Wisdom—One of the Great Blessings of Citta

Wisdom is one of the great blessings of the citta.

True inner happiness is a lovely quality which allows the citta to unfold and be free from anxiety, criticism, doubt, anger and so forth. As the citta unfolds, its wisdom capacities become more available, more revealed. You can imagine the citta as something that gets contracted, distracted and tangled up. Even when it’s excited, it doesn’t have the deep, comfortable happiness of this process of practice we’re going through.

First of all, we establish our foundation and maintain our faith. The citta is able to do that.

We have a certain faith and determination, the confidence that we can be here, and it’s going to be for our welfare. Even though at times it’s going to feel difficult and painful, or confusing and pointless, we persevere with faith and determination – not in a jaw-grinding way, but by steadily reminding ourselves, ‘Don’t believe in that mood. It arose: you weren’t permanently in this mood. Because it’s arisen, it’s going to pass.’

If you were happy, you wouldn’t be worrying about being in this state, would you? But when you feel unhappy, you worry about it. Happiness and unhappiness arise and pass. We’re not always happy; we’re not always unhappy.

Happiness has many features and faces. The deeper happiness of serenity comes from faith and confidence and is associated with clarity of realization; it is enhanced by the skilful process of practice that we’re in. The citta spreads over the experience; it spreads over the moods and the mind-states.

Wisdom is not just intellectual knowledge. It’s the capacity for constantly assessing, ‘How is this?’ It wants to get a sense of how something really is. And then, having assessed how it is, there may be the arising of thoughts like, ‘What’s needed is this’ or ‘What’s helpful is this’ or sometimes you don’t know: you need to wait and test a few things.

Making less, clearing away, discarding what’s not necessary, firming up what is helpful: this is the ongoing process that we call ‘meditation’. This is what leads to collectedness (samādhi).

What is not necessary? That which tangles, agitates, leads away and doesn’t settle. What is helpful? That which enables the citta to settle, to unfold. It has to settle down to be able to unfold. What does that? Patience and skilful relationship.

We’re not forcing, we’re not hanging back; we’re not pushing forward, we’re not dithering. Or if we are, we’re trying to stop doing that.

This reflection by Ajahn Sucitto is from the book, The Most Precious Gift, (pdf) pp. 372-373.