The Most Fearful Thing

revised on 2024-07-10

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Dhamma Talks by Mogok Sayadaw; 19th August 1961

Wrong view is the most fearful thing. Before you’re doing dāna and sīla, you have to clear away three wrong views (i.e., sakkāya, sassata, and uccheda-diṭṭhis). As a Buddhist, you may have a wrong view, and taking oneself as not having it is the worst thing. If you go and ask the practitioners, what is Nibbāna ? If they answer with "I don’t know," then they are overwhelmed by ignorance. Having general knowledge (bahussuta) and answering as – "Nibbāna has nothing exists after the cessation of mind and body process," this is answering with uccheda-diṭṭhi. Ordinary not knowing is not a problem, but knowing with uccheda-diṭṭhi is fearful. Most of you are coming from hells (this is not an exaggeration). At the time of suffering in hells, you were making the determination that after freeing from hells and arriving in the human realm, "I’ll do the task of ending of dukkha." After you arrive here, you are deceived by the surroundings and waste your time (this point all Buddhists should contemplate seriously).

Nibbāna has the characteristic of peacefulness. It is extinct from kilesa fire and khandha fuel, or they do not exist there. When talking about Nibbāna, the appreciation will come only by knowing dukkha sacca clearly (this is one of the main reasons most humans have wrong views and don’t like it. With an understanding of dukkha comes understanding and appreciation of Nibbāna. For worldlings, their craziness for sensual pleasures has no limits. For the Buddha and ariya-sāvakas, these pleasures are filthy. They are like the yellowish, smelly, disgusting stuff in the pit toilet is for the white worms. No appreciation of Nibbāna comes from no appreciation of dukkha.

(Sayadaw continues to explain the vipassanā process ) At the time of discerning anicca, the yogi knows the fuel and fire are burning together. They are together up to the knowledge of disenchantment. And then, with the ending of anicca, dukkha sacca, the yogi sees the place of peacefulness. Nibbāna is really existent; the yogi knows about the existence of peace. This is the cessation of khandha fuel and kilesa fire. The khandhas are continuously arising as part of the continuing process of vipāka vaṭṭa khandhas. It is like fuel (khandhas) and fire (kilesas) which are burning and disappearing. This is the impermanence of the khandhas, continuously arising.

With the knowing of these Dhamma, the doors to apāya are closed for one life (i.e., for the next life).

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revised on 2024-07-10

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• Content of Part 16 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.