Inner Strength - Access to Insight

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57available.I have been told that Ajaan Lee had strong premonitions of his impendingdeath, and in listening to the tapes of these talks it’s easy to sense that he wasgiving them not only as instructions for the people present, but also as gifts forposterity. Hence the title of the collection.The first talk was a farewell—the closing talk at the dedication of the newordination hall at Ajaan Lee’s monastery, Wat Asokaram. As events would haveit, this was the last talk he gave to a large-scale gathering of his students,supporters, and friends. The second talk takes up the concept of practice as abattle with internal enemies, and shows how the wisest strategy is to win one’senemies over to one’s side. The third covers the eight classical forms ofknowledge and skill (vijj›) that come from the practice of concentration,discussing how they relate to the methods of science and other forms of worldlyknowledge. Three of the knowledges toward the end of the list are barelytouched on, and the end of the talk is fairly abrupt. This may have been due tothe tape’s running out, for Ajaan Lee had quite a lot to say on these knowledgesin his other talks and writings. Still, the heart of the talk—the role of thinking andnot-thinking in developing concentration and liberating insight—is discussed inconsiderable detail, making this a helpful guide to the “how” of meditationpractice. The fourth talk closes the collection with a lively discussion of the waysin which the concepts of “self” and “not-self” relate to the phenomena ofconsciousness—one of Ajaan Lee’s most remarkable teachings.All four talks contain extended metaphors, and a large measure of theirappeal lies in the wit and imagination with which Ajaan Lee explores his imagery.The wit here is not simply a stylistic device. Instead, it’s a form of intelligenceessential to the path: the ability to perceive unexpected parallels and to use themas tools in the practice. Ajaan Lee’s example in this regard is not the least of hismany gifts to those who pursue the path to liberation in his wake.≥h›nissaro BhikkhuCrossing the Ocean of LifeMay 19, 1960I’d now like to explain the Dhamma as a gift for those of us who havegathered here. All of us, both lay and ordained, have come here with skillfulintentions from many different provinces. Our coming here is of two sorts. Thefirst sort is connected with our having received an invitation or notice of thisgathering, so that we’ve come to join in with the merit-making for the pasteleven days. The second sort didn’t receive any notice or invitation, but as soon
as word of this gathering passed by our ears, we gave rise to a good intention—good in one of two ways. The first is that we see the people here are doingsomething good and so we should join in. That’s why some of you are here. Thisincludes many of the monks and novices who came: You simply heard the newsof this gathering and so you came to join your hearts with ours. This is called askillful intention that has borne fruit in the hearts of all of us.And then there are those who considered that this is a gathering of ourfriends, of our teacher: Even though we haven’t been called to join, we shouldgo. Some of you have thought in this way and so have joined in our gathering,participating in the various activities up to today. For all of these things, I’d liketo express my thanks and appreciation to each and every one of you—becausethis celebration has involved many duties, many activities of many sorts. If Iwere to try to do it all by myself, I’m sure I wouldn’t succeed. The fact that wehave managed to succeed so well is due to the goodness of all of you together.Now, the fact that you’ve succeeded in completing these activities will giveyou results in two ways: The first is through merit—there’s no need to doubtthat. The second is through benefaction.Results through merit means that we’ve never been here before, we’re notintimate with the people here, but we’ve learned that what they’re doing here ismeritorious, and so we’ve come in hopes of merit.The other way is, as I’ve said earlier: We’ve come on the basis of beingstudents or friends, or of being students of the same teacher. When we willinglycome to help in these activities, this too is meritorious. The results we’ll receivewill come in two ways: through merit and through benefaction.Merit is an individual affair, something for which each person has to beresponsible in terms of him or her own self. As for benefaction, the person whohas benefited from your help and support won’t forget your kindness. Thememory will stay buried there in the heart, that when we held the celebration inthat year or that time, our friends came to help us. If they have any need for ourhelp, then—to the extent that we’re able—we should take the opportunity toreturn their kindness in line with our ability. Whether they call for our help ornot, and whether or not we can actually go to help, we can’t escape having theintention to benefit them in one way or another. Even though my body may notbe able to go, or my words can’t reach you, still my mind—when I hear the newsone way or another of any meritorious activities, and there’s some way I canhelp—will remember your kindness and the merit I’ve accumulated myself, andso I’ll spread thoughts of good will, dedicating the fruits of that merit to pourdown on you all.It’s as if all of you were farming in a certain place, planting rice or vegetables,or starting an orchard, and then ran into difficulties, such as a drought. When thishappens, there are things that have to be done: finding water, for instance, orrepairing the dikes in the rice field. When a person who has received your help inthe past learns of your difficulties, but can’t carry the water to you or help withthe repair work, he’ll spread thoughts of good will.Spreading thoughts of good will is something subtle and hard to perceive,like the energy that flows out of our eyes. The eyes of every person shoot beams58
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Inner Strength&Parting GiftsTalks b
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3InnerStrength
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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 and 36: air inside seems still, and yet the
Page 37 and 38: 36self-sufficient, the body is self
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: 56PartingGiftsIntroductionOnly in t
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
Page 87 and 88: are the ones made of skin. The inne
Page 89 and 90: 88ConsciousnessesIn all our activit
Page 91 and 92: Buddha tells us not to go joining i
Page 93 and 94: probably our enemies in past lives.
Page 95 and 96: consciousness is so slack and limp
Page 97 and 98: why we keep losing out to them. We
Page 99 and 100: 98as, “That’s the consciousness
Page 101 and 102: 100GlossaryI. TermsThe definitions
Page 103 and 104: 102m›ra: The personification of d
Page 105: 104sabbe satt› sad› hontuaver
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Inner Strength - Access to Insight

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