Desire has been in existence for so long. Once you were born you bring it with you. A child wants to eat, drink, sleep, and be loved and so on. Once he reaches a certain age, let us say, by the age of Seven, he expands his desire.
Desire starts once you wake up in the morning or any time of the day. Once your eyes are open, your desire begins. What do you desire? You want to wash your face, you want to eat, you want to take something, you want to speak, you want to gain something, you want to be good and you want to be happy. These are some of your desires. Your desire along with your breath combine with your feeling, they will never end. They will continue until the day you pass away.
For your daily desire, having completed your evening meal, normally you go to bed, but your desire still persists. Until you cannot tolerate your desire any longer, you went to sleep. Once you are asleep, you are dreaming about your desires. Once you are awake, you desire again. The more you desire, the more sufferings you will experience in your life. Therefore, your desires are similar to your body being tied-up with strings. The more you want to untie yourself by moving your arms and legs, the more you become entangled. We must slowly untie our desires with intelligence and wisdom and then we will see happiness. The source of happiness is not from accumulating wealth, but from accumulating peace (`santi’) and tranquillity.
Wisdom and Awareness which have been obtained from an empty mind is the source of peace and tranquillity . In turn, it is called ‘Boromma Sukha’ which was described in Dharma teachings by Lord Buddha. There is no other Happiness than ‘Vimutti Sukha’. This is because the mind has finally escaped from all the Kilesa, Tanha, Desire and what is left with the mind is an Emptiness which is ‘Vimutti Sukha, that is Boromma Sukha’.
Our Daily Desire has two aspects:-
Desire to attain Nibbana is not Kilesa or not sinful as this desire is for an emptiness which is not classified as ‘Dukkha’ (suffering),
Desire which has been caused by Kilesa is ‘Dukkha’(suffering) as it is this Kilesa that creates and maintains this Desire and therefore, it is sinful.
In Dharma Practice, it is necessary to understand its principles otherwise it does not matter how long we have been practising we will never attain good result. Therefore, one of the most important elements in Dharma Practice is to know, and to understand reasons, that is, try to lead your Citta away from all the sadness as this is the cause of making the body and the mind to have a feeling. If we understand this element of Dharma Practice, peace will occur in the Citta and then Dharma will shine.
To be able to attain self-realisation and to nurse the Citta to stay in the state of an emptiness as a result of Dharma Practice can only be experienced by Dharma practitioners. This is like a saying in the Dharma Teachings:- ‘Rubhino Dharma Arubhino Dharma’ means ‘In a state with Rupa or No Rupa is Khan and Nibhana’.
Dharma protects the world. Dharma helps the world to be in an orderly manner, and thus escaping chaos and turmoil. Dharma principles are based on reasons and reality. If we would like to know reality we must learn and practice by ourselves.
Meditation (Samadhi) is the stabilisation of the Citta which means Vipassana. With the Vipassana principle we must differentiate and separate each element for consideration so that to escape from all the Dukkha and Kilesa which in turn will calm the Citta. Once the Citta is calm and in a state of peace and tranquillity, the Citta will be filled with joy and contentment.
When mentioning about the ‘Attainment of Boroma Sukha’ it does not mean that I have reached this level. This is not so. I am still in the ‘Vatthachak - circle of life and death’. I am still experiencing sorrow and suffering like all of you, but I am a Dharma seeker. I have been seeking for principles of truth and reality according to the Teachings of Lord Buddha for some times and came to realise that before utilising Dharma, we must know the reasons and stay within the limit of reality. Therefore, for this reason, I would like to urge all of you to use your wisdom, your endurance and keep practising and do not be careless and then faith would automatically develop in your heart. Like a Pali saying ‘Apamadho Cunopadhang - Carelessness is a path leading to destruction`. Continue your practice. Thana Paramee - Continue giving, Doing good deed; Sila Paramee- Keep guarding all codes of practice (Sila) then everything will be fine without doubt.
All I am asking is that you use your intelligence to differentiate between the causes and effects, and also to be very clear in your thinking that which path is leading to happiness and which path is leading to destruction. According to Dharma principles, Dharma is Bhava which are Sanghaha Dharma and the factors leading to its development are all the `Khan Ha’. Asanghaha Dharma has no factors, no development which is Nibbana. When Prince Siddhartha was a student, he excelled in all the subjects. No one could teach him any further as the knowledge he obtained were from outside which means knowledge gained from others. This is worldly knowledge which includes greed, hatred, delusion, rank and honour and gossiping which are all impermanent. In the world of Dharma, it does not matter how high is your education. If you want to study Dharma, you have to start from ‘Namo’. Study and practice at the same time while observing the reality. This is what we call ‘Studying and Practising Dharma’ in the process to realise the way to Lokutara Dharma - the way of escaping from all sufferings (Dukkha) . This is because when studying and practising Dharma, you must learn slowly how to cut off hatred, greed, stubbornness, personal property, rank and honour and even your eating habit which is three times daily to once a day instead. This is like one of the Dharma sayings ‘ Bhosane Nattun Yata’ which means knowing the quantity of eating which is not too much or too little. This is Dharma which Lord Buddha has been searching for and obtained it by himself. Lord Buddha once said ‘The knowledge which he gained from outside was unable to help him escaping from sufferings’. The worldly knowledge is composed of taking advantage of others, determination to win, to gain promotion, to be praised and honoured , to be selfish, to gossip, to revenge and all of which are endless. In Buddhism, there are two kinds of searching for knowledge which are ‘Ariyesana ’ searching for something precious which is ‘Samma ajiva’ which becomes ‘ Ariyesana’ in the Phra Sutra which is searching for something that has no values. Sickness , death are Dharma and Gunna Dharma which has Nibbana as highest and that has been grouped as ‘Ariya Bhariyesana’. Whereas ‘Anarya Pariyesana’ which is a searching for something not precious is ‘ Miccha ajiva - being selfish, corrupted, personal gains which is grouped as ‘ Anariyesana. Because of this, Prince Siddhartha decided to search knowledge for himself so as to free himself of all attachments, from all desires which is the principal causes of suffering. Prince Siddhartha left the chaotic mundane world and entered the forest where he could find peace , tranquillity and to find emptiness in his attempt to search for true wisdom until he attained the Enlightenment
After attaining Enlightenment, Lord Buddha realised that his Dharma is too detailed and thinking that he would not teach what he had attained to other beings in the world. Lord Buddha’s decision had caused the Brahma Loka (Brahma World) to be uncomfortable and Lord Brahma himself descended to the Human World and prayed Lord Buddha to change his mind to allow all world beings to have the opportunity to listen to his Dharma. This is why there are some Pali words ‘Brahma Ca Loka Dhipatisahum’ in Buddhism. Having been requested by Lord Brahma, Lord Buddha then changed his mind to teach his Dharma to all beings and he had classified these beings to four types of lotus flower:-
The first type of lotus is the one already above water level and once touched by the warm sunshine, it will blossom immediately,
The second type of lotus is the one just under the water. The next day it will blossom when touched by the sunshine,
The third type of lotus is the one just manages to merge itself from the mud, and it will not be long before it can reach the surface and will blossom once touched by the sunshine
The fourth type of lotus is the one which is still in the mud and will have no opportunity to come to the surface. It will remain food for marine creatures forever.
Worldly beings are classified into four main types which are:-
‘Ukhadhi Dhanyu’ once heard, they will understand immediately
‘Vipacidhanyu’ it will take a little bit of time for them to understand
‘Neyaca’ it will take more time for them to understand,
‘Patha Parama’ this group will not understand Dharma. They will live on according to their Karma. The light of Dharma cannot reach them.
Having realised that he can save at least three and a quarter of the world beings, Lord Buddha then decided to spread his Dharma to all beings. On the full moon day of the 8th month of the Year of the Dog (according to the Laotian tradition), Lord Buddha taught his Dharma to the ‘Five Pancavaki - Five Disciples.’ The Dharma that Lord Buddha attained himself is absolutely delicate above everything. It developed from an emptiness. Lord Buddha attained enlightenment through his own practice. No one knew, but Lord Buddha knew the enlightenment himself and he knew the happiness of others. These factors are Dharma in an emptiness which is very important and very useful because Dharma will not occur anywhere except in an emptiness.Therefore, I would like to leave with you some Dharma sayings:-
* Dharma will not occur in a Citta which is not empty
* Wisdom will not occur in a Citta which is not empty
* A Citta which is not empty cannot eliminate sufferings
* A Citta which is not empty cannot see Nibbana
* A Citta which is not empty will not gain happiness
* A Citta which is not empty cannot eliminate bad Karma
* A Citta which is not empty cannot get rid of Kilesa
* A Citta which is not empty will not have ‘Metta - Loving kindness or friendliness’
There is no other happiness than the happiness that the Citta has liberated itself of all the Kilesa. A liberated Citta is an empty Citta.This is why we have been practising vigorously in order to liberate our Citta of all the Kilesa. If we do not know the way out from the Kilesa how can our Citta be liberated.