waimengwan wrote:Thank you Bhikkhu Pesala for sharing, what are the three characteristics ? And if we suppress these thoughts won't it come back to bite us again, usually things that are suppressed work that way. Or we have to suppress until we find the right remedy / antidote. Please share thanks.
The three characteristics are impermanence
(anicca), suffering
(dukkha), and not-self
(anattā).
See the
Sabbāsava Sutta on the Āsavas that should be removed through rejection (= suppression). As long as the unwholesome roots are not destroyed by insight, unwholesome thoughts rooted in ill-will or lust may arise when conditions so conspire. Whenever they do arise they should be rejected, otherwise, we will follow them and the latent tendency to lust and ill-will will get strengthened. Could anyone observe the five precepts without suppressing the intention to do wrong? If one never had the slightest intention to break any of the five precepts, then one would already be a Stream-winner, for whom observing the five precepts is natural and stable morality.
It is the intention that characterises a thought as good or bad. Bad thoughts such as, "I want to seduce that man's wife," "I want to kill that man," "I don't believe there is any result of merely thinking bad thoughts," are the unwholesome thoughts of covetousness, ill-will, and wrong view.
Can anyone be content if they covet things that they don't own, or have to meet with people they cannot stand?