Negligence and Suffering

revised on 2019-10-02

Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw; 23rd and 24th March 1962

[In the beginning Sayadaw told about the story of Sumedha, the hermit with great compassion for living beings decided to become the future Buddha]

He could give instructions only after he became the Buddha. He gave the instruction of not to be heedless. Warning us not forgot the khandha and observed it for what was happening with it. You would see Nibbāna according with your own knowledge which had realized.

Practice and develop in accordance with the process of knowledges. Don’t be in heedless situation with the matters of family and business. Listening to what the khandha was telling you. What the Buddha said was very important. The fault of negligence is very great. Akāliko — it’ll give you the result. Heedless situation is; ignorance conditions volitional formation (avijjā paccaya saṅkhāra)… …… to birth (jāti).

You have dukkha already and grabbing on to the next dukkha. At near death the mental images of actions (kamma) arise (He gave some of the hell images). At the time he remembers as I am wrong. At that time, he knows the great fault of heedless. (Sayadaw mentioned the frightful situations in hell).

After seeing the mental images of action (kamma nimitta) and death comes. At near death wanting to change the situation is very difficult. This is the fault of negligence. For the older people not to be ended up in crying is not to be heedless before. With the wrong living is bad dying. There is no one can help you. Tears are streaming down. It gives the result even in this life. (Follow with sorrow, lamentation, pain and grief).

During the dying, any one of action, mental image on action, mental image of the destination (kamma, kamma nimitta and gati nimitta) will appears. After the five active mind moments, and he dies. The mind is arising and passing away for one hundred thousand billion times (1,000,000,000,000) in a single wink of an eye. So, it doesn’t take long.

For some people, he dies after the eight active mind moments. With the heedlessness is the heedless mind action, with heedfulness is the heedful mind action and kammas will give the result accordingly. Therefore, one should take oneself as importance. Family members have their own kammas.

We have to drop off all these my concern and his concern. Why? Concern for him and you go to apāya (woeful plane). Concern for you yourself also go to apāya (woeful plane). Therefore, don’t reverse the Buddha’s words. Also have to take your life as importance. It’s important not to forget with mindfulness and wisdom.

The fault of forgetfulness is living together and not knowing about the khandha. We are talking and moving with this khandha and not knowing about it.

[You must observe this khandha to see its oppressive nature (pilanato) and it itself is oppressed by taṇhā (saṅkhatato).]

The truth of dukkha has four meanings. (The first two are pilanato and saṅkhatato — which mean oppressive (active) and oppressed (passive) natures. Khandha oppresses its owner and itself has been oppressed by taṇhā with conditioning). With this practice and develop the knowledge of function (kicca ñāṇa). It’s important to know the function of the khandha.

By reviewing, some know the realizing of the stream entrance (as a sotāpanna) but some don’t. (Sayadaw gave the example of Mahānāma, the cousin of the Buddha). The ordinary knowledge about the khandha dukkha is the knowledge of function. Seeing the khandha arising and passing away is becoming kicca ñāṇa. It also becomes knowledge and non-greed (vijjā and alobha).

At the time of making prayer for the khandha was with ignorance and greed. Seeing the arising and passing away is knowledge (ñāṇa) and not wanting it is non-greed. By seeing the oppression of the khandha and do you want to make it as me or mine? Not taking it as me and mine and wrong view falls away.

If you don’t want, with the observing and it is cutting off. For example, you are under the electric light and instantly the light disappears. The oppressive and oppressed khandha disappears. This is dukkha disappears.

The dukkha you get disappears under your own knowledge. There is no dukkha and you know it by yourself. The first knowing is Path Knowledge (magga ñāṇa). Knowing its changes for two or three times (depending on the yogi) are fruition knowledges (Phala ñāṇa). Reviewing the disappearance is reviewing knowledge (Paccavekkhana ñāṇa).

The task of separating of dukkha is which everyone ought to do it (Instead, majority of people are enjoying with the polluted things like the worms in the latrine). In the world the dukkha we see are distinct dukkha (pakata dukkha). Even these kinds of dukkha are known by animals. It’s delusive dukkha.

These kinds of dukkha can’t develop the liberation knowledge. Only you see the dukkha of the oppressive khandha and this knowledge will come. You see the dukkha when you’re still healthy. This dukkha is not the kind of dukkha when you are crying with pain and aches. All of you think as we are healthy. Only you see the never healthy dukkha is the real dukkha.

You see the khandha in relative truth and think it as healthy. Only you see its ultimate real nature and know unhealthy. It’s called indistinct dukkha (apākata dukkha — because can’t see with the eye). Only the supramundane genius knows it (not the worldly genius). Only you encounter the teaching of the Buddha you know about it. It appears only by observing with the eye of knowledge.

Pākata dukkha can be protected with the protective chant (parittas). With the pākata dukkha the desire for getting well arises (i.e., taṇhā). With the apākata dukkha not wanting arises (i.e., alobha). These are very different and opposite. You can realize Nibbāna only with non-greed. If you practice at the time of not healthy taṇhā will come. Practise when you are still healthy and taṇhā will not come.

revised on 2019-10-02; cited from https://oba.org.tw/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=4192&p=35932#p35932 (posted on 2019-02-13)

Content of Part 8 on "Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw"

Content of "Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw"

Content of Publications of Ven. Uttamo

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