Handbook for mankind
by Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
EMANCIPATION FROM THE WORLD
Vipassana meditation is mental training aimed at raising the mind
to such a level that it is no longer subject to suffering. The mind
breaks free from suffering by virtue of the clear knowledge that
nothing is worth grasping at or clinging to. This knowledge deprives
worldly things of their ability to lead the mind into further thoughtless
liking or disliking. Having this knowledge, the mind transcends
the worldly condition and attains the level known as the Supramundane
Plane (Lokuttara-bhumi).
In order to comprehend clearly the supramundane plane, we have
to know first about its opposite, the mundane plane (Lokiyabhumi).
The mundane plane comprises those levels at which the things of
the world have control over the mind. Very briefly, three levels
are recognized in the mundane plane, namely: the sensual level (Kamavacara-bhumi),
or the level of a mind still content with pleasures of every kind;
the level of forms (Rupavacara-bhumi), the condition of a mind uninterested
in sensual objects, but finding satisfaction in the various stages
of concentration on forms as objects; and lastly the formless level
(Arupavacara-bhumi), the yet higher level of a mind finding satisfaction
in the bliss and peace of concentration on objects other than forms.
These three levels in the worldly plane are the mental levels of
beings in general. Regardless of whether we presume to call them
human beings, celestial beings, gods, beasts, or denizens of hell,
they are all included within the three worldly levels. The mind
of a worldling can at any particular time exist in any one of these
three. It is not impossible. It is quite normal. As a rule, though,
it will tend to fall back naturally to the unconcentrated sensual
level; the human mind normally falls under the influence of the
delightful in colors and shapes, sounds, odors, tastes and tactile
objects. Only on certain occasions is it able to escape from the
influence of these seductive things and experience the tranquillity
and bliss which comes from practicing concentration on forms or
other objects. It all depends on concentration. At certain times,
then, a person's mind may be located in any of these levels of concentration.
In India at the time of the Buddha this must have been fairly common,
because people who had gone in search of the tranquillity and bliss
associated with the various levels of concentration were to be found
living in forests all over the country. At the present time such
people are few, but it is nevertheless possible for the ordinary
man to attain these levels. If someone in this world is in the process
of experiencing the bliss of full concentration on a form, then
for him "the world" consists of just that form, because
he is aware of nothing else. At that time and for that person, "the
world" is equivalent to just that one form, and it remains
so until such time as his mental condition changes.
Even though a person dwelling in any of these three levels may
have gained such bliss and calm tranquillity that he has come to
resemble a rock, a lump of earth, or a log of wood, yet grasping
and clinging to selfhood are still present. Also present are various
kinds of desire, albeit of the finest and most tenuous sort, such
as dissatisfaction with the state in which he finds himself, which
prompts him to go in search of a new state. That desire for change
constitutes karma, so such a person has not yet transcended the
worldly state. He is not yet in the supramundane plane. A mind dwelling
in the supramundane plane has transcended the world. It views the
worldly state as devoid of essence, self, or substance, and will
have nothing of it. Dwellers in this supramundane plane can be further
classified into grades. There are four levels of Path and Fruit,
namely the levels of the Stream - enterer (Sotapanna), the Once
- returner(Skidagami), the Never - returner (Anagami), and the completely
Perfected individual or Arahant. The condition of these four kinds
of noble individuals or Aryians is the supramundane condition. "Supramundane"
means "above the world," and refers to the mind, not the
body. The body can be anywhere at all as long as living conditions
are adequate. "Supramundane" simply describes a mind dwelling
above the world. As for the nether worlds such as hell, purgatory,
or the places of suffering, torment and bondage, these are out of
the question for the Aryians.
The criteria for recognizing these four levels in the supramundane
plane are the various mental impurities which are in the course
of being eliminated. The Buddha divided the impurities in this group
into ten kinds. He called them the Fetters (Samyojana). These ten
fetters bind man and all beings to the world, keeping people in
the mundane plane. If a person starts to cut through these fetters
and break loose, his mind gradually and progressively becomes freed
from the worldly condition; and when he manages to cut through them
completely, his mind becomes completely free, transcends the world
for good and comes to dwell permanently in the supramundane plane.
Of these ten kinds of subtle mental impurities that bind us, the
first is the Self belief (Sakkaya-ditthi), the view that the body
and mind is "my self." It is a misunderstanding or misconception
based on clinging to the idea "I am." Because the average
person is not aware of the true nature of the body and the mind,
he unthinkingly regards these two as his "self." He assumes
that body and mind is his "self," his "I." This
instinctive idea that there is an "I" and a "mine"
is so firmly ingrained that normally nobody ever doubts their existence.
True, the self instinct is what makes life possible, being the basis
of self preservation, the search for food and propagation of the
species, but in this case, what we are calling the self belief is
to be taken only in its most basic sense as the root cause of selfishness.
This is considered to be the first of the fetters, to be done away
with before anything else.
The second fetter is Doubt (Vicikiccha), the cause of wavering
and uncertainty. Most importantly it is doubt concerning the practice
leading to liberation from suffering-doubt due to inadequate knowledge,
doubt as to what this subject is really all about, doubt as to whether
this practice for breaking free from suffering is really the right
thing for one, whether one is really capable of carrying it through,
whether it is really better than other things, whether or not it
really does any good, whether the Buddha really did attain enlightenment,
whether he really did achieve liberation from suffering, whether
the Buddha's teaching and the practical method based on his teaching
really do lead to liberation from suffering, whether it is really
possible for a bhikkhu in the Sangha to attain liberation from suffering.
The root cause of hesitancy is ignorance. A fish that has always
lived in the water, if told about life on dry land, would be sure
to believe none of it, or at most only half of it. We, immersed
as we are in sensuality, are as habituated to sensuality as is the
fish to water, so that when someone speaks of transcending sensuality,
transcending the world, we can't under stand. And that which we
can understand to some extent we are hesitant about. It is natural
for us to think on this lower level; to think on the high level
produces a new picture. The conflict between the high level thinking
and the low level thinking is what constitutes wavering. If mental
energy is insufficient, the low level thinking will triumph. Doubt
and wavering with regard to goodness is something chronically present
in everyone right from birth. In a person who has been brought up
wrongly, it may be a very common complaint. We have to introspect
and note the bad consequences of this wavering, which is present
to such an extent in our work and our everyday living that we become
skeptical about goodness, truth and liberation from suffering.
The third fetter is Superstition (Silabbatapraramasa) or attachment
to rules and rituals based on a misunderstanding
of their real purpose. Essentially it is a misguided attachment
to certain things one does. Usually it has to do with doctrines
and ceremonies. An example of this is belief in magic and magical
practices, which is blatantly just superstition and occurs even
among Buddhists. Practice based on the belief that it will produce
magical abilities, psychic powers and protective forces is founded
on false hopes and is irrational. Another example is the undertaking
of moral precepts (Five Precepts, etc.) or virtuous conduct. The
real purpose of this is to eliminate mental defilements; but if
we believe that it will give rise to miraculous powers which we
shall then be able to use to eradicate the defilements, we are in
fact grasping and clinging, and so defeating our original purpose.
The practice is quite correct in itself, but if we misunderstand
it and cling to it irrationally, regarding it as something magical
or sacred, then it becomes pure superstition. Even taking upon oneself
the moral precepts, if done in the belief that it will lead to rebirth
as a celestial being, is without a doubt an example of attachment
to rules and rituals and goes contrary to Buddhist aims. Such beliefs
contaminate otherwise virtuous conduct. The objective of the Buddhist
discipline is the elimination of the cruder defilements of body
and speech as a foundation for the progressive development of concentration
and insight. The objective is not rebirth in heaven. To have such
false motives is to soil and contaminate one's own morals with grasping
and clinging, with false ideas. Charity, or adherence to moral precepts,
or meditation practice, if carried out with a mistaken idea of their
true objective. inevitably will stray from the Buddhist path. Do
understand that even Buddhist practice associated with misunderstanding
because craving has come in and taken over, bringing the expectation
of mystical powers, becomes superstition instead. This applies to
even the very small and trivial things that most of us like to indulge
in, such as ritual chanting, merit making and the like. The ceremony
of placing rice and trays of sweets before the Buddha's image, if
performed in the belief that it is an offering to the Buddha's "spirit"
and that he will be able to partake of it, is 100 percent certain
to produce effects precisely the opposite of what the devotee is
hoping for. Behavior that defeats its own true purpose is generally
quite common in Buddhist circles. It is foolish and irrational and
results in practices originally worthwhile and attractive becoming
contaminated with the stupidity and ignorance of the people performing
them. This is what is meant by superstition. As we can see, this
defilement has its origins in delusion and misunderstanding. Most
of us have our own ingrown beliefs in mystical powers as a result
of having been misinformed and led astray by others. We need not
go into any more detail here; but though it may be rather disturbing,
everyone ought to do some critical self-examination along these
lines.
When these first three defilements, namely self belief, doubt and
superstition, have been completely given up, one is said to have
attained the lowest level in the supramundane plane, that is, to
have become a Stream enterer. To give up completely these three
defilements is not difficult at all, because they are just primitive
qualities possessed by primitive, under-developed people. In anyone
who has studied well and made progress, these three elements should
not be present; and if they are, then that person's mind should
be considered still primitive. Anyone ought to be able to give up
these three defilements and become an Aryian. If he can't he is
still a foolish and deluded person, or, to use the best term, a
worldling (Puthujjana), someone with a thick blindfold covering
the eye of insight . When any individual has managed to give up
these defilements, his mind is freed from bondage to the world.
These three are ignorance and delusion obscuring the truth and are
fetters binding the mind to the world. Giving them up is like rendering
ineffective three kinds of bondage or three blind folds, then slipping
free and rising above and beyond the world, into the first supramundane
level. This is what it is to become an Aryian of the first degree,
to attain the first level in the supramundane plane. Such an individual
is called a "Stream - enterer," one who has attained for
the first time the Stream that flows on to Nirvana. In other words
an individual at this stage is certain to attain Nirvana at some
time in the future. What he has attained is only the Stream of Nirvana,
not Nirvana itself. This Stream is a course that flows right on
to Nirvana, inclining towards Nirvana just as the water-course of
a river slopes down towards the sea. Though it may still take some
time, a mind which has once entered the Stream is certain to achieve
Nirvana eventually. Attaining the second level in the supramundane
plane implies giving up the three fetters just mentioned, and further,
being able to attenuate certain types of craving, aversion and delusion
to such a degree that the mind becomes elevated and only very feebly
attached to sensuality. It is traditionally held that an individual
who achieves this level will return to this world at most only once
more, hence he is known as a "Once - returner." A Once
- returner is closer to Nirvana than a Stream - enterer, there remaining
in him no more than a trace of worldliness. Should he return to
the sensual human world, he will do so not more than once, because
craving, aversion and delusion, though not completely eliminated,
have become exceedingly attenuated.
The third stage is that of the Never - returner. This grade of
Aryian, besides having succeeded in giving up the defilements to
the extent necessary for becoming a Once - returner, has also managed
to give up the fourth and fifth fetters. The Fourth fetter is sensual
desire and the fifth is ill will. Neither the Stream - enterer nor
the Once - returner has completely given up sensual desire. In both
of them there is still a remnant of satisfaction in alluring and
desirable objects. Even though they have managed to give up self
belief, doubt and superstition, they are still unable to relinquish
completely their attachment to sensuality of which some traces remain.
But an Aryian at the third stage, a Never - returner, has succeeded
in giving it up completely, so that not a trace remains. The defilement
called ill will, which includes all feelings of anger or resentment,
has been washed out to a large extent by the Once - returner so
that there remains only a trace of ill humor to obstruct his mind;
but the Never - returner has got rid of it altogether. Thus the
Never - returner has thrown off both sensual desire and ill will.
This sensual desire or attachment to and satisfaction in sensuality
was explained adequately in the section on sensual attachment. It
is a chronic defilement, firmly fixed in the mind as if it were
a very part of it, of the same substance. For the ordinary man,
it is hard to understand and hard to eradicate. Anything at all
can serve as an object for desire: colors and shapes, sounds, odors,
tastes and tactile objects of any sort, kind and description. These
are sensual objects (Kama), and the state of mental attachment which
takes the form of satisfaction in these desirable objects is sensual
desire (Kama - raga). What we call ill will is the reaction of a
mind that feels dissatisfaction. If there is satisfaction, there
is sensual desire; if dissatisfaction, ill will. Most people's minds
are subject to these two states. There may arise ill will towards
even inanimate objects, and what is more, one can even be dissatisfied
with the things one has produced oneself, the things that arise
in one's own mind. Where there is actual hatred and anger towards
an object, ill will has become too fierce. An Aryian at a stage
below the Non - returnee has given it up to a degree appropriate
to his station. The ill will that remains for the third grade of
Aryian to relinquish is just a mental reaction so subtle that possibly
no outward evidence of it appears. It is an inner perturbation not
revealed by any facial expression, yet present inwardly as dissatisfaction,
as irritation or annoyance at some person or thing that does not
conform to expectation. Imagine a person completely devoid of every
form of ill will: consider what a very exceptional individual he
would be, and how worthy of respect. The five defilements we have
just been discussing were grouped together by the Buddha as the
first to be given up. Self belief, doubt, superstition, sensual
desire and ill will have all been given up by an Aryian at the third
level. Because there remains no sensual desire, this grade of Aryian
never again returns to the sensual state of existence. This is why
he gets the name "Never - returner," one who will never
come back. For him there is only movement forward and upward to
Arahantship and Nirvana, in a state having nothing to do with sensuality,
a supreme, divine condition. As for the five remaining defilements,
these only the Arahant, the fourth grade of Aryian, succeeds in
relinquishing completely.
The next defilement, the sixth of the fetters, is desire for the
bliss associated with the various stages of concentration on forms
(rupa - raga). The first three grades of Aryian are still not capable
of giving up attachment to the bliss and tranquillity obtainable
by concentrating deeply on forms, but they will succeed in doing
so when they move up to the last stage, that of the Arahant. The
fully concentrated state has a captivating flavor, which can be
described as a foretaste of Nirvana. Though it differs from real
Nirvana, it has more or less the same flavor. While one is fully
concentrated, the defilements are dormant; but they have not evaporated
away entirely, and will reappear as soon as concentration is lost.
As long as they are dormant, however, the mind is empty, clear,
free, and knows the flavor of real Nirvana. Consequently this state
can also become a cause of attachment.
The seventh subtle defilement is desire for the bliss associated
with full concentration on objects other than forms (arupa - raga).
It resembles the sixth fetter, but is one degree more subtle and
attenuated. Concentration on an object such as space or emptiness
yields a tranquillity and quiescence more profound than concentration
on a form, with the result that one becomes attached to that state.
No Arahant could ever become fascinated by any state of pleasant
feeling whatsoever, regardless of where it originated, because an
Arahant is automatically aware of the impermanence, unsatisfactoriness
and nonselfhood of every state of feeling. Other hermits and mystics
practicing concentration in the forest do not perceive the hidden
danger in these blissful states and so become fascinated by and
attached to the flavor of them just as immature people become attached
to the flavor of sensual objects. For this reason the Buddha used
the same word "desire" for both cases. If you think this
subject over and really come to understand it, you will be full
of admiration and respect for these individuals called Aryians.
The eighth fetter binding a man to the world is awareness of superiority
or inferiority (mana). It is the delusion of having this or that
status relative to another. It consists in the thought: "I
am not as good as he is. I am just as good as he is. I am better
or higher than he is." Thinking "I am not as good as...,"
one feels inferior; thinking "I am better than...," one
feels puffed up; and thinking "I am just as good as...,"
one thinks along competitive lines or in terms of getting ahead
of the other fellow. It is not pride or conceit. Not to think automatically
of oneself as better or worse than the other fellow in this fashion
is bound to be very difficult. The placing of this defilement as
number eight is probably meant to indicate that it is hard to give
up and so belongs near the end of the list. Only the highest grade
of Aryian can relinquish it. The likes of us naturally can't give
it up. This idea that one is better than, or on a par with, or not
as good as the other fellow, comes from a certain kind of attachment.
As long as the mind is still involved in good and bad, the awareness
of inferiority, superiority, or equality with respect to others
remains to disturb it; but when it has completely transcended good
and bad, such ideas cannot exist. As long as such ideas do remain,
real bliss and tranquillity are lacking.
The ninth fetter is Agitation (Uddhacca), that is, mental unrest,
distraction, lack of peace and quiet. This is the feeling of agitation
that arises when something interesting comes by. We all have certain
chronic wishes, particularly a desire to get, to be, not to get,
or not to be, one thing or another. When something comes by, via
the eye, ear, nose, tongue, or body, which fits in with one of our
tendencies, there is likely to come about the mental reaction, pro
or con, which we call interest. If we see something new and strange,
wavering and curiosity are bound to arise, because there are still
things that we want and things that we fear and mistrust. So the
mind cannot resist, it has to be interested in the various things
that come by- at least that is how it is with an ordinary person.
If the object in question happens to coincide with a desire of his,
he finds it hard to resist. He is likely to become interested to
the point of becoming involved, pleased to the point of forgetting
himself. If it is an undesirable object, the mind becomes depressed
so that his gratification comes to an end. This is the nature of
Agitation.
The first three grades of Aryian still have curiosity and inquisitiveness
about things, but the Arahant has none at all. His mind has abolished
all desire for anything whatsoever: it has abolished fear and hatred,
worry and anxiety, mistrust and doubt, and all desire to know about
and see things. His mind is free. Nothing can provoke or lure him,
and arouse inquisitiveness or curiosity, simply because he has abolished
partiality. It should be realized that the existence or arising
of agitation in any situation is a consequence of some form of desire,
even including the desire for knowledge. When desire has been done
away with through realizing the impermanence, worthlessness and
nonselfhood of all things, nothing is any longer seen as worth getting
or being, and so there is no curiosity about anything. If a bolt
of lightning were to strike right beside an Arahant, he would not
be interested, because he has no fear of death, or craving for continued
existence, or anything of that sort. Even if something dangerous
came along, or if something brand new were discovered in the world,
he would know no inquisitiveness or curiosity, because such things
have no significance for him. He has no wish to know about anything
from the point of view of what it may have to offer him. Because
there is nothing that he longs for, he has no curiosity of any kind,
and his mind has a purity, a tranquillity such as we ordinary folk
have never attained.
The tenth and last defilement is Ignorance. This covers every kind
of defilement not yet mentioned. The word "ignorance"
refers to a condition of lack of knowledge, and in this case "knowledge"
means real knowledge, correct knowledge. Naturally no creature can
exist without having some knowledge, but if that knowledge is false,
it has the same value as no knowledge. Most people suffer from chronic
ignorance or false knowledge; most of us are benighted. The most
important questions for human beings are those that ask: "What
is suffering, really?," "What is the real cause of the
arising of suffering?," "What is real freedom from suffering?"
and "What is the real way to attain freedom from suffering?"
If some individual has real knowledge, if he is free of ignorance,
he is reckoned as enlightened. The totality of human knowledge is
of untold extent, but the Buddha classed most of it as not essential.
The Buddha's enlightenment encompassed only what need be known.
The Buddha knew all that need be known. The word "omniscient"
or "all - knowing" means knowing just as much as need
be known: it does not include anything non-essential.
Ignorance causes people to misidentify suffering as pleasure, to
such an extent that they just swim around in circles in a sea of
suffering. It also causes them to misidentify the cause of suffering,
so that they go blaming the wrong things, spirits, celestial beings,
or anything at all as the cause of their pain and misfortune, instead
of rectifying the situation by the right means. The making of vows
to these spirits and celestial beings is a manifestation of the
lowest level of ignorance regarding the complete elimination of
suffering by means of eliminating the craving which is its direct
cause. The mistaken assumption that the bliss and tranquillity or
unawareness brought about by deep concentration is the complete
extinction of suffering was common in the Buddha's time, and is
still promoted in the present day. Certain schools of thought have
even come to regard sensuality as an instrument for extinguishing
suffering, so that sects with shameful, obscene practices have arisen
right in the temples. They firmly believe that sensuality is something
quite essential, a kind of vital nourishment. Not content with just
the four necessities of life, namely food, clothing, shelter and
medicine, they add an extra one, sensuality, making five necessities.
A person ignorant about the Path that leads to the extinction of
suffering is liable to act foolishly and be motivated by his own
desires, for instance naively relying on physical things, or on
spirits and celestial beings, just as if he had no religion at all.
Such a person, though he may be a Buddhist by birth, is able to
go to such foolish lengths simply because the power of ignorance
prevents his being content with extinguishing suffering by way of
the Noble Eightfold Path. Instead he goes about extinguishing suffering
by lighting incense and candles, and making pledges to supposedly
supernatural things.
Every normal person wishes to gain knowledge; but if the "knowledge"
he gains is false, then the more he "knows,"' the more
deluded he becomes. Thus more kinds of knowledge can blind the eyes.
We have to be careful with this word "enlightenment."
The "Light" may be the glare of ignorance, which blinds
and deludes the eye and gives rise to overconfidence. Blinded by
the glare of ignorance, we are unable to think straight and so are
in no position to defeat suffering. We waste our time with trivialities,
nonessential things unworthy of our respect. We become infatuated
with sensuality, taking it to be something excellent and essential
for human beings, something which every man ought to get his share
of before he dies, and making the excuse that we are doing it for
the sake of some quite different ideal. The hope for rebirth in
heaven is founded on sensuality. Attachment to anything whatsoever,
particularly sensuality comes about because ignorance has enveloped
the mind cutting off all means of escape. At several places in the
Texts, ignorance is compared to a thick shell covering the whole
world and preventing people from seeing the real light.
The Buddha placed ignorance last in the list of the ten fetters.
When a person becomes an Arahant, the highest grade of Aryian, he
completely eliminates the five remaining fetters or defilements.
He eliminates desire for forms, desire for objects other than forms,
status consciousness, agitation and ignorance. The four kinds of
Aryian, Stream - enterer, Once - returner, Never - returner and
Arahant, dwell in the Supra mundane plane. The Supramundane can
be recognized as having nine aspects. The condition of the Stream
- enterer while he is in the process of cutting out the defilements
is called the Path of Stream entry, and that when he has succeeded
in cutting them out is called the Fruit of Stream entry. Likewise
there are the following pairs: Path and Fruit of Once returning,
Path and Fruit of Never returning and Path and Fruit of Arahantship,
in all four pairs. These together with Nirvana make up the nine
aspects of the Supramundane. For an individual in the supramundane
plane, suffering is diminished in accordance with his status until
ultimately he is completely free of it. When a person once succeeds
in attaining unobscured and perfect insight into the true nature
of things so that he is able to stop desiring anything whatsoever,
he has attained the supramundane plane, his mind has transcended
the worldly condition. And when he has completely and utterly relinquished
all the mental defilements, his mind is rendered permanently free
of all those worldly things which formerly it liked and disliked.
Nirvana is a condition not in any way comparable to any other.
It is unlike any worldly condition. In fact, it is the very negation
of the worldly condition. Given all the characteristics of the worldly
condition, of phenomenal existence, the result of completely canceling
out all those characteristics is Nirvana. That is to say, Nirvana
is that which is in every respect precisely the opposite of the
worldly condition. Nirvana neither creates nor is created, being
the cessation of all creating. Speaking in terms of benefits, Nirvana
is complete freedom from hellfire, scourging, torture, bondage,
subjection and thralldom, because the attainment of Nirvana presupposes
the complete elimination of the defilements, which are the cause
of all unsatisfactory mental states. Nirvana lies beyond the limitations
of space and time. It is unique, unlike anything in the world. Rather
it is the extinction of the worldly condition. Speaking metaphorically,
the Buddha called it the realm where all conditional things cease
to be (Sankhara - samatho). Hence it is the condition of freedom,
of freedom from fetters. It is the end of torment and buffeting,
stabbing and chafing, from any source whatsoever. This is the nature
of the Supramundane, the ultimate. It is the Buddhist goal and destination.
It is the final fruit of Buddhist practice. In the foregoing pages
we have explained systematically the principles of Buddhism. We
have presented it as an organized practical system designed to bring
knowledge of the true nature of things. In reality things are impermanent,
unsatisfactory and not selves; but all creatures are attracted by
things and become attached to them simply through misunderstanding.
The Buddhist practice, based on Morality (Sila), Concentration (Samadhi),
and Insight (Panna), is a tool to be used for completely cutting
out grasping and clinging. The objects of our clinging are the five
aggregates: body, feeling, perception, active thinking and consciousness.
When we have come to know the true nature of the five aggregates,
we understand all things so well that desire gives way to disenchantment,
and we no longer cling to any of them.
What we have to do is lead the kind of life described as Right
Living (Samma Vihareyyum), and be full day and night with the joy
that arises out of conduct that is consistently good, beautiful
and right. This limits aimless wandering of the thoughts and makes
it possible to concentrate and to have clear insight at all times.
Then if conditions are right, the result is disenchantment, struggle
to break loose, slipping free, or even complete Nirvana. If we wish
to hurry and gain quick results, then there is the line of practice
called Vipassana, which begins with moral purity and mental purity
and carries right through to perfect and unobscured intuitive insight.
By this means we can completely cut through the fetters that bind
us fast to this world, and attain the final Fruit of the Path. This
is a brief account of the whole of Buddha-Dhamma from beginning
to end, including both theoretical and practical principles, and
covering the entire subject right from the first steps to the final
Fruit. The whole story ends with Nirvana. As the Buddha said: "All
Buddhas recognize Nirvana as the highest good." So it behooves
us to practice in order to realize and attain that which should
be realized and attained. Doing this, we shall deserve to be called
Buddhists; we shall gain insight and penetrate to the real essence
of BuddhaDhamma. If we don't practice Buddha-Dhamma, we shall only
know about it and shall lack any true insight. It rests with each
of us to practice introspection, observe and understand his own
imperfections, and then try to root them out completely. Even if
one is only half successful, some clear understanding will result.
As the defilements are progressively eliminated, their place is
taken by purity, insight and peace. So I advise and beseech you
to approach the subject in this fashion. You may then succeed in
penetrating to the real Buddha- Dhamma. Don't waste the advantages
of having been born a human being and having encountered the Buddha's
teaching. Don't miss this chance to be a perfect human being.
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