Impermanent and Taintless

revised on 2019-11-05

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Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw; 30th May 1960

A person with the contemplation of impermanence and knowing of Impermanence is becoming taintless. With this, affection to the khandha of taint of sensuality (kāmāsava) not arises. Thinking of it as it’s me; the taint of wrong view (diṭṭhi-āsava) also not arises. Not knowing, the taint of ignorance (avijjāsava) also not arises.

Someone is doing the task of contemplating impermanence and knowing of impermanence becomes taintless. Become taintless means seeing the impermanence of one’s own khandha and others’ khandhas. Discerning of dukkha and anatta are in the same way.

Why is that? Because it only becomes anicca and magga, anicca and magga, etc. in the process and āsavas can’t come in between them (Sayadaw explained as it was impossible by prayer and rely on outside power with the simile of the hen and her eggs).

If you not contemplate, and then like the baby chicks die in the darkness of inside the eggs. It was like living in the darkness and dying in the darkness. Someone is discerning the beginning of the impermanence and continues the contemplation āsava will come to an end.

It’s like the hen and you must do the three jobs of anicca, dukkha, and anatta. Seeing impermanence is fulfilling the task of anicca, dukkha and anatta. The Buddha also taught anicca vata saṅkhāra – conditioned phenomena are truly impermanent. Maybe you’ll complain as you’re still with the seeing of impermanence.

In this same sutta the Buddha gave another simile, i.e., the simile of adze. Ñāṇa is slowly eroding the kilesas if you are contemplating impermanence. Each day erodes a little bit, etc. and lobha, dosa and diṭṭhi are becoming fewer than before. If you continue the practice, it thins out slowly and at last disappears.

Don’t think about it as no benefit. When will it finish (if you ask me)? It’ll finish if the impermanence ended.

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revised on 2019-11-05; cited from https://oba.org.tw/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=4241&p=36214#p36214 (posted on 2019-03-31)

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• Content of Part 10 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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