Inner Strength - Access to Insight

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sense that it’s ugly, disgusting, or embarrassing. But if we saw it in someoneelse’s kitchen, we’d want to run away.Unawareness is what kills people. Unawareness is a trap. But ordinarily a trapcan catch only dull-witted animals. Sharp-witted animals usually don’t letthemselves get caught. If we’re stupid, unawareness will catch us and eat us allup. If we live under the sway of ignorance—if we aren’t acquainted with thethree levels of breath in the body—we’ll have to reap harm. To know them,though, is to have right mindfulness. We’ll know the causes of our actions andtheir results. To know this is to be mindful and alert. Our body and actions willbe clear to us, like a fire that’s bright in and of itself. Where does its brightnesscome from? From the energy in the kerosene. So it is with the profound breath.It’s quiet in the body, like a Coleman lantern glowing dazzlingly bright: It’s quiet,as if no air had been pumped into it at all.This is k›ya-passaddhi, physical serenity. As for the mind, it’s crystal clear allaround. And like the glow coming off the mantle of the lantern, it’s of use topeople and other living beings. This is what’s meant by ‘pabhassaram idaªcittaª’—the mind is radiant. When we can keep the mind pure in this way, itgains the power to see what lies deeper still—but as of yet we can’t know clearly.We’ll have to make our strength of mind even more powerful than this: That’svipassan›, clear-seeing insight.When vipassan› arises, it’s as if we put kerosene directly on the mantle of alantern: The fire will flame up instantly; the light will dazzle in a single flash. Theconcepts that label sensations will disappear; the concepts that label mental actswill disappear. All labeling and naming of things will disappear in a single mentalinstant. Sensations are still there, as always; mental acts are still there, as always,but the labels that take hold of them are cut, just like a telegraph line: Thetransmitter is there, the receiver is there, the line is there, but there’s noconnection—the current isn’t running. Whoever wants to send a message can goahead and try, but everything is quiet. So it is with the heart: When we cutthrough labels and concepts, then no matter what anyone may say to us, theheart is quiet.This is vipassan›, an awareness beyond the sway of unawareness, free fromclinging and attachment. The mind rises to the transcendent, released from thisworld. It dwells in a ‘world’ higher than the ordinary worlds, higher than thehuman world, the heavenly and the Brahma worlds. This is why, when theBuddha gained the knowledge of unsurpassed right self-awakening, a tremorwent through the entire cosmos, from the lowest reaches of hell up through thehuman world to the worlds of the Brahmas. Why? Because his mind had gainedfull power so that it could part its way up above the Brahma worlds.For this reason, we should reflect on the common breath we’re breathingright now. It gives rise to benefits mixed with harm. The refined breathnourishes the blood vessels and nerves. The profound breath adjusts the breathsensations throughout the body so that the breath is self-sufficient in its ownaffairs. The earth property, the fire property, and the water property all becomeself-sufficient in their own affairs. And when all four properties are self-sufficient,they become equal and balanced, so there’s no turmoil in the body. The mind is35
36self-sufficient, the body is self-sufficient, and we can stop worrying about them,just like a child we’ve raised to maturity. The body and mind each becomemature and independent in their own affairs.This is termed paccattaª: We see on our own and become responsible forourselves. Sandi˛˛hiko: We can see clearly for ourselves. Ak›liko: No matter when,as soon as we reflect on the three levels of the breath we immediately gaincomfort and ease. To speak in legal terms, we’ve come of age. We’re no longerminors and have full rights to our parents’ legacy in accordance with the law. Tospeak in terms of the monastic discipline, we no longer have to stay under ourteachers because we’re fully able to look after ourselves. And to speak in termsof the Dhamma, we no longer have to depend on teachers or texts.What I’ve been saying here is aimed at giving us a sense of how to apply ourpowers of observation to the three levels of the breath. We should attend tothem until we gain understanding. If we’re observant in keeping tabs on thethree levels of the breath at all times, we’ll reap results—ease of body andmind—like an employer who constantly keeps tabs on the workers in hisfactory. The workers won’t have a chance to shirk their duties and will have toset their minds on doing their work as they’re supposed to. The result is that ourwork is sure to be finished quickly, or to make steady progress.The Direct PathSeptember 14, 1956When you fix your attention on the breath, you must try to cut away alloutside preoccupations. Otherwise, if you let yourself be distracted, you won’t beable to observe the subtleties of the breath and mind.The breath energy in the body can be divided into three parts: one in the heartand lungs, another in the stomach and intestines, and a third in the blood vesselsthroughout the body. All three are breaths that are always moving; but there’sanother breath—a still breath, light and empty—centered in the diaphragm,between the heart and lungs on the one hand and the stomach and intestines onthe other. This breath is motionless, unlike the breath distilled in the heart andlungs. It exerts no pressure on any part of the body at all.As for the moving breath, when it strikes the blood vessels it feels warm orhot, and sometimes causes excretions in your nose. If the breath is predominantover the fire property, it causes the blood to be cool. If the fire property ispredominant over the breath property, it causes the blood to be hot. If theseproperties are combined in the right proportions, they give rise to a feeling ofcomfort and ease—relaxed, spacious, and still—like having an unobstructed viewof the open sky. Sometimes there’s a feeling of ease—relaxed, spacious, butmoving: This is called pıti, or rapture.The best breath to focus on is the empty, spacious breath. To make use of the
Page 2 and 3: Inner Strength&Parting GiftsTalks b
Page 4 and 5: 3InnerStrength
Page 6 and 7: 5they reveal their true meanings on
Page 8 and 9: have a sense of our own good and ba
Page 10 and 11: 9A Mind of Pure GoldJuly, 1958The m
Page 12 and 13: 11sunk in worldly matters, are stil
Page 14 and 15: 13not their owner will have you thr
Page 16: for instance, can’t jump up to cl
Page 20 and 21: say, or what our teachers tell us.
Page 22 and 23: 21II. Inner SkillThe ABC’s of the
Page 24 and 25: persons running: They’ll have a h
Page 27 and 28: 26warm the fires of digestion, just
Page 29 and 30: Stick with whichever way of breathi
Page 31 and 32: 30Observe & EvaluateJuly 24, 1956In
Page 33 and 34: 32the point where it flows evenly w
Page 35: air inside seems still, and yet the
Page 39 and 40: 38When these five strengths appear
Page 41 and 42: 40This is called knowing the moment
Page 43 and 44: Once you can focus comfortably on t
Page 45 and 46: pervades every thread in the mantle
Page 47 and 48: whose minds are certain and sure, b
Page 49 and 50: people with only partial knowledge
Page 51 and 52: emedy it—keeping at it with our e
Page 53 and 54: 52Dhamma of study and practice with
Page 55 and 56: 54say. They can say ‘stress,’ b
Page 57 and 58: 56PartingGiftsIntroductionOnly in t
Page 59 and 60: as word of this gathering passed by
Page 61 and 62: We depend on our minds that are swi
Page 63 and 64: As for caulking the mind, that stan
Page 65 and 66: coarse breathing, you know. When it
Page 67 and 68: So, all of you who have gathered to
Page 69 and 70: comes out of ignorance. Goodness co
Page 71 and 72: merit. Now suppose that those thoug
Page 73 and 74: we can use to develop goodness with
Page 75 and 76: All four of these types of defileme
Page 77 and 78: 76KnowledgeOctober 4, 1960Vijj›-c
Page 79 and 80: through not thinking. The first lev
Page 81 and 82: there’s too much evaluation, thou
Page 83 and 84: eally causing stress. These are nob
Page 85 and 86: 84Wherever we go, people will be gl
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are the ones made of skin. The inne
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88ConsciousnessesIn all our activit
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Buddha tells us not to go joining i
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probably our enemies in past lives.
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consciousness is so slack and limp
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why we keep losing out to them. We
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98as, “That’s the consciousness
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100GlossaryI. TermsThe definitions
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102m›ra: The personification of d
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104sabbe satt› sad› hontuaver
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