“Tuccho Pothila’’ - Venerable Empty-Scripture¹

Observing the mind is like this. Closing off the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and body, we leave only the mind. To ''close off'' the senses means to restrain and compose them, observing only the mind. Meditation is like catching the lizard. We use sati to note the breath. Sati is the quality of recollection, as in asking yourself, ''What am I doing?'' Sampajañña is the awareness that ''now I am doing such and such.'' We observe the in and out breathing with sati and sampajañña.

This quality of recollection is something that arises from practice, it's not something that can be learned from books. Know the feelings that arise. The mind may be fairly inactive for a while and then a feeling arises. Sati works in conjunction with these feelings, recollecting them. There is sati, the recollection that ''I will speak,'' ''I will go,'' ''I will sit'' and so on, and then there is sampajañña, the awareness that ''now I am walking,'' ''I am lying down,'' ''I am experiencing such and such a mood.'' With these two things, sati and sampajañña, we can know our minds in the present moment. We will know how the mind reacts to sense impressions.

That which is aware of sense objects is called ''mind.'' Sense objects ''wander into'' the mind. For instance, there is a sound, like the electric planer here. It enters through the ear and travels inwards to the mind, which acknowledges that it is the sound of an electric planer. That which acknowledges the sound is called ''mind.''

Now this mind which acknowledges the sound is still quite basic. It's just the average mind. Perhaps annoyance arises within this one who acknowledges. We must further train ''the one who acknowledges'' to become ''the one who knows'' in accordance with the truth - known as Buddho. If we don't clearly know in accordance with the truth then we get annoyed at sounds of people, cars, electric planer and so on. This is just the ordinary, untrained mind acknowledging the sound with annoyance. It knows in accordance with its preferences, not in accordance with the truth. We must further train it to know with vision and insight, ñānadassana³, the power of the refined mind, so that it knows the sound as simply sound. If we don't cling to sound there is annoyance. The sound arises and we simply note it. This is called truly knowing the arising of sense objects. If we develop the Buddho, clearly realizing the sound as sound, then it doesn't annoy us. It arises according to conditions, it is not a being, an individual, a self, an ''us'' or ''them.'' It's just sound. The mind lets go.

This knowing is called Buddho, the knowledge that is clear and penetrating. With this knowledge we can let the sound be simply sound. It doesn't disturb us unless we disturb it by thinking, ''I don't want to hear that sound, it's annoying.'' Suffering arises because of this thinking. Right here is the cause of suffering, that we don't know the truth of this matter, we haven't developed the Buddho. We are not yet clear, not yet awake, not yet aware. This is the raw, untrained mind. This mind is not yet truly useful to us.

Footnotes

...¹

An informal talk given at Ajahn Chah's kuti, to a group of lay people, one evening in 1978

...samana²

One who lives devoted to religious practices. The term is used also to refer to one who has developed a certain amount of virtue from such practices. Ajahn Chah usually translates the term as ''one who is peaceful.''

...ñānadassana³

Literally: knowledge and insight (into the Four Noble Truths).

... Mind⁴

One of the four foundations of mindfulness: body, feeling, mind, and dhammas.

...kāmachanda⁵

Kāmachanda: Sensual desire, one of the five hindrances, the other four being ill will, doubt, restlessness and worry, and doubt.

...khandhas⁶

The five khandhas, or ''heaps'': form, feeling, perception, conception, and consciousness.

...sīla-dhamma⁷

Sīla-dhamma: The practice of virtue.

... Wisdom⁸

Sīla, samādhi, paññā.