Buddhist Hour
Script No. 407
Broadcast live on Hillside 88.0 FM
on Sunday 20 November 2005CE 2549 Buddhist Era
This script is entitled:
Discourse on Refuge, Part III
Thank you for joining us. On today's program we will be presenting part three of, John D. Hughes' teaching called Discourse on Refuge. The teaching was originally given by John D. Hughes to his students in 1984, at the Buddhist Discussion Centre (Upwey) Ltd.
If you tuned into last week's program, you might remember John Hughes concluded by saying:
Now, without getting neurotic, practice correctly, cause it's, it takes as much effort to practice correctly as it does to practice incorrectly and the only benefit is if you practice, with the same effort you can practice correctly as incorrectly. But the outcome of correct practice is more peace, more happiness, more laughs, better life and less trouble!
Student: More mara! (laughs)
JDH: The worse you practice the more the mara. Does that make sense to you?
Student: Yeah, that's true.
So, now let’s continue with Discourse on Refuge Part II taught by John D. Hughes.
JDH: The better you practice...
Student: I'm just, aluding to the fierceness of mara when you practice well.
JDH: Yeah. When you practice well how long does mara come to stay and hassle you?
Student: Ah, he can hang around for weeks.
JDH: When you practice well mara is cut, in one second.
Student: Not really.
JDH: When you practice, I will repeat it. How long does mara hassle me?
Student: It's like waves of the ocean...
JDH: How long, ah, here's Auntie Noble. How long, when you practice well... When you practice well...
Student: You get little respites but it keeps coming...
JDH: That is bad practice!
Student: It's not!
JDH: It is! If you practice like Tan Acharn Mun says, your mara attacks will stop in one second.
Student: Yeah, but they come again. You know?
JDH: Then maras cut in one second
Student: Again and again and again.
JDH: No, that's your experience out of bad practice. You having a mara attack now?
Student: No, not especially.
JDH: Well, you're doing it right. So keep on doing it right! Good day Wendy pie. How are you my friend?
Wendy: Ah, mara's been doing a merry waltz!
JDH: Ah, mara's been having a nice time today! Dear old Joe freaked out. She'll be alright though. But I'm indubitable.
Wendy: Ah, thank god someone is!
JDH: I, how are you friend?
Student: Terrific!
JDH: Terrific! I'm indubitable, good day my friend! I am expeller of mara!
Wendy: Great!
JDH: Stick around kid. I scare mara away!
Wendy: Good.
JDH: Hey you!
Student: Mhm?
JDH: What are you doing?
Student: Sitting.
JDH: What's your mind doing?
Student: Waiting. Watching.
JDH: Waiting, watching. You double talk. If it's waiting, it'll be disappointed. What's it waiting for?
Student: Just waiting, just watching! Just doing what it's doing.
JDH: Is it? What's it watching?
Martin: You.
JDH: You will never learn the Dhamma that way because I smoke cigarettes and drink coffee. You watch me enough you'll think, ah, I want a cup of coffee. You don't even smoke! You might think ah, look at that happy man! Hmm. Have you ever seen Tan Acharn Boonyarith smoke his pipe? You have, haven't you? Hmm. Sometimes he sits, everyone sits and waits and he goes, I'd give him a cigarette sometimes and he goes puff, puff. Everyone sits around waiting for him to say something, he just smokes pipe. Everyone sits around waiting! Never practicing. Sits around waiting. Mmm. He smokes and he drinks coffee. Where is your practice? You don't learn Buddha Dhamma! Your mind is outside, here put inside, cut! I'm a butterfly. Very dangerous to look at me. Do you want a cup of coffee? Yes, Wendy does. Have a rest. Go and have a cup of coffee.
He trained many monks who in turn became Arahant, and now, we're in sort of third generation of monks trained by monks trained under Tan Acharn Mun. So one man if you like, by his practice, revitalised the Thai tradition of great meditators. So he's, we've got Tan Acharn Mun's biography. We've got many, many things about him. This is a series of articles in the World Fellowship of Buddhist's Review which I presume when it's all printed they'll make into book. So this is advice of how Tan Acharn Mun advised his monks, his meditators, what to do when troubles come in mind.
Now first sort of trouble question comes, the meditator quickly finds answer no problem. Second type - question comes, meditator, you know over one or two meditation sessions finds answer no problem. Third type, meditators mind goes off trying to make up some thing that is not dhamma and saying it is dhamma. And then Tan Acharn Mun teaches how to do.
Now out of these particular things there's many examples in Tan Acharn Mun's biography of actual instances of what happens. But these are general examples which you, having heard you should then apply to your own practice when troubles come.
Now don't let your mind wander off. Keep it inside and if it wanders off bring it back. So, the type of way, if you've read Tan Acharn Mun some of his actual dialogues, talks he's given were recorded and they've been written down, translated into English. He's got a certain style of teaching, he always teaches with simple examples. Like, you know, he uses simple village talk if you like, but very powerful dhamma.
The basis of your practice is refuge in Buddha, Dhamma, Sangha. Make sure you've got refuge strong, Buddha Dhamma Sangha, Buddha Dhamma Sangha, like that. That refuge will protect you.
Before going on to discuss problems concerning wisdom, it's advisable to record here, this is from article, some accounts which are results of meditation. For those of the dynamic kind of mind, now dynamic kind is fast mind. Sometimes you have dynamic mind, sometimes sludgy mind. Mind changes all the time. Sometimes your mind is very fast. The dynamic mind brings its own type of problems, slow mind brings its own type of problems. Every type of mind brings its own type of problems.
So for dynamic type of mind there are sure to be several kinds of phenomena revealing themselves which could also be a great benefit to others when they are properly developed. Evidence of this fact can be seen in the biography of Tan Acharn Mun, which we've got. Oh, we've got about two or three copies, maybe four copies. Where the readers, if, many of you have read I know, will have already seen that his mind was of the strong dynamic type which can produce a great benefit and impression in teaching other people.
So after Tan Acharn Mun had trained his mind properly and in the biography you'll see the methods that he used, he wandered in the forest alone, practicing, if he was sick he practiced, if he was well he practiced. Wandering in deep forest. In these forests there things like man-eating tigers, many things. Very dangerous place. So he kept away from people, he kept in deep forest in very hard conditions.
After he trained it, theres one account occurring to a woman who had been trained under his guidance in the first stage. She is now still alive being a white robe disciple. The tradition of Nuns is very complicated but basically what it amounts to is there isn't an official order of Nuns in Thailand, but lay people take white robes, live in kuti's, you know, like houses, near the monks and the monks will train them sometimes, not always, but sometimes. Her mind was something like Venerable Phra Acharn Mun being active and dynamic in several ways. While she was still young, Tan Acharn used dwell in a village for a period of one rains retreat, you know monks stay in one place during the rainy season.
It was the first time ever since that village was established when there were a number of bhikkhus and samaneras, these are novices, about forty or fifty in all went out to stay there. Of these bhikkhus, monks, there were a number who were senior ones, some who were able to read other peoples minds. One of the iddis of siddhis, you develop is being able to read other peoples minds, this comes out of your practice. Knowing the minds of others.
It was these monks that helped Tan Acharn Mun to catch the naughty bhikkhus, the naughty monks, disciples, whose minds were bent on stealthfully thinking of what was indecent in their status, their status as a monk. Before giving instructions in the evening the Venerable Tan Acharn Mun would tell these monks who could read the minds of others to help him catch the thieves, as he called it. This he referred to his monk disciples who allowed their minds to be distracted while listening to his sermons. He said it was difficult for him to catch these thieves while he was himself teaching, you know dhamma, teaching sermon, since he was busy with what he was teaching all the time. It would be after some time before he knew a thief had stolen away some indecent thought. Should there be a helper stationed at the door it would be possible and easier to catch the thief red handed.
These thieves, so he said, were also intent on stealing away outside when they should be attending to their own business inside. Rather graphic way of describing what the mind does. It was therefor necessary to arrest these smart ones before they actually went out. So saying, he went on delivering the sermon and paid no more attention to the thieves again. Just a few minutes after, a number of the so called thieves would be seen to run about, but it was not long before they ran into the watchman monk, the watchman bhikkhu stopped them with these words, "Well, and he named the bhikkhu, what are you thinking about?". At this the Venerable Tan Acharn Mun paused to give his support saying "Good, just by this way can we catch up with the smart one", then he'd continue his sermon.
After some time another thief stopped to poke about when he was stopped by these words "Now, and he'd name the bhikkhu, why are you thinking so, develop mindfulness now, do not wander outside. It is wrong to do so", so this other monk, or monks were highly developed. The result was satisfactory for the so called thief was afraid and dreaded being accosted in this manner. This is similar to Zen Master who beats with stick, if mind looks like going out hits with Zen stick. Very strong training. After a few such incidents the naughty thieves cowered and stopped their pranks by this severe strong training the mind lost its tendency to run outside.
Some however were so much afraid of him after that they dared not allow the mind to wander off as freely as before. In other words out of fear they kept their mind inside. This the Venerable Tan Acharn Mun used to do occasionally. What was his motive each time nobody could tell. Like, only an Arahant would know an Arahants mind you see. Since he did not bother to tell anyone either. Even his helper would remain indifferent when he was not told to deal with the so called thieves. So some nights he would say "do like this" other nights he'd say nothing. So, other nights they'd sit and no-one would pick up their mind.
He just acted as if he was ignorant of everything. But the other bhikkhus and samaneras, these are novice monks were afraid of him, next to Tan Acharn himself. Regarding these accounts the writer of this story could be more wayward than these thieves, so its about time to continue about the story I started to tell about the woman.
If a monk said 'what is your mind doing now?', and now, and now, and now, you see, you see.
So this woman who ended up as white robe one became taught in insight meditation. Now because of Tan Acharn Muns' great mind and wisdom he could see that she was going to be a good meditator and he was especially compassionate to her and she thought she was just an ordinary village girl being no better, than in her own words, 'a dog in the street'. She couldn't understand why this great, remember he was greatly honored right throughout Thailand, very famous, so she couldn't understand why Tan Acharn Mun used to spend so much time.
So when he taught her she decided to do what he told her which was one thing only. Recite 'Buddho, Buddho, Buddho, Buddho, Buddho, Buddho' like that. One night having eaten a meal she wanted to develop her insight meditation to the best of her ability. She said her prayers, this is way of saying like 'Namo, Tasso, Bhagavato, Arahato', you know like praise the Buddha, sometimes like this, maybe "iti piso", something like that. And then she started to do the meditation practice the way Tan Acharn Mun had told her to do. After about fifteen minutes of reciting 'Buddho, Buddho, Buddho, Buddho', this was the only practice he taught, Buddho, 'bud' on one breath and 'dho' other breath, 'Buddho Buddho, Buddho, Buddho'.
Her mind suddenly dropped to one-pointedness, you know very bright, but she did not know what it was since she had never experienced or known anything before in that present life. To her it was like suddenly falling into a deep well. For some minutes there had been a complete silence then it appeared that she saw herself, that's her body lying lifeless, this is nimitta. Nimitta, one way of translating is nimitta or sign. So suddenly her mind went one-pointed and then she could see her body lying lifeless. The sight was so vivid that she concluded she must have been dead. Although what she was seeing was vision, nimitta. This is for some of you who have done bloated corpse. It is the same type of nimita as bloated corpse which we teach here.
Thereafter a thought came into her mind 'Now that I am dead here who will cook the glutenous rice for the bhikkhus?' People in the North East of Thailand eat glutenous rice, it is a way of cooking rice, it's all cacky, they can make it like rice balls. When the Venerable Acharn comes on his alms food in the morning he will have no one to offer him rice. This is what she thought, she is looking at a vision of her own dead body. 'And he'll ask about me. Who will tell him I already died the night before while practicing meditation?' At this point she made up her mind thinking, she believed the vision, it was only a vision of dead body, but it was so intense in her meditation she thought she really was dead. Well, she thought 'after all I've died, this death is sure to come to all in the world, there being none who is able to avoid it and to take possession of the world by doing so'.
Having so decided she directed her thought back to the corpse still lying before her, this is the vision, she didn't know it was only a vision, it was so vivid. Sometimes we get powerful nimittas in meditation so strong, those of you who have done bloated corpse know how strong these nimittas are.
When occupied with this thought she saw a number of villages carrying the corpse to the cemetery where she saw the Venerable Acharn and other bhikkhus walking up to it and then she heard him say 'Well the girl is dead at last, lets chant'. You know standard, pali verse, they chant over dead bodies which arouses like dispassion, you know. So in her vision which she thought was real happening, she had this vision of her dead body which she thought was really dead and Tan Acharn Mun chanting. Then he said in the midst of the chanting 'annica, meaning impermanent, vacco sankara', the body having died cannot be put to any use but the mind, that is the citta is not dead yet. It is still working. But if it is subject to the wrong work in the wrong way which is like wrong view or micca wrong, instead of samma - right view, it will become a danger to itself and bring about regret. This is the mind being, going the wrong way.
And then he, he was heard to have repeated the above passage three times. Saying only one fourth of the verse to be recited on the occasion, like this thing on five groups is sometimes chanted about the five groups, impermanent, dukkha, anatta, so on. Then he poked the body gently with his walking stick and said 'this body is impermanent, being destined to die, once it is born, but the mind, the citta is permanent, not having to undergo the birth and death like the body, is subject to causes, varied with causes, in other words kamma'.
For several times he repeated the above passage while poking with his walking stick on various parts of her body. Strange to say where the stick poked there the flesh became rotten until at last the whole body became a mass of rotten flesh. In other words it is like nimitta of rotten corpse. The exception being only the lump of her heart which he picked up and said 'This heart cannot be destroyed, otherwise the body could not regain consciousness and would be dead forever'.
Hearing this while following the vision all the time she thought to herself 'that the body is rotten all over with only the bones remaining, how can it come to life again'. Suddenly she heard him answer her questioning thought without looking he said 'But it must, it can't help but come to life again since there is still causes that will make it alive again, and that will be after dawn'. So this nimitta, she thought was real.
When your meditation becomes powerful you sometimes get extremely powerful images and these powerful images cause extreme trouble.
The whole thing she said lasted for quite a long time from her chanting the prayers to seeing the corpse, to Venerable Acharn's return. There are more details that were not mentioned above since her account was a long one which the writer could not remember. It was not until the dawn of the following day that her mind surfaced and she saw herself still sitting in her open room and then heard you know the birds and the cocks crowing, then she saw the body still alive and well and not dead as she presumed it was. On the one hand she was glad to have realised the fact, but on the other hand she could not help blaming herself thinking she had drifted into a slumber a fanciful dream instead of developing the insight meditation as ordered by Venerable Acharn. 'How silly I was tonight' she thought.
When the Venerable Acharn came to her for his food, you know alms food, the next morning, he told her to go to see him at about the time when the Bhikkhus had finished their meal, that's after breakfast you know. This he did as he's never done before without being told anything by her at all. She didn't say a word. It could be therefore that he would have known whatever had happened to her the night before.
Wake up. Wake up. Don't go to sleep, or you'll get this nimitta too!
So at the monastery when he saw her he asked her at once how well she had done at her meditation practice the previous night. So she answered frankly that she had done it very badly. After about fifteen minutes of you know, chanting she said that she felt like falling to a bottom of a well and drifting into a fabulous dream all night long. It was not until dawn she woke up and regretted it until now. She was afraid that he would admonish her for such a silly thing.
Hearing this the Venerable Acharn laughed and laughed and asked her to tell him about the dream in more detail. When she had told him so he laughed all the more and looked pleased and he said to her 'that was not a sleep, nor was it a dream, it was the mind being calmed down and dropping to one-pointedness.
What you thought was a dream was in fact a vision as the result of meditation, This word for vision is called nimitta in pali. It is known to occur when meditation is developed to a level you experienced. Then he explained to her more about it and he told her to go back home and continue her meditation practice. 'Always be detached' he said. 'Let the mind see whatever it sees, but have no fear'. You know remember not to have fear. 'You must be aware of whatever happens to you. As long as I am here you have nothing to fear. Whatever you have seen, you must come and let me know'.
May all beings be free of fear and have a Buddhist protector.
May all beings come to one-pointedness of concentration.
May you be well and happy.
May all beings be well and happy.
This script was prepared and edited by Frank Carter, Helen Costas, and Alec Sloman.
References
Recording Title: Discourse on Refuge
Tape 2 Side 1
Teacher: John D. Hughes
Date of recording: 1984
Transcribed by Alec Sloman
Checked by: Frank Carter
CD Reference: 007_00_84T2S1A.wav
File Name I:\I:\007_00_84T2S1A_JDHtranscribe.rtf
Document Statistics
Word count: 3,889
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