La Tecnica di Vipassana

This talk was given at the Manjushri Institute of Cumbria, UK, in 1977

Today I have been invited by the abbot to give you a teaching, so I ask all of you to sit quietly and calm your minds. Due to the language barrier we have to use a translator, so if you do not apply due care, you may not understand.

My stay here was very pleasant. Both the Master and you, his followers, were very kind, all friendly and smiling, as befits those who practice true Damma. Your property, too, is very inspiring, but so big! I admire your dedication in renovating it to create a suitable place to practice

Damma

I have been a teacher for many years now and have gone through my share of hardships. Currently there are in total about forty monasteries branched from my monastery,

Wat Nong Ba Pong

, but even in these times I have disciples who are difficult to teach. Some know but don't bother to participate, some don't know and don't try to find out. I don't know what to do with them. Why do humans have minds like these? Being ignorant is not so good, but even when I tell them, they still don't listen. I don't know what more to do. People are so full of doubts in their practice, they are always doubting. They all want to go towards the

Nibbana

The teaching I present to you today is a way to solve problems in the present moment, in this present life. Some people say that they have so much work to do that they don't have time to practice Damma. "How can we do?" they ask. I ask them: “Do you breathe while you are working?” “Yes, of course, we breathe!” “So how do you have time to breathe when you're so busy?” They don't know what to answer. “If you have

Sati

Practicing meditation is just like breathing. While we work we breathe, while we sleep we breathe, when we sit we breathe... How come we have time to breathe? Because we see the importance of breathing, we can always find time to breathe. In the same way, if we see the importance of meditation practice we will find time to practice.

Have any of you ever suffered? … Have you ever been happy? … Right here is the truth, this is where you need to practice the

Damma

There are two types of suffering: ordinary and extraordinary. Ordinary suffering is that inherent in the nature of the conditions: standing is suffering, sitting is suffering, lying down is suffering. This is the suffering inherent in all conditioned phenomena. The Buddha also experienced these things, he experienced comfort and pain, but he recognized them as natural conditions. He knew how to overcome these natural sensations of comfort and pain by understanding their true nature. Because he understood this 'natural suffering' these feelings did not trouble him.

The important kind of suffering is the second kind, the suffering that creeps in from the outside, the extraordinary suffering. If we are sick we may need an injection from the doctor. When the needle penetrates the skin there is some pain which is only natural. When the needle is withdrawn the pain disappears. This is like ordinary kind of suffering, there is no problem, everyone experiences it. The extraordinary one is the suffering that arises from what we call

Upadana

(fuel, material cause, substrate which is the source and means of keeping an active process going) the grasping of things. This is like giving yourself an injection with a syringe filled with poison. This is no longer an ordinary kind of pain, it is the pain that ends in death. This is similar to the suffering that arises from grasping.

The wrong view: Not knowing the nature of the impermanence of all conditioned things is another problem. Conditioned things are the realm of Samsara. Not wanting things to change – if we think this way, we will have to suffer. When we think that we ourselves are the body or that it belongs to us, we get scared when we see it change. Consider the breath: once it enters it must go out, having gone out it must return in again. This is its nature, this is how we manage to live. Things don't work that way. This is how the conditions are but we don't realize it.

Suppose we lose something. If we think that the object was really ours, we will ruminate on it. If we cannot see it as a conditioned thing that goes according to the laws of nature, we would experience suffering. But if you breathe in, can you live? Conditioned things must thus change naturally. To realize this is to see the Damma, to see

Anicca

To practice Damma is to develop an understanding of the way of things so that this suffering does not arise. If we think wrongly, we are at odds with the world, with Damma and with truth. Suppose you are sick and enter the hospital. Most people think, “Please don't let me die, I want to get better.” This is the wrong way of thinking, it leads to suffering. You must say to yourselves: “If I am hospitalized, I am hospitalized, if I die, I die.” this is the right way of thinking, because you cannot – ultimately – control the conditions. If you think this way, if you are hospitalized or dying, you can't go wrong, you don't have to worry. Wanting to get better at all costs and being afraid of the thought of dying… this is the mind that does not understand the conditions. You should think, “If I recover this is good, if I don't recover this is good.” In this way we cannot make mistakes, we are not afraid or cry, because we have tuned in to the way things are.

The Buddha saw clearly. His teaching is always relevant, never dated. It never changes. This is still the case today, it has never changed. By carrying his teaching in our hearts we can obtain the reward of peace and well-being. In the teachings there is a reflection on the 'non-self': “We listen to this type of teaching because we are attached to the idea of the self. This is the cause of suffering. You should take note of it.”

Today a woman asked me how to deal with anger. I told him that next time he gets angry, to wind up the alarm and put it in front of him. Then give yourself two hours to let the anger go away. If it was really her anger she could probably tell her to go away like this: “You'll be leaving in two hours!” But the command is not truly ours. Sometimes it still hasn't gone away in two hours, other times an hour has been enough. Holding onto anger as a personal possession will cause suffering. If he really belonged to us he should obey us. If he doesn't obey it means it's just a deception. Don't fall for this. Whether the mind is happy or sad, do not fall for it. Whether the mind loves or hates, don't fall for it, it's all a deception.

Have any of you ever been angry? When you are angry, do you feel good or bad? If you feel bad, why don't you throw that feeling away, why do you bother holding onto it? How can we say we are wise and intelligent if we hold back such things? Since you were born, how many times has your mind deceived you about anger? Sometimes the mind can drive an entire family into a fight, or cause you to cry all night. And we still continue to be angry, we still hold things back, and we still suffer. If we do not see the suffering, we keep it indefinitely, without the possibility of respite. The world of

Samsara

The Buddha's teachings state that there is no better meaning to overcome suffering than to see as “this is not my self,” “this is not mine.” This is the biggest method. But we usually don't pay attention to it. When suffering arises we simply cry without learning from it. Why does this happen? We must use a hard look at these states to develop Buddhahood, the knowing quality.

Take notes, some of you may not be aware that this is a Damma teaching. I am giving you some Damma that is not found in the scriptures. Many people read the scriptures but do not see the Damma. Today I am giving a teaching that is out of the Scriptures. Some may miss the point or not understand it.

Suppose two people are walking together and see a duck and a chicken. One of them says: “Why is this chicken not like the duck, why is the duck not like the chicken?” He wants the chicken to be a duck and the duck to be like the chicken. This is impossible. If that's impossible, then even if that person wanted the duck to be a chicken and the chicken to be a duck for the rest of his life, it wouldn't happen, because the chicken is a chicken and the duck is a duck. As long as that person thinks like that, he or she will suffer. The other person might see that the chicken is a chicken and the duck is a duck, and that's it. No problem. He sees rightly. If you want the duck to be a chicken and the chicken to be a duck, you will really suffer.

Likewise is the law of anicca states: all things are impermanent. If you want things to be permanent, you will suffer. Whenever impermanence manifests itself, you will be disappointed. One who sees these things as impermanent in nature will be easy and there will be no conflict. He who wants things to be permanent will have conflicts, he may even lose sleep. This is being ignorant of anicca, impermanence, the teaching of the Buddha.

If you want to know the

Damma

Therefore the

Buddha

Part 2

Where does Damma exist? It exists right here, in our body and mind. This is the essence of contemplative practice.

When we do this, wisdom will arise in our minds. When there is wisdom in our minds, then – no matter where we look – there is Damma, we will see Anicca,

Dukkha

Anatta

This means that you do not see the truth of the convention. You must understand the conventions. For example, all of us sitting here have names. Were our names born together with us or assigned later? Do you understand? This is a convention. Is a convention useful? Of course it is useful. For example, let's say there are four men: A, B, C and D. They all have to have their individual names by convention, to communicate and work together. If we want to talk to Mr. A, we can call him and he will arrive, not the others. This is the convenience of the convention. But when we look deeply into the matter, we will see that there is really no one there. We will see transcendence. There are only earth, water, wind and fire, the four elements. That's all there is to this body.

But we don't see it this way because of the power of attachment

Attavadupadana

.

If we looked clearly, we would see that there really isn't much of what we call a person. The solid part is the Earth element, the fluid part is the Water element, the part that provides heat is the Fire element. When we analyze things we see that there is only earth, water, wind and fire. Where is the person to look for? There is not.

This is why the Buddha taught that there is no higher practice than seeing that "this is not my self and does not belong to me." They are simply conventions. If we understand everything in this way, with clarity, we will be at peace. If in the present moment we realize the truth of impermanence - that things are not our self or belong to us - then when they disintegrate we are at peace with them, because they belong to no one in any way. They are simply the elements of earth, water, wind and fire.

This is difficult for people to see, but even so it is not beyond our capabilities. If we see it we will find happiness, we will not have so much anger, greed or disappointment. In our hearts there will always be the

Damma

If we see the Truth of the Buddha's teaching we won't need so many teachers! You won't need to listen to teachers every day. When we understand, then we simply do what is asked of us. But what makes it difficult to teach people is that they do not accept the teaching and argue with the teachers and with the teaching. In front of the teacher they behave a little better, but behind him they become thieves! Teaching people is very difficult. In Thailand people are like these, that's why they have to have many teachers.

Be careful, if you are not, you will not see the Damma. You must be circumspect, take the teaching and consider it well. Is this flower beautiful? Do you see the ugliness inside this flower? How many days will it be beautiful? What will it be like from now on? Why does it change like this? After three or four days you have to take it and throw it away, right? It has lost all its beauty.

People are attached to beauty, attached to goodness. If anything is good, they completely fall for it. The Buddha tells us to look at beautiful things only as beautiful, you should not become attached to them. If there is a pleasant sensation we should not fall for it. Goodness is not a sure thing. Nothing is certain. There is nothing in the world that is certain. This is the truth. The things that are not the truth are the things that change, like beauty. The only thing it has is its constant change. If we believe that things are pleasant, when their beauty fades our mind also loses its beauty. When things are no longer good, even our mind loses its goodness. When they are destroyed or damaged we suffer because we have clung to them as if they were ours. The Buddha tells us to see that these things are simply constructions of nature. Beauty appears and fades in a few days. To see this is to have wisdom.

Therefore we should see impermanence. If we think something is beautiful, we should tell ourselves 'it isn't', if we think something is ugly, we should tell ourselves 'it isn't'. Try to see things this way, always think this way. We will see the truth inside the untrue things, we will see the certainty inside the things that are not certain.

Today I am explaining the way to understand suffering, what causes suffering, the cessation of suffering and the path that leads to the cessation of suffering. When you know suffering you should throw it away. Knowing the cause of suffering you should reject it. Practice to see the cessation of suffering. Watch

Anicca

When the suffering stops, where do we go? We practice for what? We practice abandoning, not with the aim of achieving anything. This afternoon there was a woman who told me she is suffering. I asked her what she wants to be, and she said she wants to be enlightened. I told her “The more you want to be enlightened, the more you won't be enlightened. Don't look for anything."

When we know the truth of suffering, we throw away suffering. When we know the cause of suffering then we do not create these causes, but instead practice to bring suffering to its cessation. The practice that leads to the cessation of suffering is to see that “this is not a self” “this is not mine or theirs.” Seeing it this way allows the suffering to stop. It is equivalent to reaching our destination and stopping. This is cessation. This is approaching the

Nibbana

Today I offer you this teaching, to all of you and also to the Venerable Master. If there is something wrong I ask you to forgive me. But don't rush to judge whether it's right or wrong, just listen to it first. If I were giving you a fruit, saying it was delicious, you would take note of my words without immediately believing me, because you haven't tasted it yet.

The teaching I give you today is the same. If you want to know whether 'the fruit' is sweet or sour you have to slice a piece and taste it. So you will taste its sweetness or its sourness. Then you can believe me because you will have tried it for yourself. So please don't throw away this 'fruit', keep it and taste it, experience its flavor for yourself.

You know that the Buddha did not have a teacher. An ascetic once asked him who his teacher was, and the Buddha replied that he did not have one. The ascetic went away shaking his head. The

Buddha

Today is a lucky day for all of us. I had the chance to meet with all of you and the venerable master. You shouldn't think that we could meet like this because we live so far away. I think there must be some special reason that brought us together this way. Don't forget it. There must be some cause. It may be that in a previous existence we were brothers and sisters of the same family. I think it's possible. Another teacher didn't come, but I did. Why this? It may be that we are creating the causes at the same present moment. This too is possible.

I leave you with this teaching. May you be bold and diligent in practice. There is nothing better than the practice of Damma, Damma sustains the entire world. These days people are confused because they don't know about Damma. If we have Damma with us we will be happy. I am happy to have had this opportunity to help you and the venerable master in developing the practice of Damma. I leave you with my most sincere wishes. I'm leaving tomorrow, not sure where. This is natural. When there is coming there must be going, when there is going there must be coming. The world is like this. We shouldn't be overjoyed or irritated by changes in the world. There is happiness and there is suffering, there is suffering and there is happiness, there is gain and there is loss; there is loss and there is gain. This is the way of things.

In the Buddha's time there were disciples of His who didn't like Him, because the Buddha urged them to be diligent, to be vigilant. Those who were lazy were afraid of

Buddha

These days things aren't much different. The teacher here likely has some disciples who resent him. They may not show it outwardly, but it's there in the mind. It is normal for people who still have defilements to feel this way. Even the Buddha had people who hated him. Even I myself have disciples who resent me. I tell them to renounce evil deeds but they appreciate their evil deeds. So they hate me. There are many like these.

May all of you, who are intelligent, become firm in the practice of Damma.

end

Translation from English by Mario Amati