Weapon of Mass Destruction
revised on 2021-01-27
Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw; 10th August 1961
Inversion of wrong view, identity view, self view and wrong view (diṭṭhi vipallāsa, sakkāya diṭṭhi, atta diṭṭhi, and micchā diṭṭhi) are the same. These are different in names only. All are taking the five khandhas as self. In the Aṅguttara Nikāya, the Buddha mentioned that, if wrong view fell away and doubt also fell away.
It is not sure about the destination (rebirth) of a deceased person that we invite monks and make offerings for him. The most frightful thing is falling into the planes of misery after death. The five khandhas are sakkāya which really exist. Wrong view is taking sakkāya as I, he, she, etc. which do not really exist.
So the duty of the Buddha and me is to explain to you clearly that the five khandhas are "not me" or "not him" but only arising and vanishing phenomena. And then you know clearly, discern it and identity view is falling away. You will free from the planes of misery after death. It has no need to make merits for the dead.
You have to contemplate a lot and will know it’s not me/not him. It is only passing away of phenomena. It becomes right view with the five path factors if you see that way. The family members and relatives should not doubt about it. (Because the deceased person had this kind of experience before). Also you should not doubt yourself (The listeners have their experience).
So try hard in the practice to make wrong views fall away. You can hear these things only in the Buddha’s Teachings. To have the chances to encounter a good teacher, can have the ears of listening sacca dhamma (most people only interest in vulgarity) and to have human existences are difficult indeed.
It is more difficult than a needle falls from the Brahma world has to hit a needle in the human world (This point the Buddha warned us not to waste our precious births and times with vulgarity). You have to practice quickly to know impermanence.
In the whole world everybody wants the gold and silver mines to be mine. Therefore we can see many problems and wars. It happens by the encouragement of the identity view. You win it or lose it all have to go to the planes of misery (It is not difficult to justify human beings next rebirths if we understand the nature of the mind and cause and effect. Nowadays many human beings on earth live like animals, hungry ghosts and hell beings).
These are nothing to do with our concern. What we are concern is sakkāya diṭṭhi has to be fallen away. It is easy for sakkāya diṭṭhi to fall off. That is for someone can find a teacher who can teach and able to listen it. People arriving to the planes of misery are sent by the latent identity view.
The reason behind is being sent off by the latent identity view of unjust and unwholesome actions and searching for wealth. All are coming from for me and others (family members). These are entering from this view and you must know this very clearly.
Therefore the Buddha taught it was the root of hell. Beings can do any kind of unwholesome things, such as the five heavy kammas with this view in the heart. (Nowadays human beings are becoming more and more violent and cruel. There were a lot of news of killing parents and beating them seriously).
The Buddha taught us for practice to possess right view. In the Mirror of Dhamma Discourse, Ven. Ānanda asked the Buddha very often about the destinations of people who had died. Among the five khandhas, contemplate one of them. And will discern impermanence, its disenchantment, and its ending will never fall into the planes of misery.
This is the Dhamma mirror. Then you can make a definite decision that I’ll never fall again into the miserable planes. Don’t ask people for your destination. Without the practice and will not arrive there (i.e. Nibbāna). And then you can’t get the Dhamma mirror.
You don’t need to try hard for good living standard and using a lot of money for your funeral. Instead it is more important to close the doors of hell. (Sayadaw mentioned some of the terrible sufferings in hell). The mirrors in your homes are using for your physical purposes (i.e., for kilesa).
(Sayadaw continued about practice) Teaching knowledge benefits the contemplation (practice). In the same way contemplation benefits the realization. You'll dispel wrong view by the teaching knowledge if you know sakkāya and the five khandhas together. And it becomes right view. In this way identity view can’t arise temporarily.
It comes back again (without mindfulness) if you don’t know. This way of dispelling diṭṭhi is not safe. The second way is contemplating the every arising of one of the five khandhas and discerning their impermanence. Everything you have to see impermanence with the contemplative mind.
In the Saḷāyatana Saṃyutta, a monk asked the Buddha how to cut off sakkāya diṭṭhi. Knowing feeling as impermanence, discerning its impermanence (whatever arising) and sakkāya diṭṭhi falls away. This is falling away by contemplation. It comes back again and is still not safe enough if you don’t contemplate. It can become safe only by destroying the root.
Contemplate impermanence; arising is dukkha and the vanishing is dukkha are becoming clear. The teacher said about it before and you knew it as dukkha sacca. This was anubodha ñāṇa (secondary knowledge). Knowing thoroughly by contemplation is pativedha ñāṇa (Penetrative knowledge). As soon as knowing thoroughly as dukkha sacca and impermanent dukkha ceases.
This way of cutting off identity view is never come back again. It becomes totally safe. In the heart the seed of hell never exists anymore. It’s like a saintly cat even seeing a rat never chasing it again. The uncountable kammas which will send you to the planes of misery are gone with wrong view forever.
revised on 2021-01-27; cited from https://oba.org.tw/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=4084&p=35748#p35748 (posted on 2019-01-14)
- Content of Part 6 on "Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw"
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