Concept, Reality and Wise Attention

revised on 2019-12-02

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Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw; no date noted

You have to remember; wise attention is important. You must expose the reality (paramattha dhamma). Because of the concepts, the dhamma to Nibbāna are hidden beneath the concepts. First, have to strip off the concepts and must talk about dhamma to expose the reality.

After uncovering the concept, the reality will appear; and then moving away the dhamma which covered up Nibbāna. Three kinds of dhamma are here. To discern anicca, dukkha, anattā and dukkha sacca, you must move away the hindrances. With only discovering of anicca, dukkha and anattā dhamma become wise attention.

If you don’t have wise attention concepts will torment you. (Talked about Ven. Tissa who died and born as a louse. He had sīla but died with the attachment to his new robes). Mind and form, anicca, dukkha and anattā not appeared to him, and so he had unwise attention.

Therefore, he was born as a louse. In the world there are a lot of wrong attentions for us (Mentioned some of them in the daily life.). With wrong attentions beings are born in bad destination (dugati). Therefore, beings were missing the chances with each Buddha. They’re living with things with wrong attention (family members, wealth, etc.); wasting their time with things with wrong attention.

They also do not meet with a good teacher. And they take pleasures in things with wrong attention that they are arriving in woeful planes. A place where is not good to live is with a lot of fetters (saṁyojana). You have to work hard with the practice.

If become a habitual kamma and no need to be afraid of bad destination. (i.e., āciṇṇaka kamma of regular practice) But with wrong attention becomes near death kamma (āsanna kamma), and send beings to painful destinations. With right attention, it becomes right view; and with wrong attention, wrong view arises. It will have the right attention with the teaching to expose the reality.

The things you can touch are not man or woman. These are just only form. It’s only the beginning for right attention. The things arising in which you can’t touch are mind dhamma. There are only these two kinds of dhamma: it is form which can be measured and mind which can’t be measured.

“Can these things (want to eat, good to eat, etc.) be measured?” (explained the four nāma dhama with examples.) You will be free from death if you’re taking the medicine of truth. Only with the dāna, sīla and samatha, practices are changing deaths. You will not reach to right attention if you don’t start from the mind and body.

It’ll fall apart if the mind abandons form. You must remember mind is the leader. Mind is giving the order and form is following the orders. There is only the foreman and worker exists. Now, we’re taking off the man and woman concepts. And diṭṭhi is cleared up. Without the heavy element of diṭṭhi will not fall into the apāya.

We still have to uncover the process of cause and effect. This is to be freed from doubt (vicikicchā). Mind and body nature are changing and perishing. Except the impermanent process and nothing exists. With the right attention, it develops to the knowledge of rise and fall (udayabbaya ñāṇa)

If you prefer mind then contemplate the mind; if vedanā then contemplate vedanā. You’ll see the arising and passing away. Only the arising dukkha and the vanishing dukkha exist. At last you’ll make the decision that it hasn’t any sukha (happiness) but only dukkha (suffering).

This is penetrating dukkha thoroughly. Only with the penetrating of dukkha thoroughly that substitute with nirodha – the cessation of dukkha.

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revised on 2019-12-02; cited from https://oba.org.tw/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=4371&p=36328#p36328 (posted on 2019-04-16)

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• Content of Part 12 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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