Frightening Wrong View

revised on 2019-09-12

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Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw; 5th December 1961

Wrong view comes from perception of self (atta saññā). What is the self (atta)? Take each of the five khandhas as "I" and "me" because of the atta saññā and diṭṭhi arises. Where is the atta saññā coming from? It is coming from the unwise attention. Unwise attention comes from ignorance. Again ignorance comes from the hindrances (nīvaraṇa).

These came from the Aṅguttara Nikāya. Nīvaraṇa → ignorance → unwise attention → self perception → view of inversion. We'll see it as an object without separating the five khandhas into each separated group. Therefore we have to separate each one of them. Form can be shown in numbers whereas not for the other four nāma (mind).

The wrong perception comes from unwise attention, or no knowledge about it. Ignorance is over controls of it. Hindrances also over shadow on ignorance. Ignorance means not knowing the four Noble Truths. It’s wrong knowledge. You must make the self perception to not-self perception.

Yesterday I had said that because of the khandha and wrong view arose. Wrong view is piercing or seeping in the khandha, and in each of them. Clinging to view exists until you have diṭṭhi. Attachment to view → action → painful birth (Ditthupādānaṁ → kammabhava → apāya jāti) (Sayadaw gave the example of Prince Ajātasatthu).

Urging him to kill his own father was this wrong view. Diṭṭhi and kilesa are decisive support conditions or causes (upanissaya). They can send beings to painful births (Sayadaw mentioned about the frightening of the Lohakhumbī Hell where Ajātasatthu fell into it.). Diṭṭhi is the root leader of the round of existence. It’s more fearful than taṇhā. With taṇhā still can arrive to blissful planes.

Therefore in the four Path Knowledges, the coarsest of all kilesa is diṭṭhi and firstly abandon by the Path Knowledge of the stream-entry (Sotāpatti magga). Between the five heavy kammas and diṭṭhi, when the world is near of the destruction beings can be free from the hells. (i.e., hell beings who had committed the five heavy kammas in hells) But hell beings who have fixed wrong view (niyata micchādiṭṭhi) move to another world system and continue to suffer in hells where no Buddha had been arisen.

Therefore spiritual friend is very important. You must know the form, feeling, etc. as form, feeling. You know dukkha sacca as dukkha sacca. These become right attention. Not listening sacca dhamma, and cannot do the practice. Not doing the practice, and not becomes right view (because not seeing impermanence).

Why the Brahma god could become a pig? Samatha practices can’t overcome diṭṭhi (A Brahma god can’t become a pig or any other animal by directly after death. But all worldlings can take rebirths anywhere if they have the seed of diṭṭhi in their hearts).

Knowing the khandha as the khandha becomes wise attention. Seeing impermanence becomes right view. Right view (sammā-diṭṭhi) arises and self view (atta diṭṭhi) or wrong view is running away. After ñāta pariññā (knowledge of mind/body) follow with tīrāṇa pariññā (knowledge of impermanence).

After tīrāṇa pariññā ends and pahāna pariññā arises (i.e., Nibbāna). Therefore the Buddha taught about three pariññās (understanding). What happens after diṭṭhi falls away with contemplation? The body becomes light. Body is too heavy by carrying along the hell seed. The contemplative mind becomes cool. The khandha also disappears. It's not because it wants to be cool but because diṭṭhi kilesa does not exist. Therefore the apāya saṁsāra is no more related to this yogi (i.e., sotāpanna). Every time diṭṭhi arises and it builds the woeful planes.

The practice process is: ① wise attention ② contemplation with knowledge ③ after many contemplations and the Path Knowledge will abandon the diṭṭhi builder. (It builds the planes of misery).

You should do the practice if you have compassion on yourself. Feeding the body, bathing the body, etc. does not have compassion on oneself. These are becoming a slave to the khandha. Sending metta (loving kindness practice) also does not have a compassion on yourself because you can’t abandon diṭṭhi. It is not very easy to hear these kinds of talk in the future; even nowadays, it becomes quite rare. Diṭṭhi overwhelms people without listening to them. Khandha disappears when Path Knowledge arises. Where can diṭṭhi go and hide with the disappearance of the khandha? Therefore, during the dhamma interview I am asking you: “Does the khandha disappear?” because the Buddha said that diṭṭhi was hiden in the khandha.

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revised on 2019-09-12; cited from https://oba.org.tw/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=4091&p=35850#p35850 (posted on 2019-01-18)

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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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