Inner Strength - Access to Insight

think. The mind becomes more and more firm until all the hindrances (nıvara˚a)fall away. The mind no longer goes looking for concepts. Now it can give rise toknowledge.The knowledge here isn’t ordinary knowledge. It washes away your oldknowledge. You don’t want the knowledge that comes from ordinary thinkingand reasoning: Let go of it. You don’t want the knowledge that comes fromdirected thought and evaluation: Stop. Make the mind quiet. Still. When the mindis still and unhindered, this is the essence of all that’s meritorious and skillful.When your mind is on this level, it isn’t attached to any concepts at all. All theconcepts you’ve known—dealing with the world or the Dhamma, howevermany or few—are washed away. Only when they’re washed away can newknowledge arise.This is why we’re taught not to hold onto concepts—all the labels and nameswe have for things. You have to let yourself be poor. It’s when people are poorthat they become ingenious and resourceful. If you don’t let yourself be poor,you’ll never gain discernment. In other words, you don’t have to be afraid ofbeing stupid or of missing out on things. You don’t have to be afraid that you’vehit a dead end. You don’t want any of the insights you’ve gained from listeningto others or from reading books, because they’re concepts and thereforeinconstant. You don’t want any of the insights you’ve gained by reasoning andthinking, because they’re concepts and therefore not-self. Let all these insightsdisappear, leaving just the mind, firmly intent, leaning neither to the left, towardself-affliction or being displeased; nor to the right, toward sensual indulgence orbeing pleased. Keep the mind still, quiet, neutral, impassive—set tall. And thereyou are: right concentration.When right concentration arises in the mind, it has a shadow. When you cancatch sight of the shadow appearing, that’s vipassan›: insight meditation.Vipassan›-ñ›˚a is the first branch of knowledge and skill in the Buddha’steaching. The second branch is iddhividhı, the power of mind over matter. Thethird is manomayiddhi, the power of mind-made images. The fourth is dibbacakkhu,clairvoyance. The fifth is dibba-sota, clairaudience. The sixth is cetopariyañ›˚a,the ability to read minds. The seventh is pubbeniv›s›nussati-ñ›˚a,knowledge of previous lifetimes. And the eighth: ›savakkhaya-ñ›˚a, knowledge ofthe ending of mental fermentations. All eight of these branches are forms ofknowledge and skill that arise from concentration. People without concentrationcan’t gain them: That’s an absolute guarantee. No matter how smart or cleverthey may be, they can’t gain these forms of knowledge. They have to fall underthe power of ignorance.These eight branches of knowledge come from right concentration. Whenthey arise they’re not called thoughts or ideas. They’re called right views. Whatlooks wrong to you is really wrong. What looks right is really right. If whatlooks right is really wrong, that’s wrong view. If what looks wrong is reallyright, again—wrong view. With right view, though, right looks right and wronglooks wrong.To put it in terms of cause and effect, you see the four noble truths. You seestress, and it really is stressful. You see the cause of stress arising, and that it’s81