Development with Contemplation

revised on 2019-11-05

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Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw; 8th August 1962

Magga — the path factors have to be developed. Be developed with contemplation on one of the five khandhas. If you know how to use this khandha, it becomes a valuable thing. If you know how to develop it, you will arrive to the other shore of Nibbāna.

If not, will sink in the four apāya bhūmis — woeful planes. A person who knows how to use it will have benefit. A person who doesn’t know how to use it will be in trouble. With the contemplation, what’ll happen? You all have ignorance and craving. With a lot of contemplation, ignorance becomes thinner and craving drying up. Both of them connect with the taints (āsava).

Therefore, āsava is extinct (avijjāsava and kāmāsava). If you are discerning anicca, contemplate anicca. With dukkha and contemplate dukkha, with anatta and contemplate anatta, etc. And then āsava will be extinct. If you ask me the time span of when it’ll become extinct and it depends on you.

If your kilesa and taṇhā (defilements and craving) are thick and you’ll get it slow. You’ll get it quicker if your kilesa and taṇhā (defilements and craving) thinner. In the Khandhavagga Saṃyutta, the Buddha taught the Vāsijaṭa Sutta (The adze handle, SN.22.101 Vāsijaṭasuttaṃ). It was like the wooden handle, with a lot of striking (using) and eroded slowly.

We can’t say how much it is eroded. But it’s sure that it’s eroded. The Buddha asked us to contemplate. But you all are making prayers and wishes. (Sayadaw continued to talk the simile of a hen and her eggs which included in the same sutta).

With a lot of contemplation, the egg shell of ignorance becomes thinner, taṇhā liquid becomes dryer, and knowledge becomes sharper. So don’t blame it on your pāramitās (perfection comes from practice).

With the contemplation of one of the five khandhas and get the three results. You can ask for the 31 realms of existences. These are dead bodies. With contemplation, you get Nibbāna. It’s not dying. If you don’t want to die in anyway, just follow the way of undying.

The duties of a hen are spreading its wings on the eggs, giving her body heat to the eggs, and giving its smell to the eggs. In accordance with the smell and different beings appear.

Only by performing these three duties, the outcome is sure. You also have to contemplate the khandha with anicca, dukkha and anatta. Vipāka vaṭṭa — the result of the round of existence is like the egg.

The shell is like ignorance. The liquid inside the egg is like taṇhā. The claws of chick becoming sharper are like knowledge (ñāṇa). That the chick come out by breaking the shell is like freedom from the cycle of the round of existences − vipāka vaṭṭas.

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revised on 2019-11-05; cited from https://oba.org.tw/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=4202&p=35970#p35970 (posted on 2019-02-17)

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• Content of Part 9 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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