We can’t rush things and expect to achieve something because we need more preparation time. I have doubts and don’t fully trust the people practicing in THIS LIFE. I’ve written THIS LIFE in red ink. I have severe misgivings if practitioners study the core teachings but focus on tranquility or insight meditation objects instead. After all, without the foundational teachings, how would you know what to practice? Please avoid telling me, “I only meditate; studying is a waste of time.”
Recognizing oneself and the movements of the body and mind is one of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. We pick things up, set them down, bite, chew, swallow, wash, use a towel, open doors, turn off lights, lift, step, kick, sit, stand, touch, and so on when we observe the body’s functions. All bodily activities are still identifiable, but what about the mental ones? How can we identify mental activities when we don’t study the teachings? How can we pay attention the cognitive activities of arrogance, negligence, greed, rage, ignorance, sensual desire, conceit, wrong views, doubt, regret, envy, greediness, and so forth? In addition, the twelve dependent originations, the 37 factors of enlightenment, the list of unwholesome dhammas, the process of form, humans, and realms are all included in the basic teachings. In general, we need to have a firm understanding of what the Four Noble Truths teach.
Examining the mental processes to understand what is meant to be called the mind. Both ordinary people and holy individuals are conscious beings. How does the mind develop from the minute we are born? Then how does our mind develop every minute from birth to adulthood? How does our consciousness function when our senses perceive forms and sounds or when sitting quietly and thinking about something? Wholesome and unwholesome dhammas constantly influence our mind. What is the instant mind? What is the mental process? How do minds function in many realms? How do the minds of various animals work? Different species have different brains. Alternatively, just as pigs and mice cannot have the entire human mind, neither can people possess the whole Brahma mind. As an illustration, saints own minds that ordinary people don’t hold, and vice versa. That’s gaining knowledge of the path of mind.
The process of the matter clearly discerns that the physical body is born from the womb. Egg-born means birth from an egg. Womb-born is born from the womb or born as a whole child. Moist and wet conditions born means birth from moisture (wetness). Born by transformation means appearing naturally and suddenly. How are the physical forms of various animals or the material world doing? Every species undergoes physical changes, and we need to be aware of these changes from the moment of birth until death. It is referred to as the form process.
Understanding humans and realms entails thoroughly understanding the existence of an infinite number of universes, each of which has 31 realms. It is separated into three sections within those 31 realms: sensual realm, material world and formlessness realm. Which realms are part of the sensual realm? Which realms fall under the category of the material realm? Which themes exist under the heading of the formlessness realm? Which kinds of creatures are present in each realm? For instance, living things in the human realm are not a part of the material universe. That’s how learning about humans and realms is done.
Discovering how our existence synthesizes our six senses by studying the 12 Dependent originations. Sometimes, we have the sense of sight; other times, we have the sense of hearing. We continue to construct new lives even when unaware of how we lived in the past. Like humans, an Arhat has eyes, ears, noses, and tongues but will not experience another rebirth after death. Even if we have six senses as well, how do we live? With what intention? For what purposes? Which impulses? What effects? There will be six new senses after the six senses that currently exist in humans pass away. It is known as the 12 causes and conditions or dependent origination theory.
According to the Thirty-Seven Aids to Enlightenment, afflictions are the root cause of birth and death. Therefore, we must cultivate the matching wholesome dharmas to oppose these afflictions. For instance, up until now, we have only known greed, anger, ignorance, wrong views, arrogance, stinginess, and jealousy; then we must now cultivate the opposite wholesome dharmas, corresponding to those unwholesome dharmas, such as the Seven Factors of Enlightenment, the Noble Eightfold Path, the Five Faculties, the Five Powers, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, the Four Right Efforts, and the Four Bases of Spiritual Power. Before visiting the meditation center and asking the meditation master to lead us in the breathing and mindfulness exercises, we also need to learn the Ten Essentials of Evil so that we can understand why we are born, why we die, and what we need to practice to escape birth and death.
Allow me to state this slowly and clearly: 1. There were a billion people in the Buddha’s day who became enlightened without having to study the teachings for two main reasons: 2. Who were the people who became enlightened quickly? Can we measure up to their number of practiced lives? The Buddha, the holy monks, and the holy laypeople were the ones who led them. They were mainly Enlightened Ones. How can we measure up to them when they possess limitless powers, and everyone under their guidance is bestowed with blessings that reach the summit of mountains and the depths of the ocean? Consequently, we shouldn’t assume we can skip the lessons after reading one or two of those characters’ tales.
All I ask is that you should accumulate a few fundamental lessons. How are things learned? What do you discover? From whom do you acquire knowledge? It would help if you handled that. What matters to me is when you come to me. We can only fulfill our desire for emancipation if these prerequisites are met.
Ven. Giac Nguyen
English Translator: Hạnh Đất
