes in this category, that is, it must change according to what is wholesome and unwholesome which leads to rebirth. The Citta which does not change, which is permanent, is the Citta which is pure, which has attained to the state of arahantship. It no longer has impermanence, discontent, and not-self permeating it like the Citta of the ordinary man.

    An explanation such as this is theoretical knowledge (Pariyatti), and it might lead to endless argument if one has not practiced. But going on talking about and discussing it will not bring benefit. If one practices and comes to see the truth of Dhamma for oneself, reading, listening, and discussing leads to understanding. But if that person has not practiced accordingly it will just go in the direction of argument. Because the Dhamma of the Lord Buddha has levels which are gross, middle, or subtle and it is better to speak about those things which will be valuable.

    What can be obtained from reading and what can be obtained from practice are quite different from each other, because remembering what one has read is quite different from the truth that has been experienced from practice. Even when other people speak of the results from their practice it is difficult for one to understand them until one has practiced and experienced more with one's heart. Then one's doubts will clear up of themselves.
Q5 M2:
    Is there any way to eradicate anger from oneself?
A:
    In the Abhidhamma, it is said that anger is the "Dosa root."[10] If I explain it to you, you will understand my explanation well enough, but actually getting rid of the root of anger is very difficult. One must rely on practice as the main thing because extracting the Kilesas must be done by means of the truth which comes from true practice. One cannot extract them with what comes from one's ability to remember what one has learned — which can be remembered well enough by anybody who learns — for the Kilesas are not afraid of this and they will still be there as they were before.

    Anything which enters and associates with us — whichever type of character we may have from amongst those which people have — is connected with and concerns us from then on. If we practice and try to eliminate the Kilesas, then eliminate them we can, for there were and are arahants who were once very angry men. We are common people who only know and understand this, but we do not yet have the ability to eliminate the root of anger. We must train the Citta to know how bad a fault hate (Dosa) is, then it will go by itself. If we try to get rid of it by just wanting it to go, we will not succeed. We must depend on practice and then we will see results coming steadily, which is called the right kind of meditation and suitable for the removal of that kind of Kilesa.

    Please understand that the Kilesas are not afraid of only remembering their names. Even though we remember everything about them in great detail, they still remain Kilesas which govern the hearts of beings in the world. They do not think about removing themselves to another place, unless one practices meditation (Citta Bhavana) and develops mindfulness and wisdom so as to be bold and strong enough to be able to drive them out. Then the time comes when they will break and scatter from the heart without any doubt, like the Buddha and all his disciples who eliminated the Kilesas by means of practice. The methods they used have been taught to the world down to the present day.

    I will explain sitting meditation. Why did the Buddha sit cross- legged in meditation? If one looks at it only superficially, sitting in that position is not very important and one can sit in any position that one wants. But if one is going to sit for hours, then one should sit cross-legged because the pressure due to the weight of the body will be evenly distributed. When it becomes painful, the pain will be spread out and it will not be excessively painful in any one spot. If one sits for a very long time, then it may become very painful, because sitting in meditation is extremely important work for those who are determined to get real results and they may sit for a long time, even for many hours. If they become too worried or anxious about their bodies, then the Citta will be weak. This will be dependent on the Dukkha of the body.

    It is important to make the Citta one's goal. Let the Citta do the work that is set for it, and have mindfulness in control of the Citta while meditating so that it does not wander outside thinking about this or that. The Citta which is always controlled by mindfulness will remain with oneself. It will be calm and will be clearly aware. The more one has mindfulness with the Citta, however good it may be, the clearer the Citta will be. One must therefore not allow the Citta to wander, or to be distracted.
Q6 M3:
    A meditation teacher by the name of Alakamala has said that if we fix the Citta into a thing, we cannot attain to Vimutti. Why is this?
A:
    Because things are things, not Vimutti. How can the Citta then reach Vimutti? We contemplate things not to get them, but to know them and to let go of them.

    Concerning the Path of the arahant (Arahattamagga) and Fruition (Arahattaphala), and speaking of mindfulness and wisdom as well, if one makes use only of mindfulness and does not make use of wisdom, one will not get results that are desirable. If one is going to be able to eliminate the Kilesas entirely, one must make complete use of mindfulness and wisdom — which are like tools. In making use of tools, one must know what to use with what, the way to use them and how. There can be a lot of mindfulness it is true, but people are deficient in doing what is their duty because they do not use wisdom as they ought to. The end result of this is that the full state that should arise does not. Being deficient in what is one's duty is not a good thing so the result one gets is not complete. Therefore one who learns about the Middle Way should always take into consideration what is sufficient — which is appropriate to the name of "Dhamma" — which is the Middle Way (Majjhima) that one has learned.
Q7 M3:
    Must we practice meditation to get a balance?
A:
    Practice meditation and see for yourself what is lacking. One should then develop the Five Indriya (faculties): Saddha (faith or confidence), Viriya (energy), Sati (mindfulness), Samadhi (concentration), and Pañña (wisdom) within oneself.

    When light falls on the surface of an object, the top of that object is illuminated while its underside is in shadow and dark. Wisdom is like the light which can truly penetrate, but what it penetrates is the Kilesas which cover the heart, so that there is not any shadow in the heart where Kilesas can hide or conceal themselves. This means that wisdom is powerful and able to investigate circumspectly throughout the darkness of all the Kilesas with ease and confidence until the Citta has reached ultimate Vimutti (Liberation).

    Q8 (Ven. Paññavaddho): Does this mean that we should carefully examine the five Indriya? If wisdom is strong it will penetrate throughout, like a light which shines completely through an object from top to bottom so that there is no shadow, which is Avijja (Ignorance), left at all. Is that correct?
A:
    Cittavimutti is the completely pure Citta which has no shadow, for it is bright in all respects. If there is still some shadow remaining, one can call that shadow Avijja. The important thing is, that for the Citta to become pure all the Kilesas must be completely eradicated.
Q9 W2:
    I would like to know what the Citta is?
A:
    The Citta is "the one who knows." The true Citta has only one function, and that is "knowing." The Buddha always said that the original true Citta is clear, bright, and resplendent, but that Kilesas have become mixed or blended with it and so it follows the way of these Kilesas and has become murky. One must rely on mindfulness, wisdom, and perseverance to clean the Citta. When the Citta has gone beyond the state of clarity and brightness it will be pure, which means that it will have attained to the state of Vimutti.

    The word "brightness" (Pabhassara) refers here to the state of Vatta Citta[11] which is different from Vivatta Citta. In other words Pabhassara is "clarity and brightness," but is not yet the state of purity. The brightness which comes from practice is due to the Kilesas gathering together in just one spot. When the brightness which is the most subtle of the Kilesas has been passed by (overcome) by the cleansing process of super-mindfulness (Maha-Sati) and super-wisdom (Maha-Pañña), then the Citta is pure.[12]
Q10 M4:
    How does one guard the Citta so as to keep it inside oneself?
A:
    In wanting to know about the Citta, we must practice meditation to make the Citta calm. Wisdom can be made use of both internally and externally, but if wisdom is to arise and be astute, the Citta must be calm. If the Citta is calm, then we can know the characteristics of our own Citta. We should try to maintain the calm of the Citta for as long as possible and then we will build a firm basis for ourselves and become skilled so that we will be able to make the Citta calm whenever we want. The calm Citta will become continually brighter and brighter and it will know what Kilesas are present, and will have wisdom to eliminate and extract them. The Citta will then become still brighter until it can drive out the Kilesas by means of wisdom. This is the first step.

    Kilesas are coarse, medium, and subtle and the "knowing" which is formed out of these Kilesas is not the real Citta but only the characteristics of the Citta. We must use wisdom to follow and remove these Kilesas at all three levels and when we have done this until the Citta does not change, is not sad, or downhearted, and has none of the characteristics of the Citta which is covered by the Kilesas at all, this Citta will know that there are no causes left for rebirth in the future (Patisandhi). The Citta is then pure and need not take birth again.

    The Citta which has the germ of goodness and badness within it can be compared to a seed which can grow and which has the germ of life or the potential for development in it. This kind of Citta will therefore be born, die, and be born again and again according to the causes which it has itself made — good and bad variously. As for the Citta which is pure, it is constant (unchanging) and the germ of rebirth is no longer present.

    Regardless of whether one believes that after death there is nothing more, or that after death there is still something, if the Citta has the germs of goodness and badness present in it, it will be born again endlessly but if the Citta is pure and has no such germs, it will not be born. This is the way of it, but the permanence (unchangingness) of the pure Citta is not the same as the world understands "permanence" to mean, so there is nobody who can understand the permanence of the pure Citta correctly except the arahants alone.

    The Buddha practiced until he saw truly for himself. He did not make any wild guesses or just think about it as we do. Therefore the Buddha's Dhamma is absolutely correct and we can have absolute confidence in it.

    If we cannot yet attain to the level of the pure Citta then we should persist in doing what is good so that in whatever way this Citta is born it may be a good way. This will lead to development, and is far better than clinging to doubt and uncertainty which obstructs our way so that we live in vain without gaining anything useful, for it only sets up a barrier so that we are swept away or pushed down into the mass of the round (Vatta) of Dukkha.
Q11 M5:
    Must one be born a human being in order to attain Enlightenment?
A:
    Other beings do not have mindfulness and wisdom. Human beings have a lot of mindfulness and wisdom, but they must also have more than a normal amount of perseverance and energy before they can be enlightened and, therefore, not all human beings will be able to attain Enlightenment. Those who are born in the five Pure Abodes of the Brahma world will be able to attain the highest level of Dhamma with much greater certainty than the majority of human beings. If human beings do not make an effort to do good, they are likely to do things which bring them to a lower level. There are four groups of human beings (which can be compared to four lotuses):

        That group of people who are full of good characteristics and will soon attain Enlightenment when they get the right method of Dhamma.
        This second group will come after the first and they will also attain Dhamma gradually. They can be compared to those who are sick but who will be cured if given the proper medicine.
        This third group needs to be taught many many times before understanding will occur. They must practice regularly in order to be able to attain. If one compares this group to a patient; there is a way for him to be cured if he comes by the right medicine, and there is a way in which he can die if he is careless and likes to eat those things which are harmful to himself and which nullify the medicine's cure.
        This last group is least in everything that is good. But if it is evil they will fight to their last breath without giving up, because they are blind to everything so they do not know the fear of Dukkha.

    The Citta is like all other things — trees, children, etc; it needs nourishment so that it will grow and develop. The Citta, however, has to depend on its owner for the way it is nourished, so it will develop accordingly.
Q12 M3:
    The Venerable Acharn has had a chance to see the city of London, to see that it is a large and bustling city. I would like to ask if people can practice meditation in a city like this?
A:
    Only the dead cannot practice meditation. As long as we are still alive, we will have the opportunity to practice meditation because we will have both times when we are busy and times when we are free. We are not burdened all the time. In speaking about human cities or countries, all of them are cities or countries of people who have mouths and stomachs and they have to run about busily finding remedies which they want for making up the deficiencies in their bodily well being, and there is bound to be restless confusion and milling about in the same way everywhere. No matter what house or country one goes to they are all running around busily in the same way all over the world because making a living compels them to be like this. The only place where things are not busy is in a graveyard, the houses of the dead, but who would want to live in an un-busy place like that! Even animals do not want to go there. Therefore, when we want to live in a bustling city like this, we must bear it because necessity forces us to do so as we know and see everywhere in the world of men and animals with mouths to feed who struggle to survive.
Wednesday, 12th June 1974
Questions and Answers

Q1 M1:
    Yesterday you said that to get rid of anger was difficult, but that you would speak about it so that we would understand it well enough. Please would you explain it further today.
A:
    Try and see the fault of anger, then you will be able to drive it away. When other people show that they are angry with you, you do not like it and you see it as bad; and when you are angry with others your behavior and attitude is bad and the results which come from it are bad. But it is probable that you will not feel in yourself that it is bad.

    Usually if one knows that something is bad and dangerous to oneself, in the future one will not do it; but if one thinks that it is good, or if one does not consider the fault of it and one goes on doing it because one gives way to the emotion of anger, one will not be able to get rid of anger. In fact this will only increase one's anger and make it stronger so that it will constantly harass oneself and bring trouble and harm to others.
Q2 M2:
    Sometimes, is it not appropriate for one to show some anger?
A:
    Anger is "hot" but people tend to think that it is good and they like displaying it. If anybody does anything against one's wishes one becomes angry and if one does not control one's emotions they get stronger and stronger. Have you never felt sometimes that you get angry with yourself because you do something which does not keep up with the speed of your own mind? The feeling of anger makes one troubled (hot), not calm and cool, and the characteristics that display anger are not pleasant to see. Letting go and allowing anger to arise continually without in any way trying to quell it or get rid of it leads to it becoming part of one's character and because this is an increasing tendency, from where will one get peace of heart? If anger was a fertilizer that one puts round a tree, one should be angry when one wants fertilizer for the tree. But if one cannot use it in place of fertilizer, or as a fertilizer, yet one still likes to get angry, it is not appropriate.
Q3 M2:
    If one has been treated unjustly, as for instance, if one is blamed when one has done nothing wrong, what should one do?
A:
    You should act appropriately with reason. The Lord said that to act in any way which is led by greed, hate or delusion is bad. Again, if others do what is wrong and you are in the right and good, then you let go of your mad emotions and do to them what is bad, then having been good you will become bad also — which is a bad thing for all people who are concerned about virtue. If you want to be a good person you must hold back and refrain from anger. Search and think out a way that is suitable for you to act towards whoever has done wrong to you without acting in such a way that other people would see you letting go and becoming a bad person in the same way as the party who has done wrong to you.
Q4 M2:
    If one is angry and does not show it the other party may not be aware that one is angry. Should one not therefore react to what they are doing with a show of anger so that they do not act in that way again?
A:
    Displaying anger is not a good thing and you should think out and look for a good way of talking together in terms of causes and effects — then you can attain valuable results without arousing anything blameworthy following from the initial trouble. If there is discussion without the emotion of anger you do not bring madness into your speech and the other party will understand and be able to accept and agree to do what you want willingly. The incident will then improve and not flare up and get worse — like using clean water to wash some dirty things — you can wash them clean and not make them more and more dirty. Displaying a demonic face, as you mentioned, is not human, for you become demonic as well.
Q5 M3:
    If one does not show any reaction, how will one be able to restrain oneself?
A:
    If you restrain your heart you can restrain yourself. But generally people do not restrain themselves and they like to let go their emotions. Scarcely anybody is interested in patiently retraining their own anger.

    You must examine yourself thus: "What is it that I like or dislike? That which the other party does to me makes me angry and I restrain myself and do not display any abnormal behavior. I investigate so as to correct myself by thinking of the way they feel so as to find out if I have done anything that would make them angry. I cannot recall anything that I may have done so if they are in the wrong I am not in the wrong, they make a show of anger but I do not, their heart is troubled (hot) within them and other people will see for themselves that they are bad, but I do nothing bad." Because you do not show any reaction by answering them back you increasingly become an admirable person. But nobody admires a person who gets angry, saying that he is good because he is clever at getting angry. When one gets angry with someone, who is going to admire this and say that one is good because one can get angry and because one has got angry with this person? Anger is not a good thing, and people everywhere in the world are afraid of it and tired of it. Even animals recognize anger and quickly try to avoid it and hide from it. They are afraid of anger which is a poison more harmful than fire. Anger should therefore not be encouraged — in fact one should look for a way to quench it until there is none left.
Q6 W1:
    Why is it that when one meets some people for the first time one immediately feels that one likes them or dislikes them, even though they have not yet done anything to one?
A:
    Anyone who is not dead is likely to have such feelings. Therefore it is normal when one sees anything, to have feelings of liking or disliking and there is nothing harmful in this, because the nature of people who have Kilesas is generally speaking like this throughout the world. As long as one does not show it outwardly, it will be almost as if nothing has happened.
Q7 M2:
    Is it better to immediately throw off the dislike for someone or to develop friendly feelings (Metta) towards them?
A:
    If you can throw off the dislike, this is good, or if you can develop Metta towards them it is also good, but generally people do neither for they go and do things that they should not do.

    If one feels anger for anyone and one dislikes them, and if one sees the fault as being in oneself, seeing that it makes one uneasy in one's heart, one will get rid of that feeling entirely. Therefore to go straight to the point one must before all else examine one's own faults or the faults which will arise or have arisen in oneself, then get rid of that feeling entirely.

    When one begins to practice this form of Dhamma at first one does not understand oneself, one only has feelings about external things and one has likes and dislikes. One begins to observe other people and one sees how angry people display the characteristics of anger and one does not like it. So then one tries not to produce such characteristics towards other people. Acting in this way one begins to understand one's own Citta. When one does this often one's awareness will arise more quickly and awareness of oneself and one's Citta will also arise more quickly, so that as soon as one is the recipient of someone else's display of anger, in whatever way it may come about, one knows oneself and one can quell one's emotions. In this way one can get rid of one's defilements (Kilesas) little by little and reduce the Dukkha and anxiety in one's own heart.

    Being dissatisfied with anything is nothing but Dukkha, which accords with the Dhamma that the Lord taught, but we generally oppose Dhamma — being that which is right, good, and proper — so we generally find Dukkha all the time without feeling any dread of it; and not being in dread of it leads us to encounter Dukkha again and again.
Q8 W2:
    How should one correct the anxiety and agitation that one experiences due to an excessive concern for other people?
A:
    Whatever you do or feel to excess is bad and it is a cause of Dukkha. If you are bound to be responsible for someone in a given situation and you think about it circumspectly, trying to think out and correct any problems which may arise and normally not thinking anything beyond what is happening in the present, it will be enough to calm, quell and prevent the agitation or anxiety for that person increasing excessively. The word "excessive" should be understood to mean "that which is beyond what is sufficient," and this always causes nothing but Dukkha.

    In addition, those who are concerned with reasoning about the basic meanings of Dhamma should always be wary of this.
Q9 M3:
    When dislike arises should one use the same method to get rid of it that the Ven. Acharn said should be used to get rid of anger?
A:
    Yes, do it by whatever method gets rid of the disliking. Whichever method it is, it will probably be correct for this purpose.
Q10 M2:
    (This question was virtually the same as question 9.)
A:
    At this time we have spoken about liking and disliking because they have arisen in our discussion and they should be cured in whatever way they can be cured. But we have not yet got as far as speaking about Kamma and the results of Kamma (Vipaka).
Q11 W3:
    In doing Samadhi practice by walking Cankama, how should one go about doing it correctly?
A:
    Tan Acharn Mun suggested that there are two factors which should be adhered to:

        Walking from east to West, or walking at an angle to the East- West line (so that the sun does not get in one's eyes).
        One sets the Citta to do work of one kind or another and then one watches the Citta to make sure that it only does that work, and one prevents it from getting distracted and going elsewhere.

    One must look on that work as being the object of one's attention (Arammana). For example, one method is to take the raising and lowering of one's feet as this object while walking, in which case one must do just this, because this is the work that one has set the Citta to do. If one uses any other method one will have the corresponding object upon which to fix one's attention.

    When contemplating Dhamma one should go on until one comes to the end of that aspect of Dhamma that one is contemplating and one should have mindfulness associated with it in every bodily action and position.

    The various forms of practicing this Dhamma do not in fact conflict with each other. But a person who practices is likely to be prejudiced and to see his own methods as being right and other people's methods as having no value, so then quarrels start, or they boastfully say "Whose is the better way? It is better to do it our way." Another person who takes it up and uses that method may find it unsuitable to him and it can be wrong and unsatisfactory. When one takes up and for some time practices a method using which other people have practiced and gained good results, it can happen that one gets no good results for oneself. Therefore the practice of the Dhamma depends upon the individual characteristics (Upanissaya) of each person for one person will like it this way and another will like it that way.
Q12 M2:
    If one has used one method for a long time and later on someone comes and recommends another method, should one continue using one's old method or not?
A:
    If you have gained skill in using any given method and if you are satisfied with it and have gained the results of calm and a peaceful heart, you can go on using that method. In practicing this method of meditation, to begin with the Dhamma object of attention (Arammana Dhamma) is of one sort, but as one practices regularly going on and on the Citta will change its awareness of itself.[13] Therefore to begin with one must give the heart a basis to hold on to for the Citta to become calm initially. Later on one may change the method one uses, but the method by which one has gained results is important and one should hold on to it as a basis in one's practice. One must however not vacillate back and forth listening readily and believing easily when anyone says that this or that is good and following what they say even though one gets no results.
Q13 M4:
    Doing the method of paying attention to the feeling of rising and falling of the abdomen as one breathes in and out gives rise to strange feelings. Why is this?
A:
    If the Citta is firmly paying attention to the rising and falling of the abdomen there is nothing to arouse such strange feelings. But because the Citta is off guard it goes away and gets to know about whatever is in the direction where it goes. You must make it return to the original object of attention and make the Citta do its work just associated with that object. If you release the Citta, letting it go continually wherever it likes, it will never stop deceiving its owner in all sorts of ways. Finally you will not be able to find any firm basis or anchor for the Citta and its basis will become adrift.
Q14 W4:
    In doing Anapanasati one keeps one's interest on the breath going in and out, but if one hears a sound from outside the watching of the breath gets lost. I was told that if I heard any sound I should think, "Hearing, hearing" and then go on doing the practice, but I feel that it is difficult for me to enter Samadhi.
A:
    That method that you talked of at first is good and there is no need to increase the burden more than necessary. In other words get the Citta to stay with the in and out breathing.

    For the latter part of your question in which the burden of the Citta is increased such that as soon as a sound is heard the Citta must "Know, know" and then return and set up the practice as before, if there is something which breaks into the practice often your Citta will be too slow and it will never be able to keep doing the work which it should be doing. When one is at the stage of a beginner in doing practice, the Citta still has not much strength and to increase the burden of the Citta greatly is not good. It is like getting a child to do work which must be gradually explained in each of its aspects. If one explains how to do too much of it all at once the work is too difficult, then laziness will arise and the child will probably dawdle over the work. The Citta is like this.
Q15 W2:
    Can one contemplate parts of the body while walking Cankama?
A:
    To begin with one wants to get the heart calm. If the heart has attained a state of calm, then as soon as the Citta has withdrawn from the calm one can set the Citta to contemplate and to develop understanding step by step. It may go on beyond one's own understanding and one must not then be anxious about whether the Citta will be calm or not, but press on with the contemplation further.

    This work of the Citta is firstly for the attainment of calm and secondly for getting rid of the defilements (Kilesas) internally. But when one is contemplating so as to attain understanding and skill in the parts of the body, mindfulness — that which controls the contemplation — is essential, just as much as it is when doing Samadhi practice to attain calm. Mindfulness must be present to supervise the work all the time.
Q16 W2:
    Which aspect of the above two is contemplation of the body?
A:
    Contemplating internally and externally so as to get rid of the defilements when done consistently is work of "Citta Bhavana" and is insight (Vipassana). If one is able to contemplate, enthusiasm for doing the contemplation arises of itself. If one does this a great deal one will have to turn from it to rest the Citta, making the Citta calm by dwelling in Samadhi for a while. Therefore one must first of all practice Samadhi for calming the Citta and one must become skilled at it so as to increase the strength of the Citta to practice "Knowing with Insight" (Vipassana Ñana) and also to use Samadhi as the method of resting the Citta so as to continue the work until super-mindfulness (Maha-Sati) and super-wisdom (Maha-Pañña)[14] arise.

    The Citta will then have courage and ability and it will have mindfulness and wisdom to get rid of the defilements — and this is what makes up "Magga" (The Path). When one has reached this stage, all laziness will have disappeared, one will be able to do Citta Bhavana (meditation) so that one forgets time and sits for long periods and then one attains results which are of high value. When one has sat for a long time one then walks while contemplating so as to change the posture. One uses super-mindfulness and super-wisdom to go on curing doubts and problems until there are no more defilements left to cure. One will then understand by oneself that the Citta and Dhamma have penetrated each other. Thus the way of practice can help to arouse knowledge and understanding of the Citta this way.

    The Citta is a very important thing in a person. For one has already been born and the Citta is the entity which has caused one to be born as a person, good or bad and high or low. When the Citta is the chief cause of this one must rely upon those things which influence the Citta for one's future state. If it develops well one can rise up until one reaches the stage of "Sugato" — one who has great happiness. But if the heart accumulates bad things, even without knowing that they are bad, the results which one gets will be bad all the time.

    If one practices Dhamma well there will arise a sense of well-being in one's heart. People generally do not know the reason why we receive Dukkha nor when we will be free from it because we are not aware that we have done bad things nor when we did them. We just see the results of them which arise as Dukkha at the present moment.

    But in this case we ought to try and choose the work for the Citta to do. If it is evil and "Akusala" we should avoid it completely. If we are used to doing such things we should try and find a way to abstain from them and we should promote what has value and is good even though it may be difficult to do. Thus we gradually train ourselves going on like this until we become used to it, meanwhile using wisdom to drive us on. But lazy people and those who do not like what is good are no use at all because they have no wisdom to drive them on.

    If the people love what is good, wisdom compels them to do good until the Citta is used to it. Then results of calm, peace of heart and happiness will come. It may also happen that something strange and wonderful of a different kind arises spontaneously in the Citta. We are not normally acquainted with such wonderful things, but they will arise from the practice of what is good — the important thing being the practice of Citta Bhavana (meditation).

    As for the above good person he has only virtue. He is not distracted and he is not at cross purposes with Dhamma, with anybody, nor with anything, as far as and including his own heart. But because his heart does not have any power of control to make the heart, body, and speech go in the right direction — the direction in which it should go, which leads to those results that bring happiness — he must purify and cure his Citta and try to get it to work using the methods of meditation practice (Citta Bhavana) which causes the bad things within him to disintegrate. Those things which are dignified and noble will then develop and increase in the heart, which is appropriate to the value of the Citta — which by way of nature has a very high value.

    If one trains one's Citta one will agree with one's own Citta before anyone else[15] and if one practices and follows the way that the Lord Buddha taught one will be a clever person. But if one practices and follows the way of someone who does not truly know, it is like the blind and foolish leading the blind — they cannot walk the right way to reach the goal, the end of the road which is desired.

    If one is not prepared to let oneself be led by someone who knows the way, then the more one acts in this way the more stupid one becomes, the more one lacks cleverness and one will not see those results which one desires.

    Cleverness must depend on mindfulness and wisdom in looking for reasons. People in this world do not become good on their own without doing anything; they must rely upon learning and they must have training. Training raises the Citta higher and if one does not have training one's Citta cannot go higher and the defilements will pull the Citta down until it cannot escape. But the Citta which has trained well can get rid of the Kilesas and this has the highest value.

Thursday morning, 13th June 1974
Q1 W1:
    I used to practice Zen meditation (Samadhi). I was told to count my breaths from one to ten, back and forward. I was then given a Koan,[16] the word "Mu" which means "empty." I was told to concentrate on the stomach region, on the blood in the stomach and to have the Citta spread out into the stomach. As soon as I did this a little I would feel tense in the face, eyes and head, and then I would get headaches. While sitting in meditation there was a lot of noise of the beating of drums and gongs. I tried to relax the body but I could not and now I only have to think about sitting in meditation and I get a headache. I would like to know why this happened.
T.A. Questions:
    Before you began to feel tense in the face and head, was your Citta fixed on the noise or at the stomach?
W1:
    It was fixed at the stomach because I had to meditate on "Mu" and then concentrate my energy to go down into the stomach.
A:
    What happened concerns the physical body and it was your own reaction. I understand that you were too determined and so you disturbed the body, as if you were having a fight with it. You should ask your teacher, who taught you to arouse such an obstacle, how you should cure it.
W1:
    The teacher would only help while one was staying at the monastery. Having left the monastery he does not contact his followers by letter. I have now turned to the practice of Anapanasati.
A:
    You must persist in investigating and searching for the reasons why this occurs and change the method (of practice) to whatever is shown by these reasons to be suitable to keep the Citta constantly in the present; this may be the way to cure it.
Q2 M1:
    What is mindfulness (Sati)?
A:
    In taking hold of anything one must know that one takes hold of it. This is mindfulness.
Q3 M2:
    In school the teachers ask what Buddhism teaches about the creation of the world?
A:
    Buddhism teaches people to cure their problems and to go on reducing their Dukkha stage by stage. It is, for example, like when one comes into this house one first of all opens the door; one does not tear the whole house down. Or again, when children begin school they learn step by step, class by class, so they go higher and higher gradually. But if one tries to teach children who are just starting at school about things that are far above their heads it is no use at all. Knowing about the creation of the world is useless in the same way.
Q4 M2:
    In taking the Triple Gem (Ti-Ratana) as one's refuge (Sarana), where it goes "I take the Buddha... the Dhamma..." I can understand this sufficiently well. But in connection with "Sangham Saranam Gacchami," does this mean that we should take the Sangha here as our refuge? For England still has no Sangha, so what should we do?
A:
    "Buddham Saranam Gacchami" means to take all the Buddhas to be one's refuge. "Dhammam Saranam Gacchami" means to take the Dhamma that every one of the Buddhas taught to be one's refuge. "Sangham Saranam Gacchami" means to take the Savaka Sangha of every one of the Buddhas to be one's refuge. The Savaka Sangha means those who are: "Supatipanno" — who have practiced well; "Ujupatipanno" — who have practiced correctly, in accordance with the Vinaya that each Buddha laid down, without evading the rules of the Vinaya; "Nayapatipanno" — who practiced for the purpose of knowing clearly and seeing truly — and who let go of everything with "Samicipatipanno" — having practiced Dhamma in ways that are appropriate to Dhamma and having practiced those things absolutely rightly which are the duty of a Bhikkhu. The Lord told us to take these as the refuge.

    The Sangha nowadays who practice in the way described above may be taken as a refuge, this being a kind of by-product, because the Sangha who practice properly are within the circle of the "SANGHA." This is the way the Lord said one could tell whether the Sangha exists which one can take to be a refuge, or not.
Q5 M2:
    In England it is very difficult to find the Sangha.
A:
    If one takes the Sangha as being that which has the characteristics mentioned above, then it is difficult to find in any country!
Q6 M2:
    Why, when the precepts are given, must one speak in Pali?
A:
    When the Lord Buddha taught Buddhism he used the Pali language and it has meanings accordingly, but if one considers that one understands these meanings one can use any language that one knows. If one agrees that the "language of the heart" is the important thing, the manner of what is socially acceptable, so if we consider Pali to be the language of the heart, when we speak any given word others who have differing native languages can understand it in accordance with their own language and society. This is good, isn't it?
Q7 M3:
    The Laws of Kamma and the laws of science are opposed to each other, are they not?
A:
    What do the laws of science say? I will speak first about Kamma. Kamma is what people think, say, or do, which is good or evil or between the two — neither good nor evil. Having acted accordingly the result will follow, the result being good, evil or between the two respectively.
M3:
    Science is not concerned about good or evil or the future.
A:
    Having learned science can it cure hunger? When hungry one eats and becomes full. The way of Buddhism aims to cure Dukkha, so if one has anything that is Dukkha it aims to cure that and the principles of Dhamma in Buddhism have various different levels, from those which are simple up to those which are rarely achieved.
Q8 W1:
    I now want to learn how to do Samadhi and I want to know myself in a new way, but there is that obstacle of the heart which I mentioned before. How can I cure it?
A:
    I sympathise with you, but to tell you how to cure it is difficult because the way of practice differs from what we do. If the teacher has taught a way and the pupil learns and acts in that way accordingly, how can one be sure that the way he taught is the right way? One must search for the basic principles which can make one sure that the goal at the end of the path is the same as the Buddha taught.

    A basic principle which I can give you which is common to all ways is as follows: "Do not let your Citta go out externally." When the Citta is outside there are things which fascinate the Citta, so one must then train oneself to concentrate anew (internally) and do this time after time. One does not know whether those things come from one's own heart — or from where they come. But if they are lovable things and beautiful one then loves them. If they are loathsome things and what is more important, fearsome things, one will be afraid. Therefore in order to guard against fear one must look after the Citta and keep it inside and arouse calm internally and peace of heart.
Q9 W1:
    Nowadays our world has nothing but confusion and deterioration and society is changing. How do you think it can be changed for the better?
A:
    That the world and society are changing is natural. Society is made up of the people in it and the people in each society must investigate and find out what is good, what is undesirable in their society, and how it should be corrected so that it will be right and proper. Someone outside that society does not have enough knowledge and understanding to think out how it should be changed.
Thursday, 13th June 1974
Q1 M1:
    I would like to know about the practice of Dhamma so that when one grows older one will not get troubled and agitated.
A:
    We see things on the road along which we are going. Wherever we are going to, and wherever we have reached, we thus know that we are going the right way or the wrong way. We cannot correct the way we are going at the moment — it would be a waste of time. If we have decided what destination we are going to, we first of all learn the way and then we go that way — and we go the right way and there are no problems.

    Buddhism teaches us to avoid things which are dangerous, and it teaches that the Citta should have its own basis (foundation), and then it will not waver or be afraid, nor doubtful about death and how it will go afterwards. Nor will it be interested in thinking about anything outside oneself — which would be like "grasping at shadows."

    If you are going to a place and you are not sure that you are going to find everything convenient there, you will probably prepare yourself and take all sorts of things that you might need so that you will have everything. Then you may be certain that everything will be convenient and that you will lack nothing.

    When you are sure that you will find food there, and you have also taken food along with you, you do not feel any apprehension. Virtue is comparable to food, for food is food of the body and virtue is food of the Citta. The practice of Dhamma will be food of the Citta which you carry along with you and the heart will be at ease so that whenever you die there will not be Dukkha.

    One knows that the body wants food and whatever type of food is lacking it eats. The Citta wants virtue and Dhamma and if it lacks this food the factors of confusion arise and the heart is uneasy and troubled. One should therefore know where one is deficient and hurry to correct it and accumulate virtue from now on.

    Tan Acharn explained Dhamma further:

    "Merit" is happiness. "Kusala" is skill in finding things which bring happiness to oneself.

    You who have come here to search for what is good, which is food for the heart, such as the practice of Samadhi meditation, if your hearts constantly do virtuous things, your Citta will have skill, courage, good natures, and certainty about the future. This is like someone going on a journey who has arranged everything that will be necessary for his use on the way. We are going on a journey, coming from which state of existence we do not know, but we are human — which means we are people living now whether men or women. People are more clever than animals in this world, and we find that we have been born as human beings. Since birth we have had Dukkha and Sukha, difficulty and confusion, and we have gradually come to know this. We have learned about the events of our own past and one day in the future we are bound to die. After death how will it be? If we act so as to develop our Cittas to attain complete clarity this problem can answer itself and we will have certainty, ease of heart, and a feeling of confidence in ourselves.
Q2 M2:
    That method of doing Samadhi[19] — does Tan Acharn teach it for all people or are there different methods?
A:
    This teaching is a general method which whoever wants to can start with. But when it has been really and truly practiced, the results which each person gets will differ according to the level of the basic state of each Citta. After that a method will be suggested which is suitable to each person's disposition (Carita) because there are many methods of doing Samadhi to suit the dispositions and characteristics of people. Like medicines in which one must apply the right medicine to suit the disease in order to cure it.
Q3 M3:
    In doing Samadhi is it important to have a teacher to advise one?
A:
    When the Citta becomes more and more subtle one increasingly needs a teacher to explain whether any particular way is right or wrong. Because in doing Samadhi one will come to know new things which one has never known or seen before and if one lets go and indulges in them it will increase delusion. Therefore a teacher becomes increasingly necessary.
Q4 W1:
    Yesterday Tan Acharn spoke about training for Samadhi and that one must then contemplate (investigate). How does one do this contemplating?
A:
    Contemplation analyzes things into the various components that make them up. For example, one's body is composed of various parts which make it up and one must use wisdom to analyze them.
Q5 W1:
    Apart from contemplating the body can one also contemplate other things?
A:
    Yes one can — by contemplating from outside going inwards, or contemplating from inside going outwards — if one has understood the food of the body and of the heart.
Q6 M4:
    Are the methods of doing Samadhi of Jesus Christ and the Lord Buddha the same or different and how?
A:
    Every true religion teaches people to be good people. I (Acharn) do not dare to set up Jesus and the Lord Buddha to have a boxing match in the ring to see who is champion, because the religions do not have anything to argue and fight about. But we people who are variously Christians and Buddhists like to quarrel and fight with words, because being stubborn we do not practice the way of either religion. The manner of teaching of the Founder of each religion was as if He gave a path for us to walk rightly with Metta and we ought to contemplate the virtue of the Founder. It is as if we are going to walk along a path to a particular point and we have decided to go along the path that we know. Then we go on until we reach a point where we do not know the way, so we ask someone who knows and they tell us the way to go on further. As soon as we again reach a point and we go on like this until we reach the goal at the end of the path. The one who points out the way to all of us is a benefactor to us and we ought to recall and think about his gift to us.

    The Lord Buddha saw clearly into Dhamma and he also saw clearly into the method by which he had trained himself. Therefore it was never in vain that Buddhists turned to him, and he was ready to help the world to enable it to get free from various dangers with methods which were full of Metta. Summarising this: in both religions the Founders taught people to be good with Metta in the same way. They are different in their degrees of subtlety following the abilities of the founders of each religion.
Q7 M5:
    Doing the repetition of "Buddho" must one do it just on its own or together with the in and out breaths?
A:
    It is up to each person to do it as he likes. It can be done in three ways:

        One meditates — "Buddho, Buddho..." etc., until the Citta remains still with Buddho.
        One repeats "Buddho...", in time with the in and out breaths.
        One meditates — "Bud" with the in breaths and "dho" with the out breaths.

    It is important to depend on mindfulness (Sati) to know and attend to the work which one has set one's Citta to do and to avoid anticipating the result which one will get while one is doing the practice. When mindfulness and the work are going along together, the result will come of itself steadily from the practice of meditation.
Q8 W2:
    Please would you explain about mindfulness (Sati) in one's daily life?
A:
    Mindfulness is a "Dhamma" which is essential everywhere so as to recollect and know oneself all the time whatever one is doing wherever one is and in all actions and behavior.

    To what extent can we practice it? The Lord Buddha intended that we should have untold wealth, but the extent to which we ourselves can have it depends upon the ability of each person. When you have mindfulness always with you and working all the time, then you can sit in Samadhi in whatever way you like. But it is important that mindfulness keeps your attention on just that work that you are doing.
Saturday, 15th June 1974
Q1 M1:
    With regard to the Citta which does not die, being immortal which you explained yesterday. This leads me to understand this to confirm that the Citta is the same as the "Soul." Please would you clear up and amplify this point a bit more.
A:
    What is the "Soul"?
M1:
    The "Soul" is the one that must associate with God. Each person has one "Soul" and when they die the "Soul" waits for God to judge it and then it is sent to heaven or hell.
A:
    1. "Citta," or "Mano-Viññana" is the "one who knows" and this is the "Citta" or "heart."

    2. As for "Viññana," the consciousness which comes from the impact of sensation through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind, it arises in association with these things and then dies away and ceases. This is what is called "Viññana" in the five Khandhas, and is different from the former.[22]

    But "Patisandhi Viññana" (which comes under the first heading above) is the Citta which goes to take birth each time in any one of various possible places and characteristic forms. Because this Citta has "seeds" attached to it — in other words "Kamma" which has been done and which can send it off to be born in various different states.

    In Buddhism it is explained that beings are born in various different circumstances and states because of Patisandhi Viññana or in other words, this Citta has the nature of Anicca, Dukkha, and Anatta. Then Kamma is the "force" which drives it on. But when this Citta has been "washed clean" so that it is made pure (Parisuddhi), free from Kilesas and Kamma which would otherwise attach themselves to it, this Citta which is pure knows of itself that it will not go to be born again and that it is free and that it is finally and absolutely beyond the rule of Anicca, Dukkha, and Anatta.

    As long as the Citta, or Patisandhi Viññana is still not pure in every way, it must live under the rule of Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta. But this Citta is very subtle, and how can it be Anatta? It may be illustrated by the following simile which gives a comparison with emptiness.

    Suppose that a man was told to go and look in a room and say whether it was empty or not, and in this room there is nothing at all. He goes in and says "The room is empty." But the person who sent him in says: "How can it be empty when you are standing there in the middle of it?" He then becomes aware of himself and leaves the room after which the room is truly empty.

    The Citta which gets rid of "Attanuditthi" (belief in self) entirely has nothing mundane or relative left at all, therefore it is said to be an "empty Citta," or a Citta which is pure throughout. Because Atta and Anatta are not there in the Citta, the Citta is absolutely free from both conditions of Atta and Anatta.
Q2 W1:
    What is Dukkha?
A:
    Dukkha exists in everybody. If we speak from the standpoint of Dhamma, Dukkha is a true thing and everybody has Dukkha, but our hearts do not see what the truth is, so they continually contradict Dukkha. The deluded Citta does not know the truth of Dukkha so it has to search for a way to cure it, but one cannot find a way to cure it by oneself because one does not know the root cause of Dukkha. Then Dukkha becomes oneself and one has Dukkha all the time whether one knows what it is or not.

    As to your question, what is this Dukkha? Please examine carefully at such times as you have Dukkha what this Dukkha is; and who can you go and ask about it if you have this Dukkha and do not know it yourself? Because these things exist in everybody without exception. If one "knows," then one practices the way that the Lord Buddha taught. This practice is the way to come to know Dukkha with certainty that there is no other way.
Q3 M2:
    What is "Intuition"? For example, when one has a problem and one cannot think out how to overcome it. Then one goes to sleep and when one wakes the answer to the problem comes of itself and it is also the right way to overcome it.
A:
    This often happens in those who practice but it is an internal thing, special to each individual and it would not be right to talk about it to other people.
Q4 M3:
    "Samsara" is "knowing," is it not? And Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta are "knowing" and when one dreams it is the knowing itself that does the work.
A:
    In the circle of those who practice, to say that "Samsara is knowing" is right. When the Citta is not deluded it is this "knowing" that will be relinquished. But please be careful to use wisdom to contemplate until you are able to understand in this way and do not be too easily satisfied, because it may lead you to go wrong later on. You must use wisdom here like a knife — in other words, you must use all sides of it. You must use the sharp side on yourself to cut and get rid of; and the back of the blade on other people. But people generally use the sharp edge on other people, and when it comes to themselves they use the handle or the back of the blade.

    Before one comes to know that the Citta is Samsara, wisdom will probably have to contemplate external things until it knows them clearly and lets go of them. Then it comes and sees danger in the true ringleader of Samsara — which is the Citta. When one sees that the Citta is Samsara, it is called "seeing in the reverse manner" (Patiloma), in other words, returning back inwards to get to know oneself and ending all doubts at the same time. One must contemplate both internally and externally. Externally there are the surrounding objects of nature, these being basically earth, water, air, and fire. Internally means within one's Citta and one should know what it is that one must get rid of. This is like a drinking glass that falls and breaks — one must look and see it as it is. If one imagines that it is someone's fault in that they made it fall and break, one will be troubled and upset. But if one sees that it went its own way according to its nature, one frees one's heart entirely and then there is no need to be upset for it broke in accordance with its nature. It is important for the Citta to turn round and catch up with it and see it in the right way.

    Then at last one knows the one who creates imagination — this being the Sankhara — the one who creates stories. The stories then cease forthwith and they no longer follow on from one another building a series of thoughts branching out wider and wider.

    Discussing Dhamma today in its essence has been more and more interesting, both for those who ask, for the one who answers, and for those who listen. But there should also be something about practice.

    What is practice? It is that which brings results to oneself, letting one know and see fully. If those who practice tell each other of the results which they have attained and report to the teacher, this will correct any faults or give clarity and confidence to them. Because each person who practices gains results according to the basic nature (Bhumi) of his Citta and his Dhamma which differ from person to person. So the teacher has to give explanations continuously to encourage those who practice so that they can strengthen their resolve, because he knows the results which he attained for himself and those which the pupil has attained by practicing in the same way to be the same. Also because the teacher who knows clearly, has already gone the whole way, and he is able to talk the pupil into penetrating through and letting go of everything until he can also penetrate through and gain freedom. Buddhism is not "Mogharaja" (a useless Kingdom), but it is genuine and true and capable of giving release from Dukkha. But people to a great extent change Buddhism into a tool for arguing with each other.

    I would like to explain this to you so that you would understand all the reasoning — but I have no way to do so because my command of English is no use and I have to speak depending on the translator.

    Concerning "Vimutti" (release or freedom), the Lord Buddha revealed this fully — because the Lord knew it truly and the Savaka arahants also knew it in the same way. They never disputed amongst themselves about it and they all equally revealed it in the same way, but other people crowd together doubting everything. None of the arahants have any doubt at all for they have seen that "Nibbanam Paramam Sukham" (Nibbana is the ultimate happiness).

    "Nibbana Paramam Suññam," which all of us have learned to know as "emptiness" (Sunya), in the way that people in the world generally understand it, meaning that everything has disappeared. It is like this glass tumbler here, if anyone takes it or it breaks we are then empty of this glass, and this is the way the conventional world (Sammuti) sees it.

    But "emptiness" in the manner of "Vimutti," as was known by the Lord Buddha and the Savaka arahants, is of a different kind. The happiness (Sukha) which comes from Emptiness the ordinary person has never seen. So we are bound to be doubtful and to deny it in spite of the fact that the Lord Buddha always taught true things. For our hearts which are still not pure cannot yet accept it and have not reached understanding of it and the Citta which is still false is not yet likely to accept true things as its objective support (Arammana). It is like excellent food, well prepared, that drops on the ground — we do not like to eat it then. The Dhamma of the Lord Buddha is pure, but if the Citta of a person is dirty they cannot accept each other in a good way. But whenever the Citta and the Dhamma are both pure they can blend well together. Therefore none of the arahants have the slightest doubt in regard to the Vimutti that the Lord Buddha constantly taught.
Q5 M4:
    The belief in "Self," where does it come from?
A:
    It comes from oneself. Suppose that we went out looking for a horse and we found a horse. Then we do not catch it but go back retracing its footprints saying: "It will be a horse that came from there, won't it?" What use will this be? Or again, if we go out walking and get stuck with a thorn, what should we do? Pull the thorn out and put medicine on the wound or investigate to find out what the thorn is, where it comes from and so on? If we do the latter, the wound may go septic and spread until eventually we may have to have a leg cut off. If we do not want to lose a leg we should do the former, but if we do not mind we can do the latter.
Q6 W1:
    The thorn hurts also, does it not? As for Atta, it is difficult to understand and I do not understand what it is that makes one speak to let other people know.
A:
    (Tan Acharn remained silent, as it would have been of no use to make any comment.)
Sunday, 17th June 1974
Q1 W1:
    Is it true that the Citta is the awareness of right and wrong (conscience), and that this Citta dwells in the heart?
A:
    Yes. It is that normal awareness which is always present, the awareness of right and wrong of a person or of an animal (or other being accordingly). The Lord said that the Citta dwells in the Hadayavatthu (heart base) which is the center of the body. But one should understand that the Citta is Nama Dhamma[23] and it just "knows" — it is not a physical object even though it dwells in the Hadayvatthu, so it is not like an egg or a fruit dwelling in a shell. Therefore all one can say is that it just dwells there, although the meaning of this is difficult for one to imagine or to guess.
Q2 M2:
    When sitting in Samadhi and it gets painful, how should one overcome this?
A:
    There are several ways to cure this such as:

        It is better to sleep — to turn and escape into one's pillow as one's refuge (Sarana).
        When it becomes painful due to sitting, then get up and walk Cankama. Thus by changing postures the pain is cured.
        As soon as it becomes painful, concentrate on the pain and examine it thus: "Where is Dukkha?"; look at the parts of the body, the condition of the Citta, and the state of Vedana (feeling), until one sees them all equally as they truly are. Then the painful feeling will cease entirely, or one will see truly that those parts of one's body are Dukkha, but that the Citta is not Dukkha. Because of that the Dukkha is not able to overpower the Citta, and the Citta being unshakably established, the conditions go as far as they can and then give way of themselves.

    If you can be confident in yourself that the method of fighting against Dukkha by investigating it is the best and highest way, you should analyze Dukkha into external and internal. But practicing and striving in this way is truly very painful — as though all one's bones are breaking apart, or hot as though one is on fire all over. One wants to know the extent of one's ability, but one must fight before one knows how far one's Citta is able to go.

    One still does not know for sure what Dukkha Vedana really is, whether it is Dukkha, the cause of Dukkha (Samudaya), the cessation of Dukkha (Nirodha), or the path leading to the cessation of Dukkha (Magga), so mindfulness and wisdom must be used to search and think it out, and if one can search it out to completion it can quench Dukkha, like burning gunpowder which flares up and in a moment it all goes out — and the Citta remains.

    Therefore take up Dukkha Vedana and examine which Dukkha this is at the moment when the body breaks up and ceases. In truth Dukkha arises and ceases continuously, but that the Citta should die never happens, in fact the Citta becomes more and more clear and drops into a state of calm beyond one's expectations.

    But those who are afraid of death will get more and more of death. Therefore one should take up this Citta Bhavana and practice it. But it is a much more difficult thing to do than the ordinary methods of the type in which one sleeps at times and wakes up at times which does not give results such as one ought to get.
Q3 M2:
    Can one use this method to cure other problems such as distraction or restless thoughts?
A:
    The Dukkha that arises from pain is Dukkha of the physical body. Distraction is Dukkha also, but it is Dukkha which arises from the heart because the "Origin of Dukkha" is the cause of it. It can be quieted by the method mentioned above and those who practice have done this until they have obtained results which are satisfactory.

    Those who want the highest results should not feel repelled by this method which can fight the tricks and deceits of the Kilesas better than other methods.
Q4 M2:
    Tanha (craving) is the origin of Dukkha, is it not?
A:
    In what way is there Dukkha together with Tanha (craving), and in what way is there Dukkha without Tanha? One must examine further. In other words, just wanting Dukkha to go away is Tanha. But if one wants to know the reasons for it, such as: "What is Dukkha? what is its cause? How can one get rid of Dukkha?" this is the path — Magga. Desire in the direction of getting free from Dukkha by turning towards the search for the way of peace and happiness (Santi — Sukha) is not Tanha but Magga.
Q3 M3:
    Mindfulness and Samadhi are two steps of the eightfold path and it seems that they are the 7th and 8th stages. How are mindfulness and Samadhi in the eightfold path different from their use elsewhere?
A:
    Mindfulness is the one that controls the Citta. Samadhi depends on mindfulness to supervise the Citta until the Citta can be set up in one place and remain there and a state of calm arises many times. In other words, at first it arises as Khanika Samadhi — a moment of calm and then it withdraws. Later on the calm becomes a bit deeper, which is Upacara Samadhi and one must depend on mindfulness to retain control until wisdom comes in to investigate. Wisdom must depend on mindfulness and then one will always be able to contemplate all sorts of things; then mindfulness becomes super-mindfulness and wisdom becomes super-wisdom. If one has mindfulness to take control, the Citta which has faults in it will depend on mindfulness to protect it and correct the faults in the Citta. If the Citta becomes calm and free with none of the Kilesas disturbing it, there is no need to cure them at that moment. The Citta will then be absolutely calm and this is Appana Samadhi (full absorption). This is the way we talk about practice.

    The training is difficult in the beginning for to start with one has never done it before, one has never seen what results come from doing it, and one must depend on mindfulness to force one to do it, going against one's inclinations by using reason to show the need for it.

    But once the results of this begin to appear in one's Citta, interest, the will to do it and the effort will all steadily follow. Then the more that results appear, whether great or small, the more and more strange and unusual, and the effort then comes of itself.

    Those factors of Dhamma which are the means of attaining successful results — being the four Iddhipada (roads to success), including Chanda (satisfaction), Viriya (effort or striving), Citta (pleasurable absorption or interest), and Vimamsa (careful consideration or thought) — will steadily become stronger until they enable one who practices to attain his intended goal without any obstacle being able to stop him.
Q6 W1:
    When one is able to do Samadhi, will the time come when one who practices no longer needs to sit in meditation?
A:
    Before one is able to read one must persevere in learning to spell out words and practice writing. When one is going to write the word "you" one must spell it out "y-o-u". Then the time comes when one is able to write so that when one thinks of the word "you" one can write it without having to spell it out. But normally, does someone who can read and write then stop reading and writing?

    Training in Samadhi is the same as the above. To begin with one must use mindfulness constantly to supervise and force the Citta to do it. As he goes on doing it, the one who practices will be successful and get various results for himself, and he will gain skill and ability. When he practices Samadhi and strives and gets rid of the Kilesas until he eventually becomes free from them all, he still goes on doing Samadhi, but he no longer strives for freedom from the Kilesas anymore because they have already gone.

    When he lies down to rest and sleep he stops, but when he gets up, he uses mindfulness and wisdom in all sorts of activities including the practice of Samadhi meditation which he continues to do, for he does not throw away the work that he has done, in the same way as someone who knows about books and is able to read and write a lot. He goes on doing this so that it shall be of increasing value in various ways and he does not stop just because he is able to read and write. The practicing of Samadhi meditation by those who have got rid of the Kilesas is like this; they must go on doing it for the purpose of Vihara Dhamma — living comfortably in this world where the Dhatu and Khandhas (mind and body) live.
Q7 W1:
    When one's heart is not calm — please give some advice on how to cure this state.
A:
    Generally, for those who practice, it is like I have already explained. One must use effort a great deal until one becomes calm. One must also use mindfulness and wisdom to overcome the things which are obstructive in whatever way is appropriate to the practice, until the one who practices knows for himself that he is in a position to get free from them and that he need not be born again, for the Dhamma is unbiased[24] and immediately shows results great or small to the one who practices truly and steadily.

    The Lord Buddha and the Savakas in the Ti-Pitaka all said that they had to force themselves to put forward effort very often before they gained Enlightenment. From then up to the time when they each entered Parinibbana, the Buddha and the Savakas still entered Samadhi and Nirodha Samapatti, which was a way for the Citta to dwell comfortably "at ease" amongst the Khandhas, which is called "Vihara Dhamma" — Dhamma as a dwelling place — until the time when the Citta departs from the body which cannot last any longer, and enters Nibbana which is the ultimate happiness free from trouble of any kind at all.

    When the Lord Buddha was about to enter Parinibbana he entered Samadhi. He entered the first Jhana and went up stage by stage to the state of Saññavedayitanirodha Samapatti, and then he returned step by step back to the first Jhana. Then he entered the first Jhana and went up to the fourth Jhana and then attained Parinibbana between the rupa Jhanas and the Arupa Jhanas.

    Because the Lord Buddha was able to do and experience the highest levels like this, all the Savakas persevered in following his example until they succeeded in becoming arahants after the Lord Buddha. The Lord Buddha sought and found Dhamma until he became enlightened, and he upheld this as the Dhamma method which he continually taught to his followers until the day he entered Nibbana. All of us therefore have taken to heart with faith that:
    Buddham Saranam Gacchami — the Buddha is our refuge;
    Dhammam Saranam Gacchami — the Dhamma is our refuge;
    Sangham Saranam Gacchami — the Sangha is our refuge;

    ...continually in our status as Buddhists, and we do not hold anyone else as our refuge in a heart-felt way as we do the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, which are the most excellent and supreme.
Q8 W1:
    Is it true that Vipassana (insight, wisdom) does not attain to Jhana?
A:
    The Lord Buddha entered "Jhana Samapatti" (Jhana attainment). The Savakas strove to clean out the Kilesas until they attained purity and became arahants of four kinds, and the purity which they attained was the same and did not differ in being better or worse between the four. But their Citta — each had special qualities in accordance with their tendencies of character, like those were praised for the thing in which they were the most skilled and capable.

    When the Khandas and Citta had still not separated, they entered Samadhi Samapatti in whatever way suited their characters and their skills, until they reached the end of their time. "Jhana" is the realm which gives the heart a rest, whereas "Vipassana" is the examination (contemplation) of the things of nature (Sabhava Dhamma) so as to know clearly what is the truth of them and to let go one's attachment for them one after another, until one comes to the end of the things that one should let go of. Then one reaches purity and freedom from them.

    As to the question whether "Vipassana will lead to Jhana" or not, this is the concern of stupid people who speculate in their habitual ways of thought and then do not begin to do anything in connection with them.
Q9 W1:
    I do not understand what are the characteristics of entering Jhana.
A:
    Don't be anxious about Jhana. Jhana is just a by-product of doing the practice and one should not let it become an obsession. The aim of training oneself in order to cut away the Kilesas so that they are got rid from the heart is the thing which one should be most interested in.
Q10 M4:
    What is the meaning of "Citta"?
A:
    1) Viññana in the five Khandas. This is the "knowing" that arises when an external thing contacts and stimulates the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body or heart (mind). When stimulation takes place the Citta knows it and then it ceases, which is the story of arising or birth and ceasing or dying.

    2) One's basic or fundamental "knowing" — this is the Citta and it will go on to create becoming and birth, going to be born wherever it may be, depending on how those things which are infused into the Citta.
Q11 M4:
    Are the Citta and wisdom the same thing?
A:
    The Citta and wisdom are different but related to each other. But there is a way in which they can be one and those who practice should know this in a natural way for themselves while they are practicing.

    Going by general principles mindfulness and wisdom are Dhamma (mental factors) which can arise and cease in the same way as other things everywhere. Therefore to say that they are one and the same as the heart is not proper, but on the other hand they are factors of the path (Magga) — or tools for curing the Kilesas so as to attain purity of heart.
Q12 W2:
    May we ask if we could sit in Samadhi together with Tan Acharn for a long time?
A:
    Sitting in Samadhi for a long time for those who have already done a lot of practice is not a problem, but one cannot expect those who have just begun to learn to sit for a long time. Therefore people must decide on the amount of time for sitting that is appropriate to their ability.

    As for sitting together with anyone or not, this will probably depend on circumstances. But the important thing is that one should sit according to one's own temperament and whether this will be for a long time or not will be up to oneself.
Q13 M5:
    How does Anatta differ from going to be born again?
A:
    Atta-Anatta are Dhammas that are paired off together until the ultimate limit of the mundane relative world (Sammuti) — until the Citta is free from the Kilesas and has become a special Citta, a special person. Atta and Anatta then disappear of themselves and there is no need to drive any of them out anywhere, for there is just the purity of the Citta entire which is "Eka-Citta," "Eka-Dhamma"[25] — no duality with anything further.

    The word Anatta is a factor (Dhamma) of the Ti-Lakkhana[26] and someone who aims for purity, freedom and Nibbana should contemplate "Aniccam, Dukkham, Anatta" until they see and understand these Ti-Lakkhana clearly. Then it may be said that the Citta has "well gone free." Because Nibbana is not Anatta, for how can one force it to be Anatta which is one of the Ti-Lakkhana, which are the path for getting to Nibbana?
Monday, 17th June 1974
Tan Acharn:
    In listening to an explanation of Dhamma, if one tries to remember while listening, the "owner" does not gain value from it in the Citta. But if one decides to let the Citta gain value from it, the Citta will go along with the talk while contemplating it at the same time and it should be able to get rid of some Kilesas at that time, and those that are got rid of will depend on what happens during the talk. But one cannot remember what the teacher talked about.

    In listening to a Dhamma talk in the manner of those who practice, generally one is not more interested in remembering what is said than in looking at the Citta and the Dhamma which the teacher is explaining at that time in order that one may get value while listening. For instance, the Citta may gain calm, or some ways of wisdom may then arise and get rid of some kinds of Kilesas. Now I will answer questions.
Q1 W1:
    The Lord Buddha was very subtle and when he used words they had definite meaning. Why then did he sometimes talk of Citta and sometimes of Mano?
A:
    Citta and Mano are synonymous with each other together with Viññana, and they can be used in place of each other. Why does the world have several words derived from the one word "eat" — thus "Eat," Eating," "Eaten"?[30] The word Citta or Mano is like this and they are used as it suits the occasion.
Q2 W2:
    The Citta is not Viññana Khandha, so surely it is not the same as any Viññana?[31]
A:
    Mano Viññana equals Patisandhi Viññana which goes to birth in various realms of existence (Bhava).

    The teaching of the Lord Buddha is said to be composed of 84,000 Dhamma Khandhas[32] which is not much because the Lord Buddha summarised (the teaching) making it suitable to the strength of beings in the world.

    When one is doing practice, knowledge branches out more and more so that among those who are doing practice, when they speak to each other they can gain a lot more knowledge. But if one has not yet gained results from practice, however it is explained it is not likely to be of much use.

    The Lord Buddha had experienced more than the others and when the Savakas went to speak to him and ask him about knowledge, saying that they had come across this, and had had experiences of that kind, the Lord knew all about it already and could answer immediately. Because the things which happen to each person are different and someone who has already had such experiences will understand them and can therefore guide them on the way along which he has already gone.
Q3 W3:
    "Jhana" is not wanted for developing wisdom (Pañña) — how is this?
A:
    Concerning Jhana, if one does not have the tendencies of character for it, there is no need to try to attain it, but if it arises then one can use Jhana. Someone who is not energetic will aim to have Jhana much more than the path (Magga), fruition (Phala), and Nibbana, because Jhana is a small matter compared with Sila, Samadhi and Pañña, which are the tools to cure all the Kilesas. This is like our own native language, which we all know even though we never formally learned it, nor took exams in it, nor gained any degrees in it. We do not need any degrees to communicate with each other because just knowing our native language is enough for us to speak to each other.

    "Jhana" means to "concentrate intently" — repeat "Buddho, Buddho, Buddho," and it will become Jhana. Jhana is a natural principle, but "Jhana" is not essential for developing wisdom, because in contemplating form (Rupa) there is "Vitakka" — which is "disentangling those things which one sees," and if this is done in a natural way the one who practices can have Jhana, depending on his own characteristics, though it may not go in the way that it is usually explained. The word "Jhana" interests us Buddhists a great deal even though we have hardly had any genuine results of Jhana — but we tend to talk extravagantly about it enough to be annoying!
Q4 W4:
    Please may I know how to develop calm (Samatha).
A:
    The training to make one's Citta quiet is Samatha, calm. Contemplation, analysing, and branching out step by step, giving rise to understanding is wisdom, which accords with one's level of wisdom.
Q5 W2:
    In developing Samadhi Vipassana there are two ways, are there not? Some people say that there is the way of Samatha and some say there is the way of Vipassana — or can one use them alternately?
A:
    At any time when one wants calm one does Samatha and at any time when one contemplates with wisdom so as to arouse the method of analysis by examining both externally and internally, it is called Vipassana.
Q6 W2:
    I feel that it is more difficult to develop wisdom (Pañña) than calm (Samatha).
A:
    At those times when one does Samadhi one aims for calm and at those times when one does Vipassana one aims for seeing truly with wisdom. One should do them at different times and one should not mix them together. There are many kinds of work, both easy and difficult, and work as done in the world is also like this. With some people it is necessary for them to do work that is difficult, but if one is bewildered and afraid of difficulties, one will not be able to do any work. So when the time comes to do any work one should truly work hard and persevere at it until one sees the fruit of that work. If one does this one will have the means to bring about the results of work both in Samadhi and Vipassana — it is not beyond one's ability.
Q7 W2:
    How can one develop one's outlook so as to make one not afraid of difficulties?
A:
    By the training to develop wisdom. When should one do it? One may do it anywhere, anytime — train oneself to think, to consider carefully, to meditate to "use one's head." Analyze the elements (dhatu) and Khandhas from outside going inward, and analyze those elements and Khandhas of oneself which are inside and bring them up for comparison with external things until one sees with wisdom that they have the same characteristics. If one has already entered Vipassana one will know for oneself extensively and this will go on increasing. If one is just afraid of difficulties one will meet nothing but difficulties which are there in one's heart and they will always be an obstacle to one's work, and one will never have an opportunity to do this work. This fear of difficulties is a very important Kilesa indeed! Trying hard with persistence to oppose the difficulties, is the Path (Magga) and this is the tool for curing every kind of Kilesa, so one should take interest in it.
Q8 W2:
    In two or three days time I will go and enter a training course for training teachers so as to teach children religion. How can one help children to have a wide understanding of religion.
A:
    There is no obstacle in teaching others which is greater than that of teaching oneself. Let us understand that before teaching others. In teaching religion if one understands it in however gross or subtle a way, one is able to teach others in accordance with one's understanding. To understand religion by way of the texts is easy, but to understand it truly with one's heart is difficult both for oneself and others. Therefore the practice to know religion truly is very important.
Q9 W5:
    When one has determined to listen to a talk but cannot remember it afterwards — would you say something about this?
A:
    When one can remember what was said, what value does one get from it? One may answer that one gets the instruction in doing practice. But truly speaking, in not being able to remember there is nothing lost and furthermore it can bring one valuable results in a different way, for the heart gains calm at that time because there is no anxiety about remembering. The Dhamma which are retained within the heart one will be able to remember, and that which has been heard and understood makes a deep impression and results in happiness of heart while one is listening. It is comparable to a child eating his food, for the child need not know from where the food comes, nor from which factory, for while he is eating he gets the taste of it which is satisfying and he has taken the food which provides nourishment for his body, keeping it fit and well, and this is sufficient.

    There is no need to memorize everything while one is listening, but one should compose the heart and let it be knowing within oneself, and one should not send it elsewhere at that time. The Citta will then receive knowledge in continually following the Dhamma which is being explained. Then the results of calm and peace will arise. Or it will arouse various ways and means which come to one while one is listening. This is what is meant by making gains from listening in the way of practice, in the same way as those in the past who practiced in this manner.
Q10 W5:
    You said that nothing is lost in not being able to remember. This gives one a lot of hope.
A:
    Listening and taking note of and remembering names and words is of no value at all, for all one gets is the names of Dhamma and of the Kilesas, but the Kilesas neither diminish in strength nor get less. If one listens without remembering but listens following with understanding, it will probably get rid of Kilesas all the while and even though one cannot remember one will get successful results in the way of practice. Because while one listens with mindfulness firmly established within one's heart, not sending it out externally, not even to the person who is explaining at that moment, and with "knowing" limited to oneself, one is likely to be able to understand the Dhamma which is being explained better than if one sends the Citta out to receive it. Results will then appear steadily to the heart and they can reduce and get rid of Kilesas bit by bit every time that one listens, until one is able to go past them, as in the time of the Buddha when many attained both Magga and Phala while listening. Therefore listening to Dhamma is an aspect of practice which is much more important than doing the practice on one's own, and those who practice have been very interested in it ever since those days.

    After this the Van. Acharn led a short meditation practice for five minutes, after which the meeting closed.
Tuesday, 18th June 1974
Q1 W1:
    When I practice Samadhi, I am liable to go into "Yogi Sleep" (going deep into Bhavanga). Some people say this is good and some that it is not good. Who is right in this?
A:
    Please explain "Yogi Sleep" and ask yourself what do you feel about it, and after you have come out of it, what remains of it in your Citta.
W1:
    Nothing remains of it, but I feel more fresh and lively.
A:
    One person says it is good, another says it is not good, but why do you go on believing them? You must know for yourself whether it is good or not. Therefore it would not be right for me to say anything about this for fear that you may get attached to my words. For the Dhamma which is presented here is at the beginning and has still not divided up and branched out enough so that the learner can gain value from it. Therefore it is best to answer some questions and not to answer others. Answering everything fully is poison to the Citta. The person himself (lit. the owner) should examine the results which come to his own Citta. What I am saying here must depend on who it is that comes into contact with me as to what kind of Dhamma they should receive, whether ordinary or middling or high or low according to the level of attainment of the person I meet.

    Asking this question makes me think that the questioner's basis of Dhamma[40] is uncertain. Those who practice must have gone through this, for if they have practiced Samadhi and if the Citta has gone deep down they must know. If they go to sleep and when they wake up nobody knows and if there is just the sound of "sleepiness" and lying down all the time, how shall we know about the Citta? In doing Samadhi, as soon as the Citta is about to go down, if we do not let it go down and force it to work, we will never be able to build up a firmness of the Citta which accords with the teaching of Samadhi for the attainment of calm. The word Samadhi does not mean sleeping and knowing nothing. One must know within oneself in particular and not know anything else apart from oneself.
Q2 W2:
    I still do not understand about the heart and Anatta.
A:
    Do you understand Atta? (The questioner replied "Yes, I understand.")

    Have you ever practiced Samadhi? (Yes)

    For the Citta which has gained calm with any given object of attention (Arammana), whatever method was used to do this may also be used to learn about Atta or Anatta accordingly, but to begin with one should hold on to "Atta." Later on one gradually withdraws the attachment to Atta until one can completely get rid of it, because the Citta is naturally complete and its own self. But it is not "Self" having the nature of "Atta" as mentioned above, which is a mundane convention (Sammuti), for it is free (Vimutti) and therefore is different.
Q3 M1:
    How should one act so as to do Samadhi properly? In daily life one has work which one must go and do. Must one stop doing it so that one can practice constantly?
A:
    If the Citta knows its own developing and deteriorating it then raises itself up, but if it does not understand this then the Citta is deluded about oneself. Investigation depends upon the Citta and the opportunity. If one has a lot of work to do and meditation (Bhavana) deteriorates, then it brings one down from the results which one should get and therefore we say that the Citta deteriorates. But in truth the Citta does not deteriorate, for it is these characteristics that indicate development or deterioration and these are only the characteristics of the Citta. The Citta itself does not deteriorate.
Q4 M2:
    "Aping or Monkey Practice" — which means seeing someone else doing something and then wanting to act so that one looks as if one is doing the same thing. Then acting in the same way in everything. What should one do to know whether practice is true or not true?
A:
    You yourself will know yourself. This answer is already inherent in your question. We ourselves are the central theme and there is no need to go and seize hold of an artificial shadow.
Q5 M3:
    You said that the Citta constantly accumulates much virtue, then it goes to be born in a better place. I would like to know what is meant by "better."
A:
    The Citta makes Kamma, and the result is in the Citta. Then it sends the Citta off so that it brings about what is appropriate to that result itself. The owner of that Citta does not know about this and does not have anything by which to find out. But there is the Lord Buddha and the Savakas, who, it appears, are able to know.

    Therefore there is a general delusion throughout the world in regard to what people have got in themselves, and they are the same everywhere. If we ourselves practice, the Citta will know itself. If the Citta is skilled, mindfulness and wisdom are bound to become more and more subtle and then you will be able to know for yourself without having to ask anyone else. There is nothing that can go beyond the power of mindfulness and wisdom — and because all the Kilesas are afraid of the Dhamma which is mindfulness and wisdom there are no Kilesas of any sort which can go higher than the Dhamma which is mindfulness and wisdom, if one trains oneself to become proficient in them.
Q6 M4:
    Is it difficult for the Citta to return and become a human being, or not?
A:
    You have been born a human being — is this difficult? We ourselves do not know about ourselves because the Citta has no strength. If one has mindfulness then one steadily comes to know. I have previously explained here that the Khandhas just have the nature to break up and the moment when the Khandhas are about to break up, the Citta turns about and becomes powerful. The moment when the Citta is about to part from the Khandhas, whether there is much Dukkha or little, or none at all, will be an indication of whether the Citta has mindfulness or not.

    Those who practice generally know that Citta differ, for there is nothing more subtle than the Citta, and one cannot measure it. If the Citta has mindfulness and wisdom then one can follow it. This must depend on the mindfulness and wisdom which people have developed, and whether it is much or little accordingly.

    It is said that at the time when the Lord Buddha was about to enter Parinibbana he entered Jhana Samapatti and went up from the first Jhana until he reached Saññavedayita-nirodha. The Venerable Anuruddha Thera, who was very skilled in the ways of the Citta, set his Citta to follow the Lord Buddha in whichever Jhana the Citta of the Lord Buddha entered. In other words, he went up through the four Rupa Jhanas and then through the four Arupa Jhanas, until he reached Saññavedayitanirodha. He rested there for a moment and then he withdrew back through the Arupa Jhanas and the Rupa Jhanas until he reached the state of Citta of ordinary purity. Then he entered the first Jhana and went through to the fourth Jhana, and then the Lord entered Parinibbana between the Rupa Jhanas and the Arupa Jhanas.[41] From then on it was beyond the ability of anybody to follow and know, because he had gone beyond and was free from every kind of mundane convention (Sammuti).

    While the Lord was entering the various Jhanas the Venerable Anuruddha Thera sent the flow of his Citta to follow the Lord without letting up, and he knew, following the state of the Citta of the Lord Buddha from step to step. When the other Savakas asked him: "Has the Lord entered Parinibbana yet?," he answered "Not yet," and he told them each time the Lord entered and left each Jhana and he was able to tell them what happened step by step until the moment when the Lord entered Parinibbana.

    Why was he able to know, from moment to moment the progress of the Lord Buddha's Citta while he was entering and leaving each Jhana, for this is very different from us who also have minds that receive and know various things up to a certain level? The knowledge and ability of the Citta that has been fully trained is as different from the ordinary Citta as the sky is from the earth. For the Citta which is filled with a heavy burden, as if there were a cesspit loading and weighing it down all the time, can in no way be compared with the Citta which has become fully purified.

    Clever people are therefore likely to believe in those who have knowledge and ability above their own capacity and to accept them as teachers. Like the followers of the Buddha who believed in the Lord as being the world teacher and as their refuge. This differs from stupid people who deludedly think that they are clever, until their cleverness leads them to breakdowns, destruction, and ruin, and even then it is unlikely that they will feel themselves to be in fact what they are. There is a lot of this kind of cleverness in the world of human beings — and it seems to be increasing at a rate beyond one's imagination — until one fears that there will be no world for us to live on.
Wednesday, 19th June 1974 & Thursday, 20th June 1974
Q1 W1:
    The Venerable Paññavaddho said: "One aspect of the Citta will go looking for Dhamma, and another aspect of the heart wants to go the way of the world." What way should we go?
A:
    When the two fight together, if the Citta inclines to and goes the way of the world, the Dhamma loses. The Lord Buddha and the Savakas were not desiccated wood or dead people, for they were people like us. The Lord Buddha gave up his wealth and possessions including his servants and family so that he could go out and become ordained. This showed that he was a warrior who opposed the way of the world until nothing could resist him as if the whole world was shaken by him.

    Who does not love their wife and children? And it is normal to cherish wealth, possessions and servants, but the Lord gave up all this because he saw that his way was better. The Lord Buddha and the Savakas in no small numbers fought and made up their minds to turn towards the way of this Dhamma and to practice and fight with the "world" within the realm of the heart until they won and gained freedom. As for us, we have been defeated by the Kilesas in every becoming and birth. Do we never think that we would like to defeat them? Or are we so afraid to get free from Dukkha that we do not like opposing them?

    To compare the two, what is worse and more cruel than the Kilesas, and what is better at leading people to what is most excellent than Dhamma? Which will one take as best? Good and bad, we know them already from the above comparison. As for the Kilesas, they dwell in our hearts and they are already there. If they were excellent, we should have been excellent long ago, so there is no need to choose — it is a waste of time.
Q2 W2:
    This question arose from my Citta. I cannot make decisions — I am not sure how to do what is best.
A:
    How long have we people lived in this world? And we have probably had problems arising all the time which we must solve. Don't you know how you acted in regard to some of those problems so that you have been able to live up to the present time?
Q3 W2:
    Should one learn from mistakes such as that?
A:
    There are many ways of solving problems. One may give in entirely. If one sees that one should oppose, then oppose. Or if one sees that one should agree, then agree — and if one knows that in a given instance, acting in a particular way one will be able to win, then act in that way if you do not want to be a person who always loses out. But if losing is the way of virtue and winning is Mara, then it is good to lose. Those who are people of Dhamma lost in this way. Convicts like to get the upper hand over other people, and then they have to submit to being put in prison. But is it good to lose out to the Kilesas in this way — like a convict? One should examine this carefully in detail.
Q4 M1:
    If one does Samadhi using the rise and fall of the abdomen (as the object of attention) and pain arises, should one concentrate on the pain or upon the rise and fall of the abdomen?
A:
    If one does it in the usual way, painful feeling will not yet have arisen enough to warrant withdrawing the Citta to examine it. If Dukkha arises strongly then one must withdraw from watching the rise and fall of the abdomen and turn to examine the pain so as to know the truth. If one is busily engaged in holding on to the rise and fall of the abdomen, then one will never know the truth — which is Dukkha. Then the Citta will get bored and withdraw from the work entirely and one will never gain results.

    But if one examines Dukkha and it truly becomes so strong that one cannot stand it, when it is incredibly strong then one must give way a little. But the important point here is that the Citta is not willing to give way entirely and withdraw. One needs to understand this for if the Citta sticks at it, it can quell the Dukkha. Because the Citta examines and divides up the Dukkha to find out whether it is Dukkha of the body or of the Citta. If the Citta is skilled in wisdom one will probably be fully cognizant and able to extract feeling (Vedana). Then something wonderful such as one has never before experienced will happen at this time — and one will never forget it.
Q5 M1:
    That "examining" — how does one do it?
A:
    Examining means to analyze the nature of Dukkha, dissecting and looking at it thus: In which spot is Dukkha most prominent? then we understand that that is Dukkha. One then examines precisely in that place saying "Where exactly is the pain — in the bones? Or muscles? Or skin?" The Citta must point to where Dukkha is strongest. If one knows that the Dukkha is in the bone, then one should examine further thus: "If one should die they would take this bone and cremate it. But why should the bone not be painful then?" When one has examined this fully one will see that the same thing applies to every part of the body. In other words each is true in its own way according to its nature. But in contrast to this, it is the Citta that grasps Dukkha and takes it as being Self — and Self as Dukkha! One will then know a method of quelling the Dukkha which accords with the level of one's mindfulness and wisdom and of gaining knowledge of a type which is wonderful. This which I have spoken about is for all those who practice the way, to take up and practice whenever the necessity arises, such as when one has sat in meditation for a long time, or whenever one has pain or fever which gives much Dukkha.
Q6 W1:
    If the pain is in the Citta, can one use this method to examine it? And will it get rid of it?
A:
    Yes, one can use it. Dukkha in the heart means being sorry, regretful, worried, or perturbed in various ways. If one examines this the Dukkha disappears in the same way. But the way of examining to get rid of this Dukkha in the heart must depend upon the character of the person as to what is suitable. If it is a person, who is not resolute and bold another method must be used. The Citta must look at and examine itself. It must turn itself round and go in and search for a way to quell the Dukkha which suits the character of one's Citta. Otherwise it will conflict with one's character and one will not get the results that one should get.
Q7 W2:
    If we take the example of the Lord Buddha and leave home for good, it will be difficult for wife and children. For people such as us, we are uncertain whether it will be good or not.
A:
    When one is still not sure of anything one should not get rid of it. Buddhism does not order or force people, saying that everybody must dispose of everything completely like the Lord Buddha. But we should accept that we are not able to do this like the Lord Buddha and we should imitate (the Lord) in ways that we see as being suitable for us who are followers of a teacher. But we should be watchful, for if we are heedless we may think that we are his followers yet that we cannot do things like he can, but we may do things according to the dictates of the Kilesas and forget to think of the virtues of the teacher — the Sasada (the world teacher, the Buddha) — who taught that people should have diligence and energy so as to be able to follow the teacher. Therefore we should keep this in mind and reflect on it so as not to forget ourselves and allow the Kilesas to laugh at us.
Q8 W2:
    I would like to leave my family to go and practice Dhamma but I am afraid the children would be very sorry.
A:
    One cannot go yet, but nobody has come to penalise us. We are like fruit which when it is still not ripe must remain attached to the tree — until the time comes when it is fully mature. Then it becomes ripe by itself and once this happens it can fall from the tree at any time.

    We must still wait until we are ready and able to dispose of everything and not imitate the ways of others when we are not yet ready. But we should also not think only about whether other people are going to be sorry, for we ought to consider the disadvantages that are inherently there for ourselves. Then we will not be careless due to other people being the sole cause.
Q9 W2:
    If we break up our relationships or the attachments (Upadana) to others, is it likely that we would still be able to live at home with them?
A:
    Tan Acharn did not answer but explained to two Thai followers and the two western monks that: "If I say it is alright it would be like opening a way to let one who has left home return again. In the end they would not be able to get free from their attachments (Upadana).

    The truth is that the Lord Buddha and the arahants had already got rid of attachments in the Khandhas, but they still relied on the Khandhas everyday until Nibbana. There is no indication that they broke away from the Khandhas and went to stay anywhere else."
Q10 W2:
    I have read "Forest Dhamma" and felt that Tan Acharn was a strict person. But now I have met Tan Acharn and seen that he can laugh and tell a joke and smile.
A:
    This shows that that book was not written by this person, is that so? Or otherwise, maybe you think that someone else wrote it, or that I wrote it myself but that I wrote it when I was feeling strict.

    (The others present indicated that they agreed with the questioner's observation).
Q11 W2:
    When will you hold another meeting?
A:
    On Friday evening, 21st June. On the 22nd June we must say farewell and return in the morning. When I return (to Thailand) I will think of my brothers and sisters in London.

    I am a person living in the world, the world is angry so I can be angry, the world laughs so I can laugh. We are not brick Bhikkhus or cement Bhikkhus. Here in London the weather is cold and it is getting colder. When I have gone I will think of my brothers and sisters in London but I am not sure whether I shall be able to come again, nor when. But some of my brothers and sisters in London may be able to go and visit me in Thailand. My brothers and sisters in Thailand are anxious for Tan Acharn, and I am anxious for them. This is because being associated with each other in Buddhism, one is bound to be concerned for each other always in regard to Sukha and Dukkha, which is found in people throughout the world, which is something that I can help to reduce or remove with whatever strength I have.
Thursday, 20th June, 1974
Q1 Mr. Dyas:
    I had a letter from Ven. Paññavaddho so I knew that Ven. Acariya was coming to London. I would like to ask about methods of developing mindfulness at times other than when one is sitting in Samadhi — such as, when one is doing work. Can one do this?
A:
    How should a business man train himself in mindfulness? What must he keep in mind (reflect on)? He must have mindfulness and clear awareness (Sati Sampajañña) and know of himself, what he is doing and why continually without forgetting himself. This is how a business man can develop mindfulness. Someone who develops meditation (Bhavana) should be able to do it in the various aspects of his business that he must be involved in, because mindfulness and wisdom dwell in the heart which is "the owner" of its work, in which it should be able to involve mindfulness and wisdom every time — or be able to use them much more than business men do generally. Then there is nothing to stop him maintaining mindfulness in every aspect of his work.
Q2 Mrs. Wint:
    I understand that the meditation practice of repeating "Buddho" should only be used when sitting in meditation. Can one use it at other times or not?
A:
    When you do your work do you have to use the Citta to think of other things elsewhere or not? If one meditates "Buddho" but the Citta goes away thinking about other things it is no use even when one is sitting doing meditation. Therefore in doing meditation of whatever kind, if mindfulness is present with the heart and one can keep the meditation in mind the whole time, one will be able to use it any time and there is no prohibition for someone who is interested in training themselves.
Q3 Mrs. Cherry:
    I feel that my heart is like a monkey jumping from one branch to another. What should I do in this case?
A:
    Use the method of meditation of "the monkey catching the monkey." In other words, try to get the Citta to think of the meditation word. Mindfulness, the means by which one keeps it in mind and knows it, is quicker than the monkey. Therefore, one can get mindfulness to catch the Citta which certainly is like a monkey.
Q4 Mrs. Wint:
    There is a woman who wants to make an appointment to come and see tan Acharn so as to seek help in overcoming a problem concerning her Citta. Before she came to Buddhism she went to some Indians and had faith in various Devas. Now she feels that the Indian Devas still get into her and make her afraid. She used to be a well-known piano player, but she has stopped work now.
A:
    This is the story of the Citta deceiving its own owner. The owner thinks in a certain way that deceives the owner, and then she believes that the Devas of India come to deceive her even though it is she who is deceiving herself.

    There is a story of a Kammatthana Bhikkhu who was newly ordained and was afraid of ghosts. His teacher took him to stay in a cremation ground[43] and told him to sit here and the teacher said he would go and sit over there, some distance away. His teacher also told him to sit and close his eyes and meditate until he came to call him, and then he should gently come out of meditation. The teacher then went to sit a little way off, stayed for a short while and then got up and returned to the Wat.

    As for the newly ordained Bhikkhu, he sat with his back to where the Teacher sat and did his meditation practice without any thought of fear because he thought that the Teacher was sitting watching out for the ghosts. After a long time, a little apprehensive thought about ghosts arose. Then he slowly got up and walked to find the place where the Teacher said he would be sitting. When he got there and did not see the Teacher, fear arose and he ran to the Wat. The Teacher then said to him: "I have not yet called you, so why have you come here?" Then he spoke sternly to him: "This shows that when you thought the teacher was there with you, you were not afraid, but as soon as you did not see the Teacher where you thought he was, fear of ghosts arose stronger and stronger until you had to run to the Wat without waiting for me to come and get you." This indeed, is the nature of the Citta that deceives oneself without there being any need for a ghost to come and deceive one at all.

    Therefore in saying that Indian Devas get into her and make her afraid, it is most likely to be her own Citta that creates its own deception.
Q5 Mr. Pongtit:
    How should one train in Kammatthana so that it is not dangerous?
A:
    If one plants a tree and then frequently moves it from one place to another, it will not grow well. Training in Samadhi, if one changes the method often, it is not likely to give results. One should train oneself to set up the breath as one's object of attention and to be mindful constantly at whatever point the breath is felt. This is not dangerous because the Citta is not going outside to search out and about things to come and deceive and scare oneself. Investigating Dhamma is similar but the Citta must be interested in investigating and one must not let it go off track, or off the path.
Q6 Mrs. Cherry:
    I meditate repeating "Buddho" doing it one way, thus when I breathe in "Bud" and when I breathe out "dho"; is this a good way?
A:
    There is nothing wrong with it and it can bring peace of heart if it suits one's character and one likes it, and it is likely to bring results also, if one has mindfulness. But if one does not have mindfulness to supervise and control it, then whatever type of meditation practice one does it will be the type without mindfulness and the type that does not bring results.
Q7 Mr. Dyas:
    Doing Anapanasati, one must keep watching the breath. But what is it that one looks at? Does one look to see that one has breath as well as the one who sees the breath?
A:
    To begin with one has mindfulness to watch the breath entering and leaving as well as the one who knows the breath. But later on the breath and the Citta will gradually find each other and fuse together. Then even the person who is doing the practice disappears leaving only the one who knows with "knowing" alone without being concerned about anything else.
Thursday Evening, 20th June 1974 & Friday, 21st June 1974
Q1 W1:
    In England there are no good Acariyas living here so what should we do about it?
A:
    If there is no Acariya available one must practice Samadhi on one's own and investigate (examine) so as to keep up with it — and one must do it a lot. If the Citta which has tendencies of wanting to know about external things that happen while doing Samadhi, is released and allowed to go out externally to oneself — in other words going out to know and see various things, one may think that one has gained the "Deva ear" (Clairaudience), the "Deva eye" (Clairvoyance), or whatever else. If one examines this without hurrying to believe immediately that this is true, one will see which is the Citta creating its own fantasy and which is the truth. But the best way is to turn round and examine oneself, and then nothing doubtful or questionable will happen. The important thing in practicing for the proper development of one's Citta in the initial stages of practice is to keep the Citta to oneself and not to let it go out externally, for if one does, various Nimittas[48] may arise to the Citta and one will not be able to follow them and know what they are up to and this can lead one to lose one's footing. But when one has become skilled at practice there are no problems.
Q2 M1:
    If one attains Upacara Samadhi and something happens, how should one correct it?
A:
    One should go and report to one's teacher and let him know all about it. In this instance I do not wish to give any answer because it will not be of any value, so I will pass on to the next question.
Q3 W2:
    In this country there are books about Dukkha, Anicca, and Anatta. When one has learned too much of these things, finally one tends not to understand what is what.
A:
    In learning and knowing things that are much too high, knowledge may reach the level of space, which is possible and then one does not understand what is what, because it is too subtle. Taking note and learning is different from the truth of the thing. We know by means of taking note and learning whereas the Noble Disciples (Ariya Puggala) know by means of truth, and so they can abandon Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta and go free from Dukkha in such a way that they come to the end of attachment as illustrated in the following story: — Once a mother and her child went to catch fish, and both of them were groping in the mud looking for fish when the child unknowingly grasped a snake and raised it up to show his mother. His mother knew the danger but her mindfulness was equal to the situation and she said to the child, "That's a fine fish, keep hold of it tightly and don't let go of it, and I will come and help you." So the child held the neck of the snake tightly and as soon as his mother reached him she hit the snake and killed it. Then she told her child: "That was not a fish but a poisonous snake, but if I had told you before, you may have been afraid and let it go and it would have turned and bitten you, so I had to use this method."

    This story is an allegory for people who practice Dhamma. In other words, if one reads a lot then one will begin to go from Atta to Anatta to not grasping or believing anything until one has no principles to take hold of. One must hold on and use Atta while one is practicing Dhamma in successively higher levels in the same way as one takes hold of a ladder and goes up step by step. Having passed any one step one does not hold on to that rung and try to carry it with one. Thus one goes up until one reaches the room at the top where one wants to go. Then one leaves the ladder behind without trying to hold on to it. So one goes into the room and rests and relaxes happily. This is the way with Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta, for finally one discards them, but one cannot discard them before this because one must depend on them to go up step by step, discarding each previous step until one is able to discard the lot, holding nothing.
Friday, 21st June 1974 In the morning
Q1 W1:
    At 4.00 a.m. this morning I was at home and heard the sound of Tan Acharn talking but I did not know what was said. I got up and had a look round but did not see anyone. Later I thought of questioning him, then I sat looking in my mirror but did not see myself and I received a feeling as if Tan Acharn answered me that, "You should not think about this, then things will be right by themselves." Then when I was sitting in the train I thought of a question that I wanted to ask and just now K.Y. Sermsri translated the words of Tan Acharn for me to hear — I feel that Tan Acharn has answered me very fast. (She burst into tears.)
A:
    Tears come when various things happen such as when smoke gets in one's eyes, when one is very happy or very sad, but the important thing is the intention.
Q2 W1:
    Last evening to begin with Tan Acharn gave a talk putting his heart into it and I felt the earnestness of it very much and I was very glad that I had learned something important and I determined to accept the practice. After that Tan Acharn told some funny stories to reduce the tension and I gradually felt less tense. Then I felt that Tan Acharn was telling those funny stories to warn me and finally I felt happy that Tan Acharn was interested and was carefully helping my Citta.
A:
    (Tan Acharn remained silent and made no comment. But he said to K.Y. Sermari afterwards that he had in fact intended to do as the questioner said.)
Q3 W2:
    I have done Anapanasati knowing the outgoing breath and knowing the incoming breath and I have found that my Citta cannot get calm. It feels as if it was about to enter a door but it does not enter.
A:
    If you follow the breath going in and out, this is the kind of result that is produced. One should "define" the breath at that point where it is felt most clearly and at one place one should feel that the breath is entering or leaving, passing by that one point. If you do it in this way you will not feel as if you are going in and out of a door as you said.
Q4 W3:
    My Citta is the same as that of the first questioner in that I am anxious and concerned for other people. It is difficult to take hold of my Citta and make it stay in one place so as to get calm. How should I correct it?
A:
    When the Citta goes out to other places and when the owner knows that this is the case, it stops. Then the Citta is set up anew once again to do the practice. As soon as it goes out again one knows and it stops and one calls it back in to do the work that one has set it to do. Make it return often and it will tend to remain and one can attain calm.
Friday Evening, 21st June 1974
Q1 M1:
    If one trains and practices Dhamma and then one knows that one has Dukkha continually going on and on, what result will one get?
A:
    Usually one sees Dukkha in those things where one finds great difficulties. As to one's satisfactions, these are seen to be Sukha. As soon as there is some change away from one's satisfactions, one sees that as Dukkha, and one does not have the wisdom to cure that Dukkha. Finally, one lies down submerged with no interest in searching for the way out because one considers that trying to search for the way out from Dukkha is difficult. Therefore one must submit to Dukkha being one's friend all the time.

    The training and practice of Dhamma so as to know Dukkha as it truly consists in using meditation and wisdom to examine how to train the Citta to draw out the Kilesas until one finds the taste of happiness in the Citta. This is bound to help one find true and genuine happiness and to get a basic principle to hold firmly in the heart no matter what the circumstances are.
Q2 W1:
    When one meditates using "Buddho" is it necessary to sit doing meditation?
A:
    One can do it in all positions. The Lord Buddha did not teach people so that they should get into a tight fix in fighting with everything evil, but he taught people to have skill (cleverness) so as to win constantly. We therefore should think and search for the way to be clever and to be the victor, following the Lord. The Dhamma which has been displayed here is ninety five per cent "Forest Dhamma." I have explained the importance of meditation to help keep the Citta within itself, so do not let the Citta go out externally. For the Citta which has a nature that likes to go out externally, doing the meditation "Buddho" constantly can help a great deal in curing the problem.
Glossary 

    Abyakata, Avyakata: Neutral Kamma. Kamma that is not good (Kusala) or bad (Akusala)
    Acariya, Acharn: Acharn is the Thai derivation of Acariya which means "Teacher."
    Akusala: Bad, unhealthy, wrong or evil in regard to actions (Kamma).
    Anagami: See Ariya.
    Anapanasati: The meditation in which one focuses one's attention and mindfulness on the feeling of the breath going in and out at one point such as the tip of the nose.
    Anatta, Anicca: See Ti-Lakkhana.
    Arammana: The object which is presented to the Citta at any moment. This object is derived from the 5 senses or direct from the mind (memory, thoughts, feeling). It is not the external object (in the world) but that object after having been processed by one's preconceptions and predispositions.
    Ariya: One who has gained the Path (Magga) leading to Nibbana. This includes the Sotapanna, the Sakadagami, the Anagami, and arahant. Each stage involves the elimination of some major defilements (Samyojana) until the arahant eliminates them all.
    Ayatana: Spheres of sensation. They include the internal Ayatana — eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and heart — and the external Ayatana — the spheres of sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and mind.
    Bhavana: The practice of training one's Citta by developing the various aspects of meditation.
    Bhavanga: That underlying stream of continuity which the Citta drops to when it goes completely calm and still. It may be called the underlying basis of the "Self" concept and it is that which leads to future births.
    Bhumi: The ground or basic foundation of the Citta. Thus Arahatta Bhumi is the basic state of the arahant's Citta.
    Cankama: Walking back and forth, usually as a mode of meditation practice.
    Citta: Mind, heart, consciousness (in some senses). It is that basis in a person which is "central" whereas everything else including all five Khandhas are peripheral.
    Dhamma: The ultimate meaning of Dhamma is not definable in words but it lies in the direction of "Truth" or "Reality." The more usual meaning is that of the Buddha Dhamma or Sasana Dhamma which is that teaching which leads to the ultimate Dhamma.
    Dhatu: The four elements of earth, water, fire, and air.
    Dukkha: Discontent, suffering, pain, anxiety, anguish, etc.
    Jhana: Various levels of Samadhi which some people can attain. They include the 4 Rupa (Form) Jhanas and the 4 Arupa (Formless) Jhanas.
    Kammatthana: (Kamma - action, thana - a basis). That object or subject of meditation which leads one to gain skill in Samadhi and Pañña. Many meditation Bhikkhus in Thailand talk of their way of practice and behavior as being the way of Kammatthana.
    Khandha: Heaps or groups. Technically this always refers to the five Khandhas: body (Rupa Khandha), feeling (Vedana Khandha), memory (Sañña Khandha), thought (Sankhara Khandha), consciousness (Viññana Khandha). These are the five groups that form what we call a person.
    Kilesas: Defilements based on greed, hatred, and delusion. Also including conceit, opinionatedness, uncertainty, torpidity, restlessness, lack of conscience, lack of fear of the consequences of doing wrong and whatever else tends to the production of bad, unwholesome states.
    Kusala: Whatever is healthy (mentally) or good.
    Metta: Friendliness or love (in the more platonic sense).
    Nama: Those four groups that make up the mind. Nama is usually paired with Rupa, the two together being the same thing as the five Khandhas.
    Nibbana: That which is attained when the Kilesas have all been entirely dispersed.
    Niyyanika: "Leading out of." Often descriptive of the Buddha Dhamma as leading out of Samsara.
    Pañña: Wisdom.
    Parikamma: A preparatory meditation, such as repetition of "Buddho" or setting up one's mindfulness on breathing.
    Patisandhi: Re-uniting. Patisandhi Viññana is that form of consciousness which is similar to Bhavanga Citta, but which occurs at death, thereby leading the Citta to re-unite with the Khandhas in a new birth.
    Rupa: Form. The literal meaning is "shape" or visual form. But it is often used to refer to the physical body — as in Rupa Khandha.
    Sacca Dhamma: Dhamma Truth. Usually refers to the Four Noble Truths: Dukkha, Samudaya (the origin of Dukkha), Nirodha (the ceasing of Dukkha), and Magga (the path leading to the ceasing of Dukkha).
    Sakadagami: See Ariya.
    Samadhi: A state of calm attained by meditation practice. It has many levels depending on the degree of absorption of the Citta with the object of the meditation.
    Samapatti: The attainment of Jhana.
    Samatha: Calm.
    Sammuti: Convention. The mundane world in the sense that it is made up of relative conventions.
    Samsara: The universe of birth and death including all possible realms of life.
    Samudaya: See Sacca Dhamma.
    Sankhara: As Sankhara Khandha it means thoughts or imaginations by putting together sense perceptions, memories, and feelings. The more general sense of the meaning of Sankhara is those parts of factors which make up any object or state.
    Saññavedayitanirodha: - The cessation of Sañña (memory) and Vedana (feeling). This is the ultimate level of subtlety which can be attained by Samadhi, and is one stage beyond the highest Arupa Jhana.
    Sarana: A refuge. The well-known Ti-Sarana (3 refuges) are the Buddha, Dhamma, and Sangha.
    Sati: Mindfulness.
    Savaka: Literally "hearer." One who heard the Dhamma from the Buddha.
    Savaka arahant: Those Savakas who attained arahantship at the time of the Lord Buddha.
    Sila: Moral behavior.
    Sotapanna: Stream attainer. See Ariya.
    Sukha: Pleasure or happiness, contrasted with Dukkha.
    Svakkhata: Svakkhata Dhamma, the well-taught Dhamma.
    Tan: This is a Thai word meaning Venerable. Thus: Tan Acharn; Ven. Acariya.
    Tathagata: The "Thus-gone," meaning the Buddha.
    Ti-Lakkhana: The three marks of all phenomena: anicca (non-permanence), Dukkha (unsatisfactoriness), and Anatta (not-self).
    Upadana: Grasping, attachment.
    Vimutti: Freedom (antonym of Sammuti).
    Viññana: Consciousness.
    Vipaka: The result or fruition of Kamma.
    Vipassana: Insight wisdom. Synonymous with Pañña.

Of movement and stillness, be aware of their origin;

There is no work to do, much less someone to seek.

The true and constant must respond to phenomena;

Responding to phenomena, you must be unconfused.

When unconfused, the nature will stabilize by itself;

When the nature stabilizes, energy returns by itself.

When energy returns, the elixir crystallizes by itself;

Within the pot, the trigrams of heaven and earth are joined.

Yīn and yáng arise, alternating over and over again;

Every transformation comes like a clap of thunder.

White clouds form and come to assemble at the peak;

The sweet nectar sprinkles down Mount Sumeru.

Swallow for yourself this wine of immortality;

You wander so freely—who is able to know you?

Sit and listen to the tune played without strings;

Clearly understand the mechanism of creation.

It comes entirely from these twenty lines;

A true ladder going straight to Heaven.-Daoist text -

To us all towns are one, all men our kin. Life's good comes not from others' gift, nor ill. Man's pains and pains' relief are from within. Thus have we seen in visions of the wise !." - Tamil Poem-