Pure Inspiration

Chittapala – 108
yaṁ kiñci dukkhaṁ sambhoti, sabbaṁ āhārapaccaya (whatever
suffering arises, all of it is due to nutriment).
The body never stops giving trouble. Even if one sits in deep
meditation for five or six hours, it seems like only a couple of minutes
and then one is back to the dukkha of the body again. Thus, one has to
continually contemplate anicca and see that no experiences can be
clung to. Aniccasaññā is begun in a general way, i.e. seeing that one
has to keep repeating the same processes of living day by day – all for
what? Later on this contemplation will become more specialized, e.g.
seeing the rise and fall of the breath.
When there is strong bodily pain, lie flat on one’s back, really relax
and view one’s body from above. Recognize pain when it arises. Just
accept it, see how it comes and goes, different intensities at different
times. See it as anicca, dukkha, anatta. If there’s too much pain for
ānāpānasati, go to a meditation one has previously developed in order
to make one’s mind happy, e.g. mettā, Buddhānussati (recollection of
the Buddha). Then go back to the breath. Have a whole range of
meditations to combat certain defilements as they arise.
The Saṅgha is in decline, so one has to make the effort oneself. As
long as one is making the effort, paṭisota (against the stream), one is
doing the proper thing as a member of the Saṅgha. Even if the whole
Saṅgha is corrupt, one knows at least one person is making the effort.
One should be a fighter of defilements. Even if it kills one, one has to
make good conditions for one’s rebirth. If one just goes the way of
one’s desires, one cannot say where one will be reborn. Each day, one
should reflect if any defilements have arisen which would be obstacles
if one were to die. If there has been, one should determine that these