What is more powerful, the body or the mind? We are sitting
inside a building. Without body power, we cannot put materials together to
build something. But if you think deeply, you might understand that
without a push from the mind, we will not move our hands or legs. That is
how we know the mind is more important for us. That is why we get
together for meditation class. It is much easier to control the power of
the body than the power of the mind.
One of the most powerful sides to the mind is curiosity. We are very
curious beings. People are always discovering new things because of
curiosity. That is very powerful. We have to use that part of the
mind to understand and develop ourselves. If you see a magician, you
might be excited because he is doing things you cannot do. When you see
someone do something you cannot, you want to practice that. That is how
meditation was introduced to this world: people were practicing levitating on
air and walking on water. That is how people started to hear about the
power of the mind. I am not going to discuss curious things like that
because we don't need to. It is better to understand what kind of
qualities we have to develop and overcome. Simply, the mind is aiding us
to develop our qualities.
Your mind is very powerful, but only you can awaken that power. No one
else can do that. However, people can awaken anger, hatred, and lust
within us. When others awaken those qualities within you, you are acting
as a puppet. You are allowing others to control you. If you let
people arouse those qualities whenever they want, you lose your power.
People can also influence us towards positive qualities like compassion, but
you have to contribute mindfulness and understanding for that to take
place. On the other hand, you don't need that attention to get angry,
because we can have anger out of ignorance. What happens is when you feel
an emotion like anger it creates tension in the body. You may want to
scream or scold someone to release that tension. To overcome that, you
need to relax your body and calm yourself. If you have the perception to
realize right away when an emotion is coming, you won't be overtaken by that
emotion.
Think about developing mind power. By developing your mind power, you can
avoid being a puppet. May we all develop mind power in the present.
With meditation, we are always talking about being open, but we often complain
that our mind is running here and there and we cannot focus on one thing.
We have trained ourselves to do that because we are not open. When we are
scared by our thoughts and emotions, we cover it with something else.
With meditation, we are trying to be open to our thoughts.
Usually we don't see reality, just ideas. For instance, when you see a
cup, you have an idea about what that is. You don't just see what is
there; you see a cup. If there is something about that object that does
not match your description of a cup, you think there is something wrong with
it. We compare everything to our past experience. The first time
somebody asked you to observe your breath, you might have thought, why would I
do that? Each inhale and exhale seems the same to us until we start to
observe it. Once we start to observe we are seeing things without any
idea and we see it as it really is. Whatever we can find in nature, a
waterfall, a river, a tree, it is always changing. That is why when you
see someone after a long time you can see how much they have changed over time;
how old they have gotten. But if you live with someone you don't notice
those changes.
Think about your friends. If you really love someone, no matter what they
do you see their mistakes as mistakes. If an enemy does the same thing,
you see that as proof they are a bad person. We interpret things as we
want. That is how we have trained ourselves. It is better to train
ourselves to see things as they are. That way, whatever arises, your mind
will find a good solution. If you are closed, you will just cover
yourself with ideas and you cannot go beyond those ideas. We can even
observe that with scientists. When scientists are really open, they can
see things that no one was able to see before. Unfortunately, that openness is
usually temporary. Once they come up with their own theory, they are
closed to a new one. For a long time people were stuck in Newton's
theories until Einstein came along. Some of Newton's theories were broken down
by Einstein's theories. Then quantum physics came along. Now we are
stuck in quantum theories. We think that is the correct view of the
world. That will change. When you become open and start to feel
relaxed again you make another box. Then you are stuck in that box.
When you break that down, you are stuck in an again bigger box. It is
better to see through the box. We don't need to keep ourselves stuck in
boxes.
Good afternoon. I am Bhante Sathi. I am Buddhist monk from the
Theravada tradition. I come from Sri Lanka, and now I am living in Southfield
Michigan, at the Great Lakes Buddhist Vihara. It is nice to see you all today
on this very beautiful afternoon. I hope you are all enjoying today's
events.
First, I would like to share with you a short story:
One day a group of princes were having a picnic with some women friends. While
having this picnic, the princes were indulging in luxuries of all kinds. In the
midst of their sensual distractions, one of the women stole all of the princes'
jewels. Upset by this action, the princes decided to chase after the woman. As
they were chasing her they came across Buddha, who was taking a walk. They
decided to ask Buddha, "Buddha, did you just see a woman come by, because one
of our woman friends stole our jewels and ran off with them." Buddha then asked
them, "Why are you upset about this situation? What is more valuable, to
find yourself or to find someone with your jewels?" They knew that Buddha was a
wise man. He was not crazy for asking this question, so they carefully thought
about it. After examining this question, they were able to reach permanent
happiness, which is also called Nibbana or Nirvana.
Here is the interesting part about this story: Buddha only asked them this one
simple question and yet they were able to understand the essence of the entire
dharma. Now, you may be asking yourself, how could the entire dharma be
found in one small question? They understood the entire dharma because by
penetrating the very essence of that question, they were able to understand
themselves. How did they come to understand themselves? They simply examined
what they were doing and discovered who they really were. After they decided to
stop chasing after someone else to solve their problems, they looked inward to
themselves. At that moment, they were living in the present moment. Being in
the present moment brought them a real understanding of the nature of things.
That is how they understood the entire dharma from only one question.
Buddhism is teaching us to be aware of the present moment and how to achieve
permanent happiness. Buddha didn't discover anything new, he simply realized
the workings of living beings minds and the world. As human beings, we think
that we can understand this world through our five senses, which are sight,
sound, taste, touch, and hearing. However, if you look closely at your senses,
you will see that they have limitations. For example, some animals can see and
hear better than us. Because of this, we have to know that our senses are not
enough to understand the ultimate Truth. We can not understand this Truth
simply by using our five senses. We have to learn to develop our mind. Whoever
has developed their mind, has understood more things than an ordinary person.
That is why Buddha once said, "All previous Buddhas taught the same dharma
and all future Buddhas will teach the same dharma." If you can be in the
present moment, then you will understand the entire dharma.
Usually, when we are doing one thing, our mind is somewhere else.
Sometimes it is in the past; sometimes it is in the future. For example, maybe
you are thinking about your lunch or a conversation you had this morning. Or
what you are going to eat for dinner tonight. But, in reality, you are here.
Words are coming out of my mouth, and into your ears. You are sitting, maybe
some are standing. There are clouds in the sky, there is a gentle breeze
blowing and you are right here, right now... at this very moment. That, my
dear friends, is the Truth! At any given moment, NOW is all that there truly
IS.
In day-to-day life, sometimes we are consumed with suffering and sometimes we
are filled with joy. Where did those two things come from? They came from your
past or future. When you look at your joy or suffering, you will see that it is
because you are dwelling on ideas from your past or future. Therefore, I would
say that if you were able to constantly BE in the present moment, you would be
able to understand the true nature of suffering or joy. This is not to say that
you will not have emotions, but your emotions will not control you. They will
arise and dissolve... like everything else. Since they won't control you, you
will not be ruled by suffering or joy. This is known as "equanimity".
If we can successfully focus our mind on the present moment, this is called
"mindfulness". Then, when we have an emotion, such as anger, we will be able to
see how our mind is working. When we are frustrated, mindfulness will help us
see why it is that we are frustrated. The same with an emotion like happiness.
If we are mindful, then we can see why it is that we are happy. We can
understand how our mind is working. If we can realize the present moment, then
we can see how we are thinking and why we are doing different actions. For
example, how are we talking? How are we dealing with anger? And how much
compassion do we have?
There was a man named Bahiya. He heard that he could see Buddha if he went to
Gethawana. So he decided to go there. When he arrived, Buddha was leaving to
collect food.
He asked Buddha, "Buddha could you summarize the entire Dhamma so that I can
understand?"
Buddha knew that if he summarized the entire Dhamma, Bahiya would understand,
so that is what Buddha did.
Buddha summarized, "Bahiya, Thus must you train yourself:
In the seen there will be just the seen.
In the heard there will be just the heard.
In the sensed just the sensed.
In the imagined just the imagined.
Thus, you will have no "thereby". That is how you must train yourself.
Now, Bahiya when in the seen there will be to you just the seen,
in the heard just the heard,
in the imagined just the imagined,
in the cognized just the cognized,
then, Bahiya, as you will have no "thereby" you will also have
no "therein."
As you, Bahiya, will have no "therein" you will have no "here" or "beyond"
or "midway between."
That, Bahiya, is the end of suffering."
Bahiya could control his mind, and understood the words of Buddha. Through this
understanding, he reached permanent happiness.
If you can live in the present moment you will not worry, be unhappy, or be
unsatisfied. You will see things clearly. You can reach permanent happiness. It
is right here, right now, at this very moment in each and every one of
you.
May you all be well and happy . May you all achieve permanent happiness.
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