The Path to Peace

If you are mindful, you will see the different objects which pass into the mind and the reaction which takes place upon experiencing them. The 'one who will automatically take them up as objects for contemplation. Once the mind is vigilant and mindfulness is firmly established, you will note all the reactions displayed through either body, speech or mind, as mind-objects are experienced. That aspect of the mind which identifies and selects the good from the bad, the right from the wrong, from amongst all the mind-objects within your field of awareness, is pañña. This is pañña in its initial stages and it matures as a result of the practice. All these different aspects of the practice arise from within the mind. The Buddha referred to these characteristics as sīla, samādhi and paññā. This is the way they are, as practised in the beginning.

As you continue the practice, fresh attachments and new kinds of delusion begin to arise in the mind. This means you start clinging to that which is good or wholesome. You become fearful of any blemishes or faults in the mind - anxious that your samādhi will be harmed by them. At the same time you begin to be diligent and hard working, and to love and nurture the practice. Whenever the mind makes contact with mind-objects, you become fearful and tense. You become aware of other people's faults as well, even the slightest things they do wrong. It's because you are concerned for your practice. This is practising sīla, samādhi and paññā on one level - on the outside - based on the fact that you have established your views in accordance with the form and foundations of practice laid down by the Buddha. Indeed, these are the roots of the practice and it is essential to have them established in the mind.

You continue to practise like this as much as possible, until you might even reach the point where you are constantly judging and picking fault with everyone you meet, wherever you go. You are constantly reacting with attraction and aversion to the world around you, becoming full of all kinds of uncertainty and continually attaching to views of the right and wrong way to practise. It's as if you have become obsessed with the practice. But you don't have to worry about this yet - at that point it's better to practise too much than too little. Practise a lot and dedicate yourself to looking after body, speech and mind. You can never really do too much of this. This is said to be practising sīla on one level; in fact, sīla, samādhi and paññā are all in there together.

If you were to describe the practice of sīla at this stage, in terms of pāramī⁸ (spiritual perfections), it would be dāna pāramī (the spiritual perfection of giving), or sīla pāramī (the spiritual perfection of moral restraint). This is the practice on one level. Having developed this much, you can go deeper in the practice to the more profound level of dāna upapāramī⁹ and sīla upapāramī. These arise out of the same spiritual qualities, but the mind is practising on a more refined level. You simply concentrate and focus your efforts to obtain the refined from the coarse.

Once you have gained this foundation in your practice, there will be a strong sense of shame and fear of wrong-doing established in the heart. Whatever the time or place - in public or in private - this fear of wrong doing will always be in the mind. You become really afraid of any wrong doing. This is a quality of mind that you maintain throughout every aspect of the practice. The practice of mindfulness and restraint with body, speech and mind and the consistent distinguishing between right and wrong is what you hold as the object of mind. You become concentrated in this way and by firmly and unshakeably attaching to this way of practice, it means the mind actually becomes sīla, samādhi and paññā - the characteristics of the practice as described in the conventional teachings.

Footnotes

...samana¹

Recluse, monk or holy one - one who has left the home life to pursue the Higher Life.

...ārammana²

Ārammana: mind-objects; the object which is presented to the mind (citta) at any moment. This object is derived from the five senses or direct from the mind (memory, thought, feelings). It is not the external object (in the world), but that object after having been processed by one's preconceptions and predispositions.

...bhikkhus'³

Bhikkhu: Buddhist monk, alms mendicant.

...Arahants⁴

Arahant: Worthy one, one who is full enlightened.

...⁵

Venerable: in Thai, 'Phra'.

...khandhas⁶

Khandhas: Groups or aggregates: form (rūpa), feeling (vedanā), perception (saññā), thought formations (sankhārā) and consciousness (viññāna). These groups are the five groups that constitute what we call a person.

...⁷

Magga-phāla: Path and fruition: the four transcendent paths - or rather one path and four different levels of refinement - leading to 'nobility' (ariya) or the end of suffering, i.e., the insight knowledge which cuts through the fetters (samyojana); and the four corresponding fruitions arising from those paths - refers to the mental state, cutting through defilements, immediately following the attainment of any of these paths.

...pāramı⁸

Pāramī: refers to the ten spiritual perfections: generosity, moral restraint, renunciation, wisdom, effort, patience, truthfulness, determination, kindness and equanimity.

...upaparamı⁹

Upapāramī: refers to the same ten spiritual perfections, but practised on a deeper, more intense and profound level (practised to the highest degree, they are called paramattha pāramī)

...jhāna¹⁰

Jhāna: Various levels of meditative absorption. The five factors of jhāna are initial and sustained application of mind, rapture, pleasure and equanimity.

...dhātu¹¹

Dhātu: Elements, natural essence. The elementary properties which make up the inner sense of the body and mind: earth (material), water (cohesion), fire (energy) and air (motion), space and consciousness.

...citta¹²

Gotrabhū citta: Change-of-lineage (state of consciousness preceding jhāna or Path).