Knowing the World¹

All things just as they are display the truth. But we have biases and preferences about how we want them to be. Lokavid? means knowing the world clearly. The world is these phenomena (sabh?va) abiding as they are. To sum it up simply, the world is arom². That's an easy way to put it. The world is arom. If we say ''world,'' that's pretty vast. ''Arom are the world'' is a lot simpler. The world is arom. Being deluded by the world is being deluded by arom; being deluded by arom is being deluded by the world. Lokavid?, knowing the world clearly: however the world is, that's what we should know. It exists according to its conditions. So we should have full, present awareness of it.

Such as the teaching that we should know sankh?ras for what they are, develop wisdom that knows sankh?ras. Whatever the truth of sankh?ras is, however they really are, that's the truth we should know. That's called wisdom that accepts and knows without obstacles.

We need to develop a mind that has tranquility as well as wisdom in control of things together. We talk about s?la, sam?dhi, paññ?, and about samatha meditation and vipassan? meditation. But they are really all the same matter. They are the same, but we divide them into different categories and get confused. I've often made a simple analogy about it - there are things to compare it to - which can make it easier to contemplate and understand.

A little mango later becomes a large, ripe mango. Is the little mango the same piece of fruit as the large one? From the time it's just a bud flowering on the tree, it's the same one mango. As it grows into a small mango and then gets bigger and bigger, almost ripe, then finally ripe, it's only undergoing change.

The aspects of practice we talk about are the same. S?la simply means giving up wrongdoing. A person without s?la is in a hot condition. When someone gives up wrongdoing and evil ways, that brings coolness. Cool, without harm or ill effects. The blessing that comes from this freedom from harmful effects is a tranquil mind - that is sam?dhi. When the mind is in sam?dhi, clean and pure, it will see many things. It's like water that is still and undisturbed. You can see your face in it. You can see things further away reflected as well. You can see the roof of the building over there. If a bird alights on the roof you can see it.

These factors are really all one, just like the one mango. The tiny fruit is that same one mango. The growing fruit is the same mango. The ripe fruit is the same mango. From green to yellow, it's the same mango; it's undergoing change, and that's why we see difference.

Having this kind of simple understanding can put us at ease. Doubts will diminish. If instead we are relying on texts and seeking detailed explanations, we are likely to end up in confusion. So we have to watch our own minds. ''Bhikkhus! You should be watching over your minds. Those who watch over their minds shall escape the snares of M?ra.'' Both M?ra and his snares. And it depends on our own investigation.

My way of practice was a little strange. After I ordained and started to practise, I had a lot of doubts and questions. But I didn't like to ask anyone about them very much. Even when I met Ajahn Mun, I didn't ask him many questions. I wanted to ask, but I didn't. I sat and listened to his teaching. I had questions, but I didn't ask. Asking someone else is like borrowing someone else's knife to cut something. We never come to have our own knife. That's the way I felt. So I didn't ask many questions of others. If I stayed with a teacher for a year or two, I'd listen to his discourses and try to work things out for myself. I would seek my own answers. I was different from other disciples, but I was able to develop wisdom; this way made me resourceful and clever. I didn't become heedless, rather I contemplated things until I could see for myself, increasing my understanding and removing my doubts.

My advice is to not let yourself get wrapped up in doubts and questions. Let them go and directly contemplate whatever you are experiencing. Any physical pleasure or pain you experience, don't make a big deal out of it. When you sit in meditation and start to feel tired or uncomfortable, adjust your position. Endure as much as you can, and then move. Don't overdo it. Develop a lot of mindfulness - that's the point. Doing your walking and sitting meditation as much as you can, the aim is to be developing mindfulness as much as you can, knowing things fully. That's enough.

Footnotes

...¹

A large section of this Dhamma talk has previously been published under the title 'Seeking the Source'

... arom²

(Thai) - All states (or objects) of mind, whether happy or unhappy, internal or external.

... them³

literally ''count''

... deterioration⁴

Because they are still in the realm of concepts.

... there⁵

With his feet on something solid.