Are You Worshipping Wrong Views?

revised on 2019-11-05

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Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw; 20th September 1962

Before in the past lives, you all had done dāna, sīla, and samatha practices. Why can’t you still realize Nibbāna until now? You have to know that there’s something still obstructing you. The self-view of my dāna, my sīla, and my samatha are mixing up with you. These are the hindrances. You might meet one of the Buddhas in your past lives.

(Before many Buddhas had arisen in the world as many as the numbers of sand grains in the Ganges River. The Buddha also mentioned that one couldn’t find the beginning of a living being because saṁsāra was so long.)

Even you met the Buddha, me-and-mine self-view hindered you for the realization of Dhamma. Outside the sāsana (i.e., other teachings; sāsana refers to the Buddha’s Teachings) it governs living beings all the time. Even without dispelling atta diṭṭhi, doing dāna, sīla, and samatha, and encountering the teaching, it hinders the realization of Nibbāna.

Therefore, you are suffered from the khandha dukkha and the dukkha of burnt with kilesa heat. If you have me and you have mine, they forbid the ending of khandha and taṇhā. It doesn’t forbid other things. It prefers you to be in the sea of dukkha. It doesn’t prefer you to be free from dukkha. Quite an evil dhamma it is!

But the difficulty is you all are worshipping him. Not understand the D. A. of the khandha that this wrong view arises. It was also atta diṭṭhi that we had missed the Buddha because at that time, we were in the woeful planes. It was also we had missed the Dhamma because it was resisted by diṭṭhi within our hearts.

There were two chances of missing; without and with encountering the Dhamma. The power of atta diṭṭhi is quite extensive, and reaching the whole 31 realms of existences. Nothing is possible without it. It’s like all living beings are bound with the ropes of diṭṭhi and floating down the river of taṇhā water.

If the diṭṭhi ropes are never cut off or falling apart, one can’t free from the danger of taṇhā water. Diṭṭhi was so evil that the Buddha told us to deal it before than when you were hit with a spear or your head was on fire.

In the Abyākatasaṃyutta, Vaccha Brahman asked the Buddha; “Does atta exist?” The Buddha not answered. He asked again; “Does it not exist?” The Buddha again not answered. So Ven. Ānanda asked the Buddha why he didn’t answer them. The Buddha replied to him that if he answered it did exist; one would take it as eternalism. (SN.44.8. Vacchagottasuttaṃ)

If he answered it didn’t exist; one would take it as annihilationism. Therefore, the Buddha not answered it. And now you’ll understand how difficult to dispel diṭṭhi. Listen with the big ears only have the value (it means ñāṇa ears).

Another point was if the Buddha answered atta existed, it was the opposite of sabbe dhammā anattā — all dhammas were not-self. If answered not existed, he had already had the view of atta and become confusion. (This point is quite true, even to Buddhists who believe in self or soul is not easy to accept anatta doctrine).

Except the discerning of impermanence, there is no other dhamma can destroy diṭṭhi. Insight knowledge (vipassanā magga) is like digging out the root of a tree and Path Knowledge cutting off the root after it exposes. The first magga doesn’t cut off lobba and dosa. It cut off diṭṭhi alone.

Only by abandoning it, that can be free from the four woeful planes of existence. So you have to know that living beings arriving there are the cause of diṭṭhi. It sends beings to blissful planes of existence (sugati) and forbid Nibbāna.

If you see the arising phenomenon, free from uccheda view. If seeing the vanishing, free from sassata view. Practice for seeing impermanence means to kill diṭṭhi. Practice to see its disenchantment means to disenchant diṭṭhi. Practice to see its ending is cut off the root of diṭṭhi.

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revised on 2019-11-05; cited from https://oba.org.tw/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=4202&p=35989#p35989 (posted on 2019-02-20)

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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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According to the translator— Ven. Uttamo's words, this is strictly for free distribution only, as a gift of Dhamma—Dhamma Dāna. You may re-format, reprint, translate, and redistribute this work in any medium.