Category: Announcement

Re: Questions from Bro Fong Hong Wai (March 2024):

 From: Fong Hong Wai <hwfong7@gmail.com>
Sent: 23 March 2024 16:04
To: Bro Teoh <teohkiankoon@hotmail.com>
Subject: Unique Dhamma Quote 110

Dear Bro Teoh, I’m grateful for your dhamma teachings which I’m able to follow in YouTube. I’ve benefited a lot through your teachings. I’ve also been following Ashin Tejaniya’s Awareness Meditation and the teachings on Awareness are similar to yours.

I have a question which bothers me. In your recent talk on Unique Dhamma Quote 110, you explain very clearly regarding the 4 Circles drawn on the board.

No.1 Circle – depicts the Source/ Nibbana

No 2 Circle – depicts the Pure Awareness Mind before thoughts

No.3 Circle – depicts the Mundane Mind

No.4  Circle – depicts the Phenomenal World of Consciousness.

In that talk, Bro Teoh mentioned that when thoughts appear in the Pure Mind, the Mundane Mind is created which in turn caused the creation of the Phenomenal World. My question is if the Pure Mind can return to the Mundane and the Phenomenal World then it doesn’t seem to make sense as the person becomes Puthujjana again. Similarly from the Source/Nibbana how come the Mind can return to the Mundane Mind and hence to Samsara again.

It has been taught that from Ignorance the world is created. However if the original Mind is Pure, how can Ignorance arise leading to Dependent Origination?

 Thanks …. Fong (Bro)

On Sun, Mar 24, 2024, at 11:07 AM Teoh Kian Koon <teohkiankoon@hotmail.com> wrote:

Dear Bro Fong,

Sadhu! to u for your ability to benefit from my nature’s sharing of the dhamma. You seem to have quite good affinity and understanding, and your questions are good and legitimate because it can help u clear your doubt.

Regarding your question below:

‘My question is if the Pure Mind can return to the Mundane and the Phenomenal World then it doesn’t seem to make sense as the person becomes Puthujjana again. Similarly, from the Source/Nibbana how come the Mind can return to the Mundane Mind and hence to Samsara again’.

Reply: Your statement regarding ‘Pure Mind can return to the Mundane mind……’ is based on wrong understanding. The Pure awareness nature or the Pure Mind is a ‘nature’, and it does not fall or return to the Mundane and the Phenomenal world. The Mundane mind arising from it is dependent originating and it is a by-product of that nature arising via the karmic process. You must get this right then u will understand better, otherwise your doubt will continue. To understand what I shared u need to develop a very stable Pure Awareness nature and cultivate diligently to awaken. 

Hope this helps.

Bro Teoh

 From: Fong Hong Wai <hwfong7@gmail.com>
Sent: 24 March 2024 07:42
To: Teoh Kian Koon <teohkiankoon@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Unique Dhamma Quote 110

Dear Bro Teoh,

Thank you for your reply. Sadhu! Your explanation makes things a bit clearer to me. In other words, when a person develops the Pure Mind/Awareness, he is already an Ariyan and permanently so. His Pure Mind would not return to the normal Mundane Mind. What Bro Teoh explained in the video was  how the Mundane Mind originate as a by-product of that Pure nature when there are mental activities( sankhara).

What is most difficult to understand was the Original Mind or Source / Nibbana. Perhaps what is misleading is the word Original Mind. Perhaps we never had this Original Mind in the first place. Otherwise, it would be inconceivable to think that Ignorance can take place from the source.

Is this reasoning, right? This is the only logical explanation that I can think of. However, then another problem arose – why is it Ignorance from the start and not Wisdom?

Hope my questions are not too problematic. Thanks…… Bro Fong

On Sun, Mar 25, 2024, at 11:07 AM Teoh Kian Koon <teohkiankoon@hotmail.com> wrote:

Dear Bro Fong,

As advice earlier ‘To understand what I shared, u need to develop a very stable Pure Awareness nature and cultivate diligently to awaken’. 

It seems u are more interested in using your thought to analyse and reason  via logic  to develop more thought based ‘understanding’ which is basically, knowledge and not wisdom .

My advice is – please diligently develop the awareness-based cultivation to awaken via the direct seeing awakening (which is beyond thought and beyond time) to understand the big difference between mundane seeing and supra mundane seeing.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Bro Teoh