Honesty with oneself as the base of dhamma practice

General discussion of issues related to Theravada Meditation, e.g. meditation postures, developing a regular sitting practice, skillfully relating to difficulties and hindrances, etc.
Post Reply
nutmegtree
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2021 5:12 am

Honesty with oneself as the base of dhamma practice

Post by nutmegtree »

These are some notes from a recent teaching by a Ajahn Dhammarakkhito which I thought might be of interest here.
It is wonderful, revered sir, it is marvellous, revered sir, how the Blessed One knows the welfare and woe of beings, while there is this human tangle, this human guile, this human treachery. For this, revered sir, is a tangle, that is to say human beings. But this, revered sir, is an open clearing, that is to say animals. Now I, revered sir, am able to make an elephant under training so remember that, every time he is coming into Campā or leaving it, he will display all kinds of treachery, deceit, fraud, trickery. But, revered sir, those that are called our slaves, or messengers, or workpeople, they do one thing with their body, another in speech, and their thought is still other.
MN 51

To pursue the aim of freedom from defilements, one needs wisdom. This is what distinguishes it from the pursuit of material aims, even the most difficult of which can be attained by anyone and do not require wisdom. (E.g. landing a rover on Mars is quite an incredible achievement, but there’s absolutely zero wisdom in it.)
The wisdom one needs to begin is the following realisation: the world’s biggest cheat, hypocrite, liar and stranger is the one you carry within you. Nobody is better at cheating you than your own mind when it is driven by defilements, as all our minds are as long as we are in samsara. They have been so for countless lives, and if they were not, we would not be here.
Practicing for the aim of the end of defilement requires being able to find out all the places where one cheats oneself, all the forms of wrongdoing one continually tries to hide from others and oneself; otherwise all the defilements will remain hidden and will continue to drive your actions forever, with no way out. Only through seeing them is there a way out of them, and if we don’t have the will to see, then no amount of meditation following any method, no amount of listening to dhamma talks or reading suttas, will correct them for us.
We usually like to go for an easier way, as water always follows the easiest route. There are many ways for us to cheat ourselves that we practice, while not addressing the actual problem. Some examples might include:
- Thinking one is perfectly moral because one follows a certain set of rules (the rules are not bad, but if your mind is happy in lust or thinks about revenge, even while physically following the rules - then are you really moral?)
- Thinking one is generous while giving only things that are easy and to which one is not attached, while not giving anything that is dear or hard to give.
- Paying attention to physical appearance of perfection or one’s idea of a ‘holy person’ such as living in a forest, walking walking many miles a day for pindabat, and thinking one is accomplished on account of it
- Measuring one’s level of collectedness by way of some ascetic practices, ability to concentrate on an object, having had some peaceful/joyful/blissful experience in meditation (but if something interrupts your ability to practice these things, how bothered will you be by it, will you have anxiety or distress about it?)
- Spending hours a day meditating, and thinking therefore one is practicing dhamma, but not paying attention to all one’s faults that might be lurking throughout the day.
- Reading or studying suttas a lot and thereby thinking one ‘knows’ dhamma. (Reading and studying is not bad, but that’s not what constitutes knowledge of dhamma.)
- Avoiding situations where we would become angry or lustful and thereby thinking that the problem is solved.
None of these will be present at the level of an obvious, easy-to-see train of thought. One will not say to oneself ‘I know dhamma, because I read suttas.’’ That is why it’s not enough to only look at one’s thinking, the words or images in thinking, the object of thinking: one needs to start seeing what is driving our thought, the intention of it (see this post); as well as the things that really drive our words and our actions - not only the reasoning we give to ourselves about them.
Usually, in the beginning, we have to work backwards, after we have already done something, said something, or even if we are continually and repeatedly engaging in something, we have to question ourselves as to why we are doing it. Even something that is objectively ‘good’ to do, (let’s say, teaching somebody about a subject) we can often do with the wrong intention, (for example, to show off our knowledge and enjoy the other person’s attention.)
Usually in the beginning, we will only be able to realise this in hindsight, after we have already done something guided by an unwholesome intention. But as we practice to become mindful of our mind at all times, we can see what is driving us from the beginning, and therefore choose the actions that we take (in body, speech and mind) based on calculating their cause and effect - using wisdom instead of using craving, aversion or plain absent-mindedness to act.
This is how we rightly develop morality, which will lead us to proper sense restraint and right concentration. All must start with being brutally honest with ourselves.
User avatar
mjaviem
Posts: 2283
Joined: Wed Dec 16, 2020 5:06 pm

Re: Honesty with oneself as the base of dhamma practice

Post by mjaviem »

Interesting indeed. Thanks for sharing.
Namo Tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammā Sambuddhassa
Post Reply