The Buddhist Hour Radio Broadcast Archives
Buddhist
Hour
Script No. 366
Radio Broadcast live on Hillside 88.0 FM
for Sunday 30 January 2005CE
2547 Buddhist Era
Glossary
epithet: A word or phrase expressing
a quality or attribute regarded as characteristic of the person or
thing mentioned; A significant appellation; a suitably descriptive
term.
relativistic: Of, pertaining to, or characterized by
relativism.
delusion: The action of deluding or of being
deluded; the state of being deluded; A false impression or opinion.
Removing Relativistic Delusion - Knowing Selflessness
Destroys Mis-knowledge
Today's Buddhist Hour script titled 'Removing
Relativistic Delusion - Knowing Selflessness Destroys Mis-knowledge'
was first recorded as a Buddha Dhamma teaching by John D. Hughes at
the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd. during a five day
meditation course held at the Centre in June 1988.
It is the
seventh in the series of transcribed Dhamma talks from 1988 which we
have been reading on the Buddhist Hour over recent weeks.
The
authors of today's script apologise for any errors or
misunderstandings that may have occurred in the process of
transcribing and editing the talks from the original audio tape
recording. In accordance with our privacy policy the real names,
other than the teachers, have been replaced.
John D. Hughes
began this Dhamma talk and meditation like this:
So you are
sitting very well now. That's excellent.
We find out that we
have confidence in the goal. That the goal is to become a fully
enlightened fruited Arahant and at that point, that's it.
That
is the completion of the Buddhist training at Arahant fruit. After
that you pass away and you'll have perfect peace forever because you
have, if you like you, the only thing, there isn't a self anymore and
you're just knowing the citta, knowing the citta which is perfect.
However, between that point which will come and the present
there is some practice to be done, some learning to be learned, some
understandings yet to arise and so on.
Because you requested
to be taught quickly then the energies can come up and you can
endure. Now as Jane found out in the last meditation, there is a
meditation where you swear that your whole body is broken and then
when you come out of the meditation suddenly the body is like
refreshed. It is absolutely beautiful.
And that is the
experience of anyone who has ever practised the Buddha Dhamma at a
higher level, past present or future. So we find out we can endure
incredible types of negative kamma and of course that is the way we
meditate them off. Because the mind is, in other words we take,
negativities come which would have tormented us for thousands of
lifetimes and finish.
And then we find we are happier and
better.
So in training anything, if you train a horse the
horse has to practise running, again and again and again. And that's
the way it is. Now, so the Buddha is called, one of the Pali epithets
for the Buddha is called, roughly translated it's something like,
trainer of tameable men. Although the text says man it means women as
well. Buddha, in Buddha's day women came to levels of enlightenment
too.
But the Buddha, if you're training a horse you do your
part, the horse does the horse's part. The teacher does the teacher's
part, shows the way, you jump over the hurdles if you like, or
dissolve the hurdles, or which ever way. As long as your mind
understands: you requested to be taught so you're taught.
So
you've got no control over the agenda or the technology of the
teaching. That is in the, if you want to use the word duties, if you
like. That's the duties of the instructor. Just as the horse can't
set the agenda for say training, the rider must set the agenda, or
the trainer must set the agenda.
The horse might like doing
certain things which it does well, but you train it in the things it
does badly. Because you don't let the horse take control of the
agenda.
Similarly, Tsong ka-pa on the method of determining
the view, identification of afflictional mis-knowledge, lists in the
texts other methods of doing the same thing but says this is the
method that he is teaching. So there are other ways of obtaining the
same objective but this particular one is a systematic track in a
very condensed form and that's why it needs confidence.
So
this self habit, in the Jewel Rosary, he quotes many writers, in the
Jewel Rosary which is written by Nargarjuna, great scholar, he states
this, Nargarjunas states: that as long as there is the aggregate
habit, the five groups, the mind body habit, so long will there be
the "I" or ego habit. That is that egoistic views will not
be reversed as long the truth habit about the aggregates, or the five
groups which you are, mind, body, feeling, consciousness, is not.
In the Four Hundred, that's a text by Ariyadeva, it states
"just as the body sense is to the body, the body sense is to the
body, so the body senses, if you like, adhere to the body. The seeing
consciousness is the seeing consciousness of your body. It is not the
seeing consciousness of someone else. The hearing consciousness is
the hearing consciousness of your body, the touching consciousness is
the touching consciousness of your body, the smelling consciousness
is the smelling consciousness of your body.
So, those sense
bases and of course the mind is taken as the sixth sense, your
various sorts of consciousness, various sorts of memories, feelings
and so on, are uniquely your's, they are no one else's.
And
they, that aggregate of four mental formations plus body, that's what
you are. Always changing.
So Ariyadeva says, just as the body
sense, the five ordinary senses plus mind is to the body, your own
body, so delusion adheres to everything. Once you have delusion no
matter what you throw it at, whatever you throw the delusion at,
there it will be.
It is like a blind man, if he looks North
he can't see, if he looks South, a blind man if he looks North he
can't see, if he looks South he can't see, if he looks up he can't
see, if he looks down he can't see. A blind man is blind to
everything. Similarly a deaf man. If he is deaf he can't hear in the
Easterly direction, he can't hear in the Westerly direction, he can't
hear in the Southerly direction, or any direction.
Now if you
have got a delusion mind, if you've got a delusion on your mind
whatever you look at, wherever you are you will see with delusion. It
stands to reason. Just as the body sense is to the body, so delusion
adheres to everything. And thus, when delusion is conquered all
afflictions will be conquered just by the mis-information, when the
delusion is conquered the ignorance is gone, every piece of
mis-information that you've generated through an infinite number of
lives vanishes like that. Therefore, it is very worthwhile, no matter
how difficult, to come to hear the powerful meditation instructions
on the breaking forever of the delusion.
So seeing
relativistic origination delusion will not occur.
Now
relativistic origination delusion occurs like this.
There are
two people, say there are two people, one is your best friend and one
is your worst enemy. Suppose, for the sake of argument, both are
equally greedy, suppose you have two, there are two people. You have
got two people, one is your best friend, whoever your best friend is,
one is your worst enemy. Suppose they each have some fault. Suppose
one is, they are both equally greedy. You say of your best friend
"Oh, my best friend is greedy but it's OK". But the same
greed on your worst enemy you see "my enemy is the greediest
person I've ever seen".
There is a phenomena that you can
see the defilements on your enemies at full volume whereas you can't
see the defilements of your friend at full volume, you're always
making allowances for your friend. That is relativistic. It's a
relative thing. You say my enemy is much much worse in defilements
than my friend, and yet suppose they were equal.
If your
friend had one pimple on your friend's face and your enemy had one
pimple on your enemies face you would say of your friend "oh
here it will soon go away". However with your enemy you would
say "look, ugly, ugly, ugly, one pimple". Relativistic the
same stimulus produces a different result on your mind. All that
means is you can't see things fairly. You're not being fair. You
can't be fair fair when you have a delusion in your mind.
Your
enemy, maybe a hundred thousand lifetimes ago, could have been your
Mother and you loved her. Your friend fifty thousand lifetimes ago
could have been your murderer and now you love your friend. Because
we change in our relationships.
So this relativistic idea is
an affliction.
So Ariyadeva says "seeing relativistic
origination, delusion will not occur, when all the afflictions are
conquered".
In other words, when the delusions stop, the
delusion that adheres to everything stops, and it is this very
practice that you are doing now.
This is the cutting edge, to
get that result.
So it is only, I was talking to Venerable
today, he said to me, I said "they are doing good" he said
"yeah, not too far now" meaning soon you will come to the
next level of wherever you're at. Good success, now. Thus here, here,
here now, here ... ehi in Pali, ehi meaning here, with all one's
effort, with full intensity, one should teach just that message. So
Ariyadeva's teaching is like this. Ariyadeva, great being, says teach
this.
Just with intensity, a teacher must teach with
intensity and let the mind of the meditator cognate level after level
of meaning in this until perfect. This should be taught again and
again with great power, the full power of the teacher's mind will
strike your mind on this message. Very powerful teacher.
And
this is what Ariyadeva says: "Just as the body sense is to the
body so delusion adheres to everything and thus when delusion is
conquered all afflictions will be conquered. Seeing relativistic
origination delusion will not occur. Thus here with all one's effort
one should teach just that message alone". No other
message.
Now, to what minds is this message directed?
It
is not being directed to the ego mind. The ego mind can do whatever
it likes because this is not the target of the teaching. It is to the
self habit mind. Which is the kammic resultant because of all the
good things you've done you can get like that.
The context
here is the identification of that "delusion" which is one
of the three great poisons. Hate, greed and ignorance are the three
great poisons. Separate minds. There's a mind with hate, a mind with
greed and a mind with ignorance. They are three separate minds. They
are not the same mind, they are completely separate. So this is, we
are talking about ignorance which we'll translate as delusion. The
same. So the target here is the mind with ignorance. Not the ego
mind. The ego mind can strangle itself as far as I'm concerned, not
interested. The target area is the mind with the ignorance.
So
the context here is the identification of the delusion which is one
of the three poisons and hence equivalent to afflictive
mis-information.
There are three bits of trouble sources and
they subdivide into other minds. The first trouble source is the mind
with hate. Loving kindness will fix that up. The second is the mind
with greed. Generosity will fix that up. But the root base of all the
troubles is ignorance. So that's the, the ignorance is the attack
point.
Now, to get rid of that mis-knowledge he declares,
Ariyadeva declares it necessary to understand the import of the
profound relativity which happens when the import of emptiness, this,
everything is empty of characteristics, that nothing has self nature.
The import of emptiness arises as to the import of relativity. So
when you see, you see everything is empty, empty of its nature. Your
feelings don't know their feeling, they just come. Your memories
don't know their remembering, they just come. Your happiness doesn't
know its happiness, it just comes, your unhappiness doesn't know its
unhappiness, just comes. Whatever comes comes. No thing that arises
knows itself, it has no self nature. It is empty of a self.
So
when you are feeling happiness, the happiness isnf not feeling
anything in particular because happiness is just a mental
configuration. It doesn't know itself. Unhappiness doesn't know
unhappiness. They are mental objects, mental constructs floating
around coming and going. And they are all empty. Empty of what? Empty
of any notion of their own nature. So happiness doesn't know it is
happiness. Unhappiness doesn't know it is unhappiness. Whatever
feeling you've ever had doesn't know that feeling, that mental
construct doesn't know itself. Because there is no self to know it.
It is empty.
Now when some thing is empty, it is not a self.
The metal objects are not self, they are anatta. They are not self.
If a little boy who was deaf, dumb, blind and stupid came and
kicked you in the shins you wouldn't feel to bad about it [if] he
says "oh, he didn't know, he didn't know he hurt me. He was
deaf, dumb, blind and stupid, he didn't know. He just ran into me. I
might have been a door or a tree or anything.
Therefore your
unhappiness doesn't know itself, it is absolutely empty. Therefore
don't try to do anything about it. It will pass away. It is empty. It
is Sunyata, it is empty of knowledge. Now when something is empty it
has no intention to harm you.
Your happiness had no intention
to make you happy, it just came. Your unhappiness had no intention of
making you unhappy. Your jealousy had no intention of making you
jealous. Your hate had no intention of making you hateful. Your greed
had no intention of making you greedy. They are all empty. Empty of
any inherent existence. Therefore since they are empty and mean you
no harm, you shouldn't have an ego mind that turns those harmless
negative things into active harm.
You should destroy the ego
centered mind, which is already unreal [as] we explained, and cognate
that this fanticised ego, all it is doing is making harmless things
like unhappiness, jealousy, anger, hate, things that don't intend to
harm anyone, activating them and turning them into real weapons.
So
when your unhappiness comes it is like a dead weapon however, if you
grab it and you seize it and you use it to beat someone else, you
turn it into a sharp weapon of unhappiness.
It is your ego
mind that is the root ignorance. Break the ego mind and whatever
comes comes and you will always be content. So that is the point
there.
The relativistic things depend on picking up weapons of
hate saying I hate that person, I love that person. If they are both
equal you will exaggerate the virtue of one person and down play
their bad habits. However if you have got equal love for everybody
and you won't pick up anything because you never made an ego mind, or
you broke an ego mind, you can look at enemies and friends with
equanimity.
It is quite true without any doubt that there is
a hierarchy of beings. An Arahant is superior to other people, and
angry people are inferior to pleasant people. But it doesn't matter.
They are driven by ignorance, by ego minds, who pick up these
harmless things. So what happens at that point, the energy of
unhappiness is quite pleasant. There is no pain. So one of the
blessings of an Arahant is the pain stops. There is only peace.
Because they have smashed the ego that turned the neutral things into
angry weapons.
So therefore one must interpret afflictive
delusion according to Chandra's explanation in the Four Hundred
Commentary as the reification of reality in things. This system was
lucidly proclaimed by Chandrapada following Buddhapalita's elucidation
of the intentions of the Holy ones.
The Buddhas intend you to
be liberated, happy, peaceful and come out of suffering. The only
reason the Buddhas become Buddhas is to teach people the way out of
suffering.
When you stop picking up your unhappiness you have
attained the next level of enlightenment. When you stop picking up
your jealousy you have attained the next level of enlightenment, and
so on. There is no need to. Just as a poison will not hurt anyone
unless you administer it to them. The poisonousness nature of your
negative kamma will not hurt anyone or yourself unless you administer
it to yourself or throw it at other people.
Now an ego mind
gone means it won't do any harm. Ahimsa, non violence if you know
Sanskrit.
At this point in the teaching John D Hughes
instructed the students to take rest and to see how the students went
with the meditation, finishing the meditation with the
blessing.
Buddho Dhammo Sangho.
Following the break he
continued with the next part of the teaching called Knowing
Selflessness Destroys Mis-knowledge.
Alright so the feelings
don't know they are feelings. So an unhappy, an unpleasant feeling
doesn't know its unpleasant and a pleasant feeling does not know it
is pleasant. So the mind, since the unpleasant feeling does not
torment itself by not knowing, it is just a mental event, since the
unpleasant feeling does not feel unpleasant about being unpleasant,
why do you through all these countless lifetimes generate a mind that
believes, that does something that the unpleasant feeling cannot do?
The unpleasant feeling is just a mental event, it doesn't
torment itself. Now what your ego does, it takes the unpleasant
feeling, it makes it false, it pretends that the unpleasant feeling
knows it is unpleasant. So it transforms something into an unreality
and then it owns the unreal experience and what pops out of your
whinging ego mind is this. I feel unpleasant. Well, you have done
something that the unpleasant feeling is incapable of doing.
Unpleasant doesn't know that.
Now there was a man who lived to
be about 450 years old, near Tibet, he meditates a lot for about 20
years in very high meditation, comes out goes and visits the village.
He's been photographed, reported, he doesn't age. On one of the times
he taught the villagers, one of the wise villagers said to him "how
come you live so long whereas we all die?" You know like his
Grandfather had met him his great Grandfather, he said "how come
your body lasts so long?" And this man said, he said "I
spend so much time remembering the past and I spend so much time
remembering the future", you know with clairvoyance, perfect
clairvoyance, he said "I have forgotten the present and that's
how I live so long".
So if you go on that basis, we would
set it up like this, and do his meditation for a while. The infinite
past is unreal, the infinite future yet to come is unreal, is real,
sorry. The infinite past is real, the infinite future is real, this
tick, tick, tick, point where you sit now, where past kamma is
transformed by your ego to make future kamma, is unreal. When there
is no interruption with the past flowing into the future then you are
in a much better position. Because the activity of the
mis-information is such that you are so mad keen to experience the
present that you'll do anything including turning an unpleasant
feeling that has no nature of the fact its unpleasant, it still, even
when you pull it to yourself, it still doesn't know it is unpleasant.
But then your ego, which is unreal owns something and claims itself
to be in a higher state than the feeling itself.
So this is
the way the ego struts and postures on stage, it says "although
that unpleasant feeling has no knowledge of itself, I, clever dick
that I am, know the unpleasant feeling to be unpleasant, and I
experience the unpleasant. So what is that mind, what is that I? It's
an unreal fantasy mind and you prefer an unreal fantasy mind, you
make that your chief, you make that your master, you become the slave
of an unreal mind holding mis-information. You've always been like
that, and unless something happens for countless lifetimes in the
future it will be the same.
We conclude here for today and
this teaching "Knowing Selflessness Destroys Mis-knowledge"
will continue with the next part in this series of talks on next
week's Buddhist Hour broadcast.
Thank you very much.
The
MP3 file and transcript of the original recorded teachings read on
today's program will be available online at www.edharma.org during
February 2005. Today's radio script is available at website
www.bdcublessings.net.au.
May you make the causes to conquer
all your afflictions.
May your mis knowledges come to an end.
May you be well and happy.
May all beings be well and
happy.
The script was transcribed, prepared and edited by
Julian Bamford, Frank Carter, Leanne Eames, Eveln Halls, Anita
Hughes, David Igracki, Leila Igracki, Melba Nielsen and Alec
Sloman.
References:
John D. Hughes Collection
Recorded Dhamma Teachings. Transcription Of Dhamma
Teachings
Recording Title: Removing Relativistic Delusion
Tape
6, Side 1
Teacher: John D. Hughes
Date of recording:
26/6/88
Transcribed by: Frank Carter
Checked by : Lainie
Smallwood
CD Reference 26_06_88T6S1A
File Name:
26_06_88T6S1A_JDHtranscribe.rtf
5 Day Meditation Course
26
June 1988 11.40pm
Recording Title: Knowing Selflessness
Destroys Mis-knowledge
Tape 6, Side 2
Teacher: John D.
Hughes
Date of recording: 27/6/88
Transcribed by: Frank
Carter
Checked by : Lainie Smallwood
CD Reference
26_06_88T6S2A
File Name: 26_06_88T6S2A_JDHtranscribe.rtf
5
Day Meditation Course
27 June 1988, 1.37pm
Brown, Lesley
(editor), "The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary",
Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1993.
Words: 3541
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