The Creators of Dukkha

revised on 2021-01-27

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Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw; 21st October 1961

The Buddha said clearly that taints (āsava) were the dhamma oppressing living beings. Kāma-taṇhā is desire for sensual pleasure. Bhava-taṇhā is this life not good and desire for next life. Diṭṭhāsava is not knowing the five khandhas and taking it as me and mine. Avijjāsava is not knowing the four Noble truths.

These four murderers are the four āsava and killing living beings to become bones of mountain and fleshes of earth. Can it be oppressed to everyone? It can’t oppress to someone has the knowledge on the khandha. We should be very thankful for the Buddha’s attributes and service. We can’t do anything except only deaths with our own desire. Our worshipping of the Buddha are not reaching to the ñāṇa Buddha and instead on the form Buddha.

We don’t know the nature of the khandha and oppress by the āsava. We don’t let the ñāṇa knowing on the khandha existence that we are suffered up to their treatment. The Buddha said; “Someone who knows (jānāti) and sees (passati) the khandha existence with knowledge (ñāṇa — knowing) will be free from the āsava.”

Āsava are making living beings whirling around and sinking in saṁsāra. Ānāsava (no taints) is Nibbāna. Seeing impermanence in the khandha and taint of ignorance (avijjāsava) becomes knowledge (vijjā). It’s not mine that becomes vanishing and taint of wrong view falls off. It has the nature of vanishing that no desire for it. And then taint of sensuality (kāmāsava) falls away.

In this way and the desire for becoming is also useless. Āsava is like a mother. Why the ñāṇa knowing not fits in with the khandha existence together? Because of unwise attention (ayonisomanasikāra) and falls into the province of āsava. With wise attention (yonisomanasikāra) ñāṇa knowing and khandha existence are fit in together. Without practice and āsava is unshakable.

The perception of man and woman disappears and khandha appears, it is the emptiness dhamma (suññatā dhamma). Knowing about the five khandhas is becoming a knowing person (jānāti). Let us contemplate it and becoming a seeing person (passati). It’s just knowing and not including seeing yet.

Therefore you have to contemplate at it for the knowing and seeing. Āsava will cease by combining these two practices. For example, seeing a white colour object, knowing the white colour is the aggregate of consciousness (The five aggregates are working together. Here just talk about the knowing which is consciousness).

Contemplate this knowing is passati. Contemplate as, it exists or not exists and you’ll not find it. It’s existing and not existing dhamma.

So, it’s arising and passing away. Note it with jānāti and contemplate with passati, and seeing the characteristics of impermanence, dukkha, anatta, asubha and the truth of dukkha.

Does there any other thing exist? The four āsava cease and no khandha exists. No death exists without the khandha. There are no piles of bone, blood and flesh any more. Therefore with the way of jānāti, passati will be finished the PRACTICE.

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revised on 2021-01-27; cited from https://oba.org.tw/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=4091&p=35765#p35765 (posted on 2019-01-14)

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• Content of Part 7 on "Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw"

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• Content of "Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw"

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• Content of Publications of Ven. Uttamo

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