Creating a Refuge on Every Occasion

Ven. Ajahn Liam Thitadhammo, abbot of Wat Nong Pah Pong in Thailand.

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(This article is adapted from a talk given on June 26 on the occasion of the installation of the new Buddha image at Abhayagiri.)

We’ve gathered together tonight in this place of solitude and nature to establish an understanding in the Buddha’s teachings. These teachings are based on the natural order of things. While we sit here in this natural place, we may not find it completely convenient or comfortable. We may find some things coarse and some things refined, some things agreeable, others disagreeable. By studying our reactions to nature, we can understand how to live in a way that leads to happiness and freedom. In order to establish a sense of peace and independence, we first look at the body. We step back and acknowledge that the body is a part of nature. In seeing the body like this, we are able to disentangle ourselves from the feeling of this is me, this is who I am, this is myself, and this is others. When we’re able to step back like this, we see in accordance with Truth and in accordance with the characteristics common to nature: impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and non-self. We see how all things arise in the beginning, are established in the middle, and dissolve in the end. We see the Dhamma of the dhammas, or the natural way of things. Seeing in this way helps us to step back from the moods, impressions and feelings that lead to that which is unskillful and unwholesome and that which creates a sense of suffering in the heart. While material things are the coarser qualities of life, the mental qualities are the more refined aspects of our being. The mental qualities don’t have any characteristics like white or black, dark or light; they’re immaterial. But even though they don’t have a material base, mental qualities are still powerful because they can create that which is painful and disadvantageous to us. On the other hand, they also have the power to create happiness. We need to look after and care for the mind. We need to establish a Page 2 of 7

sense of awareness and attentiveness to the wholesome and unwholesome qualities of the mind. The disadvantageous feelings in the mind are the lower dhammas. Those are the dhammas of the ordinary, run-of the-mill suffering being. We think the world is impinging onus, but this is just a feeling in the mind. We get caught in the moods of liking; we get caught in the moods of disliking. The moods of liking can have a painful result; the moods of disliking can also have a painful result. When we’re entangled in these moods of liking and disliking, then we create and become a slave to suffering. We have to recognize that a mind overwhelmed with suffering, agitation or a sense of incompleteness is a mind not yet fully developed. When we recognize a feeling of incompleteness, then we need to meet it with the desire to train ourselves in the practice of the Buddha’s teaching. We need to bring up the quality of mindfulness, or sati. Sati is something that gives tremendous benefit and support for the wholesome conditions in the mind. When we establish mindfulness we can have a clear awareness of the moods of the mind as well as a clear awareness of the world around us. With mindfulness as the foundation, we can see the movements of the mind. When we see the mind moving towards liking, it doesn’t have a painful result. When we have awareness and mindfulness, we can see the mood or feeling of disliking arising in the mind. It can be seen as only a mood, and it doesn’t necessarily have to grow into something that is painful or problematic. We recognize that a pleasant feeling is just a visitor to the mind. Unpleasant feelings are also just guests. When we have mindfulness and see that a friendly guest is arriving, then we can be at our ease a bit. But when we recognize that a guest to our home is an enemy, then we have to be very, very cautious and attentive. In relating to the moods of the mind with awareness, we begin Page 3 of 7

to see their true nature and in particular the nature of their dissolving and ending. When something is continually dissolving and ending, we can’t really call that “me” or “mine” or “myself.” We don’t create a sense of self in those moods. We see them as an aspect of nature that arises and ceases. Mindfulness undermines attachment and clinging. We step back from our feelings of gladness, of sadness, of delight or depression. This gives us a place of firmness and stability, a place of independence. When we see clearly like this then the attachment or the influence of the worldly dhammas dissipates in the same way that shining a light into a darkened room immediately dissolves the darkness. When we are established in this awareness and clarity, in the quality of what we call “Buddha,” then the unwholesome, negative aspects of the worldly dhammas dissolve. Relying on mindfulness and clear comprehension, we can be one who is “awakened,” one who has a sense of happiness and peace. Mindfulness and right understanding—sati and sammaditthi—are intertwined with each other. We establish mindfulness at the arising of things at the sense doors. The sense doors, of course, are where our whole world comes into being: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind. These internal sense doors come into contact with sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch and mental objects. When, as an example, the eye sees a desirable form, there can arise feelings of desire, attraction or lust. We do not allow the feelings of liking and disliking to overwhelm the mind. Instead, we recognize and maintain recognition of the things that we contact through the senses. We see that these are things that are impermanent, changing, unstable and therefore not self. And we also recognize that when we forget and get drawn into the assumption and illusion of self, then it brings up a quality, a feeling of suffering, or dissatisfaction. The feeling of liking or disliking something tends to cover over the true nature of things. That leaves us in a place of dependence or feeling a lack of freedom. We hem Page 4 of 7

ourselves in with attachment and clinging. One very strong form of clinging is the assumption of self. With sense contact, a feeling of “me” arises. Whether it’s me being happy or me being unhappy, it’s always a feeling of me and my ownership of things. This is burdensome. When we assume ownership over anything, be it pleasant or unpleasant, we don’t recognize that this is just a feeling that arises, establishes itself and passes away. In the worldly dhammas, one of the things we experience as confining or a threat to self is praise and blame. But for one who is established in knowing, watching, awareness and wisdom, a different feeling arises—a sense of evenness. One who has wisdom recognizes that the person who is criticizing us is just following the duty or responsibility of one who has the duty to criticize, the inclination to criticize. We don’t have to make a big fuss over it. It’s just a worldly dhamma being displayed for us to see. We can recognize that somebody who feels it is necessary to criticize and blame comes from a place of suffering. When we look on somebody who is suffering, we can see them as not well. Just as a nurse or doctor would look at a sick person with compassion, we can see the suffering of this person who has lost their freedom and independence. A doctor or nurse would not feel obliged to react to the moods of the patient. There would be a feeling of evenness. So too in responding to praise or blame, there needs to be this evenness. We need to see the non-self aspect in praise and blame so that we can establish an unshakable quality of stability. Establishing ourselves in mindfulness and clear comprehension is the basic foundation of Right View—seeing in accordance with Truth, or the way things really are. As we establish ourselves in this quality of Right View, then there is a sense of being the one who knows, the one who sees clearly and thus is established in the quality of happiness and brightness. The Page 5 of 7

quality of wrong view is a way of seeing that hinders the feeling of independence and freedom. How do views come into being? When the senses come in contact with objects, we may have the feeling of “me” and “myself” being impinged upon by something external. When we view things in this way, we tend to have agitation in the mind. We have a feeling of not wanting to be in contact with certain things. The feeling of being in contact with that view diminishes our experience of freedom. It is an obstruction to a sense of well-being, and we experience suffering. There are many gradations of suffering: sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair. These feelings arise from desire, or tanha, a thirst that inevitably leads to suffering. So we need to establish awareness as the mind moves towards desire or the craving mind. We need to question these feelings, really bring up a question in the mind, and ask, “Who do these feelings belong to? Who is this that is feeling these things? Why is it moving in this direction?” The Buddha asks us to question the assumptions behind our desires and to be attentive to the body. Normally we assume we are the body. But we need to question how valid that assumption is. Am I the hair of the head? Is the skin me? The teeth, is that me? These are classic meditation objects. When we investigate, we start to recognize there isn’t something solid that we can call “ourselves.” There are just various conditions that come together and dissolve. We see that the assumptions we make aren’t so valid. When we step back from the assumption of selfhood and see things in their true nature, there’s a feeling of dispassion or disentangling, and this is a cause for a sense of real happiness and lightness in the heart. The foundation of Right View is to pay attention to suffering, the conditions of suffering, the experience of suffering, so that we can understand clearly its causes. It is something that is coming to teach us, and it is Page 6 of 7

incumbent on us to be willing to learn from suffering. We come to see that our suffering is just something that we are experiencing, something that arises and passes away without any solidity to it. It’s something that is always changing in the same way the world around us changes from daytime into nighttime. Daytime is light, and nighttime is dark. That’s just how nature functions. We pay attention to suffering so that we’re not under the power of suffering. When we’re not under the power of suffering, we can establish ourselves in awareness and clarity. When we see things clearly, we recognize that nothing has the sense of selfhood within it. When we step back from the different aspects of desire, we have a sense of peace or contentment. Desire has the function to not feel full or complete in the same way that a fire has the duty to consume whatever fuels it until it burns out. If we continue to feed desire with our wrong views, then it’s going to continue to produce suffering. When we see desire clearly, then it ceases to have any power over us. It’s just a phenomenon of nature. This is why it is so important to be established in clear mindfulness and clear knowing. We need to recognize that the different kinds of desire pull us into liking and disliking, wanting and not wanting. The Buddha elucidated the different types of desire: desire for being (bhava-tanha) and desire for non-being (vibhava-tanha)—that pushing and pulling of the heart that is agitating and destructive. As we see clearly, then we are not held in its sway. The heart establishes itself in dispassion or disenchantment and turns to Truth, turns to the true nature of things, what the Buddha called sacca-dhamma, the Truth of the dhamma. One who sees clearly does not see any enemies. One does not see anybody who is a danger to us. When we live in truth, we live with a sense of compassion and friendliness towards the world, and this is a basis for our well-being and happiness. We live Page 7 of 7

in the world without fear or suspicion. This is a complete, fulfilled way of living. The Buddha encouraged us to cultivate this: dwelling in the dhamma of liberation, the dhamma of freedom, mokkhadhamma. When we establish ourselves in these qualities, then we are one who is content, peaceful and happy wherever we go, whether we’re on our own or living within society. As we establish ourselves in these qualities, then we are able to view the world as something which is not a problem for us. We look at the world and see other people as our friends and relatives. We’re not separated from people through feeling any sense of adversity. So this is a happiness that arises from seeing clearly, seeing correctly. This quality of being a complete and fulfilled human being arises from practice and training in the ways that the Buddha laid down for us. We look on the world—and our life—as an opportunity to cultivate these qualities of peace, well-being, completeness and maturity. The Buddha encourages us to learn from our attachments and use every occasion as an opportunity to create a sense of safety, refuge and comfort.