SIXTH MEETING
                        Saturday, 15th June 1974


                   Tan Acharn gave the following talk

  In Buddhism the Lord revealed Dhamma in three categories. These are:

    1) //Pariyatti// -- this being the process of learning so as to gain
       knowledge and understanding the methods of practice.

    2) //Patipatti// -- when one has learnt the way one turns to do the
       practices which the Lord taught.

    3) //Pativedha// -- this being knowledge which is the successful
       result of the practice in which one knows clearly and
       penetratingly throughout.

  In the time of the Lord Buddha, the Lord did not teach the Savakas [*]
  a great deal. Unlike nowadays when they teach to pass exams of grade
  3, grade 2, and Periyan. [**] Instead, they learnt so as to practice
  and those who knew the Ti-Pitaka were many and they got no diploma to
  boost their vanity, but only knowledge and understanding which they
  learnt so as to be able to go further and further in the future.

        [*] Savakas -- (lit. Hearers of Dhamma) the successful disciples
            of the Lord Buddha.
        [**] These three are levels of scholarship attained by those who
            learn and pass exams in Pali studies.


  The Lord Buddha taught every one of the Savakas to contemplate: hair
  of the head (Kesa), hair of the body (Loma), nails (Nakha), teeth
  (Danta), and skin (Taco), which are things that we have in our bodies,
  but by ourselves we are incapable of realising that these things arise
  and cease continually and change in accordance with the truth of what
  they are. The Lord taught the Savakas to do this so that they should
  know the truth which these parts themselves display. When these things
  reveal themselves as having a nature which is unpleasant, then
  discontent arises. Nevertheless people grasp hold of them and consider
  them to be their treasure so that now they must decorate them, take
  care of them and look after them more and more.

  This teaching of the Lord's is given so that we should not feel
  worried and anxious when these things start to show abnormal functions
  and to go wrong. Kesa, Loma, Nakha, Danta, and Taco have inherent
  within them the characteristics of continual change quite regardless
  of the status of one's birth, social level, or skin colour. Those who
  learn them will get to know them truly because they are attached to
  our bodies. Birth, old age, change and uncertainty, are Dukkha and
  hardships as well as Dukkha in the hearts of people. Therefore the
  Lord Buddha taught every one of the Savaka Sangha these five
  "Kammatthana" and then sent them off to practice in the forest so as
  to learn "Kesa, Loma, Nakha, Danta, and Taco," contemplating them one
  by one in the forward order (Anuloma) and then returning, going
  through them in the reverse order (Patiloma). The Savaka Sangha went
  to practise in the hills, caves and gorges, wherever it was convenient
  and peaceful for those who worked, taking up these five or other
  Kammatthanas as the basis for striving, until clear knowledge arose,
  of both the body and the Citta.

  //Pariyatti// was what they learnt from the Lord Buddha, as mentioned
  previously, so as to get rid of stupidity and dullness in regard to
  those things which we have in our own bodies.

  //Patipatti// is the practice of sitting in Samadhi, walking Cankama,
  and investigating the above five things which are like a grindstone
  for sharpening wisdom to make it become keen and strong until it comes
  to know the truth of various things, skill and cleverness develop in
  the heart, and even Samadhi develops making the heart calm and cool.
  These are the results that come.

  //Pativedha Dhamma// is clear knowledge penetrating into all the
  Dhamma truths (Sacca Dhammas) until it reaches Vimutti -- complete
  freedom.

  All three of these Dhammas are necessary in association with each
  other and they cannot be separated out from the beginning to the end
  of the path. Whoever intends to get results from Dhamma should
  therefore practise accordingly without being deficient in any of them,
  and the results will then be clearly evident and always satisfying in
  every age.

  The things which the Lord taught from the time of the Buddha right up
  to the present time have not changed. Those who learn and practise
  should understand that this is the teaching which gives us the
  knowledge of how to practise in regard to the body and Citta, at such
  times as dislike, desire, anger and delusion arise, because they are
  sure to arise countless times in our lives making us feel that this is
  Dukkha and dangerous. This is because we are not circumspect, not
  being guarded in thoughts and the imaginings of the heart, so we must
  learn to know that such and such actions give rise to ill effects
  (faults) or to what is valuable as the case may be. The practice of
  the way of Buddhism is therefore the practice on ourselves so as to go
  the way of the development of a calm and cool heart giving increasing
  benefits to oneself which is appropriate for the religion that teaches
  people to be clever in guarding themselves so as to get free from
  danger.

                                 * * *


                         Questions and Answers


  Q1 M1:
  With regard to the Citta which does not die, being immortal which you
  explained yesterday. This leads me to understand this to confirm that
  the Citta is the same as the "Soul." Please would you clear up and
  amplify this point a bit more.

  A:
  What is the "Soul"?

  M1:
  The "Soul" is the one that must associate with God. Each person has
  one "Soul" and when they die the "Soul" waits for God to judge it and
  then it is sent to heaven or hell.

  A:
    1. "Citta," or "Mano-Vinnana" is the "one who knows" and this is the
        "Citta" or "heart."

    2. As for "Vinnana," the consciousness which comes from the impact
       of sensation through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind,
       it arises in association with these things and then dies away and
       ceases. This is what is called "Vinnana" in the five Khandhas,
       and is different from the former. [*]

        [*] The answer to this question up to this point has been
            altered from that given in the Thai text. Tan Acharn Maha
            Boowa said that there were mistakes in the Text and these
            have been corrected in the translation.


  But "Patisandhi Vinnana (which comes under the first heading above) is
  the Citta which goes to take birth each time in any one of various
  possible places and characteristic forms. Because this Citta has
  "seeds" attached to it -- in other words "Kamma" which has been done
  and which can send it off to be born in various different states.

  In Buddhism it is explained that beings are born in various different
  circumstances and states because of Patisandhi Vinnana or in other
  words, this Citta has the nature of Anicca, Dukkha, and Anatta. Then
  Kamma is the "force" which drives it on. But when this Citta has been
  "washed clean" so that it is made pure (Parisuddhi), free from Kilesas
  and Kamma which would otherwise attach themselves to it, this Citta
  which is pure knows of itself that it will not go to be born again and
  that it is free and that it is finally and absolutely beyond the rule
  of Anicca, Dukkha, and Anatta.

  As long as the Citta, or Patisandhi Vinnana is still not pure in every
  way, it must live under the rule of Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta. But
  this Citta is very subtle, and how can it be Anatta? It may be
  illustrated by the following simile which gives a comparison with
  emptiness.

  Suppose that a man was told to go and look in a room and say whether
  it was empty or not, and in this room there is nothing at all. He goes
  in and says "The room is empty." But the person who sent him in says:
  "How can it be empty when you are standing there in the middle of it?"
  He then becomes aware of himself and leaves the room after which the
  room is truly empty.

  The Citta which gets rid of "Attanuditthi" (belief in self) entirely
  has nothing mundane or relative left at all, therefore it is said to
  be an "empty Citta," or a Citta which is pure throughout. Because Atta
  and Anatta are not there in the Citta, the Citta is absolutely free
  from both conditions of Atta and Anatta.


  Q2 W1:
  What is Dukkha?

  A:
  Dukkha exists in everybody. If we speak from the standpoint of Dhamma,
  Dukkha is a true thing and everybody has Dukkha, but our hearts do not
  see what the truth is, so they continually contradict Dukkha. The
  deluded Citta does not know the truth of Dukkha so it has to search
  for a way to cure it, but one cannot find a way to cure it by oneself
  because one does not know the root cause of Dukkha. Then Dukkha
  becomes oneself and one has Dukkha all the time whether one knows what
  it is or not.

  As to your question, what is this Dukkha? Please examine carefully at
  such times as you have Dukkha what this Dukkha is; and who can you go
  and ask about it if you have this Dukkha and do not know it yourself?
  Because these things exist in everybody without exception. If one
  "knows," then one practises the way that the Lord Buddha taught. This
  practice is the way to come to know Dukkha with certainty that there
  is no other way.


  Q3 M2:
  What is "Intuition"? For example, when one has a problem and one
  cannot think out how to overcome it. Then one goes to sleep and when
  one wakes the answer to the problem comes of itself and it is also the
  right way to overcome it.

  A:
  This often happens in those who practise but it is an internal thing,
  special to each individual and it would not be right to talk about it
  to other people.


  Q4 M3:
  "Samsara" is "knowing," is it not? And Anicca, Dukkha and Anatta are
  "knowing" and when one dreams it is the knowing itself that does the
  work.

  A:
  In the circle of those who practise, to say that "Samsara is knowing"
  is right. When the Citta is not deluded it is this "knowing" that will
  be relinquished. But please be careful to use wisdom to contemplate
  until you are able to understand in this way and do not be too easily
  satisfied, because it may lead you to go wrong later on. You must use
  wisdom here like a //knife// -- in other words, //you must use all
  sides of it.// You must use the sharp side on yourself to cut and get
  rid of; and the back of the blade on other people. But people
  generally use the sharp edge on other people, and when it comes to
  themselves they use the handle or the back of the blade.

  Before one comes to know that the Citta is Samsara, wisdom will
  probably have to contemplate external things until it knows them
  clearly and lets go of them. Then it comes and sees danger in the true
  ringleader of Samsara -- which is the Citta. When one sees that the
  Citta is Samsara, it is called "seeing in the reverse manner"
  (Patiloma), in other words, returning back inwards to get to know
  oneself and ending all doubts at the same time. One must contemplate
  both internally and externally. Externally there are the surrounding
  objects of nature, these being basically earth, water, air, and fire.
  Internally means within one's Citta and one should know what it is
  that one must get rid of. This is like a drinking glass that falls and
  breaks -- one must look and see it as it is. If one imagines that it
  is someone's fault in that they made it fall and break, one will be
  troubled and upset. But if one sees that it went its own way according
  to its nature, one frees one's heart entirely and then there is no
  need to be upset for it broke in accordance with its nature. It is
  important for the Citta to turn round and catch up with it and see it
  in the right way.

  Then at last one knows the one who creates imagination -- this being
  the Sankhara -- the one who creates stories. The stories then cease
  forthwith and they no longer follow on from one another building a
  series of thoughts branching out wider and wider.

  Discussing Dhamma today in its essence has been more and more
  interesting, both for those who ask, for the one who answers, and for
  those who listen. But there should also be something about practice.

  What is practice? It is that which brings results to oneself, letting
  one know and see fully. If those who practise tell each other of the
  results which they have attained and report to the teacher, this will
  correct any faults or give clarity and confidence to them. Because
  each person who practises gains results according to the basic nature
  (Bhumi) of his Citta and his Dhamma which differ from person to
  person. So the teacher has to give explanations continuously to
  encourage those who practise so that they can strengthen their
  resolve, because he knows the results which he attained for himself
  and those which the pupil has attained by practising in the same way
  to be the same. Also because the teacher who knows clearly, has
  already gone the whole way, and he is able to talk the pupil into
  penetrating through and letting go of everything until he can also
  penetrate through and gain freedom. Buddhism is not "Mogharaja" (a
  useless Kingdom), but it is genuine and true and capable of giving
  release from Dukkha. But people to a great extent change Buddhism into
  a tool for arguing with each other.

  I would like to explain this to you so that you would understand all
  the reasoning -- but I have no way to do so because my command of
  English is no use and I have to speak depending on the translator.

  Concerning "Vimutti" (release or freedom), the Lord Buddha revealed
  this fully -- because the Lord knew it truly and the Savaka Arahants
  also knew it in the same way. They never disputed amongst themselves
  about it and they all equally revealed it in the same way, but other
  people crowd together doubting everything. None of the Arahants have
  any doubt at all for they have seen that "Nibbanam Paramam Sukham"
  (Nibbana is the ultimate happiness).

  "Nibbana Paramam Sunnam," which all of us have learnt to know as
  "emptiness" (Sunya), in the way that people in the world generally
  understand it, meaning that everything has disappeared. It is like
  this glass tumbler here, if anyone takes it or it breaks we are then
  empty of this glass, and this is the way the conventional world
  (Sammuti) sees it.

  But "emptiness" in the manner of "Vimutti," as was known by the Lord
  Buddha and the Savaka Arahants, is of a different kind. //The
  happiness (Sukha) which comes from Emptiness// the ordinary person has
  never seen. So we are bound to be doubtful and to deny it in spite of
  the fact that the Lord Buddha always taught true things. For our
  hearts which are still not pure cannot yet accept it and have not
  reached understanding of it and the Citta which is still false is not
  yet likely to accept true things as its objective support (Arammana).
  It is like excellent food, well prepared, that drops on the ground --
  we do not like to eat it then. The Dhamma of the Lord Buddha is pure,
  but if the Citta of a person is dirty they cannot accept each other in
  a good way. But whenever the Citta and the Dhamma are both pure they
  can blend well together. Therefore none of the Arahants have the
  slightest doubt in regard to the Vimutti that the Lord Buddha
  constantly taught.


  Q5 M4:
  The belief in "Self," where does it come from?

  A:
  It comes from oneself. Suppose that we went out looking for a horse
  and we found a horse. Then we do not catch it but go back retracing
  its footprints saying: "It will be a horse that came from there, won't
  it?" What use will this be? Or again, if we go out walking and get
  stuck with a thorn, what should we do? Pull the thorn out and put
  medicine on the wound or investigate to find out what the thorn is,
  where it comes from and so on? If we do the latter, the wound may go
  septic and spread until eventually we may have to have a leg cut off.
  If we do not want to lose a leg we should do the former, but if we do
  not mind we can do the latter.


  Q6 W1:
  The thorn hurts also, does it not? As for Atta, it is difficult to
  understand and I do not understand what it is that makes one speak to
  let other people know.

  A:
  (Tan Acharn remained silent, as it would have been of no use to make
  any comment.)


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